HOW WE SPENT CHRISTMAS

Hello dear friends, as I promised, I will tell you something about my Christmas. Surprisingly, it turned out that I didn't take as many photos as I thought I did, but we'll manage :) I will try to post the most interesting ones and to write about them as short and simple as possible. I hope you will learn something new about Poland!

First, some of you may not know, here in Poland, we start celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24th - we have a special, elegant and NO-MEAT meal, the only meat we eat then is fish - and most of the people eat KARP ('carp' in English):




In my house, we also eat a meal that is called RYBA PO GRECKU ('fish in a Greek style', I have no idea why it is called like that!) which consists of fish and lots of boiled vegetables cut into tiny pieces or stripes - we usually use DORSZ ('cod') if I remember well:





and many more, but it always has to be WITHOUT MEAT. For The Christmas Day and the Second Day of Christmas (we celebrate the 24th, 25th and 26th), we eat meat. In total, we have also:

- bigos - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigos
- barszcz czerwony (z uszkami lub krokietami) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borscht#Polish_variants
- some families have kutia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kutia - but I never had it on my Christmas table
- various roasted meats, like steaks, tenderloins (my fav is the one stuffed with plums!), pâté and many more
- and maaaaany other additional things, like prepared horseradish with beetroots or mayonnaise...

I tell you, all these things are SO delicious that once you try it, you wanna stay here in Poland forever and just eat it :)




But hey, what is Christmas without the Christmas tree?

Our main tree looked like this:





You can also see our table. We always put an additional plate for 'an unexpected guest' - it's an old Polish custom, that on Christmas Day, if anyone suddenly knocked on your door and ask for a meal, you'd be prepared to host him.

The Christmas tree in MY room is just... OH MY:




yeah... :)


I didn't take any photos of my family because I didn't want to make them feel uncomfortable or something. I also didn't take any photos of my gifts, except this one, from my friend:






An orange - clove scent machine! :D


The last thing I wanted to tell you about is the tradition of breaking off and exchanging the Christmas wafer with family before sitting to eat the Christmas Eve Meal. We exchange it with blessings and good words - you can read about this custom here --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_wafer#Polish_tradition --- and, you have some additional info on how we celebrate the Christmas Eve.


I hope you liked this tiny info, sorry I posted only few photos...

If you are interested in any of those things, ask in the comment section, and I will be glad to answer!


Take care!


PS. VERY SOON we'll have another artist answering the Get on the Carousel questionnaire, so stay tuned!

smoke gets in your eyes

Ok, you probably gonna throw rocks at me right now, but well...


yes, smoking.





*click on each photo to see the bigger version*


Princess Margaret of the UK




Queen Paola of Belgium




Anni-Frid 'Frida' Lyngstad of ABBA




Lady Gaga




Ava Gardner




Gong Li




Debbie Harry of Blondie




Marlene Dietrich




Monica Bellucci




Agnetha Fältskog of ABBA (with fellow ABBA member, Frida - here, surprisingly, not smoking)




Hugh Laurie




Sean Connery




Gregory Peck




Robert Johnson





Frank Sinatra




Ike Turner (+ Tina, not smoking)




Lauren Bacall




Talullah Bankhead




Marilyn Monroe




Sonia Braga




Zarah Leander




Tsarn Nicholas II of Russia




Rita Moreno




Johnny Depp




Shah Rukh Khan




Whoopi Goldberg




Al Pacino




Amy Winehouse





Bill Cosby




Amitabh Bachchan




Ray Charles




Elvis Presley





Grand Dukes Pavel Alexandrovich and Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia.




Josephine Baker




Marjane Satrapi




Tsar Nicholas II of Russia




Jack Nicholson




Michelle Pfeiffer

Dita von Teese




you probably say 'NAY', hmmm?

'everybody lies', the House M.D. obsession!

Well, I never imagined one day this would happen - I am CRAZY about the tv series, House! I always thought it's overrated, I mean - everybody was watching House, people 'suddenly' become more ironic and sarcastic (ekhm) and it become so fashionable to hit everyone around with a great dose of verbal, sophisticated torture, just like House treats his co-workers. At that time, I thought - another tv series, people are crazy now, but it will end soon... and one day, it hit me! I was browsing a polish page with demotivators, and I found one that had a photo of a woman (I had no idea that was Cuddy from House), and the words below were kind of 'Dr. House. 5 seasons, and he hasn't banged me yet'.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLLLLLL.
but still, I didn't like the language they used... I just lol to the whole situation between House and Cuddy.

Anyway, my first impressions were:
1) who the hell she is, she's so pretty!
2) why she's doing a faceplam gesture in this photo (she actually was doing a MEGA facepalm):

told you. Btw, it's the original demotivator, I guess... (btw.x2 - nice nails, Lisa Edelstein!)

3) Maybe I should watch HOUSE???




and I did, oh I did! and I fell in love with it, I mean, three things:

1) Finally, the series about doctors, who aren't OH SO PERFECT! They're humans, like all the real doctors, right?
2) It had some REALLY interesting cases, and I was waiting impatiently for each case to be solved! Medical research done very well, dear screenwriters!
3) As I started with season 7 (the first one I found online), the first episode I watched was season 7 episode 1, and...




...f*ck, I am a House/Cuddy shipper now !!!!!!




but then again, I am annoyed, because the next episode of season 7 is going to premiere in January, if I checked right... Ok, I still have seasons 1-4 and half of the 5th and half of the 6th one to watch, but still! Why we gotta wait for so long?

and, as I said, I am obsessed:

took me a whole day to finish.

In the words of a fellow dA artist, 'Welcome to insanity!'.

With pleasure!

tiny update - what will be next

hello everyone!

I need to give this blog some fresh air. Soon, you will read & see:

- an interview with another colourist
- 'West Side Story' movie review
- 'How to feel good with yourself' - my very own TUTORIAL, hope it will help you make your days brighter
- some of my new colourings

I really hope you will enjoy all these things. Show me some support and comment, so that I know some people actually read this blog! :)

Nov. 15th - guess whose b-day is TODAY...

YES!

Her Serene Highness Princess Anni-Frid Synni Reuss, Countess of Plauen, or shorter ANNI-FRID 'FRIDA' LYNGSTAD of ABBA, is 65 TODAY!!!!!

Happy b-day, Frida!

you, among other amazing musicians, are my inspiration and I truly love your music. Keep on being so fantastic as you are and grattis på födelsedagen! :)

and yes, prepare for some Frida-tribute posts later on today :)

beginnings

hi all,

this is the very first post. The story begins...