12 Things To Do This Spring

 Welcome to a new post!

Spring has finally arrived, and with it my favourite season of the whole year! Even though we didn't have a deep winter over here in Germany, it is so refreshing to finally go outside with a thinner coat, the sun shining in your face, the cold breeze following it, the birds singing, all the bright colours suddenly coming on again...I am so ready for this Spring!

Sometimes though, we all don't really know what to do with our free time, and now that it's getting slightly warmer and we are all still snuggled into big black warm clothes with hot chocolate and tea, there's a lack of things to do.

Since you all seemed to absolutely love my post about Things To Do During Winter Break, I thought I might as well have to another similar post about things to do this Spring, to give you some more inspiration for this season!

1) Go on a photography adventure

In nowadays societey we spend way too much time on our smartphones, laptops etc. I am not telling you to not do that anymore, but I think we should all take some time off from time to time. Grab a camera and your coat, maybe a friend, your family or your pet and go for a walk. Go somewhere calm but nice to spend some time and take as many pictures as you can. It's a way of disconnecting from your digital life, spending some proper quality time in the nature, and that is definetely what I am going to do as well. You will thank yourself afterwards, because promise me, you will have enjoyed it!

2) Buy some flowers

Flowers are something that I have always loved, since my mum has always had some at home due to her job, hence why it's pretty ironic why every real flower I put in my room dies quicker than it should :D. But go get yourself some nice bright flowers. It will not only make your room appear more spring like, but also puts you into a better mood. It's one of those little things, that can really brighten up a day.

3) Reorganize your wardrobe

I know this sounds pretty boring, but we all have to do it from time to time in order not to go completely mad at some point because we can't find a certain dress, for example. Especially in Autumn and Winter we tend to wear a lot more dark and muddy colours, but now that everything is finally brightening up again and it's getting warmer, why shouldn't our wardrobes do that as well? It might take you a few hours but it will be completely worth it, and you will thank yourself afterwards for an organized wardrobe.

 4) Start something new

This is the point where you can get pretty creative. Starting something new could be a new notebook or a new book, but it could also be starting a certain sport or starting to raise money for a charity close to your heart or starting to train for a marathon, for example. There is plenty of things that you could do! Try to mix it up this Spring, and start something new and exiting, and it might end up being your new favourite thing!

5) Plant something

It's that time of the year where the flowers are finally showing up again, brightening the grass and nature all together, but you could also plant something yourself. I am not saying that you should go and start a huge flower bed in your garden, but you could start with simple things like herbs, for example. You can get seeds and pots in every supplies store, some home stores even sell little pots for you to start with. Planting herbs will also freshen up your kitchen and food a little bit!

6) Picnic in the park

Yes, that's the name of one of Tanya Burr's lipglosses, but it's actually a pretty nice idea for a spring activity! Me and my family used to do this a lot during spring and summer, though not in the park, but all you need for a picnic is a little patch of green, a blanket and tons of food. If you don't want to go to a park, you can always do it in your own garden! It tastes just as nice, but you are on your own, and if you've forgotten something you can easily run back. I don't really know what makes picnics so fascinating and magical, but they are such a nice thing to do, and to be honest they also make great pictures for your Instagram feed :D.

7) Ride a bike

In Spring I seem to be all about exploring the nature I guess, but riding a bike is another lovely thing to do to spend some time outside and away from your phone, playstation and computer. Go look up some nice ice cream places or restaurants in your area for example and drive there! We love doing a trip to an ice cream place near us, which is around 11 kilometers there and back, which sounds so much, but it's so refreshing, and also good for your health (apart from the ice cream, but okay let's not talk about that :D)!

8) Redecorate your room

Spring is the time to add colour to your life again, as I already mentioned, so you could always do that with your room as well. Buy some flowers, add some new bright pictures, put down your christmas decoration :P, and get some new and brightening things. It will brighten your mood as well, whenever you go inside.

9) Bake something fresh and fruity

The weather is getting slightly warmer, but it's still a little fresh, so why not bake something just as fresh and fruity as spring! There is plenty of cakes or cookies or whatever you want to make out there for you to bake and enjoy. If you don't have any idea, ask your mum or nanny, or simply scroll through Pinterest the whole day and find yourself something. It will look nice, and taste amazing, and isn't that worth the work?

10) Exercise

Yees I know this one is a stereotype and not everyone is a sporty person or is able to get themselves out of bed for it, but you could always try something new. Exercising is really healthy for your body, and just a small little workout each day or each few days can already make a huge difference. Try the Blogilates workouts on Youtube. They are pretty quick but not to easy, and if you want to start having a proper workout plan, you can always download one if you subscribe to the newsletter. There's even beginner workouts, and it's a way of using your freetime and also doing something for your body, maybe even outside in the fresh sun!

