Sally Hogshead

I find Sally Hogshead, an American author, professional speaker, CEO of Fascinate, Inc and a former advertising executive, pretty … fascinating. She was recommended to me by my business consultant Jacqui not long after we met. 

She told me about this personality test that has a specific advantage: In just three minutes you can discover your own advantage and what makes you stand out. 

I've tried out several personalty tests but I never had one that was so spot on and different in its structure.

It helps you understand what kind of first impression you create, how others see you, how what might come across as a weak point can be turned into a strong point. 

Therefore, unlike other personality assessments, this isn't about how you see the world. This reveals how the world sees you.

Just recently she launched a book titled … Fascinate, in which she explains how to make your brand impossible to resist. Since I'm working on an online business at the moment I was keen on getting my hands on the book. I just finished the book and I dare say that I did learn lots of … fascinating things from her. 

At the beginning she explains the origin of the word "fascinate" and then she introduces the marketing world bewitches us. Just finding out about all the different levels our brains deal with marketing tricks in itself is fascinating. 

Then she talks about seven different primary pillars in combination with a secondary advantage which help you decide what your business' core idea and message is and which general direction to take when you have to make new decisions. 

The second part could have been longer and a bit more detailed, I think. Still, this is a book that every person should read - whether you want to start or already have a business or you just read it for the sake of understanding how our busy world in terms of marketing works.       

For now though, if you want to take the assessment ...

1. Go to: https://portal.howtofascinate.com/members/invite/525273472751418754226

2. Enter your information to set up your account and answer the assessment questions. You'll immediately receive your Fascination Advantage result.                        

I hope you enjoy it and find it useful. I'd love to hear what you come out with

My personal stylist

"clothes make the man" 

On the one hand there is truth to the idiom “there is no accounting in taste”.

On the other hand there is also truth to Gottfried Keller’s novella’s title “Clothes Make the Man”.

As for me, when it comes to fashion, I like the elegant-sporty-comfortable style. When I see people with outfits of that combination I get envious and each time I can’t help but ask myself:

“Why is it that I know what style I like but can’t get myself to look like that in my daily life?”

It’s like having a sense for the fashion I long for when I see it in front of me but having little sense left when I put on or buy clothes.

It's a true mystery to me!!

my personal stylist 

Anyways!

The best way to move forward in a situation in which you know what you want but don’t know how to get it is to ask someone who DOES know. And that’s what I did.

I asked my friend Mai, who in my eyes is the personification of Elegant Sporty AND Comfortable in One, if she could help me shop the right clothes for me.

challenges

Before I tell you more about our shopping day let me bring to your attention that I am a curvy woman in a land of NOT very curvy women with most fashion retail shops offering M as their biggest size, which makes me often feel like an elephant trying to shop in an ant shop. In other words, it’s pretty frustrating for most Western women to shop in Japan, where Zara and Gap become your best friends.

In addition to that it was Mai’s first time to be a serious personal fashion stylist. It’s one thing to shop for yourself and to know what looks good on you and what does not. It’s a completely different story to find the right clothes for someone else, especially if that person has a different body shape.

Now you know. These were the exciting challenges we were facing.

being prepared 

Therefore we wanted to be well prepared for the big shopping day. Since Mai lives far away from Osaka at the moment we needed to make her visit to Osaka count.

In order to be efficient and achieve our goal …

1) Mai kindly studied my fashion folder on Pinterest to get a vague idea of what I like.

2) She was so sweet to agree on staying over the night before, so she could check all my current clothes. She had to see what I already had in my closet and what I needed to purchase.

3) We had to confirm and decide what outfits I was looking for for this summer season and what pieces I definitely needed to buy.

4) We prepared a to-do list of what shops we should go to and in which order so that we didn’t waste any time.

5) Mai understood that my budget was small.

Finally the day came and I can’t tell you how pleased I was with the outcome at the end of our clothes hunt. 

But let’s start at the beginning:

The night Mai checked my closet and made me wear 2/3 of my wardrobe in different combinations she impressed me with how quickly she understood what suits my body shape and what didn’t flatter my curves at all. With only a little tugging out a shirt here and pulling up a skirt there or adding a belt or accessories she managed to make me see my clothes with different eyes.

I was so fed up with so many of my pieces in my closet that I was close to throwing most of it out. Thanks to Mai though I learned how to put another complexion on them, how to combine them and how to spice them up by using different accessories.

