A different Sunday

1. Benjamin drew this for me..... heart melting... aaawwwwww

 2. This is either freaky or awesome. I was watching Fringe and all the sudden I see this. Apparently Edina is a town in New York? Never would have guessed.

3. I made my first woven box.

It is made out of junk mail. Not very strong, but I was just experimenting with the technique. 

It turned out pretty good actually... now I will have to find some stronger material to make bigger ones. 

4. Benjamin and I were by ourselves today. Husband is gone all day in Pietracatella with the guys. 

it was a beautiful day, so we decided to take a late afternoon walk {exploring}.

5. We had a long video chat tonight with the family in Michigan. 

Benjamin was incredibly goofy and excited... I could hardly hear a word with him doing "his thing" next to me. He was just excited to see his grandma and grandpa and aunts and uncles. 

But things got REAL crazy after his little 7 year old cousin arrived. They were making faces and weird sounds and laughed laughed laughed.... ;)

6. Benjamin and I went to the nearby church today with friends. There was Sunday school for the kiddos, but only girls were there today so Benjamin changed his mind and came back to me. 

He was a sleepy head so he was resting his head in my lap for most of the service. He was drawing a little bit too. He is getting so skillful in holding the pen in the right way. 

7. I NEVER post cute outfit pictures of myself.

Mostly because 1. I am not exactly the model type 2. I don't think my wardrobe is that awesome. 

In America I used to have A LOT of clothes. Most of them were given to me for free or from the thrift store. Either way, there was NO WAY to bring them over here.... I only had two suitcases to fill. Which is funny because only my shoes and bags would have filled a whole suitcase. 

Anyhooooo......

I don't have a lot of clothes here in Italy. I haven't seen a thrift store yet, not even in the city.... and in the regular shops clothes are EXpensive. 

All that to say, I wore this to church today and I thought it was so cute! 

Love mixing polka dots and stripes. 

{my skirt is cut off, but it was navy blue)

All right. Gotta get some homework done yet so I'm gonna split.

Siesta... still forgetting

1. We are so so so grateful for our Italian language coach, Dani!

He is such a good teacher. He instinctively recognizes our individual learning styles and works with us accordingly. Without trying to push his teacherly agenda.

Thanks Dani, you are A+

2. I like it how they packaged the mushrooms. Elegantly with some parsley and a peperoncino.

3. Benjamin came home with a few tears in his little school uniform. 

Husband sat down immediately without a word and started mending it. 

This the man I married, ladies.

 

 4. After 48 days in the country you would think that I have learnt about SIESTA.

Between 12-5 PM the stores are closed! Easy, right?

Well. I still get ready and take off for the supermarket in the middle of the afternoon at least 2 or 3 times a week. Only to discover half way to the shop that the town is empty. It's siesta time. 

I grew up in Hungary where there are always 0-24 shops open. Then I moved to the US, shopping Mecca of the World, huge hypermarkets open 0-24 every day, even on Christmas! Whatever you need, whenever you need it. I guess it is hard to change habits.

5. Husband and kid taking a well-deserved siesta after school and language class

6. My new love: Call the Midwife, BBC production, set in East London in the 1950s.

7. I am thinking about a new diet

8.  I am thankful for grace, family, health

9. In the kitchen: applecake, a few dishes, tea

10. I am wondering about family, home, roots

11. I am hoping to find a kindred spirit

12. I am looking forward to our next visit to Hungary and Michigan

13. I am learning Italian

14. A favorite quote of the day:

The quieter you become

The more you can hear.

15. One of my favorite things: journaling

16. I am reading Three by Ted Dekker

Thursday happened

1. I miss Bath & Bodyworks. So much!! I need some Pumpkin Caramel Latte candles and and and 

Pumpkin Cupcake hand soaps and and and 

Pumpkin Pecan Waffles body lotion and and and.....

Aaahhhhhhhh

Pointless.

Moving on. 

2. I am homesick today. I listened to some Hungarian radio this morning and all the sudden I missed home verrry much. The changing leaves, the stores, the decorations, the fall-y atmosphere..

I LOVE Italy but I really miss the fall colors. 

3. Why is that that I can translate pages and pages from English to Italian, but when I am in the store and would be time to chat with the butcher (who is very nice by the way), I can't remember a single grammar rule, or basic expression or any of my fancy {well, not really} {but certainly useful} vocabulary {pork, ground beef, ground beef and pork mixture} that I spent llots of time memorizing...

