Hi! How are you? I’m fine, tired from all the work and play, but in a light-hearted way. Can’t wait for Xmas, I need a small break when nothing else is on the agenda except for family, friends, good food and drinks and my darling Sam. 😉 (He’s spendig Xmas with us this year!)
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Christmas
Turbonegro Concert and Other Adventures
How are you? I’ve had an eventful weekend that included a punk-rock concert, a dinner with friends, brunch at the nearest café, a walk in the neighbourhood, a hangout with my neighbour who had forgotten her keys and today I’m hoping for a Christmas market in town and coffee with a friend.
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Advent
As I was laying in my bf’s bath tub a couple of days ago, it struck me that in a couple of months’ time (not even that!) Christmas will be here and with it the whole shebang and I’m just not ready for it. I’m still broke and I still haven’t got any any closer to selling my apartment and it kills me to be in such a mess and, most of all, not knowing when it’ll end.
But hey, I survived this year, so I’m probably going to make it to next year, too. 😉 Meanwhile, I reminisce how everything used to be so good at Christmas time. I remember my first Christmas as a host and how happy I was to be putting together the menu- a crisscross of Eastern and North European cuisine, then all the years after when I’d bake cookies for work and make Christmas chutney and Lemon curd as go-to-gifts and felt like Christmas was the best time of the year.
Xmas Eve and Xmas Brunch
Christmas in Norway is entirely destined to family. Whereas in Romania you´re expected to be at home during the day, but can choose go out for a drink with friends in the evening, in Norway, most places are closed and the city turns into a ghost town. It´s literally like in Oliver Twist, you can walk around peeping inside people´s apartments and see them dining and feasting and you´ll feel like the loneliest person alive. 
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Sanity
Phew, I´m turning sane again! Thought I´d never get there again.. I´m reading a book, a crappy detective story, don´t even know if it´s bad in the original language- English, or if it´s just the translation into Norwegian, but who cares, the story is solid enough and I´m curious to see who the murderer is. 😉
I also cooked, for the second time in over 3 weeks now, just some pasta, but at least I managed the deed. Made some sugar coated almonds the other day, too. I´m on the right track. Thank God, I was starting to loose it entirely! Lacking sleep, hardly eating and not having very high thoughts of myself. 
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Christmas
It´s time for a light entry, I´m starting to get fed-up of my moody blues, so I can only imagine how it is for you. 😉
I managed to buy a couple of Christmas presents at last and ate some of them already. Oops! I´ll be sure to replace them on Monday, though- haha! This year it´s back to basics, food and culture. It´s practically impossible to gift anything in Norway, people have everything and we´re growing so particular that we sometimes get offended by the wrong present. (at least I do 😉 ) haha! Crazy!
To myself I have a brand new me as a gift, ribbon-wrapped and cherry on top- haha!
Christmas Party with the Office
I don´t have an office (Thank God for that!), but I do have interpreter colleagues and we´re holding our Christmas party in January. Can´t wait, I just need to survive the holiday “cheer” first. I used to love Christmas, now I feel like the Grinch. 😉
And as you know, I love dressing up, in fact I never let a chance pass me by, which means I find myself overdressed all the time. 😉 Sometimes, people come over to compliment me and they often catch me off guard. Everybody wants to be a diva, but not all the time, right? 😉
Christmas gifts for her
The jolly season is around the corner and I´ve put together a couple of gift ideas for the ladies. For my part, I can´t wait! I don´t think it´ll be a very generous Santa, but I´m sure I´ll get a couple of scented candles and perhaps a new sweater, in fact, I´m gonna make sure of that! 😉 
Lazy bones
Today I woke up early to finish a couple of written translations that are due today, but I seem to do anything to postpone it. In fact, procrastinating is my middle name. These days have been wonderfully lazy, so sliding back into routine is no easy task. We´ve had movie marathons and binge eating (not food, but chips and sweets), napping from 8pm to 9pm and things unheard of outside Christmas break. Yesterday however I managed to read a couple of pages, after working for a bit and then giving the house a quick shine. A friend visited with her sweet baby and we had the greatest time bonding. Unfortunately I´m quite ambivalent about children since I´ve been longing for one for so long, so I never know how I will react, I either like them too much or I just couldn´t be bothered. But Isabella was the cutest little thing and so easy to get along with, I was sold!
Family Gathering for Christmas
On the third day of Christmas we were invited to a family gathering at Våler, where Vuong´s sister recently moved with her husband and child. Although the Trans are Buddhists, they do find a day around Christmas to get together, eat good food and do some catching up. And yesterday was that day. 🙂
Since interethnic marriages are not very common in Norwegian-Vietnamese communities, that´s given us some heart-ache along the years. In the end we all had to admit we were stuck with each other and make the best of it. So now we meet once in a while and smooth things over for the sake of our nephew, who is one gorgeous and lovable little guy!
Today we went for a walk in the woods and had the best time ever! Sammy was super happy and so was Benjamin, who slid like a pro! After taking in the fresh air and the amazing landscape, we felt our cheeks flush with blood and our feet ache with cold. So we went in for cakes and coffee. Take a look!
life in a bubble 