Creative Fridays. / Кутим по пятницам!

It has been a while since I wrote about our craft club, but it is up and running! This Friday we ate yummy seasonal food made by Mila, blueberry lime cupcakes with coconut lavender tea made by yours truly  Then we all worked on our own projects. Mom and Sonya were working on a winter centerpiece, Mila drew and we all admired her little creations, I started learning to draw as well (and hugged their cat in between). I also got a present from Sonya, for guessing what cat was on her drawing correctly. I will talk about that in another post a little later. It is so great to have a little group of people that share the same interests, and I am so thankful for our little crafting club.


Я уже сто лет не писала о нашем маленьком клубе рукоделия, но он живёт и процветает. Вчера мы кушали печёные баклажаны и тыкву сделаную Милои, и заедали кексами с голубикои и запивали ловандовым чаем с кокосовым молоком и мёдом, предоставленным мнои. После каждый работал над своим проэктом: мама и Соня делали зимнее украшение на стол, мы с Милои рисовали (я также обнималась с их котом в промежутке), и мы все любовались Милиными маленькими издельями. Я получила приз от Сони за то что правельно угадала какого из её котов она изобразила на одном из своих рисунков. Об этом призе я напишу потом, отдельно.
Вобще это так замечательно иметь возможность собираться с людьми с общими интересами. Это большая удача, что у нас есть наш маленький клуб.

Now in Russian too! / Теперь и по Русски!

Today, I woke up early to do laundry so that my hubby has a clean pair of pants to go to work in. While laying in bed, next to my sleeping beauty, waiting for the washer to finish, I had a chance to talk to two of my dear friends from Ukraine that we went to school with long time ago. Ever since I moved to the US I felt very disconnected from my friends. I only was able to keep in touch with my bff Natasha, the rest of the people I grew up with were lost for me. Thanks  to the social network I was able to pick up bits and pieces of their lives, but we rarely talked. And what do you say if you haven't seen someone in many years?..
So talking to them today was very interesting and it warmed my heart to know that we are still connected even though we weren't able to interact for years.
One of the people I spoke to (or messaged, because my husband was asleep and so was her daughter - we grew up so fast, where did all the tracing our hands on a paper and drawing wrings and long nails on them went?..) was my dear friend from middle school. She told me that she use to read my blog, when I use to have a blog in Russian. But now that I blog in English it is hard for her to understand. That made me think that many people that don"t speak English would like to read about the life of my husband and I, including family and friends. So I thought, what if I wrote in both? I have seen other bloggers do that. It will be time consuming, but I just might try. And it will be a good practice to correlate the two languages in my head. We'll see what happens... So here it goes...


Сегодня я проснулась рано, чтоб затеять стирку, для того чтоб у моего мужа было в чём поити на работу. Лёжа на кравати рядом с моеи спящеи красавицеи, в ожидании окончания стирального цикла, мне предоставилась возможность пообщаться с двумя хорошими друзьями детства, которых я не видила уже много лет.
Когда мы переехали в США, связь со многими близкими друзьями детства разорвалась сама собои. Единственный человек, с кем у меня хватало сил и времени потдерживать хоть какои нибудь контакт была моя лучшая подруга детства - Наташа. Все остальние люди из моего детства потерялись где-то между двумя противополжными сторонами земли. Благодаря соц сетям, я могу следить за маленькими кусочками жизни всех этих людеи, но непосредцтвенно общались мы очень редко. Да и как начнёшь разговор с тем, кого не видел множество лет?..
Одним из людеи с которыми я смогла поговорить сегодня (точнее попереписываться, потому что у меня спал муж, а у неё дочь (как мы быстро выросли, куда подевались времена когда мы обвадили свои ладошки на тетрадных листах и рисовали на них длинные ногти и колечки?..), оказалась моя хорошая подруга и однокласница. Она сказала, что с удовольствием читала мои блог, когда он был на русском. Теперь же, когда я пишу на английском, еи трудно понимать о чём идёт речь. Это дало мне идею - а что если писать на обоих языках? Многие блогеры так делают. Это заимёт много времени, но зато будет хорошеи для меня тренировкои переводить с Русского на Англиский и обратно. Я знаю что многие люди, не владющие англиским языком, хотели бы знать что происходит в нашеи с Женеи жизни, включая семью и друзеи, так почему бы не попробывать?..

<just an old photo from long ago 2006?>
<старая фотография из давнего прошлого, лет так шесть назад...>

Quick project - light cowl

I talked about my current projects this week, and I am still working on those (I ran out of thread for mom's table cloth though and will continue as soon as I buy more). Yesterday however I felt like I really want to make a little cowl for the new sweater that my mommy gave me (one of my favorite colors - plum). So first I was looking to buy some yarn to make it, and then I remembered that I have some of that multicolored bamboo yarn left from one of my baby knitting projects. So I took it out and they seemed to match nicely with the top.
Then I decided to try something I discovered while knitting my grandma a scarf a while back - if you take a big hook or needles and use thinner yarn it yields some interesting results! So I got my big baby out and in one and a half evenings here's what I was able to show for it.

