With our lives being more and more demanding and multi-purposed year by year we often forget how important it is for both our physical and our mental health as well, to pamper ourselves every now and then, to take that little extra care for us, whenever and wherever is necessary. It doesn't, always, have to be something great and extraordinary, as a royal spa at a five-star hotel, a journey to the place of our dreams, or even…. "hitting" the mall and clearing out all the selves!!! There are more simple ways to show love to yourself by pampering him without overcharging your bank account,…. well, at least not  too much!!!…..
No matter how busy your life is, it's not impossible to find 15 or 30 minutes to unplug from your usual activities and do something you love, enjoy or just something that relaxes you. Pampering yourself means loving and respecting yourself, so that other people will love you and respect you more, as well, and so that you're becoming a better person, because of that feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.
So, here are the ways I like to pamper myself.  

When I feel tired during the day, somewhere around noon and can't keep my eyes open, I don't!!! Just 15-20 minutes of a nice relaxing "siesta" in a comfortable, quiet place is usually enough to rejuvenate me and give me all the energy I need to continue my day. Pampering mission, accomplished!

I'm a new "addition" to the club, however a huge fan! The more I discover meditation the more I appreciate its healing and self-awareness power. You will find countless sites, videos and applications on internet. Personally, I try to meditate once a day, for about 10-15 minutes, so this way I can say I pamper myself everyday!

There are days I'm extremely tensed and days I feel totally relaxed (most of the time I'm somewhere in between though). However I may be some kind of movement always makes me feel better. When I'm stressed I choose yoga or pilates or simple stretching moves that drive all the tension away. When I'm loose and well rested I prefer dance or aerobics to tone me up a little. With every movement that I make I feel the blood flowing better in my body bringing more oxygen to my brain, my lungs, my heart, more life to every little cell in my body. The result? Totally uplifted mood and enlightened mind! 

A nice spa salon where they'll pamper me without me moving my little finger…. is optional. However I can have the exact same benefits for my body and soul at home where just a little effort is required. I fill my bath tube with hot water, add my favorite bath foam or salts, light some candles around and soak in with my eyes closed listening to some zen sounds or music.. Sometimes I also exfoliate my body and my face getting rid of all those dead cells and I apply a beauty mask. After that I totally glow! If I have more time I may offer myself a mani-pedi-cure to complete my prettiness! 

TV is such a nice company especially when I'm feeling lonely, or sad, or somehow "down" or bored to do anything more energetic. Watching a favorite kind of movie, comedies, romance or classics usually work for me, always make me feel better afterwards. I'm sitting comfortably, a huge bowl of pop-corn is requisite and I just press the play button on the DVD player or browse at Netflix and always find something interesting…And talking about Netflix, if I don't have the time to watch a whole movie, there are so many loved shows waiting for me to uplift me, relax me, inspire me… pamper me and put that smile on my face!

There is no better way for me nor ever was to "travel" with my imagination to different, distant, amazing places and ages than opening a book. Its pages make me dream and take me away from my everyday life and routine. Who talked about boats or trains or airplanes? With a book you're miles away in a minute! And when I need some glamour in my life, then I grab a "glossy" magazine, a very old love of mine as well. We're talking about pampering here, so no judge on the kind of reading I want to read.

How could I not mention that sooooo popular nowadays way of pampering our selves? I'm definitely not the exception! I spend enough time browsing my favorite blogs and sites and online shops as well as all those appealing social media, instagram and pinterest are at the top of my list. So, when I want to pamper myself I allow me a little more time on my favorite "sport". Otherwise I try … to be wise and control myself… if that's possible!

Another favorite sport! It's not necessary to empty every self at the mall, as I already mentioned, or reach our card limits in order to pamper ourselves (although that's our secret desire…). For me a simple purchase of something I really love…. and not necessarily need, can really make me fly of happiness!

As much as I try to eat reasonably healthy most of the time so much I enjoy a "forbidden" treat for my self every now and then. Actually I believe that's a right way to keep going with my diet without feeling "punished" and miserable. After all there are so many healthy and light options in our days to enjoy even the "forbidden" kind of food, that nothing is really forbidden anymore! Anyway, as for me, whenever I crave something yummy I indulge in it! And if it's not the healthiest option, I try to limit the rest of my meals. After all, why should someone resist chocolate…. or french fries???!!!! YOLO!

