Holiday “hype”

The holidays are gone, all presents are given, the hype has died out and people, including me, are back to their usual everyday lives. I didn’t update you on my holidays as, well, I just wanted to experience them. The best thing was that Martin was back and we got spent a little time together. I partied a little as you can see from the second photo. We had a blast at our company Christmas party. You can never go wrong with a Great Gatsby team, after all.

Beside that and a few more not so glamorous outings, I spent the holidays on different couches with Martin and Churchill – at home, at my parents and grandparents, at his folks, at a friend’s countryside villa. I just loved the total oblivion of it.

I won’t bother you with New year’s resolutions, as I think the hype should last more that in the short 1 week between Christmas and NYE. And I believe that I don’t need to change with the start of every new year. Change has taken such a big part of my life that I don’t tend to plan it. Life just doesn’t go as you’ve planned it, so I may just as well enjoy the unknown. What about you?

 

Bulgarian graffiti from A to Z: part 3

Today I’ll continue with the Alphabet pieces included in the Bulgarian graffiti from A to Z exhibition that will be on till 22.11.

And here are some interesting facts about the Bulgarian language:

1. Bulgarian belongs to the Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. It is spoken by more than 9.2 million people around the world. Bulgarian language has 3 standardized norms: Bulgarian (official in Bulgaria, using Cyrillic alphabet), Macedonian (official in FYROM, using Cyrillic alphabet) and Banat (spoken by the Banat Bulgarians in the Banat region, in Romania and Serbia, using Latin alphabet).

2. With the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union on 1 January 2007, the Cyrillic script became the third official script of the European Union, following the Latin and Greek scripts.

3. Bulgarian language is the first written Slavic language with its own scripts – Glagolitic alphabet and Cyrillic alphabet. Glagolitic alphabet were invented by Saints Cyril and Methodius.

4. In AD 886, the Bulgarian Empire introduced the Glagolitic alphabet, devised by Saints Cyril and Methodius in the 850s. The Glagolitic alphabet was gradually superseded in later centuries by the Cyrillic script, developed around the Preslav Literary School, Bulgaria at the beginning of the 10th century.
5. And one funny fact: The word такова (takova) is a universal word, usable in place of any other word in Bulgarian language. It is used when the speaker can not think of a better word 🙂

Bulgarian graffiti from A to Z: part 2

I had so much work yesterday that I couldn’t post the next part of the exhibition. And after that I had to move with Churchill to my parent’ as we won’t have a lift for the next 8 days and he shouldn’t be taking the stairs. So I hope you can forgive me the one day delay. These are the next amazing pieces/letters:

Bulgarian graffiti from A to Z: part 1

No matter that I’ve been down with a cold for the past 4 days, yesterday I got up from bed and went to check the opening of this great graffiti exhibition. I just had to see all this talent in one place. It will be on till 22.11 on the second floor of Mall of Sofia. So if you have the opportunity, go and check it out. I’ll post all amazing pieces this week so stay tuned. 

Friday pin up

Paris week will continue soon,as I was a little under the weather. But today I decided to share today’s outfit as I’m super happy with it. The other day I finally went to a little vintage shop I was passing by for the last 6 months. After I’ve tried on 90% of the clothes, I bought 3 cute dresses and a blazer. This is one of the dresses – a blue Clockhouse piece with small flamingo print that I couldn’t resist. I matched it with white lace H&M platforms, a light blue H&M messenger bag, Swarovski stardust light blue bracelet, MAC Russian red lipstick and navy head scarf. I can’t wait to see what you think of the outfit.

Paris week: graffiti part 2

Today is the second part of the amazing Beauvais and Paris street art I wanted to share with you. You can see the difference between the storage house in Beauvais and the little streets in Paris. We were there with some artists and they took the camera that Space Invader had put in the wall so I was able to take a photo. I also loved the stencils that seemed very popular in Paris. Batgirl and the Skeleton playing with a brain were particularly cool. Hope you like them.

Paris week: graffiti part 1

I’ve been missing out on my maze a lot but I’m finally finished with my other works and projects. So I took a much needed break and I’m back for good with great stuff to share. First of all, this year is going to be my best travel – wise. I was in Romania in March, two times in Greece already, and me and Martin visited Paris, Vienna and Prague in the last two months. And I’m planning some more trips, but we’ll see.

So, what better way to start than to share the best trip we had so far – the one to Paris. I’ve been there a couple of times since I have some relatives in France (and, no, that’s not why my name is Manon, it comes from the opera) and I really liked the city. But this time I saw with new eyes, both the eyes of a grown up who knows all about history and the eyes of kid when we went to Disneyland. I have lots of stuff to tell you about this exciting city but first, I will start with the photos of a friend of mine. Yes. this will be our first “guest star” here on Manon’s maze. He took the pics for me as he knows how much I love street art and these pieces found in Beauvais, where I landed in order to get to Paris, are simply amazing. Enjoy!

A place to call home

I guess everyone has experienced the sensation to go somewhere new and to feel instantly at home, at peace with yourself and filled with joy. I love travelling, as you may know, and all the places I’ve visited have charmed me in some way. But there are a few I felt at home. And one of them is Greece. It’s not exotic, it’s not something unexpected, but the minute I cross the border I feel happy. I can  taste of sea food in my mouth, the sun on my skin and the clear waters of the Mediterranean or the Aegean sea spread before me. And being able to experience this a few times a year makes me very lucky, I know. And a few weeks back was one of those times. We visited Kassandra, which is one of the peninsulas of Chalkidiki and I’ve heard it’s very crowded and expensive but at the beginning of May it’s just perfect. Great hotel, lovely food, amazing beaches, astonishing views and warm people. I was glad that we could go to my favorite places, located on the other peninsula Sithonia, Nea Marmaras with the best tavern you can ever imagine Ta Kimata, Kalugria beach with the small pond where turtles live and Kalamitsi with the little island just off the beach and the amazing view of Mount Athos. If you ever get the chance – go, it’s totally worth it.

Chilli con carne

There are many different recipes of this simple, spicy and filling dish. I’ve tried a few of them and, as I usually like to do, came up with a mash of them that suits my taste. Hope you like it too.

First I chopped the onion and the garlic and added them to the preheated olive oil in the large pan. I cooked them for 5 minutes, then added the cumin, hot chilli, salt and pepper. After that I added the meat and broke it up to small lumps and cooked until the mince was golden-brown. Then it was time for the beans, tomatoes and tomato puree. The whole thing needs to boil and be stirred regularly for the next 20 minutes. I found that the chilli is better if it’s left to stand for 10 minutes before serving. You can serve it with sour cream, rice or just plain. This time I made a nice green salad.

Ingredients:

350 gr minced meat
200 gr red beans
200 gr white beans in spicy tomato sauce
400 gr chopped tomatoes
200 gr tomato puree
1 onion
4 garlic cloves
1 tblsp olive oil
1 tblsp hot chilli
1 tsp cumin
salt
pepper

Time for change

I’ve been MIA since last year. Well, that sounds awful, it’s been just a couple of weeks. Still, I was super busy and I have to say I wasn’t feeling very inspired. The main reason is that for a second year I had to change my job right during the holidays. Not a very pleasant ordeal, I tell you. However. I’ve been lucky and I’m starting at a great place (I hope) in a week and my good humor and writing skills are back. So expect more of me in the new 2015!

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