11) Do a digital detox

We all know how hard it is to leave our phones and other electronics alone for a few hours at some points, but it can actually be quite a relief to not focus on it at all. I actually did an iPod detox the day I started writing this blogpost, and I absolutely enjoyed it. I am so focused on my iPod some days since I mainly use my phone for WhatsApp, that I tend to forget to do other things that I truly enjoy. So I turned it off for a Sunday until a few minutes before I went to go to sleep, and I still had a great time doing things like baking, reading an pre-writing some blogposts. Think about doing it, because it really is really relieving, and I want to do it more often as well now. It will really make you think a bit more about turning your consume down.

12) Dance in the rain

Since my blog name obviously is DANCINGINTHERAIN23 I had to include this point. It's not only about the actual message behind those words, but in this case it's about the actual words. It once started raining on a summer day when I was on the trampoline with my friends, and we stayed on it and jumped and danced around on it in the rain. I still remember it so well, because I had the time of my life at that moment. It was so magical. Try it. Go out in the rain and dance, forget your worries and enjoy your life! (Don't forget that you can easily catch a cold 'n stuff like that if you do it for too long, so please limit your time and get yourself into some new clothes and into the warm house!).



Make sure to leave me some inspiration below and tell me what you are looking forward to the most this spring. :) 

Have a great day! ♥


Love, Jacqueline Xx

Baking Chocolate-Brazil Nut-Cookies

Welcome to a new post!

I've never done a baking post before because I was never quite sure what to show you, as we usually bake really easy and quick things on the usual days. However I recently bought myself a new cooking book, as I really want to do more of that. That is what also inspired me to make this recipe, which is inspired by one of the ones in the actual book.
Chocolate-Brazil Nut-Cookies sounded so cool and tasty, but not too exotic, so I thought I would give them a try!

To be completely honest I thought all together they were only around 130 calories if I would have made the complete actual recipe, but it turns out I forgot to read the 'each cookie contains' right next to it...:D *FAIL*. It was already way too late as the cookies were already in the oven, but whatever, they taste soo nice so I'm just not going to care and treat myself to one every once in a while!

They are really easy to make and even my brother and my father who are usually very critical with stuff like that love the recipe, so here's how to make them!

  You will need:

• 50g butter

• 50g vegetable fat

• 150g brown sugar

• 1 egg

• 5 drops vanilla flavour

• 1 TBSP milk

• 100g flour

• 100g oats

• 1 TSP baking soda

• 1 pinch of salt

• 175g dark chocolate drops

• 75g crunched brazil nuts 

Steps:

1) Mix the butter, egg, sugar, milk, vegetable fat and vanilla flavour with a mixer or Kitchen Aid for at least 3 minutes until it's creamy but still a little fluffy.

2) Mix the oats, the flour, the salt and the baking soda in a different bowl and then add it to the mixture you have made before. Also add the nuts (if you can't find any crashed ones, simply put them into a plastic bag and use something like a food hammer to crash them) and the chocolate drops at this point, and make sure to mix it all well, bevor you either close your bowl with it's lid or with a piece of clingfilm, and leave it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

3) Pre-heat the oven to around 180° whilst you put a sheet of baking paper on your tray. Then start making little chunks of dough, best with a spoon or two. Make sure to leave enough space between them as they spread out quite a lot in the oven.

4) Bake the cookies for around 15 minutes, and then let them cool for around another 15 minutes if you still want them to be a little warm and gewy, or longer if you want them to be completely finished.

And now - get baking, and enjoy your cookies! :)

How did you like this different style of blogpost? Do you want more baking and cooking bits on here? Let me know, what you would like to see!

Have a great day! ♥

Love, Jacqueline Xx

Mon Coeur - A Bracelet For Education

 Welcome to a new post!

I'm so sorry it has been a while since I last posted, even though I promised I would be pre-writing blogposts! I actually did do that...I just simply posted them on the next few blogpost days after I had written them, instead of keeping them for the stressy times. Sorry :| . Now that my maths exam is finally over, I've got more time to focus on different things, at least till the next exam sessions in May and June. So let's see how that goes, I better not promise anything again...:D.

I first heard about Mon Coeur and their bracelets when a German youtuber that I tend to watch from time to time mentioned it in some of her videos, since she is an ambassador, and also went to South Africa to see their work. If anyone is actually wondering, her youtube is Madame Tam Tam. It seemed to be a really nice idea, that they were selling bracelets for education for children in poor families. 

