Coffee Cat

DIY orange candle

2012-02-10T17:34:00.002-05:00

For fear of being slapped in my face with "DUH!", I'll say it, "Pinterest is a goldmine!"

A few days ago I stumbled upon this amazing idea and I brought it to life last night.

Orange candle... Yes, like a candle made out of a real orange. All the cool kids are making those right now. I want to be a part of the cool crowd.

Here is what I did.

I cut off some of the orange. Using a knife and then a spoon, I scooped out the yummy part...

And ate if of course...Be very careful not to damage the stem; it will serve as your wick.

Fill up the orange with olive oil (make sure to soak the stem in it too)...

And light it... It might take a few tries, but don't give up. It's pretty, aromatic, and so-so green. And it will burn forever:)

Orange you excited to make one of these?

My feet's new crush

2012-02-09T20:12:00.001-05:00

The moment I read Kirby's post about Toms' new ballet flats, I bought a pair momentarily!!! My first pair of Toms. I'm in love.

The price is a little high for a cheap-o like me, but you know that feeling, when you know your life would be incomplete if you don't get something?

Yeah, THAT feeling.

Whenever I get that feeling, my hubby usually asks, "And THEN you'll be happy?"

YES!

A sweet message at check-out, saying that you just helped someone in need (for every purchased pair, a new pair is sent to a child in need) makes you feel better, don't worry!

They just look so puuuurrrty, don't they?

It was so hard to choose the color, but I finally decide on sweet and tender Natalia Rose.

My precious package arrived today. These babies look even better in person. And they are so comfy.

If you see a girl on a road, begging for financial help... Hollar, that'll be me.

At least I'll look stylin' :-)

Weekly Photo Challenge: Ready

2012-02-06T20:54:00.000-05:00

This week I'm cheating a little bit: I'm using old photos. When I saw that this week's theme was "Ready", I instantly thought of two pictures taken awhile back. I was like, ohemgee, those would be perfect for this.(And, ohemgee, I take so few pictures, that I can remember them all! Fix this, self! Also, fix your language... "Ohemgee"? Really?)
Besides, I think the rules don't say anything about pictures having to be fresh. Shh, don't quote me on this.

So here you go... Ready?

Armed and ready to glue things...

Ima ready... but Ima ready to get that heart rate going...

26 week update

2012-02-04T18:17:00.000-05:00

How far along/gender. 26 weeks. Only 97 more days to go. Single digits, baby! As far as gender is concerned, both of us have a feeling it's a girl. Everybody is predicting a girl. I can just see God smirking:)

Size. The baby is about 14 inches long (hothouse cucumber?!?! hopefully cuter!) and weighs 1.75 lb.

Movement. A lot of it. Especially when mommy is not moving. Get up mommy, I like to be rocked. It's kicking, and punching, and head butting. Greg has been able to feel a few kicks, and if I stare at the belly, I can see little ripples. Still a very odd, but pleasant feeling.

Changes in my body. I've gained about 20 lb. Now nobody will be confused as to whether I'm pregnant or fat (I hope!!!). No stretch marks on the belly so far. I stopped wearing my wedding ring, since it doesn't fit any more.

Clothes. The bigger the belly gets, the smaller my choice of clothes. No bueno! Motherhood Maternity is still my fave place, but I don't want to buy any more clothes. I used to think I would be able to wear a bunch of my old clothes, but they all feel uncomfortable and don't look very good. Love wearing leggings and long shirts; at home it's yoga pants.

Discomforts. It's becoming every uncomfortable to bend over to put socks and boots on. Greg had to do it for me on a couple of occasions. Very soon he will have to help me off the bed and off the couch. I'm feeling like a stuffed potato, whatever that means.

Still not sleeping well and peeing more often than blinking.

I feel like I'm starting to waddle. You know, like a penguin? Only I try to remember to walk like a human most of the time.

Cravings. FOOD! Started to eat more sweets: ice cream almost every night, and nutella seems like in everything. Yum. More than anything, I crave a cold, delicious glass of Blue Moon! Or Fat Tire! Or 312! But for now I will just sniff Greg's glass.

What I miss. I miss dancing. I stopped going to Zumba, because this belly gets in the way. My physical activities are confined to walking. I miss looking down and seeing nice pedicure on my toes.

Miss wearing high heels. I tried wearing them one day last week and came home with extremely swollen feet.

Miss summer, but that's not baby's fault:)

What I'm looking forward to. May! I can not wait to see this little punkin! Can't wait to have him or her grab my finger:) Ahhh!

Operation Nursery: 1 step forward, 2 steps back

2012-02-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

I thought the hardest part about creating a nursery will be picking out color patterns and decor.

Turns out it's clearing out all the JUNK from what is supposed to become a nursery.

In the last couple of weeks I've made very little progress. I've gone from this...

to just this...

Not exactly progress, but I keep telling myself I have plenty of time.

About the only thing indicating that this will become a baby's room, are a couple of pairs of tiny little shoes/socks that I got from a few friends.

I think it says "future mama" in Portuguese. A friend brought these from Brazil. Presh.

I know the red ones are for a little girl... But don't freak out, we still don't know who it is. One of my friends (hollar, Nicole) just couldn't keep herself from buying these:) How I understand her.

I've started looking at crib bedding, and let me tell you, they DO NOT make much gender-neutral stuff.
Here are a couple of options I found cute.

From PBK

Not sure how I feel about the elephant.

Maybe a light green-yellow combo?

From Babies R Us

Too simple?

Which one do you like the most???

And if you know any other places I can check out some bedding, I'm ALL EARS.

Beautiful thing, comfort...

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was one of those times when you just sit down and thank God for how comfortable life is. Breakfast at a local bakery, friends time, gorgeous sunny weather, walk with hubby... Just being at home with my love and doing mellow things like reading, knitting, and taking naps. Love those moments. I especially encourage myself to take advantage of calmness and peace now that there are only two of us.
Very soon this will change.
If you've ever been pregnant or even talked to a mother, you probably heard the following things on more than one occasion:
* Enjoy your freedom while it lasts
* Sleep as much as you can while you can
* Forget about being spontaneous
* You will never have time/energy for this again... etc.

I try not to get intimidated by those things... After all it will all be worth it, right?

Psst... Only 100 days till our little munchkin arrives. Yeepee!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Hope

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

This weeks theme for the photo challenge (via The Daily Post) is Hope.

If you live in the Midwest, middle of the winter leaves much room for hope. If you are an optimist, you see hope for the better life all around you!

If you are a pessimist, you better move to Florida.

Here are 3 pictures signifying some kind of hope.

Maybe I can?

Oh, childlike faith!

A little taste of what's to come in the spring.

Hope for a new life and warm days.

Mommy, I can't reach my up!

*my fave*

What do you think?

Brain Potpourri

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

It is official: I'm too fat to fit into my wedding ring. Buh-buy, beautiful, see you in May (I HOPE!). For now I will be wearing an 8 dolla cubic zirkonia from Walmart, because I simply feel naked without a ring.

As a preggo, I should read Nicholas Sparks, watch Lifetime movies, cuddle with kittens, and eat soft clouds of cotton balls.

But no, sir. I'm reading The Girl Who Played with Fire.

Hello, gray hair, because this book is full of intense drama and it is impossible to put down. I take it to the bathroom with me, which basically means I read this book in the bathroom (you probably have heard how much I go to the bathroom these days).

PLUS, hubby and I decided to watch the pilot episode of 24 the other day... Big mistake. HUGE. Addicting and stressful!

Watched last week's episode of The Bachelor last night. The model creeps me out a little. And Ben sent the funeral director home because it wasn't "fair to the other girls". I guess that's why he is kissing every single one of them: to be fair.

"On the scale from 1 to 10, I'm going to throw up" from all the drama.

* maybe I shouldn't publicly confess I watch The Bachelor*

So over this gray Midwestern winter. I want sun, more daylight, and to wear my boyfriend jeans with holes in them.

Source: polyvore.com via Lena on Pinterest

Weekly Photo Challenge: Simple

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

In order to improve my photography skillzz, I've decided to join The Daily Post's challenge of posting thematic pictures once a week. I'm not the greatest photographer, but this should challenge some dormant creativity I might have:)

This week's theme is Simple.

How do you go simple without being boring?

I'm not sure yet, but I went the girly route.

Simple truth... My moto:-)

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Simple jewels... This girl's good friends.

You judge: simple and interesting or simply boring? (Hubby voted that the second picture is boring! He is banned from this blog from now on! Just sayin' )

Mawage is what bwings us together today!

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday as hubby and I were driving home from a work weekend in Milwaukee, we started listening to a marriage podcast. The beginning was mostly a testimony of a couple who spent first 18 (!!!) years of their marriage co-existing. They were partners as opposed to best friends and lovers.

I do not want that kind of marriage.

I don't want to spend time with my husband just sitting on the couch side by side and doing our own things (watching a movie, surfing the web, etc). I want us to always talk, share our thoughts, fears, concerns, and be open about everything.

smile :-)

I want us to listen to each other. I want to have adventures together. I want us to laugh together and even laugh at each other. I want us to "grow" our marriage as we together grow a little person, this little product of the two of us. And most importantly, I want us to grow closer to God, together, every day...

One of the cute ways couple can make sure they really talk to each other is sharing their Highs and Lows of the day. I think I need to make that a tradition.

Do you have any other wise words?

Let's clean up this mess!

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

I came to live in the states in 2006 and right away, I noticed how many unhealthy and obese people there are here. (If you go to Russia, I dare you to count obese people; you won't even need all of your fingers.) When I started working as a teacher, I noticed the same trend among children. Plus, so many more people seem to be diagnosed with weird disorders like ADD, ADHD, OCD, ED, LD, autism, etc. The numbers seem to be much, much higher than I ever heard of in Russia.

I have not read any research, have not heard of any studies that come up with causes for all this junk, but I have seen Food, Inc and have read In Defense of Food.

And I do come from a still developing country, that thankfully hasn't gotten as bad as far as growing and preserving food is concerned.
I am almost 100% positive that the majority of problems come with food. Food that is full of pesticides, chemicals, and other poison. And nobody will convince me otherwise.

