Light and reflections. Before and after.
At 5:45 AM, and at 4:50 PM, on the same day.
The joy, adrenaline and - inevitably - the crash on the train back, after organising a major, *major* event at work.
Today was a success, it seems, and I feel quite a bit... lighter.
Just another day in the life of an event planner.
🔥 HOT content alert 🚨
When your bestie @inka_v_gradinka says "Hey, I've got a special package for you!", you say "Thank you, ma'am", you ask no questions and you eat it all up. Purely in the name of friendship, of course 😉
🌶️I was very privileged to get some brand new @chillihills products right as they launched... Even if the Moruga nearly killed me. It's my own fault for taking a second scoop before the first one had fully kicked in. Careful, it's a slow and very mean one!
🍺 The spicy beer was incredible! Cherries, sour, flavourful, the beer of the summer. I am seriously considering ordering a 6-pack delivered to Ireland.
🍫 The chocolate - oh, the chocolate! Smooth, velvety, delectable. It didn't feel like a 10/10 but that may be because my palate was already murdered by the Moruga. Even better than their previous one.
♥️🥜 The chilli crunch sauce was to die for, in all the best ways. I've been looking for something like this here for a while, as Ireland is scared of spices.
🥵 The two sauces were only for the brave, and you better believe I will be coming for seconds.... Next week, maybe.... I'm out of practice, it seems.
P.S. @niya.is.here , enjoy the footage of me suffering, karma got me. 4 years after our competition, you've been avenged. 🔥
#spicy #hotsauce #chillipepper #madeinbulgaria #chillihills
🥐 It's Friday afternoon, you've had one of those weeks. If you don't treat yourself with pastry from a nearby bakery, what are we even talking about?
#tgif #weekendvibes #workingwoman #bougie #pistachio
😈 Hehehe.
For those not familiar, "martenitsa" (in Bulgarian) or "martisor" (Romanian) is a tradition involving red and white thread/strings, that are given away to friends and close ones on March 1st (and usually for a week after), with the recipient wearing theirs until they see a stork or a blossomed tree. It marks the anticipation of Spring and it comes in many shapes - tassels hung with a safety pin, bracelets, or just about any other jewellery style. It's worn by all genders, all ages.
And this year, for the first time, my American fella wore martenitsi, caringly sent to him by my friends and family.
#balkanmemes #martenitsa #multicultural #expatlife
A month into my new job in Dublin it's time for my first business trip: an out-of-town site visit for a major event for a major client. Dress up, smile, pick up a laptop and choose a cleaner mode of transportation. 😎
P.S. A little bit of a sprained ankle isn't going to stop me.
#travel #careeer #ireland #sustainability #workingwoman
"Service is black and white, hospitality is colour."
I first heard this line from @wguidara and "Unreasonable Hospitality". And a night at the @stellacinemas - deemed to be the second most beautiful cinema in the world - captured it well.
We were immersed in a curated, cohesive experience. The welcome, the staff, the atmosphere, the short menu. Nothing less and nothing more than what you need. Hospitality, well executed.
Movie theatres, much like print or opera (wtf, Chalamet?!), aren't dead. They are simply not a mass product anymore.
#cinema #hospitality #peakyblinders #movies #movietheatre
Thirty seven.
I kicked off my birthday surrounded by great people, lots of laughter, kind words, delectable homemade food and champagne. Thank you all.
#birthday #party #30s
Working girl. Snippets of my first official job in Ireland.
I started three days before my birthday, so I take the job as an early gift. The office is gorgeous, it's dog-friendly, it has specialty coffee and there's even a massive poster with cognitive biases to be aware of... And the actual job? We do sustainable events and consulting.
It seems like I've found my tribe. Here's hoping.
Big shout-out to my man for welcoming me back with the most supportive note on our apartment door. It's all making it very hard for me to keep up that signature cynicism...
Let the birthday weekend begin.
#dublin #officelife
The little wiggle and crazy eyes at the end 😆
🍞 That moment when your #sourdough bread finally starts looking like one. 5th time's the charm!
@cookingthebooks27 - thanks for the guidance 🙏
#baking #sourdoughbread #bread #homemade
Top left, second circle - that’s me. My name is up on the wall of my home bar, alongside great names in the drinks and hospitality world: connoisseurs, friends, and, arguably, legends in the community. We are the 5L Ambassadors. 🐓🍸
There’s six years between these photos, but the feeling hasn’t changed. Back in 2020, the owners of 5L Speakeasy Bar surprised a handful of us with plaques on the actual bar but over time they were damaged and had to come down.
5L celebrated its 9th birthday yesterday and I couldn't be there in person because I now live in Ireland, so they sent me this photo: to mark the occasion, they put us up again. There are a few new names... and we’re up on the wall this time.
We’re always behind the bar now, right at the core of the beating heart of 5L, where hundreds of drinks are made every day.
As someone who finds solace, community, and endless joy in bar culture, having my name there - essentially part of the furniture in my favourite cocktail bar - feels like the mark of a life well lived.
To my fellow ambassadors: may we keep seeing and saluting each other, may we only bring the worthiest of guests with us, and may we always safeguard what makes 5L Speakeasy Bar so unique.
#bar #ambassador #speakeasy #cocktails #prohibition
