♪ Paradise - Big Sean ♪

I know I still got many posts to write about Sicily, but the reason I'm behind schedule is the Untold Festival which I attended in Cluj Napoca (I can't wait to also write a post about it, it was an incredible experience!!).

Tomorrow I'll be 21 (Where does the time fly?? I remember being 15 when I wrote my first post for this blog!) and I'm glad I'm sharing my favorite day on my Sicilian trip on this occasion!  Whenever you ask someone about their favorite spot in Sicilia, they instantly reply: Taormina! Naturally, it ended up being our favorite place as well, we went on three different days there and I would still love to visit it few more times in my lifetime.

I loved the streets just as much as I loved the streets in Florence and Paris 

(therefore, they made it into my top 3 list) probably because of the multitude of colorful flowers and beautiful buildings. The Botanical Garden is also breathtaking, but what really stands out is the Ancient Theatre of Taormina. It's a view I'll never forget, we just really couldn't bring ourselves to leave it!! You had the magical theatre, with the sea and the Mount Etna in the background. I just felt infinite staying there and contemplating. At some point, we stopped to get some refreshments and I finally tried the famous cassata Siciliana - I took it as personal challenge because it's told to be the sweetest dessert in Sicilia, and I'm never one to back down haha! It's actually a sponge cake moistened with fruits juices and with ricotta cream between the layers (the same recipe for the canolli filling cream) and covered in marzipan (green usually). Everyone found it to be too sweet, but I went crazy for it! In Taormina I also found the wallet of my dreams, at Furla, on a sale, which I got for myself as a birthday present.

After Taormina, we went to Savoca, a mountain village where scenes from Godfather Part 1 were filmed ( Michael's wedding was not actually shot in Corleone, as it's stated in the movie) and we actually had a delicious lunch at Bar Vitelli , the famous bar where Michael meets Apollonia's father (who owns bar Vitelli in the movie). I've never heard of crostone before, and I love it! I didn't find it in other parts of Sicily and Bar Vitelli also had the best strawberry granita I've ever had in Italy. Aside from Bar Vitelli, it was also beautiful to walk on the roads Michael and Apollonia would walk (with the horde of aunts behind them haha). I chose a light blue dress from Zara for that day, which was a birthday gift from my best friend last year, which made the heat bearable!

“The idea is not to live forever, it is to create something that will.” 

― Andy Warhol

Our second day in Sicily was a full one! My uncle made this genius schedule- one full day when we would arrive at the hotel late at night, always followed by a lighter day when we'd arrive at the hotel at 5 PM and have some time for the pool ( I still miss the pool so much, it was the best!).

We started with the historical Syracusa. I'm sure you've heard about Syracuse from Ancient Greek tales, and it is also the birth town of Archimedes, the brilliant mathematician. The amazing part about Syracuse is that it has an astonishing archaeological Park (it's an UNESCO heritage site) where you can see the Ancient ruins - you can't imagine how big it actually is, and it was particularly hard for us to visit it because we went to Syracuse on our hottest day in Sicily and at some point when we ran out of water I was getting kind of dizzy. Thank God for my straw hat, I don't know what I would have done without it in Sicily! I loved the Greek and Roman theatre in Syracuse but I was most impressed by the Ear of Dionysius (photos after the break)- it's an unique cave, I was amazed about its shape and size.

The old town of Syracuse is called Ortigia and to me it was like a totally different town, tourists usually say it's the most magical part of Syracuse and I agree! The residents of Syracuse usually take their passeggiata in Ortigia and who wouldn't, considering the fact there is a breathtaking Piazza del Duomo (I couldn't stop taking photos of the Duomo, it's an exemple of brilliant architecture) ,the Fountain of Arethusa and some unique views over the sea. I also ate the best Nutella ice cream in Ortigia- ever since I came home from Sicily I couldn't bring myself to buy Nutella ice cream because I'd rather remember that taste!