The most immediate solution to the problem is buying organic food. But, man is it expensive!

However, if you make smart moves, it's possible not to destroy your budget completely.

Hubby and I first switched to organic milk, eggs, and yogurt (things we consume on a daily basis). Often, our local Kroger has those items on sale, for the price of regular products. Score.

And theeeen, I heard a buzz about The Dirty Dozen, which is a list of 12 fruits and vegetables, that contain the most pesticides.

If you only exclude a few of these items from your diet (or switch to organic produce), you will eliminate about 80% of all the chemicals from your system. Yes, please.

You probably don't eat all of those items on a regular basis, so just take the ones you do eat a lot, switch them to organics, and you won't notice much change in your budget, but you will very likely feel better.
We have been eating organic apples and lettuce, and it feels good!
How do you make sure you eat healthy?

Brrr & Mmm

2012-01-19T17:04:00.000-05:00

Did you know that when you drink a hot beverage, your body temperature doesn't really go up? You only get warm for a few minutes, and mostly because of your brain! Yet, I bet ALL of us think about a hot cup of coffee (tea, chocolate, etc) on cold days, like it's the only way to warm up.

I'm not complaining, just saying'.

It is really cold around here today and I had a coffee.

Yes, I'm preggers and I drink coffee.

I will probably have a crazy kid.

You have those days too!

2012-01-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Hump Day, everyone...

Yesterday was a whiny type of day. You know, the one where you keep rolling your eyes, making snorting sounds, slouching your shoulders and walking away from what you are doing with a loud "Aghhh". Maybe even lay on the floor and stomp your feet.

Starting with the weather (you stop that yawn!): 52 and pouring rain in the morning (there goes my hairdo), turning to freezing wind with snow in the evening (there goes my productivity). Go figure. All night I was thinking about getting up from the couch and turning the fireplace on. It seemed like too much work, so I just waited for hubby to come home and turn it on.

Picture above was taken in Michigan, in a cabin we rented with some friends. Apparently everyone was lazy to turn the fire on then too.

Don't judge a preggers. My belly gets in the way of things. You should have seen me typing on this laptop. My boy Mac and I looked like one of those awkward couples at a prom, dancing with outstretched arms.

Speaking of belly some more... Man, it is growing like nobody's buiZZnes. Very soon hubby will have to help me from the couch, the bed, and the toilet. Just the last one alone can become a full time job for him.

Feeling fat and cold, I scrolled through some pictures from last summer where I was warm and relatively thin. And just lookey what I stumbled upon :-)

That would be me and Julianne Hough. She just came over one day and borrowed my clothes for a run. She might as well have kept them, since those shorts fit to about my knees right now.

Ahh, now I was back to fat and cold. I would have gotten some ice cream, but hubby was in the shower.

I love me some mustard

2012-01-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

Nope, not talking about the goo in the bottle. Although that one is not so bad either.

I might be a little 2011 late, but I'm just now getting the whole mustard yellow thing. Have you had your time with mustard yet? Am I the only one behind? Something terrible might be happening to my sense of style.
Don't judge: growing bigger and bigger every minute and Motherhood Maternity are to blame.
I just love mustard yellow in everything these days: clothing, accessories, furnishing, decor...

I've always thought yellow/gray combo was beautiful (yeah, I'm very unique that way!)... Now I think I refined my taste and believe it is the mustard yellow/gray combo that I'm in love with. Can you tell by my blog appearance?

Mustard yellow and red go perfect together as well. Ask Mustard and Ketchup; they are like best buds.
I'm not even kidding.
Even Taza @ rockstar diaries agrees. (By the way, have you ever read rockstar diaries? You should! It's one of my fave blogs. Taza is drop-dead gorgeous and has the cutest kid I have seen on this planet.)

I hope this trend survives for a few more months, until I pop, or at least until Motherhood Maternity catches on.

Operation Nursery: Inspiration

2012-01-15T12:03:00.000-05:00

About 17 weeks left till our little munchkin arrives, and it's right about time to start working on the nursery. I have been exploring Pinterest for some time now and have found so many beautiful rooms. Which makes it as much harder to make a choice. I just wish there were 2-3 different options; I would be set then... Agh...

I've decided that I want to do something very neutral, light, and calm. No bright colors.

Below are a few of my favorite nurseries. I love them all!

I adore everything about this photo. The white and silver combo, the mirror, the chandelier, white bedding... Ah!

Source: Uploaded by user via Lena on Pinterest

Gray, yellow and black combo is not really thought of being it for the nursery, but I just think it's so darn fashionable. Could be perfect for either boy or girl. This bedding looks amazing.

Source: petitelemon.com via Lena on Pinterest

This one just exudes calmness, warmth, and coziness, no?
I'm a big fan of that chair, the chandelier and canopy.

Source: google.com via Lena on Pinterest

I could totally see myself spending hours in the room below. I would probably move in there with the baby. It's very girly, but if you get rid of the pink and add pastel blue, a boy will be happy too. Looks very southern and cozy. LOVE it.

Source: cdn.decorpad.com via Lena on Pinterest

I know I said I don't want bright colors, but this room makes me want to rethink my choices. I am IN LOVE with the colors. The only reason I think I won't go in that direction is the fact that it might be very hard to find these exact colors. The chandelier looks awfully familiar though:)

Source: s26.photobucket.com via Lena on Pinterest

Which one do you like the best? What recommendations do you have?

You can find more on what I'm looking at here on Pinterest.

Boob light, be gone

2012-01-14T16:20:00.002-05:00

Imagine waking up in the morning, opening your eyes and seeing a boob on the ceiling? It's a little unsettling, to say the least. After a few years of this, It was time for the little thing to go away.

A couple of weeks before Christmas, hubby and I went to IKEA to pick up a few items for the nursery and stumbled upon this beautiful Maskros pendant chandelier.

I fell in love with it and it is surprising that I got to hanging it only yesterday. We had some friends over for martinis and, having played my pregnancy card, I involved them as well:).

They may have sipped martinis while dealing with electrical wires. I was out of the room for safety purposes. All turned out well though, and the thing was finally up and ready for me to decorate. (I couldn't wait till the next day!)

And this morning we woke up to this over our heads.

No more boobs on the ceiling, thankyouverymuch!

Before and after... (I also swapped the throw, because it just didn't match anymore.)

As you can see, IKEA got wasted and threw up in our bedroom. Bedding, throw, dresser, all the lamps - compliments of IKEA.

Me likey. How about you?

Snowy dilemma

2012-01-12T17:54:00.000-05:00

Wild things are happening in our neck of Midwestern woods. It's snowing. In January. I know!!! Wild.

But you better believe people are freaking out.

I'm just excited, because the storm brings a possibility of a 2-hour delay or a cancellation, if we are really lucky, Santa will get confused and will bring more gifts. Wooo to the hoo!

There is still a child in me, metaphorically speaking... Well, literally too, but you might have known that, as I wouldn't shut up about it.

What do you do on a dreadful, cold day, when you can't get out of your ~~bed~~ driveway?

Do you sip coffee all day?

Do you snuggle on the couch with a blanket and a good book?

Do you make warm soup?

Do you wear your warm jammies and socks and possibly stay in bed all day long?

I would normally do all of those things at some point on any given snow day. I'm such a cliche.

So... In case we are blessed with a day off tomorrow, do I stick to my routine and do all of the things above, OR do I tackle a LONG-overdue cleaning project below?

Look at this junk dump site and PLEASE tell me it IS possible to turn it into a pretty nursery for the tenant that will move in here in just 4 months?

Trauma ahead!

2012-01-11T17:41:00.002-05:00

So, dreams...

This pregnancy is screwing with my head. Imagine giving birth to a burrito with a crawling bug in it? Or giving birth to a machine gun with boy parts? Or even giving birth to a baby boy that you can't bring yourself to love? Scary, disturbing dreams.

(How in the world can a little creature inside me cause so much trouble already? I'm fat, uncomfortable, practically incontinent, tired, sleepless... And it hasn't even been born yet. It only weighs a freakin' pound!)

Anywho, I had a dream last night in which my husband left me for another woman. I cried, and then I got up to pee. I went back to sleep and had a dream that my husband left me for another woman. I cried, and then I got up to pee.

What, you think it's annoying to read this twice? Imagine experiencing it for real, it in the middle of the night. TWICE!

Traumatizing!

Hubby has been on a work trip for a couple of days, otherwise I would have slapped him silly in the middle of the night.

I've been mad and thinking of revenge all day long!!!

Now, I know my hubby will never hurt me like that in real life, so instead I came home and gave him a giant hug.

Right after I slapped him silly! TWICE.

22 week update

2012-01-08T17:02:00.000-05:00

How far along/gender. 22 weeks. I had my ultrasound today (YAY!) and was so extremely tempted to ask the doc who we are having, BUT we've made that stinking decision and are sticking to it. Hubby still thinks it's a boy (and coming up with some ridiculous names!) and I think it's a girl. I have names picked out for both, but, all moms out there, HOW the heck do I get hubby to agree to them???

Size. The baby is about 11 inches long (spaghetti squash) and weighs 1 whole pound.

Movement. YES! He or she started kicking away a couple of weeks ago. It's a very weird, hard-to-describe feeling. Like balloons popping in my belly or something:) It's presh! There was a lot of mouth and hand movement during the ultrasound:)
Changes in my body. I've gained about 18 lb. So, if the baby only weighs 1 lb, where the heck did the rest go??? I mean, I can tell you where, but WHY?

Clothes. Motherhood Maternity is my new fave place, you people. It's inexpensive and has tons of cute things. I can still wear 3 pairs of my old, non-maternity jeans and some shirts. I had to buy maternity work pants (and I'm wearing the heck out of them!) and some longer shirts. Feeling much more comfortable:)

Discomforts. Sleep!!! I do not sleep well at all. A couple of nights ago I started putting an extra pillow between my legs and it's made such a difference. But still, when I have to switch sides, there is this whole ordeal of moving the pillow with me.
I still pee like nobody's biZZnes! It's become my daily mission - to make it as long as I can without going to the bathroom. Usually 40 minutes is the max!
Putting socks and boots on is becoming harder and harder.

