Free Entertainment - Being Nerdy Encouraged!

Tomislav and I have a lot of random expenses that have drained our bank accounts over the years (so many plane tickets, visa fees, and a million and a half copies at the copy center across from MUP), that and our love for good food and treating ourselves to fancy lunches every once in a while has left us to be creative with finding ways to entertain ourselves at home. I'm talking about fun games to play at home for 2 people (no board games needed)! So, if you live alone, call someone to come over and get nerdy like us!

1. Play Country/City! You probably played this as a kid (but on paper...we used white boards). You know- you write down a bunch of topics and then one person says the alphabet in their head and whatever letter they land on, you have to come up with a word for each topic!

Our Categories: Country · City · Animal · Plant · Car · Movie · Name

We score this way, 15 points if you get something and the other person doesn't (they get 0 of course), 10 points if you both came up with something, and 5 points if you wrote the same thing!

I kicked his butt, but we were playing in my native language (and not his!) although ever since I played Taboo in Croatian, I feel like I could do anything in Croatian!

2. NERD ALERT - If you guys are nerdy and competitive (like some of us), print out a couple worksheets from Math-Aids (like the 5 minute challenges), set the timer, and see who finishes first!



3. Grab your books and go outside and read! Go to the park, go on your balcony, or just lay on the couch and get immersed in your imagination. I'm currently reading One Pink Line by Dina Silver on my Kindle. Tomislav is finally getting to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

4. Cook something together! If one of you knows how to cook and the other doesn't, teach each other. I feel very overprotective of my (small) kitchen space because I feel like it's totally my zone so I'm trying to get better about sharing the space. Feel like you don't have anything at home? Try one of my recipes! Use whatever you've got onhand already and if cooking's really not your thing, then mix up some cocktails!

I made this awesome (super quick) fried rice for my hungry hubby on my non-stick pan with a tiny drop of sesame oil and all my leftovers. A little leftover ground turkey that had been sauteed with garlic and onion, seasoned with curry powder, a red pepper, the last egg, and brown rice. I seasoned it with ground ginger and soy sauce. Delicious!

5. Daydream/start planning your next vacation so you have something to look forward to! Look up information about a place you guys would both like to visit, check out reviews, prices, and figure out a way to make a day or weekend trip happen! People in Europe tend to go away for weekend trips a lot more (without a concrete reason like a wedding or baptism), just to visit places. If you're in the States, you should do it too! There are so many places to see and if you have a car, even better. Or get on the bus and go! T-Slav loves doing research and we both love to travel so this is a great one for us. We're daydreaming about trips to Sarajevo, Amsterdam, and Paris right now. And when we're back in the States, we want to visit Boston because T's never been (and a ton of other places too!)

Amsterdam

   

So what are some things you guys like to do at home that don't involve watching TV/Movies or spending money?

Ej brate idemo van! AKA: Going Out in Zagreb

The great thing about living in Zagreb is the fact that it's the capital city of Croatia! That means that on any given night, there is bound to be something going on somewhere. Tomislav and I have talked about it so many times how different our lives would be if he was from a tiny village in Slavonija or something and how I probably would never have moved here if that was the case (job promotion or not!). Now the debate on whether I'd move if he were from the seaside? That one is not as much of a debate because I just love the Croatian coast! So today, following this super fun weekend, I've decided to share with you some of the places that we go out to in Zagreb! These are not the typical touristy places, but rather places we actually go to on the regular! And remember, my man is a native Zagrebian so he knows his stuff!

For when you're feeling hipster-y  - Krivi Put

if it's raining, then Mocvara is definitely the big runner up

Krivi Put is right across from the University of Zagreb's student center. Everyone first starts going there as students and keeps coming back for the affordable drinks and good atmosphere. You can tell it's a bit on the hipster side from all the bikes parked right outside of the bar ;)

 

 As you can see, seating is outside so it's definitely more of a warm weather type of place. Go early if you want to get a table, because by 11 it's gonna be totally packed and you can either stand inside the bar area or squeeze into someone else's table and make some new friends.

