New Year Resolutions

6:00 PM Kristiine 1 Comments

Like every each one of you have at least once in a lifetime promised something- the one and only- NEW YEAR's resolutions. I have to say that last New Years Eve I didn't promise anyone anything really, not even myself. My mood was down somehow, the year had been wearing me and not me wearing the year. Well, another year and another NYE, so I thought I might want to write down what I would like to accomplish this upcoming year so I have something to look back to. I have a feeling that this year is going to be mine, or at least I make it mine.

 First of all, I would really like to be more of a training person. I don't mean that I want to be muscular and full of adrenaline all the time, but you know- just go to gym and enjoy my time there whether it is half an hour or a whole hour. Taking time for myself on 2015 have definitely not been on my list. Unfortunately!

I want to read more books. I used to love reading books so much that I stayed up until I finished the book. In fact- I challange myself to read one (!!!) book in a month. Which means that by the end of the year I should be able to pat myself on the shoulder and say: Good job, you've read 12 books! I'll be writing some book reviews of the books that I have been enjoying. Oh yes, look back at the first resolution -> "more me time". Reading would be my other me time.

Pointing back to the first resolution again. I'd like to eat healthier. I think I eat pretty healthy, but once in a while I have this monster living inside of me (usually on Friday night) who is making me eat all kinds of unhealthiness. Chips, candy, chips, chocolate, burgers, chips, pizza, chips. And on Saturday morning I wake up feeling bloated, disgusted of myself and I swear never eating anything mentioned above again.

I would really like to visit a Spa here in Sweden. It is a lot more expensive than in Estonia, so I don't usually prefer a super-expensive Spa weekend to a calm home weekend. I actually have to say that me and one of my besties are planning a Spa weekend in Stockholm for the very beginning of the year. We haven't decided yet when, but you bet I write how it was or wasn't.

In 2016 I'd love to travel to one country in Europe that I have not been to. My long time dreams have been Hungary, France, Scotland, England and/or Poland (especially Krakow).

We have been living four, almost five years in this apartment, but there are still things (decorwise) that needs to be fixed or done. By the end of the year I would love to be complitely ready with one of the rooms, mainly the bedroom. We need bedside tables, a closet to the man of the house and a carpet would be cosy to have. Oh, and lamps. Bedside table lamps.

As many of you don't know but I'm blind as a bat and quite frankly I'm very tired being that way. I have glasses and lenses but it's not doing it for me anymore. I want to be the person who walks out from bed and sees where she is going or what's on the floor so I would not be twisting my toes left and right all the time. An eye operation would be much appericiated.

Date nights. More one on one date nights with my handsome significant other. First year of living together we used to have those kinds of date nights when we both put our phones on silent and just talked and catched up on life. I feel like 2015 we haven't had that very much.

I bet I'm aiming a bit too high goals, but I hope I will be hanging on to them and can say that I nailed it next New Years Eve!
I wish you all very good New Year and remember that only You can make it better than the last one!

What are your goals for new year?

Best Christmas Movies

12:00 AM Kristiine 0 Comments

As many of you might not know it yet, but Christmas is my favorite holiday. Sometimes I start watching Christmas related movies already in September and really I'm not even ashamed of it. I like to watch movies (generally) couple of times a week since I don't usually spend my time in front of TV otherwise. I don't like scheduled series or movies, I make my own schedule and like to watch series and/or movies whenever I feel like it. So here is my TOP 10 favorite Christmas movies that I can really watch several times and never be tired of them. Starting from the last but not the least favorite.

10. 12 Dates of Christmas (2011) is about a woman who re-lives her Christmas Eve blind date about 12 times before she mke everything right and can let go of her past relationship and be happy. I find it's such a cute chick-flick movie.

9. Miracle on 34th Street (that movie has been made several times so it doesn't really matter which one you see) is just such a beautiful movie about love and believing of the miracles.

8. The Polar Express (2004) is definitely something for adults. I found the cartoon work absolutely amazing but at the same time a bit scary for the really small children to watch so check it out first and then rethink if you'd like your children to see some of the scenes. I think that the story can get a bit too complicated at times for the toddlers to handle.

7. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) I'm not the biggest fan of the Muppets but I'm somehow in love with this movie. I find it a lot better than the original Christmas Carol movie and the storytelling is on point.

6. Fred Claus (2007) is such a lovely story about Father Christmas and his older brother and really about family and that we need to love and take our family as they are.

