cardamom spice and everything nice

We made Christmas cookies/biscuits this weekend, using my one of my favorite spices; cardamom. In fact we made three kinds, two being general spiced cookies with allspice, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, and then the all cardamom ones. Decorations were difficult to find in Sofia and we drove around for half a day, finally finding something in Kaufland and at Hit, but there were none in a wintery theme, so our Christmas cookies appear more Valentines day, but still they are quite pretty. My daughter got very creative with them, and we as a family spent a number of hours in complete satisfaction gathered at the dinning table icing and decorating making each little treat unique. I really enjoy this Western tradition, mostly absent in Bulgaria. Notice the big odd shaped one in the middle, the disfigured shape of the cookie looked like a mouse to me, so I made it into one, now its our household pet.
Our friends in Sofia will be getting a those little baggies of our gourmet cookies.

Merry Christmas to all.

house - lounge area

house - dining area

The interior theme of our home is a fusion of classic and modern, both cozy and minimalist/clean and very much flooded with light. The principle colors are warm tones of browns and reds on a base of white, with little dew drops of yellow.
Our kitchen/dining room/living room are all one large open space ala California/New York style, with archways differentiating the spaces. In the dining/living area, the decor is more opulent with raspberry red velvet curtains and rich-brown furniture with classic gold accouterments. The houses' greatest asset are the tall ceilings and vast windows letting in light in joyous amounts.

Stay tuned, more to come.

house - kitchen

The kitchen is of sufficient size for Europe (though I could always do bigger) and entered by the new archway via the dining room. We are big foodies in our family, thus the kitchen is quite functional with quality appliances, and a modern clean ambiance. Silver is the primary surface here, whereas throughout the rest of the home classic/antique gold presides.

house - bedroom

We have been living in Sofia almost three years now, and I am finally sharing our home with you, something I have long been meaning to do. The renovation on this 1930s house began about ten year ago with walls being removed, and intense restoration of the original woodwork, (doors, window frames etc..). At it's original state the house had poor planing, with three small bedrooms, and to reach the kitchen one would have to leave the dining room, go through a corridor, then enter the chilly foyer, then walk through another corridor past the bathrooms and laundry room to arrive at the destination. Entirely mental, they certainly had servants then, or perhaps the architect was in a bad mood while drawing the plans. Well that has all been changed now.

I thoroughly love our home, and I do not want it to appear that I am say am a rich heiress boasting my wealth, as reality is that I was born in practically a third world country and had quite a poor childhood, as did my husband, so we are in exultation, in utter glee about our darling home that we earned with true hard work. I am interior design obsessed, so this home has been a darling project of mine.

To begin with here is the master bedroom, a diminutive European size, but enough to accomplish a modern yet comfortable, bright and serene retreat.

dm bulgaria natural cosmetics

DM is my favorite new addition to the Bulgarian market. However their products are direct shipments from Germany, and all in native German, additional labels are attached here in Bulgaria, but with such minute lettering one must bring a spying glass to manage them. Furthermore that which is written is very brief and vague, leaving Bulgarian readers to presume and invent the intended use for these products. And for those that are comfortable neither with German or Bulgarian, are left to manage in a child like state by only looking at pictures.
Thus using my Bulgarian, as well as basic German, accompanied by internet adeptness, I have created a small guide to DM's natural Alverde (all green) face care line:

Their products primarily brake down into seven different categories recognized by the images on the front:

1. Those represented by a sliced APRICOT including the pip and leaves are products for basic CLEANING for every type of skin.

2. Those represented by a white PEARL, surrounded by a blue shell, or perhaps it is water are products for NORMAL and combination skin.

3. Those with a pale pink ROSE surrounded by a few green leaves, are products for DRY skin.

4. Those with a flowing WHITE SILK motif with a green blade of grass, or perhaps ribbon, are products for SENSITIVE skin.

5. Those that have an image of sprinkled dry BROWN CLAY, some of which is smeared, are products for IMPURE skin, that has black heads and pimples (spots) such as teenage skin.

