cateva lectii de viata

"Avem timp. Avem timp pentru toate. Sa dormim, sa alergam in dreapta si-n stanga, sa regretam c-am gresit si sa gresim din nou,
sa-i judecam pe altii si sa ne absolvim pe noi insine,
avem timp sa citim si sa scriem, sa corectam ce-am scris, sa regretam ce-am scris, avem timp sa facem proiecte si sa nu le respectam,
avem timp sa ne facem iluzii si sa rascolim prin cenusa lor mai tarziu.

Avem timp pentru ambitii si boli, sa invinovatim destinul si amanuntele,
avem timp sa privim norii, reclamele sau un accident oarecare,
avem timp sa ne-alungam intrebarile, sa amanam raspunsurile,
avem timp sa sfaramam un vis si sa-l reinventam
Avem timp pentru toate.

Nu e timp doar pentru putina tandrete. Cand sa facem si asta, murim. Am invatat unele lucruri in viata pe care vi le impartasesc si voua

Am invatat ca nu poti face pe cineva sa te iubeasca.
Tot ce poti face este sa fii o persoana iubita. Restul … depinde de ceilalti.
Am invatat ca, oricat mi-ar pasa mie, altora s-ar putea sa nu le pese.
Am invatat ca dureaza ani sa castigi incredere
si ca doar in cateva secunde poti sa o pierzi.
Am invatat ca nu conteaza CE ai in viata, ci PE CINE ai.
Am invatat ca, oricum ai taia, orice lucru are doua fete.
Am invatat ca trebuie sa te desparti de cei dragi cu cuvinte calde: s-ar putea sa fie ultima oara cand ii vezi.
Am invatat ca poti continua inca mult timp dupa ce ai spus ca nu mai poti.
Am invatat ca eroi sunt cei care fac ce trebuie, cand trebuie, indiferent de consecinte.
Am invatat ca sunt oameni care te iubesc dar nu stiu s-o arate.
Am invatat ca prietenia adevarata continua sa existe chiar si la distanta.
Iar asta este valabil si pentru iubirea adevarata.
Am invatat ca, daca cineva nu te iubeste cum ai vrea tu, nu inseamna ca nu te iubeste din tot sufletul.
Am invatat ca, indiferent cat de bun iti este un prieten, oricum te va rani din cand in cand, iar tu trebuie sa-l ierti pentru asta.
Am invatat ca nu este intotdeauna de ajuns sa fii iertat de altii.
Cateodata trebuie sa inveti sa te ierti pe tine insuti.
Am invatat ca, daca doi oameni se cearta, nu inseamna ca nu se iubesc si nici faptul ca nu se cearta nu dovedeste ca se iubesc.
Am invatat ca uneori trebuie sa pui persoana pe primul loc si nu faptele sale.
Am invatat ca viata iti poate fi schimbata in cateva ore, de catre oameni care nici nu te cunosc.
Am invatat ca, si atunci cand crezi ca nu mai ai nimic de dat, cand te striga un prieten vei gasi puterea de a-l ajuta.
Am invatat sa iubesc ca sa pot sa fiu iubit."

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
Time flies, and hours become days, and days become months. Time flies and the hours are filled with stress and the days are filled with worry. It's time to take the fighting gloves off, because time flies.

three tomatoes are walking down the street. mom tomato, dad tomato, and kid tomato. as they're walking the little tomato starts to lag behind. dad tomato gets pissed off and goes to the kid tomato and squishes the little tomato flat. ketchup. ketchup.


bummer

where I wanna be

The 3 most common uses for irony

It is day 8 of my trip to CO. Will be heading back to NY in just two days and I am a little reluctant to leave Denver. It's an unusual place, with its extremely normal people and neighborhoods, where everyone smiles and Starbucks is still on every corner.

I logged over 1000 miles in less than 7 days. woooooo! a small stepping stone warmup to the beginning of my cross country road trip plans

Pikes Peak, CO

"without you today's emotions would be the scurf of yesterday's"

"Everything worth knowing leaves bruises."

I never thought I'd see this but it seems that optometry is in vogue this season:)
such style!

Come away with me...

happy mom's day!

letter to me

dear self,

...in a few years, you won't recognize me. i'm growing and shaping into the woman you want me to become.

...but i'm here now. while you're looking forward to the future, don't neglect me, the part of your dream you are trying to change. because the thing is, without me you won't become your dream. 

...practice more kindness and do good. feed me laughter and let me smell the cherry blossoms.

...your future will always be there, but all you really have is here and now.

love you. love me too.
~me

3 wishes
...summer
...sunshine
...happinesss

Quiero ser, una palabra serena y clara
Quiero ser, un alma libre, de madrugada
Quiero ser un emigrante, de tu boca delirante,
De deseos que una noche convertiste en mi dolor.

Quiero creer, quiero saber, que dormiré a la deriva tuya
Quiero esconderme de miedo y mirar de una vez
Los ojos que tiene la luna

Quiero cantar a la libertad,
y caminar cerca del mar, amarradita siempre a tu cintura,
que esta locura de amarte no puede acabar
por mucho que te entren las dudas
de si eres tú el que me hace tan feliz.

