How to Buy Playboy Magazines in Germany

So I've been practicing for my upcoming language test and I've recently bought a German exercise book. Usually I not a fan of language exercise books, but this one's surprisingly entertaining and quite useful.

My favourite line they teach you is:

Fuehren Sie auch Magazine mit Fotos? Playboy, zum Beispiel? Es ist nicht fuer mich, es ist fuer meinen Großvater. 

Which translates to:

Do you carry illustrated magazines, too? Playboy, for example? It is not for me, it is for my grandfather. 

The moral of this post is that anyone looking to buy said illustrated magazines in a German speaking country should memorize that line. Other than that, exams start next week and I've become a zombie. See photo below (although judging from the photo, I seem very content with being a zombie).

The Summer To-Do List

Mmm...Yogen Fruz

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates lately. It's the end of the school year, and I've been swamped with readings and essays (the perks of being an english major). Exams also start next week so that should be...fun. I will definitely have regular updates again in April though, and talk about exciting summer related things!

Also, a special thanks to Rita for the blog award!

Speaking of summer, I always find this the best time to make any resolutions as New Years resolutions never last until the end of February. For good reason too - 8am in the middle of a blizzard doesn't seem like a good idea for that proposed daily jog even though on New Years Eve (usually thanks to the influence of alcohol) it seemed brilliant.

I tend to find making resolutions pretty boring. If anyone ever asks, my yearly resolution is always "to become rich and famous by starring in an asian pepsi commercial." (Hey- it's a lot more likely to happen than those 8am jogs)

During the summer, these resolutions are so easy to keep since you're practically forced to go to the gym everyday if you intend on going to the beach, and obviously everyone loves the beach (unless you're a vampire). Summer also means lots of ice cream dates, skimpy clothing (good for rekindling old romances, starting new ones or having affairs), and extra free time allows you to go find enlightenment or the meaning of life or whatever in some third-world country.

In any case, I prefer keeping a "to-do list" rather than making resolutions. Here's what's on my summer to-do list this year!

Cleaning out my closet
Since I'm moving out of my apartment at the end of April, this gives me the perfect opportunity to donate the majority of the clothes I have. I really like the idea of living minimally and less clothes means I can conveniently fit it all in one suitcase, which is perfect for traveling. (Actually, it's mainly an excuse so I can go buy some pieces I've been eyeing at ZARA).

Write your own "Eat Pray Love" -esque travel memoir in 5 minutes!

onlinemovieshut.com

Have you read Eat Pray Love a million times? Do you dream of writing your own travel memoir but don't know how? Luckily I did all the hard work - you just have to fill in the blanks below. After that, click "read more" and fill in your answers in the corresponding blanks (similar to Mad Libs). Et voila - you're very own best-seller in the making! Share your stories and don't forget the most important question - who's going to star as you in your big Hollywood
movie adaptation?

Fill in the blanks:
1. verb ending with "ing": ____________
2. a spiritual figure: ____________
3. noun: ____________
4. job: ____________
5. country in europe: ____________
6. country in asia: ____________
7. another country in asia: ____________
8. mode of transportation: ____________
9. re-write your answer to #5: ____________
10. language: ____________
11. nationality (plura): ____________
12. food: ____________
13. article of clothing: ____________
14. re-write answer to #6: ____________
15. place of worship: ____________
16. An American: ____________
17. retail store: ____________
18. re-write answer to #7: ____________
19. number: ____________
20. noun: ____________
21. country: ____________
22. nationality: ____________
23. year in the future: ____________

Super exciting news!

I found out last night that I got the seasonal flight attendant position I've been long waiting for! I'm so excited for this! A summer of exciting travels and adventures will commence. My training starts at the beginning of May but I'll be going to get my uniform fitted a lot earlier. There's this site called http://uniformfreak.com which I've been checking out that catalogues the history of flight attendant outfits for all the major airlines. Here's some of my favourites:

Hawaiian Airlines - It's so pink I love it!

Lufthansa - Very mod girl chic

Deutsche BA - The best part is the back...

It reads "Welcome to football" for those who may not know German.
Not exactly sure what that means, but if it entails hanging out
with soccer players, count me in!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Hey guys!

I've decided to create a new thing today called "Wednesday's Words of Wisdom," which depending on its popularity, I might make into a permanent weekly post. The idea of WWW is that every Wednesday, I'll share a few interesting facts or knowledge that I've learned that week which might be useful. This can range from dating advice, to environmental concerns, to escaping the Italian mafia (if such an event were ever to occur in my life). Let me know what you guys think!

parkerfinalproject

          
On Dating
One of the worst things about dating attractive people is that they tend to resemble the models you see on clothing ads. So if you two ever break up, seeing your ex everywhere when you go shopping can be quite disturbing. The most unfortunate situation I can imagine is if your ex resembles an underwear model. Imagine walking into Calvin Klein and seeing posters of your ex doppelganger wearing nothing more than tiny white briefs and sporting an striking tan to compliment his impeccable abs? (yea, I would leave too and shop at Victoria's Secret instead). With that said, I'm currently avoiding H&M until their next collection comes out.

