It’s Friday and so it’s time for my favorite web finds. Here are links (in German and English) that inspire me, make me think or laugh, bring tears to my eyes, or keep my credit card busy… Happy clicking, y’all!

1 – Whenever I tell my friends in Germany about this, they don’t belive me. But Mommy Makeovers are a real thing, guys!

2 – This video captures expat life in a really beautiful way. I especially like the statement „Your children will follow your lead.“ If we are happy, our kids will be happy. No matter what. Or where. Right!?

3 – Thank you, Christian (from Höferle Consulting), for sharing yet another (profound) cultural difference between Germans (Europeans) and Americans:

„youthful and elderly Europeans see themselves as victims of fate, while young and old Americans alike see themselves as masters of their fate“

4 – I really hope that the situation described in this article about an unemployed woman looking for a job – any job – is not the rule. But I have been reading a lot about how hard it is in Germany for women to go back to work after they had children. And the woman portrait in the article doesn’t even have kids… Food for thought, for sure.

Have you planned anything fun for the weekend? We are going to kick it off with two valentine’s parties at my kids‘ day care, followed by a raclette night with friends and a costume party in celebration of Fasching / Karneval in Germany (read here about this German tradition which I called ‚reverse Halloween‘). Helau and Alaaf! And happy Valentine’s Day, of course!