The First Day At School

                School is our second home. I often remember with a smile my first days at school.  Those memories take me back into my childhood. In the time, when I was always happy and could hug my Mom. The best memories and the best time ever.  My childhood had many memories. Some were happy, sad, some were even frightening, but this memory has stuck out in my mind as the most crucial, and memorable time in my life.

          My first school day... It was September first, outside was cold and rainy. My Mom was holding me by the hand while we were walking to the school. I was carrying a very heavy bouquet consist of red tulips for my first teacher. I was so excited and nervous and scared at the same time. From my house to school was only fifteen minutes to walk, then it felt like a huge distance. We arrived to school ten minutes early and I went to meet my classmates before we had a meeting at the school yard. Everybody looked so neat and beautiful. All girls used a white bows for their hair. I dressed up, too. I was wearing the plaid skirt and red jacket. My school backpack weighed more than me. After the principal's speech we went to the class room. That's when the real adventure began. I still don't know how it happened, but I was lost and could not find my teacher and classmates. I was sitting down in the hallway and crying so hard. After twenty minutes my teacher found me and we went to our classroom. I stopped crying and felt comfort in my class. My desk was near the window and looked clean and shiny. We just had one lesson for the  first day and after 45 minutes, when the bell was ringing , we went back home.

  It was a short story, but it is everything that I remember from those days. I liked my first teacher and I am still  friends with my classmates.  School gave me a lot of knowledge and helped me to prepare for a grown-up life. I will always remember my school and that happy day. I don't remember the details from my first day at school, but I still remember my feelings. I had a puzzle of feelings:  fear,  shyness, delight, sadness and happiness. All these ''friends'' lived in my head in the same moment and made my heart beat faster.  

Lol, old picture of me))))))

Pomelo Paradis...

Do you like wearing perfumes? Do you associate your perfume with somebody or with anything? I am perfume addicted person. I have started collecting perfume from 2014. My collection is a huge and I still can't stop to find new ones. A few days ago, my husband made for me an early birthday present and of course, that is a new bottle of perfume. That's is awesome sent and I want to tell you about it. 

The name of perfume is Atelier Cologne "Pomelo Paradis", which made in France, like many others perfume. 

  From the first seconds, I understood that it will be my favorite sent for spring and summer times. When I wear the "Pomelo Paradis", I feel that I for a walk between mandarin and orange trees. My mind runs away to sunshine Italy. I imagine warm air, blue ocean and Italian sweet sangria. This sent including the notes of pink pomelo from Florida, Bulgarian rose essence and vetiver from Haiti.  

In fact, I've recently been spraying myself with the "Pomelo Paradis" before I get into the bed. For me, it is not only a lovely fragrance during the day, it is also a sense of calm and happiness when heading of to dream land. It is like aromatherapy for me. And also this scent remind me about my lovely Italy, especially when it is rain in Seattle. 

American Dream or How To Survive In Concrete Jungle

      "Home is where your heart is", I totally agree with these words. Now I live in America and I am not complaining about this fact, I am falling in love with states. I left my motherland about five years ago and I still miss my city, family and friends. If somebody asks me: "Where is your home?", I answer without  thinking: "Seattle, WA".

          Let's look at the past: huge airport, crowds of people, thousands of foreign languages and one young shy lady with a heavy suitcase.  I arrived to John F. Kennedy International Airport at 2 p.m. on October 31, 2011. The airport was for me like a monster, I couldn't find exit and couldn't ask anybody about direction, because my vocabulary consisted of two phrases: “hi! how are you?” and “nice to meet you!”  After running around the terminal about an hour, I finally got out outside and breathed warm autumn fresh air. It was the first time, when I felt myself a little bit happy. 
          I took the cab, thank you God, the driver was Ukrainian and we spoke in Russian.  I told him that I needed to go to the Penn Station, because New York was only a transit point in my journey. When we passed streets, skyscrapers and other buildings, everything for me looked like in movies, that I loved to watch in Russia. Everything looked like in "Sex and the city", but without Carrie Bradshaw. With each new second I fell in love with the Big Apple. 

