christmas – Page 8 – Lessons I learned after I turned 30

Blogmas bittersweet day 4

Day 4…

Blogmas is turning into a personal journal, it feels like a daily therapy session.

Today I was in a good mood in the morning, quite rare for a Monday.

Royal Mail delivered the little Christmas tree I ordered first thing in the morning just before I left for work, which cheered me up.

Andi, one of my favourite people at the Uni, the older brother I never had, was back at work today after his two week holiday, I really looked forward to seeing his little face peeking over his PC and in the afternoon the whole department would get to decorate the office with brand new decs and a REAL tree!

I’ve put together a Christmas playlist, we were to bring in festive snacks, biscuits, mince pies, cheese (I have to give it to Donna, she went all out!) and Sarah was bringing delicious mulled cider. I couldn’t wait! It was going to be a great Monday for a change.

As I mentioned before, my best friend Shebz is going away soon and today she handed in her notice. I knew about it months ago but today it got real. I’m extremely happy and proud of her, getting out there, travelling, exploring the world, like she always wanted to but I’m equally sad as I won’t see her every day, go on our adventures, chat about random things for hours, advise and comfort each other… When I get the time I’ll post a blog just about her!

What I didn’t know was that Andi is also leaving. I can’t describe how happy I am for him. He is an amazing, sweet, sensitive, intelligent man who deserves the best and he can finally now move on to a more rewarding, challenging job in London. But I will dearly miss him. I wasn’t prepared for this although as soon as he said he had some news the first thing I said was ‘Are you leaving?’ I just knew.

I was in shock and went through waves of sadness and happiness all day. The Christmas decorations, music and food (especially the Cheese Christmas trees dipped in Camembert cheese) definitely lifted my mood and the office looks festive and lovely.

Now, after re-scheduling my PT session ( I couldn’t possibly exercise after all the cheese and mulled cider) I’m at home, desperately trying to put my thoughts and feelings in order.

After Christmas, two of my favourite people are leaving Southampton and I feel more stuck than ever. But that pushed me to make a decision, and it’s not easy for me to do, that’s why I’m still here.

I was thinking about it over the last few days but today I decided if I want to move forward, something’s gotta give. The most realistic way to save money fast so I can go into a more interesting job or try my lack elsewhere is to move to a shared flat or house. It’s a big deal for me, I love living on my own and it’s not going to be easy. I’m sure I’ll be OK though.

I contacted my landlord to hand in my notice as my contract expires in January. That only gives me a couple of weeks to find a new place before the Christmas break. But my landlord offered to let me stay on a month to month basis so I don’t have to rush!! Not many landlords would have done that, his kindness melted my little heart. Thank you James. I can now enjoy my Christmas holidays and come back and look for a new place.

Life is full of surprises and today was a great example.

It’s been a bizarre day… A bittersweet Monday…

Namaste

Eleni

Blogmas day 3- Etsy festive market and tea and cake with friends.

Day three of Blogmas…

I don’t usually get up early on Sundays, but the first ever local Etsy festive market was taking place at Mettricks at 11am and I really wanted to get there early, grab a goody bag and check the stalls out before it got too busy.

So Shebz and I were meeting Barbara at Mettricks at 11, but when we got there, there was already a long queue of ladies, children and men who you could see in their faces they’d rather be anywhere else, but that’s what love makes you do I guess!

I must admit, I queued for a gig, at the tube, at the airport but never outside a cafe, let alone Mettricks that feels like second home, I’m there most days. So there I was, at 11am on a Sunday, queuing outside my second home. Who would have thought!

The staff at Mettricks were lovely though and we ordered our coffees whilst queuing outside, so as soon as we got in, they were ready to collect.

It was extremely busy and there wasn’t much room to spend a lot of time at each stall but the actual fair was lovely and so very pretty. Cards, crafts, jewellery, knitwear, pinatas. The photos speak for themselves.

My favourites were Sprig knitwear, Tumble and Rose’s jewellery and Katie Moody’s cards but everything was just beautiful, even their business cards! Thank you to the organisers for a great event and for bringing something different in Southampton. I’m sure it will be even bigger and better next year.

