Everything popular is wrong. Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

So much has happened since I last blogged here.
Our sweet baby girl arrived just as we had expected. She is perfectly sweet and healthy, sleeps alot and eats really well. We couldn't be happier or feel more blessed to have such a perfect little girl as the new member of our family.

Before my daughter was born I was different from what I am now and had different habits . That all changed as soon as she was born and so did my priorities. Family is without a doubt the most important thing to me but I have to learn how to keep a fine balance between the demands of job, family and studies, so stay tuned.

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. Carl Bard

Внезапно кончилась огромная халява,
Накрылась медным тазом, так сказать,
Куда ни взглянешь - влево или вправо-
Везде убытки, некуда бежать.

Еще вчера на рынке все бурлило,
Толпа нерезидентов к нам неслась.
И вдруг - чума! Европа нас забыла,
Америка собою занялась.

И началось - коттеджи, лимузины,
Активы, смокинги - скорее все продать!
И чем заняться? Грабить магазины?
Бомбить вокзалы или фарцевать?

А как же рестораны? Осетрина?
Бид, офер, спрэд и - как ее? - маржа?!
Контора в штопоре, расколота витрина.
Ко дну пошла пробитая баржа.

Команда в панике: одни оцепенели,
Другие мечутся и прыгают за борт,
А дальше только омуты и мели,
И нет спасенья даже вставшим в short!

Прощай мечта! Как ты была красива!
Надену кепку, "Приму" закурю,
Не надо "Хеннесси", налейте лучше пива -
Дешевого, московского розлива -
И воблу дайте. Вновь ее люблю.

(с) Неизвестный Автор

So I am now 37 weeks pregnant and feel as big as a house, I am starting to find it hard to move around easily. And I'm hating the fact I still have 3 weeks to go (yes, I know that babies have a tendency to arrive at unpredictable moments...).
My school summer project seems uncompleted. Moreover, I've done hardly anything but research and have several ideas which I haven't realized yet and it make me sad.
I have to complete all these tasks, so I'm apologizing in advance if no post is sent out next month!

Inspired by this site I decided to create my own list.
Here it is:

Everything I do always comes back to me.
Being not truthful works against me.
Thinking that life will be better in the future is stupid. I have to live now.
Home is the person who you love and therefore your home is where your heart is.
Worrying solves nothing.
Complaining is silly. Either act or forget.
Low expectation are good strategy.
Actually doing things I set out to do increases my overall level of satisfaction and supports personal development.

Here are the books I’m currently reading, all recommended:



New Media Design by Tricia Austin and Richard Doust
Grid Systems in Graphic Design: A visual communication manual for graphic designers, typographers and three dimensional designers by Josef Muller-Brockmann
Design Evolution: A Handbook of Basic Design Principles Applied in Contemporary Design by Timothy Samara
The Fundamentals of Illustration by Lawrence Zeegen
The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know by Mary W. George
Packaging Design by Bill Stewart

I am due September 21th, and all I can tell you guys is that I'm super thrilled. All the scans so far indicate a healthy baby, and I am doing quite fine too. So all in all a good pregnancy so far.
Thats it for today really. Just wanted to share my joy with the world.


20 weeks

Something happens to me during my pregnancy.
I forget my resolution never to make something that can be bad for the baby, forget my goal to be slim (in 2009), 

(do you know how many calories you consume each time you go to Starbucks?
A Starbucks Cappuccino prepared with nonfat milk, about 100 calories (with whole milk is 150 calories). A regular cafe latte has 260 calories, while a caffe mocha has a whopping 400 calories.
Get the calorie count for your favorite Starbucks drink.)

and I find myself standing in the line to pay two hundred roubles and some odd change for a grande Latte in Starbucks.

(as you can guess Caffé Latte is my favourite coffee drink among all, and it would be interesting to see which one do you like through the poll below. You can visit Lokesh Dhakar blog to find some useful information about some of the small coffee drinks differences.)

But it's not the only coffee house that I visit to satisfy my addiction.
Another great and definitely more pleasant place is Coffeemania (on Bolshaya Nikitskaya (inside) or Komsomolsky prospect (outside or take-away)).
Who will win in the battle Coffeemania vs Starbucks? Both places are handy, if you ask me, and sell coffee, but that’s really where the similarity ends. Starbucks wants to be the ‘3rd place’ in your life, after your house and your office. They create a ‘living room’ atmosphere, and it works.
Coffeemania proceed further and become a combo of cake shop, café and restaurant, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. It has better coffee, but is more expensive.
Consequently, I usually go to one of these places depending on my (or my companion) hunger or what is on my way, and as both of them are offering really good coffee in Moscow I’ll keep going back.

Leave a comment and let me know.

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