♪ Fergie - A little party never killed nobody ♪

" I can't believe that I'm 18 ! " it's what I've been saying to myself these past 13 hours (even dreamed about it!). I don't usually make a big deal out of my birthday, but this time it felt different, it's such an important age, and my friends and family made it clear with their countless surprises and gifts!

The first birthday present I got this dress, in advance, because I had this amazing wall in my room decorated especially for this occasion and wanted to take some awesome photos, but I had no special outfit! When my mom saw how dissappointed I was , she gave me this Zara dress that I was to receive at 00:00. I love this shade, fuchsia meets honeysuckle. 

Another incredible gifts followed, all received at 00:00 sharp. The biggest surprise was a white Iphone5 from my parents, followed by the fact that even if my aunt,uncle and cousins don't live in the same town as I do, I received their gift as well, the Miss Dior Cherie perfume!!! If you've been reading my blog for, let's say, one year, you must have noticed how in my Polyvore collages this fragrance was always there and how I would always state my obsession for it. 

I just want to be happy today, to have fun and spend some quality time with my friends and family! Thank you all for reading this, I can't believe I won't be a teenager for so long..

PS: Make sure to come back later to see a photo of my AMAZING cake. (clue: Miu Miu)

PPS: How do you like my festive wall? It took me one hour to do this, I had so much fun!

♪ John Newman - Love me again ♪

Wow, this summer holiday is flying away, I can't believe I will be 18 in 4 days! I'm trying to  be as optimistic as I can, although there have been unexpected changes and I'm not sure how to make my birthday special at this point. Anyways, I thought posting these photos from Thasos with me wearing the lovely T-shirt which has a strong message: "Happy thoughts will guide my way" might cheer me up a bit.  The skirt is one of the other things my cousin got from Sevilla for my birthday, it's from Mango and he was lucky enough to find the last one!

It was a marvellous day of our trip, back when we shot these, we went around half the island and stopped for lunch in a small village famous for the shop where you can buy pine and orange honey, Theologos (the honey really is something else, by the way!). We had lunch there as well, and most of the photos are taken on a quaint little street. The village was so different from what I've seen before, most of their roofs were made of stone. After lunch, we went for a little shopping session in Limenaria, a small city, with incredible palm trees and caffes.

I'm back from the marvellous island of Greece, Thasos. It is an incredible destination, I recommend it to anyone who is looking for the perfect mix between mountain and seaside, with a lot of picturesque villages to visit and where you'll find exquisite traditional Greek food. Now, this vacation was full of surprises and I thought the title of the book I'm currently reading, "Tales of the Unexpected", by Roald Dahl would be suitable title for this post as well.

First of all, I don't know if you've ever noticed, but I seldom change my earrings. I had my gold little earrings ever since I was 10 and I find very hard another type of earrings to suit me. Still, when I discovered Style Lately 's selection, I felt the urge to risk and order this mint/golden pair online. They arrived just a few days before my departure to Greece, and I found myself wearing them almost the whole holiday! The have a great quality and I fell in love with the brand itself, I now have my eyes set on a gorgeous pair of sunnies and a fringe bag from their shop.

Secondly, right when I got the earrings my cousin came back from Sevilla. As I'm turning 18 on 12th of August, he thought to mark this special occasion and got me the most amazing gifts! This skirt from Zara is one them, and I found myself also wearing it and another skirt from Mango he brought the entire vacation.  Now, how am I supposed to publish on the blog so many photos with the same skirt??

Thirdly, the hotel where we stayed was amazing, with a perfect garden, with so many olive trees and roses, as you'll see in the pictures below. The only major problem was that there was wifi only in the lobby, hence my lack of posts. 

Also, what do you think about the message on my Mango T-shirt? I find it very suitable because Thasos may be a great destination, but it wouldn't have been so fun to visit without my beloved family.

 

Hello my dear readers, I'm writing you from one of the lovely islands of Greece, it's the first time I'm trying such a type of holiday.Whenever I travel with my family, my aunt and uncle choose special cities to stop on our way to the final destination. Last year, I got to see Ljubljana, the Balaton Lake and Debrecen this way. This time we visited Veliko Tarnovo, a lovely Bulgarian city.

We chose this town because of its unique arhitecture and impressive heritage and history. In the main picture of this post you can see their famous Tsarevets Fortress. I loved this city and its peaceful tone, although the streets are quite dusty. Another thing I absolutely ADORED was our hotel: Hotel Real.  The arhitecture and the decor are astonishing, you'll notice most of the pictures in this post are taken in its various rooms, all decorated impeccably.

We were lucky to come across the Hadji Nikoli Inn, apparently this restaurant dates far back, I loved their Menu and chose a chocolate mousse, it was INCREDIBLE (see the picture below). I feel so lucky and blessed to be able to see such amazing places like Veliko Tarnovo!

