31-Jul-2014

Stana And The City

So, last night Mr.Boyfriend and I moved into town for 17 days. We are cat-sitting our friends cats and we are staying in their 1-bedroom super central flat. Hooray for me not commuting from and to work every day! Not so "Hooray!" for loosing my daily exercising time - my 1 hour of doing sports. On the bright side, if the weather is good I might actually go swimming more often. Or start doing yoga every day again. Or go for runs. Definitely will do yoga!

I will be also able to go around town more, enjoy the fact that I'm earning money at the moment so I can buy myself coffee and cake if I want to. Or the handbag that I've been thinking of for a while now. I can actually enjoy myself for a little bit. Just enough.

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

30-Jul-2014

Vayamos

Yes, it's Summer outside. Nice, fresh, warm and full of opportunities. And working ours for me. But this doesn't stop me from dreaming about spending time on the beach, swimming in the ocean and drinking cocktails. Ah, vayamos!

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

29-Jul-2014

Going To The Movies: The Expendables Trilogy

Plot:

Well, all three movies share fairly same idea - Stallone and his super action stars are the good guys. They are super honorable and good, although they kill people for living. Somehow they get crossed by someone bad and ultra evil and now the only right thing to do is to go after the bad guys and to kill as many people as possible while doing it. Sometimes there will be a good looking gal involved, either sides of the automatic gun, but it's mostly stag party.

Personal Opinion:

Well, this is a text book action movie that at least does not pretend to be anything more than an action movie. Nothing sentimental, nothing hidden behind, no deeper meaning. And that's what makes it good, and that's why I like it. A lot of machine guns and a lot of knifes and other good things. Action movie. With all of the action heroes today.

Grade: 6/10 (for what it is)

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

28-Jul-2014

Summer Eating

Or Two Very Laid Back Recipes For Easy Summer Meals

Each Summer my body wants to eat only fresh sweet fruits. That would've been great if I wasn't anemic and I had history of fainting, severe nose bleeding and black-outs. This rules out being vegetarian, vegan, raw eater and other restricting diets from my lifestyle. If I want to be healthy I need to eat everything and to take my prescribed medicines in the said periods for doing so. Namely, for one course of medicaments each new season.

But my health is not the purpose of this post. Food is!Summer food that is easy-breezy, light and tasty, very fresh. I have two meals ideas to share with you guys, my go-to recipes these busy, hot summer days. And I have two drinks idea as well, the most refreshing summer mocktails know to this day. At least for me. The bad news is ... there are no photos, because Mr.Boyfriend and I ate everything before we managed to take pictures. Oops, guilty as charged!

Summer Kebab: Ingredients:

• Good quality Meat, the type is of your choosing
• Mushrooms
• Tomatoes
• Red Peppers
• Courgettes
• Onions
• Garlic Cloves
• Salt and Pepper
• Sweet Corn on the cob
• Bread, sliced

Summer Kebab: How-To:

1. Start your barbecue and make sure to have nice hot charcoals.
2. While the barbecue is being set up, cut everything but the corn cop to bite-sized pieces.
3. Arrange the pieces on long kebab sticks, season with salt and pepper.
4. Place the kebabs on the barbecue and roast until the meat is cooked.
5. While cooking the kebabs, put the corn and the bread on the barbecue as well. Put a small knob of butter on each of them and roast until the bread is golden and the cob has turned dark yellow.
6. And this is it, enjoy with ice cold beer and in good company.

Summer Wrap: Ingredients:

• Tortilla Wraps
• Meat, works perfectly with barbecue lefovers
• Avocado, peeled, pitted and mashed
• Tomatoes, sliced to thin discs
• Cheddar, Edam, Gauda or other hard cheese, sliced
• Lemon juice, freshly squeezed over the avocado mash
• Salt and Pepper

Summer Wraps: How-To:

1. Take a single tortilla wrap and cover it with avocado paste.
2. Arrange the rest of the food on top of the wrap, placing it in a vertical line.
3. Fold the bottom 1/4 up and then wrap the wrap together.
4. Enjoy!

Watermelon Delight Mocktail: Ingredients:

• Watermelon, seeds removed, cooled down
• Fresh mint, cut in pieces
• Sparkling water
• Brown sugar, if needed

Watermelon Delight Mocktail: How-To:

1. Place the watermelon in a food processor and pulse to a paste.
2. Mix the watermelon with the sparkling water.
3. Add the mint, and add sugar if needed.
4. Enjoy cold.

