Oh Baby!

We are officially ready to welcome baby Mia into the world. Of course, the only way that was ever going to be possible was with a successful baby shower and successful it was! All the little things I dreamed up in my head were executed perfectly with the help of some handy family members. Let me walk you through it...


Polina, the future mom, has her heart set on a butterfly theme for the baby room. Therefore, I knew that somewhere I was bound to have some butterflies flying around (not real ones). In all honesty, aside from that little detail, I put very little emphasis on developing a theme in the first stages of planning (although I was taught otherwise). The theme kind of came to be on its own and from that point on it was a lot easier to continue because I had something to tie everything together. A theme gives you a strong sense of direction which is always helpful. Anyways, the theme turned out to be very green. By that I mean there were butterflies and flowers and a homemade tree! (I'll get to that). 


My job consisted of constructing all of the decorations as well as the sweets table and given my recent baking streak, that was a piece of cake (no pun intended). The real food table came together with the help of my awesome family and it was amazing! I always have this overwhelming fear of not serving enough food, but at the end of every party I think to myself...what the heck did everyone eat if so much of it is still here!? Then again, since we are Russian and we never come at a specific time or leave when the party is over ...most people end up staying very late to just chat. And what do people do when they sit around and chat? They eat! They may not be hungry. In fact, they may be on the verge of popping, but they still eat. So in our case, extra food will never pose as a problem (thankfully). Now, let me just take second and fill you in on the outrageously delicious food that we all devoured...

• A delicious summer salad with spinach, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, berries, tossed in a combination of balsamic vinegar and olive oil
• A very light and fresh Quinoa salad with red and yellow peppers, parsley and orange zest
• A pasta salad with tangy feta cheese and veggies
• An assortment of homemade party sandwiches (tune salad, egg salad, and cream cheese)
• BBQ chicken kebob skewers with zucchini, peppers and onions accompanied by a chilli dipping sauce as well as a plum dipping sauce
• Amazingly crispy oven-baked spinach, ricotta and cheese pockets (Mom's famous spinach pie in a bite-size little creation)
• Over baked sweet potato 
• An assortment of sushi
• Veggie tray and dip
• Tostitos and salsa
• And god forbid people were still hungry, we served thin crust pizza with various toppings

Moving on...the dessert table came to look just as I had hoped. I made cake pops for the first time in my life. Not that making something you have never attempted for the first time for someone's baby shower is a good idea, but whatever! I took my chances. I am glad that I did because they were a hit. Absolutely everyone loved them for their moist cake interior and the fun serving size they came in. Polina's absolute favourite dessert I make are the oreo cheesecake cupcakes. So I thought I would substitue the usual graham cracker cheesecake crust with an oreo crust and turn the recipe into a full blown cheesecake. This way everyone was able to cut off as much as they pleased and it gave me the chance to decorate it with a little message. In addition, my sister ordered delicious gourmet cupcakes with dolce icing on top. Of course, I also made sure to have an assortment of gummy candies and little pacifier hard candies (this is probably the only event where those candies make any sense). Anyways, it's safe to say that there was enough sugar on that table to make you sick...in a good way of course.

Now, onto the decorations! Let me tell you something... there was quite a bit of research that went into this partay. As some of you know, I sit on Pinterest religiously so I am always coming across amazing party creations. One of the things I knew I absolutely HAD to have were tissue paper pom poms. For those who are unfamiliar with this term, they are literally pom poms made from various colours of tissue paper that you can hang from the ceiling in bunches. They look insanely cute, like massive flowers (refer to photos). I watched a few youtube tutorial videos and with a little bit of practice there they were, hanging about from the ceiling. Every single person who pointed them out was shocked that they were handmade. The cool thing about them is that they are like a little mystery. Not a single human being can look at those things and say OH! pff, I can totally tell how she made those!

