"Something has gone away and we won’t get it back."

The time of the year when one should hunt for fruit in the modern jungles we call supermarkets and bake, bake, bake perfect scrumptious pies made to be eaten while watching silly, mindless comedies. And because I'm me, of course I am sick to the bone and coughing out a lung and, by the looks of it, even a pancreas, and doing exactly the opposite of yummy pies and tv. You better be running Murphy, cause I'm out to get you as soon as I can breathe through both nostrils!

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Fifth year of medical school, you sure took the whole "get them while they're fresh!" thing really personally, didn't you? Because really, I like a little bit of foreplay with my exams, thankyouverymuch.

It's not nice to sneak up on kids like that, because while you might presume that student brains are fresh and crisp and, most importantly, empty after a summer vacation, here's what you're missing: they are in fact filled with so much unnecessary mundane facts and sensations (like sleeping in on Sundays after a night of dancing on bars, and the entire discography of the newest band we heard in that club that one time with the glitter disco ball y'know?, and how to get the perfect french manicure at 2 am, and oh my god can Thor's hair get even more ridiculous) and so, we have no room for any more stuff. Like really big medical words. Or really, new big words in general.

So yes, I did feel like I've been taken from the soft, warm crib of mindlessness and dumped in the bucket of ice water of knowledge and it makes my brain feel like it's been hit with a sledgehammer. (And this might be the cough medicine talking. Don't quote me on that.)

But yes, two weeks of school and BAM! exam time. One moment I was busy fangirling over comic book movies of awesome and the next moment I was trying to remember all the physical signs of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

But this brings us to the two most important things that have been occupying my atrophied brain these past couple of weeks:

a) Pediatric Neurology. Oh man, I was so freaked out on my first day. Because adults are okay, you can't break their bones by poking too hard and you can't drop them mostly because you never have to lift them in the first place which is a relief. So yeah, I was scared out of my wits the first time it was just me and a baby in a room, in an odd staring contest with me clutching the file like it was lifeline and him making happy gurgling noises.

But after two weeks I can say this has been my favorite rotation ever. Neurology is fascinating even if overwhelming, there are so many interesting things to know and I cannot believe I was actually completely thrilled by testing reflexes. And the kids. The kids! Teacup humans - like humans, except miniature! But with so much strength in their little bodies and souls to power the world that I am now completely and utterly in love with this specialty.

b) You didn't expect a post without me being a geek, did you? So, here we go: how cool is the new Avengers trailer? I've been waiting for this movie ever since I were a kid! I think my reaction was something along the lines of keyboard smashing and giggling like I inhaled laughing gas the first time I watched it. And then I watched it again. And again.

Because you see, these are most of my favorite superheroes and they will all be on the screen at the same time! Thor who is the superhero equivalent of a football jock who's been hit in the head too many times and with an addiction to hair products, and Loki who just needs a hug (a.n.: I will be yelling this at the screen. Repeatedly.) and Hawkeye the man who shoots arrows for a living and is still cooler than you'll ever.

And of course, Tony Stark. Tony Stark is my favorite because he's like this obnoxious little shit who is actually filled with so many issues to sink the Titanic and has the self-worth of a slug which he hides under a facade of a huge ass ego and don't-give-a-damn-cause-I'm-a-genius eyerolls and he pushes my buttons the right way cause I love my heroes a tad bit broken. (I'm looking at you Batman.) (Also, I feel like Captain America and Iron Man should definitely be married.)

(And yes, I overanalyze things but that's because I care and have all the feelings, guys! I am sure Alice understands my excitement.)

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Besides my fangirling over both medical and comic book stuff, this post is a collage of what I've been up to since, well, my last post. Firstly, I was lucky to be invited by the sweet Alina Tanasa to the Il Passo launch of their new fall/winter shoe collection.

And let me tell you, it was a really great night of shoe eye candy. I almost walked out with a few pairs stashed in my bag if it weren't for the damn security systems. I jest, of course ;) I also got to spend some time with some charming bloggers.

Raluca and Sil from Bucharest Style, Gabriela, Denisa, Stella, Alina Ene and yours truly.

It was nice finally getting out of the house and surrounding myself with a drop of glitz and a pinch of glam. Yes, it's true I was dropping dead from sleep deprivation and I could not remember the exact date of the last time I washed my hair (Yes, I know, glamour is my middle name. Or is that lazybones?) but I knew that I could always distract from all these things by pointing to the fabulous shoes and yelling "Oh my god, look at that heel!" as I subtlety exited stage left.

If you like the shoes as much as I do, you can check them out on their spanking brand new website.

Photos via Stella's blog, Il Passo.

