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Friday, July 31, 2015

Friday Fav Five


This will be my new regular post. 5 things I like/love/enjoy.

1. I passed! I passed my Delta Module One exam and I am so happy I think I might explode. A whole year of studying, practicing, doing my very best all the while trying to do it all. It was a rollercoaster and I've now reached the end of it. Module Two here I come!

2. Sara Battaglia bags. I have been fighting a desperate urge to exert my credit card on one of those beauties. Like this one in particular.
3. YogaWorks 21 days of yoga summer program. Which I should have done at the beginning of June and am now doing at the end of July. I have an online subscription with them and although I sometimes don't have time to go to their website and do a whole practice, I have been using it religiously for the past two weeks and I can definitely feel it. Go over to their website and marble at the  blissful easiness of it.

4. Forrest walks. Me, Mystery and Dudu and a whole lot of trees. My new fitness addiction. What's yours?

5. mytheresa.com has just started to sell Tom Ford. I am/have been/will always be obsessed with his stuff. I love everything about his understated elegance and wish I could afford most if not all of his creations as soon as they are produced. My winter fetish? These boots. Maybe Santa can take a hint?

Off to work.

Kiss and Peace
Miss Sinister


Tuesday, July 28, 2015

I now love this girl

I


Can you please make only bikini clad videos from now on?



Kiss and Peace

Miss Sinister

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Kid mood

Kid mood

Kid mood by greenvogueglam 

"- I'm feeling pretty kiddy today.
 - You, Miss Sinister, are not a kid. Since you do not belong to a milky white goat and I believe you were not born on some alpine pasture, you do not frolic and you do not butt and bite. You, if anything, are a child."

I was playing around on Polyvore when this very real conversation came back into my head from my high school days arguing (please read this as "having a slightly different opinion on English drama") with my English Literature Professor who never truly accepted that the English language had so successfully propagated itself onto foreign lands where it had wildly mutated into so many different variations. She was profoundly adamant to do something with my accent and with all things American that came out of my mouth, including my exaggerated use of "-ish" to create adverbs and adjectives.
A kid is a mini goat, the baby goat. So it would crack me up how every time I would say something she would make it her business to etymologically correct me and show me the exact nature of my wrongs.
She didn't used to call Miss Sinister, but she did call us Miss + Last Name. 
Oops. I did it again. Miss + Surname. 

:)
Such fun my heart yet needs to find in the surrounding reality that succeeded high school.
Some kiddo inspiration today for all you kids out there!

Kiss and Peace
An Incorrigible Miss Sinister

P.S. She did manage to inspire a lifelong passion for etymology in me so apparently not all is lost with the quirky little American sounding Romanian.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Vacation Outfit

Defying the heat in style.

Summer Outfit of the Day





Kiss and Peace
Miss Sinister

P.S. I am back on track with my training which today meant 30 min yoga, 90 min walking, 20 min crossfit. I am pooped out and at a loss for words. Will now rest my sinister mind and return with words. Lots of words.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Jennifer Hudson surprises couple at Dallas wedding





How awesome is this?

Congrats to the couple and a big BRAVO to Jennifer Hudson for one heck of a surprise!



Kiss and Peace

Miss Sinister

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Getting down and dirty about gluten


I live in Italy. The land of the 3 Ps.
Pasta.
Pizza.
Pastry.
I am gluten intolerant.

With temperatures soaring in the near 40°C/+100°F, you can imagine eating anything that requires an oven or stove for its preparation is out of the question. I just can't handle it.
And yet yesterday I had such an Italian experience. I craved for pasta. 
So I got my pan and my pot and my fresh shrimps and my own zucchini from my vegetable patch and whipped up a mean over-sized plate of pasta. Delicious.
While I was enjoying my aforementioned delicious lunch, I started thinking about food. Yeah, don't laugh. the irony...

I have been eating gluten free for about 6 years now, and through ups and downs I have to say that it is not a trend I follow, or a psychological construction deep inside my head, nor is it a way of losing weight. 
I just genuinely feel better when I am having endless amounts of gluten free stuff, sugar laced as it may be rather than a single piece of organic whole wheat bread. It's rather sad you see, because I actually love carbs. I grew up eating every possible dessert came through my grandma's chef little head.

