Cool hat & pendant

It seems that the universe thinks I should be beautified. Maybe that's the reason why I recently won two giveaways. Nadescha from Cheeky Apple offered a cool green hat in the Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway. She sent along a cute little green card with a red apple.

Here's yours truly wearing the new hat -- it's perfect for my green eyes!

Be sure to check out Nadescha's cool hats at her online store -- there is something for everyone!

Thanks Nadescha -- I love the hat!

Moreover, a wonderful pendant traveled all the way from Australia to Germany. Nicola from Nicola Toms Designs celebrated her 200th blog post with a giveaway. I was lucky enough to win her "Perfect Wave" pendant in one of my favorite colors -- purple! Nicola, I already got a compliment when I wore your pendant. It's truly lovely -- thanks so much!

If you now want your own pendant, please visit Nicola's Etsy store.

Grow

For Mind Wide Open's June challenge a lovely background is provided as well as the word prompt "Grow." I ended up with a colorful digital collage with a fairy-tale atmosphere:

When I grow up,

I want to be a dancer.

View the other entries at Mind Wide Open --
votes are welcome, too!

T is for Tomb Raider

It's Thursday and that means it's time for Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday once again! So what did I choose this time? Tomb Raider! Some of you may know either the computer games or the movies, but others surely haven't heard of Lara Croft yet. Oh, the many faces of Lara -- below you see her early computer game face on a duvet cover.

So what's on my Tomb Raider Things To Do Today board today? Yes, right -- post about T is for Tomb Raider at Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.

Where to start? Well, in the beginning there was the computer game. That was also my start into the Tomb Raider universe. A couple of years ago I saw the very first Tomb Raider game for a very good prize in a store. I had heard of the game before, but hadn't felt compelled to pick a copy. However, I like adventure stories à la Indiana Jones, so I thought I should give the game a try. After playing the first level, I knew that was the thing for me. From Wikipedia:

"The object of Tomb Raider is to guide Lara through a series of tombs and other locations in search of treasures and artefacts. On the way, she must kill dangerous animals and other creatures, while collecting objects and solving puzzles to gain access to an ultimate prize, usually a powerful artefact. Gunplay is restricted to the killing of various animals that appear throughout each stage, although occasionally Lara may be faced with a human opponent. Instead the emphasis lies on solving puzzles and performing trick jumps to complete each level."

In the meantime, there are nine games on the market. I like all games, but if I had to pick favorite ones, I would choose Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation which is mainly set in Egypt and Tomb Raider: Legend with its many interesting locations. In case computer games are too difficult and hectic for you, there is an alternative -- an interactive DVD called Tomb Raider: The Action Adventure for which you only need a regular DVD player. The game is based on Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness.

Now you are about to meet Lara -- I won this lifesize statue of Lara Croft when the game Tomb Raider: Legend was published. By the way, if you want to meet a hardcore Tomb Raider fan, please visit the website of Goran Agar.

It's fun to go with Lara through the seasons -- with a bat on your shoulder for Halloween or a Santa cap for Christmas. Currently, she is wearing a green cap with a white flower made by Nadescha from CheekyApple which I won in her Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway.

You see -- Nadescha's hats are for everyone!

The Tomb Raider logo on a bag.

Of course, there's a lot to read about Tomb Raider, too. I like the books which were published to accompany the movies as well as the three novels based on the computer game series. Here's the review I wrote for amazon.de of the first novel titled The Amulet Of Power -- I rated it 5/5:

British archeologist and adventurer Lara Croft is rescued from the collapsed Temple of Horus in Edfu, Egypt -- only to be attacked by two silent men in a hospital in Cairo where she recovers from her injuries. Handsome Kevin Mason Junior, a fellow archeologist, comes to her rescue again. Together they flee from religious fanatics who think that Lara has found the most powerful artifact in the world -- the Amulet of Mareish. Lara decides to search for the amulet in the Sudan where Englishman General Charles Gordon might have hidden it in the late 1800s. The dangerous treasure hunt brings Lara also to Kenya and on the Seychelles where she finally faces her biggest challenge.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider The Amulet Of Power starts where the fourth Tomb Raider video game had ended. Fans finally get to know what happened to Lara after she had been trapped in the Egyptian tomb and before she reappears in Paris to visit her mentor Werner Von Croy. Mike Resnick did a good job filling this gap, bringing Lara's character and dry humor to life. As in the video game, there are quite a few killings (people and animals), so the book is not suited for small children. The lost artifact, the exotic locations, the mystical happenings, and the ever-present danger all bring to life what Tomb Raider is all about. Even readers who haven't seen the movies or played the video games will enjoy this adventure novel with a strong-willed, smart, and witty heroine.