I am pretty satisfied with the results - it is very soft and light and not very bulky for more classy look. I will pair it with white jeans and maybe high heels! Yep! Life is good when you can take what you already have and make something even better out of it!
I did single crochet all around in a circle - easy and quick. I might make another one from some hand dyed merino I have in orange and yellow colors, if only I can come up with something to pair it with. Doing those short little projects sure gives me a nice break from the lengthy ones, but now I am ready to g back to my blanket!

I love fall!

I just now began to realize how much I actually like the Fall season. I will be honest, I'm not a huge fan of Halloween (oh no! I'm showing my foreign side). well it's just too... I don't know, scary. I think people go over board sometimes with it... Seeing dead bodies and coffins in the morning on my way to school does not bring my spirits up... Although I can't say that all those cute little baby costumes on Pinterest are not.. well... cute!
I am in love will all things yellow, and I never complain about too much rain (maybe because there isn't much in Vegas), and I can finally wear my favorite jackets and shoes! I like the Thanksgiving and all the family fun it brings! I adore all the pumpkins, I picked three in the store and took them home, they are little though. I can't wait till the trees in our parks turn golden, although it might not be until December... And all the thoughts of Christmas are invading my head now too! I really like this season and am excited for all the goodness it will bring!

Some of my favorite instagram Fall snapshots of these couple of weeks...

The Progress

What a week! What a month! What a life! Crazy - that's all I can say! Having three tests a week in addition to numerous hours in clinic and not enough time of exhausting studying is plane insane. It is not over,  but I am over that hill and it feels great! So finally  today is the day I get to enjoy myself (more or less, considering the fact that my back and my lower abdomen are constantly throbbing...)
So today's agenda includes having a peaceful cup of coffee and catching up on my blog reads (already on it!), cleaning up messes that accumulated throughout the house, making a dinner (I am thinking baked deer meat and potatoes with cheese, cream, and spices), working on my projects while watching a movie, and maybe in the evening we could go and see Frankenweenie in an outdoor movie theater (if I can make my husband take me, that is).
About my projects... I am currently working on two and both of them are somewhat big, especially considering the fact that I don't have a lot of time, or even when I do get some free time, I feel like my bed is the only thing I want to see at that point. One of them is the baby blanket I started way back in the summer, then changed my mind and went a different direction with it. Well now it is finally out of "scarf" stage (which means I don't have to explain to anyone that it is not a scarf anymore, no it is too wide to assume that). I gave up on making the little "bubbles" on entire blanket, it was too time consuming and it required unending amount of yarn, and I already had my mom-in-law send me additional yarn since I purchased it in Russia, when we went there over the summer. So now the "bubbly" part is on the bottom quarter of the blanket and the rest is just stripes. It is soft and heavy, just like I wanted it!

Now another one of my projects, I don't think I talked about before. I am crocheting my mom a round tablecloth with an elaborate pattern. Three years ago, my grandma let me take whatever magazines I wanted from her amazing collection. She has many Burda magazines about clothes, but a couple of them are on crocheting and knitting, or cross-stitching - and you bet I took those! They are the pearls of my collection of craft books and magazines! Some of them date back to 1960! I know that back in the days of soviet union it was very hard to find them, but she always did. As a kid I looked through them all the time, I found it very interesting and always dreamed of making one of those beautiful pieces. So when my mom said she wanted a crochet tablecloth I immediately made myself a hot cup of tea and dug into those magazines and this is what I found...

This one was just challenging enough for me to make it fun (I love reading crocheting patterns, it's like knowing a secret code), and my mom fell in love with it immediately. I am done with the middle part, which means about a quarter of the job is done...

Here is the pattern, in case if anyone wants to try it - it is very fun! There are eight identical pieces to it, so once you figure one out you just keep going until you complete the circle.

This particular magazine is from 2002 and has many lovely and tempting projects in it. My next one, after I finish this one, will be to make a little table runner or maybe a round tablecloth in pumpkin orange for the season.
And that is all I've got for now. I can't wait to be done with one of these so I can start a new project - it is unending at so so fun!

Studying for midterm... supposedly...

Ok, so I am suppose to be studying for tomorrow's midterm, but instead I am lurking in pinterest goodness. I just could not resist sharing this! Lydia from Munich, Germany makes these out of this world, ahmazing, dolls and sells patterns in her store (right here) on Etsy for less than $10!