After Ortigia, we went to a beautiful town called Noto - it resembled with Ortigia, especially the style of the churces but it had a certain air, I could walk for days on its cobbled streets! I also had my first cannoli in Noto and I have to say I prefer a ricotta cannoli over a chocolate or vanilla one, to my surprise. But what left me speechless was how lucky we were- there was a pop-up exhibition in Noto of one of my favorite artists -ANDY WARHOL (Andy Warhol e Noto- il barocco immaginario) . Three years ago I started to be really into pop art and I read a lot about his work, but what ultimately made me a fan of Andy Warhol the man, artist part aside, was the book he wrote - The Philosophy of Andy Warhol. I was a teenager, and you know how certain books shape your future adulthood? This book was it for me! It was so profound yet written in a light way, with a genius sense of humour. I was like a kid in the candy store, I couldn't stop looking of Andy's sketches dedicated to the legendary Cecil Beaton, that Mick Jagger Interview cover, the Velvet Underground cover and all Marilyns and Campbell soups! I honestly never wanted to leave the exhibition, having so many of his famous works in one place made me ecstatic!

I usually mix photos up in travelling posts, but I chose to place them cronologically this time, so I could write notes on what can you see in each town.

♪ ScHoolboy Q, Kanye West - THat Part ♪

I got back from Sicily last week and it took me a while to get all my photos in order and decide how to write about this incredible experience. I decided to make my first post about the hotel we stayed in, because I truly believe the whole experience wouldn't have been the same without the hotel of my dreams, as I call it now.  Sicily (Sicilia in Italian) is an astonishing island, full of ancient history, breathtaking architecture and unique gastronomy (so many famous Italian dishes have been invented in Sicily like arancini, cannoli, granita- I'll make sure to post about the food in the near future).

I usually don't blog about the places I stay in, I use TripAdvisor to leave reviews, but I loved the place we stayed so much! My aunt and uncle read about agriturisimo (agritourism) being all the rage in Sicily lately and they found La Terra dei Sogni. Located in Fiumefreddo, it's a really cosy and intimate place to spend your holiday because there aren't so many rooms. The hotel is placed in the middle of citrus groves, hence the fresh orange and red orange juice at every single breakfast and the possibility to eat fresh orange or tangerine from the trees whenever you feel like. The room was so spacious, but what we ultimately loved most was the pool area. It was the best pool I've ever swum in, the water was so clean and warm and you could easily view Mount Etna. I need to set one thing straight- location wise, it's the perfect one as long as you have a car. We read a lot about Sicily before going there, and I strongly believe you can't visit the whole island without one (there were days when we'd go 400 km, it's a really big island) and I also heard the bus schedule can be unreliable in Sicily. Fiumefreddo is right next to Giardini Naxos ( the ultimate golden sand beach Sicily has) and Taormina- the best thing there is to visit in Sicily, in my opinion.

Outfit wise, I'm wearing my Zara bodysuit I blogged about in my last post. The shorts are from H&M, two days before leaving for Sicily I realized I didn't have any shorts so I went to my local store and found two perfect pairs for the holiday. I really love their print, they're so fun to wear! All the photos from this post were taken at the hotel.

♪ Pop Style - Drake & The Throne (a.k.a Jay Z & Kanye) ♪

We took these photos after my Microbiology exam. It was the 1st of June, International Children's Day and although I had only slept 3 hours prior to the exam, I couldn't help it...I had to take a photo with this funny garden gnome, because Drake's verse "All I do is hang with the young and heartless" kept popping into my mind. Still, I had 3% battery and no space in my Iphone, so my cousin Ioana had to work her magic with 10 shots before my phone refused to collaborate.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, then you must be familiar with one of my style obsessions: palazzo pants. I got most of them from Zara, and this polka dotted pair has earned its place in my heart. I'm one of those women who love to wear long skirts/dresses/pants in summer and I actually don't find it uncomfortable at all because I only buy them in light and breezy fabrics.

The second item in my outfit I would like to discuss today- it's been a big trend this spring in all the high street shops - THE BODYSUIT. Did Beyonce started the frenzy with her IVY PARK sold-out bodysuits or it was just high time for the bodysuits to make a comeback  and Beyonce just followed the trend set by the big fashion houses? The fact is, that every season I would complain to my mom and my friends "There are no bodysuits this season either!". My obsession with them came from the fact I love to wear skirts a lot, and some of them...well, tank tops don't always cut it, because they don't quite stay in place. But I kept faith..I knew there would be a day when Zara and H&M would be filled with them haha...Imagine my shock in April when I found them at Zara TRF in all the shapes and colors! The one I'm wearing in these photos has the best fabric I've come across so far, and I'm so sad it didn't come in more colors. It's so great on your skin and I love the fact it's like a backless top. 

