Archive for 2014

Home Archive for 2014

Five best hot drinks to boost your immune system and fight cold in winter

1. Moroccan Mint Tea with Cinnamon

Mint is a calming and soothing herb which is great to break up mucus and relieve sore throat. This version of mint tea is amazingly delicious, reminds me of glintwein and has tons of healthy benefits.

Ingredients:

- 2 sticks of cinnamon

- some cloves

- several orange slices

- several lime slices

- ginger

- two tea spoons of brown sugar

Magic of Christmas or why I Believe in Holidays

I love winter holidays – this time of the year when cities and homes get transformed into wonderful fairylands and people into happy inhabitants of these magic places. When smiles and laughs replace worry and sorrow and every grown up at least for a moment becomes an 8 year old again. When big happiness fits into a small blue ornament, hung with care and love on the pine branch.

I am not a religious person and I am not a follower of any faith. I am on the side of agnosticism when it comes to the question of God. But I am a believer and I wanted to share with you my humble version of faith which makes sense to me and makes me peaceful and hopeful.

I believe in holidays. I believe in the power of positive energy. The power of good deeds. The power of happy thoughts. During winter holidays everyone becomes a little bit happier, a little bit more joyful. You can physically feel this joy in the air and unlike red bull it really does give you wings! I believe that during such times magical things happen and dreams come true. I believe in people and all the good, great things they are capable of, when their minds and hearts are full of happiness and kindness.

I wish everyone to have great holidays this year! Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

A Smoothie A Day! #14 Cucumber Refresher

Smoothie #14

Cucumber Refresher

Cucumbers

Banana

Green Apple

Pear
Spinach

A Smoothie A Day! #13 Butternut Squash Smoothie

15 Days - 15 Smoothies!

Smoothie #13

Butternut Squash Smoothie

Cooked squash

Banana

Soy Milk
Vanilla Extract
Spices (Cinnamon, Nutmeg)

The children of 80s… The children of the streets

Close to winter holidays I always feel somewhat nostalgic and sentimental. Today I felt like browsing through my childhood pictures and as a result came up with this post.

I was born in a little town Tomsk, which is hiding in the pine forests of Siberia, Russia. When I was seven, my family owned a two-bedroom apartment in a five-story condominium building in a…well, let me call it uptown or sleeping quarters. The building was the exact copy of dozens or even hundreds of other buildings placed in a certain order around the neighborhood. Those were the Soviet times. Everything had to look the same – buildings, clothes, furniture, cars. People were deprived of choices. The choices were made for them by the caring communist government. But despite of certain weirdness and in some cases even absurdity, I always remembered those times fondly. That was my childhood and those were great times: fun and active, free and happy, barefoot-and-loose-hair kind of times!

A Smoothie A Day! #12 Beet Smoothie

15 Days - 15 Smoothies!

Smoothie #12

Beet Smoothie

Steamed Beets

Banana

Strawberries
Almond Milk

A Smoothie A Day! #11 Peanut Butter Banana

15 Days - 15 Smoothies!

Smoothie #11

Peanut Butter Banana

Peanut Butter

Banana

Cocoa Powder
Ice Cubes

A Smoothie A Day! #10 Very Berry Smoothie

15 Days - 15 Smoothies!

Smoothie #10

Very Berry Smoothie

Frozen Berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)

Vanilla Sweet Yogurt

Milk

A Smoothie A Day! #9 Peach and Carrot Smoothie

15 Days - 15 Smoothies!

Smoothie #9

Peach and Carrot Smoothie

Frozen Peaches

Semi Cooked Carrots

Vanilla Yogurt

Coconut Milk

Honey

A Smoothie A Day! #8 Raspberry Vanilla

15 Days - 15 Smoothies!

Smoothie #8

Raspberry Vanilla

Raspberries

Vanilla Yogurt

Coconut Milk

Vanilla Extract

A weekend getaway in New Hampshire. The beauty of fall, fairy-tale-forests and bewitching waterfalls in photographs.