I have a check list I put together when I first discovered my undesired and quite debilitating sensitivity. I need to constantly be aware of it when I'm cheating on my gluten free diet with real donuts and he occasional carbonara pasta.
So if I check all of the symptoms, I know I'm spiralling down into my gluten nightmare from some years back and I'll get back on the gluten free bandwagon.
These are:
- fogginess. When I first read this word I was baffled. What the f does that mean? Fogginess? Should I see misty water all around my head? My stomach maybe? Well, fogginess is when you have constant albeit minor headaches, your eyes hurt, you can't concentrate and you find yourself irritated by the silliest of things. That's my fogginess.

- aches and pains. I get these in my elbows, knees, neck and fingers. I know. It sounds weird coming from a 25 year old. I know I might be imagining it (as a doctor once famously said to me at the end of a 200$ diagnostic session). But I feel pain. And it goes away if I eat gluten free. Period.

- bloating. Constant bloating ensues, I feel like a little ballon and can't function properly for days on end, not to mention fit into my skinny jeans. This takes me to my next symptom.

- weight gain. I've heard over and over again, especially from all the allergies specialists I've seen how celiac disease makes you loose weight, not put it on. Ok. Message received. Now if somebody could go back to the drawing board and study gluten intolerance a little bit better and give me and millions of other people like me a more accurate answer that doesn't involve our imagination, it would be much appreciated.

- skin issues. Gluten free - great skin. Gluten full - skin erupts into a gazilion zits, pimples, cysts, black heads, little monsters,  a little bit of Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street...well, you get the point.

So, gluten free works for me. 
But I still have a problem. 
Gluten free stuff is synonymous to second hand taste most of the time. I'm sorry to say it but it's true. 
The stuff tastes awful most of the time, or earthy in the bad way, or too sugary, or it doesn't taste at all as what it's supposed to taste like.
Like, hello muffins that taste like my 4th grade mud experiment with cocoa inside.

So after endless experiments, I've discovered some products that actually taste good. That make you want some more. That don't make me feel weird and my buds neglected.
The list is long but these are just a few that I could think of off the top of my head. Will surely add on it.
Here they are in no particular order:
- Schar Cereal or Vital Bread.
Absolutely delicious both untoasted and toasted. 





- Nestle Gluten Free Cornflakes. They taste delicious, don't have as much sugar as normal cornflakes and cost ten times less the fancy gluten free cornflakes I used to get from the fancy gluten free store. (ugh)






 - I adore (to be read "would marry this little box if it had two legs and could make love to me, not just my taste buds") this mix. I use it all the time to make all sort of wacky cakes but I notoriously used to make my Easter Cake aka My Rainbow Surprise. Check it out if you want to be blown away by my baking talents.


It tastes great, I even regularly fool my guests who don't get it's gluten-free until I start chomping away on a piece.

- This cake mix is an excellent substitute to the above one, it costs a bit less, comes with a little recipe book and you can find it in any supermarket (at least here in Italy). I even make muffins and salty cheese cakes and such and it has performed nicely. The taste is delicious, a bit more dusty than the Schar one, but definitely worth a try.













- Number 1 chocolate cookies in the world. Gluten free of course.
I must say that they really give you a bang for your buck. They cost a little over 2 € here in Italy and they are the most delicious, the closest and definitely the most affordable little gluten free cookies out there. Lazzaroni knows their proverbial s**t.
I hate biscuits that promise to be delicious and end up tasting like chalk. These don't. So that's why they're sitting on my desk right not looking proudly at me.






- Garofalo pasta is undeniably the best. It fools my lovely, adorable, loveable, fully Italian Mystery into thinking it's Barilla and that's enough for me.














I plan to add on this list. I'll keep you posted.
If you have any suggestions please leave a comment.

Kiss and Peace
Miss Sinister

Friday, July 17, 2015

Martian Summer Heat

Summer Heat

Summer Heat by greenvogueglam

I don't know about you, but I am steadfastly melting. The air is hot, the iced drinks last for less than 2 seconds, the ground feels like something one might feel when on vacation on Mars, and clothes have become unbearable. 
As I write this, I am literally dying in my undies. Please excuse my bloggeristic nakedness.
With this cataclysmic weather in mind, I managed to put together an apocalyptic inspiration set that contains some of the basic things I would need to feel better:
- a Cosmo. Iced. Served. Keeping it coming.
- some ice-cream. Potentially whole.
- some Bvlgari earrings. One does need to stay fresh in many ways.
- flowers. That don't wilt and die within 5 minutes of entering my sauna like house.
- a new bag. For no reason. It's just sales season.

What do you need during this ridiculous heat wave?

