PHOTO POST: hair care

Today more of a beauty & product related post as I often get asked about my hair care routine. While being on a pretty much constant search for THE perfect shampoo or THE perfect hair oil & always listening to suggestions from friends, I have been sticking to these three essential products for a long time already.

The first two, a shampoo and a hair oil, are from the "orofluido" series. I've discovered them by chance through a friend (who's site you can check out here if you're interested :) hairandcosmetic.de) and have pretty much instantly fallen in love with them!! These have become my trustworthy companions ever since for leaving my hair shiny & feeling soft! :) I'm already on my second bottle of the hair oil & am amazed that it actually lasted for more than half a year, justifying it being a bit pricey, which I was surprised about at first.

The third product - a "redken" hairstyling spray - comes into action when I decide to do something different once in a while. Usually I stick to quickly blowdrying my hair, leaving them naturally straight for everyday looks. This little helper comes in handy when I decide to invest a bit more time into some curls or waves, like you see them on the photos here. Not sure if these sprays really make a difference or not, but at least they take off some guilt from torturing my hair from time to time :D

PHOTO POST: From Felix With Love

Right after the end of my successful yet exhausting 3. semester at uni, I jumped onto the plane to go visit my good friend MATHILDE who is studying at the Sorbonne and invited me to stay with her in her lovely apartment for a weekend! Having been there, I didn’t expect the world from the city of love.

However, I was taken by complete surprise at the sheer amount of wonderful sites and places and cafes that the city provides! I wanted to see everything all at once and found the time there quite too short! :)

Highlights were the gorgeous Parc des Buttes-Chaumont including the highest point of the city, as well as the quiet, pieceful 7^th arrondissement. Further, the popular Quartier Latin and Boulevard St. Germain were a sheer pleasure of course! My feelings towards the city were so different than the last time I had been there! I have rarely experienced a conglomeration of lifestyle/architecture/fashion/independence to such an extent.

Mathilde and me didn’t quite mind the weather at all, even though it was FROSTY and rainy! Enjoy my cloudy yet happy impressions from a wonderful weekend mid-February thanks to my dear friend who I had tons of fun with! :D
Of course, I documented my journey on instagram under the name of koala_republic! Don't forget to follow me for bits'n'pieces of Viennese life! ;)

it was super-cold but that kinda provided an interesting atmosphere!

the stunning Palais de Luxembourg with the pretty pond inmidst the Jardins de Luxembourg!

MACARONNNSS

Crêpe time! in front of the Notre-Dame!

super-yummy and horribly expensive Parisian snacks <3 love 'em!

the Hotel de Ville!

Eiffel Tower posing at the Palais de Tokyo!

a HUGE temporary Dalí exhibition that I adored!

Le Louvre, le louvre, le louvre! I've never ever been inside! :D

the poshy Hotel Costes with beauitful window displays!

Place de la Concorde! + blue sky :)

Pyramid & me.

the sparkling Opera Garnier!

blessings! ;)

La Sacré-Coeur at the Montmartre

Invalides.

OUTFIT DU JOUR: [10.02]

While having a week off from university, Felix and I finally got around to taking some outfit photos again. This is pretty much my favorite combination for everyday-wear: some boots to keep off the cold, a skirt or some pants & a blazer, all paired off with a big warm scarf.

While enjoying the short holiday break, we used the time to wander around the gorgeous area of the Belvedere Palace in Vienna, which you can see in the background of the photos here & we even squeezed in a bit of a cultural program as well, visiting an art exhibition.

Wishing everyone a successful start into the new semester & we're keeping our fingers crossed for spring to arrive soon, there's already been enough of the snow-chaos for this season!!! ;D

New Year's Eve in New York City

Oh New York. You keep giving me pleasure over the years! For the FIRST time I made it in winter time. My family and me were at a wedding in North Carolina first and afterwards, we headed to New York to enjoy the world's center, as I like to call it, during snowfall and sunshine!

We were there for six days and of course I was all about instagramming every single moment, as I was flooded with mind boggling impressions.

My personal recommendation: VISIT BROOKLYN! It's so underrated! Greenwood Cemetery, Coney Island, Park Slope, Williamsburg,... all these places should not be missed during a stay in NYC as they are so very different than Manhattan and show you how eclectic New York is!

 Recommendation No. 2. DON'T. go on TimeSquare on New Year's Eve. too. many. people!

Trivia: it had -4°C so it was unbelievably cold. I wore as much as I do when going skiing and froze nonetheless. However, I didn't care for the cold at all for a glance of ice-skating people in Central Park or a view over Manhattan from Brooklyn Bridge.

by the way: do follow me on instagram! KOALA_REPUBLIC it is. see you there! :) 

gorgeous weather in frozy Central Park & my favorite building of them all

 the fantastic view from Brooklyn Bridge Park & the Ball Drop's probably SINGLE nice moment!

 enjoying fauna on Highline & stunned by the 9/11 memorial that has turned out beautifully

 drinking the sun in Brooklyn's Greenwood Cemetery & glancing at Manhattan from Brooklyn Bridge

 Coney Island Sunset. See for yourself....

 Brooklyn daily life & Brooklyns sleeping-beauty-lookalike Botanical Garden

American food - who doesn't love it, let's all be honest. (I did gain some pounds ;D)

PHOTO POST: weekend in vilnius

It's the last post for the year of 2012 and both Felix and I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas (if you have celebrated on the 24th of December) and a happy upcoming New Year!

As I only celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January, a short notice weekend trip to Vilnius in Lithuania was planned. Such a cute little city which most of all fulfilled my longing for snow, as here in Austria there was no sign of it. Though there's a weird phenomenon I discovered about this city - it's much more spectacular at night than during day time!! Maybe all those gorgeous Christmas decorations are to be blamed :)

Hope you're enjoying the holidays and the winter break! We wish you a fabulous New Year's celebration tonight!! Felix is currently in the US, in New York to be exact, and I'm heading over to Hungary to celebrate in Budapest. So make sure to check back in a while & read all about our adventures ;)

 the only way to survive the Lithuanian cold - with cozy scarves and Russian style hats :) 

 icy & snowy streets up to the Gates of Dawn

 warming up during a sightseeing break at the "La Cave" café

 ♪ ♫ "snow is falling, all around me..." ♫ ♪

 Cathedral -Basilica of St. Stanislaus & St. Ladislaus

 typical Orthodox churches all around - the Church of St. Peter & St. Paul

 the most amazing entrance to a pub!!! & yes I am a huge fan of London ^^

 the Town Hall square at night