How To Do A Pre Proposal

Dear friends,

I shall share with you a story today also in the VGA version :) Due to the fact that I was cleaning up my phone card I bumped into some very old pictures that brought back very nice memories that I wish to share with you. On the 29th of April 2012 these pictures were taken inside 2 airports: the Henri Coandă International Airport in Bucharest and the Chopin International Airport in Warsaw.

I believe - if my memory serves me right - that it was my fiancees first trip to Romania :) I came for 2 weeks and he came for one (my last week) so we could leave for Krakow in the same day. Unfortunately, as we took the plane tickets in different days we did not get the same plane back. He was the first one to leave and I had to wait in the airport for about 4 hours. But actually I do not mind that! I love airports! And if I could get stuck somewhere it would not be a bus or a train station but an International Airport, please :)

The trip to Romania was awesome for my fiancee and he admits he loves Iasi (and I DID NOT! force him to say that and he said it from the bottom of his heart, more than once! What can I say?! I have an adorable family and cute town ;) ha!). He fell in love with me even more and with my family around :) When we came to the airport (very early in the morning, around 5 am...) we had to wait for the flight he had and because we were both hungry after the hours by train... (yes... the train from Iasi to Bucharest takes a while...) we went to the Restaurant that opened around 7 and ordered a typical American breakfast: Eggs Benedict :) Either they were just purely awesome or we were really starving :p But while we were there... He asked me what I would say if He would ask for my hand... what would I say if He asked me to marry him? Sincerely I knew this was coming, as we were talking about marriage and engagement for a long while... He was just so cute! He said he was so in love that he would have to propose to me then :)

We used to play around with this idea, and during the week he was there, while we were out, he even proposed to me with a ring made out of a drinking straw ;))) But he was so serious in the airport :) I said that I would, I would marry him, but in order to make sure of that he would need to ask me again when he will have the ring fit for asking... Now that I think of it, this sounded so very materialistic of me! And I am not a bit like that! :) I was just teasing him and doing this all in good fun. And of course he knew that ;)

After the pre-proposal (as I called it) we continued talking on about the engagement and the wedding and making plans. And I must admit he is awesome at that! Nothing fails him :) After a while it was time to go and the 2 pictures above are with his plane... I waved him goodbye, the plane took off, and there I was, alone in the airport with around 4 hours to go until my boarding time...

So I started wondering around the airport to see the latest changes (and I must admit they were quite a few and the airport changed in time since the first time I was there, somewhere in 2007, when I was coming back from USA). I was in a mood for sweets so... You can find Brioche Doree at Facebook or on their site, right HERE :) I found it at the airport, by mistake/chance and I am thinking of those sweets until today :) I had the Lemon Tart with make me mouth-water even now, when I remind myself of it :)

To spent time right I also bought a Marie Claire (my fav magazine in the World!) along with the Wall Street Journal I found on the bench ;))) and I started reading and enjoying my awesome lemon tart that I wished it would last forever and a day! It was all rainbows and unicorns! Like a tart should be :)

Also, the first plane was not the end of the trip. The Flight was Bucharest - Warsaw - Krakow. So after the international flight I also had to wait about 2 hours in Warsaw Airport for the domestic flight until Krakow :))) A whole lot of fun, Im telling you, to get from Krakow to Iasi... It never gets below half a day! ;)

So by the time you reach Warsaw you can get hungry - hence some Chinese food is in order ;) 

Yours truly,

the Pre-Proposed-In-An-Airport LadyBug :)

How Can A Man Live Alone

Dear friends,

**WARNING!!! This post contains a review of Orient Express, the movie directed by our very own Romanian director: Sergiu Nicolaescu. It may turn out to be an extensive post so please grab yourself a cup of tea and a warm blanket and Enjoy!**

I tried not to be frightened by all the reviews as I really wanted to see this movie for a very long while - considering that it was released in 2004 that says how long is the waiting list for movies... - so finally I got my hands and eyes upon it last night. Without my amazing husband around, I figured out I would dig in the mushy romantic movies and I bumped into Orient Express. Well it was obvious that I did not have it with subtitles so it was the perfect moment to watch it without Marek picking on me - yes, it is also obvious I did cry and I needed multiple tissues by the end... I dare you to watch this movie until the very end without a teardrop!

At an old age, prince Andrei Morudzi retreats to his castle in Romania, during the two world wars, after having lead an eventful youth. There he is seen upon as a rare bird by the local folk, due to his strange attitude towards life and his exquisit manners, which dont fit in the way of life of the villagers. But, in the end, despite trying to distance himself from the local people, he cant but influence their humble existences. 