          I sat in the evening train, which was travelling to the South. I listened the music on my phone and tried to sleep, but I couldn't, I was too excited. My last destination was Charleston, SC. We arrived in a deep night, outside there was too dark. My friend from Russia was waiting for me on the platform. He helped me with accommodation and work. At the next day,  I woke up late, because I had jet lag. The difference between my city in Russia and Charleston is 12 hours. I was so tired and sleepy, but we went to look around. Charleston is a small city with beautiful European architecture, warm Atlantic Ocean and friendly, nice people. They call this Southern hospitality. I fell in love with Mr. Charleston and still miss this beautiful charmed place.

          Now, I want to tell about some difficulties, that I met face to face. For two weeks I couldn't ate American food, I just drunk water, ate some eggs and candies. I caught flu, I think it happened because I changed climate zone. In Charleston weather is always hot and humidity, but I am from cold Siberia. I missed a lot of my family and my language. I cried every night and called my Mom. After one week I got my first job in USA and it was for me like going to hell. I started to work at the hotel, small beautiful 5 stars hotel. I was a housekeeper and it was hard and nervous job. My working day was about 15-18 hours, I worked double shifts. For the first time, I was tired and depressed. One year later, everything has changed. I found a new job (waitress in small french cafe), made new friends and met my future husband.

          After years, we married and moved to Seattle! I am so happy right now, I have everything for better life and now I can make better life for my family in Russia. I want to tell thanks God and United States, which gave me new opportunities, new experience, made me stronger and present to me LOVE.  My heart is here now, across the ocean from my country.  

La La Land (2016 Movie) Official Trailer – 'Dreamers'

Must - Watch

"La La Land’ is a film you simply never want to stop watching. It has wisdom and joy and sadness and such magic, from the evocative power of music to the transportive power of movies. It is a heartfelt lament for the fact that the place where those things meet — the movie musical — all but disappeared from our screens, and a passionately argued, utterly convincing manifesto for its return.” — Jessica Kiang, The Playlist

LA LA LAND...

Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and Mia (Emma Stone) are drawn together by their common desire to do what they love. But as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.
Drama/Romance/Musical

Release date: December 9, 2016 (USA)

Director:

 Damien Chazelle

Writer:

 Damien Chazelle

Stars:

Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and others

A beautiful film that touches the soul through its colors, performances, soundtrack, photography, light, and above all, for its story. It is movie about dreams and dreamers. I highly recommended "LA LA Land" for everybody.  It's amazing!

                                              

My City. My Omsk

I believe in my homeland. Every person has his dear corner in the world. This is the place, where I was born and grew, where my grandfather and my father were born. Motherland is my home, my cradle.

   Omsk is one of the largest cities of West-Siberian region of Russia. In the west and north Omsk region borders with Tyumen region, in the east it borders with Tomsk and Novosibirsk regions, in the south and south-west — with Republic of Kazakhstan. Geographically, Omsk city is located in the south of Western Siberia on the banks of two rivers, the Om River and the Irtysh River. The city is almost 290 years old and mainly known to Russians as an industrial center and a place to buy quality shawls. Omsk is home to an oil industry, precise mechanical engineering, and the food and textile industries. The Trans-Siberian railroad reached Omsk in 1894 opening new frontiers for the city's economy and political role. It quickly became a transit gate between neighboring Central Asian States and Siberia.

Distance between Omsk, Russian Federation and Seattle, United States is about 6,000 miles.

The population of the city as of 01.12.2015 amounts to 1178.1 thousand citizens.

Omsk is multinational city. It is inhabited by Russians, Germans, Ukrainians, Tatars, Kazakhs, Belorussians and other nations — about 120 nationalities altogether. At present time more than 50 centers of national culture are functioning, regenerating its national traditions. Religious unions of 23 confessions are acting too.

There are a lot of tourist attraction in Omsk. 