Cinco De La Madrugara Mocktail: Ingredients:

• Soda water
• Honey, 1 tsp per glass
• Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• Ice

Cinco De La Madrugara Mocktail: How-To:

1. Mix everything but the ice together.
2. Pour the mocktail in glasses and add the ice
3. Enjoy!

Summer Food For Lovers And Friends

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

27-Jul-2014

The Wonderful Ocean

I went for my first ever real swim in the ocean yesterday! And I'm so so so happy about it, it was so refreshing and chilling and amazing, exactly what I need after shift. I think I'm going to turn this into a tradition of mine, to go for a swim after I finish work. Well. at least when I finish work in a normal time, not at midnight. I'm not brave enough to go alone for a swim in the ocean after dark. Not for now.

After I finished work I had a date with my best friend Sara and we had decided that we are heating the beach. We went to theirs to change and leave our bags, she and her husband (who is Mr.Boyfriends best friend) live right next to my McDonald's branch. Very useful, isn't it?! So, we left everything but our towels and sunglasses at theirs and then straight to the beach. Hooray!

At first I was bit scared to go into the water, I had spent too much time sunbathing and it felt extremely cold. But after a minute or two being covered to the knees, I decided that this is it, I'm going in! And I did and it was awesome! We stayed in the water for good half an hour or even more. It was so relaxing and my feet were only too happy finally not to carry my body after few long days on shift.

So today Mr.Boyfriend and I are thinking of going to the beach again, maybe even for a swim. Of course, if it's sunny, because I'm everything but eager be sick again.

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

26-Jul-2014

Sunshine And Salt

Yesterday have been a really amazing day. Sunny, bright, fun, exciting and smelling of salty ocean water. Ah, this is how summer should feels like.

Basically, after I finished work (an hour late, of course) and I talked with a colleague for another 15 minutes or so, I called Mr.Boyfriend to come down-town and to go for a walk on the beach with me. The weather was so good and everything felt so perfectly that we decided to go for an impromptu dip in the water - up to the knees, or slightly above. More or less as far up as we can go without swim suits and baring in mind that we will be cycling back home. The water was so worm, there were no waves whatsoever and I felt really angry with myself that I didn't wear my swim suit under my clothes so I can go for a dip. I'm not doing the same mistake today. I'm putting my swim suit in my backpack and after work, I'm hitting the ocean!

Hold on Summer, I'm comming!

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

25-Jul-2014

And It Sounds Like This

In the last few days this song has been stuck in my head. On repeat. Non-stop. Home. Work. In between.

I don't have many music obsessions that last for days but alt-j is definitely hitting the right notch with me. And this is for Matilda...

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

24-Jul-2014

The Taste Testing: Hazelnut Milk

My mission to find the best tasting milk alternative continues with yet again new, different milk. I didn't even know that there is Hazelnut milk in the shops, and I spend half of my grocery shopping in the dairy department.

Hazelnut milk has a defined nutty taste, just like the almond one, but it's more subtle and refined. It tastes softer, if that makes any sense. It goes perfectly with cocoa powder  in it because the taste is just like Nutella, just healthier!

To be honest, I didn't enjoy this all that much. Maybe because it tasted too similar to the almond one, or maybe just because I'm still stunned by the pleasant surprise the coconut milk was, I did not fall in love with this one. Not even a little bit. Meh.

I tried: Alpro Hazelnut Drink, 1GBP per 1L

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

23-Jul-2014

The AfterMath

My yesterdays walking/ shopping spree proved to be very successful. I managed to find the perfect pair of flat sandals! They are exactly what I was looking for for so long. I had basically lost hope that I'll be ever able to find them.

I also managed to find the perfect pair of Birkenstocks and I'm overjoyed with happiness. I've been looking for a pair that is equal parts interesting and classic so when I found a pair of black patent t-bar ones, I was all in. The best part is that they were a real bargain - last remaining pair, ex-display item and therefore 1/5 of the price.

Actually, I have recently bough a few other things, so that means that soon enough I'll write a post to share all my new-ins and nice finds. Soon, I promise!

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

22-Jul-2014

Time For One's Self

Today is my day off from McDonald's, so I decided I should spend it on my own, walking in town. Although I work in town, I rarely get the chance to actually enjoy this fact. I'm always in a hurry, always worried that I'll be late, always going because I have to work not because I have time to enjoy myself. But not today. Today I'm going to just walk around, not be in hurry, not think about shifts, customers, work, etc.

