happy happy new year..I must admit...the celebrations are getting better with every year...im sitting in my flatmates room at the moment, its so cold that I can see my breath, but i am warm..inside.. I've just finished watching a morning/breakfast dose of Friends, had my yummy yummy breakfast with a cup of devine coffee and wrapped in baby blue pajamas and white polar bear night gown I am looking at some photos from last year...last year..(my hair still looks funny and is a perfect reminder that it all happened just a few hours ago) It was probably one of the best nights in 2006. We had it all - beautiful people, interesting people, fascinating people, mind captivating conversations, ocean loads of laughter, brilliant food and more food and champagne, and just...that thing you have when you are in a place at a certain time and it is right and you feel great and you look great and the world looks great and there is absolutelly nothing that could spoil it..this little piece of heaven in your mind that puts a smile on your face while youre asleep..

the programme was beyond simple - arrive at 8, pick up your champagne (one of those old fashioned champagne glasses that look like saucers - loved it! matched my 60s look to perfection:)) glass, nibble on canapes, move upstairs, seat yourself down, wine arrives, a cup of lobster soup, crackers (one thing I still dont get in British culture haha), more crackers and mini fireworks, more wine, starters - calamari rings and seared tuna and rear beef and mozarrella and more (I was full after the first batch of starters)and more and more - they seemed to never end! Then second batch of starters (I know! They should have warned us not to eat all day:) pasta (Italian style - it was Little Italy after all), mains to follow, then a selection of four (!) desserts (we all learned not to finish our food by that point which you had to do if you wanted to be able to stand up and dance), coffees and breakfast at 3 a.m.

The countown to twelve was one of the most exciting things ever. We were all standing with our champagne glasses raised to the ceiling (Imagine 150 people all dressed in black with an exception of few that dared to be more original)with their eyes fixed on the sky counting 10 9 8 ...3 2 1
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

and a pool of black and silver balloons started landing on top of our heads from the ceiling.....oh the release of joy, the magnitude of happiness contained in those eyes, those hugs, those kisses....and then "new york new york..if you can make it there youll make it anywhere" (a rather interesting choice of a song to kick start the 2007, dont you think?) and us screaming at the top of our lungs all in unison..dancing, more wine, more champagne, more dances....

A beautiful night to remember and a wonderfull way to see off 2006..

Now...I will harrass my friends to email me pics from last night but here are some shots of me in the first hours of 2007...Pardon the cheesy kitsch style :D some of you have asked me for photos so these will have to do for now Im afraid :/

Lina, the blond girl in the middle, came home to Klaipeda to see her family after three years of living in us of a. She was a very good friend of mine in high school and we entered uni together. Lina remained one of these people that you see after three or more years and there are still millions of things to talk aboout which is I think extraordinary. While at home I met up with old friends and people I havent spoken to for years and with some of them it was fantastic, like I've never left, with others however, there was silence left right and centre.

(Vikute, Kristina looks more and more like Davina with every passing day :))

christmas eve

Catherine (the girl with red hair) half an hour before she passed out in the loos. We arrived at 7.30 and Catherine was taken home at 8.30 - alcohol overdose, unconscious, didn't remember anything today. She arrived pissed (having emptied a bottle of vodka prior to leaving home) and we could tell that straight away - she was loving everyone. Bless her.

Having slept for three hours, I met up with Ron in Edmonton to get on the coach to France. I am fascinated by Europe and how close everything is. In the same day we went shopping in France and I had Sarah over for French wine later in the evening when I got back to London.
Loaded with wines (got my favourite Chateauneuf du Pape for a bargain price) we crossed the La Manche...the same trip I took probably 12 years ago but that time ended up in Paris..our ferry by SeaFrance looked exactly the same as the one I took when I was little but everything felt so different of course. A very interesting feeling standing on the deck with Disneyland Paris memories so very fresh under the skin looking at the white cliffs of Dover...It's amazing that for some odd reason life sometimes offers you a chance to re-enact (in a way) a moment of the past.

such bliss to stay at home today....
had a very odd day at work. work was fine as always...nothing major, nothing new...
had a strange chat with a half drunk manager that I used to fancy haha..talked about getting pissed next thursday during Office Christmas party! what the heck...that party is going to be weird. I can sense it..then Ron has been down all week :( Troubles with his manager and them not wanting to give him a day off...oh dont know all...then! Sasha's...there's a story...oh most of you don't know anything about her so ... Vikute, kai neturesi ka veikti, papasakosiu cirkus..it's all a bit fucked up...dont know how much I should get into detail here :))))))) anyway...france tomorrow!!!! cheap wine and cigarettes and cheese and lovely language and ferry trip...yumyum...Just cannot wait to be off and rest rest rest rest...