This very exhausting process (we slept like a log that night) was also very beneficial for keeping the budget low. We knew that I didn’t have to buy as much as we thought we would have to.

the actual shopping day

On the shopping day itself, Mai introduced different stores to me that were perfect for accessories that suited me.

What I liked most about her shopping style was 1) that she could find something pretty even in stores that sold rather ugly stuff and 2) that she was only ready to buy a piece if she was 100% convinced it was a good match and 3) that she cared about my budget situation and instead of buying lots of pieces for me she made sure we purchased clothes that I could combine with a lot of the stuff I have at home.

Even though we had taken some short breaks throughout the day to refresh and also to plan where to go next and what to look for, our feet craved for a 10-hour massage at the end of the day.

Nevertheless, we were both really pleased with the clothes we had in the bags although Mai, as she is someone who always wants gives her best, wondered whether she could have done more for me.

the new me

Personally, I am very grateful for everything she has done. I love the ideas she gave me, the combinations she taught me, and the pieces she picked out for me.

I feel really good in the clothes I have been wearing since we went shopping. It’s great to feel fashionable AND comfortable at the same time.

As I think that Mai is a wonderful personal stylist I hope that she will make this into a hobby and maybe, one day, even into a job. 

Would you consider a low budget personal stylist? 

Namika - Nador

Namika is a German singer and rapper. Her grandparents are from the Moroccan coastal city of Nador, which is also the name of her debut album from July 2015. 

My favourite song from this album is Lieblingsmensch, which translates as "favourite human" as in "my favourite person". 

Every time I listen to it it makes me think of my favourite humanS. Listening to it feels like I'm on a convertible car ride somewhere on the Californian coast - the wind blows through my hair and the mild sun kisses my nose. 

It's always a privilege to be able to enjoy a piece of work in its original version but since I want to share this with a wider audience, I looked for a decent English translation, and this is what I found. 

Favorite person

Sometimes I feel wrong here,

like a sailing ship in space

But when you are with me on board, I'm gladly insane.

Even the traffic jam on the A2, disappears as fast as a flash

And the insipid drink from the gas-station

tastes like coffee from Hawaii. (Yeah)

Even if I remain silent, you know.

I don't need to say anything, a glance is enough.

And is the everyday life to gray for us, I'll grab you, we are out of it.

 

Hello favorite human, an huge compliment that you know me so well.

With you, I can be myself, dreamy and being crazy. (Nanananana)

Thank you favorite human, nice that we know each other.

Hello favorite human, an huge compliment that you know me so well.

With you, I can be myself, dreamy and being crazy. (Nanananana)

Thank you favorite human, nice that we know each other.

 

Absolutely no one is allowed to know it, but I entrust you to it, because you keep it safe.

My area 51.

Sometimes we spin around in circles

An oddment gets to a fight, but I can't be mad at you, for more than five minutes. (Yeah)

If I pretend, you notice immediately.

When I let myself hanging, you build me up.

Sometimes the everyday life weighs heavy as lead,

but when we are in twos, everything seems so easy.

 

Hello favorite human, an huge compliment that you know me so well.

With you, I can be myself, dreamy and being crazy.

(Nanananana)

Thank you favorite human, nice that we know each other.

 

Time is changing and so do we.

You and I, so young, in this old Polaroid picture.

The last time we saw each other is far too long, but now we laugh as if you were never been away.

 

Hello favorite human, an huge compliment that you know me so well.

With you, I can be myself, dreamy and being crazy.

(Nanananana)

Thank you favorite human, nice that we know each other.

Hello favorite human, an huge compliment that you know me so well.

With you, I can be myself, dreamy and being crazy.

(Nanananana)

Thank you favorite human, nice that we know each other.

You can find the videoclip below but I would recommend to just listen to it without watching it. It helps to create your own images for this song. 

This is 40

"This is 40" came out in 2012 but I stumbled over it just recently and found it hilarious.

There are several reasons I would like to recommend this movie.

I'm usually more into British comedy but this is the type of American humour I find sharp and funny. Dialogues might be overstressed but they nail it when it comes to absurd conversations you have in real life. You laugh because you can relate to the core truth of them. 

The movie cast is also well picked - Paul Rudd has played several similar part and is always great to watch, Leslie Mann seems the born comedian (I kinda like her way of talking - as if she is a bit high but fully there), Melissa McCarthy, who just smashes her part, and all actors who play family and friends.  

Maybe I wouldn't have appreciated this movie in 2012 as much as I do now - heading towards 40. Therefore I'm glad it took me four years to discover it. 

If you don't have time to watch the movie anytime soon, please enjoy this trailer on imdb for now. 

When Everything Changes Change Everything

It took me four months to read this book.

I'm glad that I took my time with it. It's even what Walsch recommends - to put the book aside at times in order to simmer everything in your mind. 

Neale Donald Walsch is an American modern day spiritual messenger and author of the well-known series Conversations with God, in which he redefines God and shifted spiritual paradigms around the globe. Books like this one, that help understand love and life on a bigger and spiritual scale and assist you in coping with day-to-day struggles, always seem to reach you when your heart is ready for them. 

This book might not be something for you AT ALL. Or it's EXACTLY what you should consider to cope with life BUT your heart might just not be ready for it … yet.

In my case, valuable books like this one have always been recommended to me by dear friends (you know who you are) and acquaintances. Sometimes it was the perfect timing for the certain push I needed. At other times I felt that I wasn't quite there yet and I picked them up again when the time felt right. 

In "When everything changes change everything" Walsch talks about our fear of changes not knowing that changes are ALWAYS good for us even though we often can't see the bigger picture due to desperate times or certain mindsets. At first, I admit that I found his writing style annoying, as he keeps repeating A LOT, which made me feel like I'm a child that needs the simplest explanation in order to follow his thoughts. Eventually, I started to appreciate the simplicity and repetition; as he lays open a world with a different mindset you need time to digest all those new but universally true ideas and messages. 

That's all I want to give away. That and the fact that the book taught me how to be more at peace with things happening in my life that were not according to plan and which therefore stressed me out. I've learned a new way of coping with situations like that: to trust in the universe to lead me on a path that's eventually better for me, in one way or another.

It's not easy to trust. But that's how it is with trust.  

When Everything Changes, Change Everything: In a time of turmoil, a pathway to peace (English Edition)

By Neale Donald Walsch

Buy on Amazon

Im Labyrinth des Schweigens

Although I've watched quite a lot of movies recently, I didn't find any of them really worth mentioning in a post … Until this one: Im Labyrinth des Schweigens ("Labyrinth of Lies"), a 2014 German production directed by Guilio Ricciarelli, a young and idealistic public prosecutor in post war Germany takes interest in the case of a former Ausschwitz extermination camp commander, who is teaching at a school in West Berlin, which indicates that he has never been brought to justice. 

I majored in History and graduated from Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich. Although I grew up in a Germany that is dealing with its history on different levels unlike many other countries I'm related with (Turkey and Japan), and although I am of the mind that many at that time wanted to forget the past but that in the end we were lucky for having had no choice but to look at what had been done in Germany mostly because of the Allies, I was quite surprised and also shocked to learn new things through this movie, which is based on true events. 

First of all, what I was surprised about was that I was wrong about the Allies. It wasn't them who made us look at the consequences of Nazi-Germany. It was a young German prosecutor and his group of supporters that helped make the crimes of Nazis a topic that everyone wanted to brush under the carpet. 

Secondly, not only that … I was shocked to find out that a lot of Germans had never HEARD of Ausschwitz. 

All the people, who committed all these terrible crimes as Nazis would have gotten away with everything they had done, if it hadn't been for a few people with the right occupation to dig it all up again, to make us look at what we had done.  

Like with anything bad in your life you can't really move on without looking at something closely and accepting it. I believe that any country that chooses not to teach its children its true face as a nation, faces or will face political and social problems at some point. 

I won't say more about the movie, except for what an impact it had on me and how happy I am to have watched it. 

To true heroes, who remind us of the righteous way.

Cocotte

Sometimes you don't pay attention to wonderful things that are right in front of your nose. 

That's what happened with this little Deli Cafe/Restaurant right across our apartment. It's called Cocotte. 

Usually my husband and I are full like a Fugu (blow fish) or hungry like wild boars who haven't eaten in days. It's rare that we only have an appetite. But that's how we actually, finally paid attention to this cute little deli shop on our street. 

An elderly very sweet lady, who lives right above her cafe/restaurant, runs the three-table place. She serves small dishes from shrimp gratin, fish pies, different types of salads to tiny desserts and it's easy to taste the love she puts in each dish.

I'm glad we discovered her before moving to the new place. We'll definitely come back.  

P.S.

Oh yeah! Forgot to mention that it's mostly French! Like a lot of other places I've recommended recently. :-) 

Sammy Pooh

The other day I was too early for my hair cut appointment. So, I strolled around Shinsaibashi and I found this lovely café that has a terrace. When I came to Osaka ten years ago it was hard to find a cafe with outside tables. Nowadays, it’s still not too common but you’ll stumble over more and more terrace cafes.

