Christmas is coming! Lots of photos today!

My dear, that's great!

Barcelona is a magical city! I still keep precious memories from my visit there ten years ago... We went there with the choir and (of course) we saw so little, but still it was a great experience!

Don't forget to visit Sagrada Familia, Casa Battlo and the Guell Park - all of them are (or have, as in the third one) masterpieces of Antoni Gaudi, a great architect known for his unique (and I may say faerie) style. I wish you to have a magical trip, filled with joyful moments with your friends!!! And, of course, don't forget to make lots of photos! 

Thank you for the three songs! I must say I enjoyed the first one the most, because it's more like my style, haha! Although the second gives me those Christmas vibes, I don't why - maybe the sweet sounds and the retro glitter of the video make that atmosphere. Nothing Really Matters is a wonderful song, too, really touching! Your taste in music is exquisite!

How is it going with the exams? I think you have finally some time to rest now, but as you wrote, there are three more in January. I wish you all the luck in the world! Everything eventually comes to an end, bad or good. You won't believe me but one day you will miss those exams and the effort you put each time to do well. (Just think about the wonderful time you are going to have in February with your friends and in March with Vyara!)

Girrrrl, your plans for the holidays are awesome! Have a warm Christmas and a splendid New Year's Eve, no matter where you are! I wish we were together on New Year's Eve as we did before, but let's celebrate with hope in our minds that we will have the chance to meet and have fun many times in 2015! The future is ours, my dear! 

So, the past couple of weeks were a busy time for me. I have a lot of photos to show to you and hopefully you won't get bored. I tried to capture (almost) everything I experienced with the thought of showing it to you, but it has been three weeks and now the amount of information and photos is huge! I will try to summarise it in order not to exceed the limits of your interest. :D 

Christmas decoration, lighting of the Christmas tree in the city and... more Christmas events

As usual, there were some big (?) events to commemorate the upcoming Christmas celebrations in our town. As you know, every year there is some kind of a winter festival filled with concerts and all sorts of things. Our choir also had their Christmas concert on Friday but I had other things to do and missed it.

Before I write about the lighting of the Christmas tree in our city, I must mention the (very) fist festival of ice sculptures. Well, I expected more, but it wasn't so bad. I think it's the first time to happen in Ruse, but it's something like a renowned tradition, because something familiar used to happen a century ago. Apart from the disturbing crowd, the whole thing was interesting. There was a bar made of ice, where they served cocktails in not-so-cocktail kind of ice glasses in the form of those little glasses you drink your shots of tequila. There was also a fire show, which may have been spectacular but I couln't see much because of the crowd.
Four sculptors from different nationalities had to make ice sculptures with a certain meaning, connected to the free spirit of the city (I have my own reasons not to say the exact motto and make an advertisement of the whole campaign.)
Anyway, the winner of the competition was the Bulgarian sculptor (oh, what a surprise!), but personally I liked the sculpture of the Spanish (or I think it was his creation):

You can't clearly see them in these photos but there were beautiful ornaments engraved. It's actually what he did during the first day of the festival. On the second day the sculpture was even more beautiful, but I don't have a photo to show you. This is my personal opinion, of course. The other creations were also good, but this one captured my attention at the very beginning.

The lighting of the Christmas tree wasn't something different from last year, with the exception of the weather - it was warmer and it was raining. Anyway, the fireworks were awesome! (I think the fireworks are the only thing I enjoy during the Christmas and NY events.) 

The tree is the same from the previous year, it's beautiful, but only when it's dark simply because it's made of steel, LED lights and other high-technological but ugly components. I'm attaching a photo of it, it's in front of the city's municipality, but personally I prefer the one which is near the corner of the theatre (at least it's a real tree!). 

