Life Behind the Scenes

Hi friends! I think we should get to know each other better, and since I can't take you out for a cup of coffee/latte, I decided to do the next best thing — create a "LIFE" section on Cooktoria! Thanks for stopping by.

I truly appreciate you taking the time to read this article and get to know me. Below, I'll tell you a little bit about where I come from, my family, and how I became a food blogger.

WHERE I COME FROM 

I was born and raised in Ukraine and migrated to the US in 2009. I come from a rather poor family (especially during my childhood), but I think it was a good thing. I know firsthand how hard it was for my mom to put meals on our table and support three kids. I grew up to be compassionate and self-reliant.

HOW I BECAME FOOD BLOGGER

After I moved to the US, I worked many different jobs. I was a waitress, a hostess, then a waitress again. But in 2010, I started working at a local Starbucks. This job was fast-paced, fun, and had a great team. I was promoted to supervisor, and then store manager. Shortly after, I realized that while working at Starbucks was fun, I had already achieved everything I wanted there, and I needed to find a job that would let me grow and develop. In 2013, after reading One Simple Idea by Stephen Key, I tried patenting and selling a few of my ideas. My attempts were not successful and I still felt like I needed to find my true passion. I was always passionate about cooking, so I wanted to be in that industry. I decided to create a Facebook page where I would share my recipes. I never published that page, or shared it with anyone. I do occasionally visit this page because it reminds me of how far I have come. You know what? I'll share this page with you, too, so we can laugh together: COOKING WITH TANIA. See that cover photo? I actually thought that galette looked good. 🙂

I decided to buy a DSLR camera, learn food photography, and make my own food blog. It took a while to put in all together, but on October 5, 2015, Cooktoria was born. It brought me joy, freedom, and income. My dream came true.

MY FAMILY

In late 2010, I met my husband, Stan. He is my soulmate and my best friend. We both are very like-minded people, and together we make a great team. On June 7, 2015, we got married. It was a very small beach wedding, just like we both wanted. Instead of spending a lot of money on the wedding, we decided to go on a 30-day road trip across the US. It was THE BEST TIME of our lives. I'll tell you more about the trip and the wedding in a separate post. So stay tuned, if you are interested.

In late November 2016, we became homeowners, and a couple of months later, on February 1st, our son, Mark, was born. Now, I am a happy/busy mama and wife, trying to find a perfect balance between family time, work, and travel.

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ME:

• I love reading books. My favorite topics are self-development and parenting. The last 3 books I read were: The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy (highly recommend!), Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability by Adam Beck (our son is going to be trilingual), Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results by Stephen Guise (currently reading).
• I am a somewhat frugal person. I don't like spending money on expensive things that add clutter to my life (expensive clothes, accessories, jewelry, new kids toys, etc.) A diamond is the same as a rock on the curb to me (diamonds are so overhyped, it's just ridiculous). I prefer spending money on experiences, necessities, and trying to pay off our home mortgage as fast as possible, to be able to get out of debt.
• I don't eat fast food. I have never even been tempted to grab a burger at McDonalds or a taco at Taco Bell.
• I don’t like horror movies. AT ALL. I don't think I ever finished a horror movie.
• I still struggle with my English. I am not a native speaker and I still struggle with spelling (thanks, autocorrect!), finding the right words, punctuation, etc. I also have an accent.
• I don't bake or make desserts. I don't enjoy baking and making homemade sweets. I can have the occasional dessert while dining out, but having a batch of chocolate chip cookies at home is something I want to avoid.
• I don't complain. And I dislike people who do. Even in tough situation, I always find ways to concentrate on good things and be grateful for everything I have.

Share some things ABOUT YOU! I can't wait to get to know you better!