merry & bright

Wishing you a merry & bright Christmas, full of joy, laughter, loved ones, good things to eat, rest, relaxation & a little sparkle.

merry & bright

It's Christmas Eve & we're getting ready for a traditional(ish) Polish Christmas Eve dinner & celebration with family - the presents are wrapped & ready to be placed under Babcia's tree, dinner is booked (we're eating at the Dom Polski this year) & the cakes are baked, ready to be eaten while un-wrapping the presents. I hope that wherever you are, however you celebrate (or not), you have light, laughter, something yummy & someone to share it with...

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So, Merry Christmas everyone

may your days be filled with the people you love, good food & lots of laughter. 

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Happy Birthday Amy!

Had a lovely time celebrating my youngest sister's birthday today. Mum baked an awesome mint & chocolate cheese cake, we managed to surprise her with her presents, & more importantly, she loves them.

So Happy Birthday to my awesome, gorgeous, smart, kind, funny sister Amy!

five things | about christmas

Tonight (Christmas Eve) is a big part of our celebrations - we have a delicious, fancy dinner, exchange presents & generally have fun - celebrating with loved ones is the best. In the spirit of celebration, here are five things I love about Christmas (in no particular order)...

~ all the decorations, the sparkly tinsel, twinkly lights, trees, angels & stars.

~ food is a big part of our celebrations - all the traditional things, like uszka, pierogi, bigos, barszcz, fish patties in tomato sauce, herring, potato salad, roast & veg. Then there is dessert (home-made mint ice-cream this year) & of course all the baked goods - cheesecake, apple cake, fruitcake, honey cookies...(the biscuits in the photo are a batch of my Babcia's pastry, filled with jam....& long gone).

~ choosing, wrapping & giving presents....(getting them isn't too terrible either)

~ going through photos from the past year so we can choose which to use in our calenders - for the past few years we've been creating a calender of family portraits for my grandmother, a nature-y one for various relatives, a kitchen calender - featuring some of the more amusing portraits from the year (stuff like this) & I make one with some of my favourite photos from the year.

~ Christmas specials - Dr Who is always good fun & this year there's Miss Fisher as well.

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So, Merry Christmas everyone

may your days be filled with the people you love, good food & lots of laughter. 

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sparkles & celebrations...

Congratulations to my beautiful sister Kathryn, who finished her diploma last week - well done gorgeous!

Happy Birthday Kathryn!

Yesterday we celebrated Kathryn's 21st birthday with cake (black forest of course), presents, laughter & hugs. She knew what one of her presents was, but we managed to keep the rest a surprise :)

Kathryn is a kind, compassionate, creative, clever, funny, ever-so-slightly-crazy, gorgeous & all around totally awesome human being & wonderful little sister. I have no doubt that in the next few years I will be reading a book with her name on the cover. Love you lots sis!

Happy Birthday Kathryn!

Today was Kathryn's birthday. There was laughter, Black Forest cake, hugs, presents & 20! candles. 

Happy Birthday Sis!

sorry there are so many cake photos, but Mum & Amy did such an awesome job & it was totally delicious! 

& her birthday post

wishlist wednesday...

getting ready for a celebration...

Dress, Cherry Red by outofline

 Fossil Coral & Pearl Earrings by betsybensen

Lora - Fine Silver, Garnet Bracelet by sarahndippity

 Manon, Womens headband by bethanylorelle

 Purple Mountain Majesty by BandScapes

Happy Birthday Amy!

selected scenes from Amy's birthday...

Irish cream & dark chocolate mousse cake....& yes, just as delicious as it sounds

all these shots are taken with the 50mm lens - which was actually Amy's birthday present (which she got early). She wasn't expecting to get anything today, but we managed to surprise her :)