Happy one year birthday to my blog! It’s hard to believe the whole year has passed since I launched it. It’s still a work in progress but I am so happy that I did it. It has become an important part of my life and a great tool to let out my creative energy. I loved sharing some of my photography and thoughts, some recipes and useful products, I learnt some things about myself and for that alone it was worth it so far.

This blog is definitely a journey and not a destination. I understand there are many things I need to work on such as to figure out what value I can bring to people, what direction I want to go with it and what the main focus should be, and I am so excited to make it all happen. It’s been difficult at times to believe in myself and believe that the content I post here is good enough, but I keep reminding myself not to compare my chapter 1 to someone else’s chapter 10. I follow many  successful bloggers, Youtubers, Instagrammers and I know what I like and what I want my blog to be like, but it doesn’t always turn out to be quite as I imagined and that’s when it is important to remember that those people have been consistently working on their projects for multiple years to make them what they are now. It’s great to be inspired but it’s important to not get discouraged because you can’t keep up. It takes time, practice, a lot of hard work and passion to build something great and as long as you are enjoying what you are doing and willing to put the effort in, the results will come.

 A lot has changed in the past year and this holiday season is extra special as we’ve got our Santa’s little helper with us. It was so much fun to watch him crawl under the tree, climb on the gifts and pose for the family Christmas photos! I wish you to spend the holidays together with your loved ones, Merry Christmas!

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Read More Blog Anniversary & Christmas 2015

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The other day we were going on our usual sunset walk around the neighborhood when we realized that now that Thanksgiving is over, the holiday season is here which means that Christmas tree markets are open! I remember seeing in the movies how the family goes to one of those markets with many fluffy Christmas trees to pick the best one.

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**This is how normal people take their tree home**

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Thanksgiving Day is one of those holidays that I didn’t have growing up but was more than happy to welcome. I actually started writing this post about a year ago when I was in the process of setting up this blog and this was my draft/practice post that never got published because by the time I finished the site set up the timing wasn’t right anymore, although is there really such thing as a bad timing to feel grateful?

It’s funny that for the last few years expressing gratitude has become something very essential to me, the draft from last year’s post said: “I personally don’t need one specific day to feel grateful as I do thank Universe pretty much everyday for all the great things and people that I have in my life but it’s always good to remember to do that and if having designated day for that helps us make conscious effort to be thankful, why not?”. It’s so true yet I never thought of consciously expressing gratitude before. I would be happy when good stuff happened and I always was appreciative of all the simple little things but I never thought about consciously acknowledging the things I am grateful for.

The first time I practiced expressing gratitude was about 3,5 years ago when I took my first ever yoga class. One of the suggestions made by the teacher was to think of something you are incredibly grateful for. During that moment few different things went through my head, I picked one and thought of how amazing it was that it happened. In that moment I felt everything from butterflies in my stomach to goose bumps on my skin to tears filling my eyes. From then on thinking of things I am grateful for kind of became a part of my night routine. Once I tuck myself in and before I fall asleep, I would thank the Universe for all these amazing things, people, moments that I have and experience. Sometimes I fall asleep half way through because I am so tired or even before I get to think about it but it’s okay cause the next morning I’d be grateful for the good night’s sleep:)

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According to the ancient legend, if you help a friend with a baby shower, you will be the one having it next! At least that’s what happened to my dear friend Elina who organized my baby shower earlier this year and now she is expecting a baby girl!

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Baby shower for a pregnant woman is almost the same as a wedding day for the bride – you want it to be perfect! The difference is that when you’re pregnant you have these little guys called hormones going all crazy and it definitely spices it up a bit. Elina’s baby shower was planned to be outside in a beautiful park overlooking Los Angeles, of course you wouldn’t worry about the weather too much living in California but guess what, it was freaking cold and windy! I got scared for a second when I saw momma-to-be ready to cry over the weather and everything not going as planned but everything turned out great!

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Read More Fall Baby Shower

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Our trip to Pumpkin Patch was so much fun! I keep getting surprised how much of a good time we can have going somewhere considering our baby is still so little but both Disneyland trip and this were success! Alaric really enjoyed all the colors and sounds and we couldn’t be happier to see how much fun he is having. We did too!

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Can  you see the teeth that he just got?!:)

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It’s so funny how time works,  you can have a couple of relaxing days at home or you can travel half way across the country and squeeze so much fun in the same two-three days period.

This Labor Day weekend we went to North Dakota for a friend’s wedding as well as to visit my husband’s family. I’ve been to ND twice before but only in the Winter, I heard so much about how beautiful it is in the Summer so it was time to check it out. I had a such a great time! It was so nice to enjoy some quiet walks, fresh air, nature, rain and thunderstorms at night (I’ve never seen so many lightnings, it literally looked like a stroboscope). I loved unplugging and just walking around outside, sleeping (yay for grandparents babysitting! something we don’t get to have in LA), and just relaxing and changing the scenery. Loved walking barefoot on the grass, picking sunflower seeds straight from the sunflower and making s’mores by the bonfire. It was also really nice to dress up for the wedding and have somewhat a date night with husband, champagne and dancing. The trip was short but surely very sweet!

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Travels

My baby has the best dad he could ever have. Derek was the first person Alaric saw when he was born and ever since then they have a special connection. Seeing them together makes my heart melt. From the very beginning Derek was participating in every baby activity we did: changing, bath time, walks in addition to their one-on-one time playing piano or “Where’s the bunny?”. They love each other so much and it’s the best thing ever. My boys <3

We had a great cozy day celebrating Derek’s first Father’s Day, took some pictures, went on a family walk and just enjoyed each other’s company.

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I like to take walks around our neighborhood. Without any particular goal we usually just get ready, take a camera and get out of the house. It’s nice to wander the streets, talk, take pictures that I never end up posting and just enjoy the moment… This was the Valentine’s Day, the last one with just the two of us, I thought I’d share a few pics here. Even though I got a lemonade spilled all over me at the restaurant and couple of other silly moments, it was a very sweet warm day that I want to remember.

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Read More One Sweet Day

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