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

21-Jul-2014

Luscious And Rich Millionaire's Shortbread

Be aware! This desert is incredibly rich and heavy. It is a fail-proof combination of crunchy biscuit base, chewy caramel and smooth chocolate. It's everything desert dreams are made of.

I wouldn't ever even think of preparing the Millionaire's Shortbread if it wasn't for Mr.Boyfriend. Few weeks ago, while having breakfast together, he said that he'll love eat some Millionaire's Shortbread and asked could I possible make some. I said Yes! of course, among other reasons because this is the first time ever that he'll ask me to cook something specific. In that sense Mr.Boyfriend is the perfect human being - he'll eat anything and will never ask for a specific food to be cooked. And he'll always say that it was delicious and amazing and really good meal. So, when he asked for a specific desert, I was all in to make it for him.

I must mention that this is a fairly time consuming desert. It takes around hour and a half to be prepared and then it needs at least another hour to chill. So, plenty of time. But the results are godly!

Shortbread Base: Ingredients:

• 230 g butter, softened
• 110 g caster sugar
• 230 all-purpose flour
• 110 g corn flour

Shortbread Base: How-To:

1. Cream together sugar and butter. Whisk until they form a light, fluffy mixture.
2. Sift in the two flours. Beat until it forms a smooth paste.
3. Line a tray with baking paper and put the batter in it. Level.
4. Chill for 20 minutes, then bake for 20 minutes at 170C, and let rest for 20 more minutes.
5. While the base is resting, prepare the caramel.

Caramel Layer: Ingredients:

• 115 g butter
• 120 g brown sugar
• 4 tbsp golden syruo
• 2 cans of condensed milk (794 g overall amount)
• sea salt
• lemon juice

Caramel Layer: How-To:

1. Add all of the ingredients   but the sea salt and the lemon juice, in a heavy based pan.
2. Cook on low heat until the sugar and the butter are dissolved.
3. Stir in the sea salt and stir until the mixture turns brown.
4. Let it boil for 5 minutes, add the lemon juice if it looks like it's starting to get burned.
5. Pour over the base, level and sprinkle with sea salt.
6. Let sit in fridge for 1 hour, until set.

Chocolate Topping: Ingredients:

• 300 g chocolate, good quality cooking one

Chocolate Topping: How-To:

1. Melt the chocolate in a water bath.
2. Pour over the caramel and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes or more.
3. When the chocolate is set, cut in small, bite-sized pieces and enjoy!

Dangerously Delicious

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

20-Jul-2014

Water Magic

Oh, boy, I love swimming! But it is so tiring, I felt drained after it. Oh, and I got water in my ear, so I lost all hearing in it, which is particularly exciting and enjoyable. But hey, the whole day was so much fun! Mr.Boyfriend, our friends and I had such a blast spending time together in the nice weather, around the pool. If all summer days were like that, life would've been perfect! Now, I'm off to work!

Photo Courtesy of Mr.Boyfriend

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

19-Jul-2014

Easy Going

The plans for the weekend are very easy and fuzz-free - going to work today, then going for a swim. And tomorrow going for a swim and then going to work. That easy. No plans to meet with anyone, nor to go anywhere, just going to work, because I have to, and then drowning my tiredness and anticipation in the water. Ah, easy Summer days, they are my favourite!

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

18-Jul-2014

Happy Birthday, Mr. Mandela!

Nelson Mandela would've turn 96 today if he was still alive. Unfortunately, he's not, he passed away half a year ago. However, he is still alive in the hearts, minds, souls of everyone who remembers him. Basically everyone! He sure still lives in my heart, the same way that he has been living in my mind all my live.

Growing up, Mr. Mandela and Mr. Einstein were my imaginary friends. I bet I have told this story already, but yes, they were my imaginary friends. I will have my little talks with them whenever I have the opportunity to drift away in my own world. And of course, I would ask for their advice every time I had to make a tough decision because who knows better than them.

I was devastated when he died, I cried for the whole day, the following night and the morning after. According the Mr.Boyfriend, I even cried in my sleep. It might seem a bit too much, but my most dearest dream was to meet with him, my living and breathing childhood role-model and inspiration. I wanted to be able to speak with him, even for a little bit, the last from the great 20thC peace-making men that was still alive. Now he's not. Now he's playing cards with Martin Luther King, Jr and Gandhi...