This place is called Sammy Pooh, which is a fantastic name, I think. It’s adorable, inviting, and sounds personal.

Inside they have a bakery where you pick what you want to eat and where you can order your drink. The neighborhood is rather quiet compared to how busy Shinsaibashi is just a three blocks away.

Enjoy! 

The Evolution Of Hip Hop Dancing

Jimmy Fallon is all about stars and music and what he does on his show always cracks me up. 

Here is the video clip on "Evolution of Hip Hop Dancing" with him and Will Smith. I love the names given to the different moves. 

Furniture Stores in Osaka

Just recently I wrote a post about us having bought an apartment.

In the ten years I have been living in Japan I did not really put much effort in giving our home an individual touch, simply because it was never our place and when you rent a house there are a lot of things you can’t or are not allowed to do.

In Japan, people rarely use wallpaper or paint their walls.

People prefer new looking furniture and plastic boxes to organize their stuff rather than making a snatch at a flea market and spiffing the piece up.

Also, I’ve seen many homes that don’t really reflect the personality of the owner except for what tricks they use to tidy up their room. People here are very creative when it comes to making the most of a small space though often you have the impression they don’t care much about the looks.

I told my husband that I wanted our apartment to differ from most Japanese homes, that all rooms should have a different look by either painting the walls or using wallpaper.

My husband and I combine various cultural backgrounds and we love a range of styles and I think that our home should show that.

I’d like to turn the tatami room into a walk-in-closet with a Japanese touch. I will try to cover one wall with an old kimono sort of as a wall decoration.

The kitchen will have Turkish tiles, my husband’s room will include a work out space for him, and the atmosphere on our terrace should remind us of the Airbnb house’s porch in Hawaii, which was our oasis of relaxation.

I’m planning on doing things on a small budget and so I planned to buy old furniture and do a lot of things myself. But in Japan the word “antique” or “vintage” shoots prices rocket high, and wallpapers and painting walls can be a luxurious choice.

Nevertheless, we researched a few interesting furniture shops, rented a car last Tuesday and went to all possible stores on our route, together with another friend who is renovating her old house and wants to spice her home up with elements of French interior design.

Here are the places we visited:

the farm UNIVERSAL

This is a great place in Minou (North of Osaka) where you can find all kinds of plants and gardening equipment. Even if you don’t have a garden the farm UNIVERSAL is a relaxing place to go – You are surrounded by green and you can enjoy great coffee and breakfast-lunch-style food at their café!

Antiques Midi

Personally, I think Antiques Midi has too many overpriced pieces but I like their industrial looking space with various white furniture reminding a lot of French countryside interior.

Modular antique

This second hand furniture store was within our budget. We couldn’t find anything that we need but it’s worth checking the place out on a regular basis.

Wallpa

If you are crazy about high-quality wallpaper then Wallpa is the place to go. You just need to be mentally prepared for their prices.

Shark Attack

Not far from Wallpa you’ll find Shark Attack, which has a lot of vintage stuff.

Again, I think, some of the things they have are overpriced but you’ll be amazed by the big range of furniture they offer.

g.u.f.

This second hand furniture store in Horie is definitely my favorite. The girl, who works there is as cold as the receptionist in Beetlejuice but you’ll love the pieces they sell. I did! Twice! I bought a chair for my husband’s room and a glass cabinet g.u.f.. I’d say their prices are fair. 

Blogilates

Now that I've started working out at the gym (as you can read in my post under "me busy with …" I take having a healthy, strong body more and more serious. 

At the beginning I can't say I was into Cassey Ho and her Blogilates website because I found her a little overwhelming, to be honest. But over time I got used her way and now I really appreciate her energy, optimism, hard work, and her commitment. 

Blogilates is a well structured website, and her videos show quality and effort! 

In this post I would like to introduce her website and recommend her if you want to start with exercises at home on a regular basis. 

And here is one of her cardio workout videos. I think it's a perfect example for how well Cassey bonds with her audience and followers by throwing in a personal story, how she is trying to be more than just an online fitness instructor who just shows you the right moves to get your dream abs because she cares about deeper messages. And last but not least she makes sure you don't give up, you do it right, and feel taken care of!

Prison Break All Over Again

What happens when a crab gets hold of a knife? 

He runs away with it! 

