R.I.P. Max

I am so sad to share the news that our beloved family dog, Max, has passed away.

Max and Dominika on a walk in January 2012



The news of his recent illness and subsequent deterioration has hit me a lot harder than I expected it to and it gave me a chance to reflect on his life and how much a part of our family he really was. In his younger years, Max was the greatest guard dog imagineable, maybe even too much sometimes! He had a loud bark and scary demeanor which would scare off any potential burglar with just one look. He was a bilingual dog and very intuitive. He was also the best doorbell possible. We knew when my Mom's best friend was coming because even if she was still 3 blocks away, he would be able to tell and would begin barking immediately to let us know she was coming. He had some mishaps over the years, with some excessive barking and a bite or two (I wasn't there for it but I've heard about what happened with Human Max). But he was my little brother. He's been there through everything.

Even when I had been away for a very long time, like for a year in Germany, he still recognized me and greeted me warmly when I came home. Even when noone else was home when I'd drive up from college, he was there. He protected us and he made me feel safe. Just knowing he was there, especially when I was home alone, made me feel comfortable. He was a part of our family unit and I just can't believe he won't be there anymore when I come home. My Dad was his master and they really were best friends. He followed Pistol around everywhere and in a house where males were outnumbered, my Dad was lucky to have another 'man' around. Despite the fact that I knew he was old and getting sick, I still didn't imagine what would it would be like if he wasn't around. Well, there is a real void in my heart and I'm so sad that he's not with us here on Earth anymore but I hope he's having fun in Heaven.

I love you always Max! Hope you and Peempoosh are having fun playing together again.

 Max watching Food Network with me

 Kisses for his (let's be honest) favorite sister ;)

 Helping with yardwork

Ok, more like playing!

 How nice!

 Mama, sissy, and baby brother

Max Kaminski

1998-2012

My Eyesight is Ruining My Youth

I'm that girl in the bar putting eyedrops in and possibly changing into glasses throughout the night. I have horrible eyesight and lots of vision problems in general. And I really reallly really want to have laser eye surgery!

I eventually just go to sleep early because it's so frustrating. I just give in and let my eyes win. I can't stay out late because my contacts get dry and hence the eyedrops coming out. It's even worse when people are smoking around me and it's just so frustrating. I would like to stay out and party and have fun but my eyeballs are just killing the party mood!

Maybe that's why I'm actually a morning person, because that is the time that I can see best in the morning. I've been wearing glasses since about 3rd grade and then I got contacts around age 12. I was getting braces and I didn't want to have braces and glasses because I was nerdy enough already as it was ;) It's just funny to me how much I have to think about my eyes and how people who have great vision don't have to consider their eyes at all. I'm constantly visiting eye doctors, ordering contacts, getting new lenses for my glasses, buying contact solution and eye drops, and I just wish I could be one of those people who wakes up and can see clearly in the morning!

Then, in my "Harry Potter" glasses, as Tomislav likes to call them :)
Also, please note my Granny-like glasses cord hanging down past my neck. I really don't know why I had it because I had to wear my glasses all the time so I ended up chewing on it (gross) since I didn't have long hair to chew. Even grosser? I used to put it in between my front teeth! NASTY! I was such a weird kid but I had a big gap between my teeth so I guess I was thinking, "Why not? Perfect fit!" I probably made my teeth even worse by doing that. Thanks Mom and Dad for getting me braces!

And now!

I met (or rather, re-met) someone recently who got laser eye surgery about a month ago and it couldn't have been more perfect timing for me to meet and chat with her. She was recovering from laser eye surgery and I was so excited to hear her thoughts. It's something I've been thinking about since high school, since I learned about the results of the surgery. I can't even imagine how much my life would change from laser eye surgery and I really hope I'll be able to do it one day soon. She was about ten days after the surgery and already very pleased with her results. It was great to hear her honest perspective about how weird it was to stay awake and keep your eyes open as your eyes get beamed with lasers. But for about 10 minutes on each eye for perfect vision? Love it!

Have you had laser eye surgery? Are you pleased with the results? Do you know anyone who has had laser eye surgery?

Speak Now

Tomislav's church has put up the sign listing our upcoming nuptuals! It is time to speak now or forever hold your peace.

Look it's our names :)

We're getting married!

