Swan

Please don't send anything to my Virginia address anymore. I've moved to California.

I just love to read. Especially books that are based on a true story or non-fiction books. I read and write English and German fluently.

I'm on Postcrossing, sending and receiving postcards from all over the world (see links above).

I like singing in the choir and in the shower; listening to good music; stickers; bright colors like red, yellow, and purple; the fall season with its colorful leaves; wildflowers, poppies, sunflowers, dandelions; the smell of the air after rain; salamanders, butterflies, ladybugs, snails, squirrels; traveling notebooks, handmade postcards; sitting under a tree and enjoying the nice weather and the things around me; berries and bananas, good food; sunsets; taking photographs with my digital camera; close-up pictures; my hometown Luebeck where I grew up; watching a landscape from a plane; going to church on Sunday morning; cute socks; chocolate, filled gingerbread hearts; true stories.

I reuse packaging. It's fun to do and saves a lot of resources.

Handmade postcards, journaling (drawing, writing, glueing, pockets,...), traveling notebooks (or single letter (8"x11") or A4 sized pages to collect to make a book), ATCs. I've just started to (re)learn crochet, my ultimate goal is to be able to read and follow all the patterns... I love scrapbooking quality stickers, especially travel and nature themes.

Classical (e.g. Bach); contemporary Christian (e.g. Keith and Kristyn Getty, Michael Card, Michael W. Smith); The Mamas and the Papas

Salamanders and newts, birds (especially the small songbirds and ducks), interesting insects, snails, sheep, and in general any wildlife.

Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury), The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis), Safely Home (Randy Alcorn), The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (Alexander McCall Smith; still looking for vol. 13 The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection and the books for young readers), the Bible, Moomin books. In general, I like non-fiction and fiction based on a true story. I like it if I can learn something interesting in an enjoyable way. I can read English and German fluently. For a list of books that I'm looking for so I can read them please check out my Bookcrossing wishlist and my Amazon wishlist (I'd be happy with anything in used condition, doesn't have to be new and of course you don't have to buy at Amazon).

I'd also appreciate suggestions for good free or inexpensive books or apps for the Nook Tablet.

Television: Monk, Star Trek Voyager, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Trading Spaces, The Amazing Race, Survivor

Movies: Ice Age, Avatar, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Copying Beethoven, The Final Inquiry. Hayao Miyazaki's films, such as Howl's Moving Castle. Kung Fu Panda.

Colors: Red, orange, yellow; rich jewel-tone colors.

Things to eat and drink: Berries and other fruit, chocolate (good quality, preferably fair trade, no cheap brands like Hersheys...), filled gingerbread hearts/cookies. The only teas I care for are herbal teas, especially the fruity ones. Rosehip with hibiscus is one of my favorites.

Postcards: I love Maxi cards. "Maximum card: a picture post card that has an illustration, stamp and cancel all with a common theme." I'm also thrilled, if you just use a stamp matching the theme on the picture side to send your postcard.

Some of my favorite postcard topics are: reading/books; music/instruments; wildflowers; fruit; native plants and animals; National parks; newts and salamanders or other amphibians; songbirds, ducks, owls, and other birds; Christianity.

Instead of writing a note on a swap card or memo sheet (swap and who it's from), when sent with swap package, I would love if you wrote all that information on a postcard and sent it in the swap package!

We recently got an iPad, so if you have a favorite app, please advise me. My favorite game at the moment is "Where's My Water?"

Shoe size 40-41 German, 9 1/2 US. Size for T-shirts: XL. Socks should be at least 50% cotton or other natural fiber, my feet sweat too much in acrylic. T-shirts cotton only, no acrylic mix. I'd be especially happy to get something made of organic cotton or other eco-friendly material.

• Any kind of handmade "book" (e.g. handmade notebook, altered book,chunky book, nice deco, art journal, travel journal, mini scrapbook, upcycled smashbook for me to fill)
• Books to read (see wishlist - used books are fine as long as they are in readable condition)
• Moleskine like notebooks (the real thing or imitations. I would love The Little Prince or Lego special edition!)
• nice Lefthanded item (calendar, tool, ...)
• interesting paper, maybe with something embedded or a cool texture... (anything at least the size of an ATC is fine)
• adhesive for scrapbooking (double sided photo safe tape, glue dots, photo corners, and other items, as long as they are archival/photo safe quality)
• alphabet stickers and travel themed stickers (also good quality for scrapbooking)
• Clothing made of organic cotton or other eco-friendly material
• fair trade items (e.g. coin purse, ornament, bracelet, small notebook) or even one you bought in a scratch and dent sale and fixed yourself. I love bargains and I love it when the person who originally made the item gets a fair price for it.
• quarters that I'm still missing from my collection (All the new commemorative quarters that came after the original state quarters.
• Anything from my Universal wishlist on Amazon

Items my husband would enjoy:

• anything related to pinball
• large soaps (preferably 7oz/200g or larger; he especially likes fruity scents like strawberry and more masculine smells like mint)
• bar of shave soap
• good quality black liquorice (such as Katjes (Tappsy are his very favorite!), Haribo, or Panda brands)
• audio books on CD to listen to on his commute

• Please don't send me anything that smells smoky. It makes me sneeze and the smell is so hard, if not impossible, to get out.
• I don't have holes in my ears, so I don't wear earrings.
• I don't like any kind of coffee. And I don't like peanuts (I'm not allergic, so traces are fine, but please not peanut butter cups etc.). I don't care for black or green tea very much (even the flavored ones), but I do like fruity herbal teas.
• I don't really like Pooh the Bear very much...
• When sending craft supplies, used stamps and such are fine, but don't send me photocopies of mediocre quality on regular paper or something like that.
• I'm trying to de-clutter my home. So lots of extras won't earn you a heart. I try to swap and wish for only things that I can use. I'd be much happier about one well thought out swap item or one little carefully selected extra.