My guy is so cute!

 

Buying electronics that make life easier

Over the weekend, Martin and I ended up getting a 23″ monitor and it is SOOOOOOOOOOO much nicer to work on!

Like right now I have my law paper opened (maximized) right next to my browser, which of course was impossible to do on my little 10″ netbook. This will make reading and writing a lot easier, and I’m actually excited to work now. We also bought a full sized keyboard to go with it. Huge difference. Very very grateful.

Another over the weekend purchase was a food processor!! We bought it second hand, and we got it for really cheap, probably because the picture the seller posted was so bad. It was sold to us by a guy our age, who said he got it as a gift and moved it from place to place but never used it (was still in all original packaging), so finally put it up for sale. Him and his girlfriend looked so happy to sell it to us, and we were so happy to buy it. That’s why it’s so fun buying second hand.

We put the food processor to use almost immediately. I had been wanting one but decided not to bother, since it’s an extra device to schlepp around. I like to be a minimalist, but so many of my vegan recipes require a food processor, and I wanted to give it a try.

I made vegan cheese (like the kind you put over nachos) out of cashew nuts, and it tastes SOOO good. Had to hunt down this special nutritional yeast, which I found at a health food store near our flat! It gives a cheesy taste and I’m so glad I could find it. We also made ice cream out of frozen bananas and berries, and I’m relieved I can make my own pesto again and not have to rely on the store brands (most of which have added cheese).

Later I will use our new processor to make vegan ricotta cheese, which is made out of tofu, cauliflower, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt and pepper. I’ve made it before but didn’t use a food processor or the nutritional yeast, so I’m excited to see how it goes this time around. I use it for my vegan lasagna, and I know it’ll be amazing.

It’s really fun making vegan food! I thought I would find it overwhelming, but I researched some books and bought 2 vegan cook books with the amazon gift certificate my classmates gave me for my birthday, and the books have become a HUGE vegan support for me.

When I have more time, maybe I’ll turn this blog into a vegan in Germany food blog (as suggested by Steph!). That would be fun. But right now I have no time for taking pictures and dealing with uploading and all that. So, text it is!

On Personal Finance

I’ve thought before that I wanted to turn this blog into a personal finance blog, since I‘m pretty into it and most of my favourite blogs are PF blogs written by young women. But, I quickly learned that I would rather blab about myself in here than write about money. While I am comfortable talking about money, writing about it is a lot of work. So when I found this questionnaire off of Girls Just Wanna Have Funds, I thought I would answer it as my PF contribution. Also so you can see a snapshot of what it’s like to live abroad whilst balancing things financially. Cuz it’s pretty interesting stuff, right?

• I think money is?
  A tool for independence that can grant me the freedom to say yes (or no) to opportunities. 

• Spending money is hard/easy for me because?
  Right now, spending money is very hard for me because I don’t earn an income. I’m a grad student with no time to do paid-work. Otherwise when I’m earning a regular income, spending money is not hard. I do tend to be more of a saver than a spender, and Martin doesn’t believe me when I tell him I can spend. But he will get the shock of his life one day when I revert out of ‘broke grad student’ mode.  I warn him but he just ignores me.

• The biggest waste of money is?
  Fast food.

• The best investment of money is?
  To invest in yourself. Whether that’s through education, entrepreneurship, your own health, learning new skills… something that you can use to improve your quality of life.

• I have [ ] in personal debt.
  $0. Like most students, I had several thousands of dollars in student debt but I worked 1-4 jobs at a time to pay it off before graduating – which means I also paid $0 in interest. Sometimes I regret working that hard, even though I now reap the benefits of being debt free. It’s all about a balance though, and were I to do it again, I would gladly graduate with debt.

• I use credit cards for?
  Booking things online. These days it has been mainly travel related, but when I lived in Toronto, I used my credit card to pay rent, so I could delay payments by an extra month and also to get points for ‘free’ groceries.

• I think car loans are?
  Not for me. I’m one of those city people who aspire to live without a car, so I find cars really annoying to deal with. If I had to buy a car though, it would be something I could buy in cash. My first car was a 1992 Toyota Tercel that I bought for $2,000 when I was 23. It was SUPER CUTE. Of course this assumes that I don’t need to rely on a car, which I hope I won’t ever because I love city living!

• Saving up to buy big ticket items is?
  A good idea. My big ticket ‘items’ are more experience based. e.g. I would rather go travelling than buy a car. So far I’ve visited 23 countries and counting, which is more valuable to me than owning a vehicle.

• My savings plan is?
  Simple and effective. I pay myself first, so to speak. I don’t deal well with complicated budgets or keeping track of all my expenditures. Instead, I keep a float in my account that is enough to cover all my expenses for the month, and transfer the rest to savings. It’s a bit like automatic savings, but I don’t do it automatically, I do it manually.

• My retirement plan is?
  Non-existent. Crazy huh? It didn’t make sense for me to open a retirement account, so I didn’t. Instead, I’m soon opening a tax free trading account which will stand in as my retirement account until it makes sense otherwise. It’s just annoying to deal with all this stuff while I’m abroad.

• I hope my spouse is a: saver, spender, somewhere in between.
  A Saviour Saver. keke. But not an over saver. Spending is important too, but spending more than you make or living pay cheque to pay cheque is too stressful a lifestyle to sustain. I know because I’ve done it.

