Welcome back to Collected Favorites, Issue No. 2! Thank you for returning and supporting reading my newsletters. Again, the purpose of Collected Favorites is to share a few favorite links that stood out to me, any new and old relevant blog posts I have written, travel tips, stories of living abroad, and more.
Please grab a seat, take a peek at what favorites I’ve collected for this edition, and maybe you’ll find something you’ll enjoy.
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Lifestyle
Life in Germany:
↠ Germany has finished the holiday season of Christmas and New Year’s (celebrating Three Kings’ Day on January 6), and now we go towards the pre-Lenten celebrations of Fasching/Karneval (Carnival) season in February/March, a festive season before Easter. This year’s Fasching celebration will be from Thursday February 12 until Tuesday, February 17, just before Ash Wednesday. Although Fasching typically begins on November 11 at 11:11 am, February is typically when the celebration of parades and dress up takes place. Fasching is a festive season marked by costumes, parades, and parties, especially in the region where I live, Rhineland-Pfalz. If you’re interested in our first Fasching Parade, here is my blog post below ↴↴
↠ Some of the things I find intriguing during Fasching season in Germany are what I find at the stores. It’s always fun to see the costumes for sale for the Fasching parades, the candies and chocolates, as well as the fresh Berliners aka Krapfen at the bakeries. A Berliner (Pfannkuchen) or Krapfen is a German jam doughnut with no hole in the middle, made from sweet yeast dough fried in lard or cooking oil, with a jam filling, and usually covered in powdered sugar or glazed.
↠ Living in Germany has taught me to carry a reusable bag with me everywhere. I’ll admit, I love collecting reusable fabric grocery bags, like the Notting Hill Bag I have below from London. But, what if I told you that: ↴
↠ German Word of the Day
After living in Germany for 7 years, I’m still not great with the language. Mein Deutsch ist nicht gut. However, I want to start adding German Word of the Day to my newsletters just for fun!
Here’s the German Word of the Day: Nicht Mögen (meaning dislike or to not like).
For example, Brokkoli nicht mögen (dislike broccoli)
↠ I know I’m a few weeks late talking about Stranger Things. If you are a fan or have finished watching the show, what did you think of the ending? We binged watched over the holidays and I must say, “I still believe.” And, of course that final scene where El supposedly escaped to (which, in my heart she did). I’m adding that location to my bucket list as I’m sure everyone else will be. Read this article to find the location: ↴↴
- Read this article, and maybe this one too, to find the waterfalls El may have escaped to if you believe.
↠ I also started binge watching a show we recently finished in one weekend during our long 4-day weekend in January. It was probably my first Korean drama show I have watched. It was a slow start and seemed a bit creepy at first, but overall, I ended up crying my eyes out in the end. I heard about it via TikTok and decided to give it a go. Here is the show’s name if you are interested in a good, sad, and creepy K-drama show on DisneyPlus/Hulu. ↴↴
Food
↠ I’ve been seeing sardines circulating on my feed lately for it’s benefits, especially for Omega 3’s. I’m going to start adding it into my rotational meal planning. I like to eat saute mine in olive oil, garlic, and onions and add a splash of tomato sauce and eat it on a side of rice. I’m Filipino and this is a common dish to eat, although I don’t often include it in my rotational meal planning but will do so for the benefits. ↴
travel
↠ Travel and Leisure has an interesting article about the night sky in January. I quite found it interesting in relation to travel. ↴↴
↠ I read this article about:↴ ↴
↠ If you’re heading to this region of Italy: ↴↴
↠ If you’re thinking about visiting the National Parks in the United States, read this article: ↴ ↴
↠ After 3 years of repair, my favorite California Hwy 1 through Big Sur fully reopens, read this article.
Style
↠ I’ve been eyeing these Mary Jane’s for awhile now. They are authentic Friulanes made in Italy, sold in Spain. Their site was having a sale in January (still ongoing as of now January 25, 2026) and I decided to pull the trigger on one of these babies. I’ll let you know if they are worth it. ↴
↠ This article is all about what travel shoes you should be wearing, but I’m not quite sure, I like my sneakers and being comfortable during travel, thoughts? ↴↴
↠ Read this next article for:↴ ↴
I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s newsletter!
Until next time friends! Bis zum nächsten Mal Freunde!
