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Showing posts from November, 2015

Illustration Book dream

I keep dream about that one day I will manage to put together a children book. It is a thrilling dream and I keep thinking about different stories and characters. I also draw some of my ideas while I am dreaming. In matter of fact I have since I was a kid being creating stories while I am drawing. Here is an illustration of a girl who loves all type of animals and who are imagine how life would be with these kind of different animals. Happiness and a lot of challenges handling the different characters. 

Summer heat in our kitchen

I have noticed a big cultural difference that I am trying to get use to, but it is hard. Sweden has cold winters (or should have or used to have at least) same goes for Moscow I am expecting minus degrees and snow. The difference is that here they are kind of compensating for the cold outside temperature with extra super warm inside. I mean 25 degrees seems to be normal and many people I see use shorts and t-shirts as indoor clothing. In Sweden normal is around 20 degrees inside it is warm but not summer hot and you still need to add a layer of wool to keep toasty and warm but it is pretty comfortable I think or maybe its because I am use to it.  So here I am sitting in our kitchen and sweating in 24,7 degrees and can hardly think straight.  Floor heating and also radiators. Why I don't turn the heating down you might wonder.. I do. But unfortunately in order to get the heating system to warm up upstairs I need to keep a higher temperature on the thermostat which is placed downs

Memory Illustration & Russian update

Tonight I managed to put together a memory illustration from November and our Moscow adventures. We have been here just over a month and time is really flying by not far off before we are heading back to Sweden for birthday, Christmas & New Year and Christmas II (orthodox). We have really managed to settled in here better then I ever expected and I am so happy for that. I will list some important happenings.  Happy girl  - I am so proud of Mila that I feel like throwing a big party. We started a kids fitness group twice a week in our neighborhood more or less as soon as we arrived. Mila was so shy and uncomfortable hiding between my legs holding on to me screaming mamma as soon as teacher even looked at her in the beginning. It is in Russian with Russian rhymes and songs and different exercises and I thought it would be fun to met other kids in the area. After a couple of times I thought this will never work why am I putting her through this. But she wanted to continue and s

Happy 4th wedding anniversary

Happy 4th wedding anniversary  to us!!  Best four years! So grateful we met and were brave enough to follow our hearts and strong feelings for us and got married. 

Family Portrait in the making

I have been drawing so many family portraits lately and finally I got around to make Team Nikolovski family portrait. Started with a draft and then from that added inc and watercolors and more details. I love the process but now it needs to rest a little until tomorrow when I am hoping to be able to continue the finishing touch.

Happy 6 months little boy!!

Today our little Filip is turning 6 months. I can't believe how fast the time is flying. It felt like it was yesterday he join us but at the same time like he has been around forever. I feel pitty I haven't have time to draw memory illustrations for him as I did for all Mila's progresses and developments. I guess that's how it is to be a little brother. But I have a few started and I will definatly get around of finishing them as I think it is very nice way of remembering this baby times. Our baby Filip is such happy boy, a big sunshine and I can count on one hand the times he has been upset. He loves his routines since he is born. Bedtime and wake up like an old man. When Mila was a baby I read about holding babies hand to get it to fall asleep and that was like reading science fiction... But this little champ really he falls asleep just holding hand or reading a story.. He loves his big sister more then anything and also is a great fan of his granddad. Doesn't

Wine tasting

Team Nikolovski is using the opportunity while we are in Russia to try wine from this region as that is something we can't get hold of that easily back in Sweden. So Italian, French, Spanish, South African and Portuguese wine has to wait and instead trying Russian, Belarus, Moldavian etc types of wines. So far we haven't found one which really fits our taste and I decided to start to take pictures and reviewing them here so I can keep track of what we have tried and if we find something we like it is good to remember. Todays wine was very rich but way too sweet. For you my dear friends in Prague not doing wine for 40 days I never said I join that challenge only the no sugar challenge... 

Townhouse life in Moscow

Of course you want to see how we live in Moscow. For many me included I had no idea how to picture life and living in Russia, Moscow before we moved here. I feel even a little embarrassed to admit that I was really suspicious and thought that here is much more undeveloped and primitive than Europe. But I was proven to be wrong and I am very positively surprised with many things here. Yes I do know that we are very fortunate and can pick and live in nicer areas not having to see the ugly faces of this big city. Because of course every place has good and bad sides more or less. As Loren's office moved further out from city center we decided to also move so instead of spending 1,5 hour in traffic to work ( on a good day) now Loren only has 5 minutes drive and we have much more time together. Before we lived very central and walking distance to Gorky park & Red Square, very nice indeed but the benefit of the Team spending more time together is priceless. Also I love the fact tha

Jewelry creations

I used to make a lot of jewelry back in the day. It feels like ages ago and I had nearly forgotten about my little creations. Now when I was unpacking boxes I found all my beads and tools again and got feeling. Here some of my collections of earrings. 

Halloween in Russia

What has happened.. This Halloween thing is really spreading everywhere.. Even here in Moscow pumpkins, ghosts and monsters in every other window.  I remember when I was 10 years old and for the first read about Halloween in my first English textbook. It was a very american celebration and now it seems to be established in Sweden and also here in Russia. At least in my neighborhood. Me and the kids went over to a neighbors place for lunch on Friday and she was preparing making small candy bags to hand out to all the kids coming for Halloween. Did Team Nikolovski remember to prepare and buy any treats? No of course not. I was partly thinking that maybe they will not knock on our door as we are new. But MY GOD the kids dressed as ghosts, zombies and monsters started coming around seven o clock and after that the door bell rang every 10 minutes!!! Last group rang at 22 and but that time we had really cleaned out everything containing sugar. Horrible feeling being soooo unprepared and a

Our big Prague family

First evening a lot of laughter and great food  Here comes some more pictures from our trip to Prague together with our big Prague family. We felt so incredibly welcomed and good coming back. We are so so blessed having all these great friends. Like Loren wrote somewhere that "rich people are once who have friends" and yes we are very rich and fortunate to have such good funny people here and there. Just look at our big smiles and happy faces on the pictures. Lets use an old phrase "pictures says more then thousands words!" Thank you all again for best weekend ever and see you guys again soon if not in Sweden or Russia we will soon come back to Prague.  Happy Team Nikolovski  Filip getting a lot of attention getting introduce to our big Prague family The mandatory big team picture with a touch of back to school. Amazing to see how the kids grow and the group also Clowns and some extra kids  Mila happy back in her birth town