Abusive Blog Post?

I held off from posting the last few days just because it's been a wee bit boring over here and well apparently my posts are offensive to several Facebook users; really?  A couple days ago when I went to post my link about Sibiu facebook gave me a warning and wouldn't let me link the page due to complaints of abusive material.  Sooo I apologize to whom ever I've offended, perhaps it was my last post with photos of meat, maybe an angry vegetarian?  Or my stray dog posts?  Perhaps a hurt animal rights protester?  Or maybe my posts about bringing a child overseas?  An angry mother that doesn't agree with my choices?  Ohhh or maybe a teacher that disapproves of my grammar and spelling errors?  Who knows?  Please let me know if I've pissed you off!

We spent the last couple of days hanging with Daddy on set watching all the action.  Yesterday they had over 300 extras in a market scene.  Poor Jason had to approve every single person's makeup, and a lot of the women came with the makeup loaded on, just in case they were going to get discovered :)  Needless to say Jay was so tired when he got home, the 14 hour days are killing him.

Here are a couple shots of us girls on set

Tomorrow Harlow and I travel back to Bucharest and we won't see Jason for another two weeks.  But last night we talked about signing Harlow up for some serious baby swim lessons while he's gone, so that might be fun to do together.  As always, I'll let you know how it goes.  We still haven't planned our Christmas vacation, we were thinking Italy, but may just end up staying here, it really is a beautiful country. 

Monday I'll be looking for you all on ichat, I really need to catch up with so many of you.  The internet is terrible here so I haven't been able to use my phone at all.

Have a great weekend
xoxo

Pigeon hunting in Sibiu

After 5 grueling hours on a packed bus Harlow and I made it to Sibiu.  We were both so carsick from all the twists and turns, ever seen a baby carsick?  It's the saddest thing ever because they don't understand and she kept rubbing her eyes to try and focus, poor little bug.
The drive was beautiful though, the country side was so old world with chickens in the street and little tiny houses all built along the road.  Everyone had their own crops outside, it reminded me of something out of a mothergoose story.

We drove all along a lovely canal with bridges that looked ancient

We stopped on the side of the road for dinner in a little hut.  All they served was meat, meat and more meat, that's Romania for you.  One of the girls on the bus ordered for me since no one spoke English, they made me try a popular Romanian sausage/hamburger thing, and I ordered chicken for Harlow.  It comes with bread and mustard and you eat your meat with toothpicks (ugh), it wasn't bad but way too rare for my taste.

There were about 20 dogs standing there watching us eat, which prompted Harlow to hand over her dinner to a dog with one brown eye and one blue.  One of the dogs was just a puppy and it broke my heart to see him so dirty.  He was too young to be alone.  I booked it to the bus when were through just in case I had a sudden urge to scoop that little guy up and take him home.

Sibiu is romantic!  The character on all the shops and homes is just wonderful.  Every little alleyway looks like something from a screensaver on your computer.
Harlow and I have been spending our days in the square chasing loads of pigeons around in circles.

This square reminds me of that famous one in Italy, I've never been but I've seen it in pictures.

Harlow is having a blast!  Terrible twos are on their way but in between tantrums we're finding time to laugh and play. 

The hotel is nice, we're staying at the Continental, but the 3 of us in a tiny European bed has been awful.  You know those Barbie beds where the comforter is like a square cut perfectly to fit on top?  Well that's what all the duvets have been like, we can all barely fit under it, someone, usually Jason is left in the cold; sorry baby.  No blankets no sheets.  Thankfully we can crank up the heater though.

Well the internet is acting up again and won't let me upload anymore photos so I'm going to go downstairs and get all jacked up on another one of those espressos, yum.

Miss you,
xoxo Michelle

Stray Intervention

Alright someone needs a little intervention here.  Stop taking pictures of the stray dogs Michelle!!!!

Well at least I haven't tried to capture one yet....yet is the key word there.  Don't think I haven't googled how to catch a stray, because I sure did, although the information was vague.  But come on look at those little faces, they all have so much character and every one has been so loving. They need me I know it.