The Coffee vs. Tea Debate
As exam time is upon us (for those of you in school), no doubt coffee will soon become your new best friend. I've become immune to its effects so I go straight for the espresso, which is a lot stronger. For those who love the coffee taste but want something stronger, try the Americano (espresso and hot water). If you prefer something sweet, vanilla lattes, mochas or caramel macchiatos are your best bet (they all have espresso mixed with steamed milk and syrup). If you hate the taste of coffee in general, try green tea - it actually contains more caffeine than coffee!

Going Local and Organic
When grocery shopping, try to buy organic local produce as much as possible to support your local farmers. I'm currently working on a research paper for my sustainable biology class, and did you know that in the States, people spend only 10 cents from every dollar to buy food? Out of that 10 cents, farmers only receive a penny from it because the rest goes to marketing and chemical companies. While oranges from Zimbabwe seems a lot more exotic, keep in mind that the further away your food is produced, the more chemicals it contains, which in turn kills a lot of the biodiversity in that area. When it comes to buying food, this is the only time where I will discourage "traveling"!

Looking Hot While Traveling (Female Version)

The term "backpacker" rarely conjures up images of Gisele Bunchen or Scarlett Johansson look-a-likes. Rather, it usually projects one of those "one with nature" girls, who will forgo their make-up case for extra space in their luggage to pack their hiking boots. I mean, guys have it lucky considering how for them, prolonged backpacking trips generally just leads to a better tan. And even if they forget to shave and get all hairy, if they resemble Ewan McGregor at the end of Long Way Down, it's still pretty hot.

Consequently, if females abandoned any sort of beauty maintenance in favour of achieving that intimate connection with nature, the outcome might not be so pretty. While the tiny communal bathroom at any given hostel around the world isn't the best place to give yourself an exfoliating facial, or do a smokey eye, there are many ways to look good effortlessly. Below are five products I love for quick fixes to looking good on the road.

Bare Escentuals Mineral Foundation

1. Mineral make-up
Mineral make-up, especially foundation is great because it's free of preservatives and super light. It gives you a nice natural look, and helps to hydrate your skin, preventing that horrible flakey make-up look. I'm personally a huge fan of Bare Escentuals because it provides some SPF coverage, and the ingredients they use are so pure, you can sleep in it! Perfect for road trips, long nights of partying, and time spent with the foreign hottie (FH for short).

My favourite pair of wedges from Spring

2. A Pair of Wedges 
The last thing you want to pack for backpacking is a pair of stilettos - they're uncomfortable and you might wear them once or twice during your entire trip if you're lucky. A better alternative, is a nice pair of wedges. They're as comfortable as wearing flats and a great way of adding a few inches to your height. What's more, they won't hurt your feet while exploring a new city during the day, great for dancing at a club at night, and the wedges are thick enough to inflict pain to use for self defense if needed.

A Blog Award and the Winner for the February Contest...

A special thanks to Alicia for giving me the Versatile Blogger award! I've never won a blog award before, so this is exciting! As one of the rules for receiving this award I'm suppose to share 7 things about myself, so here it goes!

1. My mom entered me in a beauty pageant last year. I had to send them a bunch of photos of myself and as it turned out, I was successfully chosen for the 2nd round (damn). This involved doing a televised performance on stage, and walking down a catwalk in a bikini and heels. Of course, I humbly turned down the offer as I wasn't quite ready for the country to realize my lack of singing, dancing and high heel wearing abilities.

2. I can only play one song on the guitar, and that is "Last Kiss" by Pearl Jam.

3. The first time I went backpacking, just as the plane was preparing to land, I remember freaking out a little bit and thinking, "what the hell did I get myself into?!?!" Of course, I then proceeded to having one of the best times of my life  :)

4. I'm the fastest shoe shopper you'll ever meet. Every few months or so, I'll feel the urge to buy a new pair of heels, flats etc. This leads me to run to the nearest Aldo, find the cutest pair in my size, quickly buy it before I feel compiled to buy anything else, then run out of the store. The whole process takes about 10 minutes.

5. Some of the weirdest places guys have asked me out include: an elevator (this made for a very awkward ride), a phone store (a Virgin kiosk to be exact), on the subway, and in a library. Some bad pick up lines include "I'm rich," "I don't see a ring on your finger" and unbelievably, "the weather is beautiful...beautiful just like you."

6. I am a sucker for accents (some accents I love more than others).

7. While living in Chicago, I once made an audition tape with my friend for a MTV reality show. I never submitted it, but it totally would've been well received by MTV due to the large number of times I said the word "like" and my preference for wearing cleavage enhancing tops and short shorts (all very good attributes for a reality tv star in the making).

And I'm sure everyone's curious to see the results of the February contest.

And the winner is...