What’s in a name?

When I was born (in the cold, tundra of Russia….I’m totally kidding, I was born in July in Moscow which is just about as hot as NYC in the summer), my parents named me Ekaterina.  Or, Katia.

 

 

At the not-so-ripe age of 12, we moved to New Jersey, USA.  My parents got some advice about helping us learn English faster by putting us in school almost immediately following our move.  (I’m not going to lie to you, I’m still a tad bitter about this since I already finished 6th grade early in Moscow.)

 

On the first day of school, the school counselor sat my dad and me down and told us that we needed to register.  She asked my dad what my name was and he said, “Catherine.”  I watched them closely, not able to understand a single word being said.  The counselor wrote out about 5 different ways to spell “Catherine” and let him choose.

 

My dad chose “Catherine.”

 

Because it looked pretty.

 

There is no “C” in the Russian alphabet.

 

 

When I finally got to my classroom, the teacher introduced me to the class (while I stood there, not understanding a single word) and wrote out some nicknames.  Apparently there were 4 other Catherines in the room and she needed to differentiate us.  My new nickname was “Cathy.”  I sat down in my new seat and introduced myself to my designated “buddy.”  She was Russian and translated the whole thing to me.  I was too confused and overwhelmed to say anything.

 

In seventh grade we moved to Massachusetts.  My new school-mates automatically called me “Cathy.”  I was already beginning to resent that name.

 

By High School, a lot of my friends started calling me “Kat” after listening to me complain about my name and its spelling.  “Kat'” was short for “Katia.”

 

Side story - I don’t go by “Katia” because I love my name, but have very little patience for its mispronunciation in the American language. (It’s Kah-tya not Kah-tee-a). 

 

By the time I finished High School, I decided that I would start over in College.  on my first say I introduced myself to my roommates as “Catherine.”  Then one of my friends came by and asked for “Kat.”  It stuck.

 

I tried again on my first day of work, but Jon (the hubs, then friend from college) called me “Kat” on the first day.  I had to explain the whole “Catherine with a C” and “Kat with a K” fiasco.

 

When we got married, I thought it would be the perfect time to (finally) change my first name to “Katherine.”  Apparently it takes a court date to change your first name (and only a marriage certificate to change your last name).  I bailed on the process.

 

So, Hi, I’m Kat, short for Catherine….it’s a long story.

Animal sounds video - outtakes

Because it's the weekend and Jon is off playing golf while Peanut and I are left to entertain ourselves, I decided I would post these two outtake videos for you to laugh at enjoy.

What are you doing this weekend?

English and Russian animal sounds video

You all get a huge treat tonight.  Not only do you get to see my smiling face and Jon's, well, not really smiling, face and an extra post; but you also get to hear the difference in English and Russian animal sounds.

In case you're not sure what this is all about, check out this original post.

(Oh, and make sure you're sitting down and not drinking water...or other beverages that you don't want to spit out).

What language does your animal speak?

Did you know that Russian animals make different noises than American animals?
Okay, so maybe they don't but they are different in the two languages. 

Jon and I have been battling about this for years now – and neither one of us is willing to give in.



A dog says “Woof” or “Gahf-gahf.”  (Honestly, when have you ever heard a dog Woof?)



A horse says “Neigh” or “EE-go-go.”  (You go long on the “eeeee” and quick on the go-go").



A frog says “Ribbit” or “Kva-kva-kva.”  (I dare you to show me a frog that says “Ribbit”).




A pig says “oink-oink” or “khryoo-khryoo.”  (You gotta do this sound through the nose, kinda like the pig does).



Honestly, how is this even an argument?  Obviously, the Russian animals are right.



Do you speak another language?  Are animal sounds different?
Did you just try to make the Russian noises?

Q & A–the A

I think Q&A is becoming one of my fav recurring posts.  I love your questions! 

 

 

Here are some answers:

 

Emily @ The Culinary Couple asked me what we use for a stroller.  Well, Em, we use the Bob Revolution.  And we are obsessed!

 

 

It is possibly the coolest stroller ever (ps- this is the new model they just released while ours is last year’s model).  It is a jogging stroller, which is awesome for us when I start running again (I have to wait until Peanut is 8 months).  But it’s actually an amazing all-around stroller with a pivoting front wheel, sick suspension, and impressive turning radius.  It’s lightweight (which is awesome since I have to load and unload it by myself); it folds up in half to go in your trunk (“like a gloooooove”); it can go anywhere (it even navigates through the sand without ruining the wheels).  So yeah.  I’d recommend it.

 

 

Carrie @ Life in the Slow Lane wanted to know if I knew English before I moved to the US and what baby item I can’t live without.

 

My sister and I were actually signed up for some English classes a couple of months before we decided to move to the US.  We learned to say, “Hello”, “My name is (insert name)” and “I don’t speak English.”  I think that about sums it up.  When we moved to the US, our parents put us straight in to school and then summer camp for the summer to immerge us into the English-speaking culture.

 

As for the baby item.  Ahh! I’m stumped.  I feel like it’s something new every day!  Peanut goes through things and grows things out left and right.  I think right now I couldn’t live without this bouncy seat.

 

 

(I can’t find our exact one but this is almost the same thing).

 

We literally don’t leave the house without it.  It calms Peanut down in seconds when she’s grumpy, she is able to take naps in it when we’re at someone’s house, and it almost always gets a little giggle out.  We actually hang other toys from it for her to play with.

