Summer food ramblings

Hello people!

It is already Wednesday and I hope you are having a great and joyful day today! :")
I woke up in the greatest mood ever, I slept really nice and I had the most perfect breakfast with my man: homemade pannini bread with baked zucchini and mozzarella cheese, peppers and sun-dried tomatoes. Not to mention the sweet Belgium waffles with chocolate ice-cream that followed.
I was supposed to take a picture, but it was too tasty and I ate it all in a minute! My bad. You probably already guessed it, this post is going to be food related. With all the stress and lack of movement lately, I am really trying to eat more clean, fresh and less processed foods and less about calorie-counting. I love tasty dishes what can I do?

My lunch box these weeks is a little bit more fruity lately :") 

So I wonder, what you prefer eating during the summer?

Whole-grain bread is my new favorite choice and although I tried several times some gluten-free goodies, it is just not my piece of cake. Other summer choices for me include: avocado mash-ups with eggs, white cheese with tomatoes and grill baked vegetables. Also I consume different seasonal fruits. Eating anything meat related is hard for me in the heat. I prefer switching to cottage cheese, yogurts and other dairy products. It works just fine for me as I usually work late shifts from 14 pm till 23 pm and my lunch break is more like dinner. 

Armenian Salad with baked Aubergines and Tomatoes, all in honey-basil pesto. 

Do you prefer leafy green salads or you are more on the "whole veggies" side?

I know that eating green leafy salads is good for my health, but I never feel completely satisfied and full after it. Give me beans, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, carrots and broccoli. Currently my latest preferences go for baked chickpeas with sour cream and fresh basil. Really tasty, easy and fast dish. 

What are your favorite dishes? Please share them with me. 

photos: me

Bloglovin and my empty list

As from today...

I was wondering for very long time if to subscribe for this type of service, but after Google Reader died on 15th this month and I was left with no feed, the decision came by itself. So here it is: click! Love!
The sad part was that while I was checking my list of favourite blogs to add them there, I found quite dead ones. Left, unused, empty. I can't bring myself to let them go and un-follow them at the moment, because I still want to check them from time to time. The blogosphere is full with cooking, recipes and nice dreamy american housewives who write about d.i.y and design, fashion and... less and less nicely written and funny, ultimately personal, rugged places to visit.

Now, my dear cooking ladies, don't get offended. :") I follow some lovely places like Bubolinkata and Dimi's blog and others, I read them often, I find inspiration in them, they even make me try some of the dishes myself. But this is mainly because they are made with personal touch and differ from the rest.

Surely, like everything in this world, the blog, this type of self-expressionism evolves in something new. Which is nice, I suppose.
Surely, my own hiatus was something that was impeding me to write. I have changed a lot. My interests changed as well. My work and my newly found activities also leave too little time to blog as much as I want. So does the everyday life and all the responsibilities of a grown-up. At least of a person who tries hard to act as a grown-up.

 

Some questions that come to my mind while I write this post:

Does that mean that I lost some of my readers? Yes.
Did I find some new friends? Yes.
Is keeping this blog alive worth it? Totally.
Do I know what I want to say to the people that visit this place? This one is simple. Create, explore and smile.

photo:here

Bucharest

Or why they call her the Micul Paris?

Bucharest, the capital city of Romania. A big and glorious dwelling that I will visit in two days for a weekend seminar. As all people around me know, I love to travel and this is going to be the first time for this year, so you can imagine my enthusiasm.

I can't wait!

The last time when I visited this one was two years ago in a foggy November and I couldn't see anything from the magnificent interbellum architecture as it was so cold that we needed to hide in the cafes from the piercing winter wind. Bucharest in the winter is cold. Really cold. 

The things that I remember from my last visit are the Whittard Tea Shop that almost made me spend a small fortune on tea and hot chocolate (as I said, it was really cold outside), and the baked bagels with sesame for the small price of 2 Lei that an old lady was selling on the street. 

I hope that this time I will have more luck and later on I will present you some nice shots of the city itself. With me swift trip and luck! 

photo from here:~vlad-m

About a Lamy

Do you love to write?