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The last outfit photos I took before the weather decided it was gonna take cool to a whole new level and bring out a miniature Ice Age on our city. They're a reminder that the sun once shone and I could still leave the house without three sweaters on.

I wore this on an outing with Alice, when we had coffee and talked about our undying love for anything and everything related to Supernatural. Apparently nothing brings two girls together better than a mutual appreciation of demon hunter brothers, Chevy Impalas and nerdy angels ;)

Wearing: Mango dress, Zara shoes & bag, fake wayfarers, Killah skull bracelet, Tissot watch.

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I also fell in love with butter again. Not very good for the waist or for the cholesterol, but really good for those nights when the wine is exquisite and the peaches are ready to be cut up, sugared up and snuggled in yummy dough.

Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker ♥

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Like I've mentioned, because the temperatures have gone from One Does Simply Fry in Mordor to Hello, Welcome to the Arctic, High-Five the Penguins for Us with the speed of the hadron collider, the weirdest thing has happened: I have fully accepted jeans into my life, even if rather cautiously.

As you probably have noted, I'm a skirts and dresses kind of girl and rarely venture away from them. But I have to admit, not only do they keep my butt warm when the winds are threatening to freeze the word, it is also nice to finally not have to sit down all lady like. Sometimes I need less Audrey and more Brando in my life.

New action figure added to The Boy's and my collection: Assassin's Creed's Ezio ♥

Repeat after me: comfy!

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And in case you ever though I am a mature kind of person who has her life perfectly together (I don't know where one would get that idea, even if it has occasionally happened, but so rare, like an eclipse or mysterious spotting of Dodo birds) I give you the one and only photo to sum up my time during the Pediatric rotation:

Future doctors! :))

And because we are the Pillars of Maturity™ we even actually gave the toys to the kids. After playing with them ourselves. But only for a little while. Like an hour. Ahem, look, a bunny!

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Song of the Day: Northern Lite - Super Black

"Making love with our ego."

Looks pretty, doesn't it? And it really is until you find yourself taking four lefts and ending up not where you started but somewhere completely different with the realization that everything is curved in Amsterdam but hey, at least they sell pot so you may be lost but at least --- oooh, donuts!

(Actual transcript of my thought process in the week spent in the lovely yet so confusing Amsterdam.)

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Hello wonderful people of the blogosphere or whatever the cool kids are calling it these days, I come with messages of peace that revolve around the idea that, contrary to popular belief and whatever this damn cold is trying to prove to my lungs, I am not actually dead but very much alive (...ish).

I know that people who just know me through this blog might think that I went to Holland and got lost into the world of delicious surely-this-is-what-the-gods-eat french fries and hallucinogenic plants and decided that life is better spent canoeing on the scenic canals but alas, no, I had to come back home.

Where I promptly got hit by the terrible, terrifying, hide-yo-kids-and-hide-yo-wife state of being/disease that presents itself as a need to never leave the bed/couch and the craving of junk food and 90s tv shows. Total shutdown. Frozen in space and time as if Medusa's head crawled out of the legends and smacked me over the face.

But the excitement (or fear?! Stockholm syndrome alert!) of the approaching new university year is starting to poke my brain into something resembling "alertness" and here I am.

I wish I cuddle you all, give the single manly tear of emotion, and promise that I will never leave again but we all know this would be a very fat lie. (Med students, never trust us. We looks professional until you turn your back and then we use scalpels as lightsabers and dress up the skeletons in our winter clothes. Seriously.)

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My return also brings photos. A lot of photos. I hope you're ready to have your bandwidth killed and mauled, because I was the photographic equivalent of trigger happy this vacation. ( a.k.a. quantity versus quality of shooting!)

Holland!

(Or The Country Where Drugs Are a Plenty, French Fries Are Addictive, Beer Is Better Than Water and Sarcasm Is Not Appreciated.)

Amsterdam is a weird city. Even though it left me with the feeling of being the kind of city that tries to act all cool and hip while being a tiny little dictator in the making, it still was fun. Everything smelled like weed, the food was delicious and it looks like a toy city for humans.

Biggest regret: not visiting the Heineken factory.

But that might have been for the best because I realized that at one point all my liquid intake was beer, beer, more beer and coffee.

Starbucks radar is a-go. The Boy and I trying to look interested in all the memorial houses my mother dragged us to.

Spent seven days trying to pronounce this. The Dutch pronunciation is one part a lot of "oooh"s and one part phlegm. Fun!

Pretty things everywhere you looked.

This is why I am fatter now.

Learned how to make paint like Rembrandt. Gave a silent prayer to being born in the 80s. 1980s, that is.