Watch this Gangsta Crab!

I truly hope he made it out unharmed. 

Go crabby! 

Meet Martinique, the Wallpaper

Please allow me to be extra dramatic in this post.

You might already know how much I’m in love with tropical prints. I mean, that’s what Palm Me Up (my online business idea) is all about!

Now that we are getting our new home (you can read about that in of the main post Perspective) I am eager to buy my favourite wallpaper called Martinique!!

The other day, when we visited a wallpaper shop, I was blown away when the lady brought a catalogue with exactly THAT design! She asked me to follow her to one of their showrooms – a toilet – and there it was: all over the walls and even on the ceiling! Martinique!
At last! We met!

The only thing that can top this feeling is when I go to the Beverly Hills Hotel in L.A. and see the original Martinique wallpaper displayed in the bathroom there.

DiCaprio has posed so wonderfully in front of Martinique in the movie Aviator. 

Adele's "Hello" Parody

In “What I’m Up To” (in "My Interests") I wrote about going to the gym recently. The beginning was tough because I also started watching my diet and suddenly it felt like the whole world was made of sugar and I had to fight to resist it.

That’s why this video clip below made me laugh and made me feel like I can get my cravings off my chest. 

John Oliver - Donald Trump

For the ones who don’t know John Oliver:

He is an English comedian and political commentator, who used to work on The Daily Show with the brilliant Jon Stewart and is known for hosting HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

There are so many things I love about him:

·      his British humor and accent

·      the fact that, as a Brit, he can pull off political jokes on American TV and gain popularity with it

·      how he proves things right or wrong in a systematic, easy and funny way and backs everything up with great research work

·      how he questions statements and shows us all how not to believe everything we read or hear

·      his lovable way

·      how much influence he has on politics (apparently his comedic commentary has been credited with helping U.S. legislation, regulations, court rulings and other aspects of U.S. culture, which has been dubbed “The John Oliver Effect” – Luckerson, Victor TIME and Jon, Dekel National Post)

Watch this video of John Oliver talking about Donald Trump and how finding Trump amusing is well and good, but that we need to understand what the consequences could be if we we don't stop this man.

Brilliant!

Let's dance!

I put this video in the Lifestyle rather than in the Lau..haha..gh section because I think that dancing like Justin Lawrence Hoyt in the video below is a way of enjoying life. 

I watched this a couple of times and started dancing to it in my apartment in front of my husband, who was getting ready for bed. He watched and then joined me with his toothbrush in his mouth. 

I bet this will make you smile and maybe even dance. 

Work Out Like You Mean It

For the last few months I have tried so many times to start working out at home with You Tube videos … and always failed to continue. 

I came to appreciate Cassey Ho’s Blogilates. At first I was a bit annoyed with her overly enthusiastic voice squeaking “Let’s do this! You wanna have a bikini body by this summer, don’t you?!!” Then I came to understand that I need her to be overly enthusiastic because I … AM … NOT and that has not been working for me.

Personally, I think Blogilates is a very well done site and she does a great caring job. She has become something like a friend, who doesn't know that we are friends. 

Go Cassey!

Back to my "work out" story. 

After a while I had to face the fact that I’m not strong-willed enough to work out by myself. The gaps between the You Tube videos I watched got longer and longer and the number of my excuses were going up.

Then, one day, as I was walking up a very steep hill for about 15 minutes, I thought my heart was about to pound out of my chest and I was breathing like an old horse. “Anyone call an ambulance!!!”, was all I could think of.

That night I told my husband about how physically unfit I felt and that I was worried not to be able to lose weight and build up muscles in order to feel healthy again and ready to do fun sports.  He knew that I had joined a gym many times and that I had quit again for different reasons.

When it comes to gyms I honestly don’t know what to do with myself there. I feel disposed and I'm obviously not comfortable with that feeling.

Though at the moment I’m not making much money and my husband is working hard for both of us, he suggested I try out a personal trainer at the gym.

The next day I was a member of Konami Sports Club … Again. This time though I had my personal trainer - the young Ms. Murakami! 

She told me that she only wants me to do one thing when I show up at the gym: Smile and enjoy our lessons! That sounded like a fair deal.

I’m in my 4th week now, and though I have barely lost any weight, I can feel how I’m building muscles.

And guess what? A week ago, when I had to walk up that steep hill again, it was still definitely not a piece of cake but I managed it without breathing my lungs out. 

Way to go! 

And here is Cassey with one of her well done, motivating, energetic work out videos.

