Hipster Shenanigans

The level of hipster nonsense in Berlin rivals that of Portland and San Francisco. 

The beards. 

While I get the long beard action most of the year -it is Northern Europe after all, and it is really, really cold for months of the year, and if I could grow more than these three hairs on my chin that I hate to admit I have, I would probably grow a beard in the winter as well- how does having that mich wool on your face in hot, muggy humid summer make sense!?

The pretentious coffee shops 

"Sorry, we don't serve milk with our pour overs, not sorry"

"we're a coffee shop, we don't seve decaf" when I wanted coffee at 1500 (that's 3:00 pm American friends ;) but also wanted to sleep that night and made the mistake of ordering decaf. 

Tattoos

Some really amazing tattoos as well as some really terrible ones (although I have to say- on average, the overall quality of the ink in Berlin is better than in Portland based on my non statistically significant and totally opinion based observations). 

Maybe it's because I am on the outside of the age range bell curve to truley be in the "hipster" demographic and I'm too old to get it? 

If I'm being totally honest I vacillate between loving and hating it on a minute by minute basis.

Getting crafty

Moving to a foreign country with three duffle bags has both advantages (I get to decorate a new place from scratch!) as well as a few challenges (oh, I have to pay for all of it? Where do I find custom frames? how do you say that in German!?) 

While furnishing my apartment I picked up a few used pieces as well as hit up IKEA to try and maintain a moderate budget to furnish this place. While I got a good deal on my original bed, I really, really didn't like it. It was too low, had a footboard that I was way too tall for, it was boring and just wasn't cutting it. 

Here's what I was dealing with as I got up this am:

I found a great diy plan for a platform bed on instructables, as well as instructions on building a fabric covered headboard and decided to give it a try. With some borrows tools and he help of google translate I headed out to the hardware store and did a bit of shopping

One thing I love about Berlin is that there is a huge DIY culture here.  Because it's a city with over 3 million people, most everyone is in apartments and while "kellers" (or little storage units) are common, most people don't have garages or space for workshops. No table saw? No worries- you buy the wood and the hardware store will cut it to your specifications. Not sure if places in the US do this? I just know I've used this service a few times and I love it- not having to cut saves loads of time and it's the scariest part for me, the cuts are more accurate than if I did them, and its just awesome. 

After a bit of help getting this stuff back to my apartment I got to it. 

My DIY crate / end table with wheels came in handy today. 

My living room/guest room/ workshop. 

In all it took less than three hours to make the bed frame (of course that was starting with pre- cut materials)

Once the bed was done it was time for the headboard. 

Thankful a colleague from work lent me a power drill, sander and staple gun so I could let my inner crafty/ handy girl out and make a platform bed and a headboard today. I have a proper big girl bed again and I am stoked.. And now I have a legitimate excuse to buy new bed linens :) 

It *may* be a bit taller than I was expecting, but i love it. 

..

Just bought my first pair of black skinny jeans. 

#becauseberlin

6 months in Berlin

.. tomorrow marks my 6 month anniversary in Berlin...

A quick recap:

September: crazy transition, visits from friends, weekend adventure to Stockholm. Beautiful weather, 

October: Trip back to SF for a wedding, moved into a new (furnished, temporary) apartment, started getting settled into the day to day at work and a flicker of realization that I live in Germany

November: Trip to NY for work, visit from a Dutch travel buddy, my first German Christmas Market and Glühwein! Started to get to know my way around the city,  found a few favorite local spots. Working on Thanksgiving sucked, but the multi national dinner the following Saturday was awesome .. um, do I really live here? 

December: Christmas Markets! Snow! mmmmmmm Glühwein! Mom visited for almost three weeks!! we explored Berlin on bikes, had a work trip to Hamburg, a weekend trip to Copenhagen and Mom's birthday in the Finnish Arctic Circle. cold, dark, amazing. OMG.. seriously, more Christmas markets... really? Back to NY for Christmas, relaxing in Brooklyn and an all day dance party on new year's day before a flight back to Berlin to kick off 2016. 

January: wretched. as in miserable, dark, cold and exhausting. What am I doing here. Seriously, what did I get myself into!? FFS WHAT HAVE I DONE?

February: colder than January, but the days started getting longer! started getting a life, going out and actually realizing that HOLY CRAP BATMAN, I LIVE IN BERLIN! This really is my life, not just a temp thing, and I LOVE IT. Decided to make the leap and get my own apartment (instead of another furnished place). The need to decorate is strong with this one.

March: BERLIN....OMG I LOVE THIS CITY! Amazing weekend in Budapest, landed an apartment, looking forward to decorating and OMG is it Spring yet!?

Loads of photos to share from the last few months.. will get posted over the next few weeks!