Getting out of the house and walking in a beautiful place is a real gift for my self1! Enjoying the nature, feeling the fresh air on my face, breathing pure oxygen, looking at the irresistible beauty that only nature can really offer to us I feel alive and powerful and happy! I feel part of the amazing universe and so thankful for what God created with His wisdom, so thankful for my life!

And these are the ways I choose to pamper myself whenever I feel that I need to be pampered, whenever I feel that my self needs a proof of love, of my love! I hope I inspired you in some way and that you enjoyed my post.
I love you all
​xoxo, Elena  

Our birthdays were back in the distant March... but since I haven't blogged since then here's my late bithday review!
I've been away from regular blogging at my home page for a long time, not because I've been away from blogging in general, just because I was working on updating some of my other pages, as my Easter page, my cooking page and my fitness page... plus a thousand of other projects and errands I had to run!
Well, here  I am back, full of ideas, "older, but wiser!!!", with many-many dreams that I hopefully believe they'll come true!
My birthday is first, 10th of March, I'm a Pisces, the dreamer, arty kind of human being.... 
My darling hubby gave me some beautiful roses for my birthday and two amazingly delicious rich flavoured double chocolate little cakes with cherries on top and inside. Chocolate perfection!!!

I symbolically lighted four candles, because they looked nice on the cakes, sang the song with my hubby made my wish  and blew! It was a mini version of my birthday celebration, just for the two of us! So sweet!! 

Eighteen days later, on March 28th, it was my hubby's birthday. He is an Aries, the logical kind of human being, just for equalizing things in everyday life...
In return I baked for him a huge chocolate cake! Impressive, delicious and pretty healthy for a birthday cake!

Four candles as well, just in blue...

Rich chocolate taste, not very sweet, just perfect for us! And it's very, very easy!! I'll definitely do it again!
Best wishes to my man!!

I also cooked one of our favorites for dinner: tagliatelle with spinach, roquefort and bechamel.... simply delicious! Very, very yummy!! Tasty birthday... because: " Love passes through the stomach"! Happy birthday my love!

Hello everyone! Today's post is inspired by another Mama Kat's writing prompt: "List 6 things you do as a parent that you swore you would never do"
Of course, as you may already know, I don't have any kids, so this prompt seemed like a challenge to me. What if I write 6 things that I think it's not good at all to do to a child, now, that I'm still ....childless, and come back to this promise-post in the future, when and if I ever will be blessed to have a kid of my own...
Let's go then! Things I'll never do to my kids are mostly things that bothered me as a child, things that made me feel bad, overwhelmed me or discouraged me in any way:
1)I'll never "stick" to my child's imperfections. (Oh, my God, it seems difficcult, already!!!)
If big ears, big nose, or short or fat legs, ...or whatever that may look weird is on the way....I will accept it and shall not let any annoyment appear ever. Kids understand everything and have so many insecurities themselves that the last thing they need is one more confirmation of their deficiencies from their own parent. Everyone has some gifts, why not stick to them instead?
2)I'll never compare my kid to any other kid.
"My first kid is so clever, but the little one has to stydy twice as much to catch up....", "other kids manage everything and you don't even....", "Mary is so good at..., why don't you....",... all these comparisons are so unnecessary! Every kid is unique having its very own personality and we shouldn't expect the same things from all of them. If it's not good enough at one thing, it will definitely be great at something else and that's what we should admire and compliment.
3)I'll never discourage my kid from doing something he or she really likes, just because that's not one of my preferences.
We're different persons from our kids and we may like different things. It may be difficult to accept that one, but it's fair not to mock or underestimate my kid's desires.
4)I'll never depress my kids to do something they don't want in order to satisfy any unrealized dream of mine.
That's the most unfair thing of all! Any human being has its very own dreams, hopes and desires and we must help our kids to live theirs instead of exchanging them with ours!
5)I'll never allow my kids imposing their own rules at home.
Kids have their royalties, but they should learn that people have obligations in real life as well! The sooner they learn this one, the better! And regarding home, parents are the boss. Mom and dad set the rules. They decide what kids are eating, when they're sleeping, when and how long they're studying, playing, watcing T.V., surfing the internet... they decide everything that has to do with their kids' daily routine. That's really important not only for parents health, but especially for children, so that they'll become responsible adults and not spoiled ones... Kids also feel more secure when they follow a program rather than being totally disorganized.
6)I'll never despise my kid's needs.
Personal life, work and hobbies are all very important in a human's life, but when you become a parent I guess your kid is the most important thing in the world. Being a parent means setting any ego aside and stop yourself from being the centre of the universe. Your first priority becomes your kid, as if your heart was beating out of your body...
I don't know how difficult it would be to accomplish these promises under the pressure of daily life, in the real world... I'm pretty sure all parents have made similar promises before they become parents and violated each one of them feeling extremely quilty..., but then, who is perfect? It's helpful to have some principals in mind anyway, to help you lead the long journey of motherhood...
Well, lastly, I promise I'll come back to this post some day, to remind myself of what I've once said, or reconsider and I'll probably surprise myself or just laugh at me... who knows? "Rendez-vous" in future!    