Quiero ser, la que te jure amor eterno.
Quiero ser, una parada en la estación que lleva tu nombre.

Quiero ser el verbo fuego,
quiero andarme sin rodeos, confesarte que una tarde empecé a morir por ti

Quiero creer, quiero saber, que dormiré a la deriva tuya
Quiero esconderme de miedo y mirar de una vez
Los ojos que tiene la luna

Quiero cantar a la libertad,
y caminar cerca del mar, amarradita siempre a tu cintura,
que esta locura de amarte no puede acabar
por mucho que te entren las dudas
de si eres tú el que me hace tan feliz

Facebook is the new MySpace

Why is Ashleigh Hall's story being reported only by British newspapers??
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7398085/Ashleigh-Hall-one-mistake-cost-teenager-her-life.html

...this is why Facebook should've remained for college students only. The world wide web doesn't need another creep-invaded website

How I got over my fear of not really following the recipe

I've been thinking about making this all day long. It's been a long rainy and windy Saturday, reminiscent of October weather much more than March. Intrigued by a nostalgic mood I gathered enough motivation to make one of my favorite deserts from childhood, mom's rice pudding. It is a simple thing to make, but just for the joy of it I dusted off my older-than-I-am Romanian cookbook, opened its cracking and about-to-fall-apart crinkled covers and hoped to find the recipe I was anticipating inside.

There it was, recipe #1442, "orez cu lapte," in clear dark type on crisp beige paper and very easy to follow, with only one problem. Without a scale in my kitchen, how was I to measure 250g of rice? Or 200g of sugar? And so I went on to boil an unknown quantity of water and an unknown quantity of white rice and then later, despite whatever quantity the directions asked for, added X (who knows?) ml of milk. Sugar and butter came next, then vanilla essence, and then I stirred anxiously from time to time, waiting.

After 30 minutes or so the pudding was done and came out pretty delicious if I may say so myself! Well at least Chris though so, but of course only after teasing me for having to use a recipe book to make "such simple rice pudding" in the first place. hah! wiseguy.

mission: road trip

rent a little red convertible, put a flower in my hair and hit the road. the hum and buzz of 2,928 miles of winding open road await........ ahhhhh, one day soon

 I have just finished watching Julie & Julia, and it is brilliant, absolutely amazing!

"I don't know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I'd have to say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you're wrong? What if you're making a mistake you can't undo? The early bird catches the worm. A stitch in time saves nine. He who hesitates is lost. We can't pretend we hadn't been told. We've all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day. Still sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today's possibility under tomorrow's rug until we can't anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin really meant. That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying."

my day in photographs - waiting for spring in CP

   

if life could be paused, i would hold on to its moments forever

soon

Mucenici!

On the day of March 9th Romanians all over the country and world celebrate the Saints Mucenici, 40 martyr soldiers who died for their faiths many moons ago. It amazes me how some traditions are passed on from generation to generation and last hundreds of years. The tradition is to greet the day of March 9th with something sweet and delicious, called mucenici. In the part of the country I grew up mucenici are flour based and made by hand in the shape of the number 8. After the mucenici are cooked, sugar, crushed walnuts, ground cinnamon and orange or lemon grinds are added. The sweet mixture is then spiced with rum extract and becomes a deliciously scented syrup which the mucenici soak up. Yum!

And because march 9th is also the vernal equinox after the Julian calendar, this day marks the start of spring, life, new hopes and new beginnings.

mucenici are supposed to look like the ones in the picture above, but these bowties are my own version!

No wind, and not a cloud in the sky. I have a pair of running shoes which need jogging and a heart which needs mending, nowhere else i'd rather be but in CP to clear my mind

oh what a day

snow! and lots of it!! how to celebrate??

waiting for spring, but these snowy days are the best winter days yet!

 

“Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter. Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it.“

some shovel and others take pictures (and record history)

this cute couple with the pink umbrella caught my eye

“Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart“

Victor Hugo

my flickr addiction

never fails to brighten my mornings

sunday morning thought

"Education is a wonderful thing, provided you always remember that nothing worth knowing can ever be taught."

oh oscar wilde, you were a genius

 If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late

 Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
 Would you live each moment like your last?
 Leave old pictures in the past?

 Donate every dime you had?

And would you call those friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
And would you find that one you're dreaming of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you'd finally fall in love if today was your last day?
If today was your last day...
could you say goodbye to yesterday?