This post will lack words. All I have to say – we had a great time! Even though it was freezing and we came unprepared clothes wise, we found ways to warm ourselves, *smile*. At the finish line of this visual storyboard you will find links for “where to” and “things to do”.

A smoothie a day! #7 Kale Banapple

15 Days - 15 Smoothies!

Smoothie #7

Kale Banapple

Kale

Banana

Green Apple

Orange Juice

A smoothie a day! #6 PB&J Smoothie

15 Days - 15 Smoothies!

Smoothie #6

PB&J Smoothie:

Strawberries

Banana

Peanut Butter

Coconut Milk

A smoothie a day! #5 Cucumber Pear Smoothie

15 Days - 15 Smoothies!

Smoothie #5

Cucumber Pear Smoothie:

Cucumber

Pear

Lime Juice

Water

In a relationship – how to find the truth among so many possible options?

Some say that weak people tend to end relationships when there is a bump in a road and look for new ones, while strong people work on their relationships and move along through the years.

According to another popular opinion people keep staying in not satisfying relationships because they are afraid to be alone and start it all over again.

Some of us just get used to the things the way they are and too lazy to make a change, while others choose to tolerate an occasional suffering for the sake of their love.

When it comes to relationships, I've never been able to see things clearly.

The License to Be That Way. An Interview with an Amazing Yoga Teacher at FIU Fitness Center and a Fascinating Person – Bonnie Quiceno.

The room is spacious, bright and inviting; with hardwood floors and huge floor-to-ceiling windows which let Miami sun feel welcomed in here, just as welcomed as all regulars or any random curious visitor. Abundant greenery, palm trees and the bay on the other side of the windows complete the picture and fill this space with energy. Once you open the door, you want to stay a little longer.

Florida International University Wellness Center added yoga to the existing classes back in 2000. The idea came from brainstorming ways to improve students’ general wellbeing and was an instant success. Students loved yoga and the schedule quickly changed from one class to four classes a week.

A smoothie a day! #4 Banana Cinnamon Smoothie

15 Days - 15 Smoothies!

Smoothie #4

Banana Cinnamon Smoothie:

Banana

Vanilla Yogurt

Almond Milk

Cinnamon

A smoothie a day! #3 Banana Kiwi Smoothie

15 Days - 15 Smoothies!

Smoothie #3

Banana Kiwi Smoothie:

Kiwi

Banana

Pineapple

Coconut water

Pumpkin Soup – Fall in Love with Fall!

It finally feels like fall in Miami! It is windy, foggy and rainy and I love it!

I usually have no complaints about Miami always sunny weather, but I miss seasons a lot. Especially fall. Well, in winter I will most likely say, especially winter *smile*.

Anyways, days like these are rare and I cherish them greatly!

So, I decided to add some color and some flavor to the already perfect rainy picture from my balcony and to make a pumpkin soup.

It is so simple, so delicious and so fall-like-bright-orange!

A smoothie a day! #2 Tropical Refresher

15 Days - 15 Smoothies!

Smoothie #2

Tropical Refresher:

Orange juice as a base

Mango

Pineapple

Coconut

A smoothie a day! #1 Green Tea Fruit Smoothie

I am a huge fan of obsessions – I think they absolutely rock the world! The healthy ones, anyways *smile*.

My current obsession is smoothies! They are yummy, healthy and fun to make.

I usually go with anything I have on hand, but sometimes following the recipe gives you an extra kick. It creates an aura of actually preparing something special, rather than making a quick snack in-between things.

Long story short – I found this link at Minq with 15 Delicious Smoothies for Weight Loss and decided to try them all, a smoothie a day. And, of course, to share this little adventure here.

