The lessons of a 29 year old

   Happy birthday to meeee!:D Another year has passed and I want to continue the habit I've developed 2 years ago on my birthday: writing new lessons that I learned during the last year or old ones that I have to keep working on :) So here it goes:

1. Being married is so awesome! Actually it's just as awesome as before but "forever" sounds amazing! :)

2. You don't feel old when you're 29. Not at all. When I was a teen I used to think a 29 year old is... well... kind of midlife old. Naaah, we're just getting started! So many plans and awesome stuff to happen from now on! 

3. Not even 5 years of experience of work in the same place won't make you an expert. You have something new to learn every day and you realize you're still at the beginning. A teacher once told us in university that only after 10 years of work in the field you can be considered an expert. And not even then I'd say. 

4. Not everybody will like you no matter how much you try to make them like you. Just accept it and move on. I'm still struggling with accepting it.

5. Life is so much better now than... hmm... 5 years ago, for example. You're married, you have the money to travel and no kid obligations yet. Peak of the existence right there. 

6. Even though you want to be wiser every day, your personality and your reactions might be in the way of that. So you have to try to actively control your emotions and your reactions.

7. Have kids when you are ready not when society tells you to. I'm seriously starting to think about children and I'm preparing for them (bought awesome books, a photo album and some decorations) and it's awesome that i can prepare at my own pace without taking in the pressure of society. And that I have a husband who fully supports me.

8. You find a new hobby every year. It's never too late to start something new. I started gardening after coming home from the honeymoon. Never in a million years did I think that I will ever garden. So you can still surprise yourself even when you think you know yourself well.

9. You can still be a unicorn if you want to! No age is too old for being who you want to be and beaming with happiness :)

2016: a year to remember

   Ever since 2016 started I said it was going to be my year. And it definitely was! I got to do things I ALWAYS wanted to do, go places I always dreamed of and get married to the love of my life! What could be better?

1. The biggest event of the year was the day I dressed in white and I married the love of my life, Oliver, on the 14th of May:) I wasn't nervous or stressed at all. I was exactly like I always wanted: super relaxed, enjoying every moment of that magical, fairy tale day. To this I have to say a HUGE thank you to my maid of honour and to my bridesmaids! They really helped a lot! 

2. Masterchef inspired me to cook a lot of new dishes and I even started my own cooking blog. It just came naturally after posting tons of dish photos on instagram and realizing I should separate my cooking passion from my everyday life. Now "Once apron a kitchen" brings me great joy! :)

3. Talking about cooking, in 2016 I personally met Adrian Hadean and I cooked one of my favorite desserts for him! :) I went to his book release in Cluj and I talked to him. I was so nervous! It was a huge moment for me since I really admire him as a chef and as a person! I'm so happy I could meet him!

4. I travelled to places I always dreamed of seeing: Venice for my bachelorette getaway, Tuscany and Cinque Terre. And the honeymoon continued around Bella Italia and beautiful Switzerland.

5. We took my family to Switzerland for the first time ever. This was their first time abroad as well. We had perfect weather and all around a perfect week in the little, gorgeous village of Kandersteg:)

6. We found the perfect getaway place in Romania as well: hotel Roman in Maramures! Heaven on Earth! 

7. I started paintiiiiiiiiiiing! I never ever thought I would paint. Like ever. During the Art classes in school I always thought I'm not cut for this but I guess deep down I might have had the bug in me. A book I read (Paris is always a good idea by Nicolas Barreau) gave me the feeling that I HAVE to paint! So I tried it out and I LOVED it! :D I also went to a painting workshop and I made my first professional painting that ended up looking very good even though I was quite stressed not to make mistakes :D

8. Art related, I also had my first henna tattoo in 2016. I really liked the whole experience, choosing my own design and wearing it. 

9. I also started gardening, another activity I never thought I would do. That's because all my previous plants had a rather short life. But travelling during honeymoon I saw so many beautiful pots and gardens (including a gardens of the world museum exhibition) that I really wanted to try it at home, on my own balcony. This time I was more careful and I enjoyed my very own beautiful garden till winter came around :)

10. Not only that Oliver and I got married in 2016, but we also got to be wedding godparents for the first time for our dear Brian and Iuliana :) 

11. And guess what? I also got the chance to organize that wedding as a wedding planner (another first in my life).A lot of firsts, huh? It was exciting, challenging but also very rewarding. Now I'm really considering this as an alternative future job :) 

12. I kept the tradition of making Advent calendars alive this past year and I even made a Cheese one for Oliver :) He really enjoyed it!

13. I started another 365 photographic project but I stopped writing because of the busy schedule and no time left for it. I realized that there's a right time for everything and this project was great when I had more time but now I couldn't keep doing it at the level I would want to. I kept writing my thoughts and ideas but didn't end up putting them online because of lack of time. That doesn't mean I'll stop writing and leaving "footprints" behind me. I'll just do it in a different way I guess :) 

14. Another first: I spent my first Christmas abroad in Canada and I got the chance to decorate it completely. And we had a white Christmas!!! Finally, after so many years!

