Friday 5

Well Hello, the blogger was  down since yesterday for some reasons and i just got access to mine. I decided to start few memes on my blog and one of them is "Friday 5" where I write about five of things, events,... that I enjoyed on last week and they became my favorites. it can be everything. I will try to do it every Friday. so let's get down to the first post:

 1. Adele 21 album: I've been listening to this all this week and I did not got tired of it yet. her voice is so special and the way she sings I honestly could feel the lyrics, her pain, her happiness... just love it.

2. Sun and warmer weather: last week was all sunny and it stays longer now. I really love when we get home and we still have day light. it gives me the feeling that I have so much time left from the day (even though it is about 8:30 at night). since the sky is almost clear I could see the sunset from our balcony which is just beautiful and everyday it has different color, so quiet, so calm ... just love it

3. Michael Kors "Very Hollywood" perfume:  I got it last summer and got back to using it this week and I have to say it is one of my favorite. it is a fresh, floral scent, perfect for spring summer times. it's not a unique scent though I am sure you smelled something similar to this sometime in the past. it reminds me of a perfume my mom used to wear when I was little :) love it.

4. Caramel Ice-Cream: I am not an obsessed person with ice-cream but there are few ice-cream tastes that I LOVE and one of them is caramel (specially from my favorite brand Häagen-Dazs). since it started to get warmer and warmer each day here, we got back to our habit of having ice-cream as dessert. I think if you never tried caramel taste you're missing big time;) it's so yummy ! 

5. I started reading this book recently, it was lend to me by one of my friends. I am almost done, it is REALLY good and I have hard time to put it down. 

So here were my 5 favorites this week, and I love to hear yours, if you post in your blog leave your link down below and I will read it or just write your 5 in the comment section if you like :)

Have a great Friday :)

Mania

Obsession du jour :Nude pumps

I think there are some classic fashion pieces that should be in every girl's wardrobe like classic trench coats, little black dress with perfect cut.... and one of them is nude pumps. I don't know if I mentioned this before or not I am truly a shoehalic person, I love shoes more than anything else. going out to look for shoes would be my favorite shopping trip ( maybe not for my hubby or anyone else coming with me ) because I really spend time to look and try as much as I can and then decide. actually there is only one of my friends that could put up with me during shopping trips and she is the best. 

Nude pumps are my favorite color of shoes ( after black pumps of coarse) they go with every color of outfit,  they make the skin color look little more tan and glowy and they will lengthen your legs like no other! 

Don't get me wrong I still think every girl should have at least one sexy fabulous black pumps but sometimes you need something different and that's when nude pumps come in mind. 

Nude color can work with every skin tone, but they have to kinda match and fit with your skin color (since there are tons of nude shades). for darker skin tones camel, chocolate tone nudes look better compared to light beige. 

Here are some I had for a couple of years now ( some of them are a mix of nude with other color or another pattern):

Anne Klein

easysprit

and these are the ones I have my eyes on , some of them are extremely expensive, the ones form Aldo look reasonable price wise, I just need to find time and go try them on since I don't feel comfortable in most of their shoes. 

Jimmy Choo

Christian Louboutin

Jimmy Choo one is quite expensive ( around 700$) , but I've seen the same exact model at Aldo or Steve Madden stores (under 100$).

Aldo

So what do you think ? do you have a pair of nude heels yet or your prefer a traditional black heels?

Hope you all have great Wednesday,

Mania

Recent Book read:Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay

I just finished reading this book last week and I decided to write about it in case any one is interested to read, let's start by the short summary ( or intro) that you could always read on the back of the book:

"When she decides to auction her remarkable jewelry collection, Nina Revskaya, once a great star of the Bolshoi Ballet, believes she has finally drawn a curtain on her past. Instead, the former ballerina finds herself overwhelmed by memories of her homeland and of the events, both glorious and heartbreaking, that changed the course of her life half a century ago."

  

The story starts very simple, Nina Revskaya a former Bolshoi ballerina putting her jeweleries for auction. as she is doing that she remembers her life which is rather a painful memories due to communist Russia and her husband, her friends whom she left when she defected.

The story quickly focus on a specific set of jewelry ( a pair of Amber earing and bracelet ), as a Russian professor donates the missing part of the set ( Amber necklace) for the auction. so the big mystery is who is this guy and what is his relationship with Nina and why she is denying any connection to the necklace. 

There were many times I  taught I found out how the book is ending and what was the mystery behind all  but the author did a great job in turning the story in a way that you would not know clearly till the end of the book. 

As I said, the story is a flashback of current life in Boston to old life of Nina, Grigori ( Russian Preofessor) and Drew ( the girl in charge of the auction). it shows a very chilling facts about  lack of privacy and constant prying of Soviet eyes on its citizens and specially on artists like poets and musicians and composers. She  descibed the scens well so it was possible to have somewhat clear image of how the life was like in old Russia; the fear, mistrust ... in people, even the description of ambiance is done perfectly. I still got the feeling of coldness, gray life when I usually get form reading Russian literature ( like Crime and Punishment , The Idiot) but less.   

Nina character  is so difficult, cold and grouch specially at the beginning that I really disliked her, but the way her life was back in Russian makes it understandable. she is not an easy character to like but at the end you'll see she tries to redress her wrongs ....and  that's all everyone could ask .in overall, I liked the book  though I taught the end was little bit fast and felt like it was cut very soon. 

I loved the way she wrote it, a wrapped mystery that reveals slowly through multiple characters and flashbacks.I enjoyed reading it and recommend it to people who like historical fictions with a hint of romance, a hint of mystery, and  easily flowing plot.

So what have you've been reading lately, love to hear your book suggestions?

wish you all a wonderful day :)

Mania

Menu Plan Monday

Hello my lovely friends,

I don't know if you have ever come to that point in your cooking life or not, the moment that you have no idea what to make. I have and very frequently. so It's been quite few years now ( all my married life and even before that when I was at far from home at university) that I've been setting a weekdays food plan. I go out of the house every morning and by the time I 'm finished with work and workout time, it's about 8:30 at night. so when I get home I don't really want to stand in the kitchen and start to think about what to make for dinner and preferably next day lunch. 

So we have a thing in our house, every Saturday we set a menu for our next week according to our available ingrediants and also set a list for our groceries.since I am into trying new things all the time, during our menu planning I look into numerous cooking books looking for ideas.our menu plan is actually for 5 days from Monday to Friday since in weekends we do go out most of times specially since the weather is getting better and better. sometime we have our friends over and I cook then other than that we are not very specific on weekends. I decided to post my menu plan every week here and join Laura on her weekly posts. also I would like to here yours if you have :)

Monday : Russian Salad sandwich ( same as Olivier salad )
Tuesday : zucchini, tomato pizza
Wednesday : Chicken Schnitzel sandwich
Thursday : spaghetti with meatballs
Friday : Green bean with Rice ( Lubia Polo, a Persian dish) 
That's all for this week menu plan, hope you all have a great week
Mania

Update: here are the picture of what we had :

Monday

Tuesday ( before the oven)

Wednesday

Thursday ( I did not cook with meatballs I ended up using ground meat and vegetables)

Friday

Breathing Practice in Yoga: Kapalabhati

In Yoga breath training is very important and essential since it is a preparation for deep meditation. I believe breath is the bridge between the body and the mind. Regulate breath, and the body and mind will follow.

There are different breathing practices in Yoga. I personally know and practiced few of them which I will write about;but it is very important to have a personal training and complete instruction in doing these practices and not entirely rely on any written words. 

Let's start with Kapalabhati:

The first time I practiced Kapalabhati I hated it. it is kinda simple but at the same time difficult ( if that make any scene at all !!) and it is very important that it is done probably. so what is Kapalabhati exactly ...

Kapalabhatiis a powerful breathing technique and will start by sitting tall in comfortable position. it is basicly sudden and vigorous exhale by diaphragm movement through both nostrils, producing a sharp "fuffing" sound. focus is not on inhalation since they come automatically and passively. we usually been doing that at the beginning of class for 50 times.  

It is interesting to know that during this breathing exercise particular movement of stomach muscles  play the most important role compared to the movement of the cage of the chest. and their efficiency will increase by continuous practicing.

A certain pressure of air during this practice helps in removing impurities in the breathing tube, so it's a kinda cleansing exercise. after a well round of Kapalabhati you really feel the difference in your normal breathing routine and the capacity of your lungs in each inhale. it has so many other benefits which I think would be different for everyone like toning abdominal muscles, emptying emotional junk, throwing out negative thoughts. but as i said before its effects varies from person to person.

Kapalabhati is great breathing exercise but as I said at beginning it should be learned form an expert specially for people suffering from heart problems, lung troubles, blood circulation diseases, pregnant women who should perform under the care and guidance of trainer. 


wish you all a wonderful day 

Mania

Clinique Bonus Time at Sears 2011

It's another gift with purchase time for Clinique products from  April 29 to May 17 at Sears. one of my friends asking me about it few weeks ago and I told her it is coming:) so if you had something in your mind now it's good time to go shopping at Cliniqie counters ... 

With your purchase of $26.50 or more of Clinique products, you will get a BONUS EXCLUSIVE Eyes 1,2,3 Colour Compact plus coordinating lip colour and gloss FREE.

Gift includes:

• Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion 30 mL
• 7-Day Scrub Cream Rinse-Off Formula 30 mL
• High Impact Mascara - Black 4 g
• Different Lipstick - Tenderheart 4 g
• Eyes 1,2,3 Colour Compact
• Superbalm Moisturizing Lip Gloss in Apricot 7 mL
• Cosmetics Bag 

Happy shopping everyone :)

Mania

Let's talk TV-1

I wanted to write about this subject for long time and it seems I never had a chance to sit long enough without interruption and write this. well I've been sick for the past few days and by sick means I got a really awful cold that made me completely nonfunctional. in the past few days 98% of my times had been passed in bed and still no signs of getting better which is terrible. so now I am sitting on my bed and try to focus and write about my current favorite TV shows. 

I don't consider myself as a big TV watcher and I honestly not a big fan of reality shows. there are some out there that I used to watch and liked ( The Amazing Race, Biggest Loser )  but kinda stopped watching due to lack of time.  there are a few shows that I follow and love:

Dexter should be my favorite. it is drama series that centers on Dexter Morgan, a bloodstain pattern analyst of the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer. It started in 2006 and everyone was talking about this show I did not start watching it yet and could not understand why everyone was loving this serial killer ( are people out of their mind these days?!?!) and I finally find time and started watching from 1st season and after a few first episodes I was hooked. this is a brilliant series, unlike anything I've seen on TV,  pulse-pounding storyline in each episode that keep you on the edge of the seat. 

My other favorite would be Gossip Girl which is my guilty pleasure. the show is basically an empty, mindless show with no real features ( at least I hope so). the show follows an unbelievably rich teenagers and their parents around Manhattan. although some people on the show has an IQ as high as a hamster, I can't get enough of their styles. specially big fan of Serena, Lily (her mom) and Blair styles. each episodes some new terrible things happen by an evil person ( who would turn good on the next episodes !) with ludicrous and laugh-out-loud dialogues with fabulous dresses, shoes and accessories. 
The anonymous Gossip Girl is a blogger, who posts "the scandalous lives" of residents of the Upper East side.  and she always has the best and most hilarious quotes in every occasion and all end with "you know you love me,Gossip Girl, xoxo" in each episodes. I can go on and on about this show, but I just stop myself here :) non of my friends watch this show so thank God for twitter and endless and hilarious discussions about #GG on Monday nights. 
I have still some other shows I wanted to talk about but this post is already getting long, so I will stop here and continue next week. 
So have you watched any of these 2 shows before, what is your favorite show on TV these days. 
Love,
Mania