Xmas Shopping | OOTD VLOG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV129U2gZWk&feature=youtu.be

It’s that time of the year again. 

Not the time everyone’s looking forward to for months (XMAS), but the time BEFORE that.

IT’S CHRISTMAS SHOPPING TIME.

I’m definitely one of those people who make an actual list with the people & the gift ideas of what I wanna get for each one of them. If you loved the holidays just as much as me, then you would understand that hardcore preparation and list making for Xmas is VITAL for my happiness this time of the year. My true, cheeseball self really comes out during winter. I just love buying lots of awesome things for those I love, because I know how much they really deserve it. Although I try to get the best gifts for everyone, I always wish I could get them more and more and more. And I know a lot of people who can relate to this. You just wanna give the whole world to those you love. 

Thankfully, a couple of days ago I was finally able to start my Xmas shopping this year.  Since finding a comfortable, not too cold & not too hot (cause cold weather outside & hot as balls inside the mall), and slightly stylish outfit can be a challenge for everyone, I thought it’d be a great opportunity to share an OOTD. I went shopping with my dad, and before we got to selling our souls in exchange for Xmas gifts, I ever so kindly asked him to snap some pics and vids for me. 

Originally I was just gonna post some photos on my blog, but since I’m a bit YouTube crazed lately, I also decided to make a video to show the clothes even better. All the pics are below, and here is the link to the video I put on my YouTube channel (Mayra Popa) which includes deets about the clothes:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV129U2gZWk&feature=youtu.be

Bucharest Xmas Market | Vlog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXALshcVZW4

This past week my fam and I wanted to go to check out the local Christmas Market in Bucharest. I’m spending the holidays here and I definitely wanna do as many festive things as I can. I’m a sucker for Xmas activities, I’m sorry. But I really can’t help it. 

Although the drive there took a long ass time, the whole city is currently decorated with Christmas lights, so at least it was enjoyable because of that (and the Christmas music on the radio, ofc). As soon as we got there I was so surprised by the VERY large amount of lights they had up at the market. Not only were there lights in every direction you looked, but there were lots of different colours and designs. It was truly gorgeous, and definitely Christmas appropriate.. As I had expected, most of the things that were available for sale at the market were hand made items. All from scratch, and with Romanian materials. Somehow, most things were also very well priced. Unfortunately, because I was taking videos and photographs, taking money out of my backpack was a huge pain in the ass. So I only bought hot wine (Romanian traditional drink for winter time) and a fried potato chip swirly thingy (I’m fob & clueless). I wish I would’ve bought a scarf or something useful like that, but maybe next time. (Probably not.)

Here is the vlog on my YouTube again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXALshcVZW4

For all the photos, click on the link below. But first, here’s a sneak peak. 

My Top 5 Fave Jackets | F/W Lookbook for YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSd86wPMSgI&feature=youtu.be

I’m back at it with another YouTube video, this time it’s a F/W Lookbook that’s focused on My Top 5 Fave Jackets. I had the same outfit on (turtleneck – H&M, jeans – Zara, Booties – local Romanian store in Bucharest), I just switched between the jackets so that they could really stand out and not be overshadowed by wearing different things underneath. 

Although outerwear is my fave section in my entire closet and I have moooore jackets than I’ll ever need, I’m still buying more and more. Obsession is an understatement. But at least I’m keeping warm this holiday season. Check out this video if you wanna see which ones made the cut, or just peep at the pics below. Either way, hope you like ‘em! 🙂 

Jacket #1 – Thrifted

Jacket #2 – Urban Outfitters

Jacket #3 – Thrifted

Jacket #4 – Bershka

Jacket #5 – Thrifted

Last Weekend in NYC | Vlog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UinUMUjWpJ0

Four days before leaving NYC, I was finally able to purchase a new camera. I’ve been wanting one for so long, and I did a lot of research on which one to buy. In the end, I realized that the SONY Alpha A5100 was the best fit for my needs & I’m so happy with my decision. Once I brought it back home and charged it, I went around the city and started filming. Sadly, I wasn’t able to get that much footage before I had to leave. I was very busy packing and trying to enjoy those last moments with my friends. But in my opinion, I think there was just enough to put together a little travel vlog to share with everyone my last taste of NYC.

