♀️ International Women’s Day 2021

Can you believe today marks my 200th blog post? This little corner of the internet has been such a fun place for me to express myself and share my "joie de vivre" with you! If this is the first time you're reading here, or you've been following along since 2018, thank you! Your support means so much and I'm so grateful for this fun hobby of mine.

And now on to today's scheduled post...

Today is a special day, dedicated to celebrating the achievements of women. It’s also a day to bring focus to women’s rights and equality.

Although the month of March in the US is Women’s History Month, I thought I’d share the ways some other counties celebrate IWD:

Brazil~

Political demonstrations aren’t uncommon in the bigger cities on this day, but children get involved in the holiday as well! Making arts and crafts for their sisters and moms is a great way to show them they’re special.

China~

In China women only have to work a half day on IWD, and in recent years it’s become more of a commercial holiday, with small gifts being customary.

Italy~

For “la Festa della Donna” it’s traditional for men to gift the important women in their life mimosa flowers. It’s also common to make or buy La Torta Mimosa, a sponge cake filled with a citrus liquor, and decorated to look like mimosa flowers.

Poland~

Poland focuses on promoting a greater respect towards women on IWD, and similarly to other countries, it’s a day of gift giving as well. Tulips have become the flower of choice, with men handing them out to their coworkers, friends, and family.

Russia~

Russia has celebrated IWD since 1918! Similarly to Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day, small gifts or tokens are given to the women in your life. Candy, chocolate, perfume, and cosmetics are the popular gifts.

The theme for 2021 is “Choose To Challenge”, and I think it’s so fitting for the times we’re in. From the IWD website, “A challenged world is an alert world. And from challenge comes change. So let's all #ChooseToChallenge.”

This day reminds me how proud I am to be a woman and makes me so thankful for the strong women in my life. It also makes me appreciate the hard and tireless work of women before me, who paved the path for us all to have the equality and freedom we have today.

Do you have a strong woman in your life you’d like to honor or thank today? Let me know down below, I love hearing from you!

Thanks for reading, have a fabulous day. :)