Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Everyday Jewelry


Jewlery is something most poeple wear, either just for the sake of fashion, because it's tied to a memory or for religious purposes. There can be many reason, but a lot of times the jewlery we wear often or only on speical occasions are the pieces we cherish the most and that mean something to us.
I wanted to share the pieces that mean something to me and that I wear everyday, or almost everyday.
There has been a few additions since I wrote this post, my wedding band and two gifts from family, but besides that it's all the same, these pieces all mean something special to me, including the new ones that are not in the pictures!

The cross is from my baptism, it means a lot to me because it is a symbol of my tie to God and the promise I made to myself when I got baptised and later the promise I made to my husband when we god married (of course my wedding band is part of that promise).

My engagement rings I guess don't really need explanation, they are the promise of love, joy, happiness, unity, family and much much more from my now husband when we got engaged, they are truely some of the most cherished pieces I have.

Then comes the dainty earings that is a gift from my grandmother (from my mothers side), I got them when I was quite young, 10 if i remember correctly, as a gift when she came to visit from Armenia.

The Jade bangle is something I bought for myself when I went to China with my high school class. That bangle reminds me of all the places I've been in my life and all the new places I'm gonna go.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know me better through my jewelry I would to hear about the jewelry that you cherish the most :)











Sunday, July 26, 2015

Rhubarb Cake | Recipe


Why is it that most social things are based around food and mostly unhealthy food? Like cake and candy? When we want to have a good time we go out and buy all of these unhealthy things (not that there is anything wrong with that once in a while, I love me some cake we all know THAT!)
But honestly I appreciate social time more when I am doing/eating healthy things.

Anyway some time ago one of my besties came to visit for the first time after I moved to Malmö and since we are both good at being bad when it comes to eating healthy, I decided that we were gonna have fun and eat a lot of delicious healthy things, forgot about healthy and baked a rhubarb cake, perfect for summer,  I'm so bad haahahah! If you would like to try, here's the recipe.

You will need:

- 2 dl sugar
- 3 eggs
- 100 g meltet butter
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanillasugar (you can substitute it with vanilla extract)
- zest of 1 lemon (or 2 limes)
- 4 dl flour
- 1 dl yogurt
-  1 ½ dl milk
- 4 rhubarb stalks cut in 1 cm pieces

Heat the oven to 200 degrees celsius (390 degrees fahrenheit)

Whip egg and sugar together until fluffy, add  meltet butter, milk and yogurt and mix.
Mix flour, vanillasugar and lemon zest. Add it slowly untill it's all well combined. Lastly fold in the rhubarb pieces.
Prepare a springform pan by giving it a genereous coat of butter and pour the batter in, and put on the middle rack for 20-25 minutes. Every oven is different so keep an eye on it.

Enjoy with fresh berries and sourcream, so delicious!



Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Elderflower Goodness | Recipe



The last couple of days the weather here in Malmö have been amazing, which makes me all giddy to get outside and be with nature, when I was child be would plant all sorts of fruit and vegetables and makes the most delicious food, desert and drinks of them and that has definitely stuck with me. I miss the feeling of planting, nurturing and seeing a garden come to life. Since we don't have a garden i make do with just making delicious foods and drink with everything that screams summer! And since the weather had been so good for a little while I knew that all the lovely elder-flower trees must have bloomed, which means it's time for elder-flower cordial. It's such a delicious treat, it tastes like summer, flowers and sunny warm days.

You'll need:

- 20 elder-flower screens
- 25 g citric acid powder
- 1-2 sliced lemons
- 750 g sugar
- 250 g brown sugar
- 1 L boiling water + enough to scald the container
- 1 tsp atamon + enough to rinse the container in (you can leave this out if you plan on using the whole batch within a week)
And some kind of container that will lock airtight.

Boil the water. While the water is boiling put the elder-flowers in a big bowl that you can fit a lid on, add all the other ingredients and then pour over the boiling water. Stir well and put the lid on, let it sit for 5 days, remember to stir once or twice everyday to make all the sugars melt. On the 5th day you are ready to bottle it up!
Start by sifting the cordial and then scalding the containers and then rinsing them with atamon. After that you can fill up the containers and you have a delicious summer drink. Dilute it with water after your taste, serve with ice cubes and sliced lemons. Enjoy!

