Monday Moodboard "Packing my suitcase"

Hello folks!
I'm travelling again later this week, so probably it'll be only Monday Moodboard this week :)
I'm visiting my friend Katerina in Germany. She is an a designer and makes amazing felted scarves and hats like this one for example.

Felted hat by Filzwunder

 So I'm packing my suitcase with everything I need ))))

Impossible to travel without camera

Cosmetic bag no one girl is able to travel without

A big enough suitcase for all clothes and shoes I might need

'People are strange when you are stranger' (C) or Moscow by foreigners' eyes

Leonie Baldacchino

Hello folks!

As I promised earlier here are few impressions from my friend from Malta Leonie Baldacchino that visited Moscow last week for the Global Entrepreneurship Congress. As I shared my thoughts about Paris I decided it probably will be interesting to get an opinion about Moscow from someone who doesn't live here for the whole life like me :)

 

So here we are :)

1. The size and grandeur of the city centre - the huge buildings around the Red Square, the massive streets...

2. The cleanliness of the place in general - I was quite impressed that the morning after the massive rally on Tuesday there wasn't one piece of garbage anywhere in the streets...

3. The static electricity that built up inside my body, making me crackle an pop every time I touched electronic devices such as my laptop and making my hair open up like a fan every time I ran brush through it - weird!

4.The Russian alphabet, with your Ps sounding like thew English R, the H sounding like an N (right?), and so on - baffling! (yes, the H sounds like an N  - you are right Leonie).

5. The Russian ladies' shoes, very elegant and VERY high heels - how do they manage to balance on them all day and in all snow? (That's the question I ask myself as well and honestly don't know the answer).

6. The absence of dogs - I onle saw one dog while I was there. Does nobody in Moscow own dogs? Life is no life without dogs! (People own dogs for sure but it's rare to see them in the city centre).

7. The absence of motorbikes - I didn't see a single motorbike while I was there. Of course this is more understandable, considering how cold and slippery it was. Still, life is no life without bikes!

8.  The snow - very pretty and a lot of fun. I was told that I was like a child, getting excited by the snow, but this should be understandable too since we don't have any snow in Malta.

9. The cold. Ohh my my my it was so cold. I nearly froze to death (after acting like a child and taking photographs sitting in the snow - silly me lol) !!

10. THE COLD! Did I mention the cold? Ooooohhhh it was cold - and it was the befinninfg of the Russian winter, I was told!!! BRRRRRR!!!

As I also met some people from other countries. I asked Nele Schoofs from Belgium to share her impressions about Moscow. Here are her thoughts:

"My impressions of Moscow? I agree with your friend. Also in my guide, I read ‘Moscow is like a grumpy old man. Difficult in the beginning but a great surprise once you get to know him… ‘

I agree, my first impressions of Moscow were fantastic, the red square end the museum by night were almost like a fairy tale. But then I discovered it is not an easy town to travel, especially not as a foreigner who does ‘t speak or read Russian… Nevertheless, when you put through you can find some really fantastic spots, for example the metro station, so unique!   

We only had one and a half day to visit, not so much, but I can definitely say we had and unforgettable time in Moscow." 

Monday Moodboard "Even if..."

Even if there are hundred kilometres between people it doesn't mean they can't be close.... Someone had a bad mood yesterday so here are few things to cheer you up ))))

Latitude Longtitude Coordinates are only some numbers

Coffee to wake you up in the morning

And a reminder that I'm thinking about you :)

Life is full of surprises or Global Entrepreneurship Congress 2014

Lut Wyers, me and Leonie Baldacchino

Hello folks!

There is The Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Moscow right now and a friend of mine is participating in this Congress as a Lead delegate. As she is from Malta it was a good opportunity to see her again. We wanted to see each other and just go somewhere and have a talk etc. But they changed some planes and an event that should be on Thusday was yesterday. My friend could get an invitation for me so I was lucky enough to go to this event - Gala&Awards Dinner at the State Historical Museum. There were an amazing atmosphere - people from all over the world were meeting each other, talking about the ideas that were presented on the congress, sharing some ideas. That's the best opportunity to know other people and more than this - be inspired by their energy!

