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Metal Mas Clermont-Ferrand (part 1)

Posted in Travels, Uncategorized on April 2, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Exactly 6 am did my alarm ring and I laid and stared up the ceiling for a good five minutes before I dragged myself out of bed. The good thing about being on tours going TO a show, is that it motivates everything. It’s a lot easier to get out of bed (I said easier, not easy haha) and get your stuff together, because you really don’t wanna miss the train or bus. And especially not when the train ride is as long as this one, because we’d be essentially fucked if we missed it.

So, I collected my stuff, made a quick cup of tea which I downed so fast I burned my tounge. Ordinary things. I got down the hall, and despite this being around you know, 6.20 in the morning, there was a line. A fucking line for the check out. Well, good riddance on me that we decided to meet 30 minutes prior to the train, and that the railway station was just a few minutes away.

While down at the trainstation I didn’t find Madlen right away, but I figured I’d go to our track and I’d find her there, and I sort of did! She was on her way to the big hall but we just turned the other way around and got back to the track. I was sooo surprised to see that our train was already at the track, like, this doesn’t happen in Sweden. So we found our seats, got on the train, being more in a zombie mood than anything.

We planned to sleep, but it wasn’t really until we were a bit in the trip we actually tried to sleep. And then, we woke up right as we approached Saarbrücken. What a coincidence. We spent the next half an hour or so being confused to whether or not we were in France or not until the lady next to us told us we indeed were.

At this point there were barely any idea to go back to sleep, so we just let it be and really, literally, before we knew it, we were in Paris. Like, Sophie texted us that she’d be late, but that she was in the subway now, and we were both a bit confused, like “ok…” and then we approached a station, and we realized “Wait… WAIT.” Haha.

So, we got of the train with all my heavy luggage, seriously, I should really just have shipped off one of these with Michelle while I still had the chance. Anyway, almost directly we ran into our little Sophie, and it was a hugfest deluxe! Seriously, I haven’t seen this woman since Lordi’s Scare Force One release gig in 2014, so it was well overdue! The first thing we did was getting into the subway to get to a McDonalds for some lunch, and conveniently there was a McDonalds close to the subway station we’d need to change subway in… Did that sentence make any sense?

Anyway, once there, Madlen and I for starters got stuck in the elevator. Like. We tried to go up, but it would just keep opening the doors and never work. Then, out of nowhere, it went up and we were like “ok what just happened”. We found some cozy seats, and Sophie delivered the first batch of food and while she went down to get the second tray, we took the oppurtunity to place the jar of Vegemite amongst her food.

As she got back, we patiently waited to see her reaction as she’d move her food…. but she never did. She started eating her food directly of the tray, and despite me and Madlen’s extremely poor poker faces, she didn’t get it. At one point, Madlen even yelled out “OH COME ON!” and all that happened was Sophie apologizing for eating. But, after a while, she finally found the jar and gave me a look that could kill. This little thing led to Madlen doing the Vegemite Challenge, which… yeah, her reaction wasn’t the best, haha!

maddysophie

It was time for us to get going so we wouldn’t miss our train and so we did. It was a bit of hell to get down all the stairs with the luggage, but somehow we managed. For the train to Clermont-Ferrand, Sophie and I had gotten seats at the same place, but Madlen was in a different coach, however, we figure’d we’d get together in one coach and if someone comes, we’d ask them to switch with us.

On this train, on the other hand… We did actually get a bit of rest. All three of us, perhaps not on the same time, but we did. I think sometime an hour or so before reaching Clermont-Ferrand we were all up and going getting excited for the show. Cyril got in touch and told he was there at this point, and as we approached the trainstation, excitment evolved.

TO BE CONTINUED

// Sara

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Powerwolf @ Batschkapp, Frankfurt, Germany 1/4 – 16

Posted in Concerts, Music, Thiz Izz Djermani, Uncategorized with tags batschkapp, battle beast, concert, Frankfurt, Germany, powerwolf, serenity on April 1, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

SO THE D-DAY IS HERE. Seriously, I love Australia and all, but Blessed and Possessed tour is literally what I’ve been going and waiting for the entire time. The Ultimate Enigma was great and all, but how can that beat Powerwolf AND Battle Beast, all in one evening? Nope.