You'd think because there are so many homeless dogs that everyone who has a dog here would have something like these mutts but all I've seen are pure breeds on leashes.  At the mall there were two pet shops full of pure breed puppies.  That's pure insanity to me!  Why pay hundreds of dollars when you can just walk outside and pick one?  Don't believe me, check out this picture from the park.

Nooooo those aren't dead dogs don't freak out!!!  Those were a bunch of dogs taking in the sun on a warm day in the park. There were six in the picture but thats all my little phone could fit. The park could be one giant dog shelter. And what's really wierd is no dog poop anywhere.  It's not like I've searched it out but with that many dogs using the streets as their restroom you'd think there'd be a pile on every corner.

I walk by this lonely fellow everytime we go to the park.  Doesn't he remind you of Benji?

Enough with the dogs, tomorrow we're driving 4 hours to meet Jason in Sibiu, an old German town.  It's supposed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Jason says it make Italy look unkept (pretty bold statement Jay).  He's only been there a couple hours and he can't stop raving about it so I'm excited to explore it for a week.  I'm sure there will be lots of pictures to come but he's sneak peek from the internet.

Looks like we might be spending Christmas here.

Off to pack (light of course ;)  

Till next time loves!

xoxox  

(everytime I type that a voice inside my head says "Gosssip Girl")

Birthday party in La Baneasa

Being alone on your birthday in a foreign county has been a very humbling experience.  No friends or family to high five you in a.m. before you start your day, especially when you're a day ahead of everyone else.  In fact I started my day with a screaming toddler, thanks Harlow.  Something about her having to wear her boots instead of crocs in the 40 degree weather, a battle I finally won after mentioning the word ice cream a couple times.
Now I was able to ichat with my mama for a bit, but its just not the same.
Soooooo there was only one thing left to do when you're feeling down
meditate?
or
yep that's right
 SHOP!

 Uh Oh somebody got a new jacket!!!!

Harlow and I took a cab over to the La Baneasa and spent the entire day hiking through that massive mall.  I didn't go crazy spending money because I'm cheap thanks to all those college years and when it comes down to it, it better take my breath away or it'll probably just sit in my closet collecting dust. But this jacket is a winner and it feels pretty amazing on.

After lunch I took Harlow over to the wierdo kid land in the mall.  I say wierdo because they had things I've never seen before.  You know those little metal rides that you put a couple quarters in and kids shake around in them?  Well check these ones out..

those are teacups, and if that's not wierd enough for you check out this one, even Harlow was like what?

They were giant stuffed animals that shook my little bugs butt off!!! 




Since Harlow was a sport and let me drag her in and out of every store and even was quiet long enough for me to get a manicure I treated her to a giant ice cream and these little twinkle toes.

I did have an uncomfortable experience at lunch when I was in line to order some food, apparently not everyone speaks english here and this lady was very frustrated with me.  She yelled at me and dumped all my food out and shoved my money at me.  I felt so helpless all I did was stand there and say um chicken?  Then they guy behind me started yelling at her and she made me another plate and shoved it at me.  If we were at home I would have asked for the manager but here I just felt completely stupid, so I took my food sat a table and tried not get all birthday emotional.

When I got home these were waiting for me from Jason

Thanks baby, I know it was difficult to find a flower delivery here and in between the chaos on set, thanks for thinking of me.

I'm thankful all that I have today, happy birthday to me.
Now it's time for red wine and chocolate, but first I have to get this one to bed, wish me luck!  If you get a chance checkout this video of Harlow attempting to sing Mama Happy Birthday, so freaking cute, I love her!!! Happy Mama

Gray Day in Little Paris

This morning I woke up to the sound of our laundry bag tearing, sending a week and half's worth of clothes all over the floor.  I figured that was a hint it was time to do some laundry.  After a little investigation I found a price list for laundry services, 5 euros per shirt WHAT?  That's like 10 american dollars and with as much laundry we had it probably would have cost over 100 dollars.  So the next best thing was throwing all those clothes in the bathtub with some laundry soap and doing things the old fashion way, scrub, scrub and more scrubbing.  Half way through the day I was done, there where clothes hanging everywhere, I had a couple of blisters and some incredible sore hands. 

