It has been two month since our last virtual coffee date so about time we meet up again. Today we are bigger group so we occupy a whole section of a cozy coffee shop. There are some new faces among us (hi new readers) and I am happy to meet you and have a chat.
If you and I had coffee…
I would introduce myself. I am Tobia, living in Berlin, Germany’s capital and have been writing this blog since January 1, 2013. In 2017 I have joined San in the NaBloPo challenge and never stopped. I live with my husband who I have been married to almost 10 years and who I’ve been together with for 18,5 years. So almost half my life by now. We do not have kids (by choice) but I am a happy aunt to a niece and nephew and a godmother to three. I was born in the former GDR (East Germany) and I come from a very political family which has shaped me without doubt. I have two younger sisters.
Today I am working as a freelance marketing and social media consultant for different clients. My last long project was for a European logistics company operating port terminals and hinterland transportation. I also work for a gift stationary company and right now it is busy season. I have had odd jobs in my life but that is a story for another day.
Late in life I have realized I am more of an introvert than I thought and many people still think I am a very outgoing and socializing person. Which I can be but I need at least a day to recover, often longer. I love to read, craft and draw. I love a good challenge and to make plans. I don’t always follow through though.
If you and I had coffee…
…I would need to send some gratitude to all the lovely people you are in this years NabloPo community. I love all the stories and the peeks into different life styles. I have a better understanding and more empathy for so many things I would otherwise not be able to learn. I know it is tough to read so much and we are all doing our best. So thank you for ever one who stops by here. Also biggest thank you to San our host.
If you and I had coffee…
…I want to point out an issue Melissa kindly informed me about. Apparently if you would like to comment from your phone on my blog there is an error message displayed “error: please accept the privacy checkbox”. I have checked and tested and the checkbox you are supposed to check is almost invisible. It is only indicated by a tiny dot in front of the text “If using this form….” I have (not yet) any idea how to enhance this check box as I can’t find any option in my back-end. I will try to find a solution but for now if you manage to see that dot and tap it (color will change from black to blue) the comment will be send. I know, not ideal. If anyone knows how to fix it feel free to let me know.
If you and I had coffee…
…I would like to share an observation I made when we were in Mallorca last month (I know I still have to share some pictures). One day I was walking around the little stretch of beach. I was looking for nice rocks and maybe a shell and most things I found was little pieces of plastic and trash. From a far the beach looked cleaned. It was a touristy spot so it was kept. But in the rocks and when you looked closely there was so much. Once you see it you can’t unsee. It made me sad. I’ve seen the same thing here in Berlin when I walk through the forest. So many pieces of product wrapping and industrial waste. Pieces of glass everywhere. It really made me think. And every time I see it I think to myself I should have a trash bag and some gloves with me… Have you seen this in your place of living too? Do you pick up trash when you see it? Do you mind the dirt (germs?).
If you and I had coffee…
…I have to ask you if you have heard of the Blue Zones. (Blue Zones are regions where people live much longer compared to the rest of the world) I recently watched the Netflix documentary (Live to 100) and it was really interesting. I had read a book prior where they were mentioned so it wasn’t completely new but this documentary was a bit more scientific. And apparently there is a huge experiment currently underway to create a new blue zone from scratch in the US. Very interesting. This really made me think how much we not care about our body and how far removed we are from the original way of life.
If you and I had coffee…
…I will most likely need to complain a bit. We’ve moved into this home in May. One of my tasks was to find an electrician who would install all the lamps. We are able to do (all but one) by ourselves and have done so before but it would take three times as much time and effort. So we decided to outsource and hire someone. Well in May I called like everyone anywhere close by and they all said there is no availability till end of the year. Well, and then I kind of ignored the issue. It was summer, sun was up for long time… Now it is November and we don’t really have any light when coming back in the door. This week I called a list of numbers again… Well same issue. No availability, not taking. on new clients. Sigh… I am seeing myself with the ladder and the drill. Send good vibes that someone will answer my only request.
If you and I had coffee…
…I am telling you about my plan. We still need a few things for the house after our move that we have put off (bathroom furniture and lamps, household appliances, etc.) and I was thinking to be a smart shopper this year. I could make a list of all the things we would like to get and observe prices and once the Black Friday sales it the. stores I could get my stuff for cheap. I also plan on buying Christmas presents a bit earlier to save up. There have been a few times when I saw something a Black Friday sale, didn’t get it just to by days later for a regular price. But with Christmas presents I am always hesitant since I can’t exchange if it is not a good fit. Tell, are you a smart Black Friday Shopper? I am not that experienced there.
If you and I had coffee…
…I would thank you all for encouraging me after I shared my struggles with pursuing the little shop idea I had. I was finally ready to make the jump and order all the Christmas cards and have been looking into opening an Etsy shop. Well, long story short I was not able to create a printable formate the way the printer needs it from the software I created the files in. I actually bought that software as it said a printable pdf can be created. Unfortunately not if you want some embellishment. I won’t be able to recreate it in InDesign as I don’t have a software license and I dont really know (yet) how to so it. So unfortunately I have postponed it once again. Sigh. But I loved all your encouragement and I am hoping to pursue that next year. I just don’t want to stress out myself this shortly before Christmas.
If you and I had coffee…
…I share with you that I asked the husband if he would write a guest post on the blog. He was not averse to it. He just told me I need to give him a briefing as he doesn’t work without a detailed project brief. So help me out, what should he write about? And would you like to read something from him?
Our coffee date comes to an end. A few of the. group have already left, the coffees are empty and we are needing to get. back to our jobs and tasks and daily obligations. Thank you for joining again and see you in January for the next coffee date.
What would you tell me over coffee? Ever heard of Blue Zones? Are you a strategic Black Friday Shopper? Do you outsource projects/tasks you could do yourself? And have you cleaned up something others left behind to have nature breathe again?
18 comments
I have never heard of blue zones. That’s so interesting. I’ll have to look for that documentary. I like documentaries. My kids were Irish dancers and regional championships were always Thanksgiving weekend, so I never got to take part in Black Friday. It’s been a few years since Curly retired and I’haven’t shopped on that day. Maybe this year I will? If your husband writes a post, maybe he can share his upbringing, where he is from. What work does he do? How did you two meet?
Thank you Ernie for your feedback.
If you like documentaries this one is one of the better ones I think. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did when you get the chance to watch it.
Thank you for some questions for my husband. I will collect and hand them to him, well see what he says then.
I had never heard of Blue Zones, but will definitely be looking into it. What an interesting concept!
How fun that your husband will do a guest post! No idea what to ask him, though, LOL.
And I have SO MUCH empathy for you about the electrician situation! Moving is so hard, and there are so many things to take care of, it’s very hard to organize all the priorities. I hope you find someone!
It seems like sometimes you just have to release it to the universe. I just gotten a phone call and made an appointment. Let’s hope he shows up.
Yes, it would be fun to have the husband do a guest post. We’ll se if he wants to after I gathered a few questions.
It’s the first time I heard about blue zones, too. It sounds interesting and I am going to check it out.
Sorry, that opening the shop comes with these hurdles. I am sure you can figure it out eventually! Maybe not in time for this holiday season but keep us updated. You can do this!
Black Friday – sigh. I don’t like the bustle about it and it always seems like there are plenty of offers outside of Black Friday. It always tempts me to buy something I don’t really need so I am trying not to at all. But I assume it’s helpful if you look for something very specific.
I would like to learn more about your husband. Maybe he can write about something that interests him? I know, it’s pretty broad.
Sigh. Yes the whole shop thing is a bit discouraging but I am hopefully only postponing. I really want to do it.
I will take your question/suggestion and put it in the husbands brief.
Ah, that’s such a bummer… you got the push that you needed to go ahead with your shop and now you can’t get the cards printed. But I understand that you need more time to figure this out and I think it would be a great project/goal for 2024!! :) I am excited for you.
I’d love to hear from E on your blog! I’d like to know more about him, what he likes to do in his free time, what he loves about you and how he feels about your blog and blogging in general :)
The situation with the electrician would annoy me to no end. Do you have lamps you can just plug into the wall in the meantime?
Unfortuntately yes, I do notice trash in our environment and it also makes me sad…. especially knowing that people carelessly have thrown it on the ground.
Thanks for the shoutout and for being my NaBloPoMo partner-in-crime for such a long time… there were some lonely years in between there… but look at our community now!! <3
I know. I am a Little sad and also a bit mad that the cards didn’t work out. But who knows what it’s good for I guess.
We do have have light. The landlord has bulbs installed everywhere it just looks like we just moved in and isn’t pretty.
