Author: Oana

#JeSuisCharlie

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So, it has happened again. People who have been perceived as the “enemy” of a certain religion and life philosophy have been mercilessly annihilated today in Paris. 12 of them in total. Journalists. Cartoonists. People good with their colouring pencils, for goodness’ sake! What made them so threatening? So menacing? So offensive? Was their crime of joking about “serious” things and making a ridiculous philosophy into the laughing stock of the elite of the Parisian society so grave that punishment could be DEATH only???? Have we evolved from nothing to nothing? Have we not learned our lessons from the Holocaust? From the crusades? From the recent beheadings in Syria? We all have opinions. Divergent opinions. We are entitled to have opinions. We are entitled to have different opinions. God have us all heads to use in order to form opinions. Personal opinions. BUT our opinions don’t represent who we are. They are the result of our life experiences. Our upbringing. Our culture. But they are not US. So when someone makes fun of our ideas, …

What made our Christmas beautiful: Febreze Winter Scents

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I need to give credit where credit is due and mention the people who made our Christmas beautiful, despite the painful circumstances and the unbearable built up to it. We enjoyed immensely having people over on Christmas day. People like us, with no family living here and nowhere to go to on Christmas day. People who would have been lonely otherwise. We were told we were being kind but in all honesty, it was as helpful for us as it was for our honoured guests. It filled a dreaded day with companionship, laughter and chat. And good food, loads of it, was consumed :-). I love cooking for a crowd and I was so pleased they all enjoyed their meal. What also made our Christmas period enjoyable was surrounding ourselves with nice things, beautiful decorations, soothing music and having the house smelling lovely. It was a treat for the senses and everyone who came to visit us over the holiday period mentioned the beautiful smells in the house. I have that to thank Febreze for, …

Anassa Boutique – Navy Kimono Dress Review

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I can hardly contain my excitement as I am about to write my very first fashion review on the blog! And of a Greek boutique based in the suburbs of Athens, of all places! Ioanna, from Anassa Boutique, was very sweet and prompt in sending me a dress of my choice from their website. I went for their Kimono denim dress, as I found it chic enough to be worn as a evening dress but comfortable enough to function as a day dress as well, with the right accessories. Here is my take on it, as a beautiful day dress: The back has a spectacular V-neckline at the back, which is guaranteed to turn a lot of heads if worn with a pair of smoking hot high heels for a night out. For obvious reasons, I couldn’t take a picture of it as me as a model but keep an eye on our Instagram page, I may ask hubby to act as my photographer on our next outing and snap me in it. The dress …

Today, I remember

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Today, as every single day since last July, I remember. A bump and the promise of the fulfilled dream of a complete family: A little baby boy, so cuddly and new and loved and wanted, A dream of a boy, so sweet and so happy to just be: A cough and sleepless nights and This ominous, nightmarish feeling, lurking closer and closer. A sick little boy, so helpless and fragile, A fight so big ahead someone so very small. A precious baby boy who taught us how to smile, in spite of all pain and sorrow A little boy who never ceased to amaze his nurses, his doctors and his parents Who sparkled bright on that horrid cancer ward Who grinned in the face of death, Proving it wrong: A little boy who left us waaaaay too soon, with hearts too empty to ever fill again A baby boy who will forever live in our hearts Who will forever be loved Never forgotten Always cherished and treasured and ALIVE With hearts full of sorrow, we …

Where’s the party at?

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If you follow Mama’s Haven on Instagram, you know by now that as a family, we have spent the last three days travelling in the South of Ireland. Our love for adventure, Dublin and everything Irish is nothing new but this time, we have been asked by Hotel Direct to give them a mention in relation to their New Year’s Eve campaign. The campaign aims to look at and debunk certain myths regarding eight of the biggest cities in the UK. Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh, Leeds, London and Manchester all get a mention and all get featured (and compared), but not maybe for the reasons we would expect them to! Looking at a number of criteria, including the average cost of a hotel room, the average cost of a pint and club entry and number of pubs per square mile, the low-cost accommodation specialist tries to determine the best place to party this New Year’s Eve. So, for example, if you are a foodie, like me, your natural choice would be, according to the …