Since it was really gray outside I bundled Harlow and I up with as many clothing articles as possible and headed for the mall.  I was looking for some sort of version of Febreze since everything smells like cigarettes and a new toy to keep Harlow busy. 

We walked through old town and in the middle of all the hustle and bustle was this handsome fellow taking it all in, I love him.

 Why do the strays have to be so lovely here?  They're tempting me, I want them all!!  I read somewhere that most airlines will let you fly dogs from Romania back to the states for free!  Guess they really them to have homes.  Seriously you've never seen so many homeless dogs, they even know when to cross the streets with all the people, you can see them standing at the lights waiting to cross.  Hmm I wonder how I could catch one, oh god then I'd really be the crazy tourist lady trying to steal the dogs.

I found this pretty little hideaway as I walking down the street, you don't see stuff like that at home.  This was an alleyway with tiny shops and restaurants.

There's antique markets all over the place.  I don't know much about antiques so I have no idea what to look for.  But I did like this guy walking around playing music in a top hat with his two pet parakeets and a tiny white mouse.  I swear the parakeets were chirping along with the music. 
Yep now I've seen it all...

It was freezing yesterday, the coldest day yet poor Harlow kept holding her hands up in the air trying to show me that they hurt, hopefully she'll learn to keep her gloves on. 

 

We had a couple of hot pretzels for lunch with loads of salt on them, yum, and for only 1 lei what a deal!  Pretzels for lunch, who knew?  I just copied everyone else standing in line at lunch time, you know so I look like I fit in with the locals.

When we finally made it to the mall we walked into Carrefour (Euro Target) and put all our jackets in a locker because they crank the heat up so high inside.  After searching every isle I couldn't understand any of the labels I bought something some kind of fabric softner spray that smelled good.  Harlow threw a major screaming tantrum because she wanted to pull the cart, they have those baskets you carry in the grocery store only the handle pulls up and it rolls on the ground.  Well she was pushing it but running into everyone and causing major traffic jams in the store so I grabbed the basket and that did it, she exploded.  Everyone was looking at me and the heat was up so high in the store my face was on fire and I'm sure my blood pressure was sky high.  Oh the joys of terrible twos.  Maybe I wouldn't have been so embarrassed if I was in my own Target but being in another country has made me a bit insecure.

Finally we made it home and the little bug was passed out.  Which gave me a nice 30 minutes to have a cup of hot tea and stuff a jelly filled pastry in my mouth, oh man I'm going to really put on some weight here ;)

Check Harlow's little winter outfit I got at this french store called Grain de Ble.  So sweet and affordable, those thick plum winter pants are insulated and we only $17, something that quality at the gap would have easily gone for $50.

Well Harlow and I are off to the park it's sunny today.

Four more months of an adventure left!!

xoxoxo

Ps didn't even spell check or reread sorry for mistakes but Harlow is pulling on my hand.

Old Town Lipscani

There's a price to pay for enjoying life on the other side of the globe. This week I completely missed Halloween, it was late in the evening that I realized heeey it was Halloween today.  Well at least I was able to throw Harlow in her cute little ladybug costume (thanks Mama Sharon)  while we were still back home for the Burbank Boo Bash. 

But now the Giants have won, freaking WON the world series and I missed that too.  Winning the world series isn't something I can repeat next year, but perhaps I can watch the games when I get back home and pretend not to know the outcome?  Ya right Michelle, never going to happen.

So Halloween night we did manage to hop in a taxi and head over to old town Lipscani.  Just listening to Jason try to pronounce Lipscani to the cab driver was worth the whole night, good job babe :)  We probably didn't need to take a taxi since it was 5 minutes away but oh the adventures when you go for a quick ride on the streets here, hold on to your hats or in our case hold on to your baby. 

Old town was lovely and packed full of hipsters out enjoying all the clubs, pubs and restaurants.
Check out the video below for a quick review of the history.  There's a portion of the video that talks about how the city wasn't sure if they should preserve or destroy the ruins within the city.  Today they decided to preserve the ruins, in the video you can see the underground arches, they've since lit them and enclosed them with thick glass so you can look down and view them from the street.  I'll try to get a photo next time we're there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUS4Bavq8co&feature=player_embedded

All the streets were cobblestone and with uber hip restaurants and hotels that have been turned into clubs.  The music was pumping and there were people everywhere.  We settled for dinner outside the pub Bordello which was built in 1714.

We ate tappas and drank the local beer Ciuc which taste pretty much like a Stella lager.  Inside the building there was the most amazing wood spiral staircase. I tried to take a picture but it doesn't even capture an ounce of how beautiful and haunting it was. I guess I should have taken it when I was at the bottom of the stairs, but then someone would have saw me, and like I said totally undercover tourist here.  Sooo use your imagination :)

We spent dinner falling in love, madly in love, even Harlow was swept off her feet by this handsome fellow.   He was one of the MANY, I'm talking hundreds of strays I've seen since we've been here.  they just lay on the streets and sleep.  The locals feed them, there are even places that collect scraps for the dogs.  Every dog I've encountered has been the sweetest most gentle creature.  We were talking and decided that if Ceasar Chavez was here he'd say the city and it's people must have calming energy that rubs off on the dogs.

 Take a look at that face, such a sweet boy.  I'm gonna find this guy again and I swear I'm bringing him home with me!

Love to all my family and friends or whoever you are reading this, let me know you're out there.

xoxo

You better shop around

Since Jason had the weekend off I felt much more comfortable exploring the city with him.
Saturday we hitched a ride over to the La Baneasa Shopping Center where all of my dreams came true.
Seriously this mall was massive and the stores were incredible.  We only made it through the first half before calling it quits.  But I'll be back, and I'm going to need a couple extra suitcases after :)

All the stores where comparable to Zara, the quality of everything seems much nicer then our crappy Forever 21 and H and M, but at a reasonable price.  There's one store in peticular called Bershka

 that had an awesome selection of super cute and affordable real leather jackets.  A wall full of flat thigh high boots that I've never even seen before and must purchase immediately, did somebody say birthday shopping?  Sorry Jason but if I have to spend my birthday here alone, I'm going to have purchase myself this little beauty, only 430 lei which converts to about 150 dollars which isn't too bad for a leather jacket.  Oh and maybe I'll need these shoes too, you know to match?  Check out the rest of their stuff, the possibilties are endless
http://www.bershka.com/coleccion.php



My other new discovery was Zara Home store, not that I can lug any housewares back overseas, but I can dream about it as I walk through their beautiful bed displays.  My style everything right down to their picture frames.  They even had a children's bedroom line with cute hot pink duvets and vintage looking pillow cases.  Jason gave me the eye when I put a beautiful knit hot pink and white blanket in my cart for Harlow.  "Really Michelle?  We're not taking that on the plane!"

Damn...





Also I discover Carrefour which I'm assuming is Europe's version of Target.  This place was crazzzy big with a full sized grocery store too.  I found one about a 20 minute walk from our place. So now I know where I can buy diapers and pretty much anything else I'll need.


  The mall 20 minutes from our apartment is called Unirea and it's really bizarre inside, almost like a giant department store but if you take a closer look they are little shops within 4 floors.  I'll probably end up spending more time here since it's within walking distance.  All this walking I can see why people eat so many carbs here, you can shed it in a matter of minutes just walking.  Everybody walks and I've seen a lot of people fall :( yesterday one woman fell so hard I heard it from across the street. So many people and the streets are old and in poor condition it's bound to happen.

But on a happier note  we found an amazing park right down the street!  It's beautiful and reminds me of Central Park with all the trees and row boats in the lake.  I took a couple pictures on the iphone located in my mobile me galley.
http://gallery.me.com/michellehamer#gallery

For now things are pretty good over here, I've got everything I need.  Now if we could just get used to the time change everything would be perfect.

Till next time, thanks for reading.

La revedere!! (goodbye