I didn't really look at it that much though until she travelled their, and I actually saw what they were working on. Yes, I have to admit, I am a person that easily gets grabbed by things like that and wants to help. That sometimes might not be the best characteristic, but other times it is. 

We've been talking about Making A Difference in English class for the past few weeks, which really made me think a lot more about these kinds of things than I already did. That was also the time that I saw that video of her travelling there, and the time that I decided that I wanted to get one of their bracelets.

The organisation 'Ein Band für Bildung e.V.' is managed by a few German people which are really passioned about education for children, especially in South Africa. Every bracelet is made by families in townships close to Cape Town in South Africa. Instead of showing tons of pictures of miserable looking children on their website, they are going for simplicity. They are rather focusing on their actual work for better education by raising funds and selling their bracelets.

The bracelet costs around 10€, fees beeing added on top of that. 1€ of the bracelet is being paid to the family or refugees that made it, and the rest of it is completely going towards education in South Africa. Places for that are being picked by the people of Mon Coeur themselves, making sure that the school or kindergarten for example, is actually in need of help.

If you want to find out more about the bracelet itself, there's a little video on the Mon Coeur website. If you want to buy a bracelet yourself or you want to find out more, click HERE to be leaded to the website of Mon Coeur.

For anyone that wants to see them actually working, here is also Madame Tam Tam's vlog from South Africa. It's in German, but if you speak German or it doesn't bother you that you don't understand what they are saying, go have a watch.



You can make a difference, by doing small things like purchasing a wristband. How amazing is that? I even bought my friend one for her birthday, so it's also a really nice idea if you want to give some jewellery to any of your friends.

 

I hope I was able to give you a little glimpse into the work that they do with Mon Coeur, and that you liked this blogpost. Let me know what you thought of it, please. :)

Have a great day! ♥

Love, Jacqueline Xx

Lip Newbies by Essence

 Welcome to a new post!

Just before Spring and just before Autumn German drugstore brands usually renew their make-up product line. As it's the beginning of March and spring will hopefully be meeting us soon, this recently happend, and I also found myself in the drugstore obviously.

I don't think I've ever heard many people outside of german speaking areas talk a lot about the brand called 'essence'. It definetely is a pretty cheap drugstore brand, but for that price you usually get quite good quality. If you are just starting to get into make-up but don't want to spend much money, this one might be for you. I'm pretty sure that they also sell essence in the UK and some other european countries.

When I saw their new lip products I immediately had to think about the NARS ones, and had to pick something up for the very little price of 1,95€ each. I did end up picking up the wrong one's, instead of the ones I intended to get from pictures I had seen on Instagram, but I still thought I would give you a little review about them. 

The first thing I picked up is the Glossy Stick in the shade '01 Radiant Rose'. The packaging looked really cute and colour looked quite like something I could wear every day. I actually thought this might turn out to look a bit like a Kylie Jenner colour on the lips but I was completely wrong. 

Firstly the application takes quite some time and building until you can actually see something on your lips. It definetely feels just like a lipbalm once it's on, which is quite nice if you don't want a heavy feeling. The colour though isn't what I thought it would look like. It actually looks quite peachy when you swatch it on your hand, but at least on my own lips it turned out a kind of light lilac tone which looks really weird. It doesn't really stay on that long or moisturizes loads, but I guess you can't expect that from a product this cheap.

I do however think, that as a lipbalm and maybe in a different shade this could actually be a nice something to use if you want something light. 

The other thing I picked up is the Mini Sheer Lipbalm in the shade '03 chubby berry'. I wanted something a bit darker to contrast the other colour and try something different to it. 

Turns out it is even more sheer than it actually says but I think that might be a general essence product problem to be honest. The colour isn't anything like the packaging. It actually is really pinkish and looks quite glittery put on, which majes it appear like one of those colours you would have worn when you were like 10 maybe 12.

I personally wouldn't wear that colour out during every day wear, just because it's really not my type od colour to be honest. If you just want a little pop of colour though and nothing major, this might still be for you. 

I hope enjoyed this quick make-up related post. Can't wait to show some more spring related stuff on here soon, as it's my absolute favourite time of the year! :) 

Leave me some suggestions for new posts as well!

Have a great day and week! ♥

Love, Jacqueline Xx

The Oscar's 2016 Throwback

 Welcome to a new post!

It's nearly been a week since the 88th Academy Awards took place in Los Angeles, and since I couldn't do a post on my favourite outifts on Monday, I thought I would do a little throwback to them today. I absolutely love looking at everyone's dresses more than finding out who is actually winning, apart from Leonardo DiCaprio obviously, so I hope you're going to enjoy this post as well.

 Some pictures actually are from the After Party, but I guess that isn't that far from the Oscar's, so I thought I would put them in anyway, please don't hate me. :D

Gigi Hadid

Gigi's dress is personally something I would probably never wear as you are able to see quite a lot of skin, but it suits her really well, and the cut really shows that it's not always just about loads of glitter and colours to make an outfit pop out of a crowd. Also the cut at the side gives it an extra little edge to make it look even sexier, which suits her figure so well!

Saoirse Ronan

This dress isn't the most unique thing I have ever seen, especially at an award show, but I still feel like it looks really nice and outstandig with it's shimmery emerald colour, reminding me of Arielle in some weird way. I also love the V neck compared with the spaghetti sleves, which make the whole look appear a bit more sexy and body shaping.

Nina Dobrev

This is probably not my favourite favourite look of the whole night, but I still love Ninas outfit. The details were really beautifully made, and I love how they go downwards into the skirt and get less and less, which doesn't make it feel like it is too much. I am not 100% sure on the colour of the dress, as I would prefer a bit more of a fresher colour, but I definetely do love the rest of the dress.

Lady Gaga

I never usually am a person that is a fan of Lady Gaga's outfits, just because it isn't my style at all, but I do find that with this one she did an amazing choice. Even though the outfit is held in a very casual and simple white tone, the shape makes it look really unique and special, nothing like I've seen before. I didn't even notice at first that this actually isn't a dress but a jumpsuit/romper! I love the edges of the dress above her boobs and the way the skirt falls on her sides. Great choice in my opinion!

Chrissy Teigen

I knew I loved this dress straight away when I saw a picture of it, and not just because she is pregnant. I love a little flower or rose detail on a dress, so this totally is something for me. The cut of it really suits her pregant body and shows her baby bump so nicely, I am obsessed. I actually love this one so much, I don't have any other words to describe it!

Jennifer Lawrence

There aren't that many red carpet looks by Jen that I don't like, so I had to add this one to this list as well, as she looks absolutely stunning in it, in my opinion! Even though it is also quite revealing and sexy, it doesn't feel like it is too much, maybe because of the colour. I love how the bralet and the little sneak on her body in the middle part really shapes her figure even more, and the side cut is just the cherry on the top! Also loving her haircut right now!

Rachel McAdams

Last but not least, there obviously had to be a pink dress in this list, as I love pink or rose toned dresses. This is kind of similar to the green one I showed before, apart from the colour and side cut, but I really really like it. There are dresses which have way too much bling and glitter on them whereas this one has the exact perfect amount for it to not appear too childish or like a barbie. Loving it!

Make sure to tell me about some of your favourite looks from the Oscar's down below, and I will see you soon with another post!

Have a great weekend!♥

Love, Jacqueline Xx

Disclaimer: I do not claim any copyright for these pictures! The rights for them go to their owners! I do not use these pictures to gain any money from, I use them only for fun an inspiration!!

My English Bookshelf

 Welcome to a new post!

Sorry there was no blogpost the past few days, but I didn't really have the time to post anything. I'll hopefully be prewriting the next few days so there won't be another gap!

As some of you might know already, I really quite like reading. Since I have only been reading in English for around two years now, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to show you my English Bookshelf. I don't own as many as I'd look to, as German book stores don't really sell many English books, especially the ones that I want to read. I also own some on my kindle, but I am focusing this mainly on my actual bookshelf. Maybe you can even find some inspiration from it.

First a little overview over my whole bookshelf. This a really plain shelf from IKEA, I think it's a Kallax one, but I am not 100% sure, so please don't blame me if it's wrong. They aren't really in a certain order, but I tried to keep series together kind of at the top left of the shelf. 

First up we obviously have my John Green Collection Box (inlcuding The Fault In Out Stars, Paper Towns, Looking For Alaska, Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and An Abundance of Katherines), which I got for Christmas last year and I absolutely love, though I hated An Abundance of Katherines, as I am absolutely rubbish at Maths :D. All his other books are bloody brilliant though!

Then we have the Divergent Series by Veronica Roth, including Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant and the extras book Four. The first book is one of my favourite novels of all time, as I love the distopian world they are set in, as well as the main characters Tris and Four, with amazing personalities. A must-read for me!

Last but defintely not least is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Yes, I only own one in English, but that is only because we own all of them in German, and I used to reread it so often, that there is no sense in me buying the whole series in English as well, as I basically know the whole story and all it's details by heart. :D

Then we have another series, which is the Maze Runner one by James Dashner, including The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure and The Kill Order. If I wouldn't have bought the whole collection already I probably would have stopped after book two, because it was quite boring, to be honest. The first book however is great and the third one is okay, but I absolutely hated part 2 and 4.