Met up Michelle early in the morning to deliver some stuff for her to take in her luggage to make things a little bit easier on my part when going to Clermont-Ferrand and then we had a, what you could say, fancier breakfast, for once. Found this supercute place down the Kaiserstrasse, “What The Food!” Superdelicious food and superamazing staff. Warmly recommended would you ever need tasty breakfast in Frankfurt city.

With that said, we got to our respective hotels and started to get ourselves ready for the night. Michelle stopped by with some food and that’s when we finally found the time to do the dreaded Vegemite challenge. Seriously, oh my God. Sophie is going down for this one, haha! Gladly, I was smart enough to only take a little bit, while Michelle took quite a lot and almost made herself throw up… Dear lord.

After this, some final touches and then we were finally on the go. We got through the U-Bahn and gladly we found some other Powerwolf fans we could follow. I’ve been to Batschkapp once before, but I remember how disoriented all three of us where, so it felt good that we could take back on some other people. Of course, in the midst of it Michelle is like “What if they are really on their way to a pre-party or something and we’re just following them like some creepy stalkers?”

Thanks, Michelle. Thank you.

We got the line, and it was quite a line already, but hey, what do you expect when you arrive like, half an hour or so before the show starts? We waited in line for some time, I’m not sure if perhaps they were delayed or early with the doors, but they opened 17.52 exactly. I’d know this, because I was trying to calm down a hysteric Madlen on the other side of the phone.

So, we got let in and the first thing we did was to hit the bathroom and once we got out, we went into the venue and went on a quest to find Daniel and Toni. Which wasn’t that hard. You sort of see them. On a lightyears distance. So we went to them to say hi, but wound up staying with them throughout the show. This is also where I’d in fact ‘meet’ Toni for the first time and also Szilvi!

After a little bit of waiting, Serenity entered the stage and started their show.

So, I’m both unfamiliar but also not with Serenity prior to this show. I’m unfamiliar to the music, but I’ve seen a lot of their sponsored ads on Facebook, and after I realized they’d be on tour with Powerwolf I paid a bit more attention, but did not look up any music.

But, DAMN, I liked them. Or like, LIKED THEM. Damn damn damn. So fucking good I barely have any words for it, haha. It’s almost pathetic. They put on a great show and I was determined to get their latest album after the show, that’s for sure.

160401serenitybatschkappfrankfurt

Next up on the stage was Battle Beast, which is one of the two bands I’d been looking forward to a lot.

So, they got on the stage and opened the show with “Let It Roar” and my god, what a band! And Noora! What a performer! They continued on very strongly with “I Want The World … And Everything In It” and seriously, this band, what a rush! “Out on the Streets” were next before it was time for my personal favorite, “Touch in the Night” Of course not without Daniel so delicately enlighten me about this, due to a discussion we had two days ago. Haha. But seriously, this song live though, what a rush!

“Fight, Kill, Die” and “Black Ninja” were the next songs on the list followed by “Iron Hand” and “Enter The Metal World” before they wrapped it all up with “Out of Control”. The band thanked for the evening and walked off stage.

I’ve already said it once before very recently, but I need to state it again: WHAT A RUSH. Seriously, this band, Noora as a performer, WHAT A RUSH!

160401battlebeastbatschkappfrankfurt

After this, the wait for Powerwolf began and at this point I noticed Cyril, my French friend had arrived, holding a position up on the balcony. And with Cyril there’s only one way to greet him – with the face. The Face, as Ashleigh would call it. It was good to see him again!

And then, lights out and Powerwolf started. Intro. Band members entering and then the epic tunes of “Blessed and Possessed” started echoing through the venue with all the lights pointing right onto you, creating probably one of the most beautiful visions in front of you. I’m always going to applaud Powerwolf for their work with the lights.

After one of the most epic openings seen in a long time, “Coleus Sanctus” followed suit, and then “Amen & Attack” Seriously, that song though. Never, ever, fails to disappoint you.

Three songs into the setlist and my heart is already racing with happy emotions and exhaustion. The best feeling in the world, I’m telling you.

