Kate

Okay, it's here, it's official - NEW YEAR has come, however, I still can't believe 2017 is over. It was a good year and I'm really curious what will this year bring.
And because I'm not that person who loves making New Year's Resolution, in fact, I prefer making Birthday Resolutions (more about it here), I would like to dedicate this post to 2017. You know, just go back in my memory  and highlight all the positive things that happened to me in 2017. Ready?

First of all, I started my personal Instagram account and nowadays I share majority of my photos with the rest of the world and it's fun! And honestly? Thanks to instagram, going back in memories is much easier!


What I am extremly proud of is that I started to read more again. When I was a child, I used to read all the time and I'm so happy that in 2017 I read tons of book, for example:

If you are passionate about books, I bet you have some you like to read again and again. For me, these books are:

The Little Prince

Book number one, for me, is The Little Prince written by Antoine de-Saint Exupéry. As you can see on my body (I love it so much I even got it tattooed on my leg.)

• love as much as you can (the Little Prince loved his Rose more than anything) 
•  take care of yourself and your surroundings (LP took take of his planet)
• when you are sad, just be sad and don't pretend, the sadness will go away (LP once watched sunset 44 times, because one loves the sunset when one is so sad)
•  don't take eveything so seriously (the best thing about LP is his immediacy, adults are often so serious)
• don't judge others (be more like children, hang out with your friends because you like their personalities, not because they are rich and popular)

Eat Pray Love

This summer I read Eat Pray Love fot the 4th time and I still enjoyed every single page of it. The searching for pleasure, balance and love is something we all do everyday. Liz was so brave to share her story. I even read her other book Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace With Marriage about getting married with Felipe, so I was even more sad when she broke up with Felipe (Jose), because I read not only about thee beginning of their relationship, but also about other important chapters. I know it may sound weird, but I like reading EPL everytime I am not sure what to do next with my life.

Every single book written by Robert Fulghum

I really read all his books. I started with All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten and continued with the rest of them. It was on fire when I lay down on it was the funniest story in the book with the same name and it makes me laugh everytime I recall it. Hold me tight, love me gently was something new, not a series of short stories, but one long story-and of course- it was amazing! Fulghum is my #1 author, his style of writing is witty, readable, honest, kind, sad, happy... it has EVERYTHING!

Anything by Sophie Kinsella except for Shopaholic series

I love a good romantic book. And Sophie Kinsella knows how to write a romantic novel every girl and woman loves to read. I am currently reading Wedding Night and it's funny already. Kinsella somehow can make a good story out of anything. As a reader, you have no idea what will happen next and when you think you know, you realise you don't. It reminds me of a good detective stories, however, instead of finding a killer, you are finding Mr. Right.
One tiny little thing: I do not like shopaholic series, because I don't like the main character, I somehow don't get her and her obsession with clothes and shopping is over the top.

Literally everything by Alexandra Potter

Me and Mr Darcy, Be Careful What You Wish For, Who's That Girl? 
Yes, it started with these books. I remember that the very first book by Alexandra Potter brought my sister. I have no idea how she found out about Alexandra and her fantastic books, but I am glad she did! We finished reading Me and Mr Darcy and immediately brought home another book. You know, there is one special thing about these books: they are literally magical. In every single one of them, some magical happens and it makes the book even more readable!

The Black Sea, Bulgaria

This summer I travelled to Bulgaria and it was amazing! I visited Bulgaria because I haven't been there before and I was curious. The flight from Prague took two hours and on both ways the plane was late. (Apparently, my choices of airlines this year are not perfect, but I love flying on planes anyway).

Basic info about Bulgaria

• Bulgaria is a member of European Union, so it wasn't a problem to travel only with my ID. 
• The capital is Sofia (haven't been there, maybe in the future) and it is also the biggest city.
• Typical Bulgarian cuisine: yoghurt (kiselo mljako), shopska salad, moussaka, shashlik, stuffed peppers, kavarma, kebapcheta, red wine, beer. (I tasted every single of them and all were delicious!)
• The Black Sea is really clean and its name may refer to the direction. According to some theories, many Asiatic languages use colors to refer to directions and black color stands for the north. So don't worry, the sea is not black at all!

Typical me-spending some time after lunch on a balcony with a romantic book and a cup of coffee.

Summary

My favourite sign in the port. I don't live near the sea, so I don't see this signs very often :-)

Merry Monday guys!
How are you today? Feeling good? It is Monday again and it means the same as every week: fresh new start!

What have you been up to at the weekend?

I didn't have to go to work, so after I came home from the cinema on Saturday early morning (more about this in this post) I had a whole weekend only for myself! Yaaaay!
So my weekend started on Saturday at about 9 o'clock when I woke up and found out that my grandparents would come over in a hour or so. Goodbye my morning coffee and reading, hello quick morning stretching and breakfast. Although my weekend didn't start the way I imagined, it turned out well. After my granparents came, we all made lunch together and headed out to get some fresh air and on a walk around local dam. Okay, if I don't count the strong wind, it was perfect!
Then was a coffee time! (The best time of all if you ask me) and before dinner time we said goodbye and they hitted the road again.
Eventhough there was some TV programme on in the evening, I suggested to have a film night with my Mum and she surprisingly said yes, so we watched The theory of everything and we both liked it very much!
On Sunday I was dying... the time changed at night (hello summer time) and I was confused and tired in the morning, because I did sleep an hour less and my brain - and also my body- just couldn't handle it. That is why I had to prepare myself a delicious breakfast and did some proper stretching and started to reading a new book that became part of my book club (I call book club my pile of books that are currently living on my desk). The book is called Crisis in the Cheese Aisle and was written by one of my favourite authors: Robert Fulghum. I have read everything he wrote, apart from this! So of course I had to fix it!