I only bought three bodysuits so far, because I wanted to get a bigger picture of my closet- "What would I wear the pink one with? " "What about the tangerine orange? You never wear this shade"- but now that the sales have started I've come to the realization my beloved bodysuits are leaving forever (okay, for a few seasons, I have to stop being so melodramatic). Therefore, I'm going to stock up on bodysuits.  Tangerine orange, black lace, navy striped bodysuits, here I come!!

♪ The World is Yours - Ty Taylor (music from the show Vinyl ) ♪

You never know what the future holds. Last year has been strong proof of this statement for me. I truly wanted to blog, at least during the holidays, but deep down I knew I wouldn't be able to do so because of the syllabus in my university for the 2nd year. Each Med School chooses the subjects you're supposed to study differently. The structure is different in Romania, but it's sort of like I just finished the pre-med phase, and I'll start with the hospital in the 3rd year.  Therefore, I had 11 exams this semester and roughly 4 weeks to take them and it's been my biggest challenge yet, because everything is so important! From Microbiology to Immunology, I consider all these subjects essential for a future doctor, so I had to make many sacrifices this semester (no blog, no movies, no Vogues, no Rainbow Rowell books -  I did make time for my ultimate guilty pleasure though, Game of Thrones) but I truly believe it was the right decision. 

Now I'm finally enjoying my summer holiday, I've seen so many movies, TV shows and read two books and I figured it was about time to blog. S. actually took these photos on our Easter holiday, when I found this amazing jumpsuit at Zara. I'm mad about jumpsuits thanks to Devon Finestra from the HBO show Vinyl. I was obsessed with this show, produced by Martin Scorsese  and Mick Jagger and I'm still shocked it just got cancelled yesterday. What you may notice is the fact that I've quit my ultimate love- my long hair for a long bob. I knew I couldn't have my long hair forever because it always falls when I'm stressed and Med school is the definition of stress, but from a necessity

this haircut turned into a big love of mine. It's so easy to wash it and I can always opt for curls when I feel like doing something different. I also wear bold lipstick now, which is a big change for someone who bearly wore lip gloss last year, but everything  changed when I walked into a Mac.  A lot of things are different  about me now  actually, but I'm going to tell you more about it in my future posts.  

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

- Paulo Coehlo, The Alchemist

I read this for the first time five years ago, when I started high school, and it stuck with me. Fate, luck, blessings, karma, we all believe in something. My 20th birthday sure felt like a blessed day. I always had this idea about me shooting next to an oleander when in Greece. Couple of years ago, I missed this opportunity when I visited Thassos. This year, one day before my birthday I found in Rhodes the last Oysho dress I've been dreaming about all summer at  50% off.  'All I need now is a tree' I told myself and the next day, there I was, walking on the magic streets of the Old Town when something pink caught my peripheral vision. Not only it was the biggest and most beautiful oleander that I've seen in Rhodes, but it was also on a quaint street, away from the tourist cram. Whenever I look at the photos I remember Stephen Chbosky's brilliant line from 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' and I swear I was infinite.

♪ Moonlight Breakfast- My baby ♪

Oh my, summer is over and I just can't believe it! I've had the worst last day of summer this year with some unexpected health issues but I'm well now. Before the health scare I had some amazing days though: I had a slumber party with my best friend (= movie marathon, playing lots of cards, cocktails and delicious pizza), lots of night rides, saw 'Paper Towns' -it's the only book by John Green I haven't read and I loved the movie, although I read that the movie is disappointing compared to the book aand: I got to see my favorite Romanian band play live- Moonlight Breakfast. I was so excited and they were magic, it's such an exhilarating feeling to know all the lyrics by heart and be able to enjoy top quality music!