Written as part of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop

Thank you  so much for reading!
Love you all,
xoxo Elena

Hello world! I hope everyone is having a beautiful weekend.
Today's post is a recipe my family loves. We love food! We love to cook it as much as we love to eat it!
...Well, actually I'm the cooker and my husband is ...the bearer, so it is fair to say that "we" cook, after all we usually decide together what to eat. We try to feed ourselves healthy and  I believe we broadly achieve it by following the meditteranean way of eating.
The following recipe is a quick, last minute recipe that I discovered a few summers ago in a greek food magazine while thinking what to eat on a hot, lazy summer noon...We love spinach, we love eggs, too, the recipe was easy, so it seemed the perfect idea!
I gave it a try and it turned out to be one of the hits in our kitchen!
Sooo healthy, light (no carbs at all) and sooo delicious and satisfying at the same time this dish became at once a favorite one!
I cooked it many times since that summer noon and I highly recommend it!

3-4 tbs olive oil
3-4 finely chopped spring onions
salt
1/2 kg washed and drained (or frozen) coarsely chopped spinach
150gr greek feta cheese cut into small pieces
1/4 cup finely chopped dill
4 eggs
1/2 tbs butter or margarine
1/2 ts red sweet pepper

In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot add spring onions and salt and stir fry until onions wilt for about two minutes. Add spinach and saute until almost all of its fluid leave. I use frozen spinach straight from the freezer most of the time, because I find it's convenient, and in that case I cover the skillet over medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, until spinach defrost, then cook for another 5-10 minutes, until all its liquid leave.
Add feta cheese and dill. As soon as feta melts, open small "puddles" in spinach and break the eggs in them. Cover skillet and let it simmer until eggs are done, for about 3-4 minutes, depending on how runny or tight you like your eggs.
Meanwhile, burn the butter. Once it's foaming add red pepper and immediately poor over every egg yolk.
Enjoy with toasted bread!
Bon appétit!

In case you're wondering why I post a recipe today I have two excuses for you:
1)I 've always wanted to do it! I cook a lot , I prepare our family meals myself everyday and not only. I bake delicious cakes and desserts, I even make our own bread (with a little help from my breadmaker to be completely honest...), with great joy and happiness! I love, love, love cooking, I've always did, since I was a little girl sitting in the kitchen and watching my mother while she was doing her own sweet and savory miracles... Many years have passed since then, many recipes have been tried and  tasted, and ... hundreds of cooking magazines and cookbooks have been bought! If you follow me on Instagram, you can see some of my proudly shot dishes(...!!!) and hopefully someday I'll find the time to post beloved recipes on my cook page.
2)This post has been written as part of Mama Kat's link party under the writing prompt: "a recipe that everyone in your family loves". ... Well, everyone in my family is just me and my husband (though friends and relatives loved the dish, as well), which means that the most crucial reviewals of the meal, those little, cute, "know all" creatures named ....kids, are missing from the plan and I think this is not exactly the kind of food a kid would adore, but with a little hope and training and lots, lots of luck anything can happen! After all, I loved spinach and eggs as long as I can remember myself! So, it may be in our genes! Anyway, the prompt is about a recipe my family loves and we are the family at the moment, so, I guess it's O.K!

