I typed "y"... I am now suddenly, geekily and happily engaged :)

...or "How to propose to a geek girl".

The rumor spreads and everyone keeps asking - how was it? what did he say? Since it was very unexpected, geeky and with so many details, I thought it would be best to write down here and share my happiness with the world.

It was an ordinary Wednesday (November 7). The only 2 things that could be counted as "not ordinary" were the facts that a) I was sick and bedridden on Monday and Tuesday and b) my (now) fiancé was on a business trip in Stepanakert, Artsakh (or so I thought).

The card

On Tuesday evening, while tracking his journey on latitude, I asked him to call and wake me up on Wednesday morning and so he did. I promised I'd get up soon. But since my tummy was till aching, I decided to cuddle in bed a few more minutes and eventually fell asleep again. I woke up a couple hours later to find his messages like "Asleep again?". I started to slowly dress up and get ready to go to work. My friend Lia called to ask me if I was still at home and could take the pocket books I had promised to pass to her. It was around 1pm already. Then it turned out I had to buy my dad's newspapers. So I went out, bought the papers, brought them home and headed to work. (see the bullet points below the post to find out why I described these details)

On my way to work, next to the Charents monument pathway, a teenage boy handed me something. I asked "what's this?", in order to avoid the religious pictures that kids give on streets and ask for money. The boy eagerly replied - "vizitka!" (business card). I took it and saw a nicely designed business card (pictured below).

the QR code reads "Will"

I went on a few more steps and checked the QR code on a side of the card, which read "Will". "Hm.. Interesting", I thought and entered my office.
I told about the card to Azar, my boss. My guess was, that this is some promotion or maybe a puzzle, a quest..

The Facebook tag

In about half an hour I am being tagged on a picture on Facebook. It was in a closed group of AIESEC alumni. See below:

I was tagged together with a bunch of other people.. It had the same logo as on the business card.. and a QR code reading "You". The description was "Cool initiative, guys i am sure you will like this! Detail coming soon!". I started to suspect that it had something to do with AIESEC - some kind of a new project and I was lucky to get the card on the street! The comments on the post didn't shed any light to what it was.

The hack

At 6pm I had an appointment with Kristine, Gohar and Lia (TEDxYerevan organizing team) at The Green Bean Coffeeshop. Kristine had written us a week ago asking to get prepared for a dinner with the US Ambassador John Heffern (who attended TEDxYerevan 2012). We had to discuss our possible cooperation. Kristine asked us to dress nicely, no jeans or suits -- just a cute dress. She also asked me to bring my netbook, since we had to discuss things in Green Bean, before going for the dinner. I didn't suspect anything yet :D
I got there and we started to discuss our stuff. The waiter approached, and I ordered a bagel and no drink. Gohar ordered tea and Kristine insisted that they bring another cup for me to drink too, since i was recovering from cold. I got the Green Bean mug... and it had the "liveit" logo and again a QR code!

I got surprised and started telling them about the card and the picture from facebook... and then finally got to scan the code. Guess what? It read "Marry me?" ..... I blushed and smiled... and then immediately got a call from Azar (my boss), who told me that supposedly panarmenian.net was hacked and I should check it quickly and call him back, since he was outside, far from a computer. I turned on my netbook and opened panarmenian.net. I got this console screen instead (click to view bigger):

I typed "y"...

The waiter, in a white elephant t-shirt, was looking at me and smiling. She led me to the other hall of the cafe to find my Areg. With white lilies and a ring. On his knees.

We were surrounded by friends - who were involved in all this - cheering, applauding ... By that time i was blushing with my full capacity :).. shocked to find Areg to be in Yerevan and to have a ring on my finger...

The story didn't end here.
We sat at a big table with this company and everyone was telling details of the "QRաջարկություն" operation.. Something that was being planned around me for the past few weeks.