Just one day before the concert, I got a very special delivery: my JORD watch! JORD is an incredibly creative company that designs wooden watches . When they contacted me for a collaboration I was over the moon because I've wanted a wooden watch for some time and I thought it was the sweetest way to mark my 20th birthday. I chose the 'Ely Maple' , a timeless and feminine piece. When I received it I was most surprised about its lightness - sometimes I forget I have it on my wrist! I also fell in love with the the type of wood they use for this model- maple, so suave.

I admire everything this St. Louis born company stands for- they chose one particular path in the watch industry- the wooden watches and they never stop creating new shapes, finding new types of wood and dying their models in vivid colors. It's true I chose a neutral tone (you know me and my obsession with nude shades) but you should check their Wooden Watches For Sale to see their scarlet red ones, so alive and playful! I also love the attention my watch has gotten, everyone is surprised to see a wooden watch and couple of my friends actually started wishing to get one as well- should I hope for a 'Wooden Watch Club' in the near future?

The Medieval Town of Rhodes is one of the most enchanting places I've ever visited! It has about 200 streets with no names, so it was a real pleasure getting lost there a couple of times (although mom was genuinely scared). Most of the times you'll get around thanks to the many maps they have in the city, but in case you panic you can ask for the Sokratous Street, which is their main street, with tons of souvenir shops, local furs and leather stores. The old town has ten gates, and I recommend you enter it via Amboise Gate, the one near the Palace of the Grand Master because it's near the New Town (the high street shops are 5 minutes away from this gate) and you reach the top of the Sokratous Street, so the only way is going down the hill, which makes for a casual walk. Once you've reached the end of the street, and you're at the Liberty Gate, you can exit the Old Town and you're in the port. Couple of hundred metres on the seafront and you're at the place where the famous Colossus of Rhodes used to be- now there are two towers with dears which show where the feet of the Colossus used to be- I was genuinely impressed, especially because I was obsessed with the seven wonders of the world back when I was nine.

I've included an overload of photos in this post, because there are so many beautiful places I discovered on the quaint streets, so I really felt like I should share my travel tips with you, as always. The ice cream in the Old Town is divine, it's the first place where I've found orange ice cream and I swear it was like a frozen orange fresh, so good. Also, I've seen the most incredible garden: Sokratous Garden, a place with lovely greek deco, great beverages and an impressive amount of orange trees, lemon trees, mostly every tree viable in Greece you can imagine. I've included travel notes above most of the photos in this post.

Fashion wise, it was a really hot day so I chose my white Zara skirt because of its light fabric and my new nude sandals. I've had the hot pink top for two years now, yet I never had anything to match it with until this summer. Of course, you don't stand a chance without having a hat on in the sun, so I wore my new hat, the one I wrote about here.

♪ Parov Stelar - The Sun ♪

I've just started to sort all my photos from Rhodes (I didn't realise I took so many until a couple of days ago my iphone didn't let me take any because my memory was full)- the thing is Rhodes is so charming, full of beautiful beaches, rocky mountains, astonishing trees that it's hard to resist the urge to snap everything you see, and I'll make sure to post the travel photos in the next posts.

We stayed in Ixia, a really popular resort which is near the capital, so every night we'd usually end up wandering on the quaint streets of the Old Town of Rhodos. Ixia is most known for the powerful waves the Aegean Sea has in the area, so most people choose it as a destination for windsurfing. Therofore, you can't really swim for a long time because of the water currents, but that doesn't mean you're going to have a bad time if you don't know how to surf! Me and my family made up a lot of fun games, like fighting with the waves, who can stay more still without being carried by the waves and it just doubled the fun! Of course, the Mediterranean Sea in Lindos is so quiet and clear that we rented cars for two days and went to the beach there, because sometimes you need a good old-fashioned swim (more on the city of Lindos in a future post).

As for my beach attire, every year I promise myself I won't buy another beach dress. This year I couldn't help it either, because I finally found my dream dress: a butterfly shaped one, white, with adorable details and a really good price from Marks & Spencer.  As for the hat, I was going to "Mission Impossible : Rogue Nation" with my family two days before we left for Rhodes  and I was complaining how I never find a summer hat. Two minutes after this talk, we pass the C&A windows and I see it. After the movie,  I rush to the store and it's nowhere to be found, except on that mannequin in the window. It was a whole adventure, because it was the last one and it didn't have the tag so they had no way to scan it. Fortunately, they managed to find the code in the end and I have to say the hat saved me from the unbearable heat we had in Rhodes! I got the sunnies last year from Accessorize and I still adore them and the swimsuit is from Oysho.

