The joy of Jewelry!

I have been looking for a turquoise necklace for several months now and haven't found the one that I really liked.

Then a few weeks ago while on vacation in Dallas I happened to look at the jewelry sold at one of the kiosks in the mall and found THE necklace! It's gorgeous and exactly what I have been looking for: big oval turquoise stones going all the way around with little turquoise beads inbetween. And it's adjustable. I'm totally in love :)

And I even got a 10% discount.

Speaking of shopping, I did a lot of it on the trip to Dallas and Seattle. New necklace, earrings and ring. Oh, also bought circle pendants that say Joy, Dream, and Hope (for some inspiration). Also bought a new dress at Ann Taylor Loft for Nicole's wedding (Anna bought the same one: It was on a huge sale for $18.99: beige w/lace overlay; knee length, strapless: really pretty!).

Macy's had a giant sale, so bought some clothes there as well, and shoes at Charlotte Rouse. But at least everything was 50% off or more.

Free Drinks!!!

I was visiting my parents in Seattle last week and met up with my friend Lera and my sister Anna for dinner and drinks. While having drinks at this swanky fun little restaurants we were chatting, taking pictures, etc. There was a table of 4 men right behind us (we think they were gay) who asked us where we are from (due to our accents). When we said Russia, I think they assumed that we just came to Seattle recently from our mother-land to meet up!

okay, fine. We went back to our conversation and sipping our drinks. Then I overhead one of the guy telling the waitress to put our drinks on their tab! When I told this to Anna and Lera, they did not believe me. Why would I lie??

So the waitress came over and asked if we wanted to order anything else, and when we said no, she was super amused and told us that since our bill is being taken care of, we should order at least another round. So we did! and some chocolate dessert as well :)

This has never happened to us before, but what a lovely thing :)

Impulse buy: DIGITAL CAMERA

People who know me, know that I'm not the most patient person ever and that from time to time my decision making process is rather compulsive.

Last Tuesday I all of a sudden decided that I wanted a new digital camera. Right then and there! It would have been cheaper to order it on line and get the camera in a week, but like I said: not the most patient person.

So I went to the Mall after work and checked out Circuit City, Ritz Camera, Radio Shack and Best Buy. I really wanted Casio's Exilim camera because it comes in orange, red or pink, but it felt super flimsy in my hands.

The customer service was horrible in all the places buy Ritz Camera. There the woman listened to what I was looking for, made suggestions and spoke with super knowledge about the product. Unfortunately, they did not have the model I was looking for, so I ended up buying my Canon Powershot SD 1000 at Radio Shack.

I LOVE my camera! I think it is my new favorite toy (other than my Kitchen Aid blender). It's so much smaller and more powerful than my 4 y.o. Kodak camera.

I took the camera to NYC over 4th of July and took a few pictures and then took a bunch of pictures of Culinary Institute of America where Anna is...perhaps I'll figure out how to upload some of them here.

Happiness for $1

Who says you can't buy happiness with money? Who says you need a lot of money to be happy?

I admit, from time to time shopping therapy is a good thing, but when you can buy something inexpensive but totally awesome, what could be better? (I guess if it was free or a gift)

On Saturday I went to Eastern Market with Anna and found a very intricate looking silver tone necklace for a dollar! It is adorable: links of "silver" with little flowers in between. And the best part: I can wear it as short as 14" or as long as probably 24". LOVE IT!

Shut up and Dance

This past Monday Anna and I went to Lucky Bar for salsa dancing. The night was totally fabulous (a good thing, since Anna has been really looking forward to dancing), but throughout the entire night I just kept on thinking about getting a t-shirts that says "shut up and dance."

I just did not feel like having mini conversations with guys over the loud music about what is your name? where do you work? oh my god, is that your sister?

Maybe that's why I'm still single. But dancing for me is an outlet. It's a place/activity where I can escape from everything that's going on around me and just dance, listen to music, and well...dance.

Rant: F*CK GT!!! (6/28/07)

Okay, I think it's pretty much clear that nothing will ever happen with GT. The more I think about the "situation," the more I realize that he's pretty much exactly like Shawne and Dennis.

Yes, we have awesome chemistry on the dance floor, yes, they bright up the room when they walk in, yes, I feel gorgeous when I dance with them, but so what!?!?!??!?

I deleted his number from my cell so that I'm not inclined to call him. (Confession: I did write it down on a post it just in case but it's hiding in my office)

I really do deserve someone who will like me and want to get to know me and not play with my feelings. Seriously! Are there any guys left who will actually follow through?

So there is nothing I can do to change his behavior, but I can stop initiating any sort of contact with him myself. And I will have to continuously remind myself that the only thing that we can ever have is the shared experience of a few dances (I don't know if I'll ever realistically be able to say "no" to him when he asks me to dance)

RECIPES: Chicken....Doritos? (6/26/07)

It's been a known fact that I'm not the best person to cook chicken. It usually turns out rather dry, overcooked and a friend's husband still reminds me that when I was still in High School I served chicken that was bloody inside.

A few months ago I found an easy recipe that works every time: put chicken breasts in a Pyrex dish, cover with cream of mushroom soup and bake according to the directions on the can. Perfect!

Last week I was at the grocery store and chicken breasts were on sale, but I did not feel like doing the mushroom soup recipe and THEN I SAW A BAG OF DORITOS!

Now I absolutely love Doritos, especially the cheese ones! Then I had a lightbulb moment: I remembered when I cooked pork chops encrusted in Doritos and how well that turned out and decided to do the same with chicken breasts.Ingredients:doritoseggchicken breastssalt & pepperoilrosemary (or other herbs)

Directions:

1. In a medium shallow bowl beat an egg with a little bit of water, salt and pepper (I also added minced fresh Rosemary)

2. In a shallow plate crush Doritos (I used the cheese variety)

3. Heat some oil in a non-stick pan

4. Put a chicken breast in a bowl with egg wash, then drench in Doritos

5. Repeat with all remaining chicken breasts

6. Put chicken breasts in the pan and cook on medium heat for 4 minutes on each side. Then add a little bit of water in the pan (I also added a bit of white wine), cover, and cook for about 6 more minutes.

7. Serve and enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woo Hoo: my first post! (6/22/07)

Hi!

Not sure who will be reading this, but I'm super excited because this is my first post. I've wanted to start a blog for quite a while now and finally decided to do it!This will be a random account of my thoughts, things that have happened to me and things that I'm doing in my life.

Can't think of anything else to add for now :)

oops

Yesterday I accidentally deleted my old blog itsallaboutolga.blogspot.com, so this is the new version. Luckily, I have saved the old entries and will paste them into my new blog.

till later,
O