Areg's masterplan for THE day :)

It turned out that:

• Areg had created a secret group in Facebook for communicating the stuff for organizing matters. Sharing mindmaps, coordinating everyone's actions for the day. 
• Areg didn't have a business trip that week. It was just to enhance the "effect".. and also have a free Tuesday for arranging the stuff. 
• Areg was near my building since early morning when he called me. He was waiting for me to go out for several hours! Standing! Tracking me on the latitude if I was still there... until his phone drained out... (yep, I feel very very bad about this :()
• Speaking on the latitude.. he did arrange somebody to login with his account on latitude on the trip to Artsakh. That's why I was seeing him there...
• Lia called me to ask if I was at home to take the books with Areg's desperate request. 
• He asked his friend to follow me on my way to work. When i went to buy the papers, I could accidentally see them. They were hiding behind a car :D
• They arranged someone to wait for me near Charents monument, to hand the card. She was available only till 1:30 pm. Afterwards, they were trying to find someone else and in the end approached a school boy having a lunch nearby. The idea was to suggest him some "bribe" for giving me the card. The boy politely refused the money, and after some convincing ("heeey, it's our friend's birthday, we need to give her this card, blabla") he agreed to stand there and wait, only until their teacher (who was almost near) could notice him.
• Areg followed me on my way to work until he was ensured that I read the QR code on the card. 
• Lia had been thinking that I saw her trying to hide near the cafe at Charents monument, but in fact, I didn't. 
• Azar reported in the FB group, that I had told him about the card. He also called Areg when I went out of the office, saying "Объект вышел".
• Kristine had made up the story about the Ambassador and asked us to dress up, because she knew that on that important day for me, I would feel upset if I wouldn't be dressed :)
• Areg had prepared beautiful flower compositions for the Green Bean (partly seen on the picture with the QR code mug). They are still there, decorating the tables in the cafe.
• The hack was created by our friend Tiko and was "enabled" on panarmenian.net by Azar (CEO of PanARMENIAN.Net). It was targeted specifically for the IPs of Green Bean (Areg and Tiko have been tracking cafe's IP address for few days, to ensure it was a static one). While installing the hack on the website, Azar was testing it in our office's IPs, and as a result, the whole editorial was frustrated, unable to work while the testing and installing took place. 
• When I just got to Green Bean, I didn't order any drink, which was a little out of the plan, but thankfully Kristine managed to convince me to ask for another cup for me to drink the tea. That's when I got the mug with the QR.
• There were actually 2 t-shirts with a pixelated white elephant - one for the waitress and one for me.
• Areg had prepared special "Thank you" cards signed by both of us (i did it right there) for all the participants of the "operation". 

So.. this is the story :) I want to thank all of my friends (and the Green Bean staff) who were involved in the organization of this beautiful day.. it's really something that me and Areg will remember forever :)

At the end, there are a few pics...

giving out the thank you card

great'n'tough week...

I'm having a TOUGH week…. And it's in a very positive sense :)

Just thought I should take time to write a couple lines for my dear blog.

Today, I've reached an important milestone. I have presented a paper at an international conference about media ethics. All the participants were YSU/YSLU professors, and the audience included some students and academic staff.
My small report will be published in a guidebook for journalists, disseminated among universities that have journalism faculties and media organizations.

Later I'm going to deliver 2 sessions at a training on the effective use of the social networks for museum workers.

I have submitted an application for a very ambitious program, gathering all the required documents, writing all the statements, etc.
I am preparing my documents for an even more ambitious competition :) lots of papers to gather.. and things to write.. i can make it...

Yesterday I was on a TV talking about the cases of companies asking for employee passwords.

Starting from today my face can be seen on HSBC ads - billboards, web banners, and in a commercial on a TV, my voice can be heard in a radio ad :) … never thought I'd be offered to feature in a commercial and moreover, never thought I'd need to sign a document stating that I'm not a parliament elections candidate (TVs required it).

These days we are actively working on the organization of the TEDxKids@Yerevan event and another smaller TEDx event.

In my workplace, I'm managing a new big project (while finalizing the previous one) and also working on the proposals of some new interesting projects.

I am organizing Foursquare Day 2012 and received a cute swag from Foursquare itself and hope we'll have a great meetup!

In two days I'm leaving for an amazing new country I never thought I’d have a chance to visit. I will participate in a huge and exciting event with more than 700 participants from different countries. I will participate in some interesting and useful workshops and even make a small presentation myself. There will be opportunities to experience some amazing activities I could only see in movies before.

Besides, I'm very energetic and full of love because I have some GREAT people around me and I got convinced that the reality can feel even better than in the sweetest and cutest romantic situation seen in a music video.

I will be posting updates about my exciting activities in my FB and twitter pages and hopefully also eventually post a detailed post in my blog...

Encounter with the Tyrrhenian Sea

This is not yet THE post about my recent holiday in Italy. I still have some information, lessons, experiences, feelings to digest before I can write about it.


