Like Chocolate

Even though it might look like it, this post is not solely about Lindt chocolate, but about chocolate in general. I've done a post on Lindt before anyway!

So, I'm a well known chocolate addict who came out to the world with my confession long ago. I eat chocolate every day. When for some reason I get deprived of it even for a few days, my eating patterns change dramatically - I would either eat anything and everything chocolate flavored within reach or would just start eating too much of everything. So yeah, basically, chocolate is one of the reasons I stay fit, ha. I know my chocolate well too - I can always tell when my body's craving a 70% cocoa treat or a 85% chocolate bar, and I try to keep all kinds of brown goodness at home at any time. To tell you the truth, it used to be even worse - all my passwords used to include the word "chocolate" in them... Not any more. Oh, chocolate, how I'm thankful for you!..

Manners

I'm so thankful for people with manners. I'm not even talking extra polished table manners here, I'm talking just good ol' plain being polite sort of thing. When I'm carrying lots of grocery bags in both my hands, don't sneak in and close the door right in front of my nose, dude. You looked okay before you did that, but you have no idea how much you uglified yourself by being so rude. So let's celebrate people who are polite and know how to behave themselves!..

Silly Pictures

I love the days when I'm in the mood for being taken pictures of, because at some point it starts to be too much fun and I'd sneak in a silly picture or two. So yeah, today I'm thankful for silly pictures, why not?

P.S. None of the frogs turned to be a king. I probably expected too much and should've settled for a prince... Hmmm

Accidental Matching

I love it when it happens! It brings such a sweet moment of silly outburst of delight and joy, that it's worth being thankful for!.. Seriously, I can't help but enjoy it when I just arrange something quickly only to realize how well it matches. The latest example of such thing is my weirdest ever dinner pictured above - I love how the plate's and the bowl's hemlines' trimmings are so similar, and how I happened to put my green grapes on the plate that features a drawing of green grapes... When I noticed, I just had to take a picture. Pure joy, ha!

P.S. The grapes are not THAT giant, it's just that the wine bottle is really small.

Hearty Conversations

I'm especially thankful for meaningful hearty conversations that last till the sun comes up because they don't happen often, and each such experience is overwhelmingly delightful and unique.

Little Joys of Life

I'm thankful for all the little joys of life and for being aware of what cheers me up and makes me feel happier. I was tagged by For the Fierce to do the "10 Things that Make You Happy" thing a while ago, and so here goes:

1) ambiance of the morning sun
2) nicely served big nutritious breakfast
3) getting text messages from certain people
4) new exciting opportunities
5) hugs
6) putting my thoughts into writing
7) traveling
8) being with the people I love
9) meeting new inspiring people and making new friends
10) putting together a perfect outfit

Not all of the above depends solely on me, but I do numbers 2 and 6 daily. What cheers you up and makes you happy?

Time Out for the Eye

I was thinking, I've been really busy lately with work and personal projects, having to spend a lot of time in front of the computer at work and then in front of my laptop at home... I'm glad and thankful that the friend's birthday party in the suburbs that past weekend gave me such perfect opportunity to have some time away from the computer screen. Even if it's just one computer free evening and one morning away from it the next day, it's still good for the eyes.

Pug Love

I had such a fabulous morning: you can't imagine how much fun I had and how much satisfaction I got from playing with one of the guest's dog the morning after a friend's birthday gathering I mentioned yesterday. I love dogs. I love pugs. I love dogs who play like dogs, because my dog doesn't. Thank you, Dania the pug, for the morning full of fun. He's pictured below, not to be confused with my most favorite pug in the world named Barcy - the beautiful lady pictured above.

(The glass of wine is not mine. Having read jeune_premier's recent blog post on table etiquette, I want to point out that even it being a house party I don't let people fill my glass more than it should be filled - I like it when everything's done just right.)

P.S. Some of you already know that all sorts of weird coincidences are constantly present in my life. So I just blogged about the most delicious berry dessert I've ever had yesterday in the anticipation of fantastic edible goodies that were to come later... Now what do you think was one of the dessert options? You guessed it, I had the most amazing homemade berry pie yesterday!

Berries & Mascarpone

As I am supposedly attending a friend's birthday celebration tonight, and this friend always cooks the most amazing stuff for her parties, it made me think of desserts. So today I want to give 'official' thanks for the most delicious berry dessert I've ever had. I mentioned 10 Corso Como's bookstore in Milan before, but their cafe is another thing worthy of a separate post. But not today, today it's all about their raspberries and currants with mascarpone cheese cream!..