While I was at home, we went to see Mozart's Don Juan...Coming from a musical family and having finished a musical school a trip like that is always a treat but! I will not go on about the quality of their singing. Dad and I counted that four of them were GOOD...but this girl who played Dona Ana was amazing..she was fantastic..We were sitting too far to see her face but she was radiating this uncontrolable power...very very impressive. My oldest sister, who knows everything haha, goes: oh this young Armenian soprano, her name is Asmik Grigorian, very promissing..So I did some homework and here she is:


Ačiū, gyvenu gerai. Asmik

Ją vadina kylančia operos žvaigžde. Ją vadina anemiška lėle, kuriai kelią praskina tėvų – garsių dainininkų – pavardės. Juodaplaukė 24 metų moteris, vardu Asmik Grigorian, ką tik sudainavusi Violetą, kelia arba susižavėjimą, arba neapykantą. Ir susidomėjimą. Tačiau kaip visiška introvertė neketina jo patenkinti. „Paslaptis“, – lakoniškai atsako į klausimus, kresteli ilgus juodus plaukus (šukuosena, su kuria pasirodo „Traviatoje“, padaryta iš jos pačios kasų!) ir prisidega cigaretę, čia pat sulaužydama stereotipinio interviu eigą.

Ar tai, kad rūkote, nekenkia balsui?
Kenkia.

Sakoma, kad vardas yra viskas. Koks iš tikrųjų jūsiškis: Asta ar Asmik, ir nuo ko priklauso, kada vadinatės vienu arba kitu?
Turiu du vardus ir abiem naudojuosi. Pagal pasą esu Asmik, taip vadinuosi ir kituose oficialiuose dokumentuose. Šiaip Lietuvoje mane vadina Asta...

Beje, ką reiškia Asmik ir kuriuo vardu šaukiama jaučiatės geriau?
Nei vienu, nei kitu. Asmik – armėniškai „jazminas“.

Kaip norėtumėte vadintis?
Paslaptis.

Visas miestas dabar apklijuotas jūsų plakatais; dažnai net tie, kurie jus kritikuoja, dūsauja: „Kokia graži moteris“. Ar jaučiatės tokia?
Man tokia operos reklama nelabai priimtina – daryčiau kitaip. Kas yra grožio sąvoka? Būti kaip iš paveikslėlio nereiškia būti gražiai. Esu kitokios išvaizdos, bet nedrįsčiau teigti, kad tai gražu.

Ar būdama maža įsivaizdavote kada nors tapsianti įžymi? Ir ar tikrai dviejų dainininkų vaikas pasmerktas būti dainininku?
Ne, jokiu būdu. Norėjau būti balerina, ne dainininkė. Tačiau noras būti įžymiai tikriausiai užkoduotas – juk augi tokioje terpėje, matai, kaip viskas vyksta. Ypač jei esi mergaitė ir ypač vaikystėje. Paskui prasidėjo bandymai maištauti, neigti pavardę. Vėliau supratau, kad nuneigti nieko nepavyks. Galima net pasirinkti tokią pat specialybę, bet viską daryti kitaip. Tikiu, kad man pasiseks. Lyginimo neišvengsi, bet kuo daugiau dainuoju, tuo labiau matyti, kad esu kitokia – ne Milkevičiūtė, ne Grigorianas. Tai esu aš.

How lovely it is to be back. I had such a wonderful time at home (as always) but it is good to be back to my own little space, my bed and pc and clothes and people.

Like any other time I went home to see the people that make my existence worthwile this one was no exception...Spending time with old friends and new friends, talking to mom and dad and going to bed in silence tired after a day's discoveries. Share happiness.

It is never easy to go to a place you spent your first 21 years. Stepping into the past and in a way living in that warped reality for a few days. With a different set of values and beliefs perhaps, with new priorities and changed attitudes but same old heart. I've learned that early but I believe it is neccessary to leave. I cannot see myself living with my parents. In a strange way I think it's one of those things children should never do. I do not mean to say one way is right and the other one's wrong. But I suppose you know what I mean so no need to explain.

By the time I had to leave I wished I had two or three more days to stay at home...Sleep and do nothing and watch the most horrible tv ever (I think Lithuania has the shittiest most terrible television on planet earth. oh and advert slots that last for 15 mins when the law is 12 mins/hr...not bad, huh?) But even considering that, I wished I had time to relax and rest more...and watch another reality show (Vikute, omg, it's nothing like here! They have these horenduous talent/singing reality shows with people with NO talent and NO ability to sing and then when they do sing they sing so bad! and all in the same style..It was painful to watch but funny at the same time..Oh and they have Strictly Come Dancing in Lithuanian hahhaa...Nu its called something like neprisimenu. Anyhow, Paksiene is dancing there! :D And a number of other celebs you have never seen or heard off...like...Gandzumianas, kazkoks Mantas :/ and others...Paksiene was very funny :)

Oh, Rasa, an old old friend of mine for those who dont know her, said she's gonna audition for one of those reality shows (Dangus I think its called) - and it's tomorrow so fingers crossed.

All in all, a wonderful holiday. The most expensive one as well :(( Spend three times more than I could afford because of my stupid teeth ops but oh well.

Funny, the people who have not seen me in a long time asked about London and Uk and all assumed it's raining all the time here, etc..Well, it was raining almost every day I was in Klaipeda and it rains very seldom in London. So yes it IS nice to be back to sunny London with no rain, fogs, winds and other Klaipeda's nastiness (don't think this is correct Eng?)

Almost forgot, I took my camera with me but didn't take many pics (my family mostly) so here's a few...http://www.flickr.com/photos/40289160@N00/
Decided not to take any ugly photos of my home town (i.e. grey, grey, wet, grey, wet and grey)

Really not up for work tomorrow and a volunteer Christmas Dinner in the evening..oh and France on Saturday...bloody hell..too much travelling..:/