Being travel-sick is one of most serious obstacles for enjoying my current life. I need a travel -- a change of scene, new emotions, experiences at least once a year. Before, I always thought that I can't ever save enough money for a trip and it's so much hassle to get the visa so it's not worth it. Now, i realized that i am able to give a break to my shopaholic self and overcome the bureaucracy just taking a deep breath and doing it all step-by-step. This trip had not only realized my dream, it also gave me wings. It's realistic! I can do it and my will is the only thing that's needed.

This post is a post about gratitude. One the plane back home I've been writing a special note, naming all the people, events, circumstances, every and every thing that has been supporting me in this journey (not just those 8 days).

So this is dedicated to you. I've had an amazing time thanks to you my dear friends!

Goodness: How to live a better life. 10 tips

From time to time, I'll share some goodness I stumbled upon on the 'internets'. This is from Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project.

I love reading other people's resolutions and their personal commandments, and I was very interested to read the daily decalogue of Pope John XXIII (a "decalogue" is a set of rules having authoritative weight). Pope John XXIII was pope from 1958-1963 and was known as "The Good Pope."

(Russian translation follows)

Here are ten tips from Pope John XXIII about how to live a better life, day to day:

1. Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.
2. Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behavior; I will not criticize anyone; I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.
3. Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.
4. Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.
5. Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.
6. Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.
7. Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure that no one notices.
8. Only for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.
9. Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world.
10. Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed, for 12 hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.

-----------same in Russian-------------

10 правил счастья от Папы Блаженного Иоанна XXIII

1. Только сегодня я постараюсь прожить этот день позитивно и не буду пытаться решить все проблемы наперед. 
2. Только сегодня я буду вести себя вежливо по отношению к другим людям, не буду повышать на них голос, не буду осуждать никого или критиковать. 
3. Только сегодня я буду счастлив просто от того, что пришел новый день и этот день изначально был создан для счастья. 
4. Только сегодня я буду стараться подстраиватьcя под окружающий мир вместо того, чтобы требовать повиновения от мира. 
5. Только сегодня я буду уделять хотя бы 10 минут для чтения приятных книг и новостей, буду наслаждаться едой и вспоминать светлые события из жизни. 
6. Только сегодня я сделаю одно доброе дело и никому об этом не скажу. 
7. Только сегодня я сделаю хотя бы одну вещь, которая мне неприятна. И если я буду испытывать дискомфорт, то сделаю так, чтоб никто из окружающих этого не заметил. 
8. Только сегодня я составлю для себя список дел хотя бы на день. Даже если я не смогу выполнить его весь, я буду стараться. И я постараюсь не допустить двух вещей: поспешности и нерешительности. 
9. Я верю в то, что Бог любит меня. 
10. Только сегодня я буду в полную силу наслаждаться красотой и верить в существование добра. И даже если мои действия могут показаться мне ужасными, я все равно сделаю то, что считал нужным всю свою жизнь.

via lifehacker.ru

Moleskine, the legendary notebook on my desk!

I am now a proud owner of a Moleskine notebook. It's even the special Woodstock 40th anniversary edition!
Sadly, Moleskines can't be found in Armenia, so I had to wait to get it from somewhere else. I'm so thankful to my friend Gohar, who brought it for me right from Italy!

It's a hard cover ruled notebook, perfect for writing down my thoughts, the most positive ones :)

When I posted about the Moleskine in Facebook, I was surprised to see that so many of my friends are its fans and seem to know why Moleskine is special and is not like any other notebook.

I love everything about this notebook. The quality of the paper, its smell, and the expandable pocket!
I now feel as a part of a special community :) (especially after registering in the website :)

"Moleskine is a family of notebooks with a rich history that has captured the hearts and minds of people the world over."

If you are not familiar with Moleskines, read further for some interesting info I digged on the web.

Yerevan is 2791 years old! My report from the celebrations

Citizens of Yerevan and its guests witnessed the most large-scale celebration ever today. Hardly anyone can recall any event that was celebrated with such wide scope. It wasn't an anniversary and in fact, last year's 2790th celebrations were in no comparison with this year's. Rumors say that it was organized this way because it was the first Yerevan Day celebration for the newly elected head of City Municipality, and plus, some really big distraction for people was needed after the fuss of signing the protocols for normalizing Armenian-Turkish reactions on October 10. Interesting to mention that the ribbons, pins and other symbols of celebration had October 10 writing on them.
The traffic in all the downtown was completely stopped for the whole day. We had a rare chance to see Mashtots, Sayat-Nova avenues, Abovyan, Khanjyan streets so empty!

