The Child´s Pose

Finally I got around to see the Romanian movie everyone is talking about, the one that won the Golden Bear award at the Berlin film festival. I´m not exactly a patron of the arts, but I love a good movie and I´m quite patriotic, too. 😉 Besides, I really feel that Romanian cinematography has reached new heights, I for one liked each and every one of the movies that won prizes lately.;-)

The Child´s Pose directed by Calin Peter Netzer depicts the Romanian society in such vivid colors of tragic and comic that one can´t help but be sucked into the situation. An affluent family tries to save their only son from the prospects of jail after having killed a child when speeding to overtake another car. The scene is very authentic, you get to see fragments of daily life, interpersonal relationships, the importance of social status, of being well-connected, of keeping up appearances. A bitter mother trying to control her son´s life, including his choice of partner, is struggling to get him to acknowledge her efforts. The son, exhausted by his mother´s interference, is trying to find a path of his own to reach maturity, by accepting responsibility. An honest portrait of Romania with all its levels of corruption, glam and glitz, morality and amorality. Highly recommended!

Source: http://www.cinemarx.ro

Snowy days

It´s been snowing for days and it´s so very pretty outside! Snowflakes big like butterflies, they keep on falling down hurriedly, with vigor, as though they had only one purpose in life. It´s windy and it´s ruthless outside and I feel like a polar explorer when I dare leave the house. I hadn´t realized how much I´d missed it, it reminds me of my mother country, the panic on the news and the closed schools. Yet I´m not a winter´s child, I prefer admiring it from under the blanket, with a cup of tea in my hand.  Staring at the snow safe and sound with the cat besides me, I can feel nostalgia slipping into my thoughts.

I´m going home in February and I´m as excited as ever. Every time I go back home it´s like taking a trip back in time. I don´t just go on a holiday, I go back to being 19. And it´s soaring. It´s not about age or accomplishments, it´s just that beginning, the promise of something bigger, I always wonder when I decided I got there. Don´t get me wrong, I´m pretty happy. The only thing I want is a baby and a picket fence, otherwise I´m good. I have it all. Just not the promise. I´m not 19 any more and the promise is gone. And I don´t know how to go home and not look for the time that passed…

Nordic Jewelry

I just had to share my favorite jewelry with you! I prefer simple jewels, so the Scandinavian lines appeal to me. I dream of a Ole Lynggaard ring and a matching bracelet, but until that day, these are my most worn pieces. These days I never part with the big ring, I bought it from the very artsy A-gallery in Tallinn and I simply adore it! The green bracelet is from Swedish Sophie by Sophie and it´s so stylish. Besides, I love enamel! The other ring with a purple stone is from Danish Susanne Friis Bjørner and the rough necklace is from Høyer. See anything you like?;-)

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Apple muffins

One of my New Year´s resolutions was to eat healthier. More fresh fruit and vegetables, more organic products, what better way to do it than order them right to your door through Kolonihagen? Last week was their first delivery and we got lots of goodies, including 7 yellow apples. Since neither of us is so fond of apples, let alone yellow, I had to find a way to use them. And voilà, apple muffins it is!

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Grunnerløkka, Oslo

If you haven´t been to Oslo yet, Grunnerløkka is the hipsters´arena. It´s a former working class area where most of the old buildings have survived and make for a pretty quaint atmosphere.The constant flux of young people, Sunday open shops and the Sunday market in Birkelunden keep the area bustling even when the rest of the town is dormant. The borough has lots of nice eateries, coffee shops and shops and it´s always ready for a new wave of people. Long way to go to achieve any Berlin status, but cool is in order. Although a bit too fussy for me to live in, I enjoy taking a day trip to its stores and have lunch nearby.

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Perfect Saturday

How are you doing? I´ve had perfect Saturday doing only things I enjoy! I went to town hand in hand with my husband, found a gift from Piet Hein for my friend Cristina, had lunch and got in touch with a guy doing research about Roma people from Romania (fate wanted that to happen since I´m a Romanian interpreter and they need one to accompany them for field trips to Stockholm and Copenhagen!), ate Mexican tapas with close friends to celebrate Cristina´s birthday and stayed up late chit chatting in bed with the birthday girl like teen agers on high school trips.

