PLAYGROUND SEASON: Splash of colour in Bucharest

This photo is a courtesy of Ioana from The Happyholic. Ioana and her works are as colorful and positive as this little playground here. If you want to read more about her super-duper RO+MANIA project, jump over to Eastok Europe, you will see some cool stuff there. Beware, she will tell you NOT to go to Romania and you'll just want to go after.

 also did a little summer interview with Ioanna on Eastok Europe, check it out!

Not doing bad is NOT doing good

First thing I saw this morning was this video:

When your Monday morning starts with you trying to figure out how the hell we are supposed to raise normal, nice kids...it is not a good start of the week. No, I don't throw up on the side of the road, I don't yell racist comment in people's faces, nor do I smash stuff because I am angry. I don't smoke either, but my husband does, so does my brother and our favorite neighbour. Male role models for my sons. Our children learn from everything that is around them. No, I don't think they will necessarily start smoking at 12 y.o. because their father smokes, but I know that if they see a certain behavior patterns over and over and over again...they will 'learn' them as the norm. However, not being BAD does not make us GOOD. And that is the truth! The fact that I refrain from yelling at people on the street so my kid won't see the real me, the monster mommy, DOES NOT make me a good person.

I took my kid out on my bike today. Nothing special, a mom on her bike riding with her kid. Only one kid, no special treatment necessary. I needed to cross the street where there was no pedestrian crossing, wasn't giving it much thought, which is why I didn't even notice the guy stopping the traffic and calling for me. Come, come...he said, holding his hand out to the cars, signaling for them to wait. And then he just continued on his way. That is the kind of behavior I would love for my kids to see more off. Not less of the bad and inappropriate, but more of the GOOD and so unexpected. Because, believe me, there are so many more ways to be good than to be bad.

Please watch this video! Please!

Personalized bow tie

It is KCWC and I am not participating. I am not at home and although it wouldn't be my first time to do the week of sewing while away, this time I am just not feeling up to it. Too much work, beautiful weather and 2 little boys are keeping me busy, even with my mom currently taking over most of the activities around the boys.
So, I decided to cheat...a little.
My brother got married 2 months ago. Since him and his wife have several nephews (all boys!), we sort of tried to have them all dressed the same. The idea was: white shirt, grey trousers and the bow tie I was going to make for all of them.

And I did, 6 bow ties for 6 boys ranging from 9 moths to 4 years old.

The print on the tie are the young couple's names with little hearts in between, using Sniglet font. I simply made a pattern for A4 paper and printed in out on a fabric printing sheet I had ordered from the US 2 years ago, but never got to use it. Fabric printing sheets work like paper, but when the fabric is taken of the paper backing it is quite thin, so I had to use some fabric backing to make the bows hold better. The rest is just sewing the bow as you normally would.

Ring bearers:)

Photos by: Photo Studio Ana

Slatko, slatko...it is Sweet

Exactly a year ago, I posted a No bake Cheesecake recipe I had whipped up for us at home. The recipe featured Slatko. Many of you probably don't know what this is.

Slatko meens sweet in several Slavonic languages. In this case it would be Serbian. It is a super sweet fruit preserve which was traditionally used to welcome guests to your house. Everybody would get a tea-spoon and have some Slatko still at the door.

Although we never make our own Slatko at home, we always have it in our pantry. Because of the huge amount of sugar that goes into it it can keep for ages (don't worry, the amounts you eat in one go are really small). It is like honey with fruits for me. BUT, if you are not lucky to have Slatko readily available at the store or at the market, check out this beautiful recipe for Strawberry slatko. It is so simple to make, and with minimal ingredients. You should try it out, learn something new!

Ja u kuhinji