5. Tomten är far till alla barnen (1999) is a Swedish Christmas movie about a huge family affair where the housewife Sara has children with different men and they are all coming over for Christmas Eve. Chaos, really! But extremly entertaining!


4. Home Alone (1990) Classic and always a good idea to rewatch it!

3. The Holiday (2006) Cameron Diaz does a really good job on her character and I just love the English countryside and villages. Amazing! And SNOW! Yes!

2. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) well I actually like the sequal to first Home Alone much more. I think the storyline is kind of the same but I guess they have made the movie better. Little Kevin is just adorable!

1. Just Friends (2005) I watch it every year religiously and it is officially my favorite winter time movie. I like to take couple of snacks and a cup of warm tea and just watch it and laugh! It's such a funny and silly movie and I absolutely love Amy Smart and Ryan Reynolds in this too.

I hope there were some movies that you've not seen yet so I could somehow inspire you to have a cosy night-in with or without family and great laughs!

What is Your favorite holiday movie?

Food Friday #1

6:27 PM Kristiine 0 Comments

For me there is no real Christmas feeling without the smell of freshly baked gingerbread cookies. Of course it would be extremly magical if it would be snowing while you're baking them, but it's not always possible. It has been snowing once this season here where I live, but it melt away pretty soon.

I thought that I would share my ultimate gingerbread dough recipe that I have been using past couple of years and it turns out beautifully every single time. No fuss!

There's couple of things you need to keep in mind though- do NOT use the gingerbread dough directly. It needs some time to "marinate" and take in all the fabulous spices that you're using. I wouldn't recommend you to use it until first 48h has passed. So basically when you plan to bake gingerbread cookies on Sunday, make the dough ahead of time some time on Friday. Ready made dough keeps in fridge up to two weeks very beautifully and this recipe gives you roughly 1,2 kg of dough. It's complitely fine to freeze the dough if you don't plan to bake it in upcoming two weeks. I divided it into two small plastic bags and one of the bags was enough for 4-5 cookie plates of gingerbread cookies.

It seems that the ingridient list is long, but believe me, you'd be surprised if you find most of the things at home already.

2dl of dark syrup 
2dl of sugar (I used coconut sugar, but you can use whatever you have in hand)
1 tbs cinnamon powder
1 tbs cardamom  powder
1 tsp ginger powder
2 tsp clove powder
250 g of butter (the real butter, not anything else)
2 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
600 g wheat flour

So here's what you need to do:
Take a small pot and add dark syrup, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and clove powder to it. Mix and warm on medium high heat until you see it bubbling. Then take the pot off from heat and mix in all of the butter that you have sliced earlier. Let the butter melt and then mix. DO NOT put the mixture back on heat! While you wait the butter to melt you can measure the flour into a big bowl and mix it with baking soda. When the syrup mixture has cooled down about ten minutes and it's not steaming, bubbling hot anymore then you can quickly whip in those eggs, but be careful that the mixture is not too warm so the eggs will crumble. Then it's time to combine the two mixtures. I find it easier to use fork to mix than spatula. Voilá! You can now storage the dough in a box or plastic bag. I waited until the dough had complitely cooled down until I put it in the fridge. It took me about 15- 20 minutes to make it so I find it really simple and not time consuming at all and the best part is that it is good to use quite a long time.

PS. I baked my cookies in 200C for 7-8 minutes, but really it depends on how thick or big you make your cookies, I had pretty small and thin ones. Keep an eye on your cookie baking time.

What is Your favorite Christmas scent?

Links

7:23 PM Kristiine 0 Comments

I have been stupidly busy with.. living my life, working my ass off and studying all at the same time. Sometimes it feels like twenty four hours is not enough. Past two or three weeks I have been sleeping about four to five hours during the night and I feel drained. It is soon over. I mean that busy period.

I really can not wait til I can chill and relax in my Estonian home and just take time to be present, enjoy the moment and the ones around me.

Anyway that was my miserable way of saying: I'm so sorry I haven't been writing anything interesting or posting pictures or really doing anything lovely. I have gathered so much nice thoughts and ideas that sometimes I feel like I have let myself down when I don't fulfill those ideas.

Here's some links I have been clicking during past month or so, that still keep me sane and smiling. You know, something between this hectic- I have to get home after work to cook dinner, oh no, I have to buy the groceries first and when I'm done cooking then I have to find the time and energy to study at least four hours.

