The lottery

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 I  once read a story about an old, and I mean decades old, couple. They met one sunny afternoon, had a cup of tea together with some friends, and after that he walked her home and BANG! he asked her to marry him. She said YES and they lived happily ever after. He used to tell the story many times after all those years, everybody knew it and enjoyed the satisfied smiles on their faces, and the complicity they shared.

How much luck do you need to be the subject of such story? It seems to me that you would need a lot of luck! I mean like "winning the lottery" kind of a "LOT". How many of us have ever experienced such a thing? Not too many, I guess. Most of us will work every day to support ourselves. And also most of us need to kiss many frogs before finding the prince, and even if you find him, you don't know if he will become a frog again.

But how bad is to work every day to make a living? To make effort for the rest of your life to support yourself, to have the freedom to enjoy life even if you didn't win the lottery's big prize? You can find satisfaction in work, and if you really want it, you can do lot of things to enrich your life every day. You may find also that even what you dreamed you want to do can't make you really happier, either.

It's the same thing with marriage, it's like winning the big lottery Jackpot. Only few of us can be so lucky to realize they know the big, definitive truth about love and a lifetime partner, in a couple of hours. Most of us are looking for the right person like others are looking for the six winning numbers. For every new relationship they hope this is The One. The one to fulfill them, to complete them, to become their happiness.

But I think there is joy in any loving relationship as long as you're willing to invest in it, to learn and to grow, to enjoy life even if you think you didn't guess all the six numbers. Maybe you'll find out the Jackpot was already in your hands and you didn't know to enjoy it fully because of your unrealistic expectations.

Perhaps the two heroes of my story didn't ever win the lottery. Maybe they had only three or four good numbers out of the six but they were wise enough and dedicated all those years of their lives  to grow their little luck from the beginning in a way that made them the lottery King and Queen.

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The Secret

I am really  happy & fulfilled in my marriage.

But the thing is... it hasn't always been easy.

I want to tell Bogdan that: "Thank you. Thank you for choosing THIS life. Life with me. Kids with me. Mess with me. All of it. Thank you.

Thank you for choosing me back when it was harder. Thanks for sticking with me."

The thing about marriage is that at any moment either one can just check out. Or just choose a different life all together. So, in a way, everyday is a choice. Today I choose you. THIS life. These kids and this house.

I have been married to  Bogdan for 15 years.

15 years and we have changed so much. 15 years in which we both changed and grew and understood each other better. Just getting better and better. Easier or harder along the way. We are still learning and growing and changing. Still balancing work, kids, and finding time to connect day after day. Communication is very importnat. I have to admit that sometimes we have lost the connection. But we regain it and we try to be aware of the moments we lose it.

Some friends asked me lately what is the secret of our marriage, how we can be so close after so many years, three kids and well… a life behind. Ruth Bell Graham told it better than me: “A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.” Two good forgivers that love each other so much and so deeply, this is my opinion. So, this is the SECRET: to love and to be loved. And to forgive.

I thought (before marriage) that when I got married I would no longer be so easy to hurt. That I will feel more secure and safe. It took me a long way to discover that the strenght was in me alt this time, that has nothing to do with anybody else, that I am the only one who can stand up for myself.

I have since learned that no matter how many times he tells me what I want to hear, the answer is within me. Meaning that I have to love myself. To trust myself. To be myself. He can't do it for me.

I am thankful for him. 

Thankful that we chose eachother. Thankful for THIS life. 

This life with him by my side.
Thankful for the hard times he chose me. This life. Our life.

Because I know what I chose.

Let's Celebrate!

My dear husband, 

It's been fifteen years since we said YES in front of people and in front of God. We had our good and our bad moments, much more good than bad, I have to say.

The bad was really bad, but the good was amazingly wonderful.

A short reminder of our best moments, and I’m sorry I have only my words with me, as I write this in an airport, on my way to meet you and my beloved Lisbon. I guess I'll need to edit it later and to insert the pictures, too.

1999, October 24th. Our wedding waltz was wonderful and in the end, you took me in your arms and spinned with me, like there was no end and no beginning.

Runa’s birth, on 17^th of March, 2001. You drove a long way home, to see your first daughter, and brought me roses in the middle of the night.

Our trip to Thailand, the very next year. It was our first trip abroad together, and we couldn’t believe our eyes. So much unconscious love.

The fifth anniversary of our marriage, in Prague, more aware this time, setting the traveling tradition for our next ten October celebrations.

Mara’s birth, on the 25^th of January,  2006, wow!  Twenty degrees below zero,  at 5’o clock in the morning, with all those blankets over me in the car and shopping for a heater the next day right after her birth, so we could stay with our wonderful daughter in the hospital reserve.

New Year’s Eve in Salzburg, in 2007-2008. The girls on ice, the music from the 80's, the Salzburger Souppe. After nine months, our son Radu arrived in this world.:) That day you should have had your job interview in London, but you didn't get on that plane, just to be there with me and our baby boy. The next day you had the interview and took the job.

After only three weeks we moved into a new house, where I had to unpack the 42 boxes, with a newborn baby, one toddler and one schoolgirl, while you took a holiday in America. Very well deserved, I should say. Now I think it was kind of tough, then I thought it was all right.