Mutual Appreciation Society

Blogosphere is a very rewarding place, it turns out. The amount of positive vibes I've been getting from fellow bloggers is probably even more than the amount of it I've tried my best to be giving away all this time! The bloggers I've met really seem to be very appreciative and supportive of each other and this is a beautiful thing to be thankful for.

Thanks to North West London Girl in the Country and her husband for being so sweet to appreciate my "virtues of blush" comment - I am now the happy follow up winner of her giveaway (yay), thank to the folks at GOOD for featuring me - this came totally unexpected in my morning email today and the recognition means a lot since I love their website, thanks to lovely Caitlin and Audrey Allure who happened to tag me at "7 facts about you" thing almost at the same time - I am still planning to do it only with 7 facts about the 'Thank You' project, thanks to For the Fierce for the award and "10 things that make you happy" tag, thanks to Guillaume for quoting me a while back - that was lovely, and last, but not least, big thanks for a few other recent recognitions which I should not speak about!

One of the Things I'd Like to See Disappear Forever

I am so thankful I am naturally anti-racist. No one ever tought me that and I consider it a good thing that no one had to. And I don't know about you, but I am hopelessly in love with the world's diversity and definately not ashamed to admit it! The same is boring. Period.

Flashing Lights

To me, this video is everything that is wrong with this world, in 4 minutes. Because everything starts within a human mind, and my mind is no exception. This would have to be my most favorite music + video combination too. I love the message in the song and I love the visual presentation. If you remember the two previous music videos (Save Room and T.O.N.Y.) I was thankful for, you can probably see how all three are similar. I'm thankful 'Flashing Lights' serves as a great reminder of the things I need to never forget about. Let me share one good Will Rogers quote with you while I'm at it too:

"Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like."

P.S. I'm afraid, if you don't see it the way I do and ask me what the heck I'm talking about, I wouldn't be able to explain.

Gets Me Trippin'

I'm so very much thankful for traveling, for the ability to travel, for the idea of traveling itself... The world would be a sad place without such perfect opportunity to expereince other cultures and sub-cultures within cultures!

/photo courtesy of a friend of mine

To Teddy

I once read somewhere that the best way to create harmony in your life and spread it to those around you was to first find and establish that harmony within yourself. This is no easy task and I could never succeed in it until I met Teddy, who has been succefully 'balancing me out' ever since.

I don't know how he does what he does, all I know is that he's my personal guarding angel. Might sound silly, but it's something I believe in and only refer like to two people I know - my grandma and my Teddy. If she's the reason I still breathe, he's the reason I still believe. She brought me back to life physically, and he brought me back to life emotionally. He heals my hurts, he always knows what to say and how to cheer me up, sometimes I get a feeling that maybe he knows me a little better than I know myself... He's always been there to save me from my demons and whisk me away from the approaching blues, never asking for anything in return - he's the opposite of selfish and I love his heart. He doesn't know this, but I compare him to my grandma a lot. They're the only people I know with such incredibly beautiful souls. I swear I can see their halos.

So Teddy, I've told you that at least like 30 times before (and I hope you're not tired of hearing it yet), but thank you so much for being in my life. Thank you for being the best friend one can be. Thank you for being my harmony. Thank you for being you. Happy Birthday and God bless the parents who made you.

P.S. Got so caught up in being thankful I almost forgot it was supposed to be a birthday post, ha... Love ya!..

You Love You Learn

Well it's Valentines, so let me be no exception and post about love. I've done that before and in order not to repeat myself I'm saying thank you for getting wiser in love matters - I feel like I'm 'upgrading' and let it stay this way. I'm ready for the next best thing.

Art Galleries

Huge national museums are definately cool, but there's just something about these small boutique-like art galleries. They feel so exclusive, charming, homey, cozy, sophisticated. I attended one such gallery's exhibition opening night yesterday and what touched me the most was how everyone interacted so cheerfully and seemed so friendly, even though most saw each other for the first time. It felt a little like an extended family gathering, which can be a little awkward but still feels comfortable. Everyone was saying hi and smiling at each other, nodding heads at the new arrivees from afar and making eye conact. The event was welcoming, sweet and warm, despite the glamorous appeal of wine and champagne glasses, appetizers, neatly dressed public, security guards and very expensive pieces of art right in the midst of it all. Definately the kind of experience to be thankful for!

Live

I'm thankful I'm alive.

Oh Why...