One of the coolest things I made for this Baby Shower is the Wisdom and Wishes Tree! I bought a metal bucket, fake grass, collected my neighbours branches, clothes pins and designed very adorable baby Wisdom and Wishes Cards. This awesome creation was placed on top of the gift table along side a keepsake box. Guests were asked to pick a card off the tree and either give the future mom advice or send her their best wishes and place the card in the box. Now, years down the road she can always reach for that box and be reminded of all the people who were present at her first Baby Shower. I also bought a wooden butterfly, spray painted it pink (of course) and wrote Mama's Little Present on it with cute bubble letters. The butterfly was there to mark the gift table but it also doubles as decoration for the baby's room.

Last but not least, I had Polina open up her presents. All of the gifts were so adorable. I know that a new born baby is ridiculously small, but when you see the baby clothes you can't help but be shocked that a human being can actually fit into those tiny little pants! It's bizarre. At the beginning of the party, I tied a ribbon around Polina's belly with a big bow and a tag that read "Do not open til June 14, 2012" (which is her due date). The idea behind it was that the best present in the whole room was what is inside her belly. However, I will admit that although everyone found it cute and funny, some initial reactions sounded a little like this "Oh my god! That's kind of gross!" Regardless, it always sparked laughter so I am still calling it a successful idea!

Well that's that! I'm really happy I took on this project, I learned quite a bit from it. It kind of justified all the time I spend on social media sites (maybe not in the eyes of my mother, but it works for me). Now, I get to just sit back and await the arrival of my little niece! 

Thanks for dropping by and sorry for the insanely long post this time! 

Bye for now.

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/raisanakhimova/

Sweet Freedom

No pun intended.

Exams are officially over!

You know what's funny? When I need to be busy studying I always find other things I want to be doing. No. NEED to be doing. God forbid I don't do these things, I will literally not survive. For example, becoming little Ms.Baker, reading up on all of the world events (like really, how am I supposed to sleep not knowing what Africa is up to?), watching an entire season of a new show in one night... 

Anyways, the point is now that I am finito, all I want to do is NADA :) 

Earlier this week, we had a delicious BBQ. Don't be fooled, it wasn't nearly as nice outside as it looks in these photos. It was literally no more than 10 degrees celsius but that doesn't stop anyone in my family from devouring incredibly juicy lamb chops. I took my camera out to snap some photos in the backyard and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised at how pretty all of the fruit trees were. The fruit trees are probably one of the best aspects of summer at home. Lying down out on the patio couch swing with a book, snacking on fresh sour cherries. 

A couple of days ago, I woke up wanting to bake. Four hours later I wanted someone to point a gun to my head. I'll explain. I somehow managed to pick a recipe that consisted of 3 different parts and I was not expecting it what.so.ever. For some reason, I saw the recipe for Black Forest Cupcakes and thought Hey! That sounds like a piece of cake! Let me quickly throw those babies together. NO. There was no "throwing together" and you definitely cannot describe anything I did that day as "quickly". They literally took me 4 hours. I mean they were delicious, no doubt. For variety, I also made a batch with Nutella and strawberries (The original have cognac, sour cherries, and pastry cream). Will these be making an another appearance in the near future, absolllutttleeeyyy not.

Here's a little story to prove how yummy they were. As they were cooling outside on the deck, I caught a squirrel trying to snatch one! Of course my initial reaction was to scream like a maniac causing the squirrel to drop the top half and take a dash for its' life. I quickly brought in the entire untouched batch and left that one little cupcake for the little thief. Within a few seconds, the bugger was back! It was actually pretty cute. I mean, the squirrel ate the whole thing so I think it's safe to say it's probably dead right about now. But at least it died happy. Right? That's what I tell myself.

Anyways, I'm off to my little elf room to work out the logistics for the baby shower.

Chat soon! 

Work In Progress!

I have a new project on my hands...smack down in the midst of exam time. I honestly feel like I do this to myself not to fall into depression during burry yourself in boring textbooks time. I have offered to plan my cousins Baby Shower and it is looking pretty god damn cute! I went to pick up some supplies and things I need to make for this event come to life. HOWEVER, as of today I am now putting myself on a time-out ( or a lock-down, sounds more badass). The deal is I can only continue planning once I write my last exam on the 27th. Honestly, I hate prioritizing!! Please find me one single person who enjoys being responsible. They are probably as common as children that hate candy. So, if I had to take a guesstimate I would put that number anywhere between 0 and NO ONE.


