Monday 30 December 2013

Christmas and New Year

For me, the whole period of Christmas and New Year is what makes winter - that least loved of all seasons - bearable. I know I have no real reason for complaining; we have not been flooded, or hurricaned, or earthquaked or anything else, and temperatures have been more like March than December for most of the month. Still, winter brings darkness and cold (cold enough for my liking, anyway!), cuts long walks short and stops my running until I feel like taking it up again in spring. Therefore, from the first Advent weekend until the 6th of January, I am glad to have Christmas and New Year to look forward to - and also to look back on.

Christmas Eve at my parents' was as cosy and nice as always, just the way we want it. Here is a picture of the tree with the (real!) candles lit:



My sister spent most of the afternoon helping my Mum to decorate the tree (this year with a red and gold theme) and generally get everything nice and shiny for the evening, while I did nothing but show up for the evening, a bag with presents in tow.

On Christmas morning, I opened the presents that had arrived from Yorkshire. Every year, I can't believe how many nice, beautiful, useful and thoughtful gifts I receive! This year's highlight certainly is the pretty gold bracelet from my sister. I have already been wearing it a few times since. And you won't be surprised to hear that half of the contents of the Cadbury's Milk Tray is already gone (with no help from others).
See the small pink handbag? That's the one that came with the dirndl I bought at the end of November.

RJ joined me on the afternoon of the 26th. We went to my parents' for a delicious dinner and a game of "Who wants to be a Millionaire". To everybody's surprise (including my own), I won!

The 28th saw my Mum and I attending what was a première for us: we went to a show cooking! Or cooking show?
A Turkish lady had invited my Mum to the event, which was held at a school less than a 10- minute-walk from where I live. The cook, Ömür Akkor, is apparently one of the most famous TV cooks in Turkey and author of several cook books. He is also here on blogger - unfortunately, I do not speak Turkish (I really should, what with having so many neighbours from that country).
Thankfully, there was a young man translating for the German guests, and so we had an interesting and fun afternoon, watching Mr. Akkor prepare several easy-to-make and very delicious dishes, which we all shared afterwards. I did not bring my camera, but I am sure most of you know enough of Turkish cuisine to imagine the delights that were in store for us - and all that for free, with no work involved on our part!
Mr. Akkor was not at all like a "celebrity"; he was very kind, down-to-earth and with a sense of humour obvious even though I could not understand a word of what he was saying. My Mum bought the cook book, and I am sure I will read it, too: it is not just a collection of recipes, but the recipes are embedded in a love story set in the days of the Seljuk dynasty (10th and 11th century). Mr. Akkor received the "Gourmand Cookbook Award" for Best Historic Cookbook in February 2013 at the Paris fair "Gourmand International".

Tomorrow, RJ and I will attend a gala dinner buffet & dance for New Year's Eve; that was my Christmas present for him. Of course, I have been thinking about what to wear from the moment I had the idea :-) It was not difficult to settle on a dress, but I still did not have matching shoes - my proper dancing shoes are black and don't go with the dress at all. On the 23rd, I braved the insane masses of people in town and went to three or four shoeshops - it wasn't too bad, actually, as I was mentally prepared for the pre-Christmas madness, and knew exactly what I wanted. I was in and out of town in an hour, and came home with two pairs of shoes. Both of them would look good with the dress, but I guess I'll go with the more subdued pair. It has exactly the same pink as the palest pink in the flowers on the dress. The "Barbie"-pink shoes will go well with the dirndl, don't you think? :-) Besides, they cost only a tenner, and so they simply came with me. Which one would you choose?




Whatever you'll be doing tomorrow to welcome the New Year, here's wishing all of you the very best for the next twelve months!

29 comments:

  1. Very happy to see the Christmas trees with real candles!
    I understand very much your feelings of the winter and not being able to get out and about, it might not be important to some people, but you know it is the same for Richard and myself too!
    Okay, now for me, I like the pale pink shoes with your pretty dress, not sure what everyone else will say...
    I think that the bright pink shoes witll be perfect with your dirdnl, absolutely!
    Hope you will have a great time with lots of dancing!

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    1. The pale pink shoes are much better for dancing and also match the colours of the dress better, so I will go with those.
      I knew you would like a picture of the tree with the real candles :-)

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  2. Meike, as you may have gathered, I'm the least fashionable of women. But I wouldn't go with the pink shoes. They are striking, but detract from the dress. I think the others are much nicer with that outfit.

    Have a lovely time!

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    1. Thank you, Frances!
      You are right, the pink-pink ones are too eye-catching. I am not that good at dancing anyway, and with those shoes, everybody would look at my feet and notice every little mistake :-)

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  3. What wonderful gifts! And what a beautiful tree.....I hope to post something from my daughter's tree in Maryland, also with real candles. (My son's gift to them was a fire extinguisher!)
    I like the pale pink shoes with your New Year's Eve dress. They compliment the dress and don't draw too much attention away from it. It's really a very beautiful dress! And I think the other would be great with your dirndl.

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    1. There is always a bucket of water near the tree at my parents', and a fire extinguisher close by on the other side of the door. A thoughtful gift from your son!
      Yes, the pale pink ones are the ones I am going to wear tomorrow evening.

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  4. I do agree with you about winter and Christmas. I think the second pair of shoes look very elegant with that dress - but I can imagine the pink ones going well with the dirndl. I do recognize the red handbag.

