I do fancy the end of winter....

I know....I got off so lightly this year in the "suffering the Melbourne winter"  by absconding to Italy for a whole month.....we've all come back a darker shade (my daughter mostly!!)

And it's been nice getting back into the swing of things.  Things like the Kinder drop off/pick up, the grocery shopping, chatting with friends, going out with some girlfriends, baking, cooking, blogging and...
snapping some Fancy Pants shots.

But Kymmie - here I am.  I'm glad to be back, sharing our fashions loves.  And if you came past yesterday you'd have read that I'm loving getting a little extra wear out of my winter boots.

 So here they are....I love these boots, they just pull straight on and for something a little different I pulled on some over the knee socks that have a cute little velvet bow so that they could peek out over the top of my boots.....


Do have a favourite winter item that just helps you smile during the freeze??

Wearing:
jeans - Gripp
Boots - Tony Bianco
Long black singlet - Sussan
Shirt - Tally Ho
Cardi - Portmans
Earings - Diva
Over the knee socks - Target

Join in the fun of getting fancy with Kymmie here....

xx

I'm grateful for...{fairies}

Source: camillaengman.blogspot.com via Jonahliza on Pinterest

Oh I'm so excited to be joining up with my fashionista friend Kymmie who is delightfully hosting Grateful day on behalf of Maxabella (whom we miss heaps!)

So, today I'm grateful for...

1. Fairies - well to be specific the Dummy Fairy, who I came last week and took all my daughters dummies to give to other little babies who needed them.  The Dummy Fairy left a small little present (jar of glitter, some Lark Daisy Lane swap cards and a little money).  This softened the blow of dealing without those much loved dummies, and to my surprise, my daughter hasn't looked back.

2.  Winter boots - seriously I don't think there is a winter item I love more than winter boots.....I've come back from a European Summer to the bitter cold of Melbourne weather.  But in the gloom, there is the silver lining of being able to wear my boots just that little bit longer....

3. Photos - they help explain memories and are nice way to reflect on times past.

what are you Grateful for today....Please pop by our host for this week and join in.

xx

Italia Part 3 - {una vespa in miei pantaloni}

There has to be "one" experience that you never ever forget whilst on holidays.  And yes, i will never forget those magical beaches, or the delicious food, our lovely family or amazing walks along cobblestone roads in towns with amazing building and churches.

But alas, here is my little story that perhaps will be memorable for some time....

It all happened when I was trying to be domestic and was doing some washing of clothes which were then diligently hung out on the balcony to dry.  I then packed them back into our suitcase ready.

Festival Day (Ferra Augosta) arrived and it was time to get ready to go out for the night festival.  It was getting fresh, so I got changed into my newly cleaned jeans.....I walked into the hallway and was having a joke with hubby about how my jeans were feeling a little tighter that usual!!!

I bent down to fix them up a little around my ankles....

"owww - what is that!"  I say... "I think there is, like a pin or something sharp, just here in my jeans...owwww it's really hurting."

I put my hand in the inside of my right knee were the pain is coming from and feel....

.......... something moving! 

This is cue for me to start screaming hysterically down the hallway.........

"There is something in my pants!!!!!"  I scream!

At this point my mind can't quite fathom what in fact has decided to invade my jeans....my minds starts to race...I'm on the floor, kicking and screaming, and trying so desperately to get my jeans off....I start thinking of lengthy stays in hospital, doctors shaking their head, about my leg possibly being amputated and diseases and.....then, i get my jeans past down my knees....hubby doing the best to contain my hysteria!

"Oh it looks like a scorpion!" he says....

Cue even more hysteria from me!

"Oh no, wait, i think it's a wasp....he decided as it flys past his head towards the front door....and kills it with my shoe.

I lay of the floor for some time before i dare look at my leg, and when i do, it seems that the wasp was just as scared as me, as i was of him (or her) and decidedly stung me several times.

Unfortunately it doesn't end there....Oh no, a trip to the village hospital, an injection of cortisone and a few little sobs of relief later and only then was I ready to join everyone at the festival!

These are the snaps from many a night festival we got to experience.

The title of this post translates to "there's a wasp in my pants"

Any unforgettable travel stories???
Please share!
xx

Italia Part 2 - build a bridge {and get over it}

Italy is like a living contradiction when it comes to it's buildings, infrastructure and roads.  I mean...I'll try and explain it the best I can and if you've been there and experienced the life and travelling yourself you may know what I'm talking about but the Italians are a funny bunch.

They tend not to care, are a little bashful and nonchalant about how things work.

Take the roads for example.  Organised chaos is one way to explain it, but strangely enough - it works.  They drive and park pretty much as they please.  They angle park in-between other cars or park on the side-walk - and no one cares.  In Melbourne it would turn us all into road-raging lunatics.

They stop in a narrow strip of road because they've seen their friend or relative and stop for a chat.  Who cares that there are five other cars behind them....

They over-take around blind corners, speed and yes, my kids sat on my knee in the back seat on occasion - because that's what you do.

Then there's the buildings, and yes, these buildings have been standing for centuries even before our little baby faced Australia was discovered.  I get that they are dripping in so much history, that they just don't really care (or is it that they just stop noticing??)

Take this little quaint derelict building near my hubby's Nonnas house....gorgeous or what!  And if we had a building like that here in Australia we'd be erecting a fence, slapping a heritage listing on it quick smart and charging people $15 just to take a look.  I got to touch it, walk around it, AND, when I stuck my camera in the window and blindly snapped away - what did I find?

Bread still in the old oven!  What.... did someone just walk out and forget that they were baking???  There goes those nonchalant Italians again!

But amoungst all the pot holes in the road and the untidy parts of town is beauty....just natural, quaint, raw beauty.  And I loved it....

And they can building some amazing bridges.  Yes, the ones that care more about living hard than working hard, somehow effortlessly come up with the goods.

Like I said.....contradiction at every turn!

Italia Part 1 - Food

Its kind of hard not to think of food when one mentions Italy... and we sure did consume a lot of it whilst there....From the brioche, cornetti's, gelato, pizza, pasta, antipasto, cured meat, cheeses, olives, bread and biscotti it was hard to make a choice sometimes!!  Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately), our cousin owns not one but two pasticeria's and it was a morning ritual to head to his bar for a Calabrian Breakfast.  Sometimes I'd get a brioche and iced coffee, other times I would get a gelato filled croissant with an espresso....One thing is for sure.  It was always delicious.  Here are some snaps of the amazing food that I remembered to capture, when I wasn't busy stuffing myself silly!

xx

I'm grateful for family adventures....

Yep, more travel photos, as I join with with Maxabella via Beetle Shack for today's Gratefuls...

Because of course I'm grateful for...

Family Adventures!! Travelling with kids is not for the faint hearted.  It takes organisation plus, it takes a whole bucket load of patience and more, and it also means going with the flow and allowing your guard down (and breaking routine frequently) so that you can indulge in the spirit that is adventure and holiday fun.  And that's exactly what we did.  We adapted to the way of life of the Italians, and my kids did super well.  We had fun, and enjoyed everything together as a family. And we were never in bed before midnight!  We soaked up all that this holiday had to offer and more...

The memories we created will be with us forever and a joy to reflect on in years to come. 

What are you Grateful for?  Join in! 

xx

Arrivederci Italia

Yes, were home!  Wow - words cannot really express just what an adventure we had.  Here a few random shots....I'm not going to bore you with my whole collection of snaps...but I may share a few little stories next week....

To fill you in a few details though here's a little snapshot in words

 - weather - perfect!

 - food - sublime

 - plane trip - long (and exhausting!)

 - family - oh just adorable!

 - the kids - they did really well (with a few moments of hysteria thrown in for good measure)

 - budget - stuck to (phew!) 

 - how many gelatos? - I stopped counting after the first week!  Eeek!

 - disasters? - Just one.....will tell you that story next week (now looking back, quite funny ;-)) 

And yes, it's nice to be home....there is no place like home (Dorothy was right!).  The jet lag has, well, lagged around but slowly slowly we are getting back into the swing of things.  I'm looking forward to visiting all my favourite blogs and seeing what you have been up to.....but now I'm off to have some ice-cream and home-made caramel sauce (not mine!) 

xx