Aww, my future hubby :)

P.S. Have you been flossing?! I'm proud of T-Slav and my family back home for taking part in my Floss Challenge! Are you? You really should floss once a day, it's so much better for your than you could ever imagine!

Family is...

SO important to me and they're coming here NEXT WEEK!

Coming all the way to Croatia to celebrate US! I'm so excited and I just can't hide and I'm not addicted to caffeine pills like Jessie Spano, but I'm getting married to the love of my life a week from Saturday!!!

Dream of Home Tonight

100! This is my 100th blog post! I'm proud of that number because in the past, I haven't been able to keep up with blogs that I started (although I really wish I did. I would love to be able to look back and remember my time in Egypt even more). I did keep a blog (cough LiveJournal cough cough) while I was in Germany in high school but that was before I knew it was a blog. To me, it was an online journal where I wrote way too many crazy/personal things quite aptly titled "Nikki's In Germany." Clever, right? ANYWAY!

For DOHT's 100th Blog Post I've decided to tell you all about how I came up with the name of my blog!

Can you guess where Dream of Home Tonight came from? Any ideas? You might have thought..."Oh well, she probably misses home so she dreams about it." Or maybe you are a lyrics-genius or into the same music as me to realize that the name Dream of Home Tonight actually comes from the lyrics of one of my favorite bands' songs! Now any ideas?

I have only seen this band in concert one time and it was actually in Slovenia! My first trip to Ljubljana, back in 2009 I believe. Tomislav found out they were playing and got tickets right away and I was so excited. It was an amazing show, with the dreamiest and most stylish lead singer singing the hell out of their songs! The singer went on to do a solo album although the band has not split up and will hopefully be releasing a new album this year! Does this help at all?

So the lyrics go:

Will your system be alright
When you dream of home tonight

Whenever I hear this song, I just have to wait to hear this part of the song before I can go on (and I probably scream-sing it then). This happened when we were outlet shopping in Italy; couldn't leave the store until I heard those words! And you can be SURE that this song will play at our wedding and I will be scream singing those words!

So by now, you may have guessed it or you probably know - it's...

The Killer's - Human

A great song from a great band! I couldn't be happier that my blog name came from the text of one of their songs because they truly write from the heart and that's where I write from too!

This pic is from a scan I took of visa evidence we needed. Gotta love being an international couple and having to prove that you guys actually are a real couple in order to be together. The bottom left pic is from concert day :)

Did you have any idea where my blog name came from?

Attention Expats! & Anyone Who's Ever Wanted to Watch US TV Abroad!

You know the feeling when you're really far from home, halfway across the world, experiencing totally different and new things that are so far from your norm at home? And whether you really recognize it or not, you feel a little homesick and then...there in that new place, that foreign place - something familiar from home! You turn on the TV and it's an old Friends re-run with Croatian subtitles (or better yet - dubbed like in Germany/Austria)! It just brings you right back to the first time you saw that show back home or reminds you of someone who you know who likes that show. Now, here in Zagreb we have a few cable channels but really there is nothing on, ever. So we hardly watch anything on TV and if we do, it's only from 2 channels.

First, Euro-VH1 which replays the most annoying commericial ever at least 5 times an hour, and I mean at least. I don't know, maybe it's 10 times. Any time, day or night, VH1 replays music videos from all different years and genres and then every 10 minutes or so, they play this "VH1 Commercial" which shows short clips of songs. I swear, everyone in Croatia must know the order of these songs if you've ever turned this channel on! I'm singing it in my head right now..everything from:

 

"What happened to the dream of a girl president?
She's dancing in the video Next to 50 Cent
They travel in packs of two and three
With their itsy bitsy doggies, and their teeny-weeny tee"
to
"We more than shooters
More than looters,
Created in his image,
So God live through us,
And even in his generation living through computers
On love, love, love can reboot us"
to
"They call me 'hell'
They call me 'Stacey'
They call me 'her'
They call me 'Jane'
That's not my name."
to
"Get down, girl go 'head, get down"
to
"Beautiful girls, that's why it'll never work..."

Oh my, it's so annoying but sometimes you just want to turn something on to hear some music in the apartment (and I'm sorry, but I just cannot take CMC (Croatian Music Channel) for more than 15 minutes at a time!) so VH1 is what goes on. Until you hear that commercial AGAIN and you just turn it off!

