♪ Madonna - Iconic ♪

I've always wanted to receive my birthday gifts when it's my actual birthday, but it seems this year my family and my best friend S. had other plans! I was supposed to return from Iasi on a Sunday after I finished my work, but I called S. on Saturday night to catch up, one thing led to another and we decided that it would be best for us to properly visit Iasi for three days (we try to visit beautiful places in Romania at least two times a year). She arrived on Monday and we had a great time walking around the Palace of Culture (you can see it in these photos). Then, a massive rain changed our plans, but I believe it was for the best: we hid in the cosy Starbucks Garden and had 'refresha beverages' (a summer special, I'm not usually a fan of black tea, but I really loved this one!) and then proceeded with a shopping spree in Palas ( it wasn't my first this summer, neither S.'s but we sure had a lot more fun shopping together).

Now back to the gift part: S. couldn't wait for another month to give me my birthday gift and considering the fact I last saw her in April, I was on the same page. Just after she arrived in Iasi she gave me a pretty Zara bag and when I opened it I saw my dream summer dress (pictured above) and Madonna's latest album "Rebel Heart". Back to the dress, I changed in an instant and it fit just perfectly so I decided to wear it for our walk. It's been my favorite ever since, because of the back cut and its fabric, it's the only dress I have that makes 36-38 Celsius degrees bearable. 

As for Madonna's latest album, I think it's underrated. She always tries to reinvent herself (I'm not talking about her fashion in this post, her music strictly) and I honestly loved her new take on pop. Obviously, it was thanks to Diplo's contribution, singers like Kanye West (who produced "Illuminati" and "Holy Water" ), Nicki Minaj ( "Bitch I'm Madonna"), Alicia Keys (playing the piano in "Living for Love") and so many other talented people. S. really knows me, it's been our no. 1 choice for our car rides lately!

♪ Cristi Cons - Mouline ♪

We have some beautiful cherry blossom trees in my hometown and each spring I would tell my best friends: "We have to do a photoshoot with a cherry blossom theme!" and then something would happen like a test, or a party you have no outfit for and you must go shopping, or an unexpected trip. I realized that I finished highschool and moved out of my hometown WITHOUT taking a single photo of these beautiful trees.

I had my Easter holiday so I went home, where I had the most refreshing break (Oh my God, so much has happened on the 3rd season of House of Cards, yet I was just sitting with my Anatomy books the whole month of March and missing out on all the good stuff! ). One day, I decided to go on a tour of our small hometown together with my best friend (a.k.a a trip down memory lane) and there it was: my favourite cherry blossom tree, fantastic as ever!

What you must know about me is that I like wearing a lot of black these days- I know, this blog used to be all about blush pink, nude and mint, yet here we are! I don't know when or how it happened, but I know that most of the times, when I walk out the door, I'm wearing a black ensemble. So of course I thought I shouldn't take these pictures because I was not matching the tree- at all haha. Then I thought some more and I kind of liked the idea this photoshoot represents- that you shouldn't waste any time when you want something - be it a photoshoot or the job of your dreams and that it's okay to change- whether it's your fashion style we're talking about or your opinions. It would have been awesome to have some photos as the 16 year old me in that mint dress I wanted to wear for the photoshoot back then and compare them to these photos, but I've made the mistake of not taking all the opportunities in highschool and I've decided that this must change in my twenties (only 4 months to go until 20, still can't believe it!).  Thank you Simona for being the most amazing photographer and friend, I love you & I will miss you like crazy!

PS: The title is inspired from the first fashion blog that I've ever come across to, back when I was 15, which inspired me to start my own blog.

♪ Beyonce 7/11 ♪

Okay, I can't believe my last post was in October!! I feel like my life  has been put on fast forward ever since I got into Med School. It's tiring and stressing because the University I chose likes to keep things old school, so I have at least 2 tests and one project every week. My best friend studies Medicine as well, in another town and she isn't so busy and sleep deprived as I am, but I've come to terms with the fact that I have to study harder, because it will help me for the finals in January. Although it's a massive amount of information to be learned in the course of 12 weeks, I love it, especially the Anatomy of the human body.

A lot has changed in my life. My cousin Alex turned 18 and I tried to prepare him a rad surprise (he states that I pulled that off). He had an awesome birthday party, I really needed a night with some of my close friends. I got another roommate and I adore her!! We support each other and know where to draw the line when it comes to studying ( meaning we take some shopping breaks and we go out for dinner in fancy places when we feel we've had enough). Last night we had the Freshers Ball, hence we are tired and haven't been able to read a single line for the upcoming  Anatomy exam (which is a MAJOR thing, you can't even imagine the pressure). I decided to take this day off and do the things I love most: talking with my family, listening to good music and blogging. Mom took these photos in 

late October or early November (?? can't really remember at this point) when I bought this pretty floral H&M dress. I've been wearing it a lot this whole autumn, it has an amazing fabric and it's perfect for both school and get-togethers with my friends.

One thing I truly miss is the voice of my readers. It's a compromise I wasn't really willing to take when I started Med School, and I hate that I don't really have the time of energy to blog. So, what I want to know: are you still out there? I've been trying to post often on Instagram so we can keep in touch, but it's just not the same!! I used to write a recommandation about a book, a song or a movie  in every single post, now I have 5 new book and haven't had time to even open one. What I can advise you, though, is to go & watch Interstellar!! Christopher Nolan is a brilliant director ( Inception will always be one of my favourites) and this movie emphasizes the power of love like no other!