♪ New Day- Jay Z & Kanye West  (Watch the Throne)♪

I've always loved birthdays, but I have to admit I was freaking out a bit about my 20th. I finally feel like it's the absolute end of the teenage years (funny now, what should I do about the name of the blog? When I started it in the 9th grade I was like "I'm gonna name it 'Teen Fashion Diary' because most likely it won't last more than a couple years"). Young adult life: ON. I live far from my family now, I'll have a car with me at the university starting this fall, I have to cope with being on the budget and focus on my studies. 

Fortunately, turning 20 was actually an incredible experience: it was on the last day of my holiday in Rhodes: I had a good swim in the morning, an amazing lunch with my family at my favorite place in Ixia, Elysee and a long walk in the old town of Rhodos where I did a special shoot (you'll see it soon, you know how I love to mark my birthdays on the blog with photo shoots).

And the most unexpected thing about my birthday: the gifts. I usually post one photo on Instagram and that's it, but yesterday I was in the mood of taking photos and nobody ever wants to model for me (yes, lil' sis, I'm talking about you) so I ended up taking these shots.. You see, this year even my parents and best friends gave me my birthday gifts with a month in advance- and I'm grateful because I got to use my iphone 6 an extra month of my summer vacation this way. Before we took off for Rhodes, my cousins came up with a surprise: they got  me 'Fangirl' by Rainbow Rowell and some amazing 'Game of Thrones' posters. Rainbow Rowell in honestly my favorite author at the moment and this book is perfection.What never ceases to amaze me about Rainbow Rowell is that you can always find yourself in her main characters. Still, Cath, the heroine of 'Fangirl' remains the one I can relate to most: maybe it's her sense of humour, or the 'Kanye emergency parties' she throws, or the fact that she writes fanfiction with an astonishing devotion and has a romanticized idea of love. 

When I arrived in Rhodes and found so many great shops I made the decision to get some gifts for myself from my savings. As much as I love the gifts from my family, they don't see the point in getting an YSL lipstick for example and I just wanted to spoil myself a little in order to remember this birthday forever.
I feel blessed and I want to thank all my loved ones for always supporting me and making my 20th birthday the best!

Over the years, we have debated a lot on this blog about weddings: the right dress, where to find a cool bridesmaid dress, the perfect hairstyle and yet I seem to have missed one important thing...can you guess it? I was talking to a friend the other day about the comedies I've watched lately and I couldn't help but wonder if the engagement party is a big deal for most brides, like American movies seem to indicate. This led me, of course, to the question: What does the future bride wear? I started to play around in Polyvore, looking for dresses which would be right for an engagement party , taking in consideration different personalities and then it hit me: the outfit has to make THE RING stand out. 

That's right, we never discussed the ring. Maybe it's because women are not the ones who choose it. I suddenly became really curious if one could order an engagement ring online. It turns out it's a really popular option nowadays and one affordable brand got my heart! You know I love shopping online and discovering new sites. I love to read about their story, go through most of their online stock, search for its presence in the social media etc. Jeulia is the brand I discovered, and its story is so sweet and sincere: the owners were classmates in college and lovers. They both dreamed of opening a jewelry store and when they graduated they promised each other that when their dream would come true, they would finally marry. The husband thought of the name "Jeulia" because his wife is named Jolie (and let's face it, it's also a great reference to jewelry!). I just melted when I read their story, and I fell in love even more with their engagement rings!

The Jeulia rings are stunning, and they come in so many different styles and colors! I have to confess I never saw a black diamond engagement ring before, I honestly think they're so cool, which is why I had to include my favorite in one of the collages I made (for the "Punk Rock bride"). Although they are known for their engagement rings, they have expanded in both in necklaces and bracelets areas (the EKG golden chain is so rad!).

So, let's talk about four different styles of engagement outfits and about their matching rings, of course: