One More Chocolate Shop....for now!

So this one is not technically just a candy or chocolate shop, but it is the chocolate and candy shop area that is located inside the department store Karstadt. (http://www.karstadt.de/) I have seen this many places over here as it seems that every big department store has one.

So, what really amazed me was the amount of each line they had of German, Austrian, Swiss, etc. chocolate lines. This wall was only Rebers chocolates; better known as the Mozart chocolates. They make those famous little Mozart balls and I just couldn't believe how much was there, especially since we aren't even in Salzburg. I mean, in Salzburg I understand that since it was his birthplace, but Stuttgart? All the way across Germany they still have this much available? Crazy. Anyway, a whole lovely wall.

Then a whole wall of Asbach and another German brand of chocolate.

Then, of course, you have to have a double sized wall of Lindt chocolates.

And then Hachez and another German brand that I can't pronounce. Okay, so I can pronounce it, I just don't know it really well. It's called Niederegger and the subtitle says Lubeck. Interesting.

And here is their truffle case. Hooray for truffles. All little round ball ones. (Mom and Dad, special note for you guys: We need to find a line of the little round ball truffles....they are so awesome.)

(Mom and Dad, special note for you guys: We need to find a line of the little round ball truffles....they are so regal and European looking. Just a thought.)

Okay, for eveyone else. I swear we will move on to something other than candy now! (:

Candy Hallway!!

Okay, as you all should know, my family does candy. So here's a post specifically about a really cool candy hallway. Literally, it's the hallway between two different parts of Breuninger department store. It's really neat and bright...oh and they carry all sorts of interesting candies.

Here are the gummies!

And they make these awesome little cakes out of the marshmallow candies they sell and deocrate them with gummies. They all have some kind of color theme or something too. Really creative and cute. Would be an excellent choice for a birthday!

Stuttgart Downtown!

So before the party I went into downtown Stuttgart for the first time alone! (Pretty exciting!) I got off at the stop right before the Hauptbahnhof which is the Schlossplatz; where the old and new castle, other cool old government buildings, the old markethalle, the saturday market, etc. all are located. First I took a few pictures of the Schlossplatz:


One of the two matching fountains mirroring the castle front:

One of the many sculptures on the main statue in the center:

A cool old building that I specifically took a picture of because I knew that mom would like the shiny gold stag on top. Looks like Jaeger....and Christmas! What a combo! (;

Here is the inside of the old Markthalle which you can read about here:
http://www.stuttgart-tourist.de/ENG/leisure/markthalle.htm


Actually, if you go here: http://www.stuttgart-tourist.de/DEU/ipunkt/webcam_schlossplatz.htm then you can see the live cam of the Schlossplatz and get the idea and view of the whole area. Cool, eh? You can see the fountains that I took a picture of and the center statue which that lady statue comes from. On the right will be the Markthalle (but I don't think you can see it because it's behind a bunch of trees) and on the left will be the golden stag building. Enjoy! I will post candy store pictures in a little bit! Well, really after my German class tonight.

Piraten Geburtstag!

On saturday, I escaped to the city for a couple of hours and then we were bombarded with six little pirates for a Piraten Geburtstag! (Pirate Birthday!) This is the invitation that I helped the kids make for the party....pretty cool I'd say.

That was part of the Schatzsuchen (Treasure Hunt, more-or-less) where there was a plank walking, a pirate skeleton to kill with water balloons, an ocean full of sharks and islands, and much more. Anyway, it wasn't too bad to have all those kids running around like pirates...it could have been way worse! (: Anyway, Jonanthan liked the cake and gots lots and lots of presents! Including a pirate sticker book (that my mom found) from me, from the states! Yo-Ho!

So, how do you make a Pirate Birthday Cake?

We're gonna find out....

First, you beg your mom for an easy recipe (in English) from the family books at home (and what she would do differently to them!). Then you take a lot of cooking stuff, two different online German to English cooking translators, an online US to Metric translator, a nifty apron (like my brother had made for me), and then you cross your fingers....

You mix all the stuff together and bake it...

Then, this is the part where I'm gonna tell you that everything went perfectly (the first time) and that it took no time at all! Oh, and it turned out looking just like the Lady Washington! Amazing....

Okay, so....in all actuality....the first cake turned out just great and even came out of the oven early and perfectly golden brown! Then, somehow, I must have turned the dial on the oven to hotter while reaching for something, or something, and so the outside was done and the inside was not. Bummer. So, I turned the oven way down and moved it to the bottom shelf where I hoped that it would quickly cook the inside without the outside burning. Well, it didn't quite work that way! But it was okay, but not perfect like the first one. Oh well.