The other channel we have that we watch is Fox Life. It plays mostly American and some British sitcoms and shows, everything from '90s shows like Spin City and Ally McBeal, to shows from the '00s like Hope & Faith and Yes, Dear and even now, recently we've noticed that they're getting more current shows like Revenge and Once Upon a Time. So that's one that we sometimes may put on and it reminds me of something my sister and I would watch back in the day in Poland. My grandparents have only 3 or so channels on their TV and we used to watch super old reruns of the Bold and the Beautiful on the farm with our Grandma. It was a real treat when Saved By the Bell would be on, but of course the ONE Polish man dubs ALL of the characters voices so we'd sit close to the TV to try to hear the muffled English.

ANYWAY - what you can see from this is we don't have a lot of TV-home-entertainment type options here. No OnDemand to watch or anything like that, we just have the most basic cable option for our TV so it's the most basic form of cable. Now you might think, that doesn't matter, you can always watch stuff online! This is totally true. BUT, being in Europe and not in the States, you can't watch TV shows live and even if it is offered online as being live, it's not possible to watch outside of the U.S.A. You get the dreaded, "Not Available in Your Country" message. Ugh, hate that! Especially when it happens on YouTube. So it's frustrating because even though I'm living here, watching American shows gives me a sense of home and reminds me of American customs and ways of thinking and also keeps me up to date on pop culture and such (especially SNL, which I've mentioned before). But the age old question is, how can I watch my favorite shows?

In the States, I'm a die hard Food Network fan. I could leave Food Network and Bravo on all day long, and throw some HGTV in there, especially at night when HHI is on ;) Here, I can't watch any of those shows, ever. BUT WAIT! There is a way to watch all my favorite shows! I was incredibly shocked and amazed to find out that the geniuses over at UnoDNS have created a program (UnoTelly) to somehow bypass the dreaded "Not Available in Your Country" message and allow access to all of the websites like Hulu, Netflix, and my beloved Food Network. Even Pandora works! I really could not believe when I found out about this that someone made this possible. Serious geniuses! My expat friends rejoice! All of my friends from everywhere in the world who want to have access to all of the same websites and TV streaming options as everyone in the States has - rejoice!

UnoTelly has literally made my freaking year! It works so fast and so well and lets me stream anything and everything. It was simple to set up and such fast streaming with  no problems at all. It's such a smart way to let the rest of the world see what Americans get to see back on the homeland! Lucky for you all - UnoTelly will be offering up some discounts for my wonderful readers for this already super affordable service!

So have you ever felt this connection to American shows abroad while you were traveling? Do you miss seeing your programs? And if you're in Croatia, do you know which VH1 commercial I'm talking about?! Check back in, I'll be posting more about coupons from UnoTelly for you guys!

Practice Makes Perfect

Our productive wedding planning got off to a late start but we still are managing to get through our Saturday to-do list! We picked up T-Slav's suit, some things for our welcome bags, and we got the wedding torte samples from our cake baker to try some different flavors. Delicious!

Cakes!

Practice run of smashing cake in each others' faces - we just had to do it ;)

For a non-cake eater, I have to say I really did love the cakes! Yummy!

Help Us Plan our Wedding!

So, right now we are thinking about must-play songs at our wedding. This is one of the funnest parts of wedding planning for me. Tomislav and I like to be goofy and fun and we love to dance like crazy (see below). I have to send our DJ some of our music options soon so that we can make sure he has all the music we'd love to hear on our wedding night. Since we are having quite the international affair and have both love music from all over the world and in many different languages, we would love to get some suggestions for what should be on our must-play list! Specifically, we're thinking about our entrance song right now.

To give you an idea:

What can I say? We like to have fun! I'll never forget the first night T and I went out in Philly for some "American Dancing." Think: Booty shaking, bump 'n' grindin'
(No wonder he had a great time in America!)



 Sometimes we dance like this, especially because T-Slav is an incredible dancer.

But most of the time, I look like this. Usually making some kind of weird face

So...help us out!



As you can see, we are totally all over the place. It might be one of these or it might be something totally different. Any suggestions you have would be super helpful!

Save the Date!