Speaking of Christmas decoration, last week my brother and I decorated the tree at my place. I'm attaching some of the photos we made. And yes, these are my perfectly coloured nails. :D

Also I'm posting some photos of the Christmas wreath I made from paper for my workplace. The leaves of the mistletoe are the made from the package of the printing paper. The red circle serving as a base is made from an old calendar. I covered the sign of the company in the center intentionally. Here is my creation:

My aunt sent me some photos of my little cousin. Auntie has a tradition of making photos of Dessy near the tree. So this year is Dessy's third year. She looks a bit bored in some of them, auntie said that at first she didn't want to get pictured, but a few days ago she made another photo session of her and Dessy seemed to be very interested of the tree. I really can't help myself, she is so sweet! That's why I am posting some old photos of the previous years.

So, 2012, her first Christmas (7 months old):

2013:

 

And this year:

Cutie! (I warned you that there will be a lot of photos! :D)

I really wanted to show you some photos of the traditional Christmas folklore dance competition and also from the Chinese culture day, which was held at the university but I am afraid that the photos will be too much and also the ones I have are not so good.
I had a wonderful evening at the first event and also had my disapointment at the second one. The students didn't put much effort during the performances and I must say that those were the worst and spiritless presentations I have ever seen. You can't talk about such rich culture with so little enthusiasm! I guess I will have to keep the better memories I have from the celebration of the Lunar New Year back in February. I really expected more and went there with so much excitement, but I guess some good things happen just once...
Anyway! About the traditional folklore dances - oh, what an evening! I must say I was once again charmed and inspired by those great young people who put their souls not in the competition but in the dance as a whole! At the end half of the hall went down there to dance horo with them! It was spectacular! That's the spirit!

Last weekend and also today granny and I made some honey cookies and cones. We usually prepare them earlier. You fill the cones with cream and they become really soft and delicious. And if you loved coffee, you would enjoy it even more with some honey cookies, but I guess hot milk with cocoa is a good option for you, too. :)

 

Some of the unbaked cones, ready for the oven

The unbaked honey cookies. Usually they are called ginger cookies but we don't put ginger in them and I am sure that "honey cookies" is more suitable

Music, Style, Fashion... (or what do I want for Christmas and will not get)

I really love your bag! You can combine it with many clothes and colours. I hope you wear it with pleasure! You can post some photos of outfits combined with the bag. ;)

My newest obsession are short haircuts and big winter hats! There is this mania in Korea where many of the stars wear big knitted hats. At first I was shocked and not so accustomed to those big things on their heads but when you see it on the funny part these hats are an enjoyable accessory in the cold winter depressing days. Here are some photos, which I found on Tumblr:

I really want to change my hairstyle. As you know, I had a traumatic experience in the summer when half of my hair was cut in the most unprofessional way by the local hairdresser. I wanted wait until we finish with the theatre performances in mid June 2015 but I just can't wait anymore. I am going to cut it and (maybe) wait another four years for it to grow again. Actually at first I was really depressed and spent my last summer days in regret. Each time I have a really long hair my mind just tells me to cut it and then I regret it because I realise that I was just one step from having a really long hair. But recently I realised that it would be much better if I fix it now during winter and let it grow again until next summer. Screw all the superstitions about cutting your luck or something like this! My hair is 50% short, 50% long, so I don't care about such things! I wanted to post some photos of what I want but that will be too much for today!

And last, but not least a song for you! Say You Love Me  is a really good ballad which I recommend to you and I'm sure that you will like it.

That was the longest post I have written here and I feel a bit guilty. Hopefully I won't bore you to death with my selfish babble! In two days I am going to Varna to see my little cousin and spend the Christmas with my aunt. I wish to you to spend your holidays surrounded with the people you love!
Prepare your package full of dreams for the next year! A lot of things will happen, some good, some bad, but you have to smile to each new day and be grateful for all the things you have achieved and all the people you had the chance to meet and know until now. Let us embrace the new year with gratitude and love in our hearts...
Yeah, that was heart breaking and sweet, so I will just stop right here and wish you a good night because it's almost 4 a.m. in Bulgaria!

Sweet dreams, my dearest friend!

Love,

R.