Then, when I attached it to the first one with the chocolate frosting (that I also made from scratch), it proceeded to fall apart....taking the chocolate frosting with it. Crud. So, finally, I decided that it was just plain not gonna work, but the first cake was still good, so I took off the second one and put it aside (well, technically a lot of it ended up on the floor and counters and the rest of it ended up in Ann-Katrin and her friends' stomachs.) But anyway, no harm done. Then I frosted the entire first cake all well-and-good, but it wouldn't stand up because it didn't have the other cake to support it. Just took some interesting creativity (and a little more confectioner's sugar) to make another entire batch of frosting, this time dyed blue, and a new dish to make the ocean to hold up the ship! Woohoo. (Well, it mostly works. Meh.) Then I decorated and decorated and decorated! Hooray! My favorite part. I made waves around the boat, pirates and cannnon candles for the side! And even a mermaid for the front! And I gotta say....for a novice making a cake for a 5 year old boy, it's pretty impressive....See?

And I Bought Something....

I bought something that I totally didn't really need....on one hand, I shoudn't have gotten it because it's kinda big and I'm curious as to how I will get it home....and on the other hand, it's perfect(!) and I should have bought the second one!! So, you see my dilemma there?

It may not look like much to you...I don't know....but to me it's perfect! It is kinda big though....but oh well, I may have to ship it home.....I'll get over it! (: And I can enjoy it in my room here for a year before I bring it home to go in my kitchen. So perfect!

Day-Trip to Degerloch, Deutschland

So, I got away for a day to see some new sights! I only went to the next town over and only for a couple hours, but it was in between school, kindergarten, swim lessons, Jonathan's birthday plannning, cupcake baking, and so many other things...so I'm pretty impressed. It's just a little village called Degerloch that is located just in between here and the main city of Stuttgart. There is basically just one street of any "shopping," but it was nice to get out of the house anyway. Now I will show you around! These are just some cool buildings from around town with various shops in the bottom and such.

First Week Almost Over!

Okay, so the first week of being an actual au pair has almost finished....actually in just a couple hours Ralf and Anette will be home and I will be home free for the weekend!

The kids and I have successfully played pirates, practiced speaking German and English, gone to guitar and flute lessons, made lunch, played Mario Kart, made invitations for Jonathan's pirate themed birthday party in a couple weeks, made chalk paste to fill the wholes in the street, and several other things this week....and it's all gone well. Next week, we add swimming and qymnastics lessons so that should be exciting! Actually, it's funny. The kids are perfect angels in the daytime, when I am here with them. They only act out at night when the parents get home! Lucky for me! Maybe it's because they know that I will not understand what they are throwing a fit about anyway, so there is no point in throwing one in the first place!

I'm very sorry that all I have posted so far are boring pictures of this little town and writings about the kids! But I promise that there are all sorts of exciting things coming up that I will be all-over blogging about! Oktoberfest is in only a couple weekends and I will be there...which means, of course, that you all will be coming too! Then there will be good pictures and, I'm sure, exciting blogging. That weekend I will actually be going over to Lena's (outside of Munich) early because it is a three-day-long, holiday weekend. So the whole weekend will be travel and festivities! It's actually been pretty boring thus far for me too. But what can I say, my job is to be here for the kids. And just think of all the time I have had to be creative and do art! I've used it wisely, I promise. I've also done some research for college stuff for when I get back. So it's been good to have time.

Tomorrow I get to go into the city (Stuttgart) and go shopping! Hooray!!! Out of the house! So, sunday I can tell you all about that!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

My street....isn't that cute...Spitzkrautweg?

And there is the actual street, all the houses look almost exactly the same on the outside.

And the front door.....I like all the ivy everywhere.

And the neighborhood kitten who is darling.

Some New Pictures of Plielingen...

Techically, that is the grocery store, Edecke, back there in the corner, where I walk every day.



I just took a picture of this because it says Bezirk! Haha, Bezirk!? (Yeah, that was for you Garrett!)

Okay, I know, the next one is just a toilette, but go with me for a moment here. It's actually kinda interesting. It is located right on the sidewalk, on the round-about, in the middle of this section of town, and you have to pay to use the bathroom! 30 Euro cents which is like 45 American cents....hey, you know, that a pretty good deal, I've had to pay up-to like 1,20 (which is like $1.80) just to use the restroom in Munich! Crazy, huh? (Told you that it was kinda interesting!)

Pictures from Monday, Sept. 8th, 2008

Okay, now for the pictures that I promised. The university park...


The exotic plant garden. You know, I'm tiny and all, but now I know how Thumbelina felt, I could have slept in those leaves....


A red squirrel.....see Garrett? A German squirrel just for you! Actually, the darn thing was adorable, it looked at me and started watching me as soon as I took the first picture of it. Then I said hello to it when it ran up the tree and as soon as I talked to it it started this cute little chortling noise...so cute!