Cravings. Don't crave anything in particular, just FOOD and as much as possible.

What I miss. My flat belly at times. Doing my own pedicures. A good night's sleep.
But if I don't see another toilet for the rest of my life, I won't miss it!!!

What I'm looking forward to. Finally starting on the nursery. We picked up our crib and now it's just standing there in the garage waiting to be assembled. I'm devoting this week to decluttering the guest bedroom little by little.
And here is a little ultrasound picture for you. Cute little profile with what looks like my nose:)

Cheers, peers!

welcome, sunshine

2012-01-08T16:17:00.001-05:00

Last time I checked it was beginning of January. But nature is a bit confused apparently, because we've had beautiful sunny weather in mid 40s. I'll take it.

You can only imagine how odd it was to see our Christmas tree still up. It is gone though, don't get alarmed, it's been successfully replaced by a comfy reading chair. Hubby and I spent half a day cleaning out pine needles from every corner of this house. Now if you come visit, you won't even be able to tell that Christmas was once present here. It is sad. But I'll take a clean decluttered house as well.

Do you think it's dangerous to paint your nails while pregnant? Because I've been doing it at least once every 2 weeks. Today's color (lilac fields) was inspired by the sunny weather... Makes me think of summer.

How progressive of us!

2012-01-06T18:28:00.000-05:00

Today is Christmas Eve.

Yeh-huh! In Russia. That is the reason my Christmas tree is still up.

Since America could care less for the fact that they could have 2 Christmases instead of one, no one does anything special on January 7th here. I just decided to reminisce about the holidays that are already way over and tell you about an awesome Christmas party we had on December 9th.

My American friends probably won't be super interested in this post... You all will be like, so what? We do these progressive dinners, like, all the time. But I'm a simple Russian girl and had never heard about progressive dinners until my friend Kirby threw out the idea.

To my Russian friends: progressive dinners are these dinners where these silly (or smart... you pick!) Americans go from one house to another for each course.

My hubby is a bartender with experience, so I think we rightfully earned the pleasure of hosting people for appetizers/drinks.

Stuffed mushrooms, baked brie, Martini's, and other such yumminess.

Next stop - main course at Aaron's house. Just look at the goodies: steak, amazing bread from Aaron's bakery (uh-huh!), wine...

Are you salivating yet? No? Well, keep going then... Because next up - J and Kirby's house for dessert: homemade (!) cheesecake, coffee, and homemade (!!) peppermint creamer.

It was a fantastic night. Lots of amazing food and drinks, laughter, Christmas cheer... The only thing we should have done differently, was walk from house to house instead of driving.

By the end of the night we were all stuffed, tired, but happy... Hence, the joyous picture below:)

I may or may not have had to unzip some buttons on my pants. Maybe even my shirt. You'll never know!

Merry Orthodox Christmas, everyone!

С Рождеством Христовым!

Rise of the machines

2012-01-04T20:20:00.000-05:00

I was doing something important the other day (aka scrolling down my feed on facebook) and saw a post about a phone being more powerful than someone's computer.
And then I started thinking (I do that sometimes...).

Most of our lives, mine included, are filled with gadgets, electronics, machines, and other technological junk.
I've actually taken the time to trace my daily steps throw all that gadgetry, and I'm officially declaring that machines rule my life.

I wake up in the morning to a nice sounding alarm on my phone. I can hit the snooze button 17 times. (Remember those clocks with the loud ringing noise that makes you jump from your bed and scream "Russians are coming"... You see what I did there? I made a joke about my home country as if I were an American!)

Before I crawl out of bed, I check my pregnancy app that tells me what's up with the baby in my womb. It's like they talk at night or something. Doctors are overrated anyways...

My morning routine includes making coffee using my new Tassimo espresso maker. I don't even have to mess with the coffee grounds. This thing was created by a lazy genius!

Gee, curling my hair with a flat iron seems so laborious and manual.

I then use my SodaStream to make myself some carbonated water. Maybe add some flavors to it. Too bad they haven't made a martini flavor; my mornings would be so much more peppy.

I leave for work in my car. And do you know what I use to start my car? A remote starter! 'Cuz who wants to get into a car early in the morning and freeze her bazinga off???

Oh, and do you know what I do in my car? Plug in my phone and listen to Pandora. 'Cuz radio is so 2011. (Well, sometimes I do listen to NPR, but don't tell the cool kids, they'll unfriend me on FB.)

My work day includes of course a computer (but that's so 2000 and late), a Mimio board, a document camera and accessories that usually accompany those. I'm a tech savvy teach, ask your Siri. (not my classroom pic!)

Computers, music stuff, TV gadgets, Kindles in the evening and I get ready for bed as hubby turns down the stereo using his phone app.

No wonder I have dreams about giving birth to machine guns that have boy parts.

The moral of the story is? There are 2:

1. I will suck at being Amish.
2. I will get robbed tomorrow. (Note to potential robbers: we may or may not have alarms and cameras, plus there is no way to get out of our neighborhood without passing a police station - bwahahaha!)

What gadgets rule your life?

So 2011 late...

2012-01-02T17:46:00.000-05:00

I promised a few days ago to post about my gift wrapping this year... Wow, I'm way late, right? But you might need some ideas for next year, or, with some tweaking, you can even use it throughout the year during different holidays.

I've always felt like wrapping paper is the biggest waste of money, so this year I stayed away from it. Instead, I turned to some left-over butcher paper and yes, newspaper.

And, totally unrelated, I discovered crackle nail polish. It's a lot of fun as it offers many different color variations. For Christmas I chose the "Snow Blast".

Sorry again that this post is so outdated... They don't call me Speedy Gonzales for nothin'...

Well nobody calls me that, but maybe 2012 is the year to start? I feel like with the baby on the way and later in my arms, I will keep falling behind on everything...

Hope you all had a lovely New Year's celebration. Happy 2012!

Baby's 1st Christmas

2011-12-27T19:06:00.003-05:00

It's strange how the smallest of children take up the most attention any day... Our little niece Mae Nicole was the star of our Christmas weekend. All she did was sleep, eat, cry, and be adorable.

My ovaries were hurting!

PS: the picture above is hubby's first ornament... Aww!

Clearly Christmas is all about the gifts...

2011-12-27T18:55:00.000-05:00

... because that is what we were occupied with all Christmas day!

2011-12-23T11:40:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas, y'all!

This morning I've been busy wrapping gifts (aka playing Santa's Little helper). As cozy and festive as it sounds, I'm a little sick of it. I have a few paper cuts and am covered in glitter from head to toe. There will be more wrapping this afternoon, as we've adopted a family of 6 for Christmas. Oy!

As you can see, I took a creative approach to holiday wrapping this season... Think butcher paper and newspaper... More pictures to come, later.

Today marks the half way point of my pregnancy. 20 weeks, baby! I'm enjoying being pregnant, but the thought of having to wait another 5 months to meet our little one is already unbearable. Even though I'm not even close to being ready to bring a child home. All these conflicting feelings, agh!

A couple of days ago I went on another shopping spree and finally ordered a crib at Babies R Us. First big nursery purchase. (Don't mind the bedding, I didn't get it... Since it might be a boy!)

I haven't taken any new pregnancy pictures yet, but honestly I don't look any different than 2 weeks ago. The belly is growing, but soooo sloooowlyyy!!!

I've also finally bought some maternity clothes. Woohoo, no more bulging out of my work pants and no more hair-tie tricks.

I practically live in my leggings and comfy long shirts and tunics these days. So comfy.

Anywho, I'm off to some more wrapping and then also some more wrapping. Hope you are enjoying your holiday season and staying warm.

Ho-ho-ho-holiday cheers, all.

Chi-town

2011-12-22T10:23:00.001-05:00

Last weekend hubby and I went to Chicago for a couple of days. Normally we would go there for fun stuff like plays, pizza, Millennium park, Willis Tower... Not this time, fortunately or unfortunately. We went there for the sole purpose of shopping for Christmas gifts. If you know where we live, you will understand (you can only buy so much at Kohl's before you start looking like everybody else!).

We stayed in a hotel right on Magnificent Mile, feet away from Apple Store, Nike store, H&M, Guess, Crate&Barrel, Victoria's Secret... We bought something in each of those places.

We tried to have dinner at our favorite place on Michigan Avenue, but seemed like half of Chicago consider it a favorite too. The wait was an hour and a half.

We also went to IKEA to look for nursery items, but in vain. Their cribs do not seem sturdy and I only ended up buying a couple of area rugs and a pendant lamp.

The biggest highlight of the trip was going to a Russian store for groceries. It was located in a shady area and I was seriously scared of getting mugged. When I walked into the store, I was like, WOAH, am I in Russia in the 90s or what? The lady behind the counter wearing a white apron and a white hat (?), a few older guys speaking in Russian and smelling of cigarettes, someone asking for a half a loaf of bread ("полбуханки черного")...
I started just grabbing things of the shelves that looked familiar and I was so excited I almost squealed. Greg might have been embarrassed of me.
I ended up buying pelmeni, Russian bread, Russian porridges, pickled mushrooms, sunflower seeds and much more. And I will be enjoying all of it for a long time. YUM.

Cheers. Check back on nursery updates... Eeek, exciting:)

I'm half and half...

2011-12-15T21:51:00.000-05:00

So, in the last few months I have gained 10 lb and acquired some more what I like to call butt dimples. I have love handles and sometimes even sausage fingers. One of my many currently pregnant friends once expressed her disapproval of all the weight gain, "All of my pants are feeling snug and I don't even have a baby in my butt!!!!" Turns out I have a baby in my butt, my back, my thighs, my boobs, my face...

Looks like I will not be one of those pregnant ladies who only carry in their belly. No such luck.

The advantage of it all is that I can go shopping (I have to, Greg!) and don't need to suck in my tummy any more. Any extra plate of food is not for me, it's for the baby of course.

Babies do need about 1000 extra calories, right?

So really, the baby bump is half baby, half fat...

18 week update

2011-12-12T21:46:00.001-05:00

How far along/gender. 18 weeks. We are still being strong and not going to find out who we are having.