What you can expect in the video: me walking around the city, my roommates & I getting ready to go out & pre-drinking, all of us out at night feat. Empire State building & the Flatiron building, me visiting the MET, Tania & I grabbing some Shake Shack, my last stroll in the city at night, and some footage from the airport/plane.

I’ve also posted some pictures I took along with the videos, below.

Here is the final result & enjoy! 🙂

The MET Experience

During the eleven months I lived in New York, I never got to do many tourist-y things. At first, I was too busy trying to find a place to live. Then, school was keeping me so busy that all I wanted to do when I had free time, was stay at home and be lazy. But thankfully, after I finished school I had a whole week to visit museums & such before leaving the big apple.In this post I’m gonna share with you my experience at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the many pictures I took there. 

I don’t enjoy doing things like this alone, so I dragged my roommate Tania along. We got there a bit later than anticipated, so there wasn’t much time, but we made it work. We looked at the museum’s map and chose the exhibits we wanted to make sure we got to see. To my surprise, it was hauntingly empty – but it gave me the opportunity to photograph most of the art without others being in the way (which is very rare). Because I had heard so many great things and people hyped up this museum so much, I definitely had high expectations. From the moment I left home, and until we left, I was making comparisons to the Louvre in my head the whole time. And by the end, I realized that unfortunately not even the MET comes close to being as amazing and breath taking as the Louvre is. But that’s just my personal, humble opinion. To me, it seemed like most of those incredibly large rooms didn’t have enough things to fill them up, so they felt empty. On the other hand, the areas that were completely full, seemed to be so at random; it was a little bit confusing. It’s also worth it to mention that, this museum is an actual maze. We probably got lost every 10 minutes, and I don’t consider myself to be a person with a lack of orientation at all. But despite all those things, it’s still an iconic place & a New York landmark definitely worth a visit. You can spend more than a day there trying to see all the amazing art and exhibits they have!

*For all the photos from the MET, click on the link below. 

The Bomber Jacket Craze | Fashion Inspo

I’ve never been a huge fan of bomber jackets & I’ve never owned one. But lately, as more and more people style them in ways I never expected, I’m starting to change my mind. Thus, becoming part of The Bomber Jacket Craze.

I’m not sure when, why, or how, this obsession that fashion bloggers seem to have developed with bomber jackets began, but I’m not here to question it. I’m actually hella glad it’s happening, because it’s totally opened my eyes to realize how amazing, versatile and comfy they really are! You can honestly pair a bomber jacket with pretty much anything… Skirts, jeans, culottes, shorts, dresses, etc. But the best thing about them, in my opinion, is the fact that they look stylish, while being very comfortable and warm. 

Although I do own a vintage/straight-up-old bomber jacket that just serves the purpose of keeping me extra warm in the winter, I don’t have any decent ones that I can just wear out – yet. I’ve been in the search for the ‘perfect’ bomber jacket for too long now, and I was planning on making a post all about it once I purchased it. But since the process is taking way longer than expected, I thought I should just collect my fave pics from the world wide web with outfits that use bomber jackets. 

So, for some bomber jacket inspo, check out the pics below. 

FALL in Love | Music Playlist

The deadly, summer heat is finally gone, rain is paying us more frequent visits, and I’m finally able to wear jackets, coats, beanies and other cozy clothing! As any other white girl on the planet, I love me some Fall. So, of course it’s a given that I had to share a Fall Music Playlist on my blog.

I’ve tried to include as many new songs as I could so that you guys can definitely find something you haven’t heard before; but there’s a couple older tracks as well. My absolute favourite thing in the world is sharing my fave music with others and knowing that they love it too – I hope you are able to appreciate these songs just as much as I do! 

I’m not a music critic or an expert, these songs are just in my personal opinion really chill and together make a great fall playlist. x

The 8tracks link below will take you directly to the playlist – there, you can listen to it for free! I also listed the tracklist so you can see beforehand the songs you should be expecting on there. 

http://8tracks.com/mayrapopa/fall-in-love

• Warm On A Cold Night by Honne 
• American Girl Feat. Wafia by Ta-Ku 
• Drama Feat. Drake by Roy Wood$ 
• Breathe Feat. Holly Drummond by Nulabee 
• Might Not by Belly Feat. The Weeknd 
• Marilyn Monroe by K Camp 
• No Sleeep by Janet Jackson 
• Nile by Douglas Dare 
• Girl by The Internet Feat. Kaytranada 
• Nothing Left (Feat. Will Heard) by Kygo 
• Don’t (Explicit Version) by Bryson Tiller 
• Selfless-Ish by Téo
• Kno The Meaning by Future

A Sunny Saturday in NYC | Being a Tourist

I usually reserve my weekends for doing a whole lot of laying in my bed or on the couch, and doing homework. I never do anything beside that. But after going to school every weekday for 6 hours, I feel like I deserve that time for staying in and avoiding the crazy busy city on Saturdays and Sundays; so I don’t feel too guilty about it.