The big, round sculpture thing I was talking about...

And here, now I remember why I came here in the first place....this is why:

That is Plielingen (outside of Stuttgart) where I am living.... so awesome.

First Real Au Pair Day!

Okay, so since nobody is online to talk to yet, because it is only 9 am there, and the kids are outside playing still, I will go ahead and write about today. Today was the first day of real au pair work and actually had to take care of the children alone. Started out this morning waking up a little late, but it was no big deal. I helped Ralf get Jonathan ready to go to his first day back at Kindergarten and then take him there. Then I got myself ready for the day and tidied the children's rooms and toys. Then I did my laundry (I made the machine work on the first try!) and then I did the dishes (also, made the machine work on the first try!!). Woohoo! Going pretty well so far.

Then I went grocery shopping for lunch and was back earlier than when Ann-Katrin came home from school. I made a lovely fruit salad to go with lunch. Then I waited for Ann-Katrin to come home. When she got here, I made pasta with fresh parmesan and she liked it. I've haven't seen either Jonathan or Ann-Katrin eat any cheese up until now so I was really hoping that would go over okay. And it did! She cleaned her plate! Hooray! Then, she did her homework while I put the dishes away and hung my laundry to dry on the backporch. I also vaccuumed the kid's rooms and everything else that Anette asked me to do.

Then it was time for Ann-Katrin's first day of guitar lessons. I was a little bit worried about that because neither us of had ever met the teacher, but she spoke English. So it was just fine and I took a walk through a beautiful park that is connected with the University of Hohenheim (I believe) that is right here. (Btw, the park was gorgous and there is this huge hill with a kind of sculpture, relic, stone column thing. It's not old, it's actually rather new, but it's still pretty and I have pictures of it to come.) Then we came home from lessons and she went right outside to play with the other kids on the block. Jonathan got home soon after that and did the same thing. And they have been outside ever since!

I was really suprised....everything went off without a hitch! What a perfect first day

....and I was worried.....bah! (:

Weindorf Festival

Example of one of the restaurants...

And the whole row of them...

And Ann-Katrin and me!

The Weekend...

So, the morning was rather successful on saturday. I actually played a board game with Oma and the kids and pretty much understood all that was going on! The game was almost just like Sorry!, so understanding the game wasn't too hard, all I had to do was watch and listen carefully. It was nice to be able to do something with them and not just sit and watch.

Then it was time for our shopping trip to Stuttgart to get Ann-Katrin's new guitar. Because it was the saturday market, we had to park far away from the main shopping area in a Parkhaus (parking gargage) and go under the street to get to that side. What's really interesting is that on one side of the street is the beginning of a department store called Breuninger and you go under the street in a candy store-hallway and then into another part of the store. Apparently, there are four seperate buildings that are all connected with hallways and all the same store. Weird, eh?

So, back to the candy hallway....yes, it's a candy hallway. Not a store, but a hallway. Technically it's a candy store, but it's the hallway that leads from one of the buildings to another. It's very bright and they carry a ton of very out-there candies. Both Ann-Katrin and Jonathan got a bag of candy, but I will have to go back and explore that more when I have time to look at everything and take pictures! Breuninger has many different labels and expensive designers, like a usual department store, but they also have designer dirndls (the traditional dress from Southern Germany and Austria). They have ones made to look like peacock feathers and on and on. So cool....and expensive! If you go to their website (http://www.breuninger.com/) and click on the heart-shaped cookies on the right-hand side, you can kinda get the idea.

It was also the Weindorf festival in Stuttgart. They set up little restaurant after restaurant, in booths all decorated in wine harvest decor, all over the old walking-squares and they serve all different kinds of wine from around the Stuttgart area. Oh, and lots of food too. We ate lunch there and had Zwiebelkuchen (literally like a onion quiche). Then we went to the music shop and got the guitar and a pretty bright blue case for it. Then to the bookstore to get my German book. I tried to look at it ahead of time so that I could have an idea of what we are doing when class starts and, yeah, there's no English in the whole darn book. Hopefully the teachers speak English to begin with, otherwise, I'm pretty sure I'm in the wrong level! (: I have no clue where to even start!

Anette knows that I am in Interior Design school and have an interest for all sorts of those things, so she is always showing me things in their home and in books that are from famous Scandanavian designers. (Like her whole set of Arne Jacobsen #7 chairs in the dining room and so on.) She took me to an Interior Design shop in a big, fancy mall in Stuttgart called ikarus. They had some really neat, very modern design items from lighting to furniture to accessories. You can look, if you like, at their website www.ikarus.de (it's in German, but you can navigate by the pictures on the tabs, that's what I did!) In the "Suche" box, type bookworm. It's the coolest bookshelf that actually has clips to hold the books so that they go around in circles with the bookshelf. Okay, enough design talk. Other than eating dinner and being around at home here, that was pretty much it for saturday.