Here's amazing blog that should make everyone appericiate themselves and smile too: Advanced Style

Here's how to make the gingerbread glaze  (in Estonian) and guess what? I'm making it tonight!: Piparkoogiglasuur

My Christmas board on Pinterest: Every day is Christmas

H&M's home department before Christmas time is a place to daydream yourself to different dimension: H&M home

Oh and on Spotify I've been listening lots of Zara Larsson because i think she has catchy lyrics and amazing voice. Bing Crosby has been calming and setting my Christmas mode on!

Tag Thursday #2

6:00 AM Kristiine 0 Comments

1: What are you wearing? Dark blue floral dress with black leggings.

2: Ever been in love? I have and I am.

3: Ever had a terrible breakup? I have had couple of terrible ones.

4: How tall are you? I'm 171cm.

5: How much do you weigh? Right now 69,8kg but I'm working on it to become more fit and active (as a bonus to loose couple of kilos too obviously).

6: Any tattoos? Yes, one dragon tattoo on my thigh.

7: Any piercings? Yes, ears. Two piercings on one side and three on the other side.

8: OTP? OTP? Like One True Pairing? Cinnamon and apple, pumpkin and Halloween (it was a hint for upcoming blogpost).

9: Favorite show? Right now I'm obsessed with Swedish/Danish criminal series called The Bridge, but I generally follow a lot of series at the same time. /Mistresses, RHONY, RHOBH, Orange is the new black, Padjaklubi (Estonian comedy series) etc.

10: Favorite bands? I don't have a favorite band, but I like couple of artists at the moment. Like Kygo, Ellie Goulding, David Guetta has been surprising recently, Veronica Maggio, The Weeknd.

11: Something you miss? At the moment I miss summer and warmth and at the same time I can't wait until the holiday times (Christmas) to visit Estonia and see my family and eat lots and lots of good Estonian food.

12: Favorite song? At the moment: The Weeknd: Can't Feel My Face.

13: How old are you? I'm 26.

14: Zodiac sign? Nemo, no, I'm Pisces.

15: Quality you look for in a partner? Honesty, loving, hardworking.

16: Favorite Quote? If someone says You can't do it, prove them wrong!- unknown

17: Favorite actor? Jason Statham, Johnny Depp, Amy Schumer, Sandra Bullock, Kristel Aaslaid, Sofia Helin etc.

18: Favorite color? Wine red/burgundy.

19: Loud music or soft? Depends on a mood, sometimes loud but mostly as a background noise and then just soft.

20: Where do you go when you’re sad? I tend to talk with someone close, like mum or my boyfriend. If they are unreachable I need a pick-me-up. Chocolate helps usually, or/and cooking something good.

21: How long does it take you to shower? 10-15 minutes, depending how relaxed I am. I do like to take baths though, half an hour long baths, at least!

22: How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? If You mean "get ready" from bed to out-of-the-door then 1 hour but from makeup-out of the door it takes me max 20 minutes. I get up usually earlier than I should, because I need my 1h for waking up, enjoying the coffee and breakfast and then I can think what I should wear, makeup etc.

23: Ever been in a physical fight? I don't recall that I have been in a physical fight myself, but I have been the one breaking off the fight. I mean stepping in the middle and arguing with the bully. I don't tolerate bullies. Yuck!

24: Turn on? A good conversation.

25: Turn off? Bullies, arguing, using ugly words.

26: Fears? Loosing someone I love, speed and darkness.

27: Last thing that made you cry? An emotional scene in a movie.

28: Last time you said you loved someone? About 1,5h ago to my mum via Skype and 2h ago to my boyfriend via phonecall.

29: Meaning behind your YouTube  Blogger Name? Well it's a lifestyle blog and my name is Kristiine. I didn't come up with a better idea.

30: Last book you read? I'm currently reading 3 different books, oops! I should finish one of them soon! Fifty shades Darker, Apteeker Melchior ja Rataskaevu viirastus, The Great Gatsby.

31: The book you’re currently reading? See above.

32: Last show you watched? If YouTube counts then today morning Therese Lindgren.

33: Last person you talked to? My mum on Skype.

34: The relationship between you and the person you last texted? No relation with that person, other than I sold my boots to her and she confirmed her payment. Business relationship?

35: Favorite food? Pasta! All kinds of pasta! And of course Estonian foods.

36: Place you want to visit? I'd like to visit France, UK and Italy as a roadtrip.

37: Last place you were? In a bus, before that at work.

38: Do you have a crush? Yes, my boyfriend and a Weimaraner puppy that stands high on my wishlist.

39: Last time you kissed someone? My boyfriend for a good night kiss last night.

