Saturday with the Girls

It's the little things along the way that make me feel connected the this country. I may hate the city blocks lined with houses that could be magnificent, if not for the three inch layer of caked on pollution from all the textile factories 50 years earlier, but seeing someone smile so broadly when I spout the little bit of garbled Polish in my vocabulary. Saturday morning the sun woke me up bright and early... so I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to visit the local market we have if you turn right down Piotrowska. Sonda and I had a really good time, shifting through little booths for the diamonds in the rough, and making friends along the way.

One old woman was selling objects made out of fur that she had hand stitched herself. She was adorable - old and craggy, but with a smile that lit up her eyes and an eagerness to understand what I was asking. I bought quite a lot from her, exclaiming in a universal language at how excited I was to find such good quality gloves, shoes, and hats at such low prices. She knew I was marveling at her craftsmanship, and she was pleased. And then... as if to prolong our meeting, she asked if I was from America and started telling me in lightening-fast Polish about her three children that lived in Chicago. I didn't understand much of what she was telling me, besides the three kids living in Chicago part, but it touched me to know that mothers and grandmas are the same across the world - proud of their children and happy to share their stories - and it made me miss my own mommy.

I also met a precious puppy. The man who had her in a box at his booth didn't speak any english at all, so I don't know if it was for sale or just to attract customers, but he definitely understood that I wanted to cuddle with the dog and graciously it to me.

Being away from my Lumpy so long has made me long to nurture anything... so much so that I bought a plant to put on my window sill and keep alive for the duration of the summer.

But flowers don't really compare to this cute one. Or the puppy I have waiting for me back in the States.



The fashion show was quite the event! There was a red carpet out front which was quite intimidating, but we had heard that you could get student tickets so I made Courtney be brave for the rest of us and go check inside. I'm so glad that she did because it was really awesome... the entire place had been set up with chairs, carefully executed lightening, and a glowing runway.

We were more than welcome to sit downstairs, but the best pictures were taken from the second story... where there were a lack of both people and obstacles to obstruct our view.

I even had Courtney snatch this super cool lanyard that (I think) was for the designers and people running the event only... but I really wanted one! I wore it around for the evening just so I could seem super fly. Hahah I kid.
There were both haute contour and normal fashion designers, including some that had really pretty dresses.

Ahhhh and I even had a latte machiato while I was there. It was wonderful to have REAL COFFEE again.

Our night ended in a late-night restaurant run on Piotrowska. On weekends, the entire street is light up with tiny Christmas lights and the younger generation is out in droves - people watching, going to the discotheque, and dining in open-air cafes along the sidewalks. It's quite the atmosphere...

And my dad would love this place because the taxis are super cheap. We stayed out until 11p.m, and it's not always safe to walk through our dark and scary ally way to get back to our dorm, so we took a taxi.... which, I might add... is the perfect time to catch Kristin being Kristin. The poor taxi driver probably thought we were nuts.