 

 

Robin @ FindGoodInEveryDay asked if we live by the beach – we do!  We’re about 2 or 3 miles from Hammonasset Beach State Park (where we went for a walk on Mother’s Day) and a couple of miles from the Madison private beaches. 

 

 

Personally, I wouldn’t actually go in the water there (yucky sound) but we love taking advantage of the sandy beach, nice walks, and gorgeous views.

FF- Memories from Russia

I'm not sure how many of you know this, but I'm Russian. As in, born and raised in the streets (well, technically in an apartment) of Moscow, Russia.  I lived there until the ripe ol' age of 12 before moving to the US.  I figured I'd start sharing a little about the Russianness by telling you 5 memories I have from my years in Moscow.

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1.  I was born during Communism and lived in Moscow when it fell.  The entire country went through a major change when I was about 8 years old.  Since I was too young to understand much, the one thing that stands out to me from this significant event is that I didn't have to wear a uniform and a Lenin star anymore.  That's right.  My country went through one of the most significant changes while I wondered why I didn't have to pin my little red star to my shirt every morning anymore.

2. When I was really young (I do not recall the age), my parents saved up enough money to buy new wallpaper for my sister's and my room.  They spent an entire weekend putting it up and then smiling at each other with pride.  That Sunday I woke up in the middle of the night and "helped make it pretty" by covering almost every square inch with permanent marker drawings.

3.  Virtually every little girl in Russia ended up doing gymnastics or ballet.  When I was about 8 or 9, my mom signed me up for gymnastics.  Our teacher was really strict and insisted on doing "stretches" once a week where she would ask you to sit in a split position and then push down with all her weight (I was a very scrawny kid) to deepen the bend.  This always resulted in my tears, followed by threats of quitting and never coming back.  I would then storm out and sit on the curb until my mom came by and picked me up.  Then she would drop me off again the following week.  I hated that class.

4.  Every single year since I was old enough to own one my bike was stolen.  One particular summer I left my brand new bike under 2 other bikes by the house we were staying at for the summer just outside of Moscow.  When I came back from whatever activity was going on at the time (swimming? badminton?), the two other bikes were placed nicely against the wall and mine was gone.

5.  On the first day of the first grade of school I noticed a boy standing in line to go into a huge auditorium for the "Welcome" rally that was held every year for new students.  I thought he was cute so I introduced myself and asked him to be my friend.  He was my best friend for the rest of the years I lived there and many more after.  Some of my fondest memories include time with him; the time we learned how to use the phone and prank called everyone we could think of; the time we decided to skip class and spent an entire day at the play ground; the time we were skating around and he tripped me and I ended up with a concussion. We lost touch about 6 years ago.

Got a Friday Five? Link up below.


Got a memory to share?  Leave me a comment - I love reading them.

Caviar

Have I mentioned how much I love caviar?

Because it's a lot.

I find that people either love or hate it.

Where do you land?

Sardelki

Jon and I traveled to Moscow, Russia a couple of years ago so Jon could meet some of my family and see where I grew up.  The trip itself was pretty amazing since I was able to share so much of my past and what made me "me" with my husband, but that's not the point here.

The point is that while we were there we had these.

They're sardelki wrapped in crescent roll dough.  Then baked.

In Moscow there are stands that sell theses all over the place - kind of like our version of fast food.  So when we got home we had to make these.

That's all it takes.

Start by boiling the sardelki for about 5-10 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine two crescent rolls together.

Kind of like pigs in a blanket.

But waaaaay tastier.

We try to balance them with some veggies.  So good.  It is soooo good.  Oh I miss my Russianness already.

Loot from the Russian store

In case you are just joining us here, I'm Russian.  Which means that every once in a while I crave Russianness (yes, that's word).  Or more precisely, some Russian food.

Usually this means conning my parents into going out to a Russian store by them in Jersey and then visiting us.  This is no easy feat, people. 

So this week, after yet another craving for some Russian food (I really wanted some caviar), I decided that it was time to find some stores nearby.

These are Sushki.  They're kind of like dry mini bagels.  They're delicious.  Jon loves these so we got two bags.

I also wanted to grab some dehydrated dried fish.  These are extra good with some beers.

Borodinsky bread.  It's so good.  It's kind of like a mix between wheat and pumpernickel bread.  I can eat it by the loaf.  As is.  With absolutely nothing on it.  But it's way better with some butter and caviar on it.

Speaking of, here's some salmon caviar.  It's amazing.  I don't usually get this one but the lady at the store swore to me that I'd love it.  I usually get a different brand.  We'll have to see about this one.

Some cold cuts.  Delicious.  And fatty.  This didn't make it very far - I ate half of it in the car on the ride home and the rest almost as soon we we got home.

Sardelki.  Kind of like a mix between sausages and hot dogs.  But way better.  And tastier.  You can boil them and eat them or you can make delicious Sardelki in a blanket.  Which is what we did when we got home.  Post to follow.

And I saved the best for last.  Sirki.  It's like mini pieces of cheesecake in chocolate shells.  These are to die for.  But I'm not allowed to have too many in the house because I tend to eat all of them in one sitting.  Which cannot be good for me.  I'm working on the baby weight here, people!  And yet, they are irresistible.

In case you're in the area, these are the two stores we went to:

Europe Store (this one was our favorite; it's small but the customer service is incredible! The lady behind the counter let me try almost everything and found everything I wanted for me.)
200 Park Road, West Hartford, CT
(860) 233-2200

Delicacy Market (this one's way bigger but we weren't huge fans.  It felt too commercial and not like a local little shop.)
774 Farmington Avenue, West Hartford, CT
(860) 236-7100