As for Mocvara, it's name translates to be the "Swamp" place, named so because of it's location (close to the river banks). They always have different theme party nights there, from reggae night to 80's parties. We went there last year for Halloween and it was a lot of fun! It's the kind of place that you definitely want to wear flats to and can expect your feet to get stepped on a lot. But again, the drinks are on the way more affordable side.

Last Halloween at Mocvara...can you recognize the lovely 'bride' in the middle? Hint!

When you feel like wearing heels - GreenGold

Saturday night, Tomi and his boys wanted to go to hipster-ville Mocvara (which naturally includes pre-gaming in a nearby park, because that's what Croatian boys like to do. A frisbee is almost always included in these plans). Luckily, a quick text begging one of my girlfriends to come with led to her letting me know that the girls were in town so it was time to put our heels on and go somewhere where there is no smoking inside! Yes!

Elevators always have mirrors in them in Cro Cro!

It was my first time being at GreenGold and I really liked it a lot! It's very open and airy which is so nice and drinks weren't as expensive as I thought it would be since it's definitely on the fancier side of bars/clubs in Zagreb. It's very new also...I'm just hoping that in the future, there will be more super fun songs playing after 2am. Because when it's that late, all you really wanna do is dance your heart out and sing along to some Spice Girls, David Guetta, Rihanna...I mean let's be honest here people!

When you want to to wear flats and jeans but still want to dance the night away - Purgeraj

This is an old pic but Purgeraj is one of those places that if you're in the mood for some good, fun music and an international crowd of couch surfers, backpackers, and friends of foreigners, this is definitely the place to go. It's close to the center of town and another affordable place. This is also a great Thursday night spot!

And for a sure-to-be-a-great-night thing to do for families and friends alike:

go to a Medvescak game! Hockey is huge in Zagreb so the fans are wild and tons of fun. Tickets are affordable (around 40 kuna or $7) and win or lose, it's just a great way to spend your afternoon, cheering on the Bears! You'll pick up on the chants and songs pretty quickly because throughout the game, seasoned fans keep up with the cheers throughout the whole game!

My first Medvescak game a couple years ago

 

Zig Zag Medvescak!

Yesterday's first home game of the season!

So there you have it! Now you know where you can find us out and about in Ziggity Zag.

 Where do you like to go out in Zagreb? If you've never been here, which one of these places would you most like to check out?

Top 5 Things to Bake This Weekend (for the non-baker!)

I'm so happy it's the weekend! Gives you the perfect opportunity for some odmor (one of my favorite Croatian words and something very important to Croatian people! Rest and relaxation) and it also gives me a chance to prepare some yummy food for the week! Living here, I can't buy certain things (like the number 1 item on this list!) so it's totally worth it for me to spend 3 hours to make them! (worth it) Sometimes I'm in the mood to have a fresh baked good quickly so I have a couple go-to's for that. Trust me, if you live in a country where everything is closed on Sundays, you'll want to keep a few of these on hand when you're craving something bready.

Here are my top 5 favorite things to bake and I seriously recommend you try them! And I say for the non-baker, because I don't consider myself a baker but with a little measuring (and patience to let the yeast do it's thang), you get to have your whole house smell warm and inviting and make your Sunday that much more enjoyable and relaxing. You will be so thankful you did when you're inhaling the sweet smells of freshly baked cinnamon bread or smearing jam or butter on a warm, freshly baked biscuit. So, so, so worth it.

#5 Cinnamon Bread - If you want to impress your boyfriend, girlfriend, hubby - make this! It is delicious perfection and will make anyone fall in love with you (or at least serious lust). That warm, soft, just sweet enough bread - mmmm! (I've since made it again - look how much prettier it turned out!)




#4 Naan Bread - this homemade version is so good and pretty easy to recreate at home in your own oven or even on the stove! I love to add yogurt to my dough and chopped garlic (well, I love to add garlic to everything so no surprise there.) They're versatile too - perfect to go with any curry, or to dip into some hummus, or you can even use them to make french toast (like we did with a 2nd batch that had been accidentally forgotten in the oven for a few minutes too long...oopsies)

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#3 Butter Biscuits - I learned a lot from one of my old roommate's in college. Sam made me feel like girls can do absolutely anything! Whereas I wouldn't even attempt to install an air conditioner on my own (I would much sooner call Pistol then even try to lift it myself), Sam wouldn't hesitate a single second. (Now, I know I can do anything) Looking at her, you might not realize her strength straight away because she's tiny and absolutely gorgeous but she is one of the toughest chicks I've ever met and I'm so thankful for all that I learned from her and it's way more than she even knows! So one day, I came home and she was making butter biscuits and I nearly died. I didn't know much about cooking yet (besides boiling pasta) so seeing her baking these, I was absolutely floored and impressed. Now, I use this super simple go-to recipe (without shortening) to make flaky and delicious drop biscuits totally inspired by Sam!