Bonjour, Merci, Au Revoir…Or France, I Love You! || Day 3 - Paris

In Paris every second building is a landmark and a tourist attraction. If you have only two days to explore the city, the choice of places to visit becomes a challenge. I've tried to do my best and to come up with the most time efficient route to cover as many points of interest as possible in one day. (Louvre, Eiffel Tower and Seine River Cruise were in the program of the first day)

Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the busiest landmarks where lines are huge and can be compared only to the lines for a new iPhone. The best time to go is early in the morning. To tell the truth, even though it was early and raining, we still spent about an hour in lines. Well, in my humble opinion Notre Dame is totally worth the wait, especially the towers. I was impressed beyond any expectations! The views of the city are phenomenal; the proximity of dozens of mesmerizing gargoyles gives you goosebumps. The rain actually fits the atmosphere of Notre Dame perfectly!

Bonjour, Merci, Au Revoir…Or France, I Love You! || Day 2 - Paris

The drive from Metz, Lorraine to Paris is about 4 hours. The beauty of landscapes totally makes up for this time though. Half an hour before the destination, my anticipation gets to its peak! I am just an ordinary person and Paris has always been on my list of dream places to visit.

As you get closer to the city, the views start changing rapidly from rural to industrial. In a blink of an eye empty roads get packed with traffic and radio tunes to a different station – romantic French folklore changes to dynamic beats of French hip-hop. Bienvenue à Paris!

Five reasons to stay at Bed and Breakfasts during European travels. The story of our adventure in Glatigny.

I am extremely late with posts about my August Europe trip, but better late than never, isn't it? I assume you agreed *smile*.

While preparing for the trip and choosing hotels I accidentally found this website with bed and breakfast rentals in France. I was looking for something nice and cheap around Metz, France. Hotels within $80 range looked super boring and average, while my imagination drew pictures of beautiful village houses with gardens and flowers and romantic French atmosphere. En.europa-bed-breakfast.com became an absolute gem of my search!

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About birthdays and about age. And some fun moments of my birthday boat party.

I have always loved my birthdays. I love being the center of attention for that one day and feeling special. I love birthday wishes, presents, flowers and balloons and fun birthday cards. As far as I can remember, I always wake up happy and excited on the day of my birthday anticipating something magic to happen, almost like on the New Year’s Eve (which for Russians is the biggest holiday of the year, when Ded Moroz brings presents to kids, like Santa Clause does on Christmas).

When you get older, I’ve heard, birthdays tend to become less exciting and even depressing. It’s the day when you get one year older and it’s not that fun anymore as it was in your 20’s. I’ve been waiting for this to happen with a sinking heart for a couple of years now. Yet, I didn’t feel sad or depressed on my birthday this year, just like the last year or the year before that. I turned 32 on Friday. “Yeay!” I told my boyfriend, “I was born today and I am so happy that I did!”

Plated.com - pros and cons of food-delivery startups based on my free trial experience.

I couldn’t help but notice a number of food-delivery startups being advertised all over the internet lately (it’s been happening for a while, I know, I am slow as usual). Plated, Blue Apron, Hello Fresh – just to name a few. They assemble and deliver meal boxes to customers with all the ingredients and instructions to cook meals at home.

So, I thought, “I love startups, I love things being delivered to my door and I love trying new stuff. Hmmm…I have to find out what it is all about!”

A few thoughts about falling apart and pulling yourself together…and about relationships.

There are people for whom it is so easy to fall apart, but so difficult to pull it together. I am one of those people. I have always envied the lucky fellows whose confidence is as steady as a rock. On the contrary, my inner confidence and harmony have always been fragile and could easily falter because of mere ignorant comments, especially if that comments have been made by someone, who is supposed to be your closest person. Being younger, I used to build shields to make me immune to words which could easily hurt, offend or ruin my self-esteem. With time I became more relaxed, patient and stopped paying much attention to who said what. We are all different and nobody can expect that others would say exactly what they wanted to hear. You listen, consider, accept it or deny it and go further.

Bonjour, merci, au revoir…or France, I love you! || Day 1 – Metz (one day guide)

It was early Sunday morning, when my sister and I packed our travel suitcases, arranged things in the car, tuned in to some local radio station, placed Snusmumrik conveniently in the window and began our five days road trip to France. It was rather chilly at 8 am and everything was covered in morning dew. Germersheim, the city where my sister lives and the starting point of the trip, was still silent, sleepy and foggy, but to me it looked mystical and enchanting, as if promising the great adventures ahead of us.

Feel like cooking breakfast this morning? Try something unusual - Russian cottage cheese pancakes! For the curious reader - their authentic name is syrniki.

I have never planned on posting recipes to the blog. First of all, because I am quite an average cook and second, because I did not want to promote any diet, since I follow none and my food choices are rather inconsistent. In other words, the last thing I wanted to do is to position myself as somebody knowledgeable or skillful when it comes to culinary practices. But… yes, there is always a “but”.

The other day I woke up in such a great mood and, as a logical consequence, felt like cooking breakfast (which is a rare occasion for somebody who is not a morning person). Anyways, I checked the fridge and decided to go for syrniki. As I was mixing the ingredients and humming Kiesza’s “Hideaway” (oh, those miserable attempts to succeed in singing, can I accept already that I am doomed for life?), I had a thought. I wanted to create a blog focused on positive things, things which make people and me in particular happy. Food (its consumption, as well as preparation) is a huge part of those things! For me even more so, because I looove delicious food. Ok, enough of excuses, I am posting a recipe and so be it!

My Europe Trip – first impressions and a few random thoughts. (Germany-France road trip)

My vacation is over, but here with me are my memories, emotions, numerous pictures waiting to be organized and retouched, gifts and souvenirs ready to be presented to their new owners and most importantly hopes to transform events and scenes of the journey into stories which could attract and inspire the reader. As you might remember, this was my first trip to Europe and I am thrilled to announce the verdict – I absolutely loved it! No exceptions. Yes, I know that 10 days are probably not enough to reach an objective conclusion, but let me have my subjective one for now. It is never too late to get disappointed, so why not try to stay excited for as long as we possibly can? I think the ability to get excited and curious about new things, like little kids do, is a true gift and the right way to go.

Travelling is my happiness.

I have just boarded the plane Fort Lauderdale-Frankfurt and I am feeling super excited! I am flying to Germany to visit my sister and to have a road trip to France. Did I mention this would be my first time in Europe? Oh yeah! I am already anticipating all the adventures of the road, the charm of Paris and Strasbourg and the character of Frankfurt.

This post is going to be rather sentimental. I simply can’t help it – the emotions are bubbling inside and must get out! Now, let me go back in time to describe the particular moment when I realized that travelling is what makes me happy.

How about watching sunrise?

I spent the past week or so planning, scheduling and mapping out my upcoming trip to Germany, including a 4-days road trip to France. I've never done this before, being blessed with a boyfriend who is always in charge of our travel plans, and let me tell you – it is no easy task! Of course, I could easily choose one of the hundreds of tours offered by travel agencies, but I've never been a fan of bus tours. They lack the spirit of adventure and freedom, which road trips are all about.

Anyways, with the time pressure, I've ended up feeling pretty stressful and this is not the feeling I hoped for before my long awaited Europe journey. So, to shake the stress off and to boost my positive energy, I decided to begin the day by going to the ocean and watching the sunrise. Best decision ever! Even though it was a bit cloudy and the sun did not make its full appearance, nothing compares to the beauty of sunrise! Well, maybe only the beauty of sunset.

Snorkel, snorkel and again snorkel. Then? Then snorkel some more!

Did I mention that this post is about snorkeling? Duh!

Last weekend we went to Key Largo for our friend’s birthday (you can read about Full Moon Party in Islamorada Here) and decided to kill two birds with one stone – fish and my friend Natalie… Just kidding, of course, the birds would be snorkeling and birthday celebration. It was my second time snorkeling (ever) and I must confess – I loooved it! On our way back to the shore I spent some time thinking why do I enjoy it so much? I came up with 3 major reasons why I love snorkeling:

Islamorada Full Moon Party at Florida Keys - an absolute gem!