I will tell you about a few of them. 

The main Cathedral in Omsk has been painstakingly rebuilt to the exact original specifications (before it was previously demolished). The building is magnificent, set right in the center of the city, with beautiful architecture inside and out

Omsk Drama Theater

Omsk Drama Theater attracts real theater-lovers. Its performances distinguish themselves by original form, daring and startling solutions of the stage director and vivid performance.

This is a small symbol of the city. Is on Lubinsky. Avenue, where just a pleasant stroll. The statue itself - a plumber who comes out of the hatch.  His name is Stepan. He can take photo. 

Buchholz Square 

This is a symbol of  founding of the city. 

Chokana Valikhanova street, Urban Park

       The Beautiful City Waterfront

The landscape and views in Siberia are amazing! (especially, during the winter)   

I miss about my Mama Siberia💔 

P.S.Milk Processing Factory Omskii produces the best worldwide condensed milk😋

15 Things That Can Help You Find Inspiration for Writing

     If you are connected to the process of writing in some way, there is no need to explain to you how important it is to have inspiration. When you’re inspired, you consider your project easy to write, and this process captures you so much that you often forget about food and sleep. But if inspiration seems elusive, you feel utterly discouraged, and you can’t do your job at all.

    If writing is just a hobby, you have time to wait for the inspiration needed to finish your post, article, or book chapter. But what can you do when your income is dependent upon your inspiration? The answer is obvious: you should find it!

Listen to music. Music’s positive influence has been proven: one song can help you concentrate and start working, whereas another one will let you relax and think of something pleasant. Just find the music that influences you, and turn it on when you need some inspiration for writing.

Write in longhand. Thanks to modern technology, we rarely ever use a pen and a sheet of paper when we write. Just close your Word doc, take a pen, and try to remember the way you wrote back in the day. Maybe these new feelings will awake your inspiration—who knows?

Meditation. Are you finding no ideas at all? Just try to relax and think of nothing. This is the moment when inspiration may come, and new ideas can sometimes appear unexpectedly.

Listen to others. Don’t hesitate asking for advice or help. Sometimes even a common phrase from a person who is not a writer can spark a number of fresh ideas in your head.

Word associations. Just play a game: open a dictionary, pick a word, and write down all thoughts and associations that come to mind. Or think of two numbers—one for a page, the other for a line—then open any random book and read what is written there. Such “hints” work very well sometimes to jumpstart your imagination.

Think of something different. Constant thinking about the same problem may lead you to nothing but a dead end. Try to focus on something completely unrelated to your writing at hand. For example, imagine how you will celebrate the New Year in 2020, or what it might be like to climb Mt. Everest.

Take a look at something green or blue. Researches claim that these two colors can influence our creativity. It happens because we associate a blue color with sky or ocean (openness in general), and a green color gives us signals of growth.

Free writing. Take ten minutes to write everything that comes to your mind without thinking or pausing. When finished, reread what you’ve written and try to find some useful ideas from the effort.

A change of scenery. Do you work in an office? Go into another room. Do you sit all the time? Stand up and think, pace, jot ideas down. Fed up with staring at palm trees and beaches on your computer’s display? Replace them with snow and polar bears. It’s amazing how a change of scenery can give a boost to our imagination!

Laugh. Positive moods can promote creativity because they boost activity in the prefrontal cortex and anterior cortex (the areas of our brain associated with complex cognition, decision-making, and emotions).

Make something by hand. If you work intellectually, try to change your activity a bit and make something by hand. Try knitting, cooking, gardening. Anything you like and anything that can capture your attention for a while. Doing so helps you refresh all processes of thinking.

Spend some time outdoors. Take a walk in a park or go camping. It doesn’t matter what method you choose here–the main thing is that fresh air, rest, and new impressions will feed your inspiration.

Engage in sports. During exercise, we not only strengthen our body but also liberate our brain. In addition to the physical benefits, we also develop better willpower, patience, and a sense of purpose.

