Quinces jam and fighting inner foodie

One should never find the inner foodie, right? Well, I'm doing it. I'm struggling to get back to the Dukan diet but so far I've been doing the opposite. I'm thinking now it's my job to finish the jar I already opened, cook the vegetables in the fridge and restart tomorrow. Can't tell you how many times I started this again and again. But it did me so well, it cleansed my body and I want that feeling back. So tomorrow, Dukan Day 1.

Also, any tips for not murdering another orchid? My lemon trees seem to be doing rather well sitting by the window and I hope the orchid will thrive as well.

Work in progress

 Boy, there are so many things to do in a house. Even though there are moments when you think this is a continuous project and the day when you won't need to buy new tiles, new pipes, new whatever might never come, when things fall into place you understand how everything actually works and you only get excited about it.

As I write, two men are fixing a new door yet I have to run soon for a small photo project, come back home, change and leave again to buy floor tiles and a shower cabin. Tuesday we start working on the bathroom so that should be fun. :) Seriously though, I can't tell you how happy I am for finding all the pieces I want and getting even closer to such a dream.

The kitchen is far from being finished, especially since now I want dark paint where now is dark blue. I still haven't found the perfect chairs (looking for some lab stools, any ideas?). Actually, below is the perfect chair I wanted but it's not for sale at IKEA in Bucharest.

ikea.ro

News break. Coffee break

source: pinterest.com

OK, so I'm interrupting this perfect morning to write you all about this perfect morning. :) You don't get them just like that, you have to make them so.

I wouldn't say I've been myself lately. The same self, but just a little less of me. Whenever you put yourself out there, caring perhaps too much for others and worrying definitely too much about not getting other people upset, you end up disappointed and exhausted. Those strong connections all of a sudden seem thin, unstable, breakable. Something that even a draft could scatter.

So you need to work your way out of it and back to your own self. Knowing what your habits are. Those habits you like and that make you be you. And then, once you start enjoying your company again, once you reconnect and find that inner peace, once you remember nothing is lost and that everything is going to be okay, you are ready to embrace the whole new year.

So this morning is perfect. I had my coffee at home, so strong, so tasty. And then I got my favourite French magazine, December issue, newly put on the shelves. I had another coffee just one hour later and the question: "Do you want cinnamon in your coffee?" made my morning brighter.

I'm thinking sometimes this is all it takes. Just some cinnamon in your coffee.

Dreams come true, they really do

These past two days have been so nice yet equally busy. I still can't believe how many things are finally changing. Everything that makes me tired over the day is forgotten once I enter my house. My home. It's such an incredible feeling and such a relief. It took me months to feel that the place belongs to me and that I belong there. But it also took months to fill it with memories, with friends, with family. And building it step by step while looking at the results and seeing how much they are a reflection of who I am makes me feel so happy once again. It's a dream I once had and now it came true. And it's something it takes time and something you appreciate more and more.

I would not give this away for anything, this great feeling I have knowing that I made it, that it's something I accomplished. Something I wouldn't have thought possible 2 years ago. But it's been already one year and here I am: at home. My own home, soon even closer to that dream.

And I can't wait to share it with the most beautiful people in the world. Few, but those incredible few.

38 days until Christmas

This is what the Ikea home page says: 38 days until Christmas. I find that so nice. It's like such a great reminder of something beautiful. I feel like all morning and all afternoons already have that taste of a winter season. Everything seems more quiet, Christmas trees already are everywhere and everyone just seems to be thinking about winter and presents. And me, I love it although I'm currently doing major changes in the house, buying tiles, carrying doors with the elevator and similar other enjoyable activities.

I'm not complaining, I'm enjoying every bit of it. It's a month with just a few more days of rushing and racing and December should be all about friends and family. I like it so much, all this warmth.

Small collection of good memories

Open publication - Free publishing - More breakfast

You can only have one favourite pumpkin pie

It really bugs me to actually write the name of the blog on the photo. It ruins it. I won't do it again. :) Haha, I guess I wanted to talk about the pumpkin pie. Grandma's gonna do it this time. The pie, not the blogging. She has her recipe that she's been using all her life. I took a weekend off. No cooking, just been lazy and watching cartoons. I decided after many months of working, planning, renovating the house, such a break is all I need. And it feels sooo good.

This is the end result. To me, this will always, and I mean always, be the best pumpkin pie in the whole world. It captures all my childhood, all my autumns, all my good memories. And it's my grandmother who made it and she's part of my childhood as well, that someone who prepared so many breakfasts for so many years.