Hello my dear friends and a very happy New Year to all of you! Here I am with another, rather late, holiday post, but January hasn't gone yet…., so I guess I'm not totally out of date, right…? I also guess I'm perfect in finding the best excuses to cover my procrastination habit! Since it's January, however, the right time for new beginnings, I hope,…... I'l try,….... I promise,... I will be more consequent this year!… Promise!  

For the first dinner of 2015 we had my husband's parents over at our home. I cooked and prepared the salads the day before, so on New Year's first Day we had the time to relax watching the Vienna's New Year's Concert on TV  and having our first coffee-brunch
And of course I set the table the night before, as well. I so much enjoyed that part of preparation, I always do! After trying two or three options of setting our table, I came up with the holiday classic red one and I absolutely loved it! And I don't think I was  the only one, since my husband and his parents liked it very much, too. 
The dinner was very nice, as well. Now, I just realized that I didn't take any photos of our delicious festive dinner! Obviously I was a bit anxious to serve everything right on time and maybe a bit embarrassed to shoot our plates on the table in front of other people, so unfortunately there is no evidence of the tasty food we all very much enjoyed! The only photo is the following one of our salads that I took before anyone arrives…. 

And just for the records, the following menu was our first dinner of 2015. Delicious, at common concent!… Soooo much regretted I didn't take any photos…. Just use your imagination!

However, I found some images of my traditional "Vasilopita" from past years and present them here for you. It's exactly the same nice and loved "Vasilopita" every single year, after all. So fulfilling and aromatic, it satisfies our senses with the pure aromas of fresh butter and orange peel… it just melts in the mouth. It's a traditional recipe, but I won't keep it a secret if you crave it too much…. (…I am a generous girl!).

I hope you all had beautiful holidays, too, with the people you love, with cheer, hope and many, many smiles, around a table and every moment of your life! To a happy new year! To 2015! May all your wishes come true! 

Love you all,
see you soon, 
Elena

With the days becoming shorter and the chilly nights making us seek for warm blankets and hot teas and big hugs.... it's official: autumn is here for good and summer belongs to the early past...
Isn't autumn one of the most beautiful seasons? You can meet the most rich, warm, wonderful colours in the nature, return to your home coziness, enjoy the longer nights with some nice company, or reading, (or... surfing the internet!), savor the first hot drinks and hot soups, put your mind together and make some plans for winter... or the future...  It's all so beautiful and inspiring!
For my first fall post, I'll take you for a stroll to a nostalgic autumn... will you pursue my romantic mood?  

I wish you all
the most amazing autumn of your life!
Love you,
xoxo, Elena

Just a few days before Orthodox Easter and 1st of May! Wish you all a wonderful month!
Celebrate seasons have always been stressful for me. Too many expectations, maybe...,as well as the fact I want everything picture perfect in a real world, in a real life.....Well, perfect things happen in fairytales... or advertisments maybe, but real life is unpredictable. I keep saying this all the time.
Anyway, these days really worth the effort to do our best, as long as we enjoy it, in order to keep customs and traditions live for us and our children. Celebrations is a great way to come closer to each  other and experience Easter's true meaning which is love... give and take...
Family or friendly gatherings are usually in program and can be sooo beautiful and happy around these spring decorated tables! I found the most wonderful Easter tablescapes around the blogosphere and I present them here just for you! Happy, Blessed Easter to all of us!

Some of the tablescapes have wonderful links (just click on the images) with much more ideas
You can also visit my Easter board at Pinterest with lots lots of ideas...
see you soon,
love you,
xoxo ,Elena