And I don't mean poetry.
I've always loved beautiful handwriting. My dad has one of the most sophisticated, easy to read and smooth handwriting that I know. I enjoy to read his scribbling and notes, especially his grocery lists.
As a child I grew up in a house filled with writing instruments, technical pencils, drafting tools. The reason? Both of my parents are engineers. The want to explore all these meticulously crafted, fine instruments stayed with me trough my teenage years and I still love to experiment with new pens and pencils.
So 20 days ago, on my Dad's birthday, I ordered online new calligraphy fountain pen with a couple of Diamine Inks. I wanted something cheaper than 30 $, sturdy, lightweight, that can take some abuse and will write smoothly. The big plus of a fountain pen is that it is faster and cleaner to write with than a dip pen. The negative side is the lack of permanent inks for this type of pens on the market here in Bulgaria. And while ordering those online is a possibility, the price is excruciating for my budget.

Do you wonder what I got?

After some confusion and wondering, price comparison, reading several forums, watching several reviews in Portuguese. Yes. Portuguese. I decided to get a Lamy.

the color of the ink is just right :")

Lamy Joy with 1.1 Italian nib
Features:

• sturdy black plastic body and cap with some red accents, a little bit too long for my liking
• converter for ink, but works with cartridges as well
• interchangeable steel nibs, almost no flex in them in my opinion
• cardboard box in dark red

What I like is the overall quality of this pen. I easily imagine myself using this to write notes with some nice ink and fill text in my drawings. But... if I could reorder the same purchase now, I would go for the Safari pen. Better quality, but shorter, nicer design for everyday use for a little bit extra on the price tag.
The good thing is that I can always order a Safari as well and the nibs are practically the same and can be switched between many Lamy's designs. Really useful and user-friendly.

So if you want a good starter fountain pen, go for it. You won't be sorry. :")

Thing that I love lately - June

Hello all!

I hope that you are having a great summer. Currently we are experiencing a rainy period of relief after weeks of the heat wave from the beginning of this month. A short list of the things I like and enjoy this June:

The Rain. Why? It makes my skin smooth as silk, the air is fresh, I can jump in the poodles with my super funky Animal Rubber Boots.

Running in the morning with my brother who is way more faster and stronger than me. Why? Because it is shared time with one of my closest friends and makes my heart race.

Klorane Douche-gel Mediterranean scent. A lovely fresh experience with nice moisturizing.

Sephora Blueberry Body Scrub that makes my skin baby-like.

Rhodia dot Pad. It is so good, that I will probably review this one.

Diamine Inks in Soft Mint and Merlot. The only reason to order these two is because I am crazy ink, paint, all kinds of supplies and stationery aficionado. Or nerd. it depends of your point of view. :")

Kamen Vo and Toncho Tokmakchiev new old comical sketch "Hamalite" about the political situation in the country. Probably the only thing that is actually funny in the whole mess that is happening here.

Food-wise:

Apple Cider with friends in the park

Cashew

Boro's Tom Yum soup.

My mother's baked beans with tomato sauce. Yummy, healthy, hot, soul food!

Metro Mug Steel Works by Sigg's. A wonderful way to keep your beverage hot or cold. It is 380 cc. ideal for Coffee or home-made lemonade.

Talking about beverages, my latest find is cocoa beans tea infusion. It tastes like heaven, has almost no calories to build up on my daily routine and

The dinner with my beloved yesterday, the last Sunday of the month. As I was super stressed lately and we couldn't hook up ofter enough, it was very special. I also enjoyed our ritual to go out and try new food picking it randomly with closed eyes. Last night favorite: Fresh spinach salad with goat cheese, Parmesan cheese flakes, grapefruit slices and reduced balsamic vinegar for a price under

Things that I would love to have soon:

Ikea Arod lamp in Grey

Lime Yellow pillows for my bed

New haircut in lilac-redish color

A tripod

As I am experiencing some problems with my Picasa, I hope to be able to add the respective pictures soon!