“Sacred and Wild” was next, followed by “Army of the Night” which was another jump-fest deluxe. Seriously, if this isn’t the work out of the year, I don’t know what is. “Resurrection by Erection”, my favorite headbang song “Armata Strigoi” and “Dead Until Dark” followed before the mood was turned down a bit for prayer in “Let There Be Night”.

160401powerwolfbatschkappfrankfurt

“Werewolves of Armenia” was next on the list, and seriously, this one live is beyond epic. In fact, all of it is, I’m just sort of running out of words to write about this show. “Saturday Satan” was next on the list, followed by “In The Name of God”.

The set was wrapped up with “We Drink Your Blood” and “Lupus Dei” and it was quite epic, I must admit, to see pretty much the entire arena getting down on their knees for the song. For once, you know. Most of the time people just ignore these kind of things.

The band left the stage, and “Agnus Dei” started echoing in the speakers before the band returned and ripped off “Sanctified With Dynamite”. Seriously, what is it with this band and raising your heartrate?

My personal favorite “Kreuzfeuer” followed before they wrapped up the set with “All We Need Is Blood”.

Seriously, what a rush. I was close to wiped out completely after this show, which only means one thing: One hell of a show. Thank you, Powerwolf for this show. It was amazing. I love you.

After the show, we first went to the merchandise to check it out real quickly and caught up with Cyril. And then I see a familiar person. Could it be? YES! It was Madlen. God. I haven’t seen this girl since Noch Ein Bier, and sure, it may only be like, what, nine months? But nine months is A LOT. I told her that “see, you made it!” which she responded “yeah, to the last song!” Haha. Well… She made it! Oh, this will be a lot of fun.

We hung out quite a while after show, before it was time for all of us to head to our own destinations. Madlen was kind enough to drive us home to our hotels, and we avoided speaking about how early we’d need to get up the next morning, but then again, it’s easy when it is for bands, right?

Thank you all involved for this amazing night – you are the best people in the world. I love you all.

// Sara

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I Want The World…. And Everything In It!

Posted in Uncategorized on March 31, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

So, after a night that ended way too late (in a good way) yesterday, I got up in the morning finding myself slamming into everything and anything. To make it even worse for myself, I had placed my suitcase right in the middle of the bathroom door. Open. Why, I have no idea.

Started the day out with breakfast at McDonalds, and then hit up the Australia shop I had found when I was out with Daniel. Seriously, THEY HAVE AN AUSTRALIA SHOP IN FRANKFURT, LIKE, WHY? But why should I complain, I found Vegemite!

I hit up Michelle at the big Primark and after picking up a new powder brush (finally) we headed out to a nice restaurant for dinner. Ironically enough though – we’ve just returned from Australia, and this is an Australian restaurant. It seems to me, no matter where in the world we are, Australia WILL chase us forever, and ever, to quote Epica.

After dinner we walked around the city centre for a while, taking in the amtopshere. It was dark and cold, but on the same time… It was so good to be back home in Europe. To have your feet on the right side of the world again. Afterwards, we went our separate ways and once back home I started packing up as much as I could. I wanted to be ready, because tomorrow is Powerwolf, and once I get back after the show there’s no return as we’d leave early on Saturday.

// Sara

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Werewolves of Armenia

Posted in Uncategorized on March 30, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

So, you know, how when I came to Australia I was expecting to get jetlagged but in reality didn’t? Well, I guess everything is working in reverse, because I REALLY didn’t expect to get jetlagged when all the flights fit so well… but yup. That is exactly what happened. I went to bed at a normal hour, but when I got up I literally smashed into the walls a couple of times, because despite sleeping a good 10 hours, I was still DEAD.

Met up with Michelle at the railway station for some breakfast before heading out on the town to get some last minute pieces for my Powerwolf ‘costume’ or whatever you wanna call it. For once in my life I’m really sticking to black, so I went to stores as Claires and Six to pick up som decorative jewellery. Got home, and started getting ready to meet up Daniel for some catching up time.

