Mushroom picking

Yesterday I got a call from my man asking if we wanted to go mushroom picking with his friends. I said why not? The weather was Okeyish, it wasn't too muddy or cold, and the forest we went to wasn't very far. And although I didn't want to get my hopes up, I was pleasantly surprised. After two hours of traipsing through the forest my basket was full and even the sun decided to show up just before setting. I begged my man to drive me to my parents to show and share some of the mushrooms (at the end they didn't want any). But the views while we drove to their house were amazing. I smiled like an idiot while thinking to myself: "I love this city". (I think I love this city the more, the more the possibility of us having to move looms over us :( )
And thus I had scrambled eggs with mushrooms for dinner, breakfast and dinner. But alas, there are no more.

I had only my HTC (or as I like to call it "C" - cause letters HT are gone) to take the pictures. The beautiful navy espresso cup is from Butlers - I finally got them in Prague in six colors - yellow, orange, red, turquoise, navy and lime-green. They are sooo gorgeous and always cheer me up! And the weird things on the last picture are bell peppers spread with bio liver pate (well, I have to improvise since we don't eat bread).

And the last - last picture are my two money guzzling beasts: silver Valkyrie and black Audina (funnily enough they are both "girls"). And THIS girl is thinking about getting rid of them and purchasing something small and CHEAP! And then I am thinking about next shopping trip to IKEA or just another trip to Prague with golf gear and realizing why I bought combi in the first place.... Somebody in this family HAS to have a big car and it's not going to be my man who has no interest in the cars the way I do. (I looove cars and driving, I could and I DO it every day even though it would be cheaper to ride a bike or take a bus to my workplace!!! My man has a small, red, 10 year old Yaris with only 50000km under the hood he inherited from his grandfather who can't drive anymore. And even though his friends make fun of him for his girlfriend having a better car, he likes his Ultimate City Mobile - UCM as he likes to call it and has no urge to compensate...)

Golf in Prague

I really, really love Prague. But really - who doesn't? It's an amazing and beautiful city. Since we were Czechoslovakia few years back and we (the Slovak and the Czechs) understand each other, it doesn't feel like being abroad, just like being at home a little bit. We have few Slovak friends living over there and we (my man) found a new, great Czechs friends there (yeah, I know, what a surprise to have Czech friends living in Czech capital...) And that's why when we visit Prague, we never feel like tourists (I have seen Prague castle ONCE! A big shame!) I like to call our visits to Prague "gourmet journey". Because that's what we do, we gorge ourselves on the best food Prague has to offer.
We had some dim sum in COA (Cuisine of Asia):

some incredibly tasty steak tartar and steaks!!!! at El Toro:

and some really yummy and juice burgers at Yes burger:

I ordered the Tower burger (it's a big bacon one) because my friend told me that the bacon burger is small. And I got that monstrosity. But boy oh boy, was it delicious. The six of us (me, my man, our best friends-couple from Slovakia at whose place we stayed and another Czech couple - the new friends) devoured our burgers with a huge amounts of French fries, coleslaw, ketchup and tartar sauce and some Duff beers while watching Tin Cup. Tin Cup is pretty old movie with Kevin Costner about golf.
And that was the whole reason of us traveling to Prague this time - golf. (Not that gourmet journey and seeing our friends is not a good enough reason ;). When it comes to golf in Czechoslovakia, the golf people tried to make it even more elitist than it already is and they made up something called "the green card". If you want to play in Czech republic and Slovakia, you need to pass the test and exam and have a green card. It basically looks like this:

So we basically spent part of Friday, whole Saturday and Sunday on the green. I took few pictures and kept the players company and read a lot. (I finished two books - The Wheat Belly by William Davis and Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf. They are finally available in Slovak, but my most favorite "against all grains" book is still It Starts With Food by Hartwigs!! and still not available in Slovak - (I want it for my mom mostly).
I also learned ALL the golf rules and would probably pass the test but I am still successfully resisting the urging to play. The funny part was when the golf trainer assumed at the beginning that I would play too and when I refused to take the clubs, he simply leaned them on me. But I didn't want to play and thus I didn't want him to devote his time to me - someone who had no real wish to learn how to play golf. Unfortunately, it looked like I was being silly and spoiled. I tried to explain but I still felt foolish. And I still have no wish to play golf, I haven't a single competitive bone in my body and would find golf tedious and restless. Instead I would like to spend my energy on stuff I love like running, learning ballet or riding horses.
The weather was capricious (so was somebody's mood, I had seen clubs flying!).

The players with their trainer Tomáš (who is only 21! :) )

My handsome man.

The girl power! (Our Bára).

Once again, it was an amazing weekend in Prague. We had great time. Unfortunately, the cold reality was expecting me at home - I have a faulty bearing on the right front wheel of my Audi, there is going to be a control from Tax Office and Trade Register ((un)fortunately, the thing I had nothing to do with) and all the grains and sweet stuff I ate are already plastered all over my face. (To which my man said: you obviously do have a sensitivity and problem with grains. I would like to say: Well, duh. But I would also like to kick myself in the butt for being so stupid and weak and ALWAYS eating the unhealthy stuff). Well, never mind. I am back to Whole30, cooking healthy stuff (I can see pumpkins and apples in every future meal, yum, yum!) and I have other things to look forward to. Like tomorrow my parents are going to get a puppy - a first puppy for our whole family!! Yey, can't wait! And a little bit over a week I am going to visit my BFF in Ireland. (Another first - my first time in Ireland!)