♪ Yong Forever/Halo #OnTheRunTour - Beyonce & Jay Z ♪

The time has come! Tomorrow I'm leaving my hometown and trading it for Iasi, where I'll go to Med School. Generally, everyone is so excited when they go to college: a brand new life, with freedom and adult responsabilities, new friends. Well, I can't say I don't feel those things, it's just that I'm an OVERTHINKER. I'm super organized and stressed out and I'm quite scared about being on my own. It's not the studying part I dread, I feel blessed to have the opportunity to study such interesting things, it's the impossible schedule and having to be independent. Plus, I'm going to miss my friends like crazy- we met for the last time before going away to different cities for college- I can only say there were a lot of pancakes, Pringles, old photos and crying involved. I'm determined to always find time for a chat with them, their friendship is invaluable. I find it strange how writing down these thoughts in a blog post makes me feel better. It's soothing, I look everything from an optimistic angle now that I read them.. Blogging often turns out to be the best therapy for me!

Speaking of best friends, here are the photos of the last day of my trip to Brasov with Simona. We went around our favourite streets one more time and had lunch at a lovely place, with the best pasta (I had some divine 'quatro formaggi') and bought some souvenirs for our families and friends. I love the fact that we had our train at night so we had all the last day to soak that Brasov energy in.

To end this anxious post on a high note, I recommend you watch the video I suggested at the top of the article- it's a live performance by Beyonce and Jay Z- at their last concert of the 'On The Run Tour', held in Paris. Besides the fact that they sing heavenly, there's a footage in the background of featuring their story- the start of their relationship, the trips, the engagement, the wedding, the pregnancy and the most important stages in Blue Ivy's life so far. It's touching to see such a caring family so devoted to love, art and music!  DON'T WORRY, BE YONCE!

♪ Iggy Azalea - My world ♪

I am back with lots of photos from my trip to Brasov, as I promised. It took me a lot of time to sort them out because I decided this trip I would go on a photo overload in order to remember all the details (& be able to share them), unlike Paris when I was in a total rush. I really wanted to travel somewhere with my best friend Simona after our college admission and Brasov turned out to be the perfect choice!

For my international readers, Brasov is an important city in Romania, with an impressive history and unique architecture. It has various places to visit (all incredible, I can guarantee!) and you'll be stunned to see the Tampa mountain from every corner of the city. There are also a lot of great places to eat and I particularly loved the atmosphere, the people are so kind and welcoming! It attracts many tourists from all over the world, so it was nice to hear different languages while I stayed there.

These photos are from our second day in Brasov, when we did most of the visiting. I admit I'm a bit of a control freak when I visit a place, I usually have my schedule noted down to every single minute in order to see as many things as I can in a foreign place. Well, Simona proved to be the first travel buddy who somehow made me change the schedule constantly. I don't know how or why, but the fun part is that I actually didn't mind at all. We went with the flow and it turned out to be the most exhilarating trip! 

Before I start telling you about all the incredible places we visited that day, note the outfit in the pictures. A navy maxi dress from Gap, which I simply adore and my Zara statement necklace. I forgot my sunnies at home, but I was lucky enough to find this pair at Accessorize in Brasov. Okay, story mood: ON!

♪ Kanye West ft. The xx - Touch the sky ♪

I've put a lot of thought into this post, on whether to share a very important life achievement online or not. I figured out it's the right thing to do because it is my personal blog and I want to remember this moment, but also because it explains why I took more than one month hiatus on Teen Fashion Diary. As you know, I graduated highschool at the end of May and getting into university is a challenging experience. I first had an essential exam, called Bacalaureat- if you don't pass it, you are not eligible for college. I worked really hard on this complex exam (actually- exams- there's three of them) because it meant 25% of my college admission grade (and it went amazing, thank God). Two weeks after it, I had the actual exam which would determine my future (75% of the final grade, Anatomy). It has been the most intense experience of my life! I have been learning Anatomy for almost two years and ten days before the big text I have studied for 12 hours a day. Thankfully, I was the first to get into Medicine.

I still can't wrap my head around this achievement and I have my family to thank for constantly supporting me through this process! In these last few months I felt like I would never have a vacation again. But now that time has arrived, I have started watching "True Blood" (why did no one persuaded me to check it out before??) and reading all the John Green books I can get my hands on! After the big exam, before I left Iasi (my future home, starting October) I had a serious shopping session. I really felt like I deserve to get myself a gift, a really big one. So I went rogue at the Sephora sales, found a couple of cool T-shirt at Oysho, finally found a earcuff that suits my ear and I bought this gorgeous statement necklace from Zara I'm wearing in the photos. It was love at first sight, although my mom says it's only for special occasions I kind of match it with everything, I just can't stop wearing it! 

As for the title of the post- I found my ideal Palazzo Pants after three years of searching! They cost a lot, but I didn't care because they're actually more of maxi skirt meets palazzo pants and with really cool splits on the sides. One week after I purchased them, they went on sale at 70% - I'm not always lucky when it comes to fashion deals. I saved them for a special occasion- which came on Saturday when I took my family out for lunch at our favourite place in Iasi - Little Texas to celebrate my college admission. The food is simply the best - I managed to snap a couple of pictures of our desserts because we jumped right on the chimichangas, nachos, tacos etc. They also have a beautiful garden, which you can see in these pictures and it's such a serene and magic place!