Just over three weeks to go, 23 days to be exact, until our big day! I can't believe how excited we are and unfocused on anything and everything else already. Since we have so many people coming from overseas and abroad, I guess it leaves us even more excited than others may be before their wedding days. I can't believe we will see my family and so many of our friends so soon! I wanted to share our Save the Date's with you all, if you haven't seen them yet. You may remember, our amazing friends (Genius Creators) took our engagement pictures. We saw the idea online of holding up signs or letters to spell out "Save the Date" and we wanted to try that out and it turned out great! We made postcard Save the Dates with help from the Wedding Wire website. The problem was we wanted to use 3 pictures, not 2 which is how many templates were set up for. I am not the craftiest person in the world (although I try to be!) so I really wanted to use a template to make them. See below for how our postcard Save the Date turned out!

Photos taken at Rittenhouse Park in Philly, the "the" is pretty close to the actual place where T-Slav popped the question!

 On the back of the postcard, we shared some English-Croatian translations of important words to know!

Floss Challenge

So, this is kind of random but dental health is very important, much more important beyond just having fresh breath, and I hope all of you take good care of your teeth and gums! After reading the shocking statistic that more than half of American adults have some form of gum disease or gingivitis and don't even know about it, I wanted to learn more about this fact and how it can be prevented. Luckily, Dr. Oz had all the information I was looking for.

I saw Dr. Oz a while back on Good Morning America talking about the importance of flossing and the fact that it helps prevent heart disease, cancer, and some effects of aging! In fact, if you DON'T floss, you are four times more likely to have a stroke! 

"Brushing and flossing every day (combined with seeing a dental professional every six months or so) can have a RealAge effect of making you up to 6.4 years younger. Because of its ability to decrease inflammation in your gums and subsequently in your arteries, flossing will help you keep your heart pumping and your sex life thriving-not to mention your teeth intact. Pressed for time? Then follow this rule: Only floss the teeth you want to keep." -Dr. Oz

Research has shown it takes approximately 60 days for something to become a habit, so I have a special challenge for all of you. I would like you to try and make flossing your new daily habit, if it's not already. It doesn't take that long, you can do it just once a day, it's best to do it at night before you go to bed and after you brush your teeth. Any time of day can work. Even if you're stuck in traffic, pull your floss out and go to town! For the next 60 days, I would like you to promise to floss every single day! After the 60 days are done, you won't even think about it as if it's something you have to do, but you'll just do it automatically! If you miss a day, don't fret and don't give up! Just do it the next day then. It's so good for you and I want all of you to be healthy people! Keep your minds, bodies, and gums extra healthy!

So, who's up for the challenge? This simple change could improve your life and future! Get yourself some silky smooth floss to make it easier for you. Even if your gums bleed a bit at first, stick with it. Unhealthy gums have too much blood in them so they bleed. Your body sends the blood to your gums to fight infection and bacteria so the more you floss, the healthier your gums will be and the less they'll bleed!  I'm obviously not a dentist of any kind, but I know how much better I feel after flossing and watching Dr. Oz talk about all the risks, I'd rather spend a couple minutes flossing every day so I can spend my golden years taking trips instead of taking pills!

Croatian Floss (left), American Satin Floss (right)

Thanks sissy for sending it!



Do you floss regularly? Comment below if you'd like to join the challenge! I'm not going to hold you to it, but every so often I'll check in with you and let you know how my habit is going and see how yours is going! I'll have some more motivation (perhaps in the form of a postcard or prize of some sort) along the way. Join in and keep your gums and body healthy all the way through! Floss tonight!



The Best Recipe You Thought You Knew, But You Don't!

Tomislav begged me to share this with you all because it literally has changed our lives in the kitchen. It seems so basic and simple but most people go the wrong way about it. Here is how you can make PERFECT hard boiled eggs, every single time.

You want them perfect, not rubbery, delicious and gorgeously yellow? Of course you do! Follow these simple instructions and I SWEAR you will be eating hard boiled eggs all the time! Here's what you need to do:

Step 1: Put the eggs in a pot and fill with cold water just an inch above the eggs.
Step 2: Bring to a boil.
Step 3: After it's at a rolling boil, TURN OFF THE HEAT and set the timer for 17 min!
Step 4: Leave the eggs

After 17 minutes are up, drain the water and either put the eggs in an ice bath to stop cooking or just pour cold water over the eggs and you will literally have the best eggs ever! They are so perfect for breakfast, or slice them up for sandwiches, or chop them for salads! Amazingly perfect eggs, every single time!