Abovyan street. View from the crossroad with Sayat Nova ave.

Besides, the whole city was decorated with country and city flags and all of that was making the mood. I loved that people were happy, smiling and even congratulating each others on the streets! Yes, I mean strangers :)

the locations of events on the Yerevan Map

The list of events included:

• 2791m length marathon of paraolympic games' participants (from the Victory bridge to Matenadaran)
• Cycle racing
• Washing of statues of Yerevan
• Windsurfing demonstrative contest on the Swan lake.
• Festive parade from the Russian Square to the Republic Square
• Theatrical walk of 3000 person troops headed by King Argishti
• City of masters on Northern Avenue - various people and organizations were showcasing their art
• Retro automobiles show at Cascade Complex.
• Shooting of a film about Yerevan at the statue of "Tghamardik" (Men) near Saryan statue.
• Brass bands performances on various locations
• Only Northern Avenue held 5 stages which were "occupied" by various kids' singing or dancing ensembles.
• Concert stages:
• Jazz music stage at Cascade Complex
• Children's stage (various performances, games, clowns and fairytales' heroes) in Kirov park
• Theatrical stage (mime shows, performances, etudes) in Moscow Boulevard
• "Author" music stage in Moscow Boulevard
• Stage of world nations (ethnic minorities in Armenia) in English Park
• Variety performers' stage (pop music) at the Stepan Shahumian square
• Youth stage (DJs, fire show) in front of Matenadaran
• Rock music stage at Charles Aznavour square (in front of Moscow cinema)
• Classical music stage in the park in front of the music conservatory
• Ethnic music stage at the crossroad of Mashtots avenue and Biuzand street
• Gala concert on Republic Square with the participation of international pop stars
• Festive fireworks at the Republic Square and from 20 locations of Yerevan

As you can see the scale is really impressive and the organization was rather good than bad. All of the major organizing companies were involved and hundreds of volunteers were coordinated. I only got disappointed when realized that being there at the heart of celebrations at 4 in the afternoon, I couldn't get any flag or pin or balloons :( because they were all distributed. By the way, many information centers were organized on various locations that were distributing flyers and agenda and also the symbols.

Trust me, I have NEVER EVER seen the city so crowded before !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seemed like there were hundreds of thousands people in the streets. They were all happy, shining and content. I was enjoying watching faces of the people passing by from the windows of several cafes in downtown, meanwhile being able to do some stuff for job (long-live free wi-fi) and also to upload the photos I took by that time.

Photos from the demonstrations of windsurfing on the Swan Lake:

I took only few photos, since after working so much in a photo agency I finally realized that my camera sucks :D (while my photography skills got developed!) and also I had in mind that our photographers that were running in the city to capture all the events would bring awesome shots that I can also make use of ;)

I'm so positive and happy now. In fact, I would die if, for some reason like being abroad, I wouldn't be able to see and feel all this. I'm so not programmed to live abroad for a relatively long period. I can't miss my city and my people to see festive and really happy!

So.. Enjoy the pics :) and let me go to collapse on my bed… I was on feet the whole day!

Northern Avenue

Children dance ensemble prepares for the performance

Rock music stage with Bambir band in front of the Moscow Cinema

Michel Legrand's concert in Yerevan. My review

Today I was lucky to be present at Michel Legrand's concert at Aram Khachaturyan hall in Yerevan. I went there spontaneously, without planning, as my friend called me only an hour before the concert, telling that she's got an extra ticket. I bless that very moment for the excitement and feelings I'm having now.

I have a long-time passion for the movie scores, old and new... from Henri Mancini to Hans Zimmer, Craig Armstrong and Clint Mansell ... and for this the concert was perfect me. One of those performances where you forget where you are, what the date it is, all the fears and insecurities... detaching from reality you silently wish there was somebody dear's shoulder to lean on while listening to the sounds... Well.. this music was able to dig into the most concealed and inmost layers of my heart and bring out some memories and feelings I was trying hard to hide. It brought out a lot of love and tenderness. I couldn't stop smiling. I wanted to hug everyone :)
I was occasionally thinking about some of my friends and my mother who I wished were there enjoying it as much as I was doing.

