Liar, Liar

Forget everything that I said about Black Friday last week. Spain, at least Madrid, has embraced Black Friday, which is called Black Friday and not Viernes Negro, as their own for pre-Christmas sales. I was in a commercial area not far from where I live yesterday, and everywhere I looked I saw crowds of people and signs for Black Friday. Yes, I know yesterday was Saturday. Black Friday here is celebrated on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then turns into Cyber Monday.

Yesterday I went to a Christmas fair hosted by the group I used to be a member of - the Madrid Handcrafters. I've decided this year that my little wooden Christmas tree is getting some white decorations, so I bought an angel for it. I also bought a few stocking stuffers and a beautiful silk scarf. Today I went to another fair in a private house round the corner and got some little Christmas decorations that look like snowflakes. I've just come back from there.

I haven't been to the centre to see the Christmas lights, but one of my friends went on Friday night with her family. She said there were police everywhere even policemen wearing ski masks. I wasn't planning on attending the Christmas lunch that has become a tradition anyway. There are just too many people in the centre making it impossible to enjoy the sights. Last Christmas my friend Chris and I ended up walking all the way home.

I'm going to finish with a couple of photos of some of the presents I got for my birthday. First my favourite chocolate in the whole world - Belgian chocolate and this box has some of the best I've tried.

I also got a little bag of chocolates that look exactly like olives - green and black ones. I posted a photo of some of them on facebook, and some people thought they were really olives. My other sweet treat was oatmeal and raisin cookies; other non-sweet treats were two scarves and two necklaces, so you see I had a good day and the moussaka was the best I'd had in a long time.

Here is another of my presents filled with small bottles of toiletries.

And here is the other side of the bag. I don't know which side I prefer. I just know I like the bag, because it's so different. Which side do you prefer?

I had a lot to do this morning and then was out this afternoon, and now I'm going to leave you with the hope that everyone who celebrated Thanksgiving enjoyed it and that we all have a good new week.