Size. The baby is about 5.6 inches long (sweet potato) and weighs 6.7 oz.

Movement. Still no movement. Or maybe I just keep thinking it's gas.

Changes in my body. I've gained about 10 lb and I'm actually starting to look pregnant and not just slightly overweight:) I'm gaining about 1 lb a week.

Clothes. Haven't bought any maternity clothes, but really need to. This weekend hubby and I will be going to Chicago. I will be hunting for maternity work pants. A trip to Victoria's Secret will be happening too. The "twins up top" need to be remeasured, if you know what I mean:)

Discomforts. Sleep is still the biggest thing. I go to the bathroom about 3 times a night and wake up every time I have to change sides. I LOVE sleeping on my belly and now I can't do it. I sleep half on my belly and half on my side and it feels about as comfortable as it sounds. Also, now that it's not recommended to sleep on my back, all of a sudden I really want to sleep on my back.

Also, even though the belly is still pretty small, I noticed that I move slower. It takes more work to get in and out of the car, and even a simple job like standing up takes a couple of seconds longer:)

And a weird thing, when I sneeze or do sharp movements something somewhere inevitably hurts. Go figure...

Cravings. No cravings, but of course everything forbidden sounds soooo good! Like beer, wine, sushi, all kinds of fish... I already told Greg that I want a lemon-drop martini in the delivery room.

What I miss. Sleeping on my belly and not peeing so much. Being fast. Giving a 100% of myself at Zumba. BEER.

What I'm looking forward to. A trip to IKEA this weekend, where we will buy a crib and a few other nursery items. Can't wait to start on that room finally (hopefully during Christmas break).

Cheers.

TGIF

2011-12-09T09:14:00.001-05:00

It is Friday, it is finally snowing, and only 5 days left till Christmas break. This morning while dressing for work, I noticed that my baby bump has gotten bigger and it caused the biggest smile on my face (and I don't even care that it also caused some more butt dimples). I feel excited and giddy today. Will you just smile with me real big right now?

This weekend is packed full of Christmas gatherings. Tomorrow I'm having a soup lunch with some girlfriends, then later in the evening some of my friends are having a Progressive dinner (Note for my dear Russian friends: it is a dinner event where guests go to one house for appetizers, another house for the main course, and yet another house for desert.). On Sunday Greg's job is having a Christmas party followed by a trip to the local theater to see "Miracle on 34th street."

Another note for my dear Russian friends: I was recently interviewed by Olga for her blog for English enthusiasts. If you are interested in reading a little more about life of a Russian girl in America - visit here. (It's in Russian)
Love and snow flakes and baby bumps to you all,
Lena

YAY for a snow day!

2011-11-30T18:27:00.001-05:00

Friends, I had my citizenship test/interview yesterday and looks like I'll be a citizen within a couple of months:) Yay. Contrary to what I thought, the whole process was fast, easy, and pretty painless. I had to submit some paperwork and study for US history test. Easy-breezy!

On the way home from Indianapolis it started snowing. It was our first snow of the season and it was crazy! We were moving like turtles and saw many cars in the ditch.

As a result - snow day today! AWESOME! I LOVE snow days! A nice surprise in the middle of the week!
I have been enjoying just watching Christmas movies all day and cleaning the house (which has not been done in like a month or two... GROSS!). Febreze was my best friend today. See how lovingly I look at it?

It was a gorgeous day and the sun was shining through every window.

Hubby came home for lunch and kept me company for a bit. And I was all like, "So you have to go back to work, huh? Sucks to be you!"

Later I met a friend at the Bakery and soon going to another friend's house to drink Nutella hot cocoa and watch The Family Stone.
Pretty perfect day. I've never had a perfect Wednesday. Usually it's like this, "Is it really only Wednesday???"
Back to reality tomorrow.
Hope you all are having a great week!

I need a break after this break!

2011-11-28T18:13:00.001-05:00

Wow... what a full and fun Thanksgiving Break. it went by way too fast, now that I look back at it after the first day back at work.

We had a whirlwind trip to Colorado. It was a short trip but so amazing. I loved spending time with my Davis family and seeing many friends.

Gosh, that place is beautiful. I would move back there in a heartbeat.

Did you do any Black Friday shopping? I wasn't about to stand in lines all night so I could be stomped over by crazy people, but I did ask my personal fashion advisor, aka Emily Davis, to take me somewhere awesome so I can repair my Midwest-damaged fashion sense. After several hours and many dollars, I can say that I'm on the way to becoming a little more fashionable preggers.

A low light of the trip was when I had to ask Greg to pull over on the way from the airport so I could puke my guts out, right their by the road. Gross.

We got back Saturday night and I decided to devote Sunday to getting and decorating a tree.

After a late breakfast with a book of course. I just love breakfast, it's my favorite meal of the morning. This is my more like 2nd breakfast.

A trip to a tree farm (in cold rain... eeek) was not successfull, so we ended up buying a tree at Lowe's. It was still beautiful, cheep, and live:) Even though both Greg and I are currently itching from irritation, the inside of our house looks festive:) The ourside will have to wait until it stops raining and starts snowing.

And, holy moly, look what I ate for dinner right before we started decorating? PELMENI!!!! You won't believe it, but my gynecologist's son lived in Russia for a while and buys these in a Russian store in Chicago. He was too nice to drop 3 bags of pelmeni at Greg's office. SO GOOOOOD!

On a non-holiday note, I have applied for citizenship and tomorrow is my interview in Indianapolis. I will be tested on US History (Oi!) and ability to read, write and speak in English. Wish me luck.

Giving thanks

2011-11-23T18:18:00.001-05:00

Every day I feel overwhelmed by how much God has blessed me. I look back at my life just 10 years ago and can't help but wonder, what is it that I've done to deserve all I have. And then I remember - Nothing! God loves me, that's all there is to it. Back then, I had no family, no close friends; I was moving to a new city alone to go to college (thankfully, for free) with no money to even buy enough school supplies. And If I start thanking God for everything he's done for me ever since I let Him in, I will not be able to stop...

But I want to share just some of the things I'm grateful for in this season of Thanks...

A wonderful loving, hardworking, and Christian man! I love me some Gregster and so thankful for the 3.5 years of awesome marriage. (He does take reeeeeaaaly long showers, but who is perfect?)

Thankful for the little life that's growing inside me. It is truly a miracle.

(Even though I wouldn't have put it this way this morning, when I was puking my guts out...)

The Winn fam and the Davis fam... I have a Father in Heaven and 2 big families that I love so much.

Speaking of the Davis family... Gregster and I are flying to Colorado tonight to spend Thanksgiving with them. I am so excited! I can barely wait until the end of the work day today. I haven't seen them all in so long and I miss them and I can't wait to catch up. I'm also very excited to just be in Colorado. I think it's the most beautiful place in this country.

I'm one lucky girl.

~Happy Thanksgiving~

Pregnancy update: 15 weeks

2011-11-14T08:06:00.001-05:00

How far along/gender. 15 weeks as of today. We will not be finding out who we are having. We don't want to "open gifts before Christmas":)

Size. The baby is about 4 in. long (navel orange) and weighs 2.5 oz.

Movement. Haven't felt anything yet, but according to the doc, it should happen within a couple of weeks.

Changes in my body. I've gained about 5 lb and I'm just starting to show. Finally:)

Clothes. Haven't bought any maternity clothes yet. Trying to hold out, but I don't know how much longer I can do it. I have low-rise jeans that I will be able to wear throughout the whole term and many shirts that are loose and can fit a big belly. The only thing I'm in need of is work pants. I'm slightly bulging out of the once I normally wear:)

Discomforts. Sleep is the biggest thing. Since I have to use the restroom about every other hour, I can't get a good night's sleep. But they say it's just going to get worse. Certain clothes and, excuse the details, bras, are getting a little snug, but that's nothing a little shopping can't fix:)

Cravings. Haven't craved anything too much, just eat a lot more. I noticed that luckily, I'm eating healthier than before. Probably maternal responsibility. Prefer salty over sweet. Once ate a bowl of ice cream followed by a few dill pickles. It was delish!

What I miss. That's easy - sushi, lots of coffee, and an occasional glass of wine. Sleeping on my belly.

What I'm looking forward to. Finally starting on the nursery. Our guest bedroom is full of junk and every time I open the door, I hurry to close it right away. I still haven't decided what the room will look like, but that's nothing a little Pinterest can't fix:)

Cheers.

{Hair}Cut loose, footloose

2011-11-09T18:59:00.000-05:00

I need change. I know exactly what's coming when I say that to myself. It means I'm going to end up doing things to my hair.

I'm tired of the same hair, but don't want to chop it off. Maybe bangs? More layers???

When I'm not lazy (which isn't often these days) my hair looks okay. Most of the days it looks like this.

It's getting old!

I recently saw the new Footloose and fell in love with Julianne Hough's hair. Not the color so much, but the long bangs and tons of layers. My hair is a little shorter, but I'm hoping to be able to pull of something like this.

What do you think? Other suggestions?

I'm ready for a brutal Indiana winter...

2011-11-07T19:40:00.002-05:00

First of all, did I ever mention that I got a new car??? NO? Well that's just unthinkable!
Back in August it was time to say goodbye to my ol' little white friend.

You won't believe how fast it sold - we put it on Craigslist one Friday night and Saturday morning - Boom, sold! Go Craigslist! Go Toyota!

My new beast arrived a few weeks later and I LOVE it. Check it out...

It's much bigger, so comfy, and radio actually works. Score! Perfect size for a new mommy, don't you think? It'll be like a car-seat heaven.

Anywho... I was saying I'm ready for another Indiana winter. They say it's going to be worse than the previous. And you know what that means, right? SNOW DAYS!

But on the days when school is not cancelled I will be able to at least get in in a warmed up car. You know why??? Think ~~heaven~~ remote starters. All I'll need to do while I get ready in the warm house is push a little button and the car will start warming up. AHH! Bring it on, winter!

(I still wonder when I, a girl who grew up in Russia, became such a wuss!)