One batch makes around 1,25 L/42 oz which you might think is an awkward amount but then you can bottle most of it and enjoy some at the same time !
I always double the batch since it doesn't last for long in this house ;)




Happy Summer!




Saturday, June 27, 2015

Hectic Life, Busy Wife!

I am now officially a Mrs, yaaaay mission accomplished!
But seriously guys I can't believe that I am now a married woman, and that we actually made it, all the preparing and planning in time and that it was so beautiful and fun and exciting all at the same time. I cannot explain how happy it makes me to see his ring on my finger knowing that this amazing man is MINE!



It feels like a balloon deflating you know, now there is no stress, just normal day after normal day, going to work, cooking and cleaning. It's surreal after that incredibly hectic week before the wedding and after with family and friends visiting. Guests flying back. It took some time to come down from my pink cloud and get into my normal relaxed self. Also one of the reasons I haven't been posting, but now I am finally back! Can't wait to get the pictures so I can share them with you guys and relive an amazing day that passed too fast, that's one tip for you guys, try to let all the impressions soak in because suddenly the day will be over and you will be thinking when did the time pass.

Gotta go now I have some amazing weather to enjoy some delicious elder-flower cordial to make (recipe coming up!)

Catch you guys later!




Monday, June 15, 2015

Simple but Delicious Chicken Curry | Recipe

You know those days where you need to cook dinner but you don't have a clue what to cook. And you don't want to spend a ton of time in the kitchen (because it's the weekend and you rather relax and spend time with your family!). Well yesterday was one of those days, it's weekend, I want to spend time with Mr. M and just enjoy my time off. But we have to eat right? So I like to have a couple of simple recipes on hand for simple easy but still tasty cooking.

Yesterday it was Chicken curry, it's very simple with only a few ingredients that you probably already have at home and it takes little time to cook.

You need:
  • 4-5 diced bell peppers (different colors for a colorful meal)
  • 1 kg diced chicken breast
  • 2-3 diced tomato
  • 3-4 cloves of minced garlic
  • 1 can of coconut-milk
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • 1-2 tbsp of curry
  • Chili to taste (I like mine HOT!)
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
Tips!
You could also add zucchini, cauliflower or celery along with the peppers and you could top it with cilantro when serving for great taste and more color :)

Start with a large pot over medium heat, add the vegetable oil and the diced bell pepper, tomato, garlic and all the other vegetables. Cook until they have softened a little. Then add the chicken breast and cook until the meat is all white. Then add the coconut-milk and lemon juice. Let it come to a boil and add the curry, chili, salt and pepper to taste.

All done!
Serve with some fluffy rice and you have a yummy meal.
Try it and tell me what you think!





Monday, May 25, 2015

Kigelia Africana the Miracle Fruit


One of the newer brands that we have gotten in the pharmacy is Kimovi, it's a danish brand with few but effective products in their line. And when I say new we have had it for about a year, but since we don't get new brands often, it stills feels pretty new.

The brand doesn't really live up to my "clean" standards, but the gel contains a very few ingredients compared to other products that are not natural and/or organic. And since starting the accutane treatment my skin has been breaking out in rashes and eczema weekly( even now that I'm done my skin is super sensitive). The Kimovi gel soothes the itchiness immediately and calms the skin thanks to the kigelia africana plant extract, which has anti inflammatory and antibacterial effects (that also gives it a not so nice brown color, as you can see in the above picture), it also lays a very thin protecting film over the skin. That's why it's soothes eczema and the anti inflammatory and antibacterial properties combined with the salt in some of Kimovi's products actually make it super good for people (like me) who has got acne. The salt doesn't only fight acne but psoriasis too, they have studies with remarkable results after just a couple of weeks.

You can go to their website and read more about their products here.
There is a whole page where people that has bought the products share their experiences.

It's the only thing I have found besides hormone creams my doctor prescribes that can calm my skin. I would have liked to use the more moisturizing cream from their line. But I like the gel for it's few ingredients. So for now I add on my Pai comfrey & calendula calming body cream for extra moisture and calming effect.