What A Discovery

Like it's the case with anyone who has a slight obsession, my world started to revolve around anything that had to do with my growing interest in palm leaves or any tropical looking design that came across my way. 

And when I stumbled over the blog / site / article in the below link, I felt like Indiana Jones, who just made the discovery of his life!

It wasn't only palm leaves that I felt magically attracted to - apparently banana leaves seem to have the same effect on me. !!!

There are hundreds of tropical leaf prints out there, but only two designs seem to be the true inspiration for all other designs in the years to follow and the base for every tropical fashion revival. (For any smart poop heads here, … I'm not going to argue that the world had tropical designs way before these two designs but let's not make things too complicated … And to be air, I'm just at the beginning of my obsession, so let me enjoy this discovery and give me a break, sweet darlings!)

Ladies and Gentleman! Let me introduce to you The Glam Pad - Where Hollywood Regency Meets Palm Beach Chic- , which introduces the amazing, irresistable wallpaper designs Martinique and Brazillance. 

The Beginning Of An Obsession

My students' view 

When you live in Japan and you teach for a living then around one-third of your students will have visited Hawaii at least once in their lifetime.

One day one of my dear friends here in Japan announced that she was going to get married, that she was going to have the wedding in Hawaii, and that I was invited. I was blown away! Not because of the idea of going to Hawaii, as you might think, but because I was so moved that although she was going to celebrate her wedding in a small circle of friends and family she wanted me to be there on her big day. I was excited for her.

Until then I had never been to Hawaii before. I had created a picture of the island mostly on what my students had told me. The more I heard, the more I started to doubt that I would like the island. 

You see, when Japanese people travel, they usually focus on food and shopping. Hence, their travel guide books and magazines are colorful pictures of shopping paradises, brand fashion goods, perfect souvenir products, recommended restaurants and cafes, and fun activities in groups.

Since Japanese have very short vacations, it makes sense why they want everything stereotypical known about a country crammed in one book and one vacation.  I totally get that. 

I just didn't think I'm cut out for that type of vacation. I like it more authentic and in my mind I was convinced that Hawaii was this Disney World-like place that's hiding it's real face. 

THAT image changed completely

On my way to my friend's wedding, after landing in Hawaii, dealing with cheerful customs officials (Yes, you read that right!), and organizing a taxi to our hotel, my mind was ready to absorb the island.

THAT is when I saw my first Hawaiian palm tree.  THAT is when I fell not only in love with Hawaii but also with palm trees!

Somehow they generate a feeling of happiness, of “I’m home!”, of freedom and “I can do anything I set my mind to” within me.

At that moment I couldn’t have known that this first encounter was the beginning of a great friendship between tropical leaves and me.

At some point I was excited like someone who gets out of work early literally EVERY TIME I saw a shirt or shoes, or cushion with palm or banana leaf print on it.

Now, I’m much pickier and adulty about the quality and design of prints. Not everything sifts through my criteria net.

The online shop idea 

For the last three years this strong connection to palm and banana leaf products has become “a thing” in my life to such a degree that I have made up my mind to create an online shop that offers selected products with that special print, so that anyone who purchases something from my shop, purchases a piece of happiness for their home, their wardrobe, their friends, or their loved ones.

I’m convinced that the right print can be a timeless piece that makes you feel good whenever you wear it or look at it without ever getting tired of it.

And just to add some kitsch and “No, you did not!!!” to the whole Hawaii story … In 2014 my husband and I got married in Oahu … Under palm trees. 

Heads Up

Ellen DeGeneres has released (quite a while ago) this fabulous, funny game that she sometimes plays with her guests.

It’s a word guessing game and it’s called Heads Up. 

You can download the App to your smart phone or tablet and when you start the game you hold the screen above your head. The other person gives you hints and you have to guess as many words as possible in 60 seconds.

Since you are not allowed to look at the screen, there are ways how to control Heads Up:

When your guess is correct you tilt your device (tablet or smart phone) face down and when you want to pass a word you tilt the device up.

At the end of the 60 seconds you can see how many words you got right and how many you have passed.

The game includes 18 themed decks.

I downloaded two versions of it – one with words and one with pictures. The pictures are good because I can play that with friends who don’t speak English or with students, who are studying English with me. (You can play it with kids as well!) 

Here is a video of Ellen playing the game with Alison Sweeney. 

I like the version with doing accents. 

Last but not least, I added this funny video of a lady who just doesn’t get the rules. 

Enjoy!