This past weekend was a bit different though, due to the fact that I was super sick, and felt like if I didn’t go outside and felt the sun on my skin for a couple hours, I would’ve gone bat crazy. So, I dragged my roommate with me around the city, while I finally got to see some attractions I haven’t been to yet in NYC. 

Our first stop was Grand Central Terminal. There, we saw two couples taking their engagement photos, and one bride and groom doing their wedding photoshoot. Aside from that, it was just filled with people who either looked super lost or were taking photos of every inch of the place, just like us. 

Next place we went to was the Flatiron Building, but we took a couple little detours on the way to explore some more. The building itself was a tad underwhelming in my honest opinion. I remember seeing it and asking my roommate “Is that it?” with a very unsatisfied tone. It’s been hyped up so much that I expected a lot more than I should have. It’s just a veeeeeeery narrow building. Eataly was just down the block, and since we’ve both heard great things about it we thought it’d be worth it to check it out next! There was SO much Italian and European food and dishes prepared, as well as little restaurants inside the market, it was quite overwhelming at first. It was absolutely packed and very hard to get around, so we didn’t even bother trying to purchase anything. After we took a couple pictures we went on to our next stop on the list.

The High Line was just as busy as the rest of the city – everyone was definitely taking advantage of the last ‘hot and sunny’ weekend of the year. The whole concept for The High Line is very unique and I’m glad I went, but I’m not sure I would go again if it’s not during the summer when all the flowers have bloomed. 

To see all the photos I took during this lovely and sunny Saturday around NYC, click on “keep reading” below. Here is a preview:

GRAND CENTRAL:

FLATIRON BUILDING:

EATALY:

THE HIGH LINE:

Thank you for reading,

Maria Popa x

The Fall Essentials | Fashion Journal

This outfit is one of my favourites for Fall. Now that it’s been chilly outside for quite a while, I’ve already worn it lots of times. But I am still not tired of it – far from it actually. So I decided that it only made sense to share with you guys my most loved pieces in my closet, put together as one comfortable and simple look. I hope you’re inspired to try wearing an outfit similar to this. It is easy to put together, comfortable to wear all day long, and enhances any body shape.

I’ve had the jeans, turtleneck, and shoes for quite a while, but the last missing piece this combo needed was the white baseball shirt to wear on top. Since the rest of the pieces in this look are all black, it adds the perfect amount of “colour” (I know white isn’t a colour, but you get it), and it doesn’t take away from how easy & comfy it is. My friend Sara gave it to me (for FREEEE) while I visited Vancouver, and I’m so excited to have it as a new addition to my wardrobe. Many thanks are in order to her beautiful soul for letting go of such a great shirt. 

For outfit deets & more photos click below!

What I’m wearing:

• Black turtleneck – H&M 
• Baseball tee – a gift from my lovely friends Sara
• High waisted black jeans – Topshop
• Shoes – Topshop 

Empire State of Mind | Travel Journal

As I get ready to leave New York and move on to the next adventure, I will slowly start sharing more photographs that I’ve taken over the past months of the city.

The first pictures I want everyone to see are the ones I took the day I went to the Empire State building and the beautiful sunset that I got to see from up there. It was a super busy day, and the line-ups were frustratingly long. But it’s definitely worth the wait and something that anyone who goes to NYC has to experience at least once. Due to construction the highest floor which is 102th, was closed. So we had to settle for the 86th floor, but of course, it was still incredible! The best decision that I made during my tourist days in NYC was without a doubt to go to the Empire State building during the day, but stay until after the sunset. That way you can see both of best worlds – you get to see the city transform. As more and more lights were being lit up inside the buildings around you, you really start to feel the city become alive.

*Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me, so all the photos were taken on my iPhone 5. Which means the quality isn’t the best, but still worth a peek, I promise!

More photos below!