Mint Green Nails

If you guys follow me on Instagram you know that for easter I had the most appropriate bright yellow nails, but since my nails are super dry and brittle it didn't last for long when I apparently decided to smash my nails against the counter top and break not one but two of them. And of course the polish chipped right off. So I decided it was time for a new spring color.

And that makes the perfect reason to share my nail-care routine with you guys, which have gotten quite complex post accutane, since they are still super dry I incorporated a couple of extra steps.


I always start by prepping the nail bed. I file them down to the desired shape, sometimes I even cut them first if they are too long. Even though right now it's impossible for me to grow my nails long, because they are so brittle. I then start with a cuticle remover, this one is from Ciaté. I use a cuticle pusher to push them back and then wash my hands.Then I apply cuticle oil to moisturize and condition the area around the nail, I use the Ciaté's "Love Me Oil" cuticle oil. When  the oil has absorbed the first step is to use the Malava nail hardener and then I add OPI's Nail Envy, I switched to the one called "Dry & Brittle" instead of the original. Since my nails are so brittle I try to make up for that with the Mavala to harden them and I try to give them a little moisture with the OPI Nail Envy for dry and brittle nails.

And then it's time to put some color on. I choose this beautiful, pastel mint green from Essie, called "Where's My Chauffeur?", I really like this for spring (for some reason the color doesn't look the same on my nails as in the bottle).  I always put on 2 coats, that makes a much smoother manicure. Top it off with top coat and your manicure should last for days. I love Ciaté's Speed Coat beacause it dries so fast, which makes the risk of ruining your nail polish while it dries so much smaller. It has saved many of my manicures, including this one.






Sunday, May 3, 2015

Recycled Bookmarks | DIY


As you guys know I am a big fan of the Pai Skincare products (I'm obsessed! See here and here), not only are their products great, all natural and organic but they're packaging is super pretty too!
Since buying the first product I have been saving all the packaging for the products, just couldn't make myself throw them out. I generally don't like throwing things out.
So I decided to make bookmarks out of them, I love reading so it was the perfect fix. And of course I will share with you how to, it's super simple.


You need:
  • Scissors
  • Ribbons in your preferred colors
  • A lighter
  • Pencil
  • Ruler
  • Perforator 
  • Sharp cutting knife
  • Cardboard piece of your choice
You can also skip the knife and lighter, and still get a nice result.

If you have a bigger piece of cardboard you need to cut it smaller to handle it better, or like in my case, cut the packaging open.


After that, mark the part you want to cut out for the bookmark, I choose the part with the flowers, and since it's printed on both sides, it's gonna be pretty front and back.


Then it's time to prepare the ribbon to stop it from unraveling, first cut it diagonally and the sear the ends with the lighter if you want to, to make 100 % sure it wont unravel, you can leave it without searing, cutting it diagonally should do the trick too.
Cut a hole for the ribbon in the cardboard piece you cut out, put the middle of the ribbon through the whole and put the ends of the ribbon through the loop that is created. 
And you have a beautiful bookmark!


If you guys make some, I would love to see them! :)


Sunday, April 19, 2015

Time to Travel


Today we are packed and ready to go to Armenia, we have planned this trip for quite some time now.
Since I am originally from Armenia I am super excited to revisit, which will be the 5th time for me. I'm going with my Fiancé, and even though we are mostly going to fix wedding stuff, like our rings and wedding favors, we are also gonna relax and have some time for ourselves.
Another reason we are going is the marking of the centenary of the Armenian Genocide. Which is super important for both of us to attend, so we are looking forward to that.

But first we have our transit in Vienna for 11 hours, and have we totally taken advantage of that and explored the city! Super fun and interesting walking around in an old european city and there is so much to see. Unfortuneatly all stores are closed on Sundays so no shopping, but I'm not evens sure we would be able to after walking 16 km (aprox. 24.000 steps, wearing a pedometer becomes handy) around beautiful Vienna, with only 3 hours of sleep and another flight ahead of us.

So now Mr. M and I are recharging (both body and electronical devices!) so we are ready to explore Armenia tomorrow!

Talk to you guys post Armenia, and hopefully before the wedding ;)

First a little breakfast
St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom)
Look at all thoose details!
More beauty...
Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsopera)
More beautiful architecture
Hofburg Palace
Soviet War Memorial
Beautiful Belvedere (Schloss Belvedere)


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