aunt charlie's favorite: stores.

i'd like to show you one of my favorite stores in cologne.
it is such a colorful and happy one that i am always quite excited when i go there.
the store is called ok-versand. and there you can get things of the everyday life from people all over the world. from russia, mexico, ghana, india, china, thailand, morocco, yemen or even vietnam.
 you can always find something interesting you must take home with you. some things are useful, most are just for fun or for decorating. years ago i bought a bright red enamel bowl and since today i know it was imported from china.
they still sell them in the store.

great posters from india

robots from china

these have been old tires, now they are bags from yemen

in those you can transport eggs safely. they are made in bulgaria.

you can find the ok-versand in cologne and berlin but they have a great online shop where you can buy everything. they ship internationally.

today lukas plum, the owner of the ok-versand was still waiting for a big shipment from russia.

 with tons of new, fascinating things...

stormy but cozy sunday

it was raining all day long. i had the morning off and so i went to my favorite fleamarket nevertheless. alone. without the boys. i went to the alte feuerwache. it's always worth a visit and the people are really relaxed. many families sell their stuff there. the fleamarket takes place in an inner courtyard, surrounded by buildings that are more than 100 years old. in the early years the feuerwache was the main fire station in the city of cologne.

you can get a decent breakfast at the patio with great latte macchiato. at least when it's not raining.

and i found this: a vintage issue of 4 first games.

we test-played immediately...

and this one was my loveliest find - a small-wooden-vintage-little-red riding hood. 

do you really call rotkäppchen like this???

 

 and a vintage fisher price jigsaw.

at least the weather was perfect for a day full of games. 

tim explained the rules as he was the master of the instruction books. 

when the boys pleaded for some sweets we decided to kill some leftover chocolate frosting and made chocolate-banana-cupcakes. hmmmmm!

a bit sweet but delicious!

murder mystery birthday party

if your kids wish to make a murder mystery themed birthday party and you have absolutely no idea what could be organized for that special one i found some really great ideas.
the mother of the birthday girl worked as a crime investigator at the charlotte police department. so she knew exactly how to prepare a "csi birthday party"! and she spent huge attention to detail.

the best i think was the gorgeous cake! simple but unmistakable...

charlotte from confectionary concepts shows us some details of her friend's party.

every girl  got badges with their names and title as well as special designed t-shirt.

the 10 year old party guest were given crime scene kits, filled with tools to solve the case.
in their imagination justin bieber was murdered and they needed to find the killer.

they played different roles, like being a blood splatter analyst. i am just hoping that this was ordinary strawberry jelly...

the girls got evidence bags.

 to put in justin bieber's wallet they found in the gras.

 all got special made notebooks

and favour bags filled with goodies.

 at the end after a long and exciting investigation the girls found out that an obsessed fan has gone crazy and murdered the singer...

thank you charlotte for sharing this!

cologne sight-seeing by bike

imagine you spend a weekend in cologne, one of the oldest cities in germany. the sun is shining, the weather is hot and you'd like to go sight-seeing. no, you don't want to walk all the way. going by bus is a bit boring. calling a taxi? well, the price does not include a good view.

i found another option that should be great fun - it's called
the cologne conference bike.

this vehicle is a bike that transports up to seven people. one person is the driver who navigates and brakes. the rest may lay back and relax or support that kind person. the more people pedal and work together the faster they will get. there's no special approval needed to ride this bike as there is no motor in it.
you may also bring your own drinks and snacks with you as there is a cooler in the back to keep everything cold. so you can take a break at a place you like.

you can also rent a driver if you prefer joining the party and like to try a kölsch or two. you could also use the bike for an inspiring conference or just a fun meeting. it could become a bit edgy for the person driving backwards but i think you get used to itvery fast. otherwise take a break and swap seats. you can find all the technical stuff on the cologne conference bike website. that's where you can book and rent it.

have fun! if you need sight-seeing tips - you can contact me...