2020 – that lemon life

The Italian Flair

Hola everyone.

How are you all doing today? I hope so far you’ve had a great week and a nice Friday, considering the current situation. This just seems to never end, does it? To be honest, I’ve had quite enough of it now, Covid can really go eff off now. I’ve had to move my flight twice already and will hopefully be able to finally go back to London next Sunday (fingers crossed). I truly can’t wait to be back in my favourite city and to see my friends again, I’ve really been missing them like hell.

As probably just about everyone, I’ve been trying to stay as positive as possible. And one way I’ve been doing this is looking back on some happy moments of 2020 – because there were actually quite a lot of them, surprisingly – and I recently got the chance to go through pictures on my camera. And that’s when I saw that I still had some pictures of my holiday in Venice left on there that I had not seen before. As some of you might have read and seen in my first post about the trip that I published a few months ago, the time my mum and I got to spend in the beautiful city of Venice was one of the most amazing weeks of the whole year and I’m still so incredibly glad that we went. Definitely one of the best ideas ever.

As the pictures are so nice to look at and kinda brought me back to the trailing streets of the fantastic city, I thought it would be nice to share them with all of you, to maybe add some sunshine and Italian flair to our Friday. As always, I hope you enjoy the pictures and would love to hear your thoughts and comments. And, naturally, I wish you all a lovely weekend and thanks for reading. x

Bye 2020

2020 has been the toughest year for me to endure, for so many different reasons. It took from me what was supposed to enrich my days, my year, my life. It stole months in London from me, concerts, adventures. It took time from me, but also gave me some back in exchange. If a year could ever be described as the most chaotic ride on a rollercoaster, then it would be this one.

At the end of 2019, I had just moved to London three months beforehand, had just started at a new university, and was just about to finally grow roots in my favourite city on earth. I was running from one concert to another, also thanks to my job as a bartender at a concert venue. Obviously, it wasn’t always easy and obviously, there were things I would’ve changed, but I was probably the happiest I had been in long. 2019 filled me with an amount of love and utter happiness I hadn’t felt in a long time. I couldn’t have imagined what was about to come, what was waiting around the corner. But I was happy, that was what mattered the most. And surrounded by people that I loved more than anything else.

Now at the end of 2020, I feel like I’ve just run a million marathons at once. And still, I am here, with a smile on my face, because as with every rollercoaster, there are countless ups and downs. And let me tell you, 2020 had a lot of downs. For everyone. But it also had a lot of ups. Ups I never expected to come. Ups that make me eternally grateful for everything that happened. I’m only a few steps away from being 25 (yikes). I’ve survived a pandemic that will hopefully fuck off soon. I finally made London my home by making it my own together with the bestest friends. I’ve said yes to a lot of adventures and have said no to paths that I knew weren’t the right ones for me. I put up fights that weakened me at that moment, but that I only came out stronger from. Now I’m the owner of my music magazine, something I’ve been dreaming about for years. I’m head over heels stuck in a crush for a guy I definitely cannot have (how surprising of me). I’ve met the most incredible people, have built up the most loving friendships, and have received opportunities I wouldn’t have dared to even dream about. I feel like I have finally found myself and my place in the world (just about). I’ve changed a lot and everything around me has as well. But I’m still me, just older, maybe wiser, definitely more confident, and still surrounded by people I love and cherish more than anything.

There’s no way I can tell what 2021 has in store for me. In store for the world. The only thing I can do is hope. Hope for a better future. And a year that will give back what the last one has taken and fill my life and the planet with love and happiness. If all goes right, it will be the start of something great, a truly better future, one that I will be proud and excited to look back on when I’m old and grey. That is what I’m hoping for. To sit right here in a year, filled with even more gratitude, joy, and love.

2021, please be good.