I could not not tell the lovely man next to the first stall we had a look at that I loved his accent. We all had a chuckle.

On my way out I fell in love with the cutest, sweetest little dog, who let me cuddle her and gracefully posed for me. Look at her sweet, friendly eyes.

We planned to stay at Mettricks for another cup of coffee and cake as lovely Sophia, a work friend who recently moved to London was also there and another friend was on their way but there was no space so we popped to Coffeelab.

We shared a slice of an amazing, creamy, festive Chocolate cake accompanied by tea. I went for my favourite tea at Coffeelab and probably my favourite tea of all, Amaretti.

At that moment I realised that this is probably the last time that the three of us will be together.

My best friend, my third sister, my partner in crime, Sheba, is leaving Southampton for good in a month to explore the world and Barbara will at some point move back home to be with her family. And I, well I don’t know if I’ll stay in Southampton. I’ve been saying for a long time that I need to find a job I enjoy and even if that doesn’t happen soon, I’m definitely leaving my current job for something different the first chance I get. Wherever that takes me.

I consider my self superbly lucky and blessed for a fun, beautiful, special day I’l always remember.

Namaste

Eleni

Blogmas day 2- A taste of Cyprus

Happy 2nd of December!

Today was all about chores around the house. There won’t be much free time until I fly home on the 21st, so I decided not to do anything else today.

But… I saved some time to make trahanas soup, as you might have seen on my social media.

Trahanas is my all time favourite Cypriot soup. There are numerous variations, but my favourite is the one made of wheat and sour milk. You make the dough, cut it in small balls or nuggets, let it dry and then store it, ready to use on those cold winter days.

You’ll find the Trahanas golden nuggets in every shop in Cyprus, but back home we rarely buy it from a shop. There’s always a relative or a friend who makes some and kindly provides us with.

I really fancied some trahanas soup for a while now but I ran out months ago. For once, Lady Luck smiled on me and the Cypriot intern who started work at Solent recently, Maria, after Cypriot food came up in our conversation, she offered me some of hers, homemade, by her mum!

Needless to say I was over the moon. I’ve been craving it for so long and today was the day!

I didn’t follow a recipe, I just did it how I remembered my parents used to make it, boiled in chicken broth, accompanied by chicken chunks and lots of halloumi!

When I was a child, I used to drain the halloumi pieces out and add them to my plate, so I can have more of it. I know, cheeky and unfair for the rest of the family, please don’t judge.

Whilst cleaning and cooking, Christmas gifts kept arriving, Sam Smith played in the background and I snacked on halloumi the whole time.

My trahanas soup turned out as I expected, creamy, warming and delicious!

So that’s how my Blogmas Day 2 went. It’s been a great day! Now time for my yoga and then snuggle on the sofa with a Christmas movie on and popcorn.

I cannot wait for the Etsy local Christmas market tomorrow!

Namaste

Eleni

Blogmas day 1

Happy December!

Christmas can officially begin. I’m in great mood the last few days. The next couple of weeks will be busy but amazing with lots of food, friends and laughter! And…

I’m going home in less than three weeks! And after that I’m coming back to sort my life out. But for now I’ll enjoy this month to the very last minute.

This is the first ever time I’m attempting Blogmas and I’m not following any rules, there is no specific theme other than Christmas. I thought what I would do is write whatever I feel like for the next 25 days and see what it comes out. I hope I can post every day until Christmas!

Terrifying but also incredibly exhilarating. God I love writing.

The festivities started yesterday! I got paid so the first thing I did was to order a cute Christmas tree for my cosy little home (more on that on the ‘decorating the Christmas tree’ day) and of course a new Christmas jumper (I get one every year, more on that on Christmas Jumper Day).

We also made our Secret Santa draw for our work Christmas dinner, so I dag out my favourite, soft, fluffy, luxurious Santa hat I had for years and put all the names in for everyone to pick. I can’t believe who I drew, but I can’t say, shhh… It will all be revealed on the 20th…

I spent lunch catching up with my lovely friend Olga who I haven’t seen for a while since she moved to a different job chatting about Christmas, life, our goals and dreams for 2018.

