Laaaazy

I am so lazy. So so very lazy. I am finally back to having Wednesdays off and its amazing... except for the heart crushing feeling that I'm going to waste every single one being unproductive and silly. I could have gone to the beach! I could have gotten a tan! I could have walked along the Charles river taking photos of pretty birds! I could have made something! I could have written a blog about making something! Instead I creeped around the internet for a while, lusting over random interior design blogs and crafty diy projects and then this is a short list of what I did.

1. Watch random music videos that have come out. 
2. Dance horribly for about 25 minutes until I catch a glimpse of myself dancing in the mirror.
3. Feel bad for myself.
4. Convince myself that its an evil fat mirror that used to be a wardrobe mirror so it basically doesn't count as a true reflection and in real life I'm probably AT LEAST 10 pounds lighter.
5. Dance for 5 more minutes in a subdued manner.
6. Talk to my Aunt about sex.
7. Clean the Kitchen!!!!
8. Give up on cleaning the kitchen because its hot and smells and I broke a nail.
9. Feel bad for myself and my nail. 
10. Load the broken dishwasher.
11. Pray for it to work.
12. Wipe down the kitchen so it at least looks like I did something.
13. Go back to creeping random blogs on the internet. 

I AM A HERO. But at least I've realized that my kitchen is slowly coming together and starting to look quite nice, and barely like its a rental kitchen.

SNEAK PEEK:

 

Dumplings

Tonight I made dumplings. I love dumplings. I LOOOOOOVE dumplings. So what if its a mite time consuming to make them from scratch? I mean I'm sure if I Google inspirational quotes at least 50% of them will be about how work/effort makes the resulting reward more amazing and blah blah blah. 

 

I mean, god that photo is making me salivate just looking at it. Thirty minutes of effort is surely worth this. Plus I would get MAD girlfriend points. That's how I convinced myself. That's pretty much exactly went through my head. In an effort to obtain extra girlfriend points I also changed from my work clothes to striped thigh highs and an over-sized sweatshirt because hell, might as well be the SUPER SEXY girlfriend that happens to also make her boyfriend dumplings from SCRATCH. Doesn't that practically make me a demi-goddess?

Oh just one more thing about Tufts...

I mean, really. Need I say more?

Tufts

While organizing the many many interior design photos that live on my desktop I have realized that I might be slightly obsessed with tufts. Alright. More than slightly. I've saved photos that have merely a glimpse of tufts in them.

Such as this:


It is an adorable living room with beautiful decorations and lighting... but its the tufted chair. The one whose tufts are obscured by a santa hat and a pillow. I can only make out about four tufts but I was sold. Immediately. That's how deep my love for tufted ANYTHING is. I mean, I know I have already proclaimed my desire for a tufted headboard... But I have also realized another dream of mine is to own a tufted ottoman. I have come to this realization after discovering over TWENTY different photos of various tufted ottomans. Haha I don't think I've ever come to a realization about myself in quite such a manner. I'm a little embarrassed, truth be told and my only comfort will come from making you just as obsessed with tufted ottomans as I, apparently, am.

Brimfield!

Some of my finds from Brimfield. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to get down there. I only wish I had more money and more time to peruse the many amazing bits and pieces that were down there. Still I got a pretty nice collection of painted glass and antlers!!

If ONLY!

I honestly can't wait to own property. That and unlimited money OH EM GEE. Oh on a completely unrelated side not, today I tried to text "what the hell" to a friend of mine and my phone auto corrected it to "what the hello". Which is now my new favorite thing to say. BAM. See how that happened? Welcome to my life.

Anyways. Back to dreaming about owning real estate and having millions of dollars. I'm very unique, I know. But I want to be able to tear up floors, lay my own; tear down walls, cry in frustration when I realize I'm weak and can't build them back up... but wait this is MY fantasy so in it I can be strong and capable, right? I will build furniture out of pallets and hope, refinish and repaint everything and create my perfect haven. The thing is, I do live in a pretty adorable apartment with my pretty adorable boyfriend and, in theory, I could save up money and buy/build all the furniture I want. Like a padded tufted headboard. Preferably in a slightly pastel aqua color. Or turquoise.

Like this:

OOooh...

Stumbleupon has taken over my life. Now instead of cleaning and organizing and decorating... I sit and stumble and ooh and ahh over beautiful photos, amazing designs and cute baby animals. FOREVER AND EVER. Like this from notmartha found via moredesignplease.



I WANT I NEED I MUST MAKE!! Not sure I have the ingredients, or the cooking utensils, or the precious little bowls and matching plates... which just means I need to buy them. Naturally. I mean, sure sure we're on a budget, and I probably wont right NOW. But I mean clearly this needs to be made. By me. I'll be the amazing super great cook to make this. And everyone will bow to my awesomeness. DONE.

Kitchen Bureau Curtains

Ah. It's been a while. That's all I'll say about that. Maybe more later. Currently I am living in a pretty spacious one bedroom in Watertown with my Boyfriend and my two cats, working at a wholesale produce distributor and getting obsessed with interior decorating. The intellectual inside me (shut up shut up, I do to have a small tiny intellectual side!) will connect my need to decorate my surroundings to my family always moving around when I was a kid... but now that I'm no longer living in dorms or with roommates... I'm obsessed. Our apartment is kind of oddly designed, with one tiny window in a nook in our living room, a triangular shower and 2004 Special Edition Hustlers hidden on top of our ugly wooden kitchen cabinets. One of the main "Oh what the f*ck?" things about our apartment was definitely the bureau in the kitchen closet. This is it:

 

It's Been A While

But in my defense I've been babysitting for the second week in a row now, so I really have very little time to write anything. The minute I sit down at the computer it's all "Ooh are you going to play a game? Can I play a game?" or "Masha let's go buy me a dragon" or "Masha, how many Kilotrillabytes are in a Megotallibyte?".


... Shoot me in the head.

Amusement at the Park

I have a mild obsession with Amusement Parks. I love them. It doesn't even matter if I can't go on the rides, just being there, hearing the screams, the laughter, and even those fucking annoying kids who wont stop sobbing about something... I love it. Ok well maybe not the kids because honestly it's like shut up. Shut up. You are cute, but you look like a little demon monster. Thus taking away your cuteness.... which is all you got working for you. Your chances of being left in the Amusement Park while your parents go treat themselves to frivolous material things has just greatly increased.

This is ittt

I think this weekend was the closest I've ever come in recent years to recapturing the magic that was my childhood at the Dacha. I think it was when we were walking to the store in the pouring rain, tipsy off of beer and happiness and Dima ran and jumped into a muddy puddle spraying us with mud that I was like "Yeah. This is it".

I slipped and fell off the roof. I went skinny dipping. Boys fought over who would help me put my boots on. I came home at 9 in the morning. It was amazing. I'm bruised, still partially hung over and am still being scolded by my mother. I'm so happy.

Productivity -> Hampered by Hotness

I'm talking about the heat and my own personal hott-ness. Vain? Yes, terribly. But come on, I look so good! I lost some more weight I think, and I got tan, and my stomach looks tight! Ch-ch-check it out! How did I accomplish this? Well. I'm sick of Russian food. I walk around a lot, and I have intense water fights with the neighborhood kids and apparently there's a shit ton of cardio in surprise sneak attacks.

Addicted

That Bridge Again

Everyone who visits me in Karmanovo has to climb the bridge. It's tradition. Of course since I've climbed this bridge so many times now I get sort of bored. This time was a little more interesting because a train came right before we got to it, so we had to run for it. Well I ran for it. Mike was a pussy and just got off the tracks into the field. I ran for the bridge and made it just in time. I'm pretty bad ass. Then we climbed on top and gang signs were thrown. Yeah. I know. Shut up. I get bored.