6. Those that have a green and purple PASSION FRUIT FLOWER, are products intended for MATURE skin.

7. The new ANTI-AGING line at dm, is represented by either of these fruit: KIWI, GOJI BERRY, GRAPE, or SEA BUCK-THORN. These products are easier to identify as they have "anti-aging " written on the front of the product.

Once you have decided which line is appropriate for you skin type, the rest is simple as each line has a face wash or cleansing milk or foam, a toner, a day cream, a night cream or a fluid, as well as an eye cream, and some special items like anti aging ampules, or a clay mask, or tinted bronzing cream, and so on.

Here are some basic German terms one needs to know when navigating the this part of the Alverde lines:

Reinigungs Milch - cleansing milk.
Peeling - not peeling mask, but a face scrub, as in the cream with granules to remove dead skin.
Peelingmaske - a face mask, that is also a scrub.
Gesichts Wasser - face water, as in facial toner to be used after washing.
Tagescreme - day cream/moisturizer
Nachtcreme - night cream
Augencreme - eye cream

Additional information:
English overview of Alverde face care lines. (translation)
Bulgarian brochure on Alverde. (click on Alverde for pdf)

pastorant

hair

One of my favorite historical females, Georgiana the Duchess of Devonshire, was the main figure leading the imense hair styles of the 18th century. She took hair levels to three feet (by a hidden horse hair pad) and placed random items on top including stuffed birds and a sailing ship, and her infamous four foot ostrich feather.

Recently I came across a post on a most amazing blog, a post so utterly magnificent and inspiring, that I had to share. These are satirical drawings displaying the mad excess that hair styles reached, and yearned towards. The drawings were created in humorous fashion, though I also find them a treasure to behold.
Bibli Odyssey

organic sofia

There is no doubt that organic or bio food is the better option to conventionally grown fare, however such foods are quite expensive in Bulgaria (as they are imported), thus I rarely purchase them. Still it is nice to know that such options exist, and today I discovery that an all organic shop just opened in my neighborhood. A mere two minute's walk from my kitchen is Sluntez Luna's (Sun Moon) new boutique named My Organic Market offering grains and dry foods, as well as cosmetics and toiletries. I headed there at once and bought a kilogram of gretchka (buckwheat) for our morning meals, and welcomed them to my neighborhood.

Not long ago, Biomag, another, even larger organic shop opened a second branch, making Sofia the home to at least two Biomags and two My Organic Markets, both of which also have their own bistro's/cafe's, and a bakery, and one also offer online shopping. These are big steps, I am proud of my little Bulgaria.

---My Organic Market:
3 Yantra St. Near to Orlov Most (Eagles Bridge)

48 Parchevich St. Near to Vitosha Blvd.

---Biomag:
1 Journalist plaza. (shop and cafe) In Lozenets.

10A Doiran St. In Belite Brezi

---Sluntze Luna Bakery & Restaurant
18B, Gladstone St. Near to Vitosha Blvd.

magazines

I am passionate about interior design in the extreme, and find home decor and lifestyle magazines more interesting than fashion ones. Although it was not so in the past, I had one issue of British Vogue in 6th or 7th grade that I studies for at least half a year and my favorite magazine in the 90s was Top Model, not existent any more and virtually a myth. However as my own modeling career died down a few year ago, I began to find fashion magazines primarily dull, and took an interest in a different genre's of magazines, and my favorite one in American became the lifestyle one named Real Simple. Here in Bulgaria I don't purchase magazines at all, because the local ones I can't enjoy due to my second grade level reading skills, and the imported ones are too expensive, thus I get all my info online. Recently a new online magazine has been launched combining both online ease with a real life feel, which I find quite excellent. Named LONNY, it is an almost true home-design magazine, as the pages turn in a realistic manner with an added bonus of many clickable links. The photography and the featured homes are all wonderful.

www.lonnymag.com