I had a lovely, fun evening at Southampton Christmas market with my awesome friend Sofy, enjoying a hot dog and Amaretto hot choc, talking about the most random things, music, travelling, how I fall in love with smells. And voices. I almost told someone earlier at the coffee shop that I loved his voice. But I didn’t.

I couldn’t sleep so I bought most of the Christmas gifts I wanted to, which got me even more excited!

Today, I wore my Santa hat all morning whilst interviewing Matt for our AS newsletter and I loved all the compliments (for the hat, not Matt). Ian Harris, the Head of Quality Management co-incidentally walked in wearing a festive Music Snowman tie. He is planning to wear a different festive tie until we close for Christmas. I’ll keep you updated 🙂

Suzanne (the boss) was being grumpy about Christmas (‘Oh is too early, it’s still the first of December’- I omitted any swear words she might have used) so Matt put Dominick the Donkey on and I swayed along. It’s been a fun morning!

I went into town at lunchtime to get Advent Calendars for selected few colleagues and myself but they were all sold out 😦

After some afternoon shopping I’m now resting with pizza and Friends, my favourite kind of Friday. I had my first personal training session on Wednesday and I loved it but I’m now aching so I definitely need to recharge my batteries before the next session on Monday (I’ll tell you all about it next time).

So here’s to the weekend. It’s gonna be a good one!

Namaste

Eleni

Christmas magic in Southampton

Happy Sunday!

December is almost here and it’s going to be a busy one until the big day. I’m considering doing Blogmas, my version, although I haven’t done it before and I have no idea how it will go, but I’ll give it a shot.

I love everything about Christmas. I know it’s heavily commercialised and exploited by many, but for me Christmas is celebrating with people I love, it’s all about giving and sharing and getting together, accompanied by delicious food and treats, seeing friends and family I don’t get to see often, reminding myself how grateful and blessed I am.

And of course I love Christmas songs, Christmas movies, Christmas decorations, the lights, the festivities. It always feels magical, even in the worst of times. And yes I’m one of those annoying people who feels Christmassy from November and the Christmas tree stays up until the 6th of January, the Epiphany, like in most Cypriot homes.

There is so much going in Southampton, I thought it will be nice to share where I’ll be going to and maybe others can comment on other events they discovered and are going. Unfortunately I can’t go to too many as it will be Christmas lunch/dinner/party season as well as catching up with friends and nights in with a cuppa, blankets, Christmas movies and snacks, one of my favourite things to do, before I fly home for the holidays. But these are the ones I picked and hopefully will make it to.

-Next Sunday, 3rd of December, the first ever Etsy Made Local Festive Market will take place at Mettricks Guildhall and I can’t wait! Local Etsy sellers, Christmas workshops and many more. If you decide to pop by make sure you try the coffee or the hot chocolate at Mettricks, one of the best in Southampton.

-On the 7th of December, Love Bedford Place is putting together a Christmas Spectacular with mulled wine and mince pies, Christmas carols and Christmas raffle amongst others. I live in the heart of Bedford Place so I’m not missing this!

Loving the little Christmas trees above every shop’s doors this year.

Bedford Place

-On the 16th (depending on the Christmas party hangover) I’ll be joining my old friends from Sing Now choir at Guildhall Square who will be singing Christmas Songs and raising money for the Rose Road Association. Singing in the Square!

Finally, this is not an event as such but the lovely Molly is collecting Christmas care packages for the homeless in town until the 17th of December as she will distribute them on the 18th. All details here.

I’ll never get used to the cold but I love Christmas and I can’t wait for December!

Namaste

Eleni

Lazy Sundays

I’m sitting on my sofa in my warm winter jumper, heating on, watching Sunday Brunch (I love Bradley Walsh, he is hilarious!) and browsing the internet for Christmas gifts and new wardrobe/style ideas.

After I was done with house chores yesterday I spent the rest of the day comfort eating, reading and watching Christmas movies on Channel 5.