Kiss and Peace
Slowly melting away Miss Sinister

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Summer reading - the grandpa we all wish we had


Do you have grandparents? The quirky, funny, slightly annoying kind of grandparents?
I've got an awesome pair of grandparents that I wouldn't change for anything in the world.
But if Alan Karlsson needed a granddaughter to share his adventures with, I would literally kill for him. 

This is the book that last came with me on vacation and it managed to keep me away from my vacation much more that I wish I could admit to. It was funny, unexpected, entertaining and definitely refreshing.
With temperatures soaring into the 40°C/104°F, I was reading about the Swedish geriatric adventurer that evades from his nursing home and embarks on a breathless quest towards nowhere in particular. 
Alan cracked me up, he genuinely impressed me with his unwanted, unwarranted history knowledge, much of which he's had a hand in making it history in the first place.
He is one sinister little old man. My kind of sinister. We're practically sinisterly related.
There is also money, weird twists of events and a elephant. 
Convinced yet?
You can find it on amazon.com, conveniently kindled or papered. 


Kiss and Peace
Miss Sinister

P.S. I hope someday to sit down with Mr. Jonasson, brainstorm cooky ideas, drink vodka and discuss world history. In that order.



Sunday, July 12, 2015

Have you met Ricki?


Please take a moment and watch this trailer for me.


Have you watched it?
Now. Isn't this awesome?
Finally a film that talks about life choices in a non-sexist way. The woman is a rockstar. And she leaves her kids behind and that sucks. And she finds love again. And her husband does the same. And the aforementioned kids are embarrassed by their parents. And there is a happy ending nonetheless.
My kinda movie. I'm not even gonna whine about it being a tad bit sappy.
Meryl Streep kicks ass.

 

It's coming out early August and I intend to go see it. You should too.

Kiss and Peace
Miss Sinister


Saturday, July 11, 2015

Summer reading for techless millennials


I'm a millenial. I'm expected to be comfortable with technology, ambitious and strong-minded, highly democratic and addicted to Twitter and Instagram. I am supposed to enjoy all things organic, drive an electric car, be vegan or at least vegetarian, despise big labels and revel in the wonderfulness of tiny, up and coming weird and cooky designers.
I'm expected to listen to music that is inspirational, aspirational, a form of art and enjoy videos where everybody is either 
a)naked 
b)bouncing around like they're on some sort of illegal drug 
c) not singing but performing (insert me with a raised eyebrow) or 
d) all of the above.

I'm Oana. I'm a millenial and I suck at Twitter. Like really suck at it. 
I'm partially good with Instagram, and mainly only because my dad used to own a Laica and I started taking pics when I was 5. Instagram = photographs. Ergo I'm not that bad.
I'm fiercely private about so many things I sometimes think this blog is a sort of therapy for that.
I like organic stuff if I can grow them, but I won't go completely gaga over it because I am much to self-conscious to spend 8,50€ on an organic orange juice.
I am in complete awe of big labels like Dior or YSL (I will never for the love of God, understand why they chose to turn it into Saint Laurent - I can see Yves shake his head from Designer Heaven right now), and not because they cost a heck of a lot of money. I love the people behind them. People who were creative and innovative and loved the female figure, loved fabric, and colors and dressed women for cocktail hours and created clothes you could just travel in and nothing more. 
I love me some new creative designing by some fierce millennial, but I'm subjective. It needs to fit my New Look lifelong passion, my Armani obsession, my Schiaparelli fetish. 

That's why I get Imogen Tate, the 40 something heroine in "The Knockoff" which you can millennially download via Kindle or buy online, both through the lovely Amazon.com.
I won't spoiler the story, but if you ever feel like your creative self is anything but tech savvy, then you should definitely read this book.
Absolutely adorable!

Monday, July 6, 2015

Stripped Monday Outfit

Hi little sinisters!

Hope you're having a wonderful Monday!
I have a full week planned so I started Monday with my new cotton dress (Mystery's gift for our anniversary - insert lots of little hearts), kitten heeled slingback sandals and no makeup. :P
The dress is stripped perfection with an A-line skirt that falls just above my knees, a fitted bodice and a wide belt. It also has adorable bows on both shoulders! Prada perfection.



        
Dudu always has a rough time getting up. :P

        


Off to to do my to-do list!

Kiss and Peace 
Miss Sinister


P.S. this is my 100th post!!! Yay!