Leibster award

2011-11-06T16:05:00.000-05:00

Yay, it's my first award ever! Dankeschön to Olga @ Self-Expression for this. I feel like I don't deserve this, because my blog has seen a lot of neglect from me recently. But I'm hoping to improve and thus earn this award.
Even though I'm ~~very~~ a little selfish, I'm going to spread the love and I hope that the receiver of this love will pass it on as well.

So here are the rules:
1. Thank the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. Bask in the love of the most supportive people on the Internet.

So, without further ado - here are my 5 picks.

1. Kirby, The Happy Avocado. Kirby is the sweetest Texan I know. She is not only a funny girl, an amazing cook (who also shares amazing recipes on her blog) but also my friend. Woah, doesn't that last part make you want to go read her right now?
2. Irina @ SweetyScrappy. Even though I'm not a card person, I always stop by Ira's blog to look at some gorgeous pictures and to see what this life-loving and always positive lady has to say.
3. Joanne at 10minutes2breathe. Joanne's blog is filled with deep thoughts along with wit, and many serious experiences along with humorous outlook on life.
4. Sarah @ The Redheads. Sarah makes up a third of a very redheaded family, who shares her mommy-hood adventures with a very cute redheaded boy.
5. Sara @ Home sweet gluten-free home. Sara is a mom of 3 and still has time to cook some amazing healthy meals and do crafty things for her house.

Go check out those ladies. And you ladies just have to spread the love:)
Cheers.

Baby Boom #2

2011-11-04T08:39:00.000-04:00

It seems as though this year has been very, very fertile. Just recently I had 4 friends deliver healthy beautiful babies. And I know of at least 6 more people who are due the exact same time I am. There must be something in the water or something.
One of the babies recently delivered was my little niece, Mae Nicole. The proud mama is my hubby's sister Tracie. We went to visit them when little Mae was only 3 days old and I got to take some pictures. Here is my fave. Just look at that smile:)

Hard to believe...

2011-10-26T08:11:00.001-04:00

... that these 2 kids are going to have a kid of their own. Who is going to wipe OUR drool?

Life is too fast.

I'm alive... although not well.

2011-10-23T15:02:00.001-04:00

Mmmm, I just ate a big bowl of soup and a plate of Parmesan cheese with some angel hair pasta in it. Yum.
Wow... I've been gone from the Blogger world for so long, that I don't recognize the dashboard anymore. It took me awhile to figure out how to write a new post.
This happened before, but never ever did I have a better excuse for being gone...
Here goes it...
I've been sick. Yep, for about a month and a half. I've been sick to my stomach 24/7, tired every minute of the day, and 4 days ago I started having headaches that won't go away even in my sleep.
And it's all because there is a little something-something growing inside me.

A little baby Winn is on the way and it's not letting us forget it for a single second.

Hopefully, when the 2nd trimester comes (in about a week), I will start feeling better and will be able to post more often. And if I turn this blog into yet another Mommy blog, well, ~~you are welcome to stop reading~~ don't judge me too much:)

And if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get a snack... or 5.

Ah, the list.

2011-08-08T22:58:00.000-04:00

So I just read this post where my Russian ~~booger~~ blogger friend talks about a list of celebrities her and her husband are allowed to fool around with. I thought it was so hilarious, I decided to make one of my own. Besides, even the Friends did it (remember the episode where Ross bumps Isabella Rossellini off his list because there is just absolutely no way he is EVER going to see her in real life, and then she comes in the Central Perk? *Um, yeah, I can give you the synopsis of every episode, FYI!*)

Anyway... So, here is my list of top celebrities:

1. Josh Lucas
He is the dreamiest man alive and just look at those dimples!!! There is no man on TV hotter than him, I tell ya:)

2. Jake Gyllenhaal
Jakie-poo... Cutie pie

3. Josh Duhamel
Tall, fun, and handsome and married to a shortie like me:)

I just asked G to tell me who he would have on his list... Totally though Kate Hudson would take all 3 spots. At first he said he wasn't interested in anybody but me. (aww!) I asked him again and he gave me 3 names without even hesitating (hmmm.)

1. Salma Hayek
"the curvy one"

2. Rachel McAdams
"that pretty one from The Notebook"

3. Keira Knightly
"the cute one with the british accent"

* Interesting fact - Josh Lucas dated the first two... The third one bugs me big time!*

So, who are your celebrity crushes?

Vegas, baby!

2011-08-07T22:10:00.000-04:00

I just went through my in-laws' pictures and found a few from our recent trip to Las Vegas. We spent about 4 days there and had an amazing time. Among other things, we enjoyed seeing Leann Rimes up close and personal in a concert, laughed at Brian Regan's jokes, visited Madame Tussauds' museum of wax figures, and finally fulfilled my dream of seeing Cirque du Soleil(the best show I have seen in my entire life and most likely better than anything I will see in the future!).

I didn't take many pictures, so here are just a few from the trip.

There are also a few pictures here.

but I have a young heart...

2011-08-06T20:35:00.001-04:00

... in spite of the fact that I turned the big... 2-8 yesterday.

I don't feel any different. Except now I have to say "I'm 28", instead of "I'm almost 28". So if you ~~don't~~ think about it, life got a little easier for me.

I had an AMAZING day. I slept in (always a gift! even if it's every summer morning!), had my breakfast and coffee on the lawn. So peaceful and beautiful.

Then of course I went shopping. It's also another thing that makes me happy:) You agree?

Among other things, I finally bought an awesome owl necklace. Did you know owl jewelry is in style in 2011???

Later in the evening we opened gifts with my family. My wonderful in-laws got me season tickets to our local theater (both G and I will be able to watch ALL 6 plays next summer!!! STOCKED!). G presented me with a long-awaited-for "Real Simple" magazine subscription, wine glasses (he broke all of our old ones), and sah-weet locally-made mugs from a local shop called Mud Love (I'll post pix later). Also, as part of a silly gift, he gave me a sling shot. Now, those ducks are in rrrreal trouble!

The day wasn't over yet. The celebration was continued into the night at a local beach bar (sans the beach!), Spikes. It was a long night, with lots of ~~drinks~~ friends.

I'm so thankful to everybody who made yesterday special!

Smooch!

back to work

2011-08-01T19:57:00.000-04:00

I went to work on my classroom this morning. The whole room was packed in boxes and shoved in a corner. I'll tell ya, for the first time in my life I wished I was 6 feet tall and... a man. Desks and file cabinets are heavy!
I made some progress, but the classroom still looks like mess.

This week will be spent on this classroom and then... a whole year.

I'm looking forward to the year, but am so incredibly said summer is almost over.
But on the bright side, my birthday is this Friday. Even though I'm not excited about turning 28, I won't say no to a celebration!

A day in life

2011-07-25T12:57:00.000-04:00

I finally gathered the guts to post about one of my days on a Russian site called Odin Moy Den (One day in my life). I like reading the website and thought it would be interesting to take pictures throughout a day and then write about it. This will probably be more interesting for my Russian friends, because... well... it's in Russian:) But you can still go see the pictures:) Go here.

PS: There are some hater/jealousy comments, but it's pretty normal for that site, unfortunately. Just ignore them, like everybody else is doing!

I'm a stranger here myself: {Fat and Furious}

2011-07-19T14:44:00.000-04:00

Just about 5 years ago I would have laughed if you told me I would be upset about being a one-car family. Growing up we were a ZERO car family. And... wait for it... nobody gave me a car when I turned 16!!! I had no plans on getting a driver's license. At least not in this life-time. There simply was no need: public transportation was cheep, accessible, and fast. Is there any other subway in the world where trains run every, oh, 55 seconds?

To say that living without a car in America is impossible, is like to say that having legs is convenient for walking. Sidewalks are a rare entity. (Big cities are an exception, so is, oh Thank God for this, our little village.)

Fast forward to us selling my car last weekend and me waking up on Monday morning, sweating and hyperventilating. WE ARE A ONE-CAR FAMILY! So last century!

It is very inconvenient. We have to figure out a schedule that works for both of us. If I need a car during the day, I have to take hubby to work and then pick him up. If he needs a car, then well... I'm stuck at home.

I know... could our problems BE any bigger??? (read with Chandler Bing's intonation!)

It's actually pretty sad, this state of affairs. If you ask me, I will tell you that "inability" to walk ties for Number One place (together with chemical-loaded almost nuclear food) on the list of reasons why ~~my butt is getting bigger~~ so many Americans are fat. Hubby can't remember having seen a single obese person during our trip to Russia a couple of years ago. I'm not saying there aren't any there, but the 30% of obese folks here beats 'em all. That, if you should know, is the highest percentage in the world.

I wish I could tell you that we will make it work with just one car... You know, because I'm Russian and I used to know how to walk? But no, we are getting a new car as soon as we find what we love.

And now, if you excuse me, I have to bike to the bakery a mile away. Pray I don't overheat and die of exhaustion.

wknd shenanigans

2011-07-18T11:18:00.000-04:00

Raise your hand if you are tired of hearing me say how awesome it is to live where I live?
You are NOT??? Well, let me tell you again then...

I FREAKIN' LOVE LIVING ON THE LAKE...

( maybe that should stir some of you for a visit)

We are not Southern California, but one of the favorite hobbies among celebs is rubbing off on us as well - stand-up paddle surfing. I finally tried it and loved it. I still look pretty darn awkward on it, but I'll be practicing! It's fun, great workout too... Don't like blisters on my hands though...

Hubby got his surfing fix for the week as well... He even did a sunset ride, which I'm pretty sure is not allowed. (There may be a rule that you can't create a wake after sun goes down).

We had the prettiest sunset too

We also went to our annual county fair last weekend, but I didn't take any pictures... I was too busy eating elephant ears.

And on a bittersweet note, I parted with my faithful white friend. We sold my little Corolla on Saturday. Shopping for a new, hopefully bigger car. Wish us luck!
See my sad face?

What did you do last weekend?

I don't need no pity...

2011-07-15T15:58:00.000-04:00

Well, actually, I do...
It's middle of summer and I'm starting to hyperventilate. It's almost time to go back to work. Shiver just went down my spine!
It's so hard being a teacher, I'll tell ya. You JUST start to get used to late mornings with coffee and a book, lazy noons in the sun, lunch at a bakery with the hubbins, the great outdoors, lake activity, a whole lot of doing nothing till late at night, and then BOOM, 2.5 ~~seconds~~ months later it's time to go to work again.
Don't you just feel so so sorry for me?