Last Friday there was our friend’s birthday and we decided to experiment and do something different than a usual home party or a restaurant/lounge routine. Getting away for one day to Key Largo (an hour and a half drive from Miami) sounded awesome. We anticipated we would have a great time, but little did we know how much fun our mini trip was going to be!

The preparation was very simple – booking hotel rooms for the whole group and choosing a place for a birthday celebration. The hotel we chose, Creekside Inn, was nice and cozy, but probably a bit overpriced for that kind of accommodations. Hotels in Key Largo and Islamorada are generally very pricey, so booking in advance is a wise thing to do. Anyways, as everybody arrived at the hotel and started getting ready for the celebration, the mood was already adventurous and fun. I loved the atmosphere before the party of everybody being together, girls sharing makeup and feeling excited, while guys (who generally get ready in less than 5 minutes) drinking beer on the deck and joking around.

Having awesome time, while spending almost no money! (or two great evenings for $40)

Life is beautiful, when you live in Miami and the weather is gorgeous all year round. Life is especially beautiful, when the summer semester is over and you have the whole month just for yourself (work doesn’t count if you are a freelancer and work from home at your own convenience, as I do). So, once I stopped being ecstatic and got over the happy thought that there will be no more classes for a WHOLE month – naturally followed the question “What do I do with my free time?”

So that you better understand what kind of person I am, I probably should mention, that I love saving money and experimenting with living on tiny budgets. Not because we are struggling with money, but because there is always something useful you can do with it, instead of carelessly throwing it away. Anyways, here’s how we spent two awesome evenings for a total of $40.

Hello!

My name is Ekaterina (which is Russian, long and impossible to pronounce), but the short version of it is not so bad – Katya. I reside in Miami for 10 years now and I am completely in love with this bold, colorful, international paradise, even though I had hard times getting along with it, being originally from Tomsk - a tiny and modest, but no less wonderful city in Russia. I speak with an accent and my grammar by all means is not without a flaw – for which I am sorry and will appreciate any critique or advice!

I live with my boyfriend whom I love dearly (except for occasional urges to kill him slowly…) and I have awesome friends who I consider to be my second family. My parents live in Russia and younger best ever sister is studying in Germany. We meet once a year, if we are lucky. It is tough, but thanks to Skype and things alike we manage to stay close despite of living on different continents. I am getting 32 this year (brrr, this deserves a separate post) and until recently I wasn’t ready to settle down, have babies, a family of my own and all the following responsibilities. Until recently. Today I know that I really want all the things I was afraid of not so long ago. A cozy house, a loving husband, a kid or two, a dog and a cat and all the noise, craziness, but also all the happiness that comes with it.

Anyways, the idea of starting a lifestyle blog has been haunting me for the past year or so. Every time I was feeling particularly happy and fascinated by life and its wonders, or overwhelmed with joy for no particular reason, or caused by little and so insignificant things – I felt this urge to share my journey and newly adopted positive take on living with all its simple pleasures. I am not a cock-eyed optimist. By nature, I am rather cynical and surely had my share of ups and downs. But ever since my discovery that a positive attitude turns things upside down and makes you a genuinely happy person – I’ve started watching my cynical, easily depressed nature and made great progress!

I would love to create a spot filled with positive energy and meet same minded people. I secretly wish this blog will encourage you to keep up putting positive spin on whatever events there are ahead of us, while helping me not to fall off the wagon myself.

Except for the posts devoted to the joy of living and my personal life journal, this blog will be focused on travelling, photography and whatever other hobbies I might acquire down the road. I love anything creative and aesthetically pleasing and constantly have tons of ideas of projects which I rarely begin and almost never finish! (This blog is one of them) Being selfish again, I hope the blog will help me with this problem as well – after all, once you say it out loud, there is muuuch more pressure to stick with your words and actually do things, rather than just say them.

Well, enough for the first post, huh? Welcome to Atstarfish and I hope you enjoy your time here!

You can subscribe to this blog via email or follow on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. You can reach me with any questions or just to say hi at: katya.starfish@gmail.com.

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