I have set up a little station in my basement where I can work on everything I need for this shower and I have this very strong feeling that I will end up down there some nights. Don't worry, I will make sure to bring my study notes down with me so that they don't feel neglected.  My new little station is so cute and cozy and clean (for now)...kind of makes me feel like an elf.


We are still working on securing the location. It will most likely be a party room in a condo. Since I am on a tight budget, I'll be doing a lot of the decorations myself which I actually love doing. I have watched a disgusting amount of youtube videos, spent countless hours on Pinterest and read so many blogs that I feel like I can master this thing no.problem.


The menu is still in the making but will consist mostly of light appetizers and yummy desserts! I will attempt to make lollipop cakes for the first time which I'm really excited about. However, the last time I made a dessert that required me to dip it into melted chocolate I managed to have the chocolate explode ALL over the kitchen. Mom loved that. This time, I'll be a little more careful. Whatever, it's part of the process. What's a kitchen if not messy?  

Ps. I haven't been baking because of Passover. The next time I will bake will probably be for the Baby Shower so stay tuned. Should be some cute stuff (given I don't blow up the kitchen).


Don't forget to check out Pinterest for cute ideas! http://pinterest.com/raisanakhimova/

You can also subscribe to get e-mail notifications every time I blog (which will be on the regular now...If it's not we'll just blame it on school). Just enter your e-mail address in the tab found on the right side toolbar.

Ciao for now.

In The Blink Of An Eye

...that is how fast things change.

Actually, that is how fast things change when you least expect them to. Thankfully, everything is changing for the best at the time being!

This past Wednesday, I arrived back home (via bus) from my favourite city. Ok, fine...second favourite city. There is just something special about New York. I realize that sounds like an incredibly cheesy line from an awful romantic movie but it's true! There are people who hate the noise, the constant flow of people, the line-ups, the mess, and so on. Granted, all of those things are indeed a staple of New York city but that is exactly why it's so amazing. It's unique and it has character. Something that cannot be said about many things in this world. Anyways, moving on...

The reason why my mother and I decided to hop on a bus and take the ten hour trip down to Brooklyn is because we had a few things to celebrate. Plus, the timing could not have been any better. I had just handed in a major event proposal for my event management class and was dreaming of a little getaway. 

As for the celebrations...

First of all, my auntie got a job offering at a hospital in Manhattan as a psychiatrist set to commence the day her med school residency. Secondly, my younger cousin (who was literally on the brink of becoming his mother's very own psychiatric patient) finally received his college acceptance letters to schools including but not limited to Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth and Williams. I think everyone is still a little shocked (including the little brainiac himself) but indescribably proud! Lastly, it was my grandma's 72nd birthday. Needless to say, it was definitely an amazing trip. We'll leave out the part where I got the sniffles because someone likes to keep the apartment temperature slightly below that of a fridge. 

(My photography skills are improving, if I can say so myself. And when I say photography skills, I mean my ability to snap photos that don't look like utter garbage)

Ok, I'm leaving you guys with a quote I found by our dear friend Buddha. 

The problem is, we think we have time.

I swear to god, this quote should be the sole sentence members of a procrastinators help group should chant. But there can never be such a group because they'd probably put it off until tomorrow! Get it? Because that's what procrastinators do..they put things...oh forget it.

Happy Passover and Happy Easter Everyone!!

A Bunch of Sweeties

LET'S pretend I didn't fall of the face of the earth...and get right back into it. Shall we? Mhm.

I am slightly ashamed that I have totally neglected my blog. I have actually been doing things that I have wanted to blog about however, I just never got myself to sit down and do it. Apologies.

I can't even trace back to all of the things I've done BUT I do have a few pictures I can share with you.