More pretty.

Realized that 18th century rich people where just as ridiculous as today's rich people. Stuffed peacocks on the mantelpiece, really?

Bunnies! With penises! And a lot of Andy Warhol around the city. But mostly, bunnies with penises!

Hands down, the gay district was the funnest.

The Boy enjoyed the architecture.

One of my worst nightmares: pigeon attack. Shudder.

Whatever age you are, a teacup-cozy made for a penis will still have you giggling like a blonde oh-my-virgin-eyes schoolgirl. True story :))

These people sure knew how to decorate their palaces. Fun story: because of the lack of internet on our phones, we spent about 15 minutes of staring at said statue trying to remember the name of the legendary god who held the dome of Heaven on his shoulders, going through all names from Chiron to Zephyros and that way had our very own Greek Mythology lesson right there and then.

(Hint: It's Atlas and he is one badass S.O.B.)

Opulence was the word of the day back then, methinks.

Dam Square. Where the building were big and the Romanian gypsies begged for money in several languages. "We don't steal, we adapt." :))

Waiting for mother who was visiting yet another church.

The Boy and I being tourists and doing tourist-y things.

Any break was much appreciated. Also bought a Rainbow Flag which I waved around happily after spending a night in a gay bar playing Bingo with drag queens and hiding behind The Boy because the bartender was giving me the stink eye and giving him a wink.

I don't like boat trips. But I have been forced by my mother to take a boat trip in every city we have visited that had a river so of course I was forced into one trip this time too. I made my feelings about that be know.

After walking like our life depended on it every day, we finally took a much needed break in the loveliest park ever. The weather was nice, the ducks were happy, The Boy and I spent the time trying to find good wi-fi.

The shoes, ridiculous but cute.

All in all, it was a good trip. Ate well, had my heart melt at the beautiful art, got enough blisters on my feet to last me a lifetime, and laughed my ass off at how incredibly high every foreigner was after 8pm.

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Paris

(Or The City Where Non! Is the Answer to Every Question Posed by a Foreigner, Where Things Disappear From Your Room and Where Wine Is Cheap But Good)

Paris was a 50/50 thing. Half was amazing, because yay! Paris, and half was the vacation from hell because our room was broken into and some of our things were stolen. That wouldn't have been too bad, but the police just shrugged their shoulders and the hotel was as helpful as a hole in the head, so that bummed us out a bit.

But we still tried to make the best of it, even if the weather decided to say bye bye to summer and rain our parade. Paris and I are still not on speaking terms yet, but I think we need some time apart and things will be okay with us again. Hopefully!

Pre-robbery and our first night there was spent in front of the Sacre Coeur, lazying on the ground and watching the sunset over the city. Life was okay.

We were classy bitches and ate McD's while wearing our most ripped jeans. Oh yeah.

We walked around the Louvre, purposefully not going inside because the lines were killer and because we already had our fair share of art and culture while in Holland.

The French sure know how to make a palace.

Obligatory cheesy couple photo in front of the Louvre, check!

Best accessory in Paris: our tourist-y Amsterdam umbrella.

And the Arc de Triomphe was thiiiiiis big.

Paris was très windy, in case you couldn't tell.

Of course we couldn't leave without a visit to Notre Dame, my favorite place.

This was the only hour of sunshine we got all vacation.

Took that opportunity to wear my sparkly sunglasses.

Le Centre Pompidiou skyrocketed to The Boy's number one favorite spot in his heart. It's all the Brancusi love.

To quote Finding Nemo: Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles!

Also, this was already post-robbery. That was my "I'm happy cause I imagines 97 ways to kill you using a spork and a paperclip" face.

Brancusi. Too beautiful for words.

Favorite book shop ever. Unfortunately we were so broke by then that we had to choose between going shopping or buying wine. The wine won.

Comicbook shop. Almost sold my liver for a TARDIS coffee mug, a Harry Potter wand and replica of the One Ring. I'm weak when it comes to things like these.

Airport. We were so tired that we couldn't even stand up straight. And ridiculously happy to hear our own language even if the only things people said around us where swear words directed to the airplane because it was late. But it's the little things that count :))

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So, weirdest vacation I've ever had, followed by the numbest September ever. But I'm up and at 'em now, I think. Just need to ingest my weight in coffee and finish my Buffy, the Vampire Slayer marathon (shut up!) and I can be a human being again. A sociable one. Yup.

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Song of the Day: David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust

(I blame my obsession for Mr. Bowie - the god of rock!! - on reading Cherrie Curie's autobiography who spends a lot of time fangirling over Ziggy Stardust.)