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    1. It is definitely going to be the second (pale pink) pair of shoes tomorrow :-)

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  5. The turkish cookbook sounds interesting, we lived in Izmir, Turkey for 2 years and learned to love Turkish cooking.

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    1. Once I get to read the cookbook, I will post a review here. And maybe I'll make some of the dishes, too.

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  6. i am impressed you finding such perfect shoes so quickly - and cheaply!
    I haven't seen a real candle on a tree since I was a child - we used to light them as part of a ceremony at school. Probably not allowed any more but very pretty.

    Have a wonderful night and Happy New Year
    :)

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    1. and spare a thought for us in the Southern parts who have a long winder with no Xmas or New Year in the middle - and have to cope with all these festivities in the middle of the busy summer holiday rush. We really need to recalibrate our festivities and enjoy a mid winter festival more.

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    2. Thank you, Fiona! I was lucky to find the shoes so quickly; it is not at all the season for such colours here right now: most of what you find in the shops at this time of the year is black, brown and grey, and silver and gold for party and evening shoes. The pale pink ones were, according to the shop clerk, already from the Spring 2014 collection.

      What you say about your long winter without anything in terms of festivities to look forward to is so true - and something I have never thought about until you mentioned it here. All I ever thought of was how weird it would be for me to celebrate Christmas in summer clothes, and how I "envy" your sunshine and warm temperatures right now.

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  7. Great shoes, Meike! I think you're right to wear the paler shoes with your dress sprigged with paler flowers. You will look absolutely smashing! The belle of the ball! Have fun! We'll look forward to hearing all about it afterwards. Take care and God bless, and Happy New Year! xoxo Carol

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    1. Thank you, Carol! The belle of the ball - now, that's a title I never think will really apply to me, but I certainly do like the dress and shoes very much and feel good in both :-)
      Happy New Year to you, too!

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  8. Happy New Year! The dress is beautiful, and my "inner princess" would want to wear the pink shoes!

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    1. Thank you :-) Yes, my "inner princess" made me buy those pink shoes in the first place!

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  9. Oh its going to be fun to twirl that skirt tonight! Looking at your table of presents, I like the calendar from Yorkshire; to remind you of your second home, yes?
    Happy New Year!
    xx
    julie

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    1. It was a lot of fun, dancing in that dress and the shoes :-)
      Yes, the Yorkshire calendar was a gift from an aunt and uncle in Yorkshire, and I have been to many of the places pictured.

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  10. You look fabulous! I love those pink shoes, they're out of this world! If my daughter sees them she'll want them, they have a vintage flavor:) Happy New Year!

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    1. They do indeed have something vintage about them, Francesca :-)
      Thank you! I felt fabulous, too, and we had a great night out.

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  11. I hope you enjoyed the New Year dance! I haven't been at my computer much so it will be over by now. I would have worn the silver shoes too, although the pink ones are totally fab - but they go with a slightly wilder outfit. I always think Germany does christmas better than any other country. Last year I didn't get there to see it but I remember from my childhood that it seemed to fill December in a way it didn't do in England.
    All the best to you and yours in 2014 and I look forward to reading your posts as they happen!

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    1. Like you, I haven't been at my computer much over the past few days (RJ was here, and so we do lots of things together and I do not retreat into the online world when I have guests), but yesterday afternoon, I took several hours to catch up with blogland.
      We had a great night out at the dance, dinner and fireworks, and the pale pink (not silver) shoes served me very well on the dancefloor :-)
      I could now just copy and paste that last sentence from your comment, and it would be entirely true!

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  12. The pale shoes look more elegant but the purple ones are eye-catching.
    You’ll have few opportunities to wear them, so I might have gone for the showy ones.

    I’ve just bought myself a pair of (dark) purple slouchy boots. No heels, very comfortable. I shall enjoy wearing them this winter.

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    1. You are right about there being fewer opportunities for the "Barbie" shoes, but I am glad I chose the pale ones for the dance, they were comfortable enough to last me for hours on the dancefloor without hurting my feet.

      For walking outside, on my way to work or just for walks, I very much like my comfortable boots with no heels, too. Not much winter here to speak of, but I am sure it will arrive eventually.

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  13. I would have chosen the second pair - very elegant! But if I had worn them I would probably have crippled myself or been arrested for impersonating a woman! I hope the dinner dance went well. Eating dinner whilst dancing is always difficult I find.

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    1. It's no more difficult than talking with your mouth full, something that many people seem to manage effortlessly :-D
      I did wear the second pair, the pale pink ones. And they were perfect for kissing 2013 good-bye and welcoming 2014 on the dance floor!

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  14. I'm not feeling too tired tonight (after 4 days of the 6 day tournament we only had 6 hours of croquet today) so thought I'd visit a few friends in Blogland. Why, I wondered, did I not see this post? Anyway I have now and it fascinated (but definitely not surprised) me that it has received so many comments. Of course I would have expected you to wear the shoes you chose for dancing and to match the dress even though the bright ones are eye-catching. I would add, too, that I think you will have looked very attractive indeed at the dance.

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    1. You were busy doing holiday stuff with your friends and family when I posted this, I think. Anyway, as you say, you have seen it now, and I thank you very much for the kind compliment.
      That dress truly feels as if it was measure-made for me; I feel so comfortable in it I could wear it every day. But I suspect I'd be slightly overdressed at the office with it, and slightly underdressed in terms of current temperatures outside.

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