40: Last time you were insulted? I don't recall, but I guess then it was a long time ago.

41: Favorite flavor of sweet? Chocolate or vanilla.

42: What instruments do you play? None, unfortunately.

43: Favorite piece of jewelery? My mums ring and golden earrings that I got for my 25th birthday from my family. I adore the necklace that my boyfriend gave to me as our first anniverssary present 6 years ago.

44: Last sport you played? Does gym machines count? Or LesMills Bodybalance?

45: Last song you sang? Justin Timberlake "Mirrors"

46: Favorite chat up line? Pickupline? I don't use any.

47: Have you ever used it? I used once. I said "Just shut up and kiss me" to my boyfriend when we first met. He told me his biography and I knew he wasn't wasting all this time for nothing, haha!

48: Last time you hung out with anyone? If not to count my boyfriend yesterday then on Saturday I was at sauna and movie night with couple of friends.

49: Who should answer these questions next? I tag everyone.

Random thoughts

6:53 PM Kristiine 0 Comments

I have so many blog post ideas, but it seems like I don't find enough time to take photos and even when I have time there appears to be no good lighting etc. You know, blogger problems. Sometimes life just happens and it makes me kind of sad, because I would really like to use some of my own pictures instead of googling or using picmonkey or polyvore.

So instead of informative or so called "neutral" blog post I'm going to hit You with random thoughts on Friday evening.

• I'm so tired that I could fall asleep while standing.
• That curry I made yesterday was pretty good. I should write down the recipe. Oh wait, I never write down recipes...
• I have so many things to do!!!
• I wonder how that wine, that I bought today, tastes?!?
• At least I can be awake as long as I want to, because it's Saturday tomorrow! (If i decide to drink a glass of that wine, I won't stay awake longer than 10PM)
• Oh yeah, the vacation pictures are still in my camera and phone. I should probably deal with them tomorrow, or today, or tomorrow.
• What a week it has been!
• It's cold outside.
• I should take pictures outside before all the colorful leaves turn into soggy brown slime.
• That wine is good! Bellingham ancient earth Shiraz Viognier 2013.
• Should I start doing more of those random thoughts? I have so many thoughts. My brain is like a universum all the time.
• No gym today! No gym all week actually. Fitness posts, anyone?
• Do I need better alarm clock than my phone, because today I snoozed half an hour. Not good, not good at all! Suggestions?
• I might have the first weekend in ages that I can stay at home and mind my own business and don't have anything planned by the clock. (Like fixing the pictures from the camera)

That list can continue, but I guess my brain is a lot slower on Fridays as per normal, so I'd like to stop writing right there.

Tag Thursday #1

11:39 PM Kristiine 0 Comments

Since I'm new in the blogging world I thought it might be interesting for some of You guys if I did a new segment of blog posts once in a while called Tag Thursday. I'll be searching some appealing tags with questions to answer for your entertainment. My first Tag Thursday will be including 21 questions to get to know me better. I thought it would be a good start. Oh, and before I forget- I got the questions from Ysis blog. Check out her answers as well, I thought they were pretty funny!

Here we go!

1. Are you named after anyone? My roots go back to Estonia and Latvia. As much as I know of my name is that my fathers grandmother was named Kristiina and her wish was that one of the kids was named after her. Unfortunately I have never had a chance to meet her, but I guess her name was an inspiration to my parents when they were choosing my name. Another story is that my sister and brother decided that I should be called Kristiine.

2. When was the last time you cried? I used to cry quite often. Not that I was sad, but I'm a softy like that. I can't remember when was the last time I cried, but I assume it might have been a month or two ago. Probably around "that time of the month" or a touching scene in the movie.

3. Do you have kids? No, but one day.

4. If you were another person, would you be a friend of yourself? It depends. I'd be my own best friend if I had enough patience to get to know "her". If not, I'd be a person who'd like to spend time with "her" occasionally and do fun stuff.

5. Do you use sarcasm a lot? I do. But only between me and people I know who'd get my sarcasm.

6. Will you ever bungee-jump? I might. If I ever do it I might even get rid of my fears of hight and speed. It won't be happening in the near future anyway.

7. Whats your favorite cereal? I don't like cereal, but I like crunchy granola with some fresh blueberries.

8. What's the first thing you notice about people? Probably their bodylanguage and the way the talk. I like to observe people before I step into conversation with them. It's not the case on one-on-one meetings. Then I notice bodylanguage and appearance.

9. What is your eye colour? Green.

10. Scary movie or happy endings? I choose happy endings! I rarely watch scary movies.

11. Favorite smells? Morning coffee, cinnamon buns, fresh dark bread, summer rain, fresh bedsheets, oh so many good smells!

12. Summer or winter? Summer. I choose warmth over cold anytime!

13. Computer or television? Computer.

14. What's the furthest you have ever been from home? It depends what I define as "home" in different stages of my life. I've never been out of Europe so I'd guess the furthest has to be Malta (furthest from my Swedish home).

15. Do you have any special talents? I'm pretty good with languages, I mean learning them effectively in a short timeline. The only bad side of that is that I tend to forget the other languages I already know if I don't practice them as often. But talent.. I think I'm good in multitasking! Especially in a stressy situation. My mind gets clearer and I prioritize right things. So I guess I should come out of my comfort-zone more often to get more things done?

16. Where were you born? Viljandi, Estonia.

17. What are your hobbies? I like to read. If I read I can spend hours, even half a day just reading. But I have to get into the right mood setting to do that. I like to knit and crochet, but my main problem is choosing the object to knit/crochet. I'm currently working on getting healthier and getting my fitness-groove on. That could be hobby, right? I like interior design too. If magazines and compulsive Pinteresting counts.

18. Do you have any pets? No, but I'd like to have a Weimaraner puppy or German sheperd or Australian sheperd. Kitties are cute too. I'd like a puppy/kitty zoo if I had a big house.

19. Favorite movie? I really enjoyed The Intouchables. I have seen it at least five times and I guess I'd still cry and smile and enjoy it. I'm not into the sci-fi wave that seems to be the latest trend in the movie industry, but I loved Ex Machina. It made me think of what could happen in the future plus the actors were great!The list is longer, but generally I like a good comedy or a chick-flick. Oh and I should mention that I'm guilty watching all classical Christmas movies in early October/November. Every freaking year. Oops!

20. Do you have any siblings? Yes. I have a brother who is 14 years older and a sister that is 11 years older than I am.

21. What do you want to be when you grow up? You'd think that a 26 year old person should be a grown-up, but I guess I'm still growing. I'd like to have a good balance between my work and family. I'd like to be a good parent and inspiration to at least one person. I'd like to be able to travel and soak in different cultures.

I guess that was it!

What would be the next tag You'd like me to do?

Skincare Sunday #1

8:58 PM Kristiine 0 Comments

I have been changing up couple of products now when the weather has been colder. My skin is mostly on the dry side but during summer it gets combination skin worthy so I have to have products for both cases. When the seasons are changing and the weather changes too I feel like my skin needs a little bit extra oumf. That moisture that gets it glowing again. My evening skincare routine looks a little like that:

I wash my face with Neutrogena Visibly Clear Daily Wash. I promise, it's everything you look in a face wash! It gets rid of all the makeup, impurities and leaves your skin soft and clean. You feel like your skin is breathing again after whole day wearing makeup products. I think it comes in two scents- grapefruit and tangerine & lime. I have tried both but tangerine and lime is more appealing to my taste. I have gone through 3-4 of those and not even ashamed that I have a back-up waiting on the shelf.

After washing and drying my face I usually reach for face cream. Last time I was in Estonia I bought my very first night cream. I don't know why I haven't used night creams earlier, but this one is awesome. It's from Estonian cosmetics brand called JOIK.
What I love most about that brand is that it's natural cosmetics.It has very settle and natural scent to it. Actually all of their products smell nice. My night cream is with calendula and sea-buckthorn oil. Sounds amazing- feels amazing. The packaging on the other hand is very smart- you literally use up all the product as you go.

After purchasing my very first night cream I bought my first eye cream too. Since I love the smell of my night cream I didn't want the eye cream to overpower it somehow so I went with JOIK's eye cream with mango butter and argan oil. All you need to know is to not apply it on the eyelids and that very little goes a long way. I use about one half pump for both of my under-eyes and that does the job for me. I love that it doesn't leave any residue in the mornings and I can see that my under eyes have been a lot brighter these days too.

That's pretty much what I do every evening after shower and before going to bed! Not that many products but I like to keep it simple, easy and quick.

What kind of skincare products do You use in the night-time?

Wishlist Wednesday #1

10:10 PM Kristiine 0 Comments

I'm really into comfortable clothing lately. Something that I can mix and match and it could be easily dressed up or down by adding accessories or changing shoes. So here's a cosy autumn look that anyone can rock.

Intro

7:56 PM Kristiine 1 Comments