I'd like to thank............Stylish Blogger Award

I have been tagged for a Stylish Blogger award by two of my followers/two bloggers I follow too, Suzy and Andrea. I love your blogs and feel very honored that you have picked me for this award.

Part of this award entails revealing 7 things about oneself that readers might not know about yet so here we go.

1. I am a bit or a normade. I was born and raised in Germany and lived there with my family until I was 18 years old. After I finished school, I felt like I don't want to go from one school straight to the next one and decided to take a year off and work abroad as an Au Pair. I always wanted to go to the US growing up, so I did. I lived in Princeton, NJ with an amazing host family looking after a 14 year old teenage boy and an 11 year old girl. They were amazing kids and I basically didn't have to do much 'looking after' because they were very capable of that. So I was more of a chef and taxi service and a big sister which was totally fine with me. After returning to Germany I started studying Popular Music and Media and within those studies I did an internship in Laos for 3 months which was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. Growing up in one of the richest countries in the world, then living in another one just like it and then going to live in one of the poorest countries has really opened my eyes to what really matters. I met wonderful people, ate amazing food, saw the greatest landscapes and was so overwhelmed by the hospitality there. Wherever we went, the first thing was food on the table. For people that have to live on $50 a month (this is quite a good income over there) they are just so generous and giving, it makes me cry just thinking about it.

While I was at uni I met my English husband, who is a soldier in the British Army and after finishing my degree I decided to move to the UK with him. I thought it doesn't matter where I live and work as long as it is with him. And here I am, now married (for 2 years in July) and madly in love. Who knows where it'll all take us next.

2. I have a cat named Jenny. I adopted her about 2 years ago from a cat rescue. She was kept with two other cats and one big bully tomcat called Rambo and just sat in the corner looking scared. My choice was either saving Jenny or saving Mr Cheese, a big ginger cat who I also fell in love with just because he was ginger and called Mr Cheese (how cool is that for a name) but I could only choose one and my husband and I decided that Mr Cheese looked happy enough but Jenny really needed to be saved from Rambo. Now she's bullying my neighbours cat, how things change....

3. This is a big one for me to announce and I haven't blogged about it yet but I guess this is a good opportunity to do so. I was made redundant last November from my job at a bridal shop. It wasn't too much of a shock to me because the business wasn't doing well and to be honest I was bored a bit with some of the "problems" some of the customers had. After having seen people with not much to eat and rags for clothing, bridesmaids dresses that aren't exactly the same colour as the wedding flowers or the mother of the bride having shoes dyes to match her outfit and then they are just a tad off (which is normal if the shoes are satin and the dress is silk!!!!!!!) aren't really the worth fretting about now, are they? Since then I have started working on my own dressmaking business. It's all been baby steps so far but I am loving it so much I can not tell you. I have started another blog/shop over at http://www.vintagebybeatricewinter,blogspot.com/ Please check it out and let me know what you think. And please spread the word. I can use all the support I can get plus I am always happy to return the favour of course.

4. I have a huge holiday planed in May with my husband. He's currently serving in Afghanistan and has been there since September last year. He will be back in April and I can not wait to see him again (the last time I have seen him was in November on his R&R) and then we'll just run off for a few weeks, just the two of us and travel the east and west coast of the US, visiting my host family who I haven't seen in 10 years and some friends.

5. I am a runner. My husband got me into running about 3 years ago. I used to be so unfit you won't believe it. My first run was not much faster than a walk but I managed to run for 20 min. It was painful but I was hooked. Since then I have run several races. I did have a bit of a lazy spell last year but since November I am back running and huffing and puffing to get better and better. I will be running a 10k race in May, just 2 days before we are flying out. This should help me sleep on the long flight huh?

6. I have a very...hm lets say eclectic taste in music. I am very much into rock and metal and always wanted to work in music and event management (hence the subject I studied at uni) but having done that for just over a year, I decided it's not for me. I won't get into detail. Anyways, I used to be quite a goth chick in my teens all the way to my mid 20s. Apart from heavy guitar music I also love a lot of cheesy stuff. I am a huge ABBA fan and not afraid to tell. I used to sing their songs into my hairbrush as a kid, not knowing what they were singing but later on as I learned English in school I realised I was pronouncing almost everything correctly....maybe with a slight Swedish accent??? Thank you ABBA for teaching me early. I am also a fan of all sorts of stuff from the 40s, 50s and 60s (my husband then continues the collection through the decades by loving the 70s prog rock...) Our record collection is huge.

7. I haven't got a TV. I am one of the 1% of people in the western world (I think) who hasn't got a TV. When my husband and I moved to the UK we didn't have much stuff. In fact we had our clothes, our CDs and not an awful lot else. I have a whole household in storage in Germany but didn't move that to the UK. So we had to start from zero. A TV wasn't a priority as we needed furniture first and we didn't want to buy a small crappy TV, we wanted a big nice flat screen one like everyone else has a a vocal point in their living rooms. So we waited patiently and after about 6 months we thought NO, we had such a good time not watching TV (I admit I watch some catch up TV online every now and then), we don't need it. It's funny that when I tell people I haven't got a TV, they all say "well, I don't watch TV..." So why have one then? I would be on it all the time if I had one. It's just what you do. It' just happens, it sucks you in and before you know it 2 hours or more have passed, you have no idea what you have just watched because most of it was adverts and the other time you have zapped just through all programs. I am no exception. I just haven't got the opportunity and I like it that way. That's why I get so much sewing done you see. No TV + husband away = lots of time for sewing.

WOW, this was a lot of words there. Not usually my style but I hope you enjoyed my little blurb.

Now it's time to tickle some other lovely bloggers and make them spill some information.

1. Miss Tamy Lee who's blog I have only just discovered recently and adore. Plus I think she's quite an interesting person to find out more about.

2. Tempramental broad, I love her blog. It's so inspiring plus we are both in the "made redundant boat" Good luck to you, I hope you are doing well.

3. Kitten I love her style, her sewing projects and most of all the hats!!!!

4. Gabriella from Sewing is hard, she makes the cutest vintage clothing. I love her style.

5. Ruby from Ruby Murrays Musings you need to check out her awesome reconstructions.

6. Frollein von Sofa, her hat making skills are to die for. I love her blog.

and last but certainly not least:

7. Rosy from Sewingadicta, she has made some amazing pieces based on outfits spotted in old movies. I'd love her sewing knowledge