Another book I treasure is The Art Of Tomb Raider: Underworld. I am fascinated by the graphic art and character design of all the games, and this book makes you aware of how much work goes into each game which automatically becomes a work of art, too. Below you see a black and white sketch as well as the colored image of a Mayan style ruin.

Just as in a movie, a story board helps to visualize the flow of a scene -- here's one set in the Mediterranean. Ben Shafer, one of the artists from Tomb Raider: Underworld has fabulous concept art on his blog.

Finally, the movies Lara Croft: Tomb Raider from 2001 and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life from 2003 are probably best known. Both films are among my favorite movies -- I especially like the exotic locations as well as how Angelina Jolie brings the strong-willed heroine Lara Croft to life. Oh, and I should also mention the excellent original motion picture scores!

Inkworks has a set of trading cards for both movies. Below you see a couple of cards from the first movie which also starred Daniel Craig as Alex West.

Here are a couple of cards from the second movie which also starred Gerard Butler as Terry Sheridan.

Those sunglasses are way cool!

Oh, the clock is ticking -- I better come to an end now. Feel free to drop me a line if you also like the games and/or movies or if you give one of the novels a try.

Celebrating two years of Pink Saturday

It's already two years that Beverly organizes Pink Saturday -- kudos to her! I am glad that I came across her blog a couple of weeks ago, as I definitely enjoy coming up with new pink delights and visiting inspiring blogs from all over the world. Happy 2nd Anniversary of Pink Saturday to all of us and especially to Beverly!

Soft pink flower petals of a gebera.

What would be a party without a cake? This delicious biscuit roll with stawberry cream filling is so soft it almost melts in your mouth. It's frozen food, but couldn't be any better if it were homemade.

Now on to fun games! Have you ever tried to paint with the moon? In late March, Sheree from Raven Moon Magic posted about a blue moon -- and her joy to take unique photos. Last Monday the moon was so pretty when I looked out of my bedroom window before going to bed. I couldn't resist to take some photos -- colored pink for your delight.

I started to swing the camera around during the duration of exposure -- a new form of graffiti!

An attempt at "drawing" a heart.

Wild and crazy -- almost a butterfly!

Spiral fun!

A wider spiral.

You should give it a try, too -- it's really fun!

Finally, I want to thank Yoli from Apron Senorita, a fellow Pink Saturday lover, for the wonderful apron which I had won in her giveaway. My mom wore it today so that I could take photos to show you how truly beautiful the fabric is. Moreover, there's lots of pink! If you now want to have your own apron, be sure to visit Yoli's online store.

The first light pink bellflower of the season.

With this I want to wish you ...

... Happy Pink Saturday!

S is for Santa Fe

All I need's a few more dollars
And I'm outta here to stay
Dreams come true
Yes, they do
In Santa Fe

"Santa Fe" from Newsies,
lyrics by Jack Feldman

There are so many choices for Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday this week. S has a lot of possibilities. I thought of Santa Barbara, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Sonoma, and Silverton, but finally chose Santa Fe where "dreams come true, yes, they do." The photos below were all taken during visits in the 1990s. I really like New Mexico's capital. On my first visit in Santa Fe, there was some sort of fiesta in the city center with music and dance.

So beautiful, proud and talented!

The little girls were adorable.

One of the most famous hotels in Santa Fe -- the Inn and Spa at Loretto.

The Canyon Road is Santa Fe's art district with dozens of wonderful galleries. It's a pleasure to stroll up and down the road to see sculptures and other art objects. Don't hesitate to enter the galleries, too. You will find amazing artwork there. Below you see a statue outside the Frank Howell Gallery in Washington Avenue.

The statue in front of the New Mexico State Capitol.

On a walk in Santa Fe's city center, I saw this statue of a sleeping bear.

The Loretto Chapel.

The spiral staircase inside the chapel which is considered to be an exceptional work of carpentry. In fact, there'a a bit of mystery surrounding its construction. From Wikipedia:

"The architect died suddenly and it was only after much of the chapel was constructed that the builders realized it was lacking any type of stairway to the choir loft. Due to the chapel's small size, a standard staircase would have been too large. Historians have also noted that earlier churches of the period had ladders rather than stairs to the choir loft, but the Sisters obviously did not feel comfortable with that prospect because of the long habits that they wore. The reputed story continues as follows. Needing a way to get up to the choir loft the nuns prayed for St. Joseph's intercession for nine straight days. On the day after their novena ended a shabby looking stranger appeared at their door. He told the nuns he would build them a staircase but that he needed total privacy and locked himself in the chapel for three months. He used a small number of primitive tools including a square, a saw and some warm water and constructed a spiral staircase entirely of non-native wood. The identity of the carpenter is not known for as soon as the staircase was finally finished he was gone. Many witnesses, upon seeing the staircase, feel it was a miraculous occurrence. The resulting staircase is an impressive work of carpentry. It ascends twenty feet, making two complete revolutions up to the choir loft without the use of nails or apparent center support. It has been surmised that the central spiral of the staircase is narrow enough to serve as a central beam. Nonetheless there was no attachment unto any wall or pole in the original stairway, although in 1887 -- 10 years after it was built -- a railing was added and the outer spiral was fastened to an adjacent pillar. Instead of metal nails, the staircase was constructed using dowels or wooden pegs. The wood for the staircase cannot be found anywhere in the region. The stairs had 33 steps, the age of Jesus when he died."

In Santa Fe, you find the most interesting stores. Some of them are even interesting from the outside. The Golden Eye is a good example.

I want to end this post with the lyrics of the song "Santa Fe" by the Bellamy Brothers:

Her turquoise lips kiss me like a lover.
Her silver eyes see right through my veins.
Her Indian heart asks when I'll return to her.
Her Spanish soul begs me to remain.
And no one that I've ever known can move me like she does.
No, it's not a woman that I love.

Santa Fe Santa Fe
I have been here in your arms and now I want to stay.
Santa Fe Santa Fe
I won't sleep 'till I'm back in Santa Fe.

Her sunrise could bring light into a blind man.
Her sunset could put tears there in his eyes.
Her colors are laying there in brush strokes.
Underneath those peote skies.

The lay of the land stirs all of my emotions.
She heals me with a laid back energy.
She holds onto my broken lifeless spirit.
And molds me just like pottery.
And nowhere that I've ever been can make me feel this way.
That's why I'm going there to stay.

Santa Fe Santa Fe
I have been there in your arms, now I want to stay.
Santa Fe Santa Fe
I won't sleep 'till I'm back Santa Fe.
Santa Fe
No, I won't sleep 'till I'm back in Santa Fe.

A walk in the woods

Yesterday was Whit Monday, a public holiday in Germany. As the weather was warm and sunny for a change, it was perfect for a walk in the woods. The forest is a short five-minute-drive from my place. The first photo shows the view the car had while waiting for my return.

It's a forest right out of a Brothers Grimm fairy-tale, isn't it?

Have you ever tasted wood strawberries? They are small, but just delicious. I intend to come back when the strawberries are ripe.

The new leaves are a joy to see.

Such fresh green!

The path looked great with that pattern of light and shadows.

A view of the path through the forest.

Tree gum on a tree's bark.

A wonderful spider web -- and I didn't see the spider when I took the photo! It's on the right side in the middle -- click on the photo to see a larger version.

You almost expect to see fairies dancing in the sunshine.

A man and his dog -- the dog had much fun playing with a tennis ball, and I had much fun watching him.

The fresh leaves of a chestnut tree.

Puddle reflections.

The bark of a birch tree -- I love the white bark.

There's a fitness course through the forest. Here you can do pull-ups.