It was my sister's 24th birthday February 14 and I made her a fruity cheesecake. I have never, ever been the person to make a homemade birthday cake. I just eat them like a little chunk that I am. Ever since I was a little girl, I gave so much credit to those who brought over homemade cakes. I mean it. I always think of the task as impossible. I honestly have no idea why I would ever think that about baking a cake...but I did. Anyways, I was quite proud of myself when I put the finishing touches on this fruity little thing. FYI, every piece was devoured so needless to say I gave myself a nice pat of the back. I also made dark chocolate strawberries! I love those, especially if they are made with good quality chocolate. You won't be able to see it in this picture but I also drizzled some white chocolate on another batch and they looked adorable! That's half of the baking experience. Sure they taste good, but do they look cute? 

TODAY, I made cranberry and dark chocolate biscotti cookies with almonds. Biscottis are by far my favourite cookie. Ever. I love the irresistible crunch and the rich almondy flavour. If you know me, you know the chocolate bit doesn't hurt either! Mine turned out to be miniature biscottis but nevertheless, still a success story! * Please excuse the bold product placement...I'm quite a Starbucks fan.

Ladies and gents, I have come to a conclusion. I think one of the main reasons I love to bake is because I never grew up in a house of bakers. My mother is a god in the kitchen but she never enjoyed baking.  Baked goods usually came into our house in a little white box. I always assumed that it wasn't something you can just make at home. For some reason, I always thought you needed some special talent or equipment. Turns out you don't. You just need to have the desire to make it happen. When ever I successfully execute a new recipe and the sweets look store-bought, I'm like "Hell yeah, I did that!"

ON another note...I have gone from stumbling to pinning like a sick mad woman. I should be able to put pinning as a skill on my resume. Perhaps even a talent. I understand those just sound like adjectives to some people but I'm sure some of you can relate. Pinterest is a website that is essentially a big pin board. IN fact, you can have as many virtual pin boards as your heart desires. Each pin board allows you to pin pictures from anywhere on the web directly to your boards. This way you get to have a collection of all of your favourite pictures in one place. Brilliant ...and addictive. You can check out my boards here! http://pinterest.com/raisanakhimova/ 

Enjoy! 

Bye for now! <3

Eat me.

SO I kept my word. Not actually..but kind of.

I stalked up on salad ingredients and I am in the process of consuming a fairly serious little number. I literally threw everything in; spinach, lettuce, chick peas, dried cranberries, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, blueberries, green peas, mushrooms, avocados, bocconcini cheese, barely, drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar and olive oil. 

NOW, here is my confession. In celebration of another pregnancy in the family, I made cookies last night. I now have two cousins expecting, only 4 months apart, and I had to do something! It's a perfect opportunity to bake! I couldn't even go all out and make anything cute because..wait for it...school ruins everything. Who would have thought!? Everyone. So we all had to settle for chocolate chip sprinkled cookies. Sad, I know. But, I guess it's okay since I'm not supposed to be baking to begin with. 


IT'S okay, you just wait for the baby showers.
OH, I have another confession (unfortunetly) I made adorable baby shower invites during class. I'm slightly ashamed. But, amazingly enough..I don't give a shit :)

BACK to the books peoples, it's accounting time (wooh!). Lots of love!

Quickie

I have a midterm at 3, so naturally I ended up on my blog...
I'm not staying, don't worry.


I just wanted to announce that I have been ordered to stop baking!!! At least until May. My brother is training for a Marathon and has informed me that my baking will throw him off from his "healthy" eating routine and training (blah blah blah). Since I am a nice person (I have a few people who will confirm that statement) I have agreed help a brotha out (no pun intended) and resist the urge to bake . SO sad.

BUT, on the bright healthy side, I have been indulging in fancy salads from the Eatons Centre Food Court. These babies are loaded with couscous, chick peas, corn, beets, cranberries, and such. So, instead of baking, we will now be devouring salad (yay?). At least our waistlines will thank us.

Whatever. I have no choice. May as well act excited about it. 


Ok, I'm off to write (hopefully smash) my Business Law exam. Tooda-loo lovelies!!

Stumbling

I have a new addiction. Thankfully it's a fairly safe addiction unless, of course it's exam time, in which case I'm miserable regardless. 

