♫♪ it’s beginning to look a lot like christmas ♫♪

Just a few personal pics from around the city that we’ve taken the last week or so…it’s so magical around here this time of year! I hope it’s just as lovely wherever you are 🙂

(photos by jetsetbarbie)

hide your kids: krampus is coming!

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(personal photo from a Krampus mask stand at Karlsplatz)

Christmas time is often referred to as “the most wonderful time of the year.”  However, in Austria (and other parts of Europe), the holiday season would not be complete without a creepy and scary tradition known as Krampustag.  Krampus is a mythical figure that resembles the devil or some other demon that accompanies St. Nicholas to punish ill-behaved children.  Just take a look at some of the pics above and you”ll realize that Krampus does not mess around.  Scary, right?!  Many villages and small towns still celebrate this dark custom with adults dressing as demons and traveling through streets with torches, whips and chains.  My fiancé’s mom says she still has nightmares about this holiday tradition and it’s easy to understand why!  You can read more about the holiday here and here.

Want to celebrate Krampus day in a less scary way this year?

(send postcards  to family and friends)

(bring cake pops by Karin D. to your next holiday party)

The top city to live in is…Vienna!

“For the third successive year, Vienna was ranked number one as European cities claimed more than half of the top 25 positions in Mercer’s 2011 Quality of Living index, which awards points for a range of criteria, including political and economic stability, culture, health and sanitation, quality of schools, public services and housing.”- Paul Armstrong, CNN

Even though I’ll be moving back to the US in just a few short months, Vienna will always feel like a second home.  It is with great pleasure that I share this wonderful news with you 🙂

For the full article, head on over to:  The top city to live in is … – Business 360 – CNN.com Blogs.

turkey day.

As an expat, it’s very important to me to keep up with my favorite American traditions and holidays while I’m away from home.  This picture is from the Thanksgiving dinner the Austrian and I prepared together last year and I have to say, we did a pretty good job.  This year, we’re preparing a big Thanksgiving feast for his whole family on Saturday.  Hopefully everything turns out as great as it did last year.  *fingers crossed*  Happy Thanksgiving!

froyo in wien!

As an American living in Vienna, I can tell you that while ice cream and gelato options are in no short supply, what I was really missing was frozen yogurt.  The bf’s family and I even toyed around with the idea of opening our own froyo shop but ultimatley decided against it as we werent sure the idea would really catch on here enough to be profitable.  So, imagine my surprise when not one but THREE new frozen yogurt shops have popped up in the last month or so!

Kurt Pure Frozen Yogurt is located in the 1st district right by the Artis International Cinema-  The location is fabulous (probably the best of the 3) and the store itself is super cute.  One of the owners is a woman from San Diego, California and you can definitely see the Cali influence in the interior design.  The bf, my mom (who was in town visiting) and I stopped by last week to check it out.  Unfortunately for me, they do not carry any soy or lactose free options, so I was unable to try anything.  However, both the bf and my mother were very impressed. and said theirs were delish.  The store also offers a nice customer loyalty program.  If you collect enough of the little discs (pictured below on the side of the yogurt cup) you will get a free froyo.

For those that understand German, you can read a more in depth review on a fellow blogger’s site, here.

The other two stores I have heard of are Foxy Frozen Yogurt and YOKUH.  I have yet to visit them but their homepages look promising.  I am hoping for at least one place to have a soy/lactose free option so that I am able to eat some too 🙂

It will be interesting to see how these shops cope with the cold winter months!

Hello world!

Welcome to my blog!  I’ll be posting about my adventures (and the eventual mishaps!) in traveling, baking, fashion and life as an expat in Vienna.  Now,  let’s get this show on the road…