Psst... I'm going to Vegas next week. Not looking forward to sweating my arse off in 105 degree desert ~~oven~~ weather, but excited for some outrageously extravagant penny-slot gambling, Margaritaville, Fountains at Bellagio, Lunch at Paris, pool time at Palazzo and what not.

painting tulips

2011-07-13T23:35:00.000-04:00

I'm obsessed with painting my nails. Love changing colors and I love keeping them very short. And I love doing my mani/pedi myself...

Check out my new fave nail polish color (Teal). It's some cheap-o brand but looks good.

And this is my all-time favorite - Sally Hansen "Commander in Chic". I'd wear it on my face!

What's your favorite nail polish brand and color?

I'm a stranger here myself.

2011-07-07T12:20:00.000-04:00

This post is very much inspired by the book I'm reading right now, called I'm a Stranger Here Myself. In the book, the author, Bill Bryson, writes about life in his native US of A after 20 years of living in England.

I started my first blog about 5 years ago with this exact purpose: to write about how life in America is different from Russia. Very soon I got carried away with all the excitement and there was no more comparison. And I switched from Russian to English.

Even thought it's been almost 5 years, there are still things here that strike me as amazing, surprising, and just... well... different. Usually good different, sorry Mother Russia. For my own memories, and for your entertainment, I will, from time to time, be getting back to my original purpose for blogging.

Today's topic for a post came to me as I was running errands this morning. I caught myself getting quite irritated at a car that occupied 2 parking spots. I mean, can't you see there are markings on the pavement? Or are you saving room for your doors?

See, in America, driving is a bliss. Except for maybe large cities, like LA, NYC, Chicago... But they can, just like Moscow, be considered a country within a country.

People here actually follow the rules. Click it, or ticket. No right on red. STOP. Park straight, or get barked at.

I am yet to honk at another car; I don't want to be considered rude.

What I often find myself doing is letting someone go before me. At a 4-way stop for example. It's quite an uncomfortable situation actually, when 4 cars get to the 4-way stop at the same time and nobody knows who goes first. You can politely wave to somebody: "Go, go, go", but that person is waving the same thing to you at the same time. Then you think maybe you should go first, because you really don't want to sit at that stop for too long. You start moving, slightly, unsurely... And then you see the other cars doing the same thing... And this Mexican stand-off, of sorts, goes on and on, until somebody, usually that rude person, gathers the guts to actually GO.

If this were to happen in Russia (which is close to impossible, because there are NO STOP SIGNS), there would be a lot honking, racing, and definitely swearing. Quite possibly, a middle-finger show-off.

The photo below, taken on our trip to Russia a couple of years ago, pretty much sums it all up.

My Russian friends, I'm prepared for your patriotic comments:-) Just make sure not to cuss at me, it's against the rules, you know!

Fighting with poop!

2011-07-05T12:42:00.000-04:00

Looks like now ecology owes me a big fat apology.

Did you know that ducks poop every few minutes and they produce several POUNDS of poop a day?

Well, I know, because they do it ON OUR LAWN!

I can't tell you how many times I had to RUN to the lake to scare them off. Sometimes running is accompanied by screaming and clapping hands, and often followed by throwing something for further effect. And afterwards I inevitably end up scraping poop off my flip flips.

The stupid birds keep coming back no matter what! Our lawn is officially a LOO for ducks.

We may or may not have used a paintball gun before. But that was a very temporary solution, because ducks are retarded and they don't understand they can get killed.

There may have a been a tragic accident involving a paintball gun, a mother-duck, and a broken neck.

Whahhh!? I didn't say anything...

This year I decided to apply drastic measures to my fight against crap.

I freakin' bought a fence.

And an owl.

The owl has a rotating head and so far it's working. These birds are ducks' natural predators.

Wooden or not, apparently.

Hoot-hoot!

I owe ecology an apology!

2011-06-29T17:04:00.000-04:00

About a month ago Hubby and I finally decided to take another living thing under our care. Babies are a long ways away and pets, even though wanted by me, are banned by Hubby. I felt like I needed something to take care of.

So we got a plant.

Big, bright, and very easy to take care of. Or at least that's what we were told.

It doesn't need much sunlight, or water, or attention.

WORKS FOR ME!

My thinking was, if we can keep this plant alive for a while, it means we are responsible and our future kids will be FINE.

I take care of this guy, like it's a child with blue blood.

I stick my finger in the dirt to figure out when it needs watering. I'm generous with water.

I move it to the windows for a couple of hours a day so it gets some sun.

I even put it outside to get some fresh air.

THE PLANT IS DYING!!!

What am I doing wrong? What kind of a person am I?

I love when dreams come true! U 2?

2011-06-27T13:46:00.001-04:00

If I had an official bucket list, I would be checking off Number One Item right now. Last night, after about 10 years or so of dreaming I finally went to a U2 concert.

Some time ago Greg and I heard that the band was doing a 360 tour in 2010 (which was postponed till 2011 due to Bono's injury), and they were going to be in our neck of woods. We buy tickets that surprisingly don't cost us a kidney and BOOM, 2 years later we are at the Spartan Stadium in Lansing, MI.

We are sitting facing the very back of the stage, which doesn't really matter, because the stage is completely open.

We are the first ones to see the band come out. I almost pee my pants.

During the concert, when Bono comes our way we can almost touch him.

I scream and sing along so loudly that I fear loosing my voice. I wave like a lunatic every time Bono looks our way, my neighbors shoot me odd glances but I truly hope he sees me:).

Please don't tell me he probably doesn't or you will be picking up my heart by pieces.

Bono is da bomb! I love his music and his passion. I love the fact that he interacts with the audience. I love his heart for the issues of the world and those who struggle. I'm a BFF, Bono's Forever Fan!

Brotha from anotha motha!

2011-06-21T13:40:00.002-04:00

*Warning*: Shallow post ahead.

Last night as I was browsing a certain intellectual website, I stumbled upon an article about Kim Kardashian.

I'll let you judge me for moment.

I don't know much about her and I've never watched her reality shows, but I like looking at her pictures, because let's face it, the girl is gorgeous!

Anywho, in that article she was talking about her... umm... measurements. And, believe it or not, I figured out that Kim and I have more in common than I thought.

Yes, I did ~~drop to a new low~~ measure myself after reading the article.

We have THE EXACT SAME MEASUREMENTS, people! The same height (5.2 ft AND A HALF!), same 34-26-39... We have more curves than an Italian race track.

And we both have Soviet blood in us...

She is like my long-lost sister...

So, theoretically, this is what I'm supposed to look like... *insert my face*

I DON'T!!! *insert curse words*

Summer living

2011-06-20T16:45:00.000-04:00

Summer has been busy so far. Who would've thunk? I thought I would be doing a whole lot of nothing, like sleeping, and reading, and crafting... But job search happened and relaxing became hard work.

Last weekend, however, we managed to squeeze in a trip to the local theater to see Tarzan...

We've spent ~~some~~ a lot of time on our gorgeous lake (it would have been a sin not to!). Mark and Cali were visiting, which just doubled the fun.

There was even some home-made cooking happening... YUM!

Ahh!

How is your summer going so far?

Lina-girl!

2011-06-15T12:31:00.000-04:00

It's gloomy today. Surprisingly, I don't mind it at all. A great excuse to be inside, don't you think?

My morning was made brighter by a visit from little Lina-girl and her mommy, Tirza... I love those two. Tirza is about to pop with another child and if the second baby is anything like Lina... Oh, boy! Good luck, Tirz.

Lina has a battery inside her somewhere. She. won't. stop. moving!!!

In spite of her stinky toots and a few burps (compliments of her daddy), Lina is a girly girl:-)

She always loves putting my shoes on... And she actually WALKS in them better than I do.

And it's always my pink shoes... I told ya, girly-girl.

Today she also found a new means of transportation.

She got in there and tried to pull herself... and when that didn't work she started yelling at the tray: "GO!!!"

Man, she makes my ovaries hurt!

Sunday-Funday

2011-06-12T20:28:00.002-04:00

I'm back from my Jamaican vacation to start my summer vacation. I like the sound of it, even though it makes me look like a jobless bum:) I have a ton of plans for the summer, and finding a permanent teaching job is Numero Uno on the list, I promise.

Yesterday was spent in travels. We didn't get home until after 2 am. Thankfully, I had some great companions...

Btw, I'm reading a book called "The Devil in the White Cit y" by Erik Larsen. The book tells 2 parallel stories that happened during Chicago's World Fair in 1893. One story is about the construction of the Fair itself and the leading men behind it, and the other - of a mass murderer who basically constructed a killing factory and operated it around the same time as the Fair unfolded. It's a true story but it's written like a novel. I can't put it down. Highly recommend.

Today was a very lazy Sunday... you know, to relax from all the work we did.

It was time to "update" my pedicure. Summer colors were calling.

I finally got around to reading this book from Real Simple. It has many tips, useful and simple.

Note the green blob in the water... It's cucumber! Cucumber water is the discovery of the century, people.

After a bike ride around the sunny Winona Lake and yummy mint chip ice-cream at an ice-cream shop, Greg fired up our grill, I made a summer salad, and we had a nice dinner...

And here is when we encountered a major problem that put a shadow on this glorious Sunday.

I was finished eating waaay before Greg. I know, right? It's shocking.

It's a problem, because it happens all the time.

I'm usually licking my plate clean by the time Greg is finished chewing his 3rd bite.

There is no way of speeding Greg up in anything. Believe me I try, but still his 40-minute showers leave me with no hot water.

Maybe I need to take a chill-pill...

Anyway, in spite of this major blowout, we had a great day...

Starting tomorrow... I will be enjoying more of these awesome days.

Yay, me!

Brain Potpourri: Jamaica style

2011-06-09T00:04:00.000-04:00

* Jamaicans drive on the "wrong" side of the road. If you forget that for a minute and look out the front window, it's like WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOT, WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE!!!

And then you remember...

* Ordering in a Jamaican restaurant is not easy.

- Can I have my fish grilled instead of fried?

- No mahn, iz rreeely beta dis vey!

or...

- So, what is your Catch of the Day?

- A rrrely big fish, mahn.

True stories!

* Jamaican sun is friggin nuclear. My front is fried and I only spent about an hour laying out. And I used like a whole bottle of SPF 4.

* We are yet to pay the same price for a bus ride downtown. It's been between 10 and 40 bucks and we have no idea what the real price is. Everybody is trying rip us off and it's annoying.

- Can you take us to Battle Site for 20?

- No mahn, lezz make dat 40.

- Umm.. How about 20?

- Okay, mahn, no problem.

Yah, mahn.

2011-06-05T23:13:00.000-04:00

Day I in Ocho Rios is almost over. We just got back to the villa from a nice seafood place and are now chilling in the living room. The dinner was awesome; the ride home - not so much. Our cab driver might have been waisted. And to keep himself awake he had the music on so loud, that my seat shook my jiggly parts like nobody's busyness.

This morning we were all woken up by the loudest torrential downpour I've ever heard. Apparently we came right in the middle of rain season... oops!

As we all walked downstairs we discovered the worst news ever - no milk in the house. Desperation and fear of getting headaches drove us to sipping on black coffee.

There is a private beach a short walk from the villa. It's a little rocky and snail-overpopulated, so we won't be hanging out there. The villa has a nice pool, where we spent most of the day. The sun came out for a bit, but even without it the day was pretty hot.

I know you'll be jealous right now, but I'll say it anyways - we have 4 people working in this house to keep us fed and clean. We are getting spoiled rotten!

Jamaicans are exactly what you hear. Stereotypical.

Their English is completely and utterly unintelligible when they talk amongst themselves. For us thought, seems as if they dumb it down. Like, oh great, those foreigners don't understand our awesome tongue, we need to speak slooowwwly and eeeenunciattte!

I used to think that this whole yeah, man (pronounce yah, mahn) thing was a stereotype. Along the lines of "Do polar bears really walk on the streets of Russia?" or "British have awful teeth"... But no, it's for real! Yah, mahn sounds like an equivalent of yeah, dude in normal English, only they don't shun from it in formal situations either.

- I will have your signature Salmon steak en Papillote and a glass of King Estate Pinot Gris 2006 to complement that, please.

- Yeah, dude.

And to leave you with a nice visual - none of the ladies we've seen so far have their armpits shaved.

Cheers, mahn.

Jamaica bound

2011-06-03T15:08:00.000-04:00

SCHOOL IS ALMOST OVER!!!

Excuse my screaming, I'm just emotional right now. Today was the last day of school and I'm not sure if I'll be seeing any of my students next year. I've got many hugs today...

Classrooms looks pretty sad too...

But I'm trying to concentrate on packing for JAMAICA right now.

I hate packing with passion. I possibly hate it more than doing dishes. I successfully unloaded my dish washing responsibilities onto Greg. Now he has 3 jobs in the house: washing dishes, taking out trash, and loving me. Which, come to think of it, if he loves me I can probably blackmail him into packing for me.

- If you don't pack my stuff, then you don't love me at all!

Actually never mind... I shouldn't trust him to pack for me. If I do, I will probably end up looking a little promiscuous on our family vaca. Promiscuous, but without any makeup (because he hates when I "paint tulips").

And without makeup I look eleven and a half. The half comes from my old wisdom-filled eyes...

On to packing...

PS: I'm super excited about visiting Dunns River Falls...

Here is a little bit of Jamaican mood for you...

iRead

2011-06-02T17:19:00.000-04:00

I LOVE reading. Can't tell by all the stupid stuff I say hear, can ya?
Doesn't love for reading by definition mean being smart?

Smart
-adjective
1. having quick intelligence or ready mental capability;
2. showing enormous love for reading everything and anything.

I love reading very much. Like, I've-read-War-and-Peace-when-I had-nothing-else-to-read much. True story. (Did you know that War and Peace is #16 on the list of the longest novels in the world?)

I recently got a Kindle, aka a magical electronic gift from God that can hold many books in one place. I can take them ALL with me wherever I go.

I can't bring myself to buy any books yet, so I've been downloading the free ones. That means a lot of junk people won't pay for.
Like books titled One True Love. (Really?)

Which I may or may not have downloaded.

And which I may or may not have read already.

Somehow one of the greatest books ever written got on the free list as well. Have you read The Count of Monte Cristo? If not, drop everything right ~~this second~~ after you finish reading this and go find that book. Quit your job, abandon your kids, forget friends, and sleep and food and READ it!
I also downloaded Anna Karenina for free. I wondered if I'd ever read it. I came to a conclusion that probably not, but it still should be on my Kindle to make it look smart.

Definition revisited:
Smart

-adjective
1. having quick intelligence or ready mental capability;
2. showing enormous love for reading everything and anything, even if it's One True Love over Anna Karenina.

Currently I'm reading:
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
and rereading
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas

I would recommend you read:
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseni
and of course
The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins (my college professor's sister-in-law wrote it and it is going to blow your mind).

I need your recommendations as well because I'm running out of good stuff. What should I read?

Overcoming fears

2011-06-01T18:29:00.001-04:00

White is the new lame, people. Anything white on me or around me inevitably gets soiled, stained, and gross. And I don't even have kids.

My car is ~~lame~~ white. You leave it outside for an hour, it will be messier than a toddler after lunch. The thing is seriously like a bird poop magnet. Darn birds see a white something below and apparently think it's their loo.

I guess, I can see how that happens...

My car stays dirty for a long time because I never get around to cleaning it and ... well... I'm terrified of those monstrous car washes. Don't laugh, there are worse things to be afraid of. Like water or big dogs.

Wait... I'm afraid of those things too. Never mind...

Anyways, yesterday I thought it was time to ~~quit being a chicken~~ face my fears. Right after work I headed to the car wash... I felt brave.

I made it inside and held my breath. I think I had a hundred tiny heart attacks every time those big hairy centipede-looking things approached me from every side.

To distract myself, I started writing "calm down, Lena" in the dust on my dashboard... (I guess I'm also superficial because I worry about the outside more. Great! Superficial chicken.)

And right there on the dashboard was none other than a spider.

Awesome!

So there I was, between ~~a rock and a hard place~~ the centipedes and a spider. Stuck and scared.

It took all I had not to scream out loud. I'm not going to go into details on how I killed the sucker, but I'll tell you I'm glad no one saw me!

So my bravery was pointless... I'm still afraid of car washes + the possibility of something happening inside the car.

Facing fears is so overrated!

Efficiency at its finest

2011-05-31T17:09:00.001-04:00

I'm lazy, people. Nothing ever sounds better to me than doing nothing. You have to show me money, or food, or money, or David Beckham to get me to do anything.

But there are 2 glorious moments in a day when I shine. Without fail, for 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes at night I get to be very hardworking.

Here it goes - my most efficient, productive time of day is.... drum roll...

...during brushing my teeth.

What? Wait till you hear what I accomplish.

During the morning teeth brushing session I manage

* to open all the blinds in the house (gotta love the morning sun)

* to set out everything I need for breakfast and coffee (our very manual espresso maker has more parts than Megatron)

* set out the make-up I'm going to use... in order that I'm going to use it (I'm not OCD, I swear)

* pick out my outfit for the day and lay it out on the bed

* make enough noise to hear some groaning from underneath the pile of blankets and pillows (hubby rarely gets up before me... but wait till the summer break starts! Revenge is near!)

* check email on my phone

During the evening teeth brushing session I

* close all the blinds (gotta love privacy at night)

* pick up ~~Greg's dirty underwear and socks~~ dirty clothes and throw them in the laundry

* put all the dirty dishes at least in the sink, if not in the dish washer

* throw all the pillows from the bed on the floor

* check email on my phone

If I have any time left I do a few glutes exercises... What? Girl gotta work those curves...

Caesar would have been proud.

And get this, while I do all of those things I'm saving water by turning it off.

I also do a heck of a job at brushing my teeth...

And I do it all for free!

PS. Sometimes my gums bleed, but I feel good! No pain, no gain, baby!

Theaters were made for junk food and previews!

2011-05-26T19:41:00.002-04:00

Last night we went to see a movie with some friends. And not just any movie, but "Pirates of The Caribbean". In 3D...

I love, love, love going to the movies. I get so excited about bad popcorn with a lot of butter, sour patches, twizzlers, and other junk, that I almost forget to buy tickets. I even almost walk out of the theater with all the goodies, and then it hits me that I can't take all of that home or my butt will hate me later. So I go back, buy tickets, and head to the theater.

I also love previews. Isn't that the most important part? When previews end, I almost walk out then as well. I mean, don't you feel any disappointment when previews end?

Movie itself feels like a nice bonus after all the excitement that you've already experienced. Sugar rush kicks in, popcorn is all over the floor and your face, your feet are on the back of the seat in front of you. You let out a big burp, scoot down so your head is resting on the back of your seat, and prepare for a couple of hours of brain nap. (Did you know that you brain works harder in your sleep than while watching a movie?)

I've only seen one of the Pirates and was ready for a disappointment. But I loved it. I was sitting next to a friend and we were giggling the whole time. Especially at dirty jokes of Jack Sparrow. We also ooohed and aaahed at the eye-candy that "replaced" Orlando Bloom. Oh boy, was he yummy!

(Don't worry, Greg doesn't mind me saying those things about TV people:) They aren't real, anyways!)

After the movie we stood in the parking lot calling each other "Your hiney!" and practicing Jack Sparrow's walk. Somehow we even started imitating David Beckham's irritating voice. Don't know how that came about, but it was hilarious as well.

Psst... I now officially have a girl crush on Penelope Cruz! Move over Kate Hudson.

Jamaica mania

2011-05-24T20:10:00.001-04:00

Only 10 days left until we take off to Jamaica. I'm starting to feel the warmth and the mood... You better believe Bob Marley has been playing on the speakers of our house recently.