Then we have two of the Pretty Little Liars books, and to be honest I never finished the second one. I just don't really feel like reading them, as I already know the actual story of the TV show, even if it is different in some ways than the one in the books.

And then there's Anna Todd's After series, including After, After We Collided, After We Fell and After Ever Happy. I obviously had to read these because I started reading After as a fanfiction on Wattpad, and you really just cannot stop reading, even if some parts are really slow and not that well written, especially in book three and four, as a certain pattern kept repeating itself. A great series though, especially when you actually have Harry Styles on your mind while reading it :P. 

 I absolutely loved all of Gayle Forman's books that I have read so far, which are If I Stay, Where She Went and I Was Here. Especially the first and the last one are books I would definetely recommend you to read.

Next are two of my Rainbow Rowell books, Fangirl and Eleanor & Park. Everyone seems to love Fangirl, but I personally didn't like it, as I felt like reading a fanfiction on a fanfiction about a fictional story I wasn't interested in.

However I did really like the story Eleanor & Park, which I personally would recommend more than Fangirl.

The perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky was actually one of the first books I ever read in English, and I am still loving it. I quite like his writing style, as well as the story since it isn't a typical book story, but it kind of still it. Amazing read!

Another amazing read is We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. This book got so hyped about a year ago, and I read it a bit late, but it is honestly one of my favourite books as well because it is so different and the plot twist is INCREDIBLE! Read it, if you haven't done that yet!

Onto my second shelf. We are starting with Jennifer Niven's All The Bright Places. I picked this up around a week after it came out and loved it! Such a heartbreaking story, and beautifully written. Really reminds me of If I Stay.

Then we have Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. It took me quite some time to read this because I didn't really find the plot that interesting. I felt like it was a bit too repetitive, so I didn't really enjoy it.

Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl was obviously a huge hype because of the film, and I wasn't really sure at first wether a thriller was something for me. I am still not sure of my opinion on it. I didn't absolutely love it, but I didn't hate it either, so it's quite okay I guess.

Stephanie Perkins's series inlcuding Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happily Ever After, is definetely one of my favourite series. It is a typical romantic school girl series, but it is so beautifully written that you can't even hate it for that. Absolutely love it!

Ava Dellaira's Love Letters To The Dead, was quite a lovely read as well, but nothing I would list on my favourite books list either.

I am obsessed with the The Originals tv show as you might know, and nearly screamed when I saw there was a book of it in the store, as I didn't know about them. Loved it, but also not particularly am obsessed with it, as I really love the show a lot more.

I really really liked The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey though, which I read at the end of last year. I can't wait to see the movie really soon with my friend and also finally read the sequels to it.

The last part of my English bookshelf starts off with Paula Hawkins's The Girl On The Train. Another pretty hyped book, which I completely agree with. I definetely prefer this thriller to Gone Girl, as I kind of prefered the plot and also the characters.

Of course there had to be Zoe Sugg's Girl Online and Girl Online On Tour. Loved both books, though I prefer the first one, as I like that she talks about quite a few topics that people around my age have to deal with. If you'd like a full review on Girl Online On Tour, click HERE.

Then we have Alfie Deyes's Pointless Book and Pointless Book 2. To be completely honest with you, as I have no idea why I actually bought them. It was probably just the thought of getting it, just because it had Alfie's name on it. The only thing that I ever really did in them was the mug cake, so pretty much a stupid purchase I shouldn't have made.

And that is basically the same for Wreck This Journal and Write This Book. They both sounded quite interesting and I really thought I would actually work on them, but I actually never do that.

Then we have Martyn Pig, which I actually only own because we read it in school. I really didn't like the story - basically no one, not even our teacher did, but we were basically forced to read this. Really don't recommend this, as the plot doesn't really make sense at all.

I only own the first Twilight book in English, because it is pretty much the same case as with Harry Potter. I know it way too well. :D

The last one on my shelf is 642 Things To Write About. I bought this to do some more creative writing on holiday, but never actually worked in it. I really want to do that this year though to step a little bit out of my writing comfort zone.

Last but not least are three books on top of my shelf, which are all by youtubers: Life With A Sprinkle Of Glitter by Louise Pentland, Love, Tanya by Tanya Burr and The Glam Guide by Fleur de Force.

I loved all three of them, Love, Tanya in particular, and they are all so pretty as well that I always keep them in sight to decorate my room.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and I didn't bore the hell out of you. :D Make sure to leave me some book recommendations as well, as I love exploring new ones. 

Have a good day. ♥

Love, Jacqueline Xx