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Lazy days

Oh, how I missed these lazy days of July, thought they´d never come! I´m working a couple of hours every day, a little more in between, leaving me plenty of time to nap, read, walk my Sammy and make all those fresh summer dishes that´ll turn my body into a 20 year old´s all over again. 😉 Haha! Not to mention how nice it is to have my husband around, have a walk in the warm summer evening and rediscover the neighborhood we moved to almost 3 years ago.

I usually stay in Norway in July since I adore the summer pace, the possibility to go straight to the beach from work or whatever errands you need to run before Norway shuts down in the general staff holiday. There are sales everywhere and the city is warm with beer and joy, people strip down and wiggle their toes, oh it´s an entirely different town! The weather seems to be getting better and better, so tomorrow we´re going to watch the World Cup in the park, beer and burgers parked in front of us. Saturday we´re off to the beach, if the weather allows and the beach makes both me and Sam besides ourselves with joy.

Today we´re having shrimps mayo and later we´ll probably have a walk to Sørenga and sip some Prosecco on the new marina. Hope your July is just as awesome! xxx, Alina

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Busy summer days

Hi y’all! These days have gone too fast and I haven´t had time to catch my breath, let alone write anything on my blog. Summer has come to Norway and I´m enjoying every bit of it. And so is Sam. There are flowers to smell, rivers to dive into, fresh air to breathe in. If you haven´t been to Oslo yet, you should! It´s such a jolly town in summer! Take a look!

I hope you´re all well and promise to write you more when I feel more inspired. Hugs, Alina

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Easter 2014

Thursday was all about baking and hiding inside from the rain. I made all this food and we cuddled up with blankets and Netflix.  A lovely way to start a mini holiday, but would have proved boring in the long run. Yesterday however, the sun was shining and it was time for new adventures. I waited for my husband to finish a wallet he´s had an order on and when it seemed it was never going to happen, I took Sam for a walk to hip Grunnerløkka. We took some pictures on our way crossing Grønland and Tøyen, strolled through the lovely Botanical Garden and smelled the flowers. Luckily, my friend Elif agreed to meet us there, so we had coffee and pizza at Villa Paradiso. My man joined us in the end and we walked happily into the sunset the three of us. Haha!

Today we´re going to the Østensjø lake into the woods. Pictures soon! Enjoy the ride with us!

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Sunny day

What a lovely day! And what better to do with it than go for a stroll with Anette and our dogs? We´re lucky to have many cosy areas around and Kampen is one of them. A former working class neighborhood, its vivid colors are refreshing and its wooden houses- quaint.  Almost free for traffic and boasting with a couple of real time charm coffee shops, it´s the place to go if the sun is shining and you have a couple of hours on your hands. Just have a look for yourselves!

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Sunday walk

On a sunny day, Oslo is the best thing you could ever wish for! We have the forrest just a tube ride away, the marina downtown and lots of cafés around. Besides, going out to enjoy the sun and get some D-vitamin is mandatory. Everybody does it. You just can´t let the chance pass you by.

Yesterday was such a day and since Sammy is the real deal, we decided to go to Frogneseteren.  It´s a nice walk in the woods and on the top you get to eat some goodies, too! This is the Romanian way, nothing is too strenuous if you have the prospects of a good meal afterwards.

Afterwards we left Sam à la maison and  went to Sørenga to have a coffee in the sun. My friend Elif joined us and it was a really pleasant afternoon. Dim sum and a movie were in order, so we watched Non Stop with Liam Neeson, an exciting, though pretty straight forward type of movie. Now that´s what I call a Sunday well spent!

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Glorious spring

Yesterday was a marvelous day and the minute I woke up I decided to be happy. Actually, the whole city was set on enjoying the sun, I would later discover.  I started my day with a morning walk with Sam, picked some spring flowers on our way back and had a joyous egg and bacon breakfast with my man.

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I´m back!

In case you´ve missed me, I´ve been down with a terrible cold with fever and sneezing and the whole shabam. And since I had some work to do instead of  nurturing my cold it took me ages to recover. Now I´m back on track and ready to roll!;-)

Anyway. Let me tell you about the week that passed. It kind of started on Wednesday, before that I was too sick and too tired to care about anything else than work and sleep. To sum it up, it was all about eating and socializing, as I was lucky not to have too much work on my agenda.

Wednesday- lunch with my lovely friend Elif at The Nighthawk Diner, burgers and fries. Chit chatting and chilling, the perks of being a freelancer finally pay off.

Thursday- out with my friend Kristin, dinner and margaritas at Taco Republica. It´s a fairly new and trendy eatery in Oslo, where they only serve organic food in a cosmopolitan environment.

Friday I had lots of time for my beauty sleep, but also for a walk with Sammie, his girlfriend and a couple of friends. In the evening we attended a fare-well party for a Danish friend who´s both moving back to Copenhagen and getting married. Now that´s what I call a wonderful excuse for social get-together and some bubbles!

Saturday greeted us with sunshine, Vuong took Sammy to the woods while I saw The Forsyte Saga. We then met some friends for coffee, had Chinese dim-sum  at Taste of China and made some pizza for a couple of friends in the evening.

Today was for a good day for soup and reading The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak. It´s a compelling book, but not really my type of writing, so I can’t wait to start a new one.

Here are some pictures.  Hope you had a good week!

xx, Alina

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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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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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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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