Life of Jana

I can 't bel ieve 2015 is almost over! At the b eginning of the year I wrote down 9 goals I wanted to achieve, so here 's a quick review of how I've done this year . Get a better job ✓ This was one of the main goals I really wanted to achieve in 2015 . I am so happy I did i t ! Continue my Russian studies ✗ I d idn't realise how ha ving a full time job would leave me with so little time to do anything else. I haven't had the chance to continue my studies at college but I have been trying to learn more on my own. Spend more time with my friends and family ✓ I spent such a great week in Estonia with my family and also had the chance to ca t ch up with some old friends. Tristan and I also ke pt in conta ct with both sides of our famil ies and talked with the m almost every day . Eat healthy   ✓ ✗ I 've been eating quite health ily throughout the year and have made improvements but I know I can do better.    Get fit ✓ ✗ I 've

I know I've posted a lot about food recently but it's almost Christmas, so yes, I am a little foodie! I'm trying to eat healthily and have a balanced diet, although I am allowing myself ''cheat snacks''. If you follow my Instagram, you will know. I woke up at 10am this morning. As usual, it's hard to get out of bed on the weekend, so I had a very late breakfast at about 11. I had a quick almond milk, banana and spinach smoothie with 2 rice crackers topped with almond butter and leftover banana. I ran out of my Keen Nut Butter (Almond Smooth) today, so I need to pick up a new jar soon!   I had a good cardio session at gym today - I ran on the treadmill and finished my workout on a Elliptical trainer. When I got home I was exhausted but I am glad I went out and did something active. My post-workout meal included a toasted red onion and chive bagel with cream cheese and ham. I made one for Tristan too and he loved it! Tristan and

I am a big fan of bananas but I am not always in the mood to bak e with them . I found so many healthy and tasty overnight pudding recipes and tried one out myself. I made it the night before and it makes a delicious and filling breakfast the next morning! I love chocolate, so I added a bit of raw c ocoa ( if you don 't like raw cocoa you can replace it with cinnamon ) and it taste d like melted choco late in a banana pudding! Ingredients: 1 banana 1 tablespoon chia seeds 1 teaspoon of honey 1 t ablespoon o f raw cocoa (or 1 teaspoon o f cinnamo n) 1/2 cup jumbo oats 1/3 cup greek yogurt 1/4 cup almond milk Instructions: Mix together all the liquids: honey, greek yougurt and almond milk M ash a banana with fork Add mashed banana, oats, chia seeds and raw cocoa to the mixture and combine Refrigerate overnight In the morning, top up however you like : dates, walnuts, shredded coconut , almonds or berries.  I topped my overnight oats with

My fourth purchase from Skinpep has arrived (I am in love with their skin care) and this time I was interested in two new products - Titanium Micro Indentation (540) Roller and Super C15 Serum . I've never used any collagen treatments before! Titanium Micro Indentation (540) Roller (£19.99) is a treatment for fighting fine lines, wrinkles, stretch marks, acne scarring and hyper-pigmentation. This roller stimulates collagen and elastin production in the skin without damaging it. I have been using this roller once or twice a week on my face and neck after my evening shower, although it can be used almost every day depending on your skin tolerance. The biggest problem with my skin is red marks and little scars. After rolling, my skin is sensitive and is a bit red but this soon disappears. Every time I have used this, I have noticed an immediate change - my skin is evenly toned , smooth and my complexion has improved significantly. Super C15 Serum (£49.99 for 30ml) is

  I came up with a health y cupcake recipe that I might use as an alternative to my usual C hristmas baking . I also bought these beautiful gold and green foil cases from Amazon - they make my cupcakes so Christmasy! It ' s an easy recipe and do esn't take long to make . I think the most fun part about baking cupcakes is decorating. I picked up these Milk Chocolate Multi Coloured Sprinkles (mini jazzies) from Tesco especiall y for Christ mas and they were only £1 ! I am really happy with how my cupcakes came out - they are so fluffy, light and do n' t taste overly sweet. I can actually taste all of the flavours and t hey are perfect to have with a hot chocolate! Ingredients: 3 bananas 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup) 3 eggs 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups organic self raising flour (or a c ombination of plain and self raising flour) 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1

I have been ordering from Dermoshop since 2010 and I don't know why I've never blogged about them before. Dermoshop is a Finnish company, selling a wide range of beauty products from skincare to make-up. I usually place orders with my mum who will forward them on to me. They do UK delivery but I prefer that mum sends them on to me, as she'll also send me some Estonian food at the same time. Recently I received a few products I ordered so I thought I'd share them with you.  Dermosil Sea Buckthorn Shower Cream, €5.90 I am a big fan of sea buckthorn beauty products and when I saw this shower cream in Dermoshop I couldn't resist buying it. This 250ml shower cream comes in a beautiful orange bottle containing sea buckthorn seed oil, berry extracts and glycerin. It has a very luxurious feel and cleanses skin gently, leaving it soft and supple. It also contains avocado oil which provides additional moisture to the skin. This shower cream has a strong but still ve