In retrospect Mike never even lived in Western Mass so I don't know why I kept trying to make him make the gang signs for it. Though come on, he lived in Brookline for mad long, if he was going to claim a "hood" that should be it. What the hell does VA stand for anyways? Is that even a real place. I bet it stands for like Vagina Army or something equally stupid.

Sasha's Kitten

I know it's been a while, but with school and everything I've been pretty busy. I've crocheted some stuff, but really nothing to post about. This is a kitten I made for my cousin Sasha upon request. The link to the pattern is here



I sort of had trouble sewing the eyes, I don't have any buttons here (I'm in Moscow for the summer) and while I'm sure I can buy some somewhere, I've been trying to get better at sewing. Over all it was a pretty easy pattern, I recommend it.

Mike Visited Me in Karmanovo

Mike visited, it was pretty fun. We got soaked running to the train in the rain, only to arrive and realize that it hadn't rained in Karmanovo. It never actually ended up raining. This guy on the train asked me if Mike was my husband. I know I talk about this a lot, but it amazes me how early people get married here. Not my boyfriend. not my brother, my husband. Right away. Then again in the grocery store. No no, he's just a friend. Oh so your boyfriend? No MAN, he is JUST a friend.... I'm going to throw these potatoes at you.

Immediately upon arrival I was given 40 bucks to spend on beer for us. Beer that we proceeded to drink in a day. Yeah. You heard right. 40 dollars worth of beer, finished in a day. Don't underestimate us. Mike met his target audience, aka the kids, I realized I had the weirdest fucking laugh ever. WHY has no one told me this?! I mean I know all about my weird voice and how yes I sort of have an accent sometimes... but the laugh?! I sound like a deranged clown. Why has no one shot me through the heart or punched me in the face in terror?! Or do you just all talk about it behind my back and throw me pity looks when I'm not looking. I bet you do. The kids at least are slightly honest about it. I laugh and they laugh at me. Why has no one told me?!

We actually had a bunch of fun with the kids. We went bike riding, and fishing and to the canal. It was pretty beast. The bike riding was especially extreme since I had to take Georges bike and George rode on the back of Mikes. I mean not to be an attention whore about it or anything, cuz yeah I think George had the most uncomfortable seat in the house... but have you ever ridden on a bike when the seat was so low it constantly felt like you were biking up hill? Cuz I have. Yeah. Then I took it to the next level and made a movie. I even used the word eXtreme in it. I DO want a medal, thanks. A shiny gold star will also do. A round of applause would be great (but only the kind where you clap your hands in a circle, the other types aren't as cool).

Officially A Grandmother?

I think I qualify. All I do is cook, crochet and play with kittens. Oh and dream about the days gone by when I used to get laid. I refer to that time as "The Golden Months".

The Cooking:

The Crochet:

(oh STOP it!)

Mo' Money, Mo' Problems

The Kittens:


There are no pictures of me not getting laid. Sorry. Also I'm sorry if the crochet kitty was creepy because it has no eyes. I hate sewing on eyes. They always come out crooked and weird. My sewing isn't up to par with my crochet yet. I can tie AWESOME knots though. Without even trying. I'm really talented in that department.

Bells at Novodevichy Convent

This is right next to my house actually, so I hear this every day. Nevertheless I still have not figured out when or why these bells ring. Pretty though, right?

It's been raining oh so hard

This is what it sounds like outside my window. It's been raining like this for several days now. It comes in bursts. Heavy heavy rain, ominous thunder and then, in an hour to sometimes just several minutes, the sun comes out and twinkles at you, denying there ever was a mini monsoon outside your window.

I don't necessarily mind the rain too much. It's cozy to listen to it thundering outside my window. It makes me even more lonely though, because all I want to do is do cozy cuddly things. Like crochet, watch videos, cook and cuddle. Basically I become a grandmother. True Dat!




Isn't it loud?

Oh Mathew!

This never fails to make me cry!