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#2 English muffins - I am obsessed with making these! You will not believe how easy it is to make your own English muffins at home, with all the nooks and crannies! Yum yum yum, this makes me so much happier for my breakfast options here in Zagreb!

and my #1 is... Bagels! - Do yourself and your loved ones a favor and make these sometime! I am really proud of myself for making my own bagels that were seriously delicious. The mystery is out - I know how to do it now and I think with more practice, it'll get easier to make them! It's not super complicated, but it is a little time consuming the first time around so commit to being at home for a couple hours to make these babies happen. Oh they are amazing though and they make me so so happy. Expect more bagel talk in the future. Oh man, I need to make these again. I just love a warm bagel with cream cheese.

Yes, I do!

P.S. Just so you guys know, after I write these, I immediately get the urge to go make something again. Last week, I stopped mid-post to make English muffins again. I think I'm going for the flaky, butter biscuits. Mmmm!

The Time I Wore Fake Eyelashes on Only 1 Eye for 3 Days

 

Once upon a time, I lived through a fairytale wedding and all of my wildest dreams came true. I felt like a beautiful princess on my big day and if I could, would relive that day again and again.

The next day, day 2 of our wedding, in a different dress than I had originally planned (since I didn't expect it to be so freakin' hot in my 6 layered wedding gown and insisted on wearing my day 2 dress by midnight at the reception) I felt completely overdressed (not to mention high maintenance) being at our garden party and around Tomislav's 92 year old Grandma with my va va voom fake eyelashed look. 

Luckily, I had my amazing girlfriends there ready to save the day and provide insight into how to remove said falsies!

They're still on both eyes at this point, at least some of them.

That night, I realized I cannot go on having fake eyelashes to go pay all our vendors (in normal clothes) and then to travel in my comfy clothes down to the seaside with all our friends and family. I tried everything to get them off, soap, lotions, olive oil...my Mom was ripping her own fake eyelashes out at this point but when I was trying, so many of my real ones were coming out. I sent out so many texts (some angry) to my dear hairdresser and make-up artist about how I couldn't get the bloody things off!

"Well," I kept thinking, "at least we're married now. For better or for worse, with our without eyelashes!" This led to lots of googling about whether eyelashes grow back and asking begging T-Slav to reassure me that he'd still love me if I was eyelash-less. I got most of the fake ones (and many of my real ones) off that night, but only off of one eye and that was after over an hour of serious hard work. I was mega exhausted and pretty delirious, plus I knew we had an extremely busy morning ahead of us, so I just went to bed. With one eye full of falsies and one without. Sexy wife. And aren't you lucky that I'm gonna show you just how great I looked:

This is what I looked like to pay all of our vendors, day 3 with the eyelashes. Still didn't feel quite like myself yet. Blasted eyelashes! They were glued ONTO my real ones! Luckily, they made my winking habit so much more fun (and creepy).

 I bought a bottle of eye make-up remover and along the 8 hour drive to Dubrovnik, soaked my eyeballs with it until they were burning and stinging and kept showing my 6 year old cousin the eyelashes chunks whenever I was able to manage them out. He wasn't scared or grossed out, right? ;) Sorry Filip! You know I love you!

Well ok, I won't blame him if he was scared of me, but since he's my cousin from my wild family, has 2 crazy ass amazing older brothers, AND he's Polish, I'm sure he'll be alright!

Have you ever had a beauty mishap like mine?!
Do you know how to get fake eyelashes off?

