How to be a Man Magnet

Hello, my dears! Have you missed me? I certainly missed you and to be honest part of the reason for my absence was the simple fact that my old (work) computer was on its last legs and I couldn't edit photos any more. Not that I ever post at work or something. Ahem.  It's been quite an eventful couple of weeks. Then again, it hasn't really. I guess it's all relative. So, what have I done? Well, the odd business trip, flying visits by some of my favourite faraway-friends, including the Australian, a bit of baking (one pro of the cooler weather), being happy that Pumpkin Spiced Lattes are back at Starbucks and wearing a dirndl dress for the first time EVER in my 42 years last night. I'm the one in the middle in "innocent" pink and baby blue the picture above.
To give you some context, I grew up in a part of Austria, where it is very common to have owned or at least worn a dirndl at some stage of your life. Why? Well, Carinthians pride themselves of being quite musical and singing in a choir is very poplular in the South (me, I can't sing to save my life, ask any of my friends!). If that choir happens to be one specialising in traditional Carinthian songs, you wear a dirnd on stage. Also, if you ever worked as a waitress at fairs or oktoberfest-type events, you will have needed a dirndl. Having fallen into neither of these categories and being the daughter of rather nonconformist parents, I just never had the need to wear a dirndl, neither the desire. As I grew up, I also got to develop a somewhat snobbish attitude, suspecting most people sporting "traditional" outfits of being right-wing. Aaanyway. When one of my colleagues initiated an office outing to Wiener Wiesn, Vienna's answer to Munich's Oktoberfest, I realised that the time had finally come to invest in a dirndl. Besides, you know me and how I jump at any excuse to buy a new dress. Well, this time I decided to be economical and searched on Willhaben, the classifieds portal that I had previously only used as a seller, or rather donator, giving away furniture and random stuff for free. I bought the dirndl above for EUR 35 (!) plus another, more "modern" one in hot pink with a green apron, for EUR 40. Not bad, eh? Both fit me perfectly, so I was really happy with my impulse buys. I also conjured up a nice plaited updo in the office toilet, so really looked the part.
One thing I realised was that many men seem to have a dirndl fetish! No, really. Trust me, in civilian clothes, I am not the type of woman who gets chatted up by men when going out. Maybe I radiate arrogance, maybe I am just not many men's type, but it is a fact. In my new-found "Heidi-mode", not only was I showered with compliments by colleagues, and friends who saw pictures, I was asked to dance by a Canadian tourist who kept telling me I looked "absolutely beautiful" (and he wasn't even THAT drunk) plus made Icelandic (!) friends at Volksgarten where we ended up afterwards, to name just some examples of my sudden pulling power. Let me tell you, I am beginning to understand why these events with "traditional" dress-code are so popular! You'll find me wearing a dirndl for the rest of the year, 'kay!

Alive and Kicking

image from pixabay.com

For the past few months, I've been pretty good at posting every other day. As most bloggers, I often prepare several posts in advance. Ever since my most recent (rainy) holiday, I haven't been able to keep up this frequency. Not because of any special occurrence or some moodswing, really, just because I had the urge to spend as little time in front of my Macbook as possible. A brutal backpain (going to have that checked out tomorrow) reinforced this desire and so I'd like to ask you to bear with me until I'm in a blogging mood again. Right now, I'm in a baking mood (yay!) and also have tackled several domestic chores that I'd been good at pushing faaar away for too long. I'm as (hyper-) active on Instagram as ever, so either follow me there directly @wastingmytalent or take a peek at the sidebar widget here. See you soon!

First Sushi...then

Just because I don't post about hauls that often doesn't mean I have sworn off shopping. Oh, no! [Insert evil chuckle here]. Today is the typical example of my (at least) weekly routine. First meeting the PP's Sis for sushi at the fish counter of Meinl and eating the exact same thing as always (me: Sake California, her: Mango California), then accompanying her to Gratwohl bakery for her dessert-fix, then accompanying her back to her office (literally a stone's throw from mine), then deciding there's too much left of my lunch hour to return to the office and typically going to COS. Today, I only bought - electric blue - socks there, but on my way back spotted a cute little ring at New One and bought this "pretzel heart" as a little midweek-treat for myself. Besides being pretty and fitting well into my growing collection of dainty rose-gold ings, it's also pretty symbolic as love can indeed be pretty knotted. Oh, YES!

Metropolis

Last week I was on a business trip in Warsaw. Love-hate is too strong a word, but my relationship with this most modern and "advanced" business trip destination of mine is a mixed one: I like its nice hotels and restaurants (the shops aren't too bad either!), but I have come to HATE its horrible traffic jams (apparently Warsaw is the Nr. 1 capital of Europe when it comes to road congestion) and eternal construction sites in the city centre. The Palace of Culture that is in close proximity to the Firm's office there is ugly and cool at the same time. Cool mostly at night. I always count my blessings I did not have to relocate to Warsaw when transferring to my present, CEE-centric, job-role 2.5 years ago. (Single) male expats are usually thrilled to move to the Polish capital as Polish girls have a reputation as being among the prettiest of Europe. From a female perspective I can only say that their male equivalents (mostly called Marcin, Piotr or Mariusz) would not quite be incentive enough for me...