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Christmas celebrations

Hello there, how has your week been? Mine has been quiet busy I must say. It has been the last week of school before we broke up for the winter break, this means I finally have time to get enough sleep (yay!). 

Anyway, on the topic of Christmas, depending on your culture and religion you probably celebrate it in many different ways, or you possibly don't celebrate it at all. I think it is fascinating. Before I came to live in England, I thought that all Christians celebrate it in the same way. Well let me tell you that it certainly is not the case. 

Let's start with the date. I know most British people celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December. This is when they have their Christmas dinner and open presents and everything. We, at least majority of citizens in Poland which means roman Catholics, celebrate it on the 24th of December. We have more of a supper than a dinner as we start eating in late evening. Then, after we have eaten we open our presents. 

Oh, and there is a date on the 6th of December when we also give each other presents, not the main present of course, kind of smaller things. So yes, technically we get presents twice. 

As for the Christmas tree, I think it varies depending on the household. With my grand parents, we sometimes decorated the tree earlier but now, since we usually celebrate just the 4 of us we decorate it on the 24th and it's usually up to me and my sister to do that while my mum and dad do all the preparations in the kitchen. They usually complain about where we put the decorations anyway, but theoretically it's up to us. The decorations are ordinary, some chains, baubles and some DIY stuff to add a personal touch. When I was younger, my grandmother used to hang some sweets on the Christmas tree and I would play something along the lines of secret agent and sneak and eat them anyway, leaving just the wrapper hanging and then blame it on my grandfather. Nobody ever believed me but it was worth a try.  

Food. As you get older, you probably start looking more to eating at the Christmas table than you did when you were a child. I remember when I was younger, before opening any of the presents everyone at the table had to finish eating and there has always been somebody who ate either slowly or ate a lot. So sitting at a Christmas table has been a bit of a torture for a child who wanted to open the presents as quickly as possible. Anyway, traditionally we have 12 dishes. We eat no meat, only fish. The main...thing is the carp. Without the carp Christmas is not really Christmas (at least for me). I haven't seen in England yet, but in Poland when I was younger and we spent the Christmas with my grandparents we would buy live carp (like 3 of them) and put them in the bath and they swam there until it was time to kill them, usually that's what my grandfather did, and fry it. Once they let me catch one of the carps from the bath and I picked it up and it would look at me and move it's mouth and it scared me but made me laugh at the same time. 

Another food that we have are dumplings. They are not like big dumplings, they are quiet small. There is some other types of fish done in different ways and we have beetroot soup. 

So as you can see, there is a bit of a difference from eating turkey. Oh, and I almost forgot. Just before we sit down and get down do eating, we share a piece of Christmas wafer (I'm sorry if that's not what it's called. I tried translating it and that's what it came up with). So, every person present has a piece of it and we go around and share it with each other, wising the person something, it can be work, money, good grades. Kind of like you wish somebody something on their birthday. 

I don't know about you, but these traditions are quiet important to me. This is how I have always celebrated Christmas and I plan on continuing to do so even when I have my own family. It just makes me feel closer to my family, all the preparations, and that there is more to Christmas than just presents. These traditions kind of keep the magic in this season. As I got older and stopped believing in santa and choosing my own presents, the magic died a little. I don't really have anything to look forward to, no surprises. 

It is a bit early, but I would like to say Merry Christmas to everyone!

Ideal Christmas presents

First of all I would like to apologise for not posting anything for so long. I have been really busy with catching up with school work after spending a week in bed ill and doing some Christmas shopping. This post has been almost finished for a while and I have been working on adding a few bits and editing it. And on the topic of Christmas shopping, if you didn't go out and buy any presents or even thought about it, it's probably the last minute to do so. But how to buy a gift that the person will like? 

Think how much you are willing to spend on each person. A budget plan can be really helpful in planning gift ideas. It doesn't mean you have to spend equal amounts on everyone, on some you may be able to spend more than on others, plus you are the only person who knows about it. 

Think hard, has the person been talking about wanting something in particular? Or maybe there is something they need?  They have probably dropped some hints on you without you noticing. If you can't think of anything, look through their social media profiles. They may have mentioned something on Facebook, Twitter or maybe created a wishlist somewhere? Maybe Pinterest? If not, you could try your luck talking to people who are close to them as well.

You may need to play detective for a bit but it will be worth it. 

A present should come from the heart. Maybe a touch of something personal? An inside joke? You could make something yourself! It doesn't have to be anything hard, you could buy something really cheap and plain and transform it into something beautiful and personal. 

Buying clothes can be quiet risky, if you buy a size too small, it could make the person feel bad about themselves by making them feel too big. Buying an item too big can also make them feel bad as they could think that you see them as quiet large. So unless you are 100% sure what size they wear, I would probably buy a voucher instead of an item of clothing. 

Finally,please, please, please don't buy pets for anybody unless you know that:

a) They want that particular pet

b) They will be able to care for it

Pets are not toys, if they are not wanted they will be either given away or even worse, abandoned. Do you really want that for a pet? 

Keep in mind that Christmas is a time of year to celebrate with your loved ones. It's not about the expensive presents, it's about showing that you care. You don't have to go overboard and spend a fortune, all you have to do is show that you know that person, that you care and show a little humour. 

Skin care during winter

Winter is finally here and what does that mean? Christmas, possible snow and half term. But it also means cold weather and dry skin. It is especially important to care for our skin during this season. So how do we do it effectively? 

Keeping your skin and lips hydrated is the key to healthy skin. Lets begin with lips. Vaseline is amazing. You can get little tubs of it for about £3 if not less in Superdrug or Boots. So it's not very expensive and lasts long so it's really worth having in your make up bag. It is colourless so you can wear it as lip gloss and it will match your outfit. If you want to add a little colour, put lipstick over it and it will make your lips that little bit more glossy. I have tried this and it looks great especially with lipsticks that look 'flat' on your lips. 

As for your skin, there is a lot of lotions out there. All you need to do is simply find the one that will match your skin type. Personally, I really like Nivea products. For my hands, I use the Nivea hand cream, the small travel sized tubs are about £2 and fit easily in your bag so you can carry it everywhere with you. They smell really good and most importantly, they do work. You get a wide range depending on your needs.

As for the rest of my body, I use the Nivea body moisture but the one you use under the shower because I don't like the feel of body moisture after the shower on dry skin. It is also very good and costs around £5. You can use it while taking a bath or a shower. The way to do it is you simply apply it to your whole body and then wash it off gently with water. For me, my skin feel softer immediately so it should not take too long to see any effects. And it's for both, males and females! If you prefer, you can get the same product but as a normal body lotion that you apply after the shower. 

I have also noticed that products containing Argan oil and quiet good. It is an oil, as the name suggests, that comes from Morocco. It makes the skin softer and healthier looking. When buying it you have to make sure it is 100% what you want it to be. There are many 'Argan oils' out there that are mixed with other things to fill the bottle up and make it cheaper. They don't give the same as the 100% one. That is also a disadvantage of pure Argan oil, it can be quiet expensive. How to recognise it if it is real? An indication is a nutty smell and golden in colour, it should have an oily texture and not watery. 

You can find many body lotions that contain Argan oil and pure Argan oil in shops such as The Body Shop or simply by looking on-line.

My final tip is, try not to expose your hands to too much extreme weather and don't go out in the cold with wet hands. Wear gloves, they can really help to protect your hands from going red, dry and hurting.