 I met few interesting people and they were really interested in jewelry I made and wear everyday. For me it was very important to get an opinion about my work personally because I have only online shops and that's a bit different than a normal shop. I also understood one more thing (and special thanks to my friend Leonie for it) - you always have to introduce yourself as an entrepreneur and tell people what you do. Another advice I got was  - Don't unvalue your work! Don't tell people that all you do you do easily! It's important to remember that it's your work, the piece of art you created! One more thing I understood is - always be prepaired that you can possibly meet someone who will be interesting in what you do! Which mean - always take your bussiness cards with you! And this thought aslo made me to add one more thing to my "To do list" - renew my bussiness cards :)

Beside the event I want to tell you a bit about the place. It's the State Historical Museum and they allowed to watch the exposition - only one "Gold. Metal of gods and tsar of metals" but anyway. What I love about russian museums is that almost all of them are not just buildings but buildings with history and it means that beside an exposition you also will see an amazing architecture and an interior design. I suppose it was very interesting for people who visited Moscow for the very first time - not only meet new people but also visited museums.

As for my friend it was the first time in Moscow I asked her about her impressions. She promised to write me a short story which I'll share with you a bit later but for the beginning here are two things about Moscow.
In her opinion Moscow is huge like plus size )))) and also she noticed that we have clean streets. It was a demonstration in the city centre on Tuesday but on Wednesday morning there were no garbage on the streets. Oh and she was so happy to see snow yesterday )))))))) Like a child )))))

Monday Moodboard "11 Mondays till Summer!"

Hello folks!
Today I have a very good news for you! Only 11 Mondays left till Summer! And even though today's morning starts with -5 I know that very very very soon it'll be warm lovely summer! With shorts skirts and bright colorfull dresses, with an ice cream and fruit pies, with nice dinners on open terraces, with sunshine and blue sky.... And if you haven't started to be prepared for a swimming season you still have time ;)

Bold geometric high waisted bikini shorts by BOODWAH

White Linen Backless Dress by GreenLinebyK

Beach Photography by MorganRosePhoto

Swim Trunks by POLEIT

Monday Moodboard "Spring is here!"

Hello folks!
Ok I know that's Tuesday today but as we didn't work yesterday (coz 8 March was on Saturday) for me it's Monday )))))
It's oficially SPRING! Not only by calendar but with blue sky, sun and warm weather!

The Tree - 16x20 Fine Art Photography Print by KatieLloydPhoto

Handknit linen cotton tunic by Muza

Abstract Watercolor Painting by CanotStop

Simple and delicious Pear, Chocolate and Hazelnuts Cake for International Women's day

Hello folks!

Not all people celebrate Intrenational Women's Day but here in Russia we do! And for some foreigners it can look as a pretty crazy event :) Flowers that you can buy on an each and every corner (just be aware about the high price). Men are looking for gifts and also thinking about what to bring to women they work with and sometimes it's pretty tricky as there can be more women than men (like in a department where I work). Women think what they'll wear to the office coz they will celebrate this day for sure. People celebrate this day not only in restaurants but at home as well and cook nice food and of course bake (or buy) a cake.

So today I brought you a very simple recipe. Guys believe me even a man can bake this cake coz it's easy! And I hope that your man will bake it as a nice sweet gift for you. :)

So here we are with Pear, Chocolate and Hazelnuts Cake. If you have any question - just ask.

Ingredients
1 large pear
125 gr of  crushed hazelnuts (you can use your favorite nuts. I use almonds sometimes)
200 gr of flour
1 teaspoon of a baking powder
175 gr of butter
100 gr of sugar
2 eggs
100 gr of black chocolate
10 g of vanilla sugar
Flour and butter for form greasing




Preparation

Preheat the oven to 160C.
Remove the skin and the core from the pear, cut into cubes.  Chopp the chocolate.  

In a bowl mix the flour with the baking powder, vanilla sugar and add the softened butter. Knead the butter with the flour by a fork till combine. Then add the sugar, the eggs and mix it.

Add the cutted pear, the chopped chocolate and the crushed hazelnuts into dough and mix it.  

Grease the form with the butter and powder it by the flour. Pour the dough into the form and  bake 50-60 minutes.

Turn the cake out on to a rack to cool (about 15-20 minutes), then take the cake out of the form and allow to cool completely. It's even better to allow to stand it the night thus it won't crumble when cutting.

And don't forget to enjoy!

Monday Moodboard "Make Love not War!"

Hello folks!

This weekend one news hit me and I suppose not only me - the situation with russian army in Crimea, Ukraine. I hope that everything will be ok but honeslty it's scary.... When we see news about wars somewhere we think it's far from us... But any war is closer than we think unfortunatelly...

NO WAR stone and glass mosaic on wood by LaTenagliaImpazzita

8X10 Fine Art Print by BeckyMcCreary