My autumn wishlist

Autumn is here and like every autumn I have this huuuge urge to make wish lists. So here are my currents obsessions:

1. Steve Madden Stockhlm Boots To say I have a mild obsession with these would be an understatement of the century. I've been eyeing them for few months now. Unfortunately, Steve Madden doesn't ship to Slovakia (which might have not been such a problem), but they don't accept any cards other than US or Canadian. AND they don't sell these anywhere BUT on stevemadden site. The more I can't have them, the more I want them! And when my man told me: it's just shoes, honey - he got the evilest eye ever. 'nuff said. 2. Michael Kors Watch Let's just say I have only a silver watch and thus I have to eschew golden accessories. With these I wouldn't face this problem. (Yeah, to have my problems... ;) ) 3. Peter Watson's Great Divide Yes, there is a book on this list. Yes, it is nonfiction. Yes, I want it bad. 4. VS Suede Pumps I don't even know how many times I searched for gray suede pumps on amazon. And all of a sudden Victoria's Secret has them. Another reason to love them. (Not that I need any more of those :) ) 5. Ice Skates There is a new ice rink in Nitra and I MUST get a chance to skate this year. And since the last pair of ice skates I bought are in Moscow, I need a new ones. 6. Cable sweater Red, navy blue or dove-gray - it doesn't matter, I want me some cable knit sweater this autumn. 7. Belt I need me some serious belts! - since I lost the belly fat ALL my belts are useless and this one is called Valkyrie (the name of my first car) so it's very fitting. 8. Navy bracelets The most amazing Kiel James Patrick merchandise to remember the summer in the dreary winter months. They are all SO gorgeous. 9. Espresso cups Finally, we have a great espresso machine and the best coffee in Slovakia I could find. And now I really want some beautiful espresso cups, too. These come in many different colors and I am going to buy them all next week in Prague. Jupiii. 10. Apron Yep, it's an apron. And with tour eiffels. With the amount of cooking I am doing these last few months, I think I deserve to be pretty in the kitchen. 

Slovak Wedding from Choir Perspective

Wedding season is on and our choir got a first gig this year this Saturday. I love to spy on the wedding from our "bird" perspective from the balcony and this time I grabbed my camera. Of course I snapped a few picture of us, the choir.

There were the usual Wedding marches, Rutter's The Lord Bless You and Keep You and Clare Benediction and Frisina. The bride was beautiful and radiant and obviously everybody was having a good time. We got "výslužka" (gift of food - I can' stress how amazing this Slovak wedding tradition is - you get a box of desserts and cakes and some alcohol!!!). We got three Sacher tarts and three bottles of rosé wine from very grateful father of the bride. And, of course, we stuffed our faces ASAP. It was delicious! When is the next wedding, please?

Shake it like you mean it!

I have a new toy. Looks like this. And yes, unfortunately, I am already at that stage of my life when my toys are kitchen appliances. Sad sigh.

I have loads of recipes for shakes, smoothies and frappes. They range from superhealthy:

after workout:

to the most decadent drinks like: (shout-out to amazing Irey from Eat drink paleo and her recipes!)
Raspberry Mojito Frappe:

1 1/2 cup of frozen raspberries, 6-7 mint leaves, 1 tsp coconut or maple syrup, 1/2 cup orange juice.

Apple Cinnamon Pie:

1 cup Granny Smith apples, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp vanilla essence, 1/4 cup cashews, 1 cup coconut milk

My First Shake:

1 banana, 200 ml coconut milk, 200 ml milk 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 espresso coffee, 1 tsp salted caramel

Any other ideas for amazing drinks to make in blender out there?

5 Thing I Wish I Had Known 10 Years Ago - Running

You know that Eureka feeling you get when you figure out finally something for yourself and you are incredibly happy with the feeling "NOW, I KNOW!" I absolutely love those. But unfortunately afterwards I think to myself - I wish somebody have told me about this before.
This is my first edition of Things I  Wish I Had Known 10 Years Ago. This time about running.

1. The fastest and best way to lose weight? Running.
This is the most important advice I wish I've gotten years ago! Running is definitely the best fat-melting exercise and gives you gorgeous legs and butt, melts away that stinking love handles and floppy arms.

2. Run 10k. Run more.
I used to run three, four or maximum of five kilometers. And I thought I was doing the most I could. But then my man did his first 10k. And few months after that, when I was already running frequently, I decided to try it. Just to try it, mind you. If I felt exhausted or injured or couldn't go on, I would just stop. But I ran and ran and ran. It was amazing - I found out I could do it! 10km sounds incredibly daunting. But it is not. If you are a frequent runner, you should definitely try to run longer distances.

3. First km is the hardest.
When I leave the house, I already know how much I want to run. But no matter if I run intervals or distance, I found out that the hardest and laziest is my first km. I also found out that I can't give up and that it will eventually get easier.

4. Run intervals
Running long distances is OK, but there is nothing better for weight loss, flat belly and speed than intervals. Sprint as long and as fast as you can, then just walk it out. Repeat. My little trick when I feel unable to sprint anymore? - I start to pump my arms. Your arms move in opposition to your legs to keep you in balance. When you start to pump your arms, your legs will start to move faster.

5. Your biggest enemy is your brain
Your legs will move, you will make another step and another. It's your brain that will try to convince you you can't do it anymore. (Of course in the case when you are not injured!) There were times when I felt like I can't do it anymore, that I just wanted to stop, that I just wanted to go home. At the times like these I always force myself to think about something else. And then I realize that I have already run another km. My brain got distracted and my legs continued to move.

30 Day Squat Challenge

What is life without a little bit of excitement to it? After successfully finishing my March Running Challenge, I decided to try a new challenge in May: