A new dimension of my life

Today I woke up at 7 am to go to work. This was the LATEST wake up in the last couple of days! :) Both Saturday and Sunday I woke up at 6 am for photo shoots. Finally I got a taste of real photography work and ... in great company!

Saturday together with my talented friend Yulia from Yuka Photo Art we froze my brother and his wife to the point when their noses became blue. Thanks so much, Yulia, for willing to share your knowledge and skills - it very valuable experience for me! Thank you, Sergei and Sasha for volunteering to be frozen! I hope you'd like the results. I am sure you'd like the ones from Yulia, but I think I've got some for you too!
Here is a sneak peek:

Sunday, together with my future sister-in-law we veered off to High Park and to Distillery District in beautiful Toronto. Tania and Toronto made a perfect pair to be photographed, so my work was lots of fun. Here is what's coming - a peek of this shoot:
Do you remember that unreal feeling when you wake up the next day after you finally kissed with that special someone you had a crush on for the longest time and realized that he (or she) is attracted to you too? The feeling, when world colors just got brighter and you are just at the door to the next most wonderful time in your life? This is how I felt this morning. ....:))

Our Dominican Republic Spring Break

When I close my eyes sometimes I still see the turquoise water, white sand, bright blue chair longs...Taking a tropical vacation in the middle of gray, cold, windy stretch of winter between February and March charges me to go through the rest of winter until we see more sun here.


Our Dominican Republic vacation this February was the first time we went to an all-inclusive resort. I was a afraid that laying out at the sun would quickly bore us, but in fact we hardly had time to lay around. We tried windsurfing, went on a day long jeep safari, even went down the waterfalls!

Dominican Republic is still very poor country, but with developing tourist industry I can definitely see these hardworking people becoming better off year after year. Dominicans came across to me as good spirited, and cherishing their land. They sing and dance all the time.

Punta Cana is a more touristy destination in Dominican Republic, it is located on the Southern part of the country's coast. We went to the north of Dominican Republic - Puerto Plata and stayed at Grand Oasis Marien, it was next door to Iberostar Costa Dorada hotel. Although our neighboring hotel was higher class, we liked ours better.



Santo Domingo, the capital of Dominican Republic was the city where Columbus came to shore to discover America. Just based on this fact we would like to come back to this bright country, next time to Punta Cana. Very nice vacation destination with a mix of tropical laziness and adventure.


If you haven't been to Dominican Republic, keep it in mind when planning your next vacation. Really nice honeymoon destination too!

Good Morning, Monday!

Mondays for me, as for many other people, are difficult. It is the beginning of the work week. It is hard to switch gears from freer, on my schedule day to committed and scheduled day.

BUT:
0) Andrey is not business traveling this week and will spend evenings at home :)
1) it already feels and looks like Spring!
2) there was major progress on wedding planning this past weekend (but I won't tell just yet);
3) this week I WILL write about our Spring break trip;
4) my brother and his wife are in town, and we will be able to spend some time together!
5) if the weather holds, I will be doing my third!! photo shoot this coming weekend!! (I'm yet to cover my first two here - this is coming up).

So .... life patches together in a bright, spriny blanket and I am thrilled to cover myself with it!

By shellayy0077 from Photobucket

International Women's Day

Especially in Eastern Europe "The 8ths of March" - International Women's Day is as big holiday as Mother's Day here, in the USA, if not bigger. In Belarus, this is a day when florists earn probably half of their yearly revenue, all men are especially attentive to all women surrounding them at ANY moment, and we, ladies, feel like princesses and queens. I really like the atmosphere of this holiday and enjoy to be especially attentive to my Mom and grannies.

My warmest wishes to my dearest girlfriends - beautiful, smart, graceful, sophisticated and unique!

When I came back from work today, I was greeted by a bouquet of beautiful flowers and a card that I decided to keep on my nightstand:

:)))

Perfect Presents

Have you ever received a perfect birthday present? Something that you didn't even know you wanted so much until you got it? Andrey received a present like that from our friends for his birthday. (Perfect for me, that is). Of course, he appreciates it too, but I know I will enjoy it more.

We opened the lime green packet at the end of the night, and there it was - a wireless thermometer and weather forecaster! :) I know, you didn't expect it from me - to have such passion for weather predictions.

Let me explain.

You see, in Belarus, in our apartment in Minsk, my dad attached a thermometer outside our kitchen window probably as soon as we moved in, and we had it there for 20 years (all my life there)! My first thing to do in the morning was to check the temperature outside so I can decide how to dress for the day. Minsk is a big city, so you walked everywhere or used public transportation, so dressing appropriately was important. Now my friends in Minsk tell me they don't remember when was the last time they used public transport, as everybody has cars, but when we were growing up, we rode buses, trolleybuses, trams and subway.
Even though our suburban life in Buffalo allows to ignore the weather, as we jump from warm house to warm car to warm office and after work day is over in the opposite order, I still like knowing the weather before I head out. I don't know why, but it adds comforting routine to my morning.

So now, to MY greatest delight, we are proud owners of the wireless thermometer & weather forecaster.

Image via Amazon