teacups and cinnamon

Hi there! So yesterday my friends Kayla and Ryan and I went hiking at this incredibly gorgeous Snoqualmie/North Bend trail, Annette Trail. We were originally supposed to go to a different hike near by, but after some difficulty planning we decided to drop that place and go here. And I'm so glad we did! Washington is such a beautiful place and it has so many trails that still need to be discovered! I literally found this trail by going to Google-Maps and looking for little lakes. Annette Lake popped up and looked so beautiful. 

Michael Pollan, author of many food books, including the famous In Defense of Food (which I still need to read) asked people to send in their rules about eating, and I've posted a few of my favorite here. There rest you can find in this NY Times article. 

I think a few of these are really good! They are simple and easy to follow. Being healthy doesn't mean you can't eat this or that, or you must eliminate something all together. It doesn't mean counting calories or eating only "low fat" foods.  It just means eating in moderation, eating real foods, making your own food and not over eating (and of course more, but those are just the ones that pop into my head at the moment). 

Anyway, I'll keep this post short of my ramblings. Just read the "rules" below and really try to apply them to your life (I know I do). :)

Wow! I cannot believe that it's already August! :( I know, I know, it is so cliche to talk about how time passes so quickly and how we don't even realize it. But it's true! I've been on vacation for 2 months already, but it's really only felt like a few weeks. Life kinda sucks I guess. 

It's a bit bittersweet when the months roll by... Bitter because life is short (which sucks) and sweet because I get to make a cake to celebrate!!! hahah, jk. But no really, I really made a little cake to celebrate the beginning of a new month. I mean I didn't tell anyone why I made the cake. My excuse was because I was bored (which was also true)... But really it was a celebratory cake, even though it wasn't all fancy or celebratory-looking. Ah well. My cake decorating skills could use some work. 

It's a little Russian cake, with layers of white poppy seed cake and layers of chocolate cake. It's all layered with a my-own-recipe cream cheese frosting type frosting. It's kinda hard to explain. But hey, it's yummy and it suits the cake! This is the second time I've made the cake and it has finally turned out almost perfect. Almost, because I didn't make enough frosting (whoops!). But that ended up being perfect, because I got to save on calories (and sugar and fat) and it gave the cake a little bit of a rustic, vintage look. All I needed were some cool cake toppers or something! But the cake was delicious nonetheless:)

My dear cousin Irena K. and her love Andrey B. got married on February 2nd, 2013. I attended the wedding with my family and I brought along my camera. They had a professional photographer (who btw, was incredible!) but I decided to bring it to capture a few candid shots. And for practice of course. At that time, the camera was fairly new, and I had no idea how to use it. So that's why some of the photos are a bit funky. But nonetheless, i think a few of the photos turned out really nice :) It's taken me months to get these photos up because I was always so busy with school and other things. But finally I found myself two days where I could just sit down and go through a couple hundred pictures and work on them. I know they're not perfect, but hey, they capture the day and the happiness of the newlyweds. Enjoy!

Hey everyone!! I've got a really tasty recipe for you all today! :) These are twice baked, stuffed potatoes! Filled with a load of delicious ingredients (cheese, sour cream, half-and-half, butter!), these aren't the healthiest per se, but hey, having them twice a year won't hurt ;) 

Hi there! First of all, I gotta let you know that you are about to see the most amazing looking muffins you've ever probably laid eyes on (no joke). And second of all, those amazing looking muffins you are about to see are delicious. Nuff said. 

So this last Saturday, my boyfriend Vitali and I went hiking! woooo! :D It probably wasnt the best idea for me, because i had a pretty intense workout the day before, so i was sore as heck! And hiking with sore legs is no bueno. We headed up to Mt. Rainier National Park and hiked up at Sunrise Hiking. Click read more to view the rest of the pictures :)

Hi guys!!! So my parents finally let me go camping without them! I know I know, how lame... I'm 20 years old and my parents still treat me like a child. But that's ok, I liked camping with them ;) they would provide all the food and all the cleanup and I didn't have to pay for anything.... ;) But, in all truth, camping with parents is BORING. So so boring. Camping with friends is a million times funner, better, more exciting, more awesome, and all the other adjectives that can describe it.