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

17-Jul-2014

Going To The Movies: The Hours

Wow! What a movie! Incredibly visually stimulating, to begin with! Amazing colour scheme, each protagonist comes with their specific colour-coded scenes. This is the story of 3 very different women that are connected through Virginia Woolf's "Mrs Dalloway". One is Virginia Woolf herself, one is a 1950's housewife and Mum and one is a 21st C editor in New York. So, as you may guess, their lives are connected through a very complicated and interesting way.

Each of them has her own problems and her own demons to fight and each of them is dealing with it in a very distinct way. The events in the movie take part during a day in the life of each heroin, finishing with a very dramatic plot twist.

The movie its kind of slow and it might be a bit hard to watch for the more impatient ones. However, the performance of Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore and Nikole Kidman is superb, more than amazing. Each of them portrays in an unique way the sadness and feeling of being lost and not knowing what to do in a distinct, personal way, making it great to watch. Nikole Kidman, who even wore a prosthetic nose for the role of Virginia Woolf, won an Oscar for Best Actress for it.

It's a good film, bless Netflix for giving Mr.Boyfriend and me the opportunity to watch it, and it's a modern classic. Sad, touching and slow, this is what I can say about it.

Grade: 7/10

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

16-Jul-2014

Back On

After few days spend being sick, keeping the bed and getting headaches and black-outs from just turning my head from left to right, this morning I woke up feeling GOOD! I always take for granted this amazing feeling when you open your eyes in the morning and everything feels fine, everything feels good. No headaches, no fever, no stomachache, nothing. And it was beautiful!

So, being OK again means just one thing, I'm going back to work today. I missed my shift in McDonald's yesterday, but I'm going today. My shift is rather long, from 2:00 pm till 11:00 pm. Lucky me, I know. Well, at least I have tomorrow and Friday off, and then during the weekend I have a good gap between the Saturday and the Sunday one so that I can actually spend some time with Mr.Boyfriend. Ciao!

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

15-Jul-2014

The Taste Testing: Coconut Milk

My taste experiments in the world of non-dairy world continue. Last week, when I finished my bottle of rise milk, I went on to try another new for me milk - Coconut one!

I was not the biggest fan of trying coconut milk, to be honest, never have been a fan of coconut to begin with. As a child, it just feels too much to me - the taste, the smell, the texture. It simply wasn't my thing. Well, until recently.

The more I read about healthy eating and living, the more I got into yoga and the occasional vegan desert, the more I came across the benefits of coconuts. Since I haven't tried anything coconutty since I was maybe 15 or 16, I decided that maybe is time to give a chance to this health titan. What I great decision it was!
The coconut milk has a very distinct taste - sharp, tropical, fresh and yet still milky enough. Very refreshing if drank on its own and perfect for summer smoothies. Mr.Boyfriend have been making me coconut milk energy boosting smoothies during the last few days that I had fever and had lost all my appetite. It might be just me, but I believe those smoothies are the sole thing that helped me get well.
Now, the coconut milk is rather sweet, not as much as the soy one, but definitely sweet. If you are after a cleaner, more subtle taste you should choose another one, But if you are after a rather strong, unmistakable taste and you want to add some interesting taste to your meal, this is the one for you. And did I mention how great it fits with energy smoothies?

I tried Alpro Coconut Original, 1GBP per 1l. bottle.

Mr.Boyfriend's Energy Smoothie (for 4 big glasses):

• 1/2 big ripe avocado
• 1 very ripe banana
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup fresh strawberries
• 2 cups coconut milk
• 3 tsp chia seeds

How-To:

1. Blend together everything but the chia seed.
2. Add the chia seed and stir well.
3. Pour in glasses and consume right away.

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

14-Jul-2014

The World Cup Diaries

Germany 1 : 0 Argentina

What a game, a worthy final to an amazing tournament! Exciting, beautiful, heated game between two truly great teams. And in the end, Germany won!

The German machine played as it always plays - strictly, organised, planning ahead, punctual and rational. An organised team of a number of extremely talented professionals, that know each other, their strengths and weaknesses.

And then there is Argentina, a team known as Messi and the other 10 players. They played in the typical South American style - with plenty of pointless passes, a lot of showing off. They also did their best to lead Messi to the wining goal, alas unsuccessfully so.