I introduce you my bookclub aka a huge pile of books on my desk.

I love his style, his sense of humour and the way he writes and tells the stories. It is so unique, so readable and in one word: FANTASTIC! If you enjoy reading as much as I do, you have to definitely read some book by him! I guarantee you wont be disappointed!



If you were paying attention during reading, you might have noticed I mentioned stretching more than once. Curious why? On Monday I realised I am not as flexible as I would like to be, so I started to do proper stretching with my favourite fitness instructor Cassey Ho everyday and it hasn't even been a week and I can see some progress already!

I love books. Especially, I love reading them, but also looking on them and searching just the right one in the bookstore is great. I even got my favourite book character tattooed on my leg!

Yesterday I finished reading Moby Dick. After two months of irregular reading, because I read three or more books at that time that I also read. There were parts I struggled with reading and wanted to give the book back to the library, but now, I'm glad I acomplished this mission!
However, Moby Dick isn't the only book I finished reading yesterday. In January I decided to read some books from Sophie Kinsella and to find out if I like her style of wrting. So I started with the Tennis Party, which I liked so much and continued with the Undomestic Goddess which was also great! Her style reminds me of Alexandra Potter, but without the megaic stuff. Sophie (her real name is Madeleine) can drag the readers in the story, so you don't want to stop unless you find out how it will all end and that is exactly what I love about reading. I can live more lives at one time and be part of many adventures.
So if you are looking for something to read I have so many tips for you: if you like classical literature, try Herman Melville and his story about White Whale and if you prefer romantic stories with witty and unexpected situations, choose a book by Sophie Kinsella.

This is also a splendid book!

January. It's unbelievable! Many people think that with New Year comes a new opportunity, however, I am still convinced that every day is a new chance, new beginning. Taking this into consideration I don't have any New Year's Resolutions, but I have my all time kind of 'resolutions' which in fact mean I want to live my life fully and do only things I want to do and the things that I enjoy and be grateful for every new morning, saying it shortly: I am trying to enjoy the small things in life!

Nap fix everything (and so does a good film)

So far this year I had a nap, because nap can fix everything, right? I also, for the first time in my life, launched a lampion of happiness! Well, technically not me, but my sis (I gave her one to her birthday) and she needed help, so me and mom were assisting. I also watched two new films: Passengers and Assassin's Creed. I didn't know what to expect from Passengers and it was stunning! Main characters are played by Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence and the plot, scenery and alaso barteneder, all of it is great! And because I have never ever played AC, I feel like I am not the right person to make decisions about this film, since I don't know the original game series.

Books

Have you heard of The BB BLC? It's a list of books made by an unknown author and it's very likely it is based on another Book List Challenge that BBC released after a survey made in 2003. I went through both of the lists and here are the books I've read:
(books from the first unofficial list)

• Harry Potter Series - J. K. Rowling
• The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
• Memoirs of Geisha - Arthur Golden
• The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
• Moby Dick - Herman Melville (currently reading)
• A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
• Madame Bovary - Gustav Flaubet
• The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• Charlie & The Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

Hello people!
It's snowing outside and the whole world is turning into a fairytale. It's a perfect weather for relax! I feel like I want to grab a book and a huge cup of tea and just read the book whole day and from time to time just look out the window and enjoy the snowflakes falling from the sky.
Right now I am sitting at my desk, drinking tea, listening to Christmas songs and I feel co cozy and relaxed! The first day of snow is simply the best. It usually appears out of the blue and you wake up in the morning into a winter fairytale! It's almost magical!
And if you feel the same way as I do right now and wondering which book I read, it's Harry Potter and the Coursed Child.


I first saw this book when my friend got it from her partner and brought it to work. I wasn't sure what to expect from this new story about Harry Potter, but I knew for sure I want to read it! And here I am. My friend gave me the book to my Birthday and I already love it! I feel like a child again who is about to explore the magical world of Hogwarts for the first time, eventhoug I know it since my childhood. The book is perfect so far and I am enjoying every single page! I also got a new book from Zoe Sugg (by new I mean the paperback version of Girl Online On Tour) which I plan to read during the Christmas Holidays!

Not having any plans for Halloween? In my country we don't celebrate Halloween, however this year I am planning to celebrate this feast. Of course we have a jack-o'-lanthern on our balcony already, but I also plan to watch a Halloween film and wear a costume.  It would be weird to go trick and threat, because firstly, I am not a child, and secondly, people would be confused, because there is no such official event such as Halloween in the Czech Republic.
I already know which film I want to want on Halloween eve and I know it's more a childish film than a proper horor, but I am not really a fan of horror films. I like a good thriller when the plot is not visible and clear at the first sight, but horror films with zombies and killers-not really my cup of tea! So my film for Halloween eve is Double, Double, Toil and Trouble. I have never seen it before and I have always loved films with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, so I'm looking forward to this film!
I know you probably aren't interested in watching films with two little girls that aren't zombies, killers or small Devils, so my tips for you are following.

The Ring

The old good classic. I've seen only the American version with Naomi Watts in the main role and it was good. Well, good for a horror film.

The Sixth Sense

Bruce Willis and a little boy who can see dead people. If you haven't seen this film yet, watch it on Halloween, It's a must-see!

Vampire Diaries

Supernatural drama tv series with vampires, witches and others supernatural creatures! I have seen all the seasons and I currently watch the latest season and it is the most terryfying season I've seen so far (well at least according to the first episode).

Constantine

One of my favourites films. Keanu Reeves and Shia LaBeouf. Angels and demons and ordinary people between them.

If you prefer books, I also have two tips for you that are perfect for Halloween. Rosemary has a baby and The Stepford Wives. Both were written by Ira Levin are absolutely stunning! They both are so readable and terrifying and make you shivery!

Happy Halloween !