Yes there have been some lonely years doing NaBloPo. I just checked an older post and you have been the only comment.
I’ll add you question into the for the husband and we’ll see what he makes of it.
We have watched a couple of episodes of the show about Blue Zones. I loved the people in South America (or was it Central America? I don’t remember, we watched it awhile ago) with the guy who was 100 and just jumping on his horse and doing his thing. It’s a pretty interesting show. The low down seems to be that we need to eat healthfully, move our bodies, and have a good community nearby. Not a shock when you think about it.
I hate seeing litter, and yes, it’s everywhere. I hope the electrician that called you back shows up. The little box to click is indeed almost invisible, even on my laptop. I can’t imagine trying to comment on the phone. Frustrating that you can’t find a way to fix it on the back end, I hate that when I want something different on my blog and I can’t seem to make it work.
I have zero interest in Black Friday. Ugh. Too many frantic, rude people.
Yes the guy with the horse (I think it was Costa Rica) was mind blowing. So graceful. And I agree over all all things we know but don’t really take care of.
Fingers crossed for the electrician.
I think getting some lamps would be a good Black Friday Deal know. I definitely need those and getting them cheaper. Fine. I would never go into stores though. Online shopping it is.
I know fixing things in the blog is such a nuisance if you have no clue.
I’ve definitely heard of Blue Zones but I hadn’t heard about the project to create one in the US! That’s interesting. I have to look into it- I wonder where it is exactly?
I’m also loving NaBloPoMo. Like you said, so many different lives that we get a glimpse into this month! I always imagine that you and San know each other in real life- but did you just meet virtually when you started doing NaBloPoMo?
Yes look it up. It was some remote town of 25,000 inhabitants I think Nebraska maybe. I cant remember. But it is rolled out in more communities.
San and I have never met even though it sometimes feels like it. It all started through a blog clean up project in 2015 or maybe 2016. We were paired because my blog was in English and I was able to read Sans blog. We then had long email conversations about our blog and what we wanted to change and then worked on it together and gave each other feedback. Well and ever since we are blog friends. I joined San with NaBloPo in 2017 I think. So we knew each other already.
Nice to learn a bit about you, I run the Berlin marathon in 2022, really like the city.
Oh wow. Congrats. What an achievement. I’ve only ever been annoyed by the marathons as everything was locked down. I wasn’t aware and needed to go to the other side of the city so that’s my experience. Haha.
The city is a fun one to live in.
Thank you for reading
I don’t do the Black Friday shopping but these days, all the retailers are starting Black Friday deals way before the actual day, so it doesn’t matter much (at least here in the US). I also hate how early some retailers open up for Black Friday now – some even the night of Thanksgiving, which is ridiculous.
I don’t outsource much, although I’m a renter so for any apartment maintenance, I just call the maintenance team and they send someone to take care of it. I like that I don’t have to make calls myself!
It is ridiculous how much sales are going on right now. It’s here too and this Black Friday sale thing isn’t something Germany is usually into much – even though it’s coming.
But as I have a client in retail I know that business are struggling and the November numbers don’t look good. So I assume this may be the reason.
If I had maintenance team I would for sure call them too. I did. inform our landlord about a few things but radio silence. I should follow up.
I read the whole book on Blue Zones!! It was very interesting and made me start eating legumes again and validated my love for a glass of red wine once in a while. The loneliness epidemic is real- in the US seniors can become very isolated from the community and that subtracts years from one’s life.
Black Friday… Yes, I am strategic. I have my stores that I keep my eye on and already have articles in my cart. Only items that I actually NEED or WANT are purchased. For example, I need to get Christmas gifts for T, my two kids, and my kids’ teachers. I need two pairs of “teaching” pants, I want a new sweater.
The stores that I “watch” are
Etsy (Christmas ornaments, cards, hand-made anything, art prints)
Nordstroms (clothes)
Amazon (toys for the kids – about 2 each)
Sephora (skincare for my ageing face and hair)
Wow you really are strategic about it. I love it. I should have started much earlier to get this done but I haven’t. Maybe next year. But I think we scored some deals already and will watch for more. I love that you also shop etsy. I didnt know there was a Black Friday sale too.
The loneliness issue is a big thing here in Germany too. It is sad. And one thing I am thinking about as we are not having kids and I am hoping someone will come visit us/me when I am old.