15. While in Canada I also tried Cross country skiing (another first!:D) I LOOOOOOVED IT! I don't like regular skiing, but this was awesoooome! 

16. And last, but not least: This year I learned that I have to listen more and talk less, that I have to heal myself first before being able to heal the others. I really wanted to get at peace with myself and I had that chance by meeting amazing people! I'm so thankful!

   Therefore, 16 reasons that made 2016 MY year, the year I reached absolute love, happiness and peace, the year I travelled and tried so many new things! :) I definitely fell in love with this year! 

Next year's desire: Carpe diem! Life's short, so enjoy it to the fullest!

Our honeymoon in a (big, fat) nutshell: LUGANO

   After 9 days spent in Italy, Switzerland was the the second part of our honeymoon that gave me the exact same feelings I had in Italy and even more! 

   On the way to Zurich we decided to stop in Lugano. It was a must see because it's a sort of prolonging of Italy, being located in the Italian part of Switzerland, but in the same time it's still something else entirely. Lugano is a dream: mountains bordering beautiful lake Lugano that could easily be mistaken by a sea, georgeous old cityscapes and such a laid back atmosphere! It's Italy with a flair of Switzerland pride. I felt right at home ever since I got off the train! 

   Since we arrived a day before the national day of Switzerland, the famous white cross could be spotted everywhere. 

   People were wandering on the streets but they weren't rushing anywhere, the terraces were full but the city still didn't feel crowded at all. That's what I loved the most! Lugano was tremendously beautiful and still perfect for taking a walk without feeling like in New York!

   I LOVED our boat trip towards Gandria and our lunch there in a tiny balcony by lake Lugano (I liked it even more than the dinner by the sea in Genoa) and the feeling of accomplishment and peace I had there followed me in every corner of Lugano. 

   Hmmm... Lugano has its magic charm for sure! So green and lush and gorgeous! Definitely a Must See!

   Lugano will always stay in my memory as the city I MUST go back to. I fell utterly in love with it!

Our honeymoon in a (big, fat) nutshell: MILANO

   Our trip to Italy came to an end with Milano. I have to admit I wasn't in the right psychological state to visit it at that point and even though I saw some amazing places there and I had one of the best restaurant experiences in the whole country, the first time when I say 'Milano' I have a bittersweet feeling, more bitter than sweet. All this because by the time we got there I was already very tired of switching cities so fast and carying my luggage with me every other 2 days. So after so much travelling I just wanted to stay in one place and relax. It was fun exploring so many new cities but by the time we got to Milano the exhaustion of always being on the road got to me. I therefore didn't have the energy to look for beautiful things in the city but luckily the beautiful things came to me. 

   We had dinner at the most impressive restaurant in Milano: L'immagine. Why impressive? Because they gave away so many free stuff it felt almost impossible to make money out of the whole experience. We felt like royalty! And the food was exceptional! And guess what? It was 5 minutes away from our accomodation :) Win-win-win!

   ... And then, I discovered a Lidl. Oh yeah, the Lidl love was hidden away all the trip before that but when I saw a Lidl sign I felt I really needed to go pay a visit 😀 So we went to search for it and find it we did and I felt more at home. 

   The funny thing is that the more I think about Milano I realize we actually had many good memories in it but the general feeling I have of it is the preconception I left home with: that it's big and fashiony and not my type. Hmmm... the Sforza Museum was DEFINITELY my type. So much history and beauty in one place! I wanted to move in there! 

   I also liked the English bookshop and the streets surrounded by old buildings, but it's true that I wasn't patient enough to discover Milano's other beauties which I think might have been different had I seen Milano at the beginning of our trip.

   I found the dome of Milano beautiful but somehow not as interesting as the Florence one (maybe I like baroque architecture more? Or maybe cos it was placed next to the fashion gallery?) so I didn't spent too much time in front of it... probably because the square was filled with people and by then I was already tired of seeing tourists. I remember really loving two performers in the square singing famous songs like angels. 

   Galeria Vittorio Emanuele was filled with BIG clothes brands that attracted the tourists but not me. I got that fashiony feeling I had when I left home, the Milano I expected to see, the fake life you gotta have to be appreciated by others. Even though, I loved the gallery architecture and the details around it so I focused on that more than the big brands :)

   The last dinner we had in Italy was also very pleasant so all in all Milano wasn't that bad, but being tired of travelling didn't help. So maybe it needs a second chance :)

   And this was Italy. A sea of colour and pasta and utter happiness and feeling at peace, sprinkled with tears of joy and dreams being accomplished, definitely an unforgettable experience that I want to repeat! More Venice and south of Italy next time! :)