Michel Legrand. Photo by Vahan Stepanyan / PanARMENIAN Photo

There were really very very smooth transitions from fugue to light jazz and I loved the harp!
Some of the songs were performed by Christiane Legrand, Michel's sister. God, she had a powerful voice!

Here's the famous The windmills of your mind (Les Moulins De Mon Coeur)



and this one from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg)


Everything about that concert was perfect. The hall was more than full, the audience was smart and conscious. When the concert was about to start, a perfect couple came and sat near me on the row.
The man was in his mid 40s or even 50s, so handsome and elegant, a bit of white hair, but still no signs of getting bald, no 30-week pregnant woman's belly (usual for successful Armenian men of his age). He was wearing a refined suit with a tie and you could read by his face that he's a successful businessman, excessively upright and life enjoying. His partner was a very attractive woman in a perfect shape (probably mid 30s, looking much younger, only the wrinkles on hands were giving away), wearing a strapless beautiful dress and a cute scarf of the same pattern as the dress tacked on an elegant purse. She had awesome peep toe heels on, sitting with straight back, hands on knees like in an illustration from an etiquette book. I couldn't take my eyes off of them. I wish I'd be like them when I get their age :)

I am full of love ♥

About Michel Legrand

March 21. to remember

What a day!!!

March 21 - It was a memorable day. I did something that will remind me of this day all of my entire life. I made an artificial scar - a tattoo in the form of a shooting star :) Don't ask me why permanent, why on that particular place, why star... i just don't know it. I've been guided by some unknown force. Today, i've been looking  it and feeling that it was something that had to be there sooner or later. Something was giving me a hint, guiding through all those diverse reactions and inner pros and cons discussions. I had that exact image in my mind !!!!!! it should be right there and right that picture!

Spring officially starts today in all calendars. It was a sunny, warm and nice-in-all-means day. I managed to meet all of my closest friends, my most recent bziks (random, on the street!) and saw a potential bzik in one guy i knew for already years now.

Besides, i started the day out of home. Having lots of fun at Yves Larock's party!

thank you, spring.

March 8 and spring. partying in Yerevan.

Last year these days I was in Rotterdam. March 8 is the International Women's Day and is widely celebrated in Armenia but not in Netherlands. It's not even yet spring there. In Armenia March 8 is the holiday that celebrates also the coming of spring. Lots of flowers, people and action :) City is like waking up after the winter and the streets are crowded, people are happy, all dressed up, happy couples having a walk and all the cafes and restaurants are fully booked up.

Flowers at a Rotterdam market

Last year it was Saturday and as usual I was alone. It was a good occasion to dress up :) I like to dress up. I had taken some stylish stuff there hoping that I'll have the occasion to wear it. After 6 weeks of staying there i didn't have any and despite the fact i was going to celebrate that spring holiday all alone, i decided to get dressed properly as if i was home :) Luckily it was sunny (which was not usual then) and i went out to walk in the city. I walked to the large shopping district at the heart of the city and was happily spending my time :)
Since the beginning of my walk i was noticing people looking at me with unusual interest (unusual for Dutch but not Armenians :) I was thinking that they were maybe trying to recognize a celebrity in me since they usually don't dress up like that and walk :) I spent the day fine... though it wasn't the way i would like to celebrate spring :)

This year i did it my way ;)
Together with my 3 friends, we got dressed up and went partying At first we went to the newly opened glamorous cafe Segafredo Zanetti. I love the interior there and the coffee is great! The service is excellent too and at our arrival all of us got free coffee cocktails with mint . They were non-alcoholic and amazingly tasty !
But we had some dancing plans for the night and we took cosmopolitan cocktails (as our beloved heroes usually do in one very famous TV-series/film ;) and desserts.

 

Panna cotta and cosmopolitan

It was still 9 and we went out to walk in the streets of downtown... We decided to check the music and ambience in Kami and Cheers clubs.. but it was too early for partying and we didn't stay anywhere and went to our usual place- Square One for a beer

The good mood was guaranteed and after the SQ1 we went directly to Kami club. The party has already started and it was cool! I haven't been to clubs this year yet and the 'opening' was quite promising ))))))) I met lots of my friends there and had a lot of fun! In fact I got home 3AM and my feet needed contrast showers and couple of days to rest and recover after 4-5 hours of dancing in fancy but not very comfortable high heels.



And by the way, you may send me hundreds of links to Wikipedia and other pages, but i won't change my belief ! The spring starts March 1 and not 21 !!!!!!! (at least for me)