So, of course, just as I’m about to leave that ONE thing that cannot happen, happens. My phone decided to run off somewhere. Great. Now I’m gonna be late too. Gladly, I found it at last, and after some misguided directions and 15 minutes late, I arrived at the destination and met Daniel. Last time I saw him was at the Powerwolf show in Antwerpen last year, so it’s been a little bit of time!

We started off by walking around in Frankfurt, him showing me around historic places and other good sightseeings, and then went back to the restaurant we originally met at and had a nice dinner talking about pretty much everything and nothing all at once. Once finished, we walked around the neighbourhoods again until darkness fell and we went our separate ways. A lot of talking, a lot of laughters and a generally good evening. Thank you, Daniel!

Later in evening I mostly sat and chatted with my ladies in the Metal Mass group on Facebook and starting to prepare my pants for Friday. I don’t know how many times I had to relace them, but it’s always easier with good “company” and good music. Seriously, that group. We always start out very seriously, but somewhere it spirals and all of a sudden, the important stuff are gone, which sucks when some of the members are in the Astrodome, at times. Haha. Oh well. Fun times!

// Sara

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Blank Space

Posted in Thiz Izz Djermani, Travels, Uncategorized on March 29, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Sooo… the next thing I see is light. Dimming lights. And flightattendants handing out the wipes. It’s morning. Which also means, we are very soon in Amsterdam! Finally.

See, as you all know, I do love flying, but when I’m going HOME from somewhere, it’s hard to be excited. And sure, I wasn’t technically going home, I was actually going to Germany to continue my damn adventures, it was still… I want to be in Frankfurt like, NOW.

But, breakfast came, and soon enough we landed in Amsterdam. Nice. My first time in the Netherlands! And the first thing that hit us, also like a brick in the face was minus degress.

About 7 am. Amsterdam. March. Damn damn damn. So you’ve seen Frozen, right? You know where Anna is walking around like “cold cold cold cold”. Yeah, that was us in Amsterdam.

The weirdest thing though was that we had to do another security screening, like, a real one like when you go in the first time. And guess what people? They stole our fucking Vegemite. Damn damn damn. Oh well, maybe next time, or Chiara would send it down to us.

Gladly, the flight change in Amsterdam was only an hour and a half, so we didn’t have to wait too long, because at this point I was like “I wanna go home, I wanna go home”. Eventually we started boarding, and the weirdest shit ever… Halfway through boarding the attendants had to announce “We’re only boarding Frankfurt now”. And I’m like, seriously guys? It says Frankfurt on the monitor, how hard can it be?

Once on the plane… First and foremost, I like KLM. They gave us a sandwich and water made in Turkey. And a cookie. And the planeride between Amsterdam and Frankfurt was probably the shortest ride I’ve ever been too. It felt like we never took off before we were about to land again. We were even taken aback at how fast it had gone.

frankfurt

Once landed, we had originally planned to go to the restaurant we always go to once at FRA, the restaurant where we also had dinner with Exodus, but we couldn’t find it. I wrote to Daniel and asked if he knew if they changed anything, but we did find a McDonalds so all good. When going to the train we realized the problem: We were at Terminal 2, and the restaurant is in Terminal 1. Well, that explains a lot.

Got on the train, and it messed with my brain a lot to have someone talking German over the speakers, BUT, what made me superhappy was the station announcements. They don’t have that in Australia and New Zealand. You just need to guess where you are getting off. It was so… pleasant. So, we got to Frankfurt City, but still a bit early for check in, so naturally, we did what we had to do:

We hit up a laundromat for some last minute laundry. And not only a laundromat, but a laundromat that carried the same colors as Jucy Snooze. Good taste, for sure. But, it was out first time ever doing it, and I’m glad we did it because now I can do it all the time. Will help so many tours in the future.

franklaundromat

Check in finally opened, and for this trip I stayed at the Comfort Hotel Frankfurt, close to the railwaystation, figured it would be good to broaden our ranges of hotels to use in case. It was a nice room really, great facilities, felt good to be in a “luxury” room again, with my own bathroom and everything. It so rarely happens.

frankhotel

Yes. It’s a mess. This is why people should never travel with me, haha. Once settled I just simply crashed on the bed. And that’s when I recieved the bad news.