Your heart attack in 2009 changed our lives for a while, but soon we got kind of trapped in our intense style of living. Work and holidays, kids and quite little time for ourselves. We felt (I’m almost sure you did, too) like in a rat race, making efforts to see each other, to keep our attention focused, to give our relation time to renew. We did that by traveling together, even for a short while, going out on our traditional Friday movie date, paying attention at what we talk, talking every evening about how our days went... Since you work abroad our time together is less, but we tried to make the most of it, especially in the last three months.

And let's remember again the beautiful trips of October:
Prague 2004, USA 2005 (only you :), but I went to Mallorca with Runa and Mara in my belly, just because I could), Rome 2006, London 2007, USA 2008 (again you alone), Andalusia 2009, USA 2010, Extremadura 2011, Lisbon 2012, Porto 2013. Wow!

Five more years later, celebrating today, I can tell you what I like most about our marriage and hope to last at least fifteen more years from now:

We laugh together (and I want to laugh even more)

We can read each other's mind

We hold each other tight, so tight we cannot breath

We kiss with passion every time we see

We spend time with our kids, support and show them our love (for them and for us)

We still kiss before each meal, as we did since forever

We support each other's passions and hobbies

We trust each other

We love each other

Happy Anniversary, Bogdan!

What I Like

I like the smell of the ocean, the sand under my feet, i like to be touched by the wind and waves, I like a good cup of coffee, the taste of raspberries, the sound of my children's laughter, and the feeling of being fully alive.

What I Learned from You

That the tomato salad is even better with garlic

That chicory does exist and I like it

That anyone can take pictures but only few can take wonderful pictures

That many problems can be solved with a well done Excel table with pro and cons

That I can be myself and I am lovable as I am

The Covent Garden Academy of Flowers

Hello, my friends!

Last week I attended a course at The Covent Garden Academy of Flowers, and I'm so excited of what I learned, I have to show you! 

On Monday and Tuesday, our assignments were about hand tied bouquets and circular arrangements, and I still think about the old way I was doing this and how this experience changed the way I work now, in such a short time. 

Interesting how in the low light and poor setup they looked beautiful, but in the daylight, with a beautiful and stylish container or decor, they looked absolutely stunning.

This is the work I love so much and make me feel so wonderful, like I found a new way of living. I started more than a year now and I'll keep doing this for living. 

I love, love, love working with flowers! 

A Love Better Than Life Itself {Movie}

They are two children, Sofie and Julien, true friends and partners in crimes. It starts with a game, a music carousel exchanged at every challenge accomplished. In time, the game became more and more extreme, with powerful and extreme dares, like saying No during Julien's wedding ceremony, or with Sophie being almost killed by a train after. Ten years later, without any contact (also a dare) the box returns to Julien, who finally realized he was still in love with Sophie. They meet again, and they give each other the most incredible dares, having their love sublimed in an unexpected way.  

The original title is "Jeux d'enfants" ("Love Me If You Dare"), is a movie from 2003 with Marion Cotillard and Guillaume Canet, and I really can't stop myself thinking about it. I laughed and I cried, it made me think about what is important in life, about parents and their mistakes, about forgiveness and true love. Not an American kind of movie, anyway.

I would put it on a list with the most powerful movies I ever saw, and I really recommend it, is genuine and beautiful. 

You can watch the trailer here:

Crisp morning in Lofoten Islands

Today I'll go back on memory's lane, but not too far away, in March, when we've been to Lofoten Islands. 

Oh, speaking about magic, there is nothing more magic than a sunrise in Norway, on the shore… Maybe the Aurora Borealis to be better! Tired as hell, when everybody was asleep, Bogdan went out to shoot. And the pictures were more than we could expect. 

It was in the morning he arrived in Lofoten, after a very long trip, three planes and the ferry, when he gave up sleeping and stayed out to catch the sunrise. I arrived one day later and I witnessed sunsets, but never sunrises.

The crisp morning, the soft light reflected in the ocean, the bright red cabins, everything was fuel for the eyes and soul.

We went there in an organised photo-tour, with Alex Conu and Anca Tirc, you can find them at www.doipeglob.ro. When planning your trip, check twice the planes and the ferry's schedule, I almost missed the last one because on Thursdays the departure time was different than other days.

See you later with some more details about this wonderful trip! Thank you for stopping by!

Sibiu - Astra Park

Last weekend, coming back from our short, but beautiful trip in Orastie, we stopped in Sibiu for a couple of hours, to eat and to have a break before the Valea Oltului difficult drive. Bogdan came with a brilliant ideea, to visit Astra Sibiu Museum, a huge outoor space filled with traditional homes and equipment used in ancient households.

From the first steps inside, we could feel the magic: the smell of freshly mown grass and the lake, the diffuse heat passing the leaves, the miniature frogs croaking all the way. The kids were fascinated by the little itsy-bitsy frogs, not bigger than their nails, swarming everywhere.

Some of the households were transplanted with animals and plants, so you can even see chicken, sheep and rabbits, as well as incredible climbing roses and wild flowers. 

The restaurant in the museum is (how else?) a traditional one, in a building which was also a tavern in an old village, hundred years old. Beans with fresh onion, polenta with matured cheese and cream, our lunch was deliciously smelling and tasting!

Have a look at our pictures below, you can feel and even smell the magic of this place! It's a beautiful day trip if you're in the area, and on the other side of the lake is the Zoo, also a beautiful spot for kids. 

We charged our batteries for a difficult week, yesterday I had a difficult maxillary surgery, Bogdan went to Budapest and back, so we already think forward to the weekend to come.

Have a beautiful day and thanks for reading!