If you would have lived in Romania then you would know that Sergiu Nicolaescu was a very famous person and he was well respected. If you would ask Romanian people to name you a Romanian regizor they would probably in 99.9% of cases tell you about Sergiu Nicolaescu. He loved also to play in the movies he directed and in this one he has the leading role, as prince Andrei Morudzi. Mr. Nicolaescu always loved to tackle historical dramas and this story has a bit of history in it as all - all with the World War and the prince. I love the fact that in this movie there is not much make-up (you can see that especially on himself, in the closeup you can see every wrinkle and facial expression line on Mr. Nicolaescu) but there are a lot of costumes.

In a way this movie reflects - I believe - the views that Mr. Nicolaescu had over the world. I think he would have loved to make time stop. He would have paused the clock and lived in that period forever. I believe he did a lot of historical dramas just because he wished he lived in that time. He was much more in touch with the past, than reaching toward the future. The movie itself is full of lessons that Mr. Nicolaescu wanted to share to the world. Considering that it is one of his last movies, I believe that he makes this movie as a series of notes for posterity. 

There are moments in time in the movie where things lag and fall apart and I would cut some scenes or make some scenes longer, but overall... hey! that is his style and I would not change it. It still made me cry and think of the nature of the human being. It is an aristocratic movie about the higher class that always remains higher, even though stained (by lack of money loss at cards, flirting with women, making other people suicide). The movie is about luxury and about being raised so that you believe you are upper than the mass of people. The movie also shows the battle between the rush of the youngsters for equality VS. the individualism and the arhaic ways of the Prince, with his old fashioned sense of being.

The movie is based upon the novel by Tudor Teodorescu-Braniste and even though I never read it, it made me think about finding it and giving it a go. Some of the lines were just brilliant! Take for example: "How can a man live alone?" Well it is obvious that people judge and there is no moment that passes by in the movie, without people taking a look into his life, gossiping and telling stories as soon as he leaves the room. I love the difference that he makes between The City VS. The CountrySide: The City has 2 characteristics: the noise and the light. The CountrySide has 2 as well: the silence and the darkness... Again the Prince tells at a certain point that "there are people whom you meet, you grow to love them and yet they are never yours" and I must admit I feel the same. Sometimes it makes one sad to think of it :(  Further on the topic of love he says that "only simple people think that love brings happiness". The sad part was the fact that the Prince built his life on money and yet he had none now. All was gone. One of the Princes friends says "dont give pearls to pigs" as he is the last bastion of his kind. The Prince was a singular being, the last of his kind. He also says at a certain moment that people are not only different through education and wealth. There is something more fundamental in each of us, something different. And last but not least - in order not to spoil more of the movie, in case you will want to watch it! - I loved when he talked about duels. "Duels do not fix anything else than vanity. Suffering can be healed only through suicide"...

***

BTW as a small FYI the lovely Miclauseni castle is located closed to Iasi (North-Est Romania) where part of the movie has been shot. And guess what? I never saw it! Shame on myself, right? I should surely put it on the list of things to see; it looks to die for! Well... I guess this is all from my side folks :)  Let me know if you manage to see this movie and what you think about it. Also if you went to the cinema and saw something good recently, drop a line :) 

Yours truly,

The LadyBug In Love With Historical Drama

How to Design Shower in Small Bathrooms For a Roomy Looks

Small Bathroom Shower Design Everything Fell Into Place Nicely After

A small room is not a problem if you can think strategically and do the right tricks to get the better of the room. A small space is not a reason to design our bathroom. You might agree that shower is the most important tool which must be exists in bathroom. In this case, we must think to make a good innovation to design our small bathroom by ourselves. We must use creative techniques to make our shower and small space of our bathroom more spacious and roomy. The purpose of this article is to give you information about how to design showers for small bathroom. I hope this information give you more inspiration.

Designing a small bathroom is not difficult to do. I will give you simple steps to inform about how to design showers for small bathrooms.

First, you must to consider your budget. The budget is the most important thing for you to make the priority scale. Depending on your budget and your personal taste, you can choose a small shower –not too large that can make your bathroom not roomy- for your small bathroom and make a plan to design.

Second, take out your tape measure and calculate the shower space. Measure your square footage of your bathroom that available for the shower design to make certain about the size of the shower area -minimum of 3 square feet-

Third, based on your budget, calculate it to choose and buy a new shower. Be wise to choose the best shower for your small bathroom, based on your priority scale. Moreover, you should to consider the budget for hiring a contractor. Note: all of your planning –the cost of tile, fixtures, flooring, and walls- must to be calculated in your budget.

Fourth, choose your favorite color for your shower walls or tile. That’s one of the important things for you to consider. Favorite color will make you feel happy and comfort when you use it. But don’t use a busy pattern that will make your shower feel smaller.

Fifth, choose glass enclosure to design your shower that will extend the square footage of your bathroom and feel roomy. Use many glass tools to make your bathroom not feel smaller.

Sixth, if you want to make your bathroom not too wet, plan to design with extra floor drain in the center and set the floors to make a slope toward the drain so the water will flow into the drain faster.
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