StumbleUpon. People are absolutely genius. There are so many arguments you can make for and against the rise of social media websites. Although, one can argue that their sudden immense popularity has significantly pooped on stagnated human interaction, it has also connected us on a different level. If you haven't visited StumbleUpon yet, you most definitely should give it a try. Don't have time? Try doing it right before you check your Facebook for the 5th time that day...chances are Sam is out of the shower an Kelly's dog is feeling better. Totally separate issue, but what is it about putting your WHOLE life in your Facebook status? Please, tell me. Is the way you wake up or eat breakfast significantly different from everyone else that you feel the urge to notify us? God forbid I've been doing it wrong this whole time.  No one and I really mean NO ONE wants to know. Infact, my life would significantly improve if I knew less about your personal life. Oh! You also do not have haters...people probably just don't like you and that's probably  directly connected with the stupid pictures you post along with the offensive/stupid captions. You are single handedly polluting Facebook, STOP IT!

Anyways, back to the interesting people around the world. Once you select your "interests" all you have to do is Stumble. The site will dig up websites that fit your interests. I now have a shit load of Bookmarks of things I have stumbled upon. I have become that annoying girl who walks around constantly showing everyone interesting links, paintings, places around the world, interesting food, etc. That's better than updating my status about how much I love my turtle (I have no idea why I just picked that but it seems random enough). 

Give it a shot. You won't regret it.

 http://www.stumbleupon.com/home

In other news, I'm taking my ass back to art class on Friday. I've been dying to go back. Plus, I hate going out in the winter time. Getting gall dressed up, taking a 60 dollar cab downtown, waiting in the line...in the cold, paying cover, paying for bottles, paying to get home and being exhausted the next day? Noooooo, thanks. I should probably add the inevitable event where a friend drinks too much and your night out turns into a mission of getting them home. Did I already say no thanks? So art class Fridays it is. I need to figure out what I want to paint though which is always such a difficulty since I am the world's most undeceive person. I may end up painting one of the ones below...or a picture from my recent vacation. Decisions, decisions, decisions. 

Okay, times up! I have class starting in exactly 12 minutes and I am still sipping on my coffee at Starbucks. In all honesty, I'll probably end up reading the Hunger Games which I am not really a fan of. It's definitely aimed at young teens which translates into being slightly boring and PG. But I'm on the third book and the idea of not finishing the series bothers me more than finishing it. Weird, I know.

Ciao for now! 

Good Morning!

I've been MIA and if we're being honest, I don't even have a legitimate reason. 

I haven't been cooking, or doing anything of any excitement recently so this post will be one of those posts where I just vent about everything. Let's get started, shall we?

After returning from Punta Canada, I got sick. Sick from facing the fact that I am now forced to wear boots and jackets as opposed to bathing suits and flip flops. But also in the literal sense as in I had a fever. During this lovely time of feeling like shit, I watched a total of 5 movies. FIVE. Wedding Crashers, Goldmember, Devil Wears Prada, Sex and the City and one more...damn it, I forget. Anyways, that's not important. What is important, however; is that I stayed in my room the whole weekend NOT to pass on my nasty germs onto the rest of the family and what ended up happening? EVERYONE in my family is now sick. I take no responsibility. 

I am now back to school which is....great (not). Not only did I miss an entire week due to the wedding vacation BUT I also came home to a half completed schedule. Therefore, instead of being enrolled in 4 courses for the semester like a normal student, I was only enrolled in 2. Welcome anxiety. The first class I attended was my Business Statistics class which, I immediately dropped while physically sitting in the lecture. The professor was an EXACT copy of the little gay Asian mafiosi from The Hangover but with a much heavier accent. I mean that in the least offensive way possible. I couldn't even get mad at him because he was so cute but completely unbearable...especially for a class like Statistics (snooooze). Whatever, one thing led to another and VOILA! I am not a full-time student, minus the anxiety and stress and special profs. 

OH! I forgot to mention that one of my best friends is leaving me for Australia for six months on Tuesday. How fabulous?! Stupid, stupid, stupid Kangaroos.

What else, what else...I have a few complaints about these idiotic human beings that surround me on a daily basis but that'll spiral into a fairly long post and I have a Event Management class starting in 5 minutes so that will not be happening (today). 

So in conclusion...I want to be back on the beach with zero worries...but I am not. I am in class.

Ciao for now.