Real Talk: Marriage

I think it's important to be honest and I've been thinking a lot about marriage and how things change once you've tied the knot so onto some real talk! While wedding planning, it's really hard to look past the wedding day because you're so stressed out and multi-tasking like crazy just to get everything organized and ready for the big day. At least, that's how it was for me. You might not have a chance to step back and really think about what you're doing. Even though Tomislav and I lived together before we were married and were totally committed to one another long before (mega long distance relationship built on trust and knowing we were perfect for each other - check!...And oh yeah, then moving across the world to be with each other? Yup, that's commitment). But still. After you get hitched, it's different. And I hate when people say that it's not because it totally is. You are legally bound to your spouse forever! And that is a huge concept to deal with. Huge! As much as you love and adore your partner, it's enormous pressure and you don't know how to act in certain situations, you think of things totally differently because it's not just you anymore. You're legally bound to your husband or wife and their family, for life! And there are so many compromises ahead of you and so much to consider. 



Just like people read tons of baby books before having a baby, I think it's a good idea to read books about the first year of marriage prior to getting married (although I know this is impossible, because there are 50 billion other things to do before the big day). But once you're married and you've settled into that comfy groove of happy and cozy nights in, it's so easy to quickly forget to still date one another. I know people talk about this all the time, but it is true! Tomislav and I have been reminding ourselves of this lately but throughout our long distance relationship, we longed for the day when we would finally be together, be able to sit on the couch and sigh, knowing we wouldn't have to say good bye again. And that is an amazing feeling, to know we don't ever have to be apart again. But now that we are together all the time, we can't forget to continue going out with each other! Even if it's going for a walk around the neighborhood, reading in the park, going out for a coffee or a drink together - it's important to take each other out! We've only been married for about 3 months but I knew things would change once we got married and they definitely did, but mostly for the better. You can take comfort in the fact that no matter what changes in your life, your partner in crime and best friend, will be there with you for life to go through everything with you.



A while ago, my Dad showed us this movie called Fireproof which is basically about a marriage on the outs and figuring out how to save it, no matter how difficult it can be. Caleb's (the main character) father challenges him to do this 40 day experiment to revive his marriage and even though Caleb is totally skeptical, especially once he realizes the 40 day challenge is tied into his parents' new found faith, he nearly gives up. But he continues through and learns about unconditional love, exploring the blessings and challenges of marriage, clean fighting, and choosing love even when it isn't your instinctive response. You can buy the book that was featured in the movie, it's called The Love Dare and I think it's an incredible book for any married couple, from happy newlyweds to people married for many years who may have lost some of that inital spark. It's a great gift to give to someone to a couple you know and an interesting challenge for you to take. It's a 40 day challenge that you do with your spouse and the outcome can only be for the better. If you haven't heard of The Love Dare before, I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone and it's only like $8 so it's a total steal (especially for all of the advice and knowledge you'll receive from it!). The biggest piece of advice that we got before marriage from friends and family (which everyone must know) is "Happy Wife, Happy Life" and I think that's totally true too. ;)

Homemade Sausage Egg McMuffins!

I have been thinking about and daydreaming about breakfast sandwiches basically since moving to Croatia. The main breakfast food in Croatia is anything you can buy at the bakery. That means dry wannabe muffins, greasy burek, or even a bakery slice of pizza. Yuck. I'm not a fan. I just can't get into the breakfast thing here at all. Plus, I wake up so early that I don't get hungry until I'm at work an hour and a half later. So, the best thing in the world for me would be if there were a food truck here in Zagreb that served amazing breakfast sandwiches and wraps (*note* I want to be the one to start and run that food truck here! Hello to any investors out there!). The next best thing would be the ability to get breakfast food at the only fast food joint in Zg, McDonald's (KFC doesn't count because there aren't any drive-thru's of it here). And can you believe they don't serve breakfast?!

Needless to say, I have had a huge craving for a Sausage Egg McMuffin and I've been working up the courage to make it. I just didn't think I would be able to make my own english muffins. It seemed impossible! I did a lot of research of other peoples' versions of english muffins and what not and I found a lot of them used ingredients I couldn't find here (like evaporated milk). I came up with my own recipes for it and let me tell you, I am so freaking proud of myself. They came out AMAZING! My own version of healthy, whole wheat english muffins, with all the nooks and crannies you hope for!

