Christmas preparations, and our place

It's been a year since i've been to America. and just like a year ago it's Christmas season again, and there is a Dolbey party this saturday :) just this time i'm not a tourist in a new world.. i was having fun decorating our place and giving it a Christmasy look. i'm not quite done yet - we have to set up a tree and get some other stuff, along with some furniture. so now that i took some photos soon i'll have to take new ones :)) anyway not to bore you..



we are on the second floor. so when you open the door, there is a small hall with a closet and the staircase.





welcome mat and shoe parade :))
then you go up the stairs..



and to the right is the living room.



the kitchen is connected to the living room and there are no doors separating those.

behind that french door is a balcony and right by it is a dining table.



the kitchen:





armenian stuff in the kitchen :)) magnets etc





behind those metal door is the washer and dryer.
now going back into the living room..



the futon (it folds out) and the new pillows.



now right above the little hall downstairs is this little hmm what to call it? space? originally Michael declared it to be his territory but doesn't use it for now. i moved the lamp guy back there for christmas season as we will have a tree to put up somewhere and move stuff around.



and to the left from the stairs is corridor leading to the rest of the apartment. (photos of all that will be in the next photo-report)



top of the counter


with one of my favorite trinkets i got for the wedding occasion



top of the fireplace..


yeah i just put all "nice, adorable, cute, awesome" stuff there. i'll have to reorganize it all later.

now here come photos of Christmas decorations!













and! mom ordered us gifts from amazon and told me to wrap it all nicely. i also got Michael's gifts shipped so i had to start the gift-wrapping process :)







now this is what i saw when i woke up today..







the best time is when i turn off the lights and only leave the snowflakes lights, the lamp guy, and the fireplace on. it looks so cozy that i just want to curl up by the fireplace, stare at the snow on the balcony and fade away. :)

trip to Armenia - part 3

baptizing Michal

so to get married in Armenian church we had to baptize Michael first. But first thing we did on Sunday was shopping i think :)) with mom. just like in old days - we'd go to our favorite boutiques on Abovian street, then go sit at "Triumph" cafe, have armenian coffee and gin and tonic or anything else. for that matter i had martini because it's made differently in the US and i just missed the one i was used to. and mom would smoke but now we smoked together :))

anyways. then we went to the church where we were to get married.


my aunt Irina


me and Michael


everything was so beautiful there..


smb was getting married in that church so we had to wait. i was curious how it all would go and what i'd have to explain and translate. but there was a pleasant surprise awaiting - i didn't have to translate anything because the priests spoke very good english (among other languages).


Michael, mom, aunt, Sergey (aunt's husband)


Hovik (my mom's boss and a good friend, and Michael's soon to be godfather), and same people as in previous photo :))


baptizing




and it was over. we decided to take a small tour and show Michael the rest of the church, including the tomb of st. Hripsime


yes it's that bench again.. i just like the lighting on it.


the tomb. the room it was in was so tiny that i couldn't get a better point of view.. i was already squished into the wall.

then of course we went to celebrate - that is to drink champagne :) we went to "777" where our engagement party took place. then we went home. i don't think we did anything else that day - just had a pleasant dinner all together and talked for hours.

no time..

It's been a month since we got back from Armenia however i made only one post about it. There were just too many photos to take care of, and on the other hand life has been extremely hectic up to today.

this post is just an update on what was going on with my life and what following posts will be about.

first of all, after we got back we started looking for a place to move. we were planning to be moved on 1st of november. also there was a halloween party coming up.

we found a place (which is our new home) that was absolutely gorgeous! it's a condo, with 2 bathrooms, and a gas fireplace. it has 2 bedrooms one of which is turning into my office-crafting space :D. Here's a quick link to the whole apartment complex http://www.forrent.com/apartment-community-profile/1000005983.php . i would take photos and upload them now but some stuff is still in boxes and we are planning to get some new furniture soon, and we need to pick some of my photos for me to make big prints and put on walls. in one word - the photos will be later, once everything is completely set up.

Now the Halloween party took place on 24th of Oct. we decorated the whole place and the party was absolutely great! i was dressed as a ladybug ( :)) ) and Michael was a pirate. the photos are on my facebook album and flickr (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36037&id=1073925241&l=2acbca2e74)



Also, an other exciting thing that happened was a trip to Pittsburgh, PA. That's where Michael went to college. he took me there and showed around and i must say it was huge! then we went on a boat ride from Carnegie science center. there was a trade district with a lot of stores where people of different nationalities were selling all kinds of stuff. Pittsburgh was beautiful - i loved it. on the way back we stopped at Ikea store and it was fun! now we're thinking of getting some things from there :))

ok what else? oh yeah i got a new hobby - painting on glass. it's really fun and amazing and i actually really like the results :D the cool thing is after you let the paint dry for 24 hours you throw it into the oven and bake for 40 mins. After that you can even put the glass in a dishwasher - it won't ruin the paint. i was taking some photos of what i made today but i'm not done yet..

Also i went on a photo hike with Kirk and took lots of foliage photos. and that's what i'm working on now.

so all in all, i think i'll just go on with my life and make current posts and then once in a while post some photos from the wedding and write about how we spent time in Armenia :)