We also got around to order a new bedroom lamp from George Nelson since I decided that 2014 is the year we get our apartment in order. I already arranged a meeting with a professional to design a new wardrobe and we´re also looking for somebody to paint our walls and dig for the original floors. 😉 A few more baskets for the shoes and Sam and his crate out of the bedroom and it´ll finally turn into a romantic place you actually want to go to sleep in! Do you have that problem,too? That your bedroom is just one big mess of unfolded bedding and socks and orchids that stopped blooming ten years ago? Any advice is much appreciated! Have a lovely Sunday!

http://www.flick.com

Holiday plans

My friend is getting married in Belgrade in June and I´m so looking forward to it I already bought the tickets and the dress! Last night I barely fell asleep because I was trying to figure out whether I should wear black peep toes or sandals! Haha! Call me crazy, I won’t even argue with you! This is my gorgeous dress, just bought it from theoutnet.com, on sale, it´s an alice+olivia. I haven´t found the right shoes yet and a quick search on mytheresa.com and netaporter.co.uk came with few alternatives. What do you think about those Jimmy Choo´s, too glitzy? Feedback needed!

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2013 in pictures

2013 was a good year in many ways. I established myself as an interpreter and worked hard, so hard that I needed almost a month´s break to realize how burnt out I was. I won´t repeat that mistake in 2014. Besides, I alienated many of my friends because I didn´t even have time for myself, let alone for others.

On a personal level, we´re still going strong, trying to have a baby one way or the other.  Meanwhile, we decided to get a dog and that´s how Sam the samoyed entered our lives. We got him in February and he´s been filling every day with pure bliss ever since. He´s such a good natured pup and so affectionate, I never thought you could love anybody as much as we love him! He even befriended our 9 years old cat, at least at a frenemy-level.

Family-wise,  I rejoiced in my niece´s presence when I visited my family in Romania for Easter, as well as in everybody else´s. My parents visited us in July, when Norway showed itself from its best side, it was hot and not a cloud in the sky. Christmas was spent with friends and my husband´s family.

Travel-wise, I savored Palma de Mallorca during our summer holidays, unfortunately we didn´t think of bringing the camera with us, so only Instagram can tell the tale. The fall was busy and stressful, but a short break to Berlin for a conference made it bearable. To get into Christmas mood we went to Tallinn for 3 days and it proved to be a terrific idea. Christmas break was long and lazy, I indulged myself in doing as little as possible.

2014 is the year! I´ll get my driving license, travel outside Europe and work my body in good shape again. And be kind. I´ll start with myself. Have a good one!

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New Year´s Eve

I´m a sucker for a nice dress and high heels! Any excuse for that! And I love a good dinner party. This year it was our turn to be hosting the New Year´s Eve party and it was lots of fun. Everybody had a good time, or so I like to think, including Sam, our fearless samoyed who lay down to sleep on the ´dance floor´ while one could still hear the fireworks. We had three courses- cheese platter with lemon curd and chutney, tomato bruschetta and Romanian ´salade de boeuf´, turkey and rosemary potatoes with carrot salad for mains and Swiss cake and truffles for dessert. Everybody contributed with a dish since I was a bit fed up with cooking after Christmas. A bit too much to drink, laughs and dancing, in the end we were three girls left gossiping until 4 am. In between all this fun, we sat down and summed up 2013, as well as disclosed our New Year´s resolutions. For my part, I want to give myself some love. I´ll start swimming and doing yoga, since that´s the only work-out I remotely like. We´re planning a trip to Vietnam and New York, so I need to spend less money on clothes and shoes. 2014 won´t only be about career and nothing else like 2013 was, I´ll make sure to be more approachable for my friends and a better wife, sister and daughter. What about you? What are your resolutions? Let 2014 be awesome!
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Mad Men Apartment

Now, I´m more of a bourgeois person, but I love Mad Men and the 60s! And this apartment could be Don Draper´s bachelor pad for all I know, it´s just too cool to be true! The 60s down to every single detail. The George Nelson lamp (we have it, too!), the oak kitchen, Ilmari Tapiovara´s Mademoiselle chair (we have that, too), the String shelves (oh, yeah!), the Eames rocking chairs, and so on. Nice touch on the bathroom, nothing to say against up-to-date facilities in an otherwise so great replica of another era. What´s your opinion?

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