Romanian SUMMER & Taylor SWIFT (August ‘25 Delights)

blue grapes: one of many August '25 delights

Every month, I'm rounding up the little joys that made these past weeks extra fun. Cozy, quirky, weird, and wonderful-because celebrating the good stuff (big or small) makes life better. I call them my monthly delights. Here are my August '25 delights.

How was your August? Mine was full of Romanian summer - grandpa's food and sustainability tricks, lobodă leaves, "noodle flowers," great vegan finds in Romanian supermarkets, and a surprisingly good teen series (with an incredible soundtrack).

In This Post:

1. BEAUTY: This Opaque Vegan Nail Polish
2. GARDEN: The Joy of a Lifelong Garden
3. PLANT FIND: "Loboda" - The Garden Orache
4. ECO TIP: Grandpa's Simple Water-Saving Trick
5. BLOOMS: Childhood's "Noodle Flowers"
6. VEGAN ROMANIA: Great Supermarket Finds
7. RECIPE: Simple Infused Water for Hot Days
8. TASTE: The Lesson of the Blue Grapes
9. SUSTAINABILITY: Green Kayak Waste Collection
10. SERIES: The Summer I Turned Pretty (Review)
11. FOOD: Hearty Summer Salads & Fried Zucchini Slices
More Monthly Delights

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1. BEAUTY: This Opaque Vegan Nail Polish

I was in the mood for a little color and found a great vegan nail polish from Benecos - and it's actually opaque! My experience so far: There are tons of vegan and natural nail polishes out there, but many are too sheer. This one, though, is rich and glossy. Plus super affordable with a cute name ("mystery"). Love it.

2. GARDEN: The Joy of a Lifelong Garden

I visited my grandpa in Romania, and we spent a lot of time in his garden. It's this romantic, slightly wild space filled with flowers, bees, herbs, and a couple of vegetables. I love sitting there with him, just talking and soaking it all in.

But what made me happiest was seeing how much joy he gets from it. He's 90 and still takes care of his flowers and plants every day. It keeps him active, gives him purpose - and keeps him young.

3. PLANT FIND: "Loboda" - The Garden Orache

Speaking of plants: my grandpa's garden holds a huge bush of something I didn't recognize. I was so excited to learn about it! "Loboda," my grandpa said. It's also called garden orache, an old leafy green once known as "the poor man's spinach."

You can eat the tender leaves raw in salads, that's what I did mainly. But you can also add them to stews, or cook them like spinach. A new flavor discovery for me!

Do you know the garden orache?

4. ECO TIP: Grandpa's Simple Water-Saving Trick

I realized that I've been copying my grandpa's little water-saving trick without realizing it for years. He's always had a bucket under the outdoor faucet to catch water when washing his hands or rinsing fruit and vegetables. He uses this "waste" water for watering his plants. Simple, smart, sustainable.

5. BLOOMS: Childhood's "Noodle Flowers"

Do you have a flower that instantly brings back childhood memories? For me, it's the the moss rose (or portulaca grandiflora) - a creeping plant with tiny, colorful blossoms that bees absolutely adore.

These tiny flowers are everywhere in Romania, along roadsides, beside houses, popping up through patches of grass. My German relatives in Romania called them "Nudelblumen" (noodle flowers), I have no idea why.

Just seeing these blooms makes me feel like a kid again.

6. VEGAN ROMANIA: Great Supermarket Finds

I'm always amazed by how many vegan products you can find in Romanian supermarkets.

There's tofu (super salty, beware!), plant milks, and vegan cheese slices. Basically, everything you'd also expect to find in a regular supermarket in Germany (or Italy).

But then there are the Romanian classics: pufuleți - puffed corn snacks that are accidentally vegan and sold by tons of brands, even the German Pom-Bär. (Haven't seen Pom-Bär pufuleți in Germany; would love to, though.)

And my childhood favorites, Eugenia = chocolate cookie sandwiches that are addictively sweet and dangerously moreish.

Next up: all sorts of plăcintă, Romanian pies, from pumpkin to apple.

Some products label vegan items as "de post", meaning suitable for Lent (example below on the left pie). It can be tricky to spot, so keep an eye out!

And there's even DM in Romania (plus Lidl, Aldi, and other familiar stores), stocking the exact same products as in Germany. Including my beloved chocolate sandwich cookies by the DM brand!

7. RECIPE: Simple Infused Water for Hot Days

Rosemary, mint, and lemon, that's it. Simple and refreshing. I drank this infused water every single day in the Romanian August heat, always from the fridge. The herbs, of course, came straight from my grandpa's garden.

And because there are so many other delicious combos to try, I've rounded up a few more in this post.

8. TASTE: The Lesson of the Blue Grapes

I never quite liked blue grapes. I just knew I didn't ... so I stopped trying them. But my grandpa grows plenty, and him and my mom kept insisting I taste them again. I finally did… and the strange thing is I couldn't stop eating them for the next few weeks. They were that goooood!

Lesson learned: never stop trying. Your palate can change; or maybe you just haven't met the right grape yet. 🙂

9. SUSTAINABILITY: Green Kayak Waste Collection

I recently heard about this amazing initiative called Green Kayak. You can paddle for free in exchange for collecting waste from the water. Isn't that cool? I wish I'd known about it earlier this year when I was in Denmark! Maybe next time.

Check out their map to see where this is offered, maybe you can take part.

10. SERIES: The Summer I Turned Pretty (Review)

Teen romance series? I wasn't convinced. I half-watched Season 1 of TSITP and gave up halfway through Season 2.

Until Season 3 came out and kept popping up on my feed. I gave it another chance and… wow. It's so good. The character development, the hidden clues, the emotional tension, and the soundtrack (which introduced me Taylor Swift, grateful for that!) is just perfect. Honestly, the show wouldn't hit the same without the music. You can watch it on Amazon.

11. FOOD: Hearty Summer Salads & Fried Zucchini Slices

We made so many hearty, filling salads this August, and devoured every one. Like classic German pasta salad (Nudelsalat), avocado panzanella, and those spicy sambal manis noodles. Nom.

Also, my grandpa kept making me fried, battered zucchini slices from his garden. Hmmm… I wish I had some right now to munch on. They were so tastyyy!