Take some time on the weekend to prepare this and you will have amazing (not to mention FREEZABLE!) breakfasts for every day of the week! And if you live in a country where you can buy English muffins...all the better! But I do suggest you try to make homemade ones at least once in your life because they came out so freaking delicious. Oh yum, I need to make them again like now.

Big Brother, Hübsche kleine Lügnerinen, Nikki Kitty and $500!

Last time on Biiiiig Brother! Well, that's my best typing impression of the BB voice over guy. Sometimes Tslav and I do our best versions of BB voice over guy vs the voice over guy from Chelsea Lately. "Tonight, Nikki makes an amazing meal: will Tomislav want to have her muffins? It's Chelsea Handler!" Yeah, we are silly. But ever since we've gotten UnoTelly, we have been able to keep up with our favorite shows! So first off, my poor sweet fav houseguest Britney (who looked so cute in her eviction dress!) left the BB house this week (and Shane voted to evict her. Lame. Super annoyed that Danielle is still around. I thought she was sweet but now I feel like producers are making her seem more stalker-ish). Dan pulled off the impossible this week and I can't believe it actually worked! Love seeing all the amazing game play this season, I just can't get enough! But now without Britney, I don't know who will make fun of all the house guests and make smart comments on everything. I loved the way she could see through everyone's fakeness and it's a bummer she lost this game again. At least we still have her in the jury house. It was so cute to see the Brigade last night though (Meow Meow lol!)

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So now who's it gonna be in the end? We still have Jenn (who may still have some other tricks up her sleeves?) and Joe (he hasn't had any DR time lately thank goodness so no yelling!), Ian (wonder what his next move will be!), Shane and Danielle, and Dan and Frank. We shall see! Who will win the endurance HOH? For some reason I think Dani might pull this one out. Maybe even Ian idk! But the summer is winding down so it's game time now!

Also this week in my favorite TV shows was the Pretty Little Liars summer finale. My sister is finally watching PLL (if you're not, start immediately it is so addictive!) so I won't spoil anything for her. I will say that during my middle school German class, I heard one of my students talking about it and I gasped at the mere mention of it's name and proceeded to make them translate the title into German. See, it's relevant in class after all! Hübsche kleine Lügnerinen!

Tslav and I are also big Gleeks and we saw this little snippet about the new characters this season and the one that stood out to me is the one who is named after my old nickname, Kitty! I miss being called Nikki Kitty :) remember when I dressed up in my makeshift Hello Kitty costume for Halloween? Not as a child of course but as a grown ass woman. What up.

Scared Kitty

Hello Kitty and Superman :)

So yesterday, I was telling you all (ya'll, yous guys, vi) about how you should enter contests because you might win! Well, awesome ass UnoTelly is giving away some sweet prizes (cash money baby!) just for commenting on your fav social media sites about UnoTelly. If you're living abroad and you don't have it yet...what are you waiting for?! You can watch any shows on any websites from around the world, all unblocked and ready for your viewing pleasure, no matter where you are!

There are different points levels for each comment, like 3 points for twitter and FB comments and 1 point for a blog reply comment! So if you comment on this post, you earn one point straight away! Just submit your comment to contest@unotelly.com and there's no limit to how many times you can repeat the process. And the best part? The prizes of course!

Gold Prize - 1 winner

• $500 USD cash payable via Paypal
• + 6 month of UnoTelly subscription
• + 6 month of Netflix USA subscription

Silver Prize - 1 winner

• $100 USD cash payable via Paypal
• + 3 month of UnoTelly subscription
• + 3 month of Netflix USA subscription

Bronze Prize - 5 winners

• $10 USD cash payable via Paypal
• + 1 month of UnoTelly subscription
• + 1 month of Netflix USA subscription

Pretty sweet right? For more about the contest see here. It's a rainy Saturday here in Zagreb. We were hoping to check out Spancir Fest in Varazdin today because it's the last weekend it's going on and it looks like so much fun! Lets hope the rain clears up later :) For now, it's time to enjoy my totally homemade Sausage Egg McMuffins (homemade english muffins, homemade sausage...and this is the best thing I've ever put in my mouth. Seriously.)

YUM!