Today has been a really productive day. I got up at around 12pm (yes, I love my bed on the weekends) but I still made it to the gym, wrapped most of the presents for my friends and family and cooked a yummy dinner! I had a quick fruity breakfast/lunch before I headed off to the gym. I am such a big fan of persimmons at the moment but am trying not to eat it every day, as it is quite high in sugar. I added a bit of lemon juice to my fruit and had some tea next to it. After the gym, I decided to have a quick post-workout meal before dinner, so I bought some red onion and chive bagles from my the supermarket. I had a full jar of peanut butter sitting in the cupboard, so I decided to experiment a little. I've never had bagels before nor have I ever had peanut butter unless I was baking with it. Surprisingly, it was actually quite enjoyable - I think topping my peanut butter bagels with fresh cranberries helped a lot to take a away the dry and thick texture.   For our dinner Tr

This is my second Peanut Butter Truffles recipe (check out my first one here ) and I am so happy with how they came out. I found this recipe a bit easier as there is not so much hassle with chocolate as there is with the other one. Instead of covering them with chocolate, I decided to add chocolate drops to the mixture and they tasted even better! These truffles are very filling and they are perfect to eat when I feel like a snack. Ingredients: 1 cup smooth peanut butter 1/2 cup dates 1/3 cup almonds 1 tablespoon of honey 1/4 cup dark chocolate drops 1 handful of shredded coconut 1 teaspoon of cinnamon  Instructions: Pour shredded coconut onto a large plate and set aside Crush dates and almonds in a food processor In a large bowl, combine the crushed ingredients with peanut butter and honey Mix well and add chocolate drops Roll little balls with your hands and then roll them into the coconut Place them in a container or on a plate and put in the fridge Le

The Photo Blogging Challenge theme this month was 'Morning'. Even though I am not really a morning person, I still used my camera a lot! Here are my five pictures:  This is what my morning looks like - waiting for a tram in the rain. It's wet and windy but I love the blue morning sky! Autumn leaves Breakfast is the best part of my day! We put up our Christmas Tree yesterday morning and it looks absolutely beautiful. PS. I fixed that bauble near the top!

I started my morning at 9am as a friend of mine came over to pick up our old Christmas tree ( we're getting a new tree this year so we needed to get rid of the old one - I can't wait to start decorating with Tristan!) . I had a warm glass of water to wake my body up and had a second glass with a slice of lemon. I don't usually drink much water in the morning - I'm usually having tea or coffee which I guess isn't the ideal way to start a day. Once I was settled, I had my Overnight Oats with cranberries, half of a banana and shredded almonds for breakfast. I love this recipe so I'll write more about it another time. Tristan got a £15 voucher from Deliveroo yesterday, so we decided to have Nandos delivered for lunch. I had a Grilled Chicken Burger with avocado, halloumi and mushroom with a side of coleslaw. It was very filling but still quite healthy.  I've been wrapped up in my blanket all day today so it has been quite a relaxing Sunday. I hav

The cold and flu season has officially started and I've recently had the chance to experience it myself. Luckily my cold lasted only a few days, as I did my best to look after myself. The best tablets that have worked for me so far are Beechams Max Strength All in One Capsules . They help with coughs, a blocked nose, headaches, sore throats, aches and fevers. I get awful headaches and congestion from a blocked and stuffy nose, so I'm also sometimes using Sudafed Congestion & Headache Relief Max Strength capsules to fight any soreness and tiredness. For a blocked nose I use Pinosol Nasal Drops . Pinosol Nasal Drops contain pine oil, peppermint and eucalyptus and it doesn't hurt or make my nose bleed like other strong nasal sprays. I don't like drinking medicine and would much rather take tablets and drink tea. When I am ill, I will only drink herbal teas. Kubja Ürditalu Vitamiinitee is a natural and organic Estonian loose tea (so my tea infuser is essential), wh

There is one special place left that I've not posted about from our Estonian travels , the historic little town of Viljandi. It is only an hour drive away from my hometown and we chose to spend my mums birthday there, wandering around the r uins of Viljandi castle. I also wanted to show Tristan more of Estonia and even though it was a windy and rainy day, I think he enjoyed our day trip! Viljandi Suspension Bridge leads straight to the ruins.    Dad is testing out the strength of the bridge. I mad e Tristan stand next to the r uins of the Viljandi Order Castle for proof of how massive the ruins actually are.   All that ' s left are just a few stone walls.      View of the lake St. John's Church After our walk we headed to an Italian restaurant called Cassata to celebrate my mums birthday. My mum ha d never had Tiramisu before and wanted to try it because I 've talked about it so much . Sadly it isn 't sold in her lo c