At first, I just looked at the text, thinking “oh, so this is the last time then”. But no. This year was cancelled. Väsby Rock Festival, the one festival I had looked forward to the most, was cancelled. No Powerwolf, No Battle Beast and most importantly: No Trixter. This broke my heart. Like, I can’t even… Michelle and I went out for – again, Mc Donalds to drown the sorrows, and on our way home we almost froze to death, walked the wrong direction and wound up in the Red Light District.

City sightseeing is so amazing, don’t you think?

//Sara

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One Last Time

Posted in Uncategorized on March 28, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

So yes. 5 am. Taxi’s waiting. Heartfelt good byes to Chiara and Curt, it’s so strange. We’ve lived here for the past month and now it’s just… gone. Away. Over. It was just… difficult.

So, we got into our taxi – arrival was to be four hours before departure, to be on the safe side… only to notice the damned check in doesn’t even open for another two hours or so… That’s it. I’m never early for a flight again, because apparently, I’m just getting it thrown in my face again. However, I must admit, the airport did have some fancy and… interesting artwork!

artbne cowbne

But, of course, eventually the check in did open, we got through all the security checks, picked up some vegemite, because of course, we forgot that at the apartment but no worries – taxfree got us covered.

After an additional two hour wait, we could finally board our beloved plane that’d take us back to Guangzhou and the ride was awesome. Seriously, they had gotten Mockingjay Part 2! I thought I was damned if I didn’t watch it properly on Emirates, but gladly, I could enjoy it on this one as well!

Nine hours or so later we were finally back in China and this time for a seven hour flight change. And that… like. China Southern are fancy stuff, giving us food and all, so we didn’t really need to eat, but the terminal we are going at is fairly small, not a lot to do. Despite this, Guangzhou is seriously the cutest and coziest airport I have ever been to. It’s amazing.

guangzhou

I did some shopping, we had some italian food before we proceeded to just walk. Walk around the entire hall repeatedly for like, an hour or two. We figured – we’ll be sitting a lot on the planes, so we better NOT sit while here. But for the last half an hour or so we did, and we met this super sweet man who was a metalhead back in the 80’s, telling us stories about what they used to do before and after gigs and all that. He’d seen my Sweden Rock shirt and got intrigued by Black Sabbath being the headliner.

guangszhou guangcagn

Seriously, this trolley is my best friend.

Eventually, we got on the plane and heh… this is fun. So we got our seats, getting comfy, getting ready to sleep as we see two metalheads get on. And my first reaction was “M, nice, hot stuff”. Then I found them looking at bit at us. And then it hit me.

Like a brick in the fucking face.

This plane is outbound to Amsterdam.

This is the boys from Epica.

For a split moment my heart did actually stop, but then I realized. Nice. Planeride home with a bunch of hot dudes. I ain’t complaining.

And after that, I dozed off to sleep once we finished the dinner and the plane got blacked out.

// Sara

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Telephone

Posted in Australia 2016, Travels, Uncategorized on March 27, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

This was the most difficult day of the trip. The day before D-Day, the day before take off. The day I’d have to make up my mind about what hotel I wanted to stay at in Frankfurt, for instance. I have this nasty habit of either booking things way too ahead of time, or doing it last minute. Seriously, even Chiara had to help me and chip in on what she thought, and Curt too in the end I think.

But anyway, that isn’t the first thing that happened. So, basically, we were supposed to be at this Easter thing at Curt’s parents, but seeing me being ill, and then I really mean ill, I decided to stay home. I walked down the excercise path one last time, and this time it actually BEING the very last time as we were leaving the day after.

I got downtown and wandered about in the Roma Street Parklands, something I had postponed a lot. I had seen signs about it literally everywhere, but never really bothered to actually go there until now.

And it was absolutely stunning, as you can see on the photos below.

roma1 roma2 roma3 roma4 roma5 roma6 roma7 roma8 roma9 roma10 roma11 roma12 roma13 roma14 roma15 roma16

Got home, and once home, I did another trail down the path, it’s seriously hard to say good bye sometimes, got home, took Curt out for a walk and some last time McDonalds on Australian grounds. Packed up all my stuff, dealt with German hotels, talked to my very excited European girls and went to bed waaay too late considering what hour we were supposed to go up to go to the airport.

But you know… Things that happens, I guess?

// Sara

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Monster

Posted in Australia 2016, The Sims, Travels, Uncategorized on March 26, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Another sort of slow day. It may not make much sense to most of you why one would have slow days while being down under, but I guess this is a bit of my travel-fever. That whenever I’m about to take off somewhere, I get a bit.. “sick”, like I’ve talked about before. That I don’t wanna do it, I get very closed to myself… you know, that sort of stuff.

I went downtown and walked around the city for most of the day, came home and walked down the excercise path that I love so much, painfully a bit, knowing this would be the last time I’d see it for now.

I got back in good time, because right when I got home, the skies opened and the rain poured down. Spent the rest of night slowly starting to pack and playing The Sims.

Progress with Aria is moving pretty fast now. She’s finished off yet another career, and once she’s done with this one (Business) I’ll get her into a Get To Work career, probably the Doctor one in order to keep on the legacy from where Anna stopped. It’s all exciting – all these hours put into Aria is finally paying off, and she’s getting so close to Anna that it’s not annoying to play anymore, which makes me extremely happy. There’s nothing I hate more than to start over with a sim, especially when it’s in such an unnecessary case like this.

So mostly now, I’m planning her house. Originally I wanted to move her to a bigger house in the neighbourhood, but after starting to decorate her place I’m thinking more and more about just adding an extra floor… I guess we’ll see what I actually do.

And by the way: ONLY ONE WEEK LEFT FOR POWERWOLF AND BATTLE BEAST!

// Sara

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Black Ninja

Posted in Australia 2016, Travels, Uncategorized on March 25, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Spent most of my day outside todays. It’s been a 30 degrees day, and since we’re leaving this country in just two days, I figured I’d take the time to actually enjoy the weather and not think too much, so I went down to Lutwych and Kedron Brook and walked around for a good few hours, went home for like fifteen minutes before I decided to go out again because I get insane of being inside when it’s nice weather outside. So I went back, kept walking around until darkness fell around me, and that’s when I decided it could be good to head home.

kedron

I did catch some bats, finally, in the free. It was a little freaky at first, but damn. Precious animals. Once home I got dinner, sat down with my ladies from home and started booking the last pieces of this trip, which is the French and partly the German Powerwolf dates. I think we spent a good three hours trying to put this thing together and despite that, we wound up in three different coaches on the train back to Paris. Oh well, maybe we can solve it, haha.

But really, its going to be great to be back in Europe and see Powerwolf again – despite Babyface McDreamy’s absence. I’ll see my girls and boys again – Madlen, Sophie, Laura, Cyril and Daniel, and I’ll have the privilege to meet Marianne for the first time. It’s going to be soo good. And it’ll be good to be back in France for a change, it’s been six years since I were there the last time, but then I spent three days in Paris. Now it’ll be like what, a couple of hours in Clermont, a couple of hours in Paris haha. Oh well.

powerwolfviljett

// Sara

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Magnetic North

Posted in Australia 2016, Travels, Uncategorized on March 24, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Started the day out earlier than normal, at least for being back here in Brisbane, and went downtown and caught the bus over to the Botanic Garden. The first thing I really noticed about it, was the huge amount of lizards running around literally everywhere. But, despite this, it was a really nice walk about. More pictures, less talking, aye?

After this, we got on the bus back into the city, grabbed a quick breakfast and then headed over to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, which is basically a zoo, or animal park, with Australian animals.

We walked around for a while looking at all the animals, but did without a doubt spend most time in the kangaroo centre, or what you call it, where we cuddled and fed the kangaroos. Best. Day. Ever.

After this, we headed right home and I spent most night fixing with Aria. She’s done with her investor career now, I’ve been refurnishing the livingroom and kitchen, and she started a new career in the secret agent line. I hope I don’t get too far up on her, since I do not remember what line Anna did and I figured Aria would do the opposite… oh well!

// Sara

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