I wish you all a nice and relaxed rest of the weekend,
love you all,
xoxo, Elena

Written as part of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop

There are so many things that remind me of my mother. Everything I am I owe it to her. I can see her in myself. I am a piece of her, she created me just like she did with so many wonderful things in her life! What's not to remember from her?
Mama Kat's suggestion to write about a smell that makes me think of my mother restricted those memories to a particular field: smells.
My mom was a strong woman. She could manage work, home, kids, husband, elderly parents, social commitments and did everything right. As a kid I may didn't realize her sacrificies exactly, but I did listened people's praises. And I admired her for all her achievements! I was proud of my mom! Only thinking about what she had done now that I'm an adult, I believe she was a heroine, a real angel...
The remarkable thing is that she was coping with her life without losing the female side of her. I believe it was in her genes!
She didn't spend much time in her appearance, but she was always neat and feminine with a great taste in clothes, she had great taste in everything actually. Her outfits, chic and elegant, consisted of classic pieces, some of them at the best quality she could buy. My mom knew how to dress up!
She never used make up on her face, her vibrant, porcelain clear complexion didn't need any coverage. Unfortunately I didn't inherited her beautiful skin, but the yellowish, dull and greasy skin my dad has... The only make up interference on mom's face was her brown-coral lipstic when she was dressing up, on formal occasions or at church. And her hair was always done, she visited the  hairdresser's every Saturday early morning! A woman always looks extra prim when her hair is done and mom seemed to knew that very well.
I know the post is about a smell, but when it comes to mom, I can't resist the chatter... After all the smell that reminds me of her is inseparably attached to her looks and I could no way divide those two.
The last move before stepping outside the door was always her unforgetable perfume: "miss Arpels", by Van Cleef and Arpels
Light, sweet, elegant, flowery, distinguishing was the last sense I had from her while she was walking to the door. Natural and beautiful, but so interesting, like her, miss Arpels was following her movement. And it felt wonderful, spirit lifting and happy!
Her perfume was everywhere, but what is mostly engraved in my memory is the perfume on her foulards which were hanging in our hallway! I'll never forget that feeling! Foulards are to me the ultimate symbol of  femininity and elegance and when they're perfumed with a woman's personal scent it's an irresistable combination! Mom was a real woman! The softness of the foulards and the smell of roses which characterized "miss Arpels" felt like mom...
I kept her last bottle which is half full, yet, because I want to see it. One of the reasons mom kept buying this perfume, besides its beautiful smell, was the shape of its bottle! Asymmetric and particular, mom was impressed by extraordinary and unusual things.
So, that's the story of mom's favorite perfume which became my favorite smell, because it belonged to my most favorite person..
Love you mom...

Thank you so much for stopping by
love you all,
xoxo, Elena

Written as part of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop

Lost. I'm pretty familiar with this word, as most people do, I believe... Life itself is a series of repeated losses: first we lose our childhood when we believe we are immortal, then the wonderfully weird teenage years when life is still very, very long and we have infinite time to make all of our dreams come true, we can undoubtedly rule the world at one time and become completely worthless the very next one, then our youth when we actually can and should make most of our dreams come true, middle age when we have the maturity to be satisfied with what we've achieved and enjoy it while we still have the time for more even better accomplishments, elderly when our precious life experience makes us stronger, wiser and why not, happier.... and the list goes on.... and on...
As we grow up we lose a period of our life, so we can  step to the next wonderful one! Each loss is a small funeral letting us feel sad, but, at the same time is prerequisite, if we want to walk to the next chapter of our life. We have to let go of something old in order to walk to something new , that's the  natural process. Grown ups who behave as children or teenagers... is a real problem not only to the people around them, but to themselves mainly. Isn't that more sad than natural loss of our younger age?...
So loss isn't necessary something bad, as it may sounds... Of course there are lost oppportunities, lost things precious to us, lost friendships or relationships that really mattered, lost pets... All these definetely hurt more or less, but then... on second thought, isn't everything happening for a reason? Time is usually verifying in such situations.
Yet, the greatest loss is the loss of our beloved ones. I lost my first grandparent when I was nine and the last one at 21. It hurt. But I accepted it and got over it, pretty quickly, as I can remember. I still had my parents, my family, my friends... and I was so young!
But losing my dear mother a few years ago... I never accepted that one and I never will. Until the time we, hopefully, meet again she will always be around me, in my mind, in my heart. I lost the earth under my feet when she left us. I believed that would never happen to my mom. She was a beautiful, wonderful, kind woman... she was everything to me! Losing her I lost myself as well... I became a new person. A person without a mom being there all the time willing to give me the right advice, to make me feel better, to give me a love hug... oh God, what I miss most is her warm hug and her beautiful smile...irreplaceable...
A new period had begun for me. As if I had lived the "with mom " period and now switched to  "without mom" or "after mom" period when I have to be stronger, indepedent... adult, I'm not a kid anymore since mom is not here. I have full responsibility for my life and I have to have a life, a new life, to write my very own story in this worldbook just the way she did so amazingly...
My whole priorities changed after mom's gone. I looked at things in a different way.  I didn't worry so much for small things, even the bigger ones... I first realized that life is really too short to deal with anything that doesn't really matters to me. I had become my first priority!
Life gave me a huge slap taking my dearest person away from me maybe because someone wanted to teach me something. And I sure took my lesson!
The last thing I wanted is make you feel sad about this story, after all my blog has to do with the beautiful things in life. I just wanted to remind you that you have to enjoy all the beauty around you with all your senses, at any age, under any circumstances, because that's what life is all about! We all lose something every now and then, but something new and wonderful is just around the corner!

