Recipes, DIY, travel, health, random lifestyle thoughts & more.
In times when travel opportunities are risky and limited, I appreciate each memory from my past travels even more. I love to explore new places, I find it enriching, even when it’s just a short, one day trip somewhere not too far from home. One of my fairly recent trips was one to Cracow, about a year ago now. I went there hoping to document it on the blog and took dozens of photos, but then life got busy and I never actually got round to posting the trip. Until now, that is.
I’ve recently spent 2 weeks in Croatia on a miraculous family holiday. Miraculous, because we booked it in November last year and after the pandemic started for good, I doubted it would go ahead. Luckily, I was able to see my family for the first time after 6 months and spent a fortnight in a small Croatian village, away from the crowds, which was certainly safer than living a normal life in London.
One of my favourite things to do on the beach is collecting seashells. I’d get bored to death if I was to just sunbathe for hours and I don’t particularly enjoy swimming in the sea, but walking on the shore or in the shallow water, looking for seashells and live sea creatures can keep me busy for days. Yet again I came back home with heavy bags of seashells, and I immediately proceeded to clean them.
You feel hungry, open the fridge and realise there isn’t much to work with. Sounds familiar? That’s how I came up with this recipe – the recipe that’s now, about 5 years later, a staple in my family. Sometimes made because the fridge is empty and no one has gone to the supermarket, but sometimes made because it’s quick and we genuinely like it.
Red velvet cake… with a twist? I wanted to attempt making the iconic cake for the first time, after eating it on a few occasions. Sadly, bright red cake with white cream cheese frosting isn’t a realistic, good idea anymore if you’re short on red food colouring and bake for someone with a white food phobia. The twists were a must. I found a recipe and adjusted it slightly – the final result exceeded my expectations!
Continue reading “Red Velvet Cake with Blue Strawberry Frosting”
In recent years, mandalas significantly grew in popularity. Loads of arts and crafts ideas use mandala patterns, they can make spectacular, abstract designs in drawings and paintings. There are mandalas printed on T-shirts, mandala wallpapers and even mandala tattoos are more and more common. I’ve written about the trivia of the patterns of Asian origin before. Today, I’ll share a step by step tutorial to drawing a perfect mandala from scratch.
This recipe is one of my favourite discoveries of 2020. Extremely quick and easy to make, and I usually have all the ingredients available at home anyway. Perfect as a refreshing dessert in summer, but I can definitely see myself making it in winter as well.
The project from today’s post is one of those I’d had on my list for ages. I bought some plain wooden bookmarks two or three years ago, with the intention to paint them one day, and never got round to actually doing it. Not until now, that is. I finally decided to fish the bookmark out of my huge box of craft supplies and have a go at painting it with acrylics.
Continue reading “Painted Midnight Wooden Bookmark”
Continuing with the London Parks series, after Ruskin Park, West Ham Park and St James’s Park, I’m taking you to Regent’s Park and the nearby Primrose Hill. Located in central-north London, it’s one of the eight Royal Parks in London. It’s named after Prince Regent, who later become king George IV. It’s home to diverse flora and fauna, as well as the London Zoo.
Continue reading “London Parks – Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill”
Smoothies are undeniably one of my favourite things about summer. Fresh, delicious and healthy, work perfectly as a fix for my sweet tooth. Amongst all the smoothies there’s one I love more than any other. The classic, the one and only, strawberry and banana milkshake.
Stress relief is definitely something worth attention in current times. Stress relief methods that we can do at home to kill some time? Even better! Over two years ago I posted about adult colouring books and recommended them as a way to relax at home. Recently, I came across an interesting colouring book with a twist. I’ve tried it and it’s really fun!
Continue reading “Stress Relief – Circle Numbers Colouring Book”
Alphe's Corner 