“I'm not sentimental--I'm as romantic as you are. The idea, you know, is that the sentimental person thinks things will last--the romantic person has a desperate confidence that they won't.” F. Scott Fitzgerald, This side of paradise

I have been incredibly inspired by the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald lately. You know from my last posts I loved reading "The Great Gatsby" and "The beautiful and the damned" but in the last week I enjoyed another novel,  "This side of paradise" and I have discovered what I consider to be his greatest talent: writing short stories. I LOVE "Flappers and Philosophers", it's such a sophisticated compilation of stories and I can relate to so many typologies ( please read "Bernice bobs her hair" when you have time, you won't regret it!).

Just like I did when I deeply fell in love with J.D. Salinger's work, I chose not to look for any details on the author himself (I do know the basics though, it's common knowledge). It's so thrilling to think which parts of a character or a story actually reflect the writer's life. What is it with Mr. Fitzgerald that all the main characters have to be astonishingly  beautiful? Was he surrounded only by golden-haired girls and confident, witty boys? Was he a great fox trotter in real life? 

I chose to name this outfit post "Misty rose" because it's actually the color that both my top and a part of my skirt have. I'm quite unhappy with the results of this photoshoot, the skirt looks completely white, you can find the real version here. It is marvellous and I got it from Persunmall, I can't wait to wear it on the magical beaches of Greece!

I must be one of the laziest bloggers on Earth, I really want to blog but I get stuck in this holiday pattern: I'm watching various shows (I'm currently obsessed with House of Cards ) and when the night comes I usually hang out with my friends. Summer is here, in Romania, and I'm loving every minute of it!

Now, you might be wondering where is that 'touch of hippie' in my feminine and classy outfit? I believe it's in this marvellous Chicnova T-shirt. I don't know about you, but I don't pay a lot for a T-shirt. For skirts, dresses, even statement necklaces, sure! Still, I buy most of my T-shirts from sales because I need to own many and also because they strike me as a canvas where you express various thoughts. This Chicnova T-shirt makes an exception, I would have paid a lot for it! It has the perfect print, incredible colors and the best fabric you can wear on such a hot summer.

The photos are a bit different from what you are used to. A dear friend of mine, Cristi, took them using his awesome Nikon D5100. I say 'different' because when we finally had time to shoot these it was the worst light, we had to find corners with shadows or apply effects on the final photos. I like to keep my photos as natural as possible but I chose to trust him on the effects this time because he knows what he's doing. 

What do you think about the outcome?

This is one of those posts when I feel like analyzing every single detail. You might think I don't know how the aquamarine shade looks like, but that's not the case. I've struggled to show you how this dress actually looks but we had no satisfying results- we even took photos on two different days, and yet this shade of blue stuck, if you want to see the  huge difference, you can find the dress online here , it's exactly the shade you see in the 4th picture and I love it!  The dress is from Sheinside and my, how I love their shop, they make such perfect dresses, with a top quality and cut! (Remember when I was the Gatsby Girl? )

And talking about the dress, it took me quite a while to decide whether I should order it or not. How so? You must have noticed that I mostly wear clothes which emphasize my waist, because of my body type. I love the Empire effect, but I jusn't wasn't sure I could wear this type of dress. Still, I'm happy I took the risk, I feel so amazing wearing it, it reminds me so much of the elegant Greek goddesses.  As we're on the Greek mythology topic, I felt like naming my post after Penelope because ever since I was a child I've admired her strenght and determination to wait for her husband for so many years and I've always pictured her wearing a similar dress.

Now , the background you see, that's a whole different story- I wanted to pose in this enchanting dress  in the park near the Palace of Culture in Iasi, it seemed so romantic and right. Unfortunately, I got a call  and I had to take care of buying a gift for a dear friend. Imagine me, running around dressed like this and having no clue on what I should buy! Once I was satisfied with the gift, I ran to the park only to have the most unpleasant surprise- the sun was up! There were no shadows or places for a shoot in the park. I spotted this corner, a restaurant which was facing the Palace and I got an idea- use the mirror effect. In the end, I got my shooting at the Palace, right?

♪ Avicii - Wake me up ♪

This post's song sums up what I should do right now : wake up , because I've been enjoying and indulging myself too much lately, forgetting that I need to blog and pay more attention to a major thing I've started today.

It's just that it's all so wonderful, dolce far niente, that's what I love most about summer and I can't believe this is my last holiday before university!  Take these pictures for example: one month ago I was struggling to find a little time to shoot for my blog dressed in different outfits and now I have had them in my computer for more than a week. I've always dreamed of a maxi dress with a genius graphic print on it, it's just that whenever I found one, I didn't like the cut or how the tones matched my skin. Imagine my surprise when I found the perfect number at ZLZ, an online clothing retailer. And I say 'surprise' not because of the brand (mind you, they have an amazing selection, I could shop on their site for days), but for the fact that a couple of years ago, I would have never imagined I will find my objects of desire on a different continent and have them delivered to my house in such a short amount of time. I love the fact that the tan/nude shade I love so much is like a canvas, and the triagles frenzy begins from there and how easily you can match this dress to many colors.