Thanks a lot you stopped by and excuse my English,
I'm trying really hard to write properly, but I'll always think the Greek way I guess...
love you all,
xoxo Elena

Written as part of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop

Hello my dear friends! Christmas spirit is officially everywhere in the air and I can't resist writing a little something about it, although I have a thousand things to do... and I really wonder, am I the only one? Definetely not!People get a little crazy about holidays, gifts, christmas food and entertainment, things like that and I 'm not blaming any of these, because I'm one of these people... After all, "it's that time of yeeeeaar..." and we all need a piece of joy in our lives!
The point is once again not to exaggerate on preparations, decorations, food and most of all stress. "PAN METRON ARISTON", as Kleovoulos, an ancient Greek man used to say, which means: "it is best to avoid the excesses and abide by the measure in every facet of our public and private lives". This is such an important quote for me and I want to believe I follow this rule as much as I can in my life, though it's not always very easy...
Anyway, I want to wish everybody a happy and blessed pre-Christmas period, full of love, health and joy.
LOVE YOU ALL,
xoxo, Elena

(photos: via, via, via)

It's been a strange, rather difficult week with lots of "ups" and downs", followed by a very emotionally charged weekend. We had our dearest aunt's 40 days memorial yesterday,  I saw some relatives and old friends I haven't seen for years (some of them for many, many years...), I saw places from the past, too, I realized how some things change over the years , while some others remain the same for ever... years are really passing and it's really hard to say the last "goodbye" to people you've loved the most... but it's very, very important to show your love to them while they're still alive. That's all that matters. To love our people when they're here, with us. Endless memories and thoughts went through my mind these days... when you lose someone you love, you are not only saying "goodbye" to your beloved one, you're saying "goodbye" to a whole part of your life story as well... I don't know which one of the two hurts the most, but I always reach the same conclusion: to love and to live each moment of your life...

The last thing I wanted is to make you feel sad. Life is so beautiful, is just not always pink... Certain difficulties appear to each one of us, we just have to learn to get over them and stand on our feet again. Our beloved persons will always live in our hearts as long as we shall live, but life is going on and I'm 100% sure that "they" want us to live happily...

And as I use to do the last three Mondays now, I also have some lovely links here for you today. I hope you like it!

~ "Best blog post" prize: Daddy Where Are You?

~ Fitness: POP Pilates for Beginners - Total Body Workout (no more excuses...)

~ The perfect breakfast: 3 Busy Girl Breakfasts

~ The perfect snack: French Bread Pizza

~ Sweet delight: Dark Chocolate Mousse

~ Outfit love: Cold Front...

~ Magazine: Adore, April/May 2013

~ List love: 11 Ways to Improve Your Life

~  The "it list" from ZsaZsa Bellagio

~ New DIY blog love: Best of DIY by Centsational Girl

Have a lovely week,
Love you all,
xoxo, Elena

Hi there! I hope you all had a beautiful Valentine's day! I'm pretty busy these days, but I couldn't resist to post something sweet to you such a day. I hope you like the photos I found for you on pinterest. All images are found here and here. You can also see how I spend my day (basically cooking for my love..!), if you follow me on instagram. Wish you all sweet dreams and sleep tight!

I love you all. I'll come back soon.xoxo Elena