Mister "Volare"

It was an ordinary evening, around three years ago, spent in the kitchen, around pots. I suddenly stopped any activity to listen the song playing on the radio. It was something SPECIAL. Really special for me. A song I was listening for the first time. It wasn't yelled, it wasn't rushed, it wasn't exaggerated by any means. A simple, slow, touching heart, make me dream, romantic, sweet song. Exactly what a housewife needs ;-)
Back then I enjoyed those moments and I listened to that song as it was the only chance to ever listen it. When it was finished I didn't know the song's title, nor the vocalist. But thanks to Google and to "la, si, do, la, fa" I remembered from lyrics, I listened it again and again since then and still can't get enough of it. The song is Il maestro di violino.
And the singer (unknown to me until that day):

Domenico Modugno.

Yes, he's the guy, and he's the one who sang "Volare" and "Ciao, ciao bambina" for the first time. Those two songs are so popular, and he's not (probably he is popular in Italy, but internationally, not at all; or, at least, that's my feeling).
He was not only singer and songs author, but also a charming actor. He played in 45 movies, including "Il maestro di violino" and "Piange il telefono". The song Piange il telefono is one of my favorites, too.
 
I love that he was not simply singing, but he was putting a lot of passion in his music:
La lontananza, Come hai fatto, Dio come ti amo.

And he left not only huge artistic heritage, but also beautiful life heritage in his three sons Marco, Marcello e Massimo. Here singing together with Massimo: Delfini.

He surely made a better world!

P.S: thanks everyone for participating to my poll! Here are the results, showing the sad fate of a great artist not popular as much as he should...



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Happy Dragobete's Day!

Immediately after Valentine's day I've noticed strange behavior at our little Cupid girl.
I was trying and trying and trying to catch the moments on my camera, but when the camera was on, all evidences were off and that's what I was getting most of the times:

After hours and days of spying I finally have the proof of Ilaria's 1st (and I would say "inappropriate") love:

:-))

Have a Happy Dragobete's Day!
A concerned paparazzi-mama.
:-)

P.S.: Dragobete's day is a traditional Romanian Holiday, the correspondent of Valentine's day.
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One thousand gifts (part one)

I discovered recently a wonderful blog: A Holy Experience; and I read it for about a week already. It's... beautiful. A peaceful corner in our restless world. Full of wise words and gratefulness.

Blog's author, Ann Voskamp, wrote a book. A successful one in USA.

So far, I read only the 1st chapter, which she shares here. Reading it, I became even more grateful for my life, realizing one more time how blessed I am, but how, in different stages of my life, I forget to fully appreciate what I have, being too busy with wanting more...

On Mondays, Ann organizes links community, where bloggers count their blessings. 

Here I join her for the 1st time, starting to count a part of the things in my life that I am grateful for:

1. digital cameras

2. our warm home during winter

3. motherhood

4. my helpful sister and my sweet niece

5. living in a free country

6. unannounced visits (thanks, Moni!)

7. strangers who touch my soul within minutes

8. Ilaria waking up "singing"

9. watermelon

10. good doctors

11. sweet memories

12. friends calling just for asking "how are you?"

13. maternity leave (2 years, in Romania!)

14. blue jeans :-)

15. health

16. meals cooked by somebody else

17. parents and grandparents alive

18. Ilaria's dirty clothes after playing outside (they are reminders that we have a healthy child)

19. advices coming from caring people

20. anesthetic

21. pictures that make me dream

22. Skype

23. Adrian caring after Ilaria as good as a mother

24. honest people

25. Ilaria's current looooong afternoon naps ( 3-5 hours! lucky me ;-) )

26. reaching destination after long trip on crowded driveways

Have a blessed week!

Kisses!

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Have a natural week-end!

When you feel there's too much noise around you, remember there's always an escape: the peaceful part of the world, the serene nature.
It's wonderful how fast we forget our numerous and little concerns, when nature wraps its arms around us!

Last Sunday, on the frozen Noua lake:

Have a natural week-end!
Ralu & Co.

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Movies clichés

I'm a big fan of biographic movies (and books). I love reality more than fantasy. I like to know how real people lived their lives and I'm not so interested on how far somebody's imagination can go. That's why I avoid SF movies and I'm not so crazy about fantasy. Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to find a good biographic movie not being a drama, but that's another story...

I've seen enough movies to deeply set in my mind universal movies clichés, which I discover they can be so wrong sometimes. Few examples:

* the majority of coma victims come back to life 

Due to my want-to-know-everything husband, who visits HowStuffWorks.com often, I recently found out the bitter truth that only a little part of coma victims recover

* any birth is painful

I can bear witness that C-section is pretty much like "shopping" a baby.

On the other hand, I know mothers which delivered naturally, without anesthesia and they were not traumatized by the experience!

* when you get pregnant you MUST jump for joy, for few minutes

And here comes the story I want to share with you today:
We were waiting for the moment 1.5 years and I didn't jump! Long time I wondered if something was wrong with me or it was OK acting like that.

I am Sagittarius (fire sign) and Adrian is Cancer (water sign), so when I'm ready to jump (start the fire) he calms me down (pours some water). That's how it usually works in our family.

It was 5AM and I was holding my 1st so desirable positive pregnancy test. So I was ready to jump for joy. But I had Adrian beside me: "Wait! Maybe it's just a mistake. I think a 2nd test is needed." And I didn't jump...

