Seasons Greetings!

Have a wonderful christmas everyone.and hope we will all have a fabulous 2012!

xoxo

15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and all about the weekend!

kenzo jungle!

l'eaupar kenzo and more sweets!

my new lucky earrings!

christmas and the germans part 4

this will be the last part of my christmas experience in bavaria three years ago.

we went to the marienplatz, my favorite munich spot.

christmas and the germans part 3

just a few kilometres away from fussen is the fairy-tale castle that inspired walt disney to create cinderella's castle in disney theme parks - the neuschwanstein castle.

it looks very, very romantic from afar and from up-close.the neo-romanesque castle was commissioned by king ludwig of bavaria as a retreat and homage to richard wagner.

christmas and the germans part 2

this is a recap of our 2008 december mini-break in munich.

like i said previously, germany has one of the most romantic and charming christmas celebrations in the world.

christmas and the germans part 1

no offense to the christians, myself included, but i have a feeling that the germans invented christmas. well, how to properly celebrate it, anyway.

there's no tackiness, no plastic trees, just real, fuzzy, christmas-feeling.

12, 13, 14 and more events!

schnapps!

more sweets!

more facial masks!

***

santa, baby!

there was a christmas tree lighting ceremony at the nearby rotana so the t family and nanny all marched to the hotel.

we came right in time as the choir was just starting to sing.

10, 11 and the uae national day!

a piece of chocolate and uh, a face paint kit? hee.

a lucky magnetic charm from ireland! baahhh

**

the uae celebrates its national every december 2. as it fell on a friday which is the official weekend in the uae, the government granted december 1 as a holiday.

7,8,9 and oma and opa's visit!

cucumber face mask!

a christmas ornament (my favorite item so far) to add to our family's ornament box!

parfum d'ete by kenzo!

**

oma and opa came a-visitin' for about 10 days. baby was very, very happy, surrounded by all these people who love her.it pays that she is already able to say "oma" and "opa."

6!

happy saint nicholas day!



i am definitely familiar with good ol' santa claus, but not with jolly ol' saint nicholas.in europe, he is more popular than santa. anyway, they both spread good tidings and cheer, so what's the difference, ey?

mr t tried hard to look for an old saint nick's chocolate, but he could not find one here in dubai so we will pretend that he is saint nicholas, ok?

what i find fascinating is this little creature called "krampusse."

he accompanies santa claus and frightens off kids who were naughty. he does look very, very scary so i'm not even posting an image of him here.just google him.

**

only 18 days to go...

i don't think i've ever gotten so excited for christmas like now. could it be because we will go to somewhere cold and very christmas-y? *wink*

and having a baby just triples the fun.oh how i wish she would enjoy her very first (hopefully) white christmas.

3,4,5

flower by kenzo!

sweets from my sweet! (baby nicked one of these.hee.)

ireland fridge magnet! (we have a collection of fridge magnets)

thank you...

uae - for being so good and generous to me and my family and to all those who call you "home." thank you for the opportunities and the blessings. HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY to you!!!

coca-cola - for making me cry! this one hits the spot.



mr t - for my advent present for today - an irish blessing christmas ornament! something to add to the family chistmas tree for this year and for the years to come!

this is it!

it's december! yahoo!!! cartwheels!!!

and what's better, today is declared a holiday in celebration of the islamic new year and the uae national day which is officially celebrated on the second of december.

mr t is starting a tradition of having advent calendars at home. i am not quite familiar with this as i'm guessing it's mostly a european or german tradition, to be specific.

advent calendars are used as count downs in anticipation of christmas day. the one that we have has 24 cloth sheets with pockets that has to be filled in with chocolates or small gift items. ours is shaped like a (hostaged) bear.kyot!!!

since baby is still too young to appreciate the relevance of it, mr t is offering it to a very willing and captive audience member - me! hahaha.

it's hanging by our kitchen door...

today i took out my first treat, much to my delight! yes, i'm very easy to please, as you may know by now...

winner! hahaha. lovee eett!

thank you, mr t! dear friends, watch this space for daily updates of my advent treats! and lest we forget, christmas is not just about material gifts, ok? ok. just so we are clear.

p.s. oma and opa also brought an advent calendar from munich for baby. here it is, hanging by her cabinet: