gretas schwester // monkind










you simply have to love gretas schwester - i certainly do. the mind and heart behind the bright and beautifully painted illustrations of this young berlin label is sarah neuendorf. her watercolour world is inhabited by whales and lions, flowers and deserts. i like its vibrant colours, its lightness and playfullness. you can sense her love and thoughts in every little detail.

gretas schwester is to be found at crellestrasse in berlin schöneberg - sharing a shop with monkind, whose owner valeria not only was so nice to let me take photos of their beautiful place but also designs organic children's wear printed with the sweetest patterns.

 my sister's cat 


...being boss of the staircase (and blocking everybody's way).

berlin, september 2016.

 berlin, finally










pictures from the past. oh god, i'm so not up to date... just right now it's freezing cold outside. in the morning the world is dusted with diamond powder but in the evening it is like a giant black hole and my room becomes a warm cosy cave full of tea with almond milk, christmas cookies, blankets, magazines & films, warm light and warm thoughts.

2015
 
when i was going through my photos for this post, i was really surprised how many memories i collected during the past twelve months. it was nice seeing all of them and discovering some i had already forgotten. at first i chose a "small" selection of about hundred pictures - which brought me to the conclusion that i had to force myself to pick just one photo for each month. as you will soon discover, i didn't manage to reach this self-set goal... i don't know why i picked exactly these photos, i wasn't thinking too much. but if it's for me that is not only a well-enough reason, but maybe the best one.

january


the world was covered in snow and i was dreaming of far away places. i went to a lot of museums in munich and also payed a visit to its botanical garden. what a weird experience to brush snow from one's hat and step inside a hot house with all its blossoming beauty.

february


by the end of january i made a trip to walchensee and ran into a snow storm. as a result i became ill and spent almost all of february in my bed, occasionally looking outside my window, seeing white everyday.

march


march was a month of losses. i lost two people in the most different way. and i myself felt a little bit lost, too.

april 


in april the world began to blossom again and i enjoyed long walks through apple and cherry orchards. i also drove southwards and stood high above the ground, the schliersee at my feet.

may 


afternoon teas and strawberry cakes, honey making and sitting on the porch looking at the beautiful garden in front of me. i also visited my sister in berlin and felt like seeing the whole city in just three days. what a ride. it was also my first time being at the hamburger bahnhof and i finally made it to a pictoplasma exhibition - something i wanted to do for a really long time.

june

a very busy month. there was a lot of ice cream, i do remember.

july


in july i was drinking beer in bavarian villages and was very thankful for all the wonderful fruits and vegetables growing right outside the kitchen window, wanting to be plucked and made into something delicious. i also did some "art".

august




italy: picture perfect villages, the blues of lago di garda, a crazy dog named guido, the hot sun and baked courgette flowers. back home i enjoyed evenings at the isar and visited wasserburg - secretly seeking compensation for the lack of that certain italian feeling.

september




the apple month. apple pie, apple strudel - i even helped making apple juice. you can't buy juice from the store anymore once you've tasted freshly made one... i visited hamburg and south tyrol and was deeply impressed by merano, that i would love to see once more anytime soon.

october


tea time again. i was stunned by the fantastic colours this autumn gave to us. lot's of ceramic market visits, much to my wallets sorrow. and a little bit of wine making.

november






in november i was exploring munich and found hidden treasures, made soups and tons of cinnamon buns, went to early christmas markets and began to sew (and was ridiculously proud of my first results).

december




december felt like living in spring with summer just around the corner. no christmas feelings at all - but many christmas market visits. looking at my reflection this time, makes me discover that i don't feel lost anymore.
 
a new year is about to begin. strange, that people always need one particular time or date to begin something new. the truth is, that you can start all over anytime you want. even if you can't change things, you can change your thoughts and thereby the way you feel. in everything you think or feel or do: remember to be nice to yourself.

take care,
susanne

 berlin en blanc + noir










the walls were blossoming at my old berlin neighbourhood when i left three years ago and i was happy to discover that they are still blossoming these days.

 berlin en rouge
















spending time in berlin was like spending time in different worlds. in the morning i was walking through prenzlauer berg's preppy streets, stumbled across a small market selling vegetables, fruit and beautiful spring flowers, at noon i ate falafel at kreuzberg's myfest, just to spend my afternoon at an art gallery in mitte. in the evening we cooked at my sister's and i fell asleep in lichtenberg, my head full of new memories.

please listen to 'them' by nils frahm. such wonderful music.

 berlin en rose










when i arrived in berlin my sister fetched me from the bus station and we drove home through the night. we passed neukölln, where i used to live. i recognized my old washing salon, my turkish baker, the streets i walked along on a daily basis. at first i felt excited and somewhere deep inside of me something remembered that this is what i once called home. but as time moved along the feeling vanished. berlin seemed strange to me, strangely familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. sitting on the suburban train, looking outside the window, hearing those noises, that are so distinctive of berlin, seemed like an echo from a long lost time and made me feel even more at home at the place i'm in just right now. i knew i was on the right track when i left berlin.

farewell berlin














i moved out of my apartment in berlin-kreuzberg this week!

i had been living in berlin for two years and now decided to move back to bavaria. berlin is a great place to be, so many interesting people, so much to do, so much to see – almost too much. i really like the free spirit of this city but a few months ago i started to recognize that berlin didn't feel like home – and never will. it took a little time to figure that out but now i finally made the step and it feels just right.

actually i had planned to take some farewell pictures of my favourite berlin spots, but all i was doing during the last few days was packing up my stuff and putting it in boxes – a lot of boxes. it's unbelievable that there can be such a huge amount of things in such a small apartment...

above you can see some photos of kreuzberg, mitte and prenzlauer berg that i made during the berlin festival weekend this year.

i'll miss berlin, but it's good to be home, finally.