Before I go further, may I just say - What a goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is! Amazing! A true successor of Oliver Kahn's style and immortal glory. Even Kahn himself acknowledges that, so this should mean something, right?

The game itself was intense and nerve-breaking. Not a lot of good goal positions, neither in the first part nor in the second. The goalkeepers, both German and Argentinian, did their very best to keep their teams in the game and with chances to win. It was Mario Gotze in the 23 minute of the extra time who scored the winning goal. A beautiful German styled goal. And this was it. Messi, the famous, glorious Messi, know for his amazing skills to score impossible goals, missed a few very good ones. He seemed a bit scared of his own shadow, he didn't look like himself last night. And his self-consciousnesses took its tool - who knows if he'll ever have the chance to play at a World Cup final ever again.

Germany won. This is it. They deserved it, they went for the trophy and they took it. They fought fair and share and never gave up. And this is what is worth to win.

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

13-Jul-2014

Rest Implementation

So, I passed out yesterday at work. As it turns out, working every day, cycling at least 10 km a day, forgetting to eat and staying up on my feet for few hours in a very staffed and heated room, it's not exactly a great idea. In all fairness, it's a terrible idea.

I will spare the details, because there is nothing of interest, but I'll just say that my bosses, for whom I have been babysitting for now almost 2 years, was every bit extremely caring, kind and attentive. And also, the wedding guests didn't suspect a thing, because I managed to hide in the back room before I slipped on a chair/ground.

So, today I'm spending the day laying around, trying to get rid of my fever and terrible headache. I think my body is trying to tell me to slow the f*ck down before I begin to collapse wherever I am. Tomorrow is my first entirely free day for 2 weeks now, because today I was on "Stan By" mode for the bar until noon. As it turned out, they didn't need me, so I stayed in the hammock in the garden, but the anticipation was more than enough to bring me down on my knees. Bye!

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

12-Jul-2014

W Is For Working At A Wedding

I'm working at a wedding later today and I'm excited. I don't know the couple or anything but this doesn't stop me from being impatient to see the dress, the decoration, the  wedding party and the cake. Well, mostly the dress, because I have a thing for gowns and especially for wedding dresses. Maybe because every woman hopes to have just one wedding and therefore she wants the pretties, most perfect dress, but wedding dresses are always get the most attention from designers and dress-makers. And I definitely can't blame them for it.

SO, I better get ready, put on my all-black serving staff uniform and get my lazy bum a work. No one but the bride is allowed to be late for a wedding!

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

11-Jul-2014

Exam Results

My exam results are finally in! I can't describe how tedious the wait felt, I was starting to get impatient, nervous and stressed. I'm usually pretty much calm and confident before, during and after the exam itself, but then, when it's nearly results day, I loose most, if not all, of my confidence and I start doubting myself. So self-destroying, I know, but the anticipation kills me!

But enough with the small talk, let's discuss the real deal - my exam results! I passed! With overall grade of 65%! A very very steady 2.1, with plenty of space for improvement next year, when I'm aiming at the lovely 80%. 65% is not the best result of them all, but it's more than enough for First Year. I would say "Well done me!" if I wasn't too busy being angry with myself because I could've done better.

Explanatory Concepts in Political Science is my lowest exam results - I have scored only 50%, which, in my books, is as bad as if I have actually failed the exam. In all fairness, this wasn't my favourite subject and I found it hard to be as objective, rigid, unbiased and impersonal with the subjective topics as I should've been in order to score higher grades.

Themes and Perspectives in Sociology have been slightly bigger success - I have scored 62%. This comes as a surprise for me because this was my favourite subject in the second term and I was convinced that this is maybe my best exam (well, pretty close with my statistics one). However, I must acknowledge that I might have written my exam paper in more nonacademic style than anticipated by the people reading my work. Oh, well...

Making the Familiar Strange is the biggest surprise for me - 65% on a subject where right up to the exam date I wasn't feeling confident with explaining ontology and epistemology, milestones for this subject. I guess I said something right because the exam results are higher than my presentation results. Hooray for me, working some magic there that managed to impress even me. To be honest, I would've bet that the Explanatory Concepts and Making the Familiar exam results would've been the other way around.

Research Skills and Methods in Political Science was the easiest of the exams for me and brought me the highest score - 67%. I'm so damn impressed with myself, I knew that I got the grip of the statistics material but that? That is far beyond my expectations! And as you can probably guess, I'm so freaking happy about it! And my Dad will be so proud of me, I can even!