The next 5AM I was holding my 2st so desirable positive pregnancy test. Imagine I jumped? Wrong! Now I had also my doubting mind whispering: "Wait! Doctor should confirm the pregnancy and that the egg is correctly placed (intrauterine)."

We went to the doctor. She confirmed everything was perfect! But again I didn't jump. My mind again: "Wait! The first 3 months are problematic! x% of the 1st pregnancies are lost within the first 3 months!!".

3 months of pregnancy passed. "Should I jump now? No, wait! Have you ever heard about toxoplasmosis? What about Down syndrome?"

And so on...

In fact I never literally jumped for being pregnant with Ilaria. And I'm sorry for this. But I'm sorry only because I've been taught by movies that jumping is the "normal" behavior and.. who doesn't dream for a life like in movies?

A cliché which I didn't tick off and I'm a little frustrated because of it. Stupid, I know! But still frustrated a little...

We were keeping in our storeroom a bottle of wine bought during our honeymoon (July 2006). In October 2009, when Ilaria was born, the bottle was still there, intact. I would have drank it 1000 times, but every time Adrian was calming me down not to open it. "It's not THAT gala now." I was starting to accept the idea that we would probably open it when Ilaria would get married or when she would have her 1st baby. But not. I finally convinced my husband that 1 month of Ilaria's life here, on Earth, was really THAT gala and we could finally allow ourselves to "jump" for our greatest lives' gift: Ilaria. And we opened the bottle in November 2009 :-)

My opinion is that movies, the same as commercials, try to teach us which is the "standard" life. But many times, we get disappointed after comparing our lives with movies or commercials.
...Or maybe it's just our impression here and we forgot the carefree joy, because of too much information!?
What's your opinion? 
And by the way... are you a "jumper"?

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Happy Valentine's day!

 

With ♥, Ilaria (the sweet tired and hungry Cupid girl)

......

After a good sleep and a tasty meal, with a little part of the hearts I shot today. And, as you can see, I'm still on duty! ;-)

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New sounds and word

Ilaria discovered she can use her tongue to make even more interesting sounds, in addition to the already spoken "tata" and "mama":

On Monday, on Mommy's insistence, she said her 3rd word ever: "carte" (book)! As stated before, this girl promises so much already ;-)

Have a nice week-end!

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Beetroot salad

What you need:

For a 4 person salad you need 4-5 medium beetroot. You bake them into the oven. (Mine were already baked when I took the above picture.)


Peel and cut the beetroot in cubes:
 


Scrape the horseradish:
 


Add salt, olive oil, vinegar and water. Be generous with salt and vinegar. And with water; you will be surprised how thirsty beetroot can be, because it is dehydrated after it was baked. So, in order to have a juicy salad let it stay for few hours before consuming it. Most probably some more water will be needed to be added.
 

Usually in our house this salad is served with chicken schnitzel.


Pofta buna!
(Bon appetit!)

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I would freeze time NOW

Back in my childhood I remember hearing adult people saying in the background, with nostalgic voices: "childhood... these are the most beautiful years!". We were playing carefree, without understanding the real meaning of those words, not feeling the time passing fast at all and, of course, feeling immortal. Summer holidays (15th June - 15th September) were for me entire lifetimes, passing slow, full of activities and I was even forgetting the hand write. I was having a big problem when starting school after the long summer holiday: it was hard for me to distinguish between "E" and "3".

Back then I didn't feel like they were "the most beautiful years", as I didn't have what to compare them to.

Then, when in high school and university, I heard again the same words: "these are your best years! young + healthy + carefree = fun". But again I didn't feel those years were my best ones. I think I was hoping: "something even better should come for me!".

I don't know what's in store for my future and since nothing is guaranteed, ask me NOW about freezing the time! Yes, that's the very stage of my lifetime when I would press "pause" button on my life's remote if I would have something like this.

I'm sure for me motherhood is the waited "best part of my life". And, on the other hand, I don't feel so immortal anymore :-) And I think that's another key toward the conscious happiness.

I would freeze time now, to live forever similar stories like these:

* me working on my gobelin, while Adrian and Ilaria are running through the house, chasing each other and laughing loud. These are moments when I think to myself: "what more I could ask from life? really nothing! health and a happy family are enough to declare myself the happiest!"

* I love how Adrian sets up Ilaria's chairs in the evening, after she falls asleep:

We call this image: "Baby bar closed. Sorry, we serve but water until tomorrow morning 8AM"

* we've been promoting hardly our titles ("mama" & "tata") lately. Yesterday morning I was blessed to hear "mama" for the 1st time in my life! Until then, Adrian was proud to be preferred in Ilaria's dialogues:

    ** the 1st time I've heard a clear "ma..." it was followed by a "...ta" :-))

    ** once, while speaking on the phone with Grandma from Sighisoara, Ilaria was asked by Grandma to say "mama" and she answered back with "tata", 5 times in a row :-))

P.S.: thanks to all of you who participated at my 2nd poll. Here are the results:

I'm happy to see that I have traditional readers who still enjoy the fun of snow sledding.

@ the 3 of you who answered "No": maybe you should seriously take into consideration buying a sledge. Global warming is not a joke and who knows how much time is left for us to enjoy snow!?

Kisses!

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"Let her sleep...

...for when she wakes, she will move mountains." (adapted quote by Napoleon Bonaparte)

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