I’m loving all the Christmas adverts out this week. My favourite is probably the Talk Talk one (it’s all about what matters most, family and watching Christmas movies on Christmas day snacking and cuddling with my sisters, our parents falling asleep on the sofa and Oscar the great lying next to us keeping us warm with his fur and occasionally trying to steal our food), closely followed by M&S (I love Paddington, watching it with the family at Christmas is one of my favourite memories). I actually had a sweet conversation on Twitter with M&S that made my day. The little things!

I feel calm, relaxed, rested. And you know why?

I stopped and took a break from all my week plans and obligations and spent my time dealing with all the thoughts and worries nagging me for weeks and treated myself, something I’d advise everyone to do.

I felt tired and drained all week, so much so that I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning. The cold made it even harder. But what was going through my mind was the real culprit.

First I was excited applying for a new job but as soon as I start composing my personal statement anxiety and self-doubt kicked in. Should I apply? Am I good enough?

With the help of a great friend who advised me how to link my skills and experience to the role and had a read of my application before I clicked ‘Apply’ I finally did it. Now it doesn’t matter if I get it or not because I know I did my best and that’s all I can do. First worry dealt with.

Co-incidentally I came across an interview Jeff Weiner, the CEO of LinkedIn gave a while ago. It’s not hard to see why he is highly regarded and admired by many. At some point he talked about happiness. He only realised how truly happy he could be when he met his now wife. Before it was all work work work. Another example that success and money doesn’t necessarily mean happiness. It reminded me again to stop and appreciate the little things. Of course I want to have a successful career in something I love and I’d be over the moon when that happens but life is much more than that.

For about a month now my teeth have been very sensitive and I could not understand why which led to a train of worrying, terrifying thoughts. Since my NHS dentist was fully booked until January I bit the bullet and decided to visit my private dentist, although I don’t have much money left until the end of the month.

Never have I ever felt so horrified going for a check up. But Tobi was lovely and re-assuring (although I held my breath when she said ‘just checking for any lumps or bumps’, a normal part of a check-up, but I’ve been watching so many Stand Up to Cancer clips lately my overworking, crazy brain paralysed me with fear). Totally worth the money.

The cause of the problem: grinding my teeth in my sleep and I need one of those fancy mouth guards. At least I now know what is causing it and how to fix it.

I skipped salsa on Wednesday. I was exhausted, it was freezing cold and the week before I didn’t get to practise any of the steps we learned as most of the men in the group unfortunately can’t get the basic steps and I could not cope with explaining the basic steps again 1,2,3 5,6,7 or even simpler quick, quick slow, quick quick slow and that ladies always turn on the right within those steps not whenever and in whatever direction.

I’m usually extremely patient and understanding but with everything else going on in my head I just couldn’t do it. I may return next week.

I re-arranged my first hot power yoga session for next weekend so I could have a lie in and rest.

The only thing I stuck to all week was my daily yoga and music, my soul medicine. So much good music out there, it’s impossible to mention all the new gems I discovered, but I love Surround me by Leon, Does she Even know by Ider, World Gone Mad by Bastille and new Recording 135 by Leo (one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard), check my Spotify for more.

On Thursday night my sisters sang at a local bar in Nicosia to raise money for a local animal shelter, the one my sister volunteers for and I visited in the summer. I couldn’t be there but my parents (who are not very good with technology) managed to connect us. They didn’t realise everyone could hear them, so I got to listen to their hilarious random conversations, their out of tune singing along, so endearing, I didn’t realise that I could be seen when they accidentally added me as I guest so people tuning in had the chance to see me eating chocolate on camera, I chatted to the people I knew there, my sisters’ friends, and I got to watch almost the entire show live. Thank you mamma and papa!

If I could, I would have popped to Cyprus for a week to re-charge and recuperate but since I couldn’t, this was the closest I got to. On Thursday I felt I was there, my parents doing their thing, getting into hilarious situations, sisters singing and me cheering them on in the background. Just what I needed!

Finally, on Friday I celebrated the end of the week with lunch and laughs with my bestie and my lovely lady friends from work. Wonderful, warming ramen at Wagamama followed by take away delicious brownies from Coffeelab. Perfect way to end this week.

Ramen

Orange and hazelnut brownie

I’m rested and ready now for a busy week and weekend.

Have a lovely week everyone!

Namaste

Eleni

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, let’s hope it’s a good one without any tears (well maybe some tears, mostly happy ones)

This is it! 2016 it’s almost over. And what a year it has been… The next few weeks will be very busy so this is the only chance I get to post before 2017 is upon us and I really wanted to so here it goes…

Many many lessons learned in 2016 that won’t fit in one post but if I have to choose the most important ones then they’ll have to be:

Trust yourself and be yourself. Self-confidence and believing in yourself is hard in this cruel world but it’s only one you and that’s what makes sou special, so trust your instincts and not be afraid to be you.

There are a lot of mean people out there, more than I thought (and fortunately a lot of nice and kindhearted, wonderful human beings), so you can’t be nice all the time and to everyone. I never really make any new year resolutions but I decided that this year I won’t let anyone spoil it for me anymore. Kick ass if I have to!

If something is too good to be true, then it probably is not.

And finally do whatever makes you happy! You see life is never easy, well not for all of us anyway, it’s hard as it is so don’t compromise, do whatever makes your heart beat faster.

All in all it’s been a fun year, full of laughter and I’m really happy I made new friends, became a godmother, tried new things, including starting this blog which helped me immensely with my confidence, getting over situations and making sense of life, done some silly things too but it has been rough at times. And I reached my breaking point more than once.

Apologies to my friends I haven’t seen for a while, it’s been tough couple of months but I promise I’ll make it up.

It’s been tough for a lot of us across the world with terrorist attacks, homophobic attacks, Brexit, Donald Trump elected as the US president, the crisis in Syria and many many more…

For me…

2016 found me starting my life from scratch, this time on my own, heartbroken, confidence at its lowest, in grief…

After 30 years I had to learn to live on my own and depend solely on myself. I never liked asking for help even from my other half or my family so it was a hell of a journey.

But I’m very proud of how far I come. I made mistakes, I took risks when I shouldn’t but I learned to trust and believe in myself and I know now that whatever happens, I can face it, however hard it might get.

And now it’s finally time for a little break, I’m going to have the most amazing Christmas and NYE and then new adventures await. I literally have no idea where I’ll be in a month’s time, but I hope everything will work out in the end. And if not, oh well I guess I’ll learn something new.

I never had much money and neither did my family. They still live in an old building which might collapse at any time.

But we learned to fight and do our best to provide for each other. We always cared more about each other than ourselves. We learned to live with little and appreciate the little things, we learned that it’s not important to get what you want, because it might not be possible, but we learned to always try our best with what we’ve got. We learned to love unconditionally.

We never needed the fanciest cars, the most expensive gifts or the newest phones to be happy.

We are the happiest when we are together having a laugh even at hard times, caring about each other, helping others, and that’s what it really matters. It’s always been about love and being grateful for what we have and I’m so happy and proud I was raised in such an amazing family. I wouldn’t change that for all the money in the world.

One day, if I have my own family, I’ll consider myself very lucky if I’m as half as a good parent as my parents are.

I have hundreds of Christmas wishes, my letter to Santa is quite long but if I only had one wish is for all of my loved ones to be happy, healthy and safe. If you are an expat or your family lives far away, you know exactly what I mean. It’s heartbreaking not to be able to be there whenever my sister or my dad has an accident or my aunt is sick or…

And one of my lifelong dreams is to one day be able to buy a house for my family (and build my own house exactly as I imagined it, but I don’t mind if that never happens) so I don’t have to worry about them. Which is wishing for the impossible but a girl can dream.

I never cared about having the most expensive clothes, bags or make-up. If you know me you probably know that. I’m not the prettiest or the fanciest dresser but I spend most of my money on bills (living on my own costs A LOT and sacrificing this won’t be easy), trips, gigs, experiences, spending time with friends, getting gifts for friends and family. And I wouldn’t change that for anything.

I sometimes worry about the future, it’s only natural but as long as I’m happy and do my best, I leave the rest to the universe.

I’ll leave you with this, which couldn’t be more true.

Merry Christmas to all of you and your families.

I hope all your Christmas wishes come true!

I know one of mine will 🙂

And I hope 2017 is much better for all of us. Amen.

Love you all! x