SEAFOOD AND I

In one word: NO.
I don't eat seafood. I don't like how it looks, I don't like how it tastes. I grew up on the Great Plain of Hungary for Pete's sake. My mom would buy frozen "sea fish filet" sometimes, it was a treat, but that is the extent of my seafood-experience. Also, I am not one who is adventurous in food. It took me 6 years of getting used to the idea of eating the crab rangoons at the Chinese buffet back in Michigan. [And now I love it! But that's beside the point.]
Anyway, my super kind neighbor brought some mussels over the other day. She prepared it beautifully. Very simple, with lemon and parsley. The true flavor of mussels shone.
Yet...

People eat seafood here every day. We live on the sea so it is just a natural part of life. I'm not gonna lie, I still can't get used to the sight and smell of all those slimy creatures at the market. 

Fortunately husband is not crazy for them either so he doesn't mind if I don't prepare them often. Or ever. *snarky grin*

3 B's I can absolutely NEVER resist

1. BREAD
Fresh, crackling ciabatta is my favorite! This morning I was at Tigre (small supermarket) buying ham, salami and parmiggiano reggiano at the deli. While I was waiting for my things I looked to the side. There was the bread basket. I quick looked away. Then I looked back... The wonderful loaves looked back at me batting their eyelashes. I batted my eyelashes back... then I tried to look away again. I really tried. But then I glanced at this amazingly rustic looking loaf of ciabatta and I was finished. I picked it up and put it in my basket. Then I quickly walked away while having guilty feelings over already having 5 fresh baguette's from LIDL. They are going to the freezer.

2. BAGS
Now this is something I cannot indulge too much these days being a poor missionary and all. But it's okay to drool over them still.
Some women are crazy for shoes, or make-up or whatever, well my thing is bags. Back in Hungary when I used to be a "rich student" (Haha...seems like it, comparing to present...) I owned over 60 bags. You would think that I would only wear a few of them while the other ones would collect dust in a drawer, but not. I would actually make sure that I switch them around regularly so all of them would get used and be enjoyed. I would eventually gift most of them to my mom, aunts and cousins when I left for America.
To have a purse with me was always important to me. When I was a little girl and our family was going to my grandma's for Sunday lunch, I would hold my little purse close to me with both hands under the table. Having the bag there made me feel safe. I was never an outgoing person, I always just loved being home. So when I had to go somewhere it was essential to me to have a little piece of home, safety, comfort in my bag. That usually meant a notebook, a few of my favorite pens, a book or dictionary, chapstick, Kleenex, some stickers... It was a place of refuge for me, in the crowd, a little piece of my happyland. My little insurance of not ever getting bored.
(You probably have no idea what I'm talking about)
Bags are still special for me. These are just a few from my collection on Pinterest.
(Oh my word...look at the middle one in the top row...black one with the bow and chain straps...fabulous!!)

3. BATH AND BODYWORKS
I'm a major sucker for anything good-smelling, sparkly, fluffy.. B&BW does not have shops in Italy (WHY NOT?!!!) so I'm totally separated from it. (Husband says it's for the better)
I absolutely loved it every time they would come out with a new fragrance, or the seasonal stuff...
Christmas with it's divine coffee-toffee-cinnamon scented handsoaps and candles...
and my favorite one of course <<CITRUS GARLAND>> amazing.
So now my heart squeezes when I think of all the new and seasonal fragrances I miss... :(

My top 1O wishes today

I'm realizing that I have been taking such boring photos. So I went ahead to look over my Photography section on Pinterest for new ideas. 

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with a couple from church. After lunch the wife brought out the big family photo album with hundreds of old photos from the 20's and later. I loved looking at them, they were all unique and meaningful. Sometimes I panic when I look at our thousands of pictures, sometimes a dozen shots of the same thing. I wish I had just one photo instead but have it rich, loaded with meaning and content, be high quality, taken from an interesting angle or capture natural beauty, colors and personality. 

We will see how it goes. 

My top 10 for today:

1. Pearls. Love love love them. I have been dreaming of a pearl ring... A white pearl on a simple white gold or silver band.
2. Quiet and solitude. I don't know how it happened but this morning there were 5 minutes when the whole house was quiet. Like time stopped or something. I was sitting on the floor at the coffee table in the lounge, Scott and Benjamin were doing something in their rooms quietly. All the sudden I realized how unusually quiet the house was. I didn't even want to breathe not to break that wonderful moment.
3. Cauliflower curry. I made some for lunch and it was heavenly. Just what I needed on a windy, rainy, sickly kind of day.
4. A week in Japan and Korea. I have been watching NHK(Japanese channel) and Arirang(Korean channel) and it makes me swoooon... *sigh* I have been in love with the Korean and Japanese language and culture ever since the first day at university when I shyly walked up to this Korean exchange student and we we became friends. I started studying Korean shortly after. I love kawaii (everything cute), dramas, crafts everything.
5. Korean language study. If I had the time I would pick it up again. Soon.
6. Cute bow in my hair. Gonna sew some tonight by hand.
7. All my craft supplies. I think of all my wonderful supplies and tools neatly packed up back in America and my fist clenches... 
8. Visit the Michalak family in London.
9. (this one is a secret)
10. I wish we had family around.

I'm back. And I'm inspired.

After about a month of break I am back into the blog-world. I confess I have been utterly uninspired in the last few weeks. I haven't been doing any crafts, pinning, looking at other blogs..nothing of the sort. I felt like nothing exciting was going on in our life, other than studying Italian, doing dishes, laundry, playing with Benjamin...the usual stuff. I kinda wasn't in the mood for blogging either. 

It was a good resting time for me.

Then about a week ago -> AWAKENING -> I started working on some handmade gifts for my neighbor who is about to have a baby boy, found some very inspiring blogs and cleaned out my iPhotos where I have re-found many treasures. So now I am all in the mood again to journal and document our life. 

Where to start...

1. My baby graduated from kindergarten! Usually it is not that great of an achievement, really, but he indeed learn to speak Italian during this school year so I am very proud of him.

Congratulations little man!! Bravo!!!

2. We have finally gotten our Italian ID cards. It didn't even take long, only like 10 minutes. I have been kinda dreading it, because everything takes a long time to acquire in Italy. I went in to the Comune (something like the Secretary of State in the US) and the guy made it right there in from of our very eyes. It was quite the operation involving hammering and full body weight pressure stamping...don't even ask. 

But 10 minutes and 12 euros later we were the happy owners of our new ID cards!

3. Benjamin built the coolest little library for his squirrels and puppies. He even made tiny little books and everything.... Love it!!

4. I have been walking and working out. I like walking in town, I never get bored of looking at the buildings, houses, plants...Italy.

5. At the sea we found some GRAY CLAY the other day. They say it is very good for your skin. I even brought some home and 3-4 times a week I put on a gray clay face mask. I dont know what it actually does but I know that my skin feels amazingly smooth and clean after I wash it off.

6. Benjamin was gifted a pair of boxing mitts and he wouldn't take them off. He calls the gloves "punchers" and he claims he is gonna be a "puncher-man" when he grows up. He insisted on wearing them, and the helmet, when we went to the grocery store a little while ago... I let him do it since it was just one of those corner-shops.

7. My neighbor and friend, Marika prepared some vongole (clams) and shared them with me the other day. So. I grew up in the Great Hungarian Plain and I haven't even seen clams before. We had never had any kind of sea food growing up so I am totally not used to the taste, the smell or even the thought of eating it. Nonetheless I tried them! Which was quite adventurous of me, believe me. It wasn't bad...but I think I will stick with my paprikash chicken for now.

Paprikash chicken...mmm....