My type of celebration

I’m not big on following traditions, especially the ones I didn’t grow up with or had known of prior to coming to this country. And baby shower (on any type of shower, for that matter) was one of them.
Until I got pregnant.
Boy, your perspective on things changes when you in this surreal state!
So last week I had my baby shower at my dear friend’s place hosted by my dear sister. Home made food, dessert and the company of the best people who came to wish me well on my new upcoming role.
What else can a mom-to be wish for?

Maslenitsa brunch

Today we said our “goodbyes” to winter and “hello” to spring by making and eating lots of blini (pancakes). That’s what Maslenitsa is basically about. In Russian tradition, we celebrate the beginning of spring and end of winter by making lots of blini  that are to be shared. You can eat them with meat, caviar, sour cream, jams, pretty much anything you like, as long as you have blini wrapped around your stuffing.

I like this celebration and would like to continue the tradition. Blini are easy to make and their shape represents the sun that we are getting more and more of at this time of year. I think that deserves a celebration.

A friend of mine got so excited about the season change; he decided to express it with a little “blini art”:

Happy International Women’s Day!

International Women’s Day is a very similar to Mother’s day celebration that we grew up with in Russia.
Some women like to be gifted with flowers, sweets or perfume on this day, but I got yarn and couldn’t be happier:) Started a project with it immediately!

What are your “unusual” gift preferences when it comes to days when men express their admiration for us?

The BIG number

Yesterday I've joined the 30s club. THIRTY!!!
The number is too big and I feel like this time it actually has a meaning and it’s a big one. All the birthdays up until now were peaces of cake, insignificant in their sense. This one is an actual hit. I feel it in my bones and it’s scary. If you think of it, up to 20s – you are just a kid, in your mid 20s - you are still a kid but with your own money and a somewhat direction in life, you can still do whatever you want: work, travel, switch education – anything you want, because you’re only responsible for yourself. 
Whereas when you're hitting this mark, you start to feel a bit of panic taste that you didn’t know existed before. Questions like: “Am I doing everything right?”, “Where am I going in this life?”- constantly popping up in your head, whatever you do or wherever you go.
You also start to think about things you’ve never paid attention to before – your living conditions, how you spend your spare time (yep, sitting in front of TV seems like a waste of precious time now), you finances, etc. I also notice that I've started to appreciate nature and things created by nature more. If a stroll in a park used to be a drag, now it’s something you cherish and look forward to. Or gardening, working with earth, brings such pleasure and satisfaction that again, I didn't care for before.
I tell you, it’s a total new “YOU” when you turn 30. Adulthood is no longer an option: it’s a fact.
As for regrets, which seems to be an appropriate topic on a big B-day like this, they're less significant than what's been accomplished so far. For one, I never thought I'd be celebrating this milestone here, on this continent, in this great country, with the closest people that I've been very lucky to meet and reunite with.
Here are some amazing quotes that totally describe how I feel:

The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old - servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits.
Anonymous

At the age of twenty, we don't care what the world thinks of us; at thirty, we worry about what it is thinking of us; at forty, we discover that it wasn't thinking of us at all.
Hervey Allen

Everything I know I learned after I was thirty.
Georges Clemenceau

And my favorite one:

Time and Tide wait for no man, but time always stands still for a woman of thirty.
Robert Frost

Making memories: fall anniversary

With all the beauty thriving all around I couldn’t not ask my friend and professional photographer,
Laura Stanley, to take our pictures. Especially since it’s been four years since we had a photo shoot together - when we were pronounced husband and wife at the Ottawa City Hall.
Time flies, for sure. I don’t feel being married this long. And yet I can’t imagine it being different.
We’ve had a lot to go through as a couple in these four years: settling in a new country, adjusting to new traditions, learning language, getting new education and jobs, I could go on and on. But when you share life with all its ups and downs, you get the support, comfort and partnership that help you overcome tough times and make good times happier.
In Russian tradition, four year wedding anniversary is believed to be a “linen anniversary”. Linen is a strong textile that's hard to rip and, supposedly, so is the marriage, at its fourth year. I'm not a big believer in things like that, but I do agree that we’ve matured as a couple. That our union became stronger.

 Thank you, Laura, for the beautiful job you did. Mackenzie King Estate in Gatineau Park never felt so romantic!