LOVE IS...

Love is... is a new Bonheurs Central series that will consist of short posts on manifestations of love, big or small, inspired by my "Love is..." collection. The purpose of this series is to document "petits bonheurs" that  brighten up my life, those that I wish became part of it, and also to encourage others to not only notice and appreciate the smallest signs of love they are given but also to remember to show other people how much they mean to them.  

Love is buying Her wheat toasts because you think she would enjoy them for breakfast.

P.S. Today is a bittersweet day. I am packing to go back to my little apartment to take an EFL teaching course. Carefree days of a "housewifey" are over.

Vote for me... not

You see, some people bear 6 babies in 3 minutes... some people hand out USD 1,285 bonuses to 1,500 employees to celebrate the birth of their 6th grandchild.

And I... I shoot for the stars and enter giveaways to win digital cameras. Compulsively.

This is my photo entry picked by cheri N.

I would've entered with a different one but you've got to pay attention to "people's choice", don't you?:) You don't but I did;)

As my friends are liking the FB page which I'm not linking to on purpose only to show me support and like my bell peppers... As I'm watching some of them spreading the word so I get more votes...

...I'm creating a draft of FaceBook Use Guidelines for yours truly.

Among other things, it roughly states the following:

I SHALL NOT ASK MY FRIENDS FOR "LIKES" AND SUPPORT TO WIN IN OTHER PEOPLE'S GIVEAWAYS

I know, many would say I'm overly dramatic but I feel like I'm using my friends. 

Do you enter giveaways that require FB likes from your friends? Do you have any guilt about that? Do you send them reminders about their option to "Unlike" the page after giveaways and competitions are over?

Bonheurs Central Series

Journalling joy for over 5 months now, I've realized that there are some things I never or rarely mention on here.

So, I've decided to start 3 Bonheurs Central series that hopefully will not only make a good addition to my petits bonheurs collection but will also be fun for you to follow or maybe even contribute to.

Coming up:

• WE'VE BEEN EATING:  food photo series:)
• CULTURE SHOCK: a series on culture differences I have or am dealing with having lived abroad, dating a foreigner and having friends and acquaintances from [nearly] all over the world. We're all alike. Just not so much:))
• LOVE IS...: a series of short posts on manifestations of love, big or small, that either take place in my life or those I wish to make a part of it. Inspired by my "Love is..." collection;)

Well, I'm gone looking for a nice link up service.

Stylish Blogger Vlogging

Well, while on my mini blogging break... attempting to come up with a less awkward and embarrassing video...:)

I've been given a

Thank you, Sophie from THREETIMESF!!:))

To pass it on to 7 more bloggers, I am required to share 7 facts about myself.

So here's my semi-whispered self-introduction:

I would like to award the following 7 bloggers not only because they have style and are fun to follow but also because I'd love to know more about every single one of them you:)

So, the award goes to:

Fête Foreign; 

La Bonne Santé; 

Emily from Emily's Last Word;

Sonja from Big {Blue(print)} Ball;

Allie from Allie In Wonderland; 

Mary-Jane and Bri from Archi Loves Mary-Jane; 

and baby Giulia's mom from Mom in Rome.

To award 7 more stylish bloggers, should you choose to do so, you are to share 7 facts about yourself(ves) with all of us. 

A bullet post will do, too;) No vlog required.

The video part of this post also happens to be part of 20SB’s Vlog Day, the topic being “Introduce Yourself”…If you want to participate, look for details here.

"30 Day Shred" and other wonders in the middle of the night

It's almost 3 4 AM here now... and I know you all are dying to see my Lviv photos from last weekend, but the latte I had at midnight was not strong enough to help me edit pictures at this hour.

Therefore...

Girls, this one is for you!:)

Many of you wanted feedback on the "30 Day Shred", the kitchen setting for which I shared with you last week.

So!

I loved working out to Jillian's videos!

The work outs are 20 minutes long but intense. You can moderate some of the exercises to make it easier on you. 

Cardio is alternated with strength training often enough not to get worn out by either one (it's a whole different story after the worn work out is finished).

Ms. Michaels' encouragements, though, often have the opposite effect on me... but that's related to mentality and cultural differences more than anything else (or so I believe). 

I started out by "shredding" daily but soon noticed that my 5K trainings started to kind of suck because of that. I expected my arms to be sore, but my legs... that I did NOT expect much. And they did get sore. Unlike my abs. I didn't get enough for my abs at all.

Anyway, eventually I decided that daily shredding is not what I want right now. 

I keep Jillian and her videos in my thoughts but more as a "quick fitness fix" for when I don't have much time to exercise or when I pretend not to have it (because let's face it - I quit my job 2 months ago).

I keep running 5K 3 times per week on average, with rest days in between. 

After runs, I turn on an ooooold video called "08 min. Abs" with cheesy music and other fun stuff from 1994. 

Anyway... back to the 30 Day Shred...

Go for it, IF you:

• are busy bees with minimum time for fitness;
• have plenty of time that you would rather spend on anything other than fitness;
• do not have other training program;
• follow one more training program that you can alternate with the 30 Day Shred;
• are not back from a strength training break... like I am... and follow another training program at the same time.

If you are not doing anything at all apart from coming up with excuses why you do NOT work out... THEN GET THE 30 DAY SHRED AND DO IT!

Just remember to switch between the Levels. Seriously, you guys!:)

P.S. Also, never really believe anyone's advice... ;)

P.S. Also, I'm curious to hear about your experiences. Any thoughts, suggestions, recommendations? Links?;););)

Soviet Home

Today I'm linking up with Lauren from Outside Voice who runs "Get The Picture" photo meme. 

Last time, the theme was TREES. This time, it's HOME.

I took a different approach to the theme... and here are photos of the hostel we stayed at in Lviv. It's called Soviet Home. And although it doesn't exactly look like a regular Soviet home, it's full of fun stuff from Soviet times.

view from the balcony

We stayed there second time in a row because of a "tradition":) But let's face it: it's not exactly the most romantic place to book in Lviv (deluxe private room is not exactly deluxe, not to mention last minute booking problems... 3 months after the booking...).

But with 4 hours to sleep between the festival and the train... and considering Lviv hostels in general are pretty  bad much the same, it was a good choice.

The location is perfect. The staff are nice and helpful.

Great place for hanging out with friends and making new ones.

I'm pretty sure I want to go back:)

P.S. Guess who's been accepted to a very much needed CELTA course?;) 

Sperky Jewelry

Lviv photos and my home-themed photo post are coming soon. And meanwhile I want to share something special with you.

My friend Jana from Learn.Make.Think. is starting her very own business.

Her great-grandmother Cilka Kiralech belonged to the last generation of bobbin lace makers in Slovakia. Jana is trying to master and bring back to life this beautiful art. 

Being the creative girl she is, Jana has managed to apply bobbin lace techniques to working with sterling silver wire.

So here's the best part...

You have a chance to win one of these items. To ENTER THE GIVEAWAY you simply need to leave a comment on Sperky Jewelry FB Page under the piece you like. The winner will be announced June 10.

Despite my "luck" with lotteries, giveaways and such, I'm still wishing and hoping for this pendant:

Love it to beads!:)))

Which one would you choose?

Disclaimers: 
This is not a sponsored post in any way. Its idea belongs to me, and the only benefit I will get from it will be knowing that more people will see my friend's gorgeous jewelry.
All pictures in this post belong to Jana K Gusich.