Have you noticed the songs and the music video I gave thanks for in my previous posts were all by male artists? Well, this is no coinsidence. I realize most of the time I can't listen to too much female voice in one go, whereas it's not a problem with male performers. So for a change, today I'm saying thanks for the b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l music video directed by beautiful Vashtie Kola for Solange's song "T.O.N.Y." Another one I can watch on repeat, and just like with John Legend's "Save Room" I think the "T.O.N.Y." song goes great with that motion picture.

Stress Reliever

The Sims computer game has long been my stress reliever when times get rough. When you have to think about your characters' imaginary life problems you really forget about the stress in yours. I owe lots of thanks to The Sims creators!

How do you cope with the stress when it's staring to really get to you?

Back to Chairs

Well, just like I said, I coudn't promise you no more posting about chairs... And the whole Pharrell's chain thing totally reminded me of my encounter with his Perspective's chairs at the Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery in Paris. I remember I really wanted to see the chairs in person when I saw the first photos of them... And how awesome was it to find out they were right there on display when I was in town! I was definately thankful and I still am. How do you like the chairs?

Can't Wait Can't Wait Can't Wait

I'm thankful for the anticipation. Sometimes (rarely) it feels good. Good to be looking forward to something when you know what you're waiting for and know when to expect the happening and actualization of your desire.

Ink Me

I am thankful I was stubborn enough and went for my foot tattoo even though practically everyone was skeptical about the design, including my tattoo artist. The drawing is my own - I found it in my old notebook from when I was 14 or so and decided I wanted the weird thingy permanently inked on me. So glad I didn't feel it was rude to be giving the tattoo girl a hard time about its exact placement too, huh. After all, four years later it's still my most favorite tattoo and the one I get asked about the most - if it somehow got erased I would go and get it done again and again and again.

Hero

I am thankful for my most favorite book ever - "A Hero of Our Time" by M. Lermontov. I remember when I first got my hands on it I was about 13 and I couldn't stop reading it... I read the "Princess Mary" part 3 times in a row. The book is short but intense, a written psychological thriller at its best, or at least to me it is. It really is not for everyone though - I happen to be the only person I know who's that crazy about this mind wrecking work. What can I do, I love my characters flawed, torn and contradictory.

For some of the quotations from the book check here, or you can download it for free here (very decent translation - I checked). And when I started "checking" I ended up reading the whole thing again...

What is your most favorite book, and why?

BBC/Ice Cream Blog

I've been the BBC/Ice Cream Blog follower for a long time now (since 2007) and I've always loved the atmosphere there and the dialogue and interaction between both the readers and the people behind the blog. Two days ago they posted pictures of Pharrell in a studio, I noticed his new chain and commented that I'd love to see a close up of it. And what do I see today? You should really go see for yourself HERE!!! Now, I'm not implying it was done specifically for me (it most probably wasn't), but I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me feel special. I really do appreciate how the blog team treats their readers (they got back to me right away when I emailed them about my commenting problem some time ago too), and I believe such good treatment also attracts very genuine people to the blog, because we happened to make real life friends with one of the blog followers through one of their posts in 2008. From the heart, thank you!..

Save Room

So within the series of my thankful posts on my most favorite songs and music videos I've already given thanks to Coolio and Lenny for the two of my all time favorite tracks - these have definately proven their worthiness to me by staying in the favorite category for a long long time now. Today I want to say thank you for one of my most favorite music videos ever - the video for John Legend's 'Save Room'. In this particular case, it was exactly the video that made me like the song. They go perfectly together too, I can just watch it over and over and over... Probably because it includes a lot of my favorite things and one action just 'flows' into another... I even have the actual pretty HQ video saved on my computer... Love it!

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They Keep Talkin' About It, 'Cause They Can't Keep Up with Your Pace

Moscow is pretty crazy. Love it or hate it, but locals are not easily amused. No other city is fast enough, huge enough, expensive enough or overwhelmingly fake enough when you're from here... I travel to other places and I am perfectly fine with whatever they have to offer - I am prepared, tested, schooled, ready - I am from Moscow. For that, I can say thank you.

Bad Romance

Sometimes it feels so good to be out of something soon enough. It was over long time ago basically, but only now do I fully understand what the hell really happened. And even though the new realizations make me feel a little disgusted and I find it all so sickening that it literary makes me feel sick to my stomach, I am thankful I was wise enough to get out of it fairly quickly and not bury myself in it even further.

Never let someone be your priority while you remain their option. - Authur Unknown

Common Sense

... is another good thing to be thankful for, don't you think? It helps in decision making and with sticking to your principles.