Lights A Christmas Market

Dear friends,

Last weekend, on Sunday - December 1st, my awesome husbands sister dropped by in order to bring the second ring for the wedding. Oh! The whole ring story is quite a huge one, but in a nutshell we picked the most adorable rings ever! Which incorporated both my wishes and my husbands ;) We choose, measured and placed the order yet when the rings came they were not of the right size (Oh! The horror! The pain! The suffering!) so we had to return Mareks in order to get it reshaped.

That took a while and I waited in fear thinking it would not reach us before the wedding. Yet it did! :) It came to my husbands home address so his little sister came to us in the weekend and brought it to us. And, happily ever after, the 2 wedding rings got reunited ;) But after a while at our place we agreed to have a walk to the Galeria Krakowska in order to see the freshly lit Christmas decorations + The Christmas Market in the Main Market square.

I think you already know this place ;)

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadnt before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesnt come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!” ― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

“One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didnt get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone

“Christmas can be celebrated in the school room with pine trees, tinsel and reindeers, but there must be no mention of the man whose birthday is being celebrated. One wonders how a teacher would answer if a student asked why it was called Christmas.” ― Ronald Reagan (indeed! I agree with him there ;) yes I do! And we should all be ashamed of that!)

We also dropped by Carrefour in order to buy some small things for the girls back home so that my husbands sister could bring them :) Candies and such ;) And I got a present as well!!! A nice suprise from my awesome husband (then to be ;p). I always asked for a pony and a unicorn and somewhere at the beginning of our relationship he brought me a Kids Meal from Mc Donalds with a pink haired pony that I still have a love :) and now... he bought me an unicorn! with green hair! (in case you did not know, green is my absolute fav color!) - his sister thought that he actually bought that for one of the girls ;))) Well... what can I say?! I enjoy the small things :)

Me and my pretty unicorn :)

Then we headed off to the small Christmas Market next to the Galeria and further on to the main one in the Main Square :) So I will kindly leave you with the nice pictures + some Christmas quotes that I love :) you know... to get you into the Christmas spirit ;)

“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.” ― Laura Ingalls Wilder

“Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.” ― Charles M. Schulz

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ” ― Norman Vincent Peale

“And when we give each other Christmas gifts in His name, let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, and the earth with its forests and mountains and oceans--and all that lives and move upon them. He has given us all green things and everything that blossoms and bears fruit and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused--and to save us from our foolishness, from all our sins, He came down to earth and gave us Himself.” ― Sigrid Undset

“Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.” ― Calvin Coolidge

Beloved Polish Painter: Jan Matejko - has a new statue :)

“What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace." ― Agnes M. Pahro

“Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart...filled it, too, with melody that would last forever.”
― Bess Streeter Aldrich, Song of Years

We had an artistic moment as a man playing an electric violin was in the Market Square. My husband liked his so very much that he bought his CD and we listened to it later on in the evening :) I love him!

Do you see the lady on the corner? The statue?

“Christmas it seems to me is a necessary festival; we require a season when we can regret all the flaws in our human relationships: it is the feast of failure, sad but consoling.” ― Graham Greene, Travels With My Aunt

A bit of an Alfred moment here with all these pidgeons ;))) And a lady with colorful hair that reminded me of my chameleonic sister :) She would have loved that color ;)

I really enjoy this picture of my husband with his sister :)

“Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home!” ― Charles Dickens

Who wants some mulled wine?!

Or maybe some candies? :)

“Christmas! The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and given--when Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes.” ― Joan Winmill Brown

“At one time, most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though Ive grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe.” ― Chris Van Allsburg, The Polar Express

“And how did little Tim behave?” asked Mrs Cratchit, when she had rallied Bob on his credulity and Bob had hugged his daughter to his heart’s content.
“As good as gold,” said Bob, “and better. Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

At the Market Square we could not help ourselves into buying some new earrings. I blame it all on my awesome husband who asked me if I (and his sister) wanted a pair ;))) How can I say no to such a proposal? I just could not help it so I went head on and took some pictures for you too ;)

“Remember, if Christmas isnt found in your heart, you wont find it under a tree.” ― Charlotte Carpenter

“If you desire to find the true spirit of Christmas and partake of the sweetness of it, let me make this suggestion to you. During the hurry of the festive occasion of this Christmas season, find time to turn your heart to God. Perhaps in the quiet hours, and in a quiet place, and on your knees—alone or with loved ones—give thanks for the good things that have come to you, and ask that His Spirit might dwell in you as you earnestly strive to serve Him and keep His commandments. He will take you by the hand and His promises will be kept.” ― Howard W. Hunter

“God is here. This truth should fill our lives, and every Christmas should be for us a new and special meeting with God, when we allow his light and grace to enter deep into our soul.” ― St. Josemaría Escrivá, Christ Is Passing by

“At Christmas
A man is at his finest towards the finish of the year;
He is almost what he should be when the Christmas seasons here;
Then hes thinking more of others than hes thought the months before,
And the laughter of his children is a joy worth toiling for.
He is less a selfish creature than at any other time;
When the Christmas spirit rules him he comes close to the sublime.”
― Edgar A. Guest

I had a pair of earrings with The Lady With An Ermine :) And Dorota had some singing notes ;)

“I know what I really want for Christmas.
I want my childhood back.
Nobody is going to give me that. I might give at least the memory of it to myself if I try. I know it doesnt make sense, but since when is Christmas about sense, anyway? It is about a child, of long ago and far away, and it is about the child of now. In you and me. Waiting behind the door of or hearts for something wonderful to happen. A child who is impractical, unrealistic, simpleminded and terribly vulnerable to joy.”
― Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

A last Sunday view of the Main Market Square, before taking Dorota to the Galeria and us meeting with a dear friend over some lattes ;) But I will tell you more about that morrow ;) Loads of pictures included, of course! ;) So stay tuned!

“Christmas is a time in which, of all times in the year, the memory of every remediable sorrow, wrong, and trouble in the world around us, should be active with us, not less than our own experiences, for all good.”
― Charles Dickens, The Haunted Man and the Ghosts Bargain

“Christmas is the gentlest, loveliest festival of the revolving year - and yet, for all that, when it speaks, its voice has strong authority. ” ― W.J. Cameron

Yours truly,
The Christmas Lover LadyBug