• On a scale from one to ten, financial security is [ ] in importance to me.
  TEN. When you’ve been financially insecure then you never want to feel that way again.

• I want to save up to buy a?
  Flat in a the city. Paris anyone?

• The kind of house I want to own someday is?
  I’m not sure I want to own a house, that depends on where I will live. But, if I had to own a house for some reason, I would want to own a small one in the city. The city part being the important part. I would rather have a functional small space than a whopping big space. Cleaning is not my forte. P.S. I also think owning property is not a necessity, as renting is pretty awesome too and even makes more financial sense in most cases.

• Other items I hope to own are?
  One day I hope to own real estate around the world. By around the world I mean in places that I like to visit/live. So Hong Kong would be a good one, since I have family and residency there. I mention Paris because I love Paris, and have dreams of actually living there one day (which is not so far fetched as I live a 3 hour train ride from Paris right now – so I’m getting close!). For some reason, I’m also thinking that having a little chalet in The Alps would be nice too. But who doesn’t think that? lol.

• Charities I want to contribute to are?
  Charity:Water and Kiva.Org.

It’s Valentine’s Day!

I only realized it was Valentine’s Day when I emailed Martin at work to semi-complain about the slow internet I’m experiencing (due to using up all my bandwidth for the month). He wrote back to assure me that the slowness will only last for today, since tomorrow is February 15th which starts a new internet billing cycle.

When I saw that, I was like “OMG, today is Valentine’s Day!“

Germans don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, so it’s easy to forget. There aren’t red and pink hearts everywhere to guilt people into consuming.

Now, I am a big fan of Valentine’s Day. I love celebrating love! But not in a couple-y romantic way and definitely not in a consumerist way. I love celebrating love because there are many people I love and appreciate – not just my romantic partner. I love to be reminded to take some time to focus on that love, because it is an honour to do.

Romantic love is just a type of love that gets way too much attention and is also conceptualized in a way that I find harmful to young girls. So, let’s focus on the broader aspects of LOVE today, not just romantic love. Love between friends, family, animals, the environment, social causes, your community, world peace – and loving yourself to shreds! That all has a place to reflect and to celebrate on this fine February 14th day.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY TO YOU!!!

<3 Jessica

Impressions of Rome

• Massive architecture
• Is not as expensive as people think
• Can be done on a budget
• Friendly and welcoming people
• GOOD LOOKING men
• Gentlemanly men (we weren’t leered at)
• Felt safe
• Delicious food
• Easy to get around but hard to navigate
• CRAZY traffic
• A super fun place!
• Nice for romantic getaway
• Nice for adventure-filled trip with gf’s

Also, here are some pictures. My gf sent them to me so I don’t have to go through the trouble of downloading and selecting them. Wheee!!

Colosseum:

Spanish steps:

A Fiat 500, aka my dream car:

Finitura!

It’s true that all roads lead to Rome

Helllooooo. I just got back from Rome yesterday, and can barely believe I was even there!

It has been a stressful time with school, but my gf’s and I had been planning a Rome trip for a while, and were determined to have some fun.

I wasn’t expecting much from Rome. I just thought it would be a beautiful place and a good backdrop to unwind with gf’s. If not for my gf’s really desiring Rome, I doubt I would have picked it myself. It’s just wasn’t high on my radar.

But I’m so glad I went to Rome because it was an INSANE experience, that literally made me want to cry. Dramatic much? I know. That’s exactly how Rome is. For sure I was expecting to see beautiful spaces (this is Europe after all!), but what I wasn’t prepared for was the sheer vastness of the ancient Roman empire [the remnants].

I know the empire was far reaching. This whole region of Germany that I live in was once occupied and heavily shaped by the Romans. I even live a 10 minute walk to Roman ruins that I pass by and think “oh, that’s cool“. So what is the big deal about actually visiting Rome?

It’s a huge f#*$@ing deal!! Literally.

My idea of vastness was Hong Kong and New York City. Now it is Rome.

I stood by the Pantheon, the Colosseum, the ruins, the churches, and thought…. O. M. G. My little brain was having trouble computing how big these structures were and how small I was in comparison. And not just big, but also stunningly gorgeous.

I was in awe. But in a different way than in other beautiful cities like Vienna or Prague or Budapest

Rome was crazy and serious. We were standing right in the centre of a once very strong and powerful Roman empire. It made our heads spin.

We also visited Vatican City and it was equally as mind blowing. I saw the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica, and I had to stare at everything because I couldn’t take my eyes away.

Ahhh, it was all SO COOL.

The food was also delicious, and not too hard to dine vegan. I ate a lot of mariana pizza, penne arrabiata, and gelato with no milk.

While I was still IN Rome, I was already making plans with Martin to go back. He needs to see it, I said, and the best is in the winter time before all the tourists flock there. Tourists=annoying, even though I am one! keke.

We were thinking of going at the end of February, for a long weekend. But Martin has some business trips coming up that could very well cancel our Rome plans last minute. Plus Martin gets his energy from nature, not from cities like I do. So running off to Rome in between business trips is not his idea of rest and relaxation. *cries*

It’s okay, we’ll book early and go next winter when we both have more time. I know I need to go back! Now because of Rome, I also want to see more of Italy and wouldn’t mind going to Athens to see ancient Greek ruins either.

Too bad I wasn’t one of those focused types who could write a whole thesis from a beach or something. That would be so lovely!