Saturday, July 4, 2015

Lip Sync Battle





I've just spent half of 4th of July watching back to back Lip Sync Battle O.O

Now I will spend the other half eating, sunbathing, eating some more...

Keep you posted.

But please watch this. It's hilarious.



Kiss and Peace

Miss Sinister

Friday, July 3, 2015

Born in the Usa

Born in the Usa

Born in the Usa by greenvogueglam 


Good morning!
Are you ready for the 4th of July? 
I know I am!
Can't wait to share with you tomorrow!

Meanwhile, enjoy my morning 4th of July inspiration set!
And Bruce Springsteen's perfect behind, probably the best made in the US produce of all time!

Kiss and Peace
Miss Sinister



Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Last day #TheGreatRomanianAdventure turns into #AlitaliaMeltdown

Last day aka Doomsday



I will not bore you with the details of my very ordinary day up until 4 pm. It was lovely, my grandparents were adorable, the food was great and life was easy. 
What happened after that moment will now forever be imprinted in my memory as #AlitaliaMeltdown and/or #Doomsday.
It started out quite innocently with slight delays all round, the subway, the airport shuttle bus, the check in desk officer. It then continued with my flight being delayed a full 1 hour with the additional 10 minutes of boarding and departing. My connection was leaving from Rome an hour and 15 minutes after I was supposed to arrive, on time that is and not 1 hour 10 minutes late.
I kept insisting that they inform ground as soon as we land that there are passengers that need to catch the connection, that we are to disembark in the order of our necessity since tgere were several other passengers in my situation, that they should at least inform us how we should proceed before landing. My, I believe logical and reasonable, demands were utterly ignored. 
We landed, went through luggage control (as though one could acquire a mass distruction weapon midair and use it against the grand, the enviable, the majestic Fiumicino International Airport; all of this neatly tucked in a pint sized hand luggage next to the spare underwear and the vacation postcards), went through passport control (again, as though one could have a full makeover midair....hmmm that could be selling point Alitalia - I can see the billboard "Fly with Alitalia, you will land a different person thanks to our onboard makeover offer!") and finally wait for the blissful bus ride I mentioned on the first post about the #TheGreatRomanianAdventure that now felt like the ride from hell times 2.
Needless to say, I lost my connection.
Now, at this point, one would think my day had been bad enough and that I would finally get a break.
No.
That didn't happen. Instead what did happen was I asked for my luggage to be delivered at arrivals, had confirmation this will happen within 45 minutes, waited 1 hour and 5 minutes for it while having a meltdown on Twitter, only to discover some imbecile, moron, no good Alitalia something had already, unbeknownst to me, booked me on today's first flight to my destination, blocking my luggage as a consequence. 
Believe me, I can get angry and I can calm, I have unfortunately had to weather terrible situation and have therefore acquired a sort of calm yet malicious attitude that can get me through rough times. This isn't what happened yesterday evening. I was beyond myself, I I was ready to chomp somebody's head off, precisely the head of the aforementioned moron if only graciously pointed in his/her direction. I had been idling around Fiumicino for about 2 hours before they finally informed me there was nothing they could do for me until tomorrow and that I best proceed to the Ticket Office where they could help me with my ticket and maybe a hotel. Maybe?!?!! 
I think the "I'm ready to strangle someone with my bare hands" face ensured I "only" had to wait an extra 35 minutes before receiving a hotel reservation, a thousand unnecessary and unwanted apologies and reassurance everything will be fine the day after. 
It took an extra 45 minutes to get to the hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn thank goodness, time I spent chitchating with the bus driver, a true Roman that had a husky voice and a very opinionated mind.
"We're making perfect fools of ourselves and showing the world the worst of Rome. I truly am sorry you had such an awful time here." Ha, the voice of reason resonates where you'd least expect it. I appreciated his apology far more than the fake, rehearsed, disinterested Alitalia one.
I managed to go to bed at 1:30. A full 4 hours and 15 minutes after landing. 
Things I could done in that time?
- drove to my house. slowly.
- drove to my house and had dinner and a shower
- caught a bus and gone to my mothers, had dinner
- learnt how to fly a freakin' plane and flown myself home?
- had dinner at hotel and slept more
- killed an Alitalia someone and been arrested 
- caught my connection and be now blogging about how efficient Alitalia was

I am now sitting at the gate of my stupid, late, unwanted flight, hoping my hijacked  luggage will follow me and that this day, the last #TheGreatRomanianAdventure day will finally be over.

Kiss and Peace
Miss Sinister