3, 2, 1… 24! [en]

One year ago I started early with my preparations for that time of the year. You know, when your birthday is right around the corner and all you can think about is how you want it to be this year, and you can’t wait to see all the people you love under the same roof and just enjoy your time.

Last year, I made my wish-list one month before, just in case. I enjoyed special moments with my people then. And, even if some relationships have changed since then, my memories stay beautiful, and the surprise they gave me – unique. I was really sorry for letting them wait for me in front of the door, for 2 whole minutes, while they had my ice cream cake ready and the candles lit on it. They were so cute, and when I played the recording and saw that they were so close to losing hope, aww………….. But all is well when it ends nice 🙂

anamariapopa.com blog post ziua mea 16 decembrie sagetator happy birthday princess ice cream bubblegum marshmallow cake tort inghetata

Now, one year later? My wishes remain the same. I don’t wish for material things. My most precious present are my people, the people that I have in my life. If some of them decide to be a part of it for a long time, I appreciate them. And for those who leave, that’s it, it’s their end in my story and I become happy for the experience I had with them. Anyways, I am gonna add to my last year’s wish also – I’d like to get to know people that know the meaning of being human, and not in how they look. But in the way they act, people who are open-minded, who know how to make best use of the soul they’ve got, who like to communicate, who know what respect is.

And I would also like to add one more thing! At 23 years old, at the end of the most screwed up year of my life, I realised that no matter what happens in this life, no matter what I win or lose, nobody can take away my experiences, the stories I’ve lived. So I set a goal in this life – to live a life full of experiences worth telling, no matter the closure.

Unlike last year, I now find myself in Austria, far away from my lovely people. But they somehow manage to make me not feel the distance, and to still feel them close to my soul. These are my people, the people that hold a special place in my heart. And I only wish for them to stay there as much as possible, because I really like it the way I feel now.

As to the rest, happy wishes to everyone, no matter the age or place! 😀

25 years of Pretty Woman

So this is what a 25 years difference does to a cast. They look pretty good, huh?

pretty woman 25 years celebration julia roberts richard gere amp blog anamariapopa.com ana maria popa

 

I was fascinated with Julia Roberts when I was little, people told me I looked like her and I always thought she was pretty, so that was a huge compliment to me 🙂

Funny thing – I read so many funny things about this movie today, that I had to share of them that made me giggle.

 

It's not Julia Robert's body on the poster. Her head was cut and photoshoped on the body of the famous body double, Shelley Michelle.

1. It’s not Julia Robert’s body on the poster. Her head was cut and photoshoped on the body of the famous body double, Shelley Michelle.

2. The original title of the movie was ‘3000$’, as in the money she was supposed to receive after the night spent with the business man.

3. On the poster, Richard Gere’s hair looks dark, but in the movie he’s got grey hair.

4. Julia Roberts’s character, Vivian, was supposed to be a drug addict, modest and ill-educated girl. But in the end, they went the other way.

5. Initially, Vivian was supposed to be played by Molly Ringwald.

5. Initially, Vivian was supposed to be played by Molly Ringwald.

6. Al Pacino was offered the role of Edward and he turned it down.

7. Julia Roberts was treated like a princess on the set – the director, Gerry Marshall himself, gave her a massage and tickled her for two scenes where Roberts was so tense that a vein popped on her forehead, and the other one when she was supposed to laugh.

8. The scene with the necklace was an improvisation of Richard Gere when he closed the jelewery box on Julia Roberts's hand.

8. The scene with the necklace was an improvisation of Richard Gere when he closed the jelewery box on Julia Roberts’s hand.

9. The necklace on the same scene was custom-made for the movie and worth a quarter million dollars.

10. The car in the movie was a Lotus, because Ferrari and Porsche denied to have their cars in this movie. And that was because neither of them wanted to be associated with prostitution.

10. The car in the movie was a Lotus, because Ferrari and Porsche denied to have their cars in this movie. And that was because neither of them wanted to be associated with prostitution.

11. Richard Gere stated back in 2012 that ‘Pretty Woman’ was his least fav movie… Oh 🙁

12. The movie is the 4th highest romantic comedy in American history, with approx. 180 million $. Only ‘Hitch’, ‘What Women Want’ and ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ top that.

13. Julia Roberts was nominated for Oscar – Best Actress and it was the only Academy Award nomination this movie received.

 

I’ll leave you with the oh-so-famous soundtrack, where the movie also got its title from – Roy Orbinson-Pretty Woman 🙂

Happy Nutella Day!

We have a day for everything these days… We celebrate even the weirdest things, from toothaches and having ice cream for breakfast to losing pennies and working naked (wtf?!)… And these are only a few of the celebration days we’ve got this month…

So, let’s take a day to celebrate Nutella too, in 2015 it’s got its 9th anniversary! 🙂

The World Nutella Day was created in 2007 by an American blogger and it has its own website – www.nutelladay.com, its own Facebook page – here, its own Twitter account – here and also its own hashtag on Twitter – #WorldNutellaDay.

Well, history tells us that it was in 1940s that Nutella got on the market and despite the many imitations, couldn’t be replaced since. Apparently, at some level, we can thank Napoleon for the creation of Nutella, when he tried to freeze out British commerce and left the chocolatiers in big trouble. These started adding chopped hazelnuts to the chocolate in order to stretch the supply as much as possible. The result? A pasta named Gianduja.

In the WWII, the Italian pastry makes, Pietro Ferrero once again created Pasta Gianduja, that was originally a solid block that could be sliced and served on bread. The Ferrero Rocher company is the one that owns Nutella now, of course.

Pasta Gianduja afterwards became known as Supercrema when it went from the solid block of chocolate and into a spreadable chocolate cream. It was renamed Nutella in 1964 when the product was first introduced to the UK. So the name turned 50 years old last year, wow!

After a bit of history, I’ll leave you with the most funny/weird things to know about Nutella:

1. You could circle the world 1.4 times with the amount of Nutella produced in one year.

2. You could cover the Great Wall of China eight times with the number of jars of Nutella sold in a year.

3. One jar of Nutella is sold every 2.5 seconds throughout the world. That is amazing, considering the fact that across the world, a baby is born every 8 seconds.

4. The owners of Ferrero currently use 25% of the world’s hazelnuts.

5. You can’t name your baby Nutella, in France… Ooops.

6. There are Nutella restaurants in New York, Frankfurt and Bologna.

7. Italian shops used to offer a smear of Nutella for free to kids, if they came in with a slice of bread.

 

Want more? Learn how to say ‘Happy Nutella Day’ in languages all over the world – here!

 

P.S.: Even my bear loves it!

P.S.: Even my bear loves it!

Rubik’s Cube is 40

And that means it’s older than me, lol. Okay.

Now, if you have to Google it to find out what Rubik’s Cube is, you’re too young.

So, history tells us that the cube was invented in 1974 by a Hungarian professor named Erno Rubik. He created the world’s best selling toy ever. Of course, he didn’t know then what it would become, he was just a teacher passioned by puzzles who was trying to explain his students about spatial relationships.

The first cube was made out of wood and paper and was originally named ‘Magic Cube’. It wasn’t until 1980 that it received its name as the Rubik’s Cube.

Back then, it took Erno Rubik over a month to solve his own puzzle. Now, in our days, it took an 18-year-old teenager only 5.55 seconds to do it. He set the record last March and until now no one could break it.

 

anamariapopa.com blog post rubkis cube 40 years old anniversary

 

 

‘If you are curious, you’ll find the puzzles around you. If you are determined, you will solve them.’ ~ ERNO RUBIK

 

Photos – contentfeatured image