Try something new. If you always do what you usually do, your creativity will come to a dead end. But when you strive for something new, it can feed your inspiration. Even such simple things as a new way to work or a new cooking experiment can help you come up with some new ideas for your story. 

Sleep. If you can’t find any fresh ideas for writing, just go to bed. Yes, this often works, and sometimes after a good night’s sleep, ideas flow easier

😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

All the people in the world smile in the same language...

WINTER WONDERLAND

When winter's your favorite season, you're instantly placed in the weirdo category. Heaven forbid that you like the cold and the dark. Whatever. Winter is the best season of them all for its weather, the atmosphere, the vibes, the activities, the food, the clothes, and most importantly, the snow. 

Winter forest is beautiful and peaceful, you just enjoy white and clear silence...

Snow looks like a sweet marshmallow:)

 We enjoyed this winter fairy-tale at Snoqualmie Summit Mountain, 1st January 

My First Christmas in America

          "Rockin'  around  the  Christmas  tree. Have a happy holiday...'', when I hear that song everything inside of me comes alive. Christmas is my favorite holiday, the most magical and happiest time in the year for me. There's something about the way everything comes together — the middle of winter, the lights, the music, the food.  I love Christmas for so many reasons. All my family gets together. There's special food and drinks like eggnog and peppermint mocha! I love the cold weather around that time. I love to watch the old-fashioned Christmas  movies.  I do like to buy gifts for people. I love the lights. I love the smell of Christmas trees, hot chocolate and cinnamon.  Everything about Christmas is just cozy and nice.

          I remember my first Christmas far away from home: it was equal parts of sadness and happiness.  When  I used to live in South Carolina my  Christmas was the warmest Christmas in my life. People decorated palm trees with lights and walked on the beach wearing  flip-flops. I am originally  from Siberia and it was a little bit  shocking for me to celebrate Christmas in the middle of  the  ''summer''.  The whole city was covered with lights.  All buildings, bars, restaurants, shops, banks looked like  Christmas postcards.  I missed my family across the ocean and thought about them during  holiday week.  I was crying  almost everyday, because I couldn't  hug my Mom.  My new Russian-Americans friends changed  my mind about unfamily Christmas and made my first Christmas in America unforgettable.

          We rented a beautiful beach house on the ocean. The view was breathtaking: endless ocean and millions of  stars above my head. My friends and I decorated the house with different Christmas staff, cooked Russian traditional holiday food (Olivier/Russian salad, pancakes with caviar, pelmeni and etc). Also we prepared Christmas music and fireworks.  We were sitting at the table `enjoying our holiday dinner.  Everyone felt happy and blessed. For me, that Christmas, was a lot more than just a holiday. I met my future husband that magical night and for me it was the best Christmas gift ever.  

Choose Your Topic...

1. Love Is In The Air  What is love? Love is a very special and meaningful word to each human being.
2. My Dog Is My Best Friend People love pets because they give so much happiness to them. They offer unconditional love. They will always be with you through your ups and downs. I love pets because they are more human than any human being around.
3. Your Childhood We are all from childhood. What is a childhood?
4. What Super Power You Choose To Have If I had one superpower that could let me change the world, I would like that to be the power to make everybody happy.
5. Travel Is My Religion  Everyone likes to travel! New people, new places, new customs, and traditions help people broaden their horizons. 
6. A Book That Has Changed Your Life Two years ago this summer I read a book that changed the entire way I see the world. 
7. National Food  Every culture has its own way of life, traditions, holidays, songs and fairy-tales. That makes us different and is also what makes us a culture. Every culture has its favorite dishes and its inherent feast customs.
8. My Hometown "Home is where your heart is," I totally agree with these words. Now I live in America and do not complain about this fact, I fall in love with States, but I left my heart in Russia forever.
9. My Best Friend No doubt, everyone dreams of having a true and faithful friend but not all of us lucky enough to find one. 
10. Hard Decision In Your Life  The difficult decision is when you were confused between two things that will change your life.