Hola everyone. This is my take on a short essay-ish text on 2020 and the start of the new year. I can only hope that 2021 will be a lot better for all of us, so I’m staying positive all the way. How was your 2020? I hope despite all the chaos and destruction it was still nice and gave you a lot of lovely memories. I truly hope you enjoy my text and please don’t hesitate to leave your feedback and comments down below or to get in touch with me to discuss it further. And until then, I wish you all a very exciting happy new year again, an amazing week, and, as always, thanks so much for reading. x

Meet GEM

Hola everyone.

God, it’s been so long since I last wrote down those two words. Way too long, to be completely honest with you. But I guess that happens when you are in the middle of your last year at university and also doing something very important and exciting on the side – the special something that I want to tell you all about today. First of all, I want to take the time to say that I hope that you all had a lovely Christmas and that, despite all the chaos that’s happening right now, you’re having a nice time with your loved ones. I’ve been back at home in Austria for two weeks now, spending some quality time with my family, but now we’re also back to a full lockdown, so I guess we’re all in the same boat (except for a few special ones… looking at you, Australia and New Zealand). Anyway, it’s been quite nice so far, but I’m also praying that I’ll be able to go back to London once the time has come, I really miss it. It’s actually pretty cool to have not one, but two places that you can call your home. I feel very lucky. Which also brings me back to what I wanted to show you all today.

I’m incredibly proud to present to you my very own magazine – GEM. Yes, I really did it. I went and launched my own magazine, with the help of my incredible friend Lauren, who is also my co-founder and co-editor, and our fantastic bunch of super talented writers, creatives and journalists. To be honest, even while I am typing this out, I cannot believe it is really true. I can’t even begin to explain how insanely excited and thrilled I am to share this with all of you. I have been dreaming about having my own magazine for so many years now and now it’s really become true.

So far, the whole experience has been nothing short of an insane dream. All of a sudden, I have this thing that belongs solely to me and that gives me the opportunities and freedom to interview my favourite bands and to review gigs and albums and so much more. It’s become my ultimate creative outlet and basically one of the most important parts of my life – even in such a short amount of time. And I mean, I’m not going to talk around the bush for long… having freaking Wallows on our first cover and then Nothing But Thieves, my ultimate loves, on our second one is just… I mean, that’s the material my brain usually comes up with during a dream at night or when I create a nice scenario in my head during a mellow ride on the top. Basically, it’s the stuff you usually make up, not the stuff that just becomes reality all of a sudden. But now it has become reality for me and I still can’t believe I’m now living a life where I can say I’ve already interviewed most of my favourite bands, and all of that for my very own magazine. Peak craziness, I’m telling you.

Naturally, I could spend all day and night telling you about the interviews and the overall insanity of this all, but I guess that would take a bit too long for all of us. What I can say though is that I loved every single one of them and that Conor, the lead singer from Nothing But Thieves is probably the most incredible person I’ve had the honour of talking to. Best interview of my life so far, without a doubt. Which makes me even prouder to have the guys on our cover – a band that has meant so much for me for so many years already. Not to mention that their album ‘Moral Panic’ is easily the best album of the year for me. What a gem (pun not intended… or maybe, yes).

As with all things that take up such a big part of your life, the magazine has kept me and Lauren busy all throughout the past months and also through the Christmas holidays, but it’s always been good busy. Of course it can sometimes get a bit much, especially if the world around you has been in flames for way too long, but I would never complain about the magazine. It means way too much for me to do that. And now that our second issue has been out for a month, we’re already busy working on the upcoming one, which will be out at the end of January. I already can’t wait to share it with the world and every single one of you, it will be a great one.

And now the moment has finally come for me to share the magazine with you all. The excitement is real, honestly. First of all, here are the links to our website, our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. And here is the link to where you can read our latest issue online and here is a link to our shop where you can buy a print copy of the magazine if you would like to support us or if you are just a paper person, like me.

I truly hope that you like the magazine and enjoy reading it just as much as I do. Naturally, I would absolutely love to hear what you think, so please don’t hesitate to leave your feedback and comments down below or to get in touch with me to discuss it further. I’m excited to hear from you. And until then, I wish you all the best time and already a very exciting happy new year. Let’s hope 2021 will be a lot better than 2020 in a whole bunch of aspects. And yeah, sending you all the tightest hugs and, as always, thanks so much for reading. x

Hello 2020

Hola everyone.

Happy new yeaaaar. (Oh my god, I’m so late, I can’t even believe it.) I hope you all are doing good and that you had a fantastic Christmas break and a great New Year’s Eve/Day and so on.

First of all, I want to apologize for being gone for so long. Like many others, I went home for the holidays and thus didn’t really have the time to focus on this blog. I mean, I’m sure I could’ve just posted some stuff, but this blog means way too much to me to post some mediocre content just for the sake of uploading something. That’s definitely not what this blog is about. But now that I’m back in London, I finally have the time again to sit down and write again.

As a little update on my behalf – the time I got to spend at home was absolutely fantastic. I mean, it was so lovely that for the first time in forever, I actually feel a bit homesick now that I’m back in the UK and away from home and my family. That’s how beautiful it was. I met up with my friends and my family, celebrated Christmas and New Years with them and went on a short holiday to Croatia with my parents and Molly. I fell asleep on the couch watching a movie with Peaches in my arms, went on countless walks with my mum and Molly, won and lost at card games, cooked delicious meals for my parents and overall just had a really really nice time. I really love my home. And I can’t wait to go back again in March.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that I’m not happy to be back in London after that month at home. Not at all. I think it will just take a bit of time for me to get into my routine here again. Go back to uni and work. Meet up with my friends and go to the cinema together. All the stuff I couldn’t do while being at home. And I truly am looking forward to the upcoming few weeks and months. I love it here, I really do. And I’ve already got so many exciting adventures and events planned, that there isn’t even any other option than to fully enjoy my time in London.

These plans also include this blog, which I really want to get rolling again now that I’m back. I still owe all of you my list of my favourite songs of 2019 and I’m thinking about doing a cute, little “goodbye 2019”-post, to basically reflect on the year and talk about the good (and bad) stuff. So I’m definitely going to write that. And maybe I’ll write a little thing about Tom’s gig that I went to at the beginning of December, the day before I went back home, which, unsurprisingly, was absolutely fantastic. Tom really never fails to blow me away.

Regarding today’s post, the one you’re reading right now (thanks for being here, btw), I thought it would be nice to just welcome the new year in. 2020 has arrived and with it a lot of things to look forward to, but also a few things that I would rather not have in this world. Australia is on fire, the USA (Trump) is trying very hard to start a fight with Iran and other countries and besides that, there’s just a lot of stuff happening that definitely doesn’t put a smile on my face (or any face, really). And I know that might make everything and the start of 2020 look a bit dark, but especially in situations like these, it’s crucial to focus on the good stuff. On all the things that actually do make you smile. The ones that are worth thinking of. Naturally, it’s very important to not just ignore today’s issues, but there are still ways to think positive while dealing with them. For example, I donated some money to the Wildlife Rescue Center in Australia. And the moment I did it, it lifted my heart a bit, because I was at least trying to help. So no matter how bad it might seem, there are always ways to help and make things better. And that’s kind of also my mantra for 2020 – to focus on the good stuff and try to do good as well. Say no to bad vibes. Or at least try to turn them into good ones.

I truly hope that you are all doing good and that you’re as excited for this year as I am. And maybe also for the comeback of this blog after the short hiatus. I am incredibly happy to be back and I can’t wait to continue sharing my adventures, stories, and thoughts with you guys. 2020 is going to be a blast, I can already feel it. So let’s all make sure it really will be. As always, I’d be super happy to hear from you, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch. And, of course, I hope you enjoyed this post, wish you a nice week and thanks for reading. x