♪ Beatles - Roll Over Beethoven ♪

I've always liked to learn about iconic movies, events, books, people and music, and that's why, as most teenagers,  I've been trying to assimilate important things from different cultures and historical events. Just like I know the emblematic songs of Bon Jovi, The Rolling Stones, U2, Elvis, Madonna , I have listened a fair share of Beatles. And, as much as I liked the lyrics and the beat I told myself: "They're great, but I cannot see myself going through a Beatles phase". I was, fortunately, wrong, because I can't imagine how I could have missed so many incredible messages and rhythms! I've been listening a little too much of their albums in these past few weeks, without being able to listen to anything else. How does one get out of a Beatles Phase? ( not because I've run out of songs, it's just that I miss going through all the charts - UK Top 40 is my favourite!).

And now- let's talk about the dotted presence in this post. I'm always on the quest for the right white shirt, as I have to wear uniform at school and as I happen to love wearing white. Somehow this number from Persunmall seemed like such a fun way to sport two trends of this season: graphic prints and black&white combination. The quality of fabric is incredible, and I tought I should make things interesting by matching it with my favourite mint-colored jeans and some nude accents.

The result? Well, you tell me :)

I'm one of those people who strongly believe in seizing an opportunity and creating valuable memories, but this spring was just too much! I can't complain, because so many incredible things have happened to me, but it has been too overhelming. So, in the past three months I had my own mantra: "Work hard now, wait for June". You see, I did the maths (that's the thing about a person who has so many hours of math per week: you start to calculate and plan too much!) and I concluded that I will be free this summer only 3 weeks of June and one in July. 

I found myself craving so much for time: and now that's June and I'm done with all my exams, events and trips, I'm not going to rush anything! I already started reading and I finally saw the HBO documentary: "IN VOGUE: The Editor's Eye" and two romantic comedies (I love a good and deep movie, but sometimes you need a little dullness and sweetness in your life!). Funny thing about these pictures, I wasn't going to publish them because they were taken in May, when I had a blissful weekend of slow living. I was reading and I had my Ipad with me (Whaaat? Don't you read best on the stairs? And how can I stay without my Ipad? )and when my mom saw me she suggested we should take a couple photos "for Instagram" - I know, I love her so much for her brilliant ideas and the fact she puts up with my perfectionism!

You can also see my beloved Chicnova tank top, it has the ideal fabric and the details are charming! This is a simple stay at home outfit and I decided to publish it after all because it matches my current state of mind and also because I wanted to show you that I don't wear feminine dresses and wedges 24/7.  Plus, when I see this look I think of the definition that Beth Meredith and Eric Storm gave for slow living:

" Slow Living means structuring your life around meaning and fulfillment. Similar to "voluntary simplicity" and "downshifting," it emphasizes a less-is-more approach, focusing on the quality of your life "

Still, there's one more thing I'd like to address in this post: my opinion towards the book I was reading at that time, "Can we still be friends?" , written by the editor of British Vogue, Alexandra Shulman:

♪ Fergie- A little party never killed nobody ♪

1. Me and my best friend D. in our best friend's car / 2. Lunch with my best friends , had the best sandwich spiced with tons of laughter and joy / 3. My best friend M. just got her licence and she's a natural! / 4. Me and my best friend S. at a fabulous party / 5. Gifts I, my mom and sister got for my father's birthday / 6. New obsession- there's a new cake shop in town!

Photos taken from my Instagram: marymanaila

Oh well, my past two months were so intense I can't quite sum it up accurately for you. A lot has happened, school proved to be more difficult ( I still got one more important test coming up, fingers crossed) , there were lots of parties, trips, changes and even a public speech was involved (thank God I didn't embarrass myself!). Still, there's one thing I'm certain of : I feel thankful! Thankful I've been able to go through so many interesting things, thankful I have my best friends and such a supportive family. I've also come to realize that there's only one year left of high school, which is thrilling and frightening at the same time. 

Now, let us go back to the best friends label for a bit, because I've been promising to blog about it for ages. When I was little I found the notion of  a 'best friend' confusing. It felt like such a privileged and fancy title, such a weight on my shoulders to pick only one person who I can trust with everything.  But what happens when you find 4 girls who are equally trustworthy, fun , dynamic  and who you can completely trust and relate to?  You are once again, thankful (I know it's not Thanksgiving!), you don't question the reasons why you are so lucky, and just try to make sure they know how much they mean to you! 

Oh, and let's not forget an important detail: you have fun! TONS OF FUN! You create memories, you party, you watch all the good movies and discuss all the interesting books because your teenage years and magical and you have to remember them- even the drama, as "we are who we are because a lot of reasons", written  brilliantly in The Perks of Being A Wallflower.

I find fascinating how I have with different things in common with each one of them, and that's why I have to quote C.S. Lewis :  “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one.”

Do you have more than one best friend? Do you believe there is such thing as a best friend? And, if you finished high school , do you still keep in touch with your friends?