{roomgoods}

one of my friends told me that i will hate spending 5 months each year in germany because shopping there is horrible. i've been going back and forth to germany now since 1999 and haven't had a hard time finding good stuff there so i'm a bit confused as to why she is so put off to shopping in germany. she is american, loves anthropologie and j crew, can't live without a coach bag, so i guess that it all has to do with the brands you are loyal to and their availability in your new country. i like anthro a lot but find most of their stuff is inspired by european flea markets and french brocantes, and certainly they import a lot over from europe which is why their clothes are so very expensive in the first place. i've decided that i can find whatever i love in europe because if it's not in germany, i will either make it come to me, or i will cross over the border to any country i fancy visiting their shops. i will have my anthropologie, holly style. it's all about being adventurous when you're an expat, right? when you live in a new country the whole point of being there is to learn a new culture, language, and to enjoy the 'newness' of it all. if everything is familiar, what would be the point is moving thousands of miles across the atlantic in the first place? of course i do love to shop. and i don't want to only have ikea as a resource. i love ikea, but i need more. thankfully hannover has the oldest flea market in germany and it takes place, rain or shine, along the banks of the leine river in the center of town every single saturday. it's not paris, but i'll take it. and berlin is so close, i can certainly hit their flea markets and the turkish district for interesting stuff. i mean, it's more fun to work for what you want you know? dig a little. you unearth treasures this way. and now i need to tell my friend about a blog leah hennen from more ways to waste time sent to me today. it's called roomgoods and the blogger is an american expat based in munich, germany. she has lived in germany for 11 years and started her blog this past march to spotlight companies and products accessible to europe. this is fantastic news, i can't wait to read her blog and i'm definitely adding her to my blogroll.

autre shop pillows

one site i found over at roomgoods is french online store autre shop, and they ship to germany. love this stuff. so unique. and they carry some things from sonia lucano who wrote a book i have called ganz mein stil. here are some more great online shops found via roomgoods:

• mirabeau and country home offer cottage and mostly french country styles
• corsarini (ferm living, mibo, etc.)
• the collection
• romantic rosa l'inde and p’home d’amour
• couverture
• french touche
• jereko with lovely wall decals
• supernice (jonathan adler, blik, thomaspaul, inke)
• pedlars
• john pour (delicious rugs, i have to have a 'hello' welcome mat)
• scandinavian brands
• isak (love the owner, she's a sweetheart)
• cloudberry living
• brissi (love their bathroom selection)

... they all ship to germany -- weeeee! oh and don't miss jung porcelain in berlin. my, my, my! terrific resource leah, thank you!