 _________

I can't help but think that i've changed over the past few years.. i've put up too many walls around me, because every time i let someone in, my own vulnerability consumes me. i wish other people's opinions and actions didn't affect me so much. i remember people who have come and gone, and i wonder what has become of them... i want to be friends with those whom i've lost contact with, some have shown me how to love and to live and to be carefree. maybe if i had the chance to go back in time i would do things differently. what would've happened if i had made different choices? what if? what if i hadn't broken up with an ex boyfriend, what if i tried harder to keep that childhood best friend, what if i knew back then what i found out too late?

scenes from my city

this has been pretty much the story of my life

Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway
Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I'd just stare out my window
Dreaming of what could be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray


Trying hard to reach out
But when I tried to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I'd pray
I could break away


I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky
Make a wish, take a chance,
Make a change, and break away
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I loved
I'll take a risk, take a chance,
Make a change, and break away


Wanna feel the warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get onboard a fast train
Travel on a jetplane
Far away
And break away


Buildings with a hundred floors
Swinging with revolving doors
Maybe I don’t know where they’ll take me
Gotta keep movin on movin on
Fly away
Break away


Break away
Break away

Humans, not so humane

http://abcnews.go.com/video/video?id=9671990

it's amazing that this stuff goes down on a regular basis, even at some of the most reputable farms. disturbing and extremely cruel

i think that sometimes, no matter how rational our thoughts are, we need to be reminded that we're fine just the way we are. on those days when we make all the wrong decisions and say all the wrong things, on bad hair/skin/outfit/weather/whatever days, and just plain bad days, it's easy to lose sight of ourselves and of what actually matters. so be glad for the good times and laugh off the bad times because life's sweet and the best is still yet to come

city in motion

will it ever cease to amaze? I don't think that's possible. last night I was taken aback by a bright and clear view of the Manhattan skyline from the BQE, so I just had to take a picture.. but with the car in motion and a far from perfect camera on hand, this picture is simply just a symbol

people are transient, art is timeless

...what do you want to do ?

Before I die I would like to...
see the Aurora Borealis
learn the secret to making delicious crepes
be someone's hero
run the NYC marathon!
find true love
see peace in the world
take a road trip across the USA
take really great
photographs, like these
ride a horse
have more time!!

Looking back at NYC Ballet's Sleeping Beauty

 

On Wednesday night I had the pleasure of zipping to Lincoln Center after classes with my friend and classmate to see the evening showing of Sleeping Beauty. It was the first ballet I had been to, and it was spectacular! The costumes were really imaginative and dazzled with color and sparkles, and the dancing was so captivating it kept my attention for its entire three hours duration. The music, composed by Tchaikovsky, was lighthearted and beautiful. The performance included an array of talented dancers who illuminated the stage and gave life to the well known love story of princess Aurora and prince DÈsirÈ. I'm pretty sure that sometime during the show, the little dancing girl inside of me pirouetted back to life, just like the sleeping beauty awakened in this fairytale story.

It was a successful night, and of course no outing is complete without stopping for dinner (which is nicely pictured here :). Yum!

City in hibernation

NYC is cold today. So cold that Herald Square was absolutely desolate compared to the normal Saturday. I stepped out of the 34th Street subway station this morning expecting to be surrounded by the mobs of people (tourist crowds, that is) who usually venture to this spot, but instead there was hardly anyone in sight. And the same is true for Bryant Park - in all its glory, today it is frozen and still, reduced to lonesome stone benches and ironclad seats.

do you want to travel the world

with me?

dream big...

...and no matter how old you get and where life leads, create your fairytale

premonition...?

Three nights ago right before waking up I had an odd, amusing, and incredibly vivid dream, but now I can only remember the very last part of it. I am sitting on the train going to a far away place, and while talking to the woman sitting next to me, a stranger, she casually mentions that the train will be taking a sharp turn.. a turn downward, but not to worry, she says. The next thing I know, the train is running off the cliff into a humongous hole. Right before it falls off the edge, I'm thrown up into the air (I guess this train didn't have a top to it) and as I'm in the air an intense free-falling sensation comes over me. I feel myself take a sharp breath while still asleep in my bed. In the dream, I start free falling into a huge hole which looks very much like the Grand Canyon. The train is gone, making its way down to the bottom, and I'm right behind, following it, falling. At this time I hear the woman's voice saying,

"Don't worry, it's going to be okay, it will come back around to catch you, don't worry."

Ha ha. Really! Although I realize that that can't possibly be true, I still try to balance myself to fall straight and not tumble in air. The ground's getting closer by the millisecond, and the last thing I remember is looking down where the ground is supposed to be, but there is only a great gray space.

And then I woke up.

...

Strangely enough, my real-life experiences later that day mimicked the blueprint of my dream... so will the woman in my dream be right? I think and I hope so, but only time will tell.

sometimes i feel like the life i'm living is not my own. how did i get so lucky to be living the life i've always wanted to live? residing in the most amazing city on the globe, having friends and family I wouldn't trade for the world, and going to the graduate school of my dreams? but I haven't done anything to deserve any of it, and I'm not sure that i every will, but I sure am grateful for it

the sky looks like it's on fire tonight as part of a spectacular sunset, and i have an amazing view of the empire state building. with all the beauty around me, how can I be sad

ahhhhhhh, i miss europe

London eye at nighttime

La Boqueria - the most amazing and entertaining market I've ever experienced.. even better than Trader Joe's!

One awesome travel buddy!

Secret view through a secret peephole

"London bridge is falling down"? I think not

The Seine and one of the 3 pedestrian-only bridges in the city of lovers (and if you look close you can see the Eiffel Tower in the distance)

A peek through the leaves at Barcelona's port

What you see through stores' windows at any street corner in Barcelona