As for sunday, sunday's are boring! Haha. It's just that everything is closed on sunday. I guess that a few tourist things are open, but most things are not. It's actually controlled by the government here as a day of rest for everyone, so no one is allowed to work. Anette said that you aren't even allowed to remodel or work on your yard because it might make a bunch of noise and disturb your neighbors on their day of rest. So, we stayed home all day. But, I got unpacked the rest of the way and then Anette and I took a walk so that she could show me more of the area. So, I guess it was ok. Then waffles for dinner and a call home!

My Little Apartment...

So let's see...things have gotten much better since I last wrote on Friday. I still can't speak German, but whatever! (; I will be starting German classes in a couple weeks and then things will get better. I have some pictures of my room now and I even know how to post them. So, here we go:

My porch/entrance and my own little table and chairs...

My outlet...(I just put this here because it's weird for people who haven't seen them before...so I thought I would share...)

My mini-kitchen...

My room...

There we go....that was my little apartment! That's it for this post...

Au Pair Family....for those of you who haven't seen...

This is my au pair family: Anette, Jonathan, Ann-Katrin, and Ralf (in order)

That way, you will have a face to go with the name! (:

I'm Here!

I am now in Germany and kinda, sorta settled. The house is great and has a very Danish/Scandanavian/German style because Anette is actually Danish. I have my own little apartment in the basement that looks like a page in the Ikea catalog! It has it's own bathroom and even a little kitchen, although I wont be using it much because I eat upstairs with the whole family. It also has a seperate entrance with a little porch and chairs. Pretty neat for them to have all those things for their au pair. If I can figure out how, I will post pictures up here soon! (;

The kids are rather cute. I feel bad because I don't really know what to say to them though. By the time that I look up a word or two to make a sentence or ask them a question, the opportunity has passed and they are onto something else (that I also don't know how to say in German!) I can understand some of what their German Grandma says; at least enough to say ja or nein in response. She's staying here to look after the kids so that I can get situated and until they start school again next week. I can also understand some of what the children say, but Jonathan, the almost 5 year old boy, slurs alot and uses his pouty voice...which if there was any hope of me understanding him before, it goes completely out the window when he is pouting. He is upset that mostly the children on the block are Ann-Katrin, his 9 year old sister's, age and therefore are not interested in playing with him for very long. He's totally okay with playing with them because he just wants the company, but, of course, they want to do big-kid things without him. Ann-Katrin is sweet and sort of a little-mini teenager. She say's that things are "cool" all the time and it's very cute. Hopefully I will be able to manage them better when they are in school. They have lots of activities during the week and Jonathan is at school almost all day, so that should make it easier. Plus, he'll be happier when he has school friends to play with again. Hooray for kindergarten!

I have wanted to give up pretty much all day, everyday. I have no idea what I was thinking in choosing to do this. I feel bad that they are spending so much time, energy, and money on someone who can't even speak to their children! I'm excited to learn German because I think that will be a very helpful skill to have later in life for travel, business, and what have you, but I don't know how I am going to be helpful to them when I can't figure out how to communicate. I am really hoping that it will get better when I am a little bit more adjusted to the time change. Right now though, I am very tired and I am finding it very hard to stay awake for a whole day! I got up a little earlier today but now all I want to do is sleep.....where is my Starbucks when I need it so bad?! Haha. Cross your fingers for me that I can stay awake till dinner!

I had my first little shopping trip today. I walked with Jonathan and Oma to the grocery store right after breakfast, but all I did was look around. I will figure out how to talk to people at the grocery store....at a later date.....I hope. (: After that though, I walked, all by myself I must add, to the little toiletries store in the area. It wasn't too bad, although, I must have stared at what I believe was the aisle of shampoo for 30 minutes before I chose one. Hopefully I did okay! They had pretty much everything I needed (And Daddy, they had several different kinds of Q-Tips, a little expensive, but they had them nonetheless! And, in a cute little container!! (: ) They didn't have any make-up powder, but perhaps I can get that in Stuttgart tomorrow. Tomorrow we are going to get Ann-Katrin's new guitar for her lessens that start on Monday. We are also going to go to this fancy shop that I read about online, Merz und Benzing http://www.merz-benzing.de/ and go to the book store to buy my German book for my German lessens that start the 25th of September. (Oh yeah, did I mention that I tested into the 2nd level of German? I'm not a complete idiot I guess!)

Anyway, that was probably more than any of you ever wanted to know and I am going to have a cappuccino with Oma! I will write more very soon!

Cori