Author: Oana

Center Parcs Dream Holiday

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As a young family we have learned to adjust our holiday time to suit Emma’s needs. We were foolish enough to try and take her for fancy breakfasts in five-star hotels in the beginning, oh yes, indeed! But once she started pouring her cereals on the flour and generously throwing bits of toast to appalled middle-aged couples who were trying to enjoy their Saturday breakfast in peace we knew our holidays needed a fresh approach. So now we do short city breaks and stay in family-friendly hotels and spend our summers in Greece in a rented apartment, not too far from the sea. What I have realised recently is that,although hubby has been living in the UK for 18 years and I have been here more than 7, we have never had the chance to explore England and all it has to offer in terms of holidays and places to see! So when I saw the Centre Parcs January Challenge launched by Tots100, I knew I had to have a go at it. It would …

Living Arrows: You are Loved

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This is the first time I am linking into the Living Arrows project but I love the idea behind it and the Kahlil Gibran’s poem with the same title reflects so much my parenting view and philosophy.  I am linking into it rather late into the week also,  but hey, rather late than never. I am linking into it as I stand on the brink of change, with another baby ready to pop out any minute now(hopefully!) and I feel the need to capture somehow the emotions, feelings, fears and excitement of these moments. I am also linking into Holley Gerth’s Coffee for Your Heart although I really struggled with the theme this week (You are Loved) and decided to bring into it the parenting perspective. So, here we go, beautiful girl, you are now 4 and two months and you make my heart sing every time I take the time to sit down and observe you. These last few months, from September, when you started your drama and ballet classes, your imagination blossomed. You …

Keeping the time

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I am a punctual person. Actually, if you want to stress me out completely, just give me an appointment and not enough time to make it in time for it! I am the sort of human being who knows EXACTLY how long it would take to get from A to B, mishaps, possible traffic and delays carefully considered. Also, as a driver, I would know PRECISELY the perfect route for your type of morning. Slightly delayed? Take the dual carriageway, but not after 8.55, as there are trains going past around the time. Leisurely paced?  The top road but try and avoid the North Road, schools and possible delays there… It took hubby a while to get used to me and my way of being, especially since he is the exact opposite! He leaves everything for the last moment, and I mean, the last! If you lived next to us, you would see him permanently dashing through the door, harassed look on his face and all. If you lived with us, you would have to …

Romanian Deviled Eggs

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As I said in my previous post today, it was my birthday yesterday and since hubby worked late and we didn’t get to celebrate (I got the promise of a lovely meal out once baby is born :-), I decided to make something my mum would have always made for our birthdays and other special occasions: deviled eggs, Romanian style. I know that January is a “diet” month and everybody is trying to post healthy recipes but this one isn’t actually so bad if you decided on a paleo diet rather than a traditional, low-carb and fat diet. My mum taught both my brother and I to make our own mayonnaise and I do it gladly knowing that I get to choose the produce going into my food and there are no hidden nasties. Here are the ingredients for my homemade mayonnaise: one boiled egg yolk, minced with a fork so your mayo doesn’t come out lumpy one fresh yolk, organic preferably, as it makes your mayo nice and yellow sea salt olive oil (we …

What’s the Story?

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Exciting days in our household: yesterday was my birthday and I was so relieved baby didn’t make an appearance, it would have been a bummer( for me, especially) to have to share a birthday with him, when there are other 36o-something days to choose from :-). Today is Georgie’s due date but he doesn’t seem to be in a hurry so I am taking it easy, relaxing and enjoying the last moments of calm and quiet before the big arrival. I have also used these days to reminiscence about Emma’s baby and toddler days, with their bad, their ugly and their magical moments. In my rummaging through old files and pics from long-dead phones I came across this one. I remember the day it was taken, it was an autumn day and we decided to take Emma on a short vintage train ride around the country. She must have been a bit over a year old but as you can see, she was very aware of her surroundings and boy, did she enjoy that ride …