And this is it! Hooray for me, finishing First year with more than decent grades! I'm not say "May the Summer fun and enjoyment begin now!" because of my loaded with work schedule but how about "Bring it on, Second year!"

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

10-Jul-2014

The Taste Testing: Rice Milk

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm obsessed with milk and dairy products. I basically live on milk, more or less. However, sometimes I get bored with my usual low-fat cow milk. You know, it's just the same, every time. And I've been a fan of almond milk for a while, especially when it comes to my breakfast oatmeal because it's nutty taste complements it perfectly. Oh, and I hate soy milk, it tastes so artificial and it's always so so sweet, I can hardly drink a spoon of it.

So this is the back story of my taste testing experiment - I wanted to try something refreshing and new. Therefore, the last time Mr.Boyfriend and I went grocery shopping, I snatched a bottle of rice milk. Before you wonder why, I'll say - no particular reason, it was just the first alternative I saw and I decided to give it a try.

It's taste is light, and the version I tried, it's slightly sweet. Not unpleasantly sweet, like soy, just the taste is there and I must mention it. It doesn't taste as nutty as the almond one, it's a lot closer to the cow's milk, but definitely lighter. It goes perfectly with oatmeal, again, but it brings more of a subtle flavour than the very accentuating almond one. Not sure if I would recommend it for cooking with it, especially for savory dishes, it might not complement the meal in the exact way you imagined it!

I thing I'll buy it again, but not so sure if I'll make it a constant part of my diet.

I tried: Rice Dream Rice Drink with added Calcium

Price: 1 GPB (£1.00 per lt)

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

9-Jul-2014

The World Cup Diaries

Brazil 1 : 7 Germany

Oh, boy, what a game! Now this is what one expects to see when they are watching the World Cup. Not players showing their impressive scuba diving skills or crazy biting skills, but two of the best national teams in the world playing a game, winning and loosing because of how they play, without the help of the referee. Pure, beautiful football, just like we all like it.

Before this game everyone assumed that the Brazilian team will play on the Big Final this Sunday. It seemed completely reasonable and more than possible. After all, they are playing at home.

On the other hand we have Germany - an old dog when it comes to playing in the World Cup. However, the World Cups since the beginning of the Millennium haven't been too successful for them - the came second in the 2002 Mondial, and third in the 2006 and 2010 ones. This year it seems they are in it to win it.

The Brazilians seemed rather disorganised and disconnected without their stars - Thiago Silva and Neymar. The former was out due to two yellow cards in previous games, and the latter is suffering a pretty nasty back injury. So far the team has relied on these two players pretty heavily and had based their tactics on the old motto - "Attack is the best form of defense". With them out for this game this tactic has proofed to be unsuccessful.

Before they knew it, the results escalated from 0:0 to the impressive 5:0 by the end of the first half. The magical German machine did what it does best - score, with four consecutive goals in the 23', 24', 26' and 29'.  Oh, and did I mention that they already had one in the 10'? After the break, Brazil, the fans and anyone watching that Brazilian team had lost their joy and passion for the game. They were like victims of a rather sad storm that blew away all their hopes and dreams of winning this Championship. This resulted in two more goals for Germany, as it was possible for the team to be any more humiliated at Bello Horizonte's stadium.

Finaly, in the 90' minute Oscar managed to score one goal for Brazil. Not that this changes anything but at least it might bring some solace to the team and their faithful crowd.

I'm not expert on tactics but I can say this - the Brazilians like to make a show, to play around with the ball, to pass to each other sever times, to fool around, and to try to shine as bright as possible. They are playing like birds - trying to show each and every of their bright colours. On the other hand, Germany is playing as one might expect Germany to play -well organised, visible structure, very much to the point. It's a well working machine, that does not play to make a show but plays to win. And it works, it bloody damn works!

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

8-Jul-2014

Going To The Movies: Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones

The movie is based on the first book of Mortal Instruments young-adults series - City of Bones. I haven't read the books so I have no idea how closely the movie follows them but based on the fact that some of the things in the movie felt like a mad rush, I guess that they tried to fit as much as they could in 130 minutes of screen time.

The film follows the adventures of Clary (Lily Collins), a teenager who starts drawing a particular strange symbol, seeing things that other people can't see and other strange things that make her mother Jocelyn (Lena Headey) very worried. Then the mother is abducted and everything gets very complicated - angels, demons, runes, nephlims, witches, everything you can imagine plus a cup with super powers!

I don't want to ruin you the fun, so I'll just say that Clary finds herself in the middle of the whole mess, and on top of that there are two pretty awesome and very different boys that like like her. Is she lucky or what? So, while fighting super-villains who may or may not be related to her, choosing a boy and being special even for the world of super natural, Clary manages to save her mother. Oh, and she decides to follow her super-natural destiny because who wouldn't.

I wouldn't say that this is a great piece of cinematography but it's a good distraction for a quite evening in. Not sure if it's a movie I would actually pay to see in a movie theater but renting for a small amount it and seeing it with Mr.Boyfriend was about fine, More or less.

Grade: 5/10

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

7-Jul-2014

Sunday Roast For Few

Earth And Stars, Brighton

Yesterday was a treat day. There are plenty of guests - the grandparents of one of my housemates and the mother of another one are visiting us, and on top of that our friends also have a friend over. So, it's pretty busy, as you might have guessed.

Since most of your guest are fairly unfamiliar with the typical English food. Pork pies, Shepherd's pies, Fish fingers, Sunday Roast, they all mean little to nothing to our guests. Therefore we decided that we should treat them with the acclaimed best Sunday roast in Brighton - the one in Earth and Stars.

 All of us, except our vegetarian friend, went for the English Rib eye beef, a delightfully tender beef meat, accompanied by lost of cabbage, few carrots and just two potatoes. I wasn't so thrilled about the cooked cabbage, it simply becomes bitter and tasteless for me, but the others seemed to enjoy it. I would've prefer to have a bit more potatoes, and if it's possible - better roasted. These were really thick on the outside and overcooked on the inside - not my cup of tea. But the meat was really nice, although not enough for Mr.Boyfriend who ended up snacking on my cabbage after he finished his meal.

Sam, our honorary vegetarian, had Mushroom and Sussex goat cheese Wellington, which, according to him, was all very nice, although a bit too salty for him. The puff pastry was really good and the portion was enough for him. However, I'm not sure if it would've been enough for someone who likes to eat a tad more.

It gets quite busy on Sundays, so if you feel like going, I would recommend booking a table. They don't have too much tables, so if you just show up you probably won't be able to find a seat. Oh, and be prepared to pay a good amount of money for your meal, the pub is "all organic, local and free ranged" so it comes with the price for it.

Food: 7/10

Service: 6/10

Interior: 4/10

Location: 6/10

Pricing: 4/10

Overall Grade: 5/10

Will we go back? We might, but probably won't. At least not for Sunday roast. I wasn;t all that impressed, especially for the price. I am still looking for a place to blow my mind with their Sunday Roast!

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

6-Jul-2014

What I Wore: Pub Shift

The hardest part about working in the pub is choosing what to wear. I know, I know, that sounds pretty bad for me, but it's true. It's just that I have to be dressed smart (what the heck "smart" means) but in the same time I have to wear very airy and light things, because it get SO hot in the pub.

Lightwear that looks good and not beachy it's really hard. At least for me is. I struggle to find the balance between looking good and not boiling. Or at least I used to. Yesterday I think I managed to find the middle ground - tailored shorts that look like classy enough to be allowed in the gastro pub environment. Of course, wearing shorts means only flats allowed. There are only very few possible ways anyone can wear shorts and heels to work and still look classy. I didn't feel like risking it last night, so I wore flats, as per se.

OK, let's get detailed here, shall we? The shorts are a fairly old pair of high-wasted New Yorker one. I think I snatched the last pair of them in the Christmas sales around 3 years ago. They have been a staple in wardrobe ever since, a versatile piece that I wear quite a lot. Especially for shorts.

The story with the shirt is very similar, but this time it was part of the Summer sales. I was determined to find a perfect striped shirt for a while, when I came across this one in the Pimkie shop in Strasbourg. Not to long, neither too short, the right fabric and perfect fit for me, again, one of my go-to items.

And last, but not least, my statement flats. My Mums fashion philosophy have always been "When in doubt wear black clothes and red shoes. You can't go wrong with red shoes." I follow her rule every time I don't know what to wear and I want to look good. Black and Red or Black and Leopard, because my signature shoes are actually my leopard flats. However, I'm not experimenting with mixing different prints for now, I'm too much of a coward for now. But just for now!

High-waisted Shorts - New Yorker
Striped Shirt - Pimkie
Shoes -Zara

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

5-Jul-2014

Stana And The Working Days And Nights

My shift at the pub was called off again last night. It would be too much to say that I was sad about it, but in all fairness I wanted to go. I really enjoyed my only shift there so far and I found it great fun. Also, the experience was so much different than everything I have ever done before and the atmosphere was simply amazing.

However, today is a bright new day. I am to work 6 hours in McDonald's and then 6 more hours in the pub. It's going to be a pretty busy day, and I can already feel the pain that my feet are going to suffer. Nevertheless, I'm excited! I'm going to work in the pub tonight!

I'm excited!

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

4-Jul-2014

Dinner For Two

Pho, Brighton

My shift last night was cancelled just minutes before I left for it so Mr. Boyfriend and I decided that we should go out instead. After all, I had put make-up on already, that happens only once in a blue moon after all.

So, we got in the car and we realised we had no idea where we want to go and what we want to do. Mr.Boyfriend was hungry again, so we decided to have dinner out, just by ourselves. This is quite an extraordinary thing for us to do, in all fairness. So we chose Pho, one of our favourite places in Brighton because we really like it and we definitely don't go there all that often.

Pho is a Vietnamese cafe-restaurant that is mostly known for their pho soups. Those soups are seriously delicious, I promise you, one of the best things I have ever eaten. So, this time we decided to start by ordering a starter and a side dish while we are waiting for our soups. We had summer prawn rolls with peanut sauce and prawn crackers with sweet-n-sour dip. I didn't think that will come the day when I'm going to say this, but I found something more delicious than spring rolls - summer rolls. Light, fresh and so tender, they are spring rolls hunky big brother. Amazing, really, full of fresh mint and crispy prawns. And the prawn crackers were very nice and tasted like the real deal, not like something your corner Chinese shop will serve you.

For mains we chose Hanoi style pho (grilled steak with garlic) and tiger prawns pho. I guess that by now you have guessed my prawns inclination/obsession from last night. It's now completely satisfied, I promise you! Mr.Boyfriend's pho was amazing, with steady garlic-y taste and amazing beef steak. My pho was a bit more sour and lime-y, thanks to the extra lime juice in it. Both soups were fresh and taste, exactly as good as we remembered them to be. Oh, and aren't those portions so big, you can feed 2 people with one soup. Honestly!

Food: 9/10

Service: 6/10

Interior: 9/10

Location: 5/10

Pricing: 8/10

Overall Grade: 8/10

Will we go back? Sure we will. Maybe not tomorrow, but we love the place, we love the food, we love it all. We will be going back as long as they keep preparing this delicious, fresh food!

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

3-Jul-2014

The Daily Commute

Since the beginning of this week, I've been going to work every day. That means 4 days now. I know it's not much, but oh boy, doesn't it feel like eternity. I have not right to complain, because there are plenty of people doing a lot more and a lot harder jobs and still I feel so tired.

So, part of me being working girl, is the daily commute to work - if I'm going to McDonald's I have to cycle 7km in each way, from and to work. On the occasions when I go the pub - it's just 4km in one way. That means that all of my daily work-out sessions are transformed into my commute to and from work.

Unfortunately for me this means that I'm not being able to do yoga every day, as I used to. I'm still coping with this idea, and I try to implement small, 5-10 minute sessions every other day, but at some point it's just too much.

Nevertheless, I'm still going forward with my plan to do as close to 100km of cycling in one day, as my body allows me. Cycling every day is a step in the right direction. Let's just hope that my knees won't stop me from this.

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

2-Jul-2014

The Taste Of Sun

I know that my brain has switched to Summer when all I want to listen is Chambao. Every year, when the weather starts to get nice and worm, all of the sudden my music taste becomes very monogamous - Chambao, Chambao, Chambao and some more Chambao. So, while I'm working today in the very hot McDonald's, please indulge with this song. I recommend listening to it while lying in the sun with an ice cold cocktail in hand. Whatever cocktail you want. Or a beer. Or white wine. Anything. Just listen to it, it's amazing!

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...

1-July-2014

Big Mac

So, last afternoon/night was my first official McDonald's shift! Hoorey for the working me! My shift was supposed to be 5 hours, which is fine by me, but it turned out to be 8. That changes the things slightly, doesn't it? However, after an exhausting day and night ( my shift finished at 00:05) yesterday, I'm ready for shift #2 today, so I better move my bum before I'm ;ate!

You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...