When I saw the one with the baby, the first one right there, my heart started jumping and skipping in a happy dance! I am in love head over heals with this one! I am making it just as soon as I finish at leas one other project!
It amazes me how creative some people are! I wish I would be like that, but instead I just prey on other people's creativity (as in buying their patterns, not stealing or anything), which works for me, still takes skill. :)
Oh, and I think it goes without saying that if you only have six followers (love ya all!) nobody pays you to advertise, so I just truly like it!
P.S. there is a lot more crochet and knitting goodness on my pinterest board, if anyone is interested.

Bikes in the park - perfect Sunday!

A long-long time ago, when I was a kid, I accidentally ran into a little boy on a bicycle  or maybe he jumped out in front of me, but I ran away from the "crime" scene and never rode a bicycle again. Well until about a month ago I decided that I want to get a bicycle and start learning how to ride it again. So I told my mom that I think I want to someday get a bicycle and ride with them. My mom laughed and said that my dad actually bought me a bike for last Christmas but she told him not to give it to me, because I wouldn't want it, which she would be right at that point. It turns out he didn't return it and it was sitting in their garage this whole time. When I saw it, it was exactly what I wanted! How lucky is this girl - I barely even decided that I want it, and it was already there waiting for me. So after that I have been begging my parents and my hubby to go ride them.
Today was the day we finally went! Aaaand we went to my favorite park too! I seriously think it is the only green and pretty place in Vegas! We had so much fun chasing the geese, riding (I only fell once!), laying on the grass, soaking in the autumn sun... it was still hot, but gentle and cool breeze made it enjoyable!
Here is my baby! Just need to add a basket and we are good to go!

Donny called my riding outfit butter squash soup... he's onto something! I am just craving Fall colors, that's all! :)

 Today we also went to church, had breakfast together, and after all the bike fun we had deer stew at our house. What a great way to spent a weekend!

Rain and no inspiration

It was very nice to sleep under a warm blanket when it was pouring outside! However I am exhausted after intense school and no substantial rest for over two weeks. Now that I get to relax for the evening I feel tired and uninspired... I don't like that a bit! But I guess inspiration and willingness to create has its ups and downs like any other.
So here is to rain, hot tea with European cookies, and simply crocheting that baby blanket.

Don't remember where I got this picture, sorry...

How we went hunting. (Post #100!)

"So there we were, at five in the morning, walking around looking for a deer..." We have told this story many times already! About how we were looking all day long and didn't find any and then the last moment Jenya found an appropriate one, how then we were taking it apart in complete darkness under lantern light, how we drove home and kept falling asleep, so we got home by five o'clock in the morning and went to sleep when the sun was out, how then we spent six hours the next day cutting and packaging the meat...
Yes, I know, hunting is not for everybody, although I have to say it is a lot of work (a WHOLE LOT of work!), so it is definitely not all fun and games. And it is not for many women either. I, for one, could not imagine myself in anything like that, but here I am. Because I had to, I couldn't leave my sweet hubby to do it alone, we are a team after all. One thing I can say is, I challenged myself and, with God's help, I think I handled it well. Together we have a story to tell now, the one that we will not forget. Yes it was hard and I felt bad for the animal, and I did have to get into the heart of the action, but it was an adventure that we embarked on together.
Now a little bit about the nature over there - NOT a forest... not even close. It is still a desert just colder than Vegas, so all bunch of bushes for the most part. But I tried to find beauty and life to take home in my camera anyways.
As for my list of thing I thought we were going to do - we DID pack a lot of food that we ended up not eating, we DID sleep in the car, we DID walk but not in the forest, we DID NOT have a fire or do s'mores. So it was different from what I have imagined, but it was good!

 P.S. it is my 100th post! Man, time flies so fast!

Sharpies and hunting

Man, it was a busy week! Still is! School contributes a whole lot of course. And then there is all the prep for going hunting. We need to pack everything we might need for three days. I will be honest, I am a bit scared! I am not sure how I will handle, if at all, all the walking and not sleeping and all. So I just try to think of all the good things we are going to do and it looks like that...

(Yeh, i misspelled together, what can you do, I was very upset when I noticed, but I have an excuse... Well, you know, the one about me being born and raised in another country and all...)
And why am I drawing all of a suden? Well I asked Sonya to teach me to draw and she told me the best way to learn is to practice, so I went and got a set of special edition sharpies, since I am not sure if I am ready to tackle paint or pencil just yet... They are SO MUCH FUN! Wish I would have more time to use them...

I am planning on taking a drawing course as soon as I will be done with my current ordeal. I already imagine how it would be! I am totally going to take it to a weird level and wear what I imagine to be artsy clothes to every class... More on that later, maybe... But that is what happens when you wear nothing but scrubs for two years.
So we will see what this trip will actually turn out to be. I sure hope it will be at least a little bit like i imagine it... Fingers crossed!