My egg wasn't sliced the best way, but you can see I made a fantastic Euro-style open faced sandwich with cheese, cold cuts, cucumbers, and my amazing hard boiled eggs! Look at how orange the yolks are - doesn't get better than that!

Weekend Update with Nikki

A good way for me to keep up to date on the latest news in pop culture is by watching recent Saturday Night Live episodes. Even though I'm a week behind on each one, it still catches me up on election news and funny skits that people back in the States might be talking about. Anyway, T-Slav is away on his bachelor party weekend rafting in Bosnia! This leaves me with a free Saturday to forget about wedding planning for the day and catch up on SNL and my fav American shows and Chinese take-out. Oh yeah, I've already forgotten about the fact that I have to fit in my wedding dress in a few weeks...

I have some fun things to share. I did an interview for the Pocono Record about doing House Hunters International. It was on the front page of their website yesterday and you can read it here if you'd like. Just a couple of things I want to mention that were not quite right with the article. The name of the show is House Hunters International, not 'International House Hunters.' Also, I work in a school, not a university. Finally, I totally forgot that Tomislav is 26 years old and not 25 anymore. 25 just really suit him so well so I guess I kinda forgot his birthday was in March and that technically makes him a year older. Oh well :)

Also yesterday, we met up with our wedding photographer to make some plans for the big day. She is so talented, fun, and easy to talk to and I couldn't be happier! I know she will make our wedding day even that much better because she really rocks! 

 

 27 days to go! 

Bridal Shower in a Box

If you are Tomislav (hi babe!), then as my confidante, you know that I've been bumming on some of the American traditions that I am missing out on pre-wedding simply because they don't have the same traditions here. Since I was last home in January, I knew I wouldn't be home again before the wedding and there have been a couple of times where I broke down because I was sad that my Mom wouldn't be able to throw me a bridal shower. We had so much fun organizing my sister's bridal shower last year and it turned out so well. Last Friday afternoon, I was having one of those blue moments and of course, chatted with my sister since she always makes everything better. Little did I know, I was in for a big surprise this past weekend!

The plan was to check out this new club on Saturday night but first we'd all meet up at our great friend Ivona's house for some drinks. We were getting ready to go out and at first I wanted to wear jeans and then Tomislav kept telling me to dress sexier! I was like, "Whaaaaat?!" He never tells me what to wear so it was shocking! Thank goodness he told me to though because when we got to Ivona's...

SURPRISE!

 

My amazing MOH and sister organized a bridal shower in a box and sent it over here, complete with recipes and marriage advice from all the wonderful women in my life over in America, (as well as ones from Croatia), presents, and so much love!

 Ivona - Dominika's co-host ;)

Adorable Maja in the bridal bow hat!

 Bridal Shower ---> Bachelorette Party in Cro Cro!

 Girls rule :)

 The "Bree-da" in the Middle (That's Bride in Croatian hehe)

It was a total dream come true, and made me so so so happy. Dominika, my Mom, Tomislav, and all my friends from the States and Croatia and everywhere made it so special for me. I'm so happy that even though I'm far from home, my 2 best gals still were able to throw me an unforgettable bridal shower! AND I love my girls here for taking the opportunity to give me a Croatian bachelorette party while they were at it ;) Thank you all so much! How lucky am I? 2 surprise parties in the last 6 months!

Wesołe Wesele

So I've been noticeably (or maybe not so noticeably) absent for a bit because I am officially BRIDE-ing out all over the place! Our wedding is exactly one month from tomorrow. Yes, ONE MONTH! Family and friends start arriving even sooner, plus I'm still working of course, so everything is complete busy madness.

Luckily, I have the absolute greatest Maid of Honor ever, but still, there is only so much you can do from 4,000 miles away or however far it is. So T-Slav and I are going a bit cray cray but still trying to remain sane. We found out about some more last minute paperwork that we need to do which has left my family scrambling a bit to help us get them. Also, we will need to do some super-last minute translations, and ah there are so just so many things to do!