Going to work and keeping focused is so difficult. I just wanna be on the beach already, sipping some Jamaican cocktail with a huge colorful umbrella.

I can't wait to sleep in, have late breakfasts with lots of coffee, sunbathe, hike, walk, play, read, and go to bed really late. And then wake up and do it all over again. What a life!

I can't wait to wear this dress I bought yesterday...

... and this one. (site won't let me copy a picture on here).

Ahh... Summer, is there anything better than you?

No rapture capture

2011-05-23T23:18:00.001-04:00

My poor little coffee cat... completely ignored. I'll tell ya, life really gets in the way of living sometimes. Work, travels, social life, Natty Nook... All I can say is that I can't wait for the summer to begin. Just 2 short weeks left and I will be kick starting my break with a vacation in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. What better way to begin summer?

Last weekend I may or may not have overcompensated on crafting. I literally painted everything my eyes landed on. One of those things may or may not be in the trash now. Not all crafting turns up on the blog...

Thankfully, rapture didn't happen and the weather was so beautiful as if to say, "Here, take that Rapture!"

At some point on Saturday the lake looked so absolutely gorgeous and a swan happened to swim by. I did what any normal person would do - grabbed the camera and run to the water to snap some shots.

Look at these photos and tell me you don't want to come stay with us?

It's a winN for Winona.

2011-05-03T21:12:00.001-04:00

We won the elections, people. I'm officially Mrs. Councilman:) Can I be called 1st lady? Just for a little bit?

Busy week ahead

2011-05-02T12:53:00.000-04:00

So, Photo Tales lasted exactly 2 weeks:) While doing it, I realized a couple of things:
1. I can do a post a day...
and
2. I better not do a post a day, because I'd rather have quality posts than forced posts.

This week is going to be busy-busy.
* Greg's election is tomorrow, May 3. We have no idea what our chances are, so we will see. The sad part is, I can't vote for my own hubby, because I'm not a citizen.
* Our 3rd anniversary is May 4th. Yay for 3 years of awesome marriage! Love my hubby more than ever!
* Saturday, May 7th, is our mini-marathon. I am not ready physically or mentally. As usual, I should have done a much better job at training. But hey, I never said I was going to compete with Kenyans, what with my 5.2 ft. I just want to finish it, even if I have to walk part of it.
Something awesome is happening the following week, but I will update you later:)
Smooches.

Photo Tales - Coffee makes me pretty!

2011-04-26T20:18:00.000-04:00

This morning started with a gift from God (aka venti triple latte). After this baby, I was ready to tackle all that standardized testing nonsense. Got my 4th-grade ESL students ready to listen to the directions, when one of them raises his hand and says:

- Mrs. W, you look more pretty today.

- I look prettier today than I did yesterday?

- Yes...

- I didn't look very pretty yesterday, did I?

- Nope.

- Did I look kind of ugly?

- Yep.

I didn't have coffee yesterday.

Photo Tales - It's all politics

2011-04-25T22:44:00.000-04:00

Lately life has been all about G's campaign. You would think that in a small town like ours things will be low key... But no. Almost every day hubby is doing some event, or speech, or meet-and-greet, etc...

Today was probably the most important event - candidate debate.

In the picture, G is giving his intro speech. Next to him is his opponent, who will remain unnamed, because we don't want her name mentioned:)

G did a phenomenal job. He is the youngest of all candidates and brought a new, fresh outlook to the table. And he was the only one to make the audience laugh.

I'm so proud of him:)

May 3rd!!! You should vote.

And if you are not a WL resident, you still have two weeks to change this unfortunate and utterly unthinkable circumstance.

Photo Tales - Easter Sunday

2011-04-24T20:49:00.000-04:00

My hunky hubby on our pier, right before our bike ride. The lake was so peaceful.

Even though my iphone weather app predicted rain, it ended up being a beautiful Easter Sunday. Church, lunch with the fam, bike ride along the lake,Water for Elephants at the movie theater... Wonderful day.

My family was asking me today about Easter traditions in Russia.

I remember the week before Easter we frantically cleaned our apartment. Every inch of it. Then on Sunday morning (somehow I remember it always being sunny!) we would put our best clothes on and head to... the cemetery to visit our relatives' graves. No church, just the cemetery.

As a kid, I was super excited about it, because it meant a lot of treats. It is a tradition to leave some treat on the graves: eggs, shot of vodka, piece of bread, and always a lot of candy. My sisters and I would go nuts collecting the candy. We would always bring enough candy back home to last us for weeks and weeks.

I don't think everybody took candy from the graves. Mostly poor people, and I was one of those.

Man things change in life...

How was your Easter?

Христос Воскрес!!!

Photo Tales - ABBAsolutely fantastic night

2011-04-23T23:39:00.001-04:00

I know, I know... There is no way I would have taken that picture.

G and I went to see ABBA tribute band tonight. Neither of us expected much, but it ended up being a super fun 80s night:) Mama Mia, Chiquitita, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!, Dancing Queen... We loved it! The audience was singing along and even dancing! We even got to go backstage and meet the band. I felt like a real groupie:)

When I was little, I used to see an ABBA poster in my grandpa's bedroom all the time. Later, in elementary school, I used to sing and dance to their songs in front of whoever was unlucky enough to be around me. Yes, I did use a brush for a microphone:)

*Warning! Terrible phone pictures ahead*

Photo Tales - Nighty Night

2011-04-22T23:10:00.012-04:00

My night stand... Favorite view (because I like being in my bed:))

Today was busy-busy! Work was busy... Social life was busy too.

Somehow, without remembering, I made plans to be at 3 places at the same time. (Who does that???) Dinner with friends, garage sale, and game night with a different group of friends. I realized it at the last minute. To be fair, I decided to go to the first event I committed G and I to - game night with friends. My friend Kirbyliscious hosted it and she made killer shortcakes. Yum!

Photo Tales - Morning Glory

2011-04-21T19:58:00.000-04:00

Ever since G and I rearranged our bedroom and put our bed under the window, I have had the privilege to look outside the second I wake up. We have a gorgeous view, I'm not gonna lie:) Seeing the lake in all it's smooth morning glory makes my day. I feel lucky to be energized by this view before I head to work in the middle of town.

I remember in one of my apartments in Russia I had the misfortune to walk out the door and butt-head with a big fat dumpster. In another one, it was a bench with an old cranky woman. She would whisper something sinister to my back as I hurried to the bus stop while spitting over my shoulder and looking for something wooden to knock on.

*bonus photo - taken from my bed*

What do you see as you look out your bedroom's window?

What do you see when you walk out the door?

Photo Tales - Modern Cougar Endings

2011-04-20T22:16:00.000-04:00

Wednesday nights my friends Beth and Casi come over for some ~~quality~~ TV time. All we do is watch silly shows and chit-chat during commercials. Casi and I LOVE Modern Family... Beth usually loves anything that's not Modern Family. But we know she is just trying to be different and she secretly loves this show too. We also watch whatever comes on after on ABC... Today it was Cougar Town and Happy Endings.

Don't judge.

I'm a show junkie. I usually watch them on Hulu, which makes me feel great when I tell people that I don't really watch that much TV:)

I love:

Bones (Cute, gross at times:))

Lie to Me (Clever!)

Castle (Hilarious!)

Nikita (Hot!)

What do you watch? What would you recommend for me?

Photo Tales - Pity Party

2011-04-19T20:53:00.000-04:00

Our wet and cold porch!

Today was one of those days when you wake up and just know it's going to be rough. Dark. Cold. Rainy. You spill your coffee. Have to rush to get to work. Then work happens. One thing leads to another, and before you know it, you are the unhappiest, loneliest, poorest, ugliest girl in the world. It's like a snowball...

Even Zumba didn't cheer me up tonight, and it usually does... I watched some Friends on TV - nothing! I ate ice cream (what?) - nada. I made myself a cup of tea and cuddled with a blanket and a book - zero.

Perfect Pity Party!

Photo Tales - New fav iPhone app

2011-04-18T22:17:00.000-04:00

Yet another photo of myself... Vain or lame?

I just wanted to share the excitement of the day - my new iPhone app that creates cool pictures. For lack of a better model, I took a picture of myself and "tried on" all the filters in the program. This is the look I came up with:)

I'm not sure if it's just an app for iPhones or not, but it's worth to check it out.

Instagram, baby!

It could be your creative outlet!

Aaaand.... it costs exactly 0 dollars 0 cents!

PS: Work was all about scheduling for upcoming standardized tests, and it's always a big fat headache. So this was the most exciting thing that happened to me today:) I live a boring life these days!

Photo Tales - Popcorn Recipe

2011-04-17T19:11:00.000-04:00

I'm cheating a bit today. I'm combining Photo Tales with a request from Casi and Joanne to post my popcorn recipe.

This is a very easy recipe. I use Amish Country Lady Finger popcorn (In our neck of woods I can only find it at Big R).

The secret to this delicious amazing-ness is coconut oil. I buy it in the organic section of our local Kroger. (It not only gives a nice little hint of flavor to the popcorn, but also makes you believe you are eating something healthy:))

I use about 1/4 cup oil and a cup of popcorn. Heat the oil in a large pan and then add popcorn. It takes about 5-7 minutes for the popcorn to pop (make sure you stand by the stove and shake the pan pretty much constantly). When it's ready, pour it in a bowl and salt it (I love it very salty:)).

Told ya, it was easy! You will not even look toward the boxed microwavable popcorn after this, I promise.

Photo Tales - Quality time with hubby

2011-04-16T21:23:00.000-04:00

Wow! 2 pictures?

Since hubby has been busy with his full time job, presidency on board of directors, and campaign for the seat in our town council, we have barely spent any time together!

Today was our night, finally! We cooked delicious dinner (Wow, 2nd homemade meal in one week! This must be some kind of a record!): pork chops marinated in famous Winn Teriyaki sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and fresh tomatoes with dill (I LOVE dill! I put in on my potatoes and my pork chop too!).

We had a glass of lovely red wine.

And then I made my FAV lady finger popcorn with coconut oil! (The best discovery I've ever made!)

I thought I would share this beautifulness with you before we get comfy in our couch watching 127 hours.

My kind of romantic evening!