So today, I think back to one year ago. Tomislav had arrived in America to come to my grad. school graduation and of course to Dominika and Paul's wedding. My aunt and uncle and little cousin had also just arrived (for the very first time). We were getting ready for D & P's big day and among the preparations, Tomislav and I were lucky enough to have our wonderful, fantastic, über talented friends, Britt and Lindsay take our engagement pictures. Visit their website!

 

 Love Philly

Sweetness

 

Outside of Rittenhouse Park...where we got engaged!

This one was featured on our episode of House Hunters International!

 Some more of our engagement pictures can be seen here! Hopefully some of the wedding planning stress and insanity simmers down soon. Think of me these days and send me some positive, relaxing vibes my way if you can! I could use any calmness you have to spare ;)

Wedding Dress Workouts

It's absolutely fitting that I write about my latest ventures in exercising the day after the taco post ;) There is an important reason for it though:

I need to fit into my wedding dress! 

So, one of my sisters' best friends, Dana started a blog recently and I've been really inspired by her to step up my game when it comes to fitness. Our wedding is in about 4 weeks (!!!!)  and since New Year's we've been saying how we want to be in the best shape of our lives. T has always been better about working out than me because he likes to play sports whereas I am so uncoordinated, they only way I can catch a frisbee or ball or something is by it hitting me in the face. Seriously. Not good!

Anyway, so while Tomislav is out playing squash or ultimate frisbee, my main exercise came from walking the mile up and down hill to work and sporadically doing a yoga video at home or pilates. Since I had a week off after Easter, it was a great time for me to really get healthy inside and out. I started running, pretty regularly. Tomislav and I have gone together for a run on the riverbanks on a nice day before but usually I couldn't muster the motivation to go running on my own. It always felt boring to me and I felt self conscious thinking that neighbors or people around would think, "What is she doing? She doesn't know what she's doing." I did absolutely horrible at track and field in high school and never found an event I was good at because I was terrible at them all!

But I want to be active and healthy so, I began doing a 2 minute run/1 minute walk on the riverbank, I jogged to the market (then walked back with the groceries), and shockingly enough, after I dropped the groceries off I wanted to go back out there and keep going! This never happened before. I'm usually really not the type but so far I've really enjoyed my newfound exercise strength. Now, it's just about finding the time to go out. I would really love to go for a run in the morning before work but that would mean getting up even earlier (like 6am early, yikes) and no matter how many times I've set the alarm, I can't get up that early. I've been tutoring after school almost everyday and that combined with meeting up with a friend for a coffee, the endless wedding meetings we have and everything else going on, I can't find the time until like 9pm, and I really don't have the energy to go out in the dark then. So I'm considering going at least for a short run during my lunch break. I don't want to get all gross and sweaty though so not the best idea.

There you have it, this is how I look after a work out! 
All red and sweaty...who cares what the neighbors/girls at our neighborhood bakery think?

If anyone has any advice, I'd love to hear it! I just want to be healthy and I also need to fit in my wedding dress...oh how I dread that measuring tape! Since my dress is still in the States, my Mom sent me the measurements. I'm not trying to do anything drastic, I just have a couple of centimeters to go so I can zip up my dress. Really hope it'll fit by the time my sister brings it here! I don't belong to a gym here in Zagreb (they are very expensive here!) so I need to use my surroundings (as Dana says, the world is your gym!) and any online resources that are available internationally! So, if you have any tips for a relative newbie in the exercising arena, please let me know. Hiking on Sljeme, the mountain in Zagreb, would be really fun to do and I think a nice form of exercise but that's more of a weekend work out.

Do you exercise regularly? What do you do to switch up your routine?

Taco Night!

Stuck for a dinner idea? I totally recommend making tonight a taco night!

I sauteed some onions, added ground turkey (or beef, chicken, fish, whatever you like) and some corn along with chili powder and almost all the spices I have in my cabinet! Sometimes I like to add cooked rice to the meat mixture to thicken it up even more.

You have to have all the fixin's! Guacamole, salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, and lime sour cream - yum!

Delicioso!

Crunch Crunch!

As for everything that fell out of the shell while you were eating it? Turn it into a taco salad! My fav! You can also just eat it all like this if you don't have taco shells or tortillas. You could make tortillas or if you have tortilla chips you could make this into a loaded nachos meal! This combination of flavors is unbeatable - just try to stop yourself from gobbling it all up!