Grrrr....

4. Italian prepositions are driving me crazy! Mi fanno impazzire!!!

5. I learnt the most beautiful Italian word today. Ready?

VENTICELLO

{pronounce: ven-ti-chel-lo}

Meaning: gentle breeze.

I'm in raptures with the Italian language.

6. Benjamin's teacher told me today {when I picked him up} that we need to work on teaching him how to hold the pencil right. So all afternoon and evening we were  practicing with him. 

He seemed to get the hang of it really fast.

{sidenote: cola flavored lollypops really do help in learning skills as such! :}

Check out what a cool picture he drew me {holding the pencil right}

We went for a walk before dinner

I keep forgetting that grocery shops stay closed after the afternoon siesta on Thursday nights

Loving this quote today:

Thank you Lord for everything! Thank you for husband and kid, for family and friends, for our health and life, calling and salvation, food and shelter. 

You are AMAZING!

I love you!

Goodnight!

Just Monday

I love her blog. 

I love how honestly she talks about her insecurities, faults, struggles, joys, inspirations, experiences.... her life.

I love how much she talks about her husband and how much impressed she is with him. Like all the time!! 

I like her style of fashion too very much. She writes funny and crisp.

I stayed up till 1 last night..I just couldn't stop reading and laughing...

which makes me a little grumpy and tired mama today. I need to work hard not  to show that though...We are hosting a movie  night tonight for our co-workers. 

Who are awessssome people by the way. Yes, YOU guys! :)

Here she is... looking all cute and sassy. 

I adore both outfits to the MAX! 

 I went to Termoli yesterday after my Italian class. 

Termoli is a "bigger" city of maybe 15,000 people 10 kilometers from Petacciato. 

There are two small malls with a couple of supermarkets where I can buy gluten-free stuff for husband. 

There is a Chinese store too in one of the malls where they sell literally everything. Clothes, shoes, housewares, office supplies... Well, it is an experience to shop there. No matter what isle you are at, or where in the store you are browsing, there is gonna be at least one employee right behind you, watching you!

Im not kidding. 

They are watching every move of yours! 

And they dont even bother pretending to do something like stacking the shelves or clean or something. They just watch. 

c r e e p y 

Anywhooooo.....

Here is me in Termoli waiting for my bus. 

When my bus got to Petacciato I saw my two boys waiting for me at the bus stop. 

Aaawwww..... They were sooo cute!!! 

Love them!! 

Our casa

Welcome!

Please come in!

This is our home.

Isten hozott! Kerulj beljebb. Ez az otthonunk. 

This fun clock is actually from the Chinese shop (there are a bunch of those here in Italy).
Ez a szuper kis ora a kinai boltbol van.

Thanks for coming! 

Arrivederci!

Koszi hogy beugrottal! Viszlat! 

Recovering Sunday

It has been a weekend of recovering from a nasty little UTI... I remember the first time I got it...we were here in Italy! On our honeymoon.... I have never had it before and I wasnt familiar with the symptoms either. 

I was in so much pain, I couldnt even walk. I remember sitting at this little internet cafe chatting with this internet doctor trying to figure out what was wrong with me. Ahh.... I was so clueless :)

I have UTI a few times a year and let me tell you it is no fun.

But I am slowly getting over it now, thanks to cranberry and gallons of tea.

Anyhoooo..........

Here is some images that made my heart flutter today.

The vintage pearl mixture is amazing.... so beautiful and feminine.

Tweed, ruffles and faded jeans. Such a comforting combo.

Those black and white wedges are gloooorious... delicious... pompous in the most positive way!!

And the cushions I would LOVE for our living room. 

So late afternoon I got a little claustrophobic in the house, I grabbed the camera and went out for a little walk in town. It was Sunday afternoon. People were comfortably strolling up and down on the main street. 

I was kinda half hoping that maybe one of the shops would be open, but no such luck. 

Corso Italia is my favorite street to walk to town on.

This Panificio is the closest bakery to our house. It is where I walk over to most mornings for some panini or baguette. It is 264 steps from our door. I counted.

Tomorrow is a new week starting. 

New grace, new inspirations, new Italian vocabulary to learn! :)

And with that.... I am off to bed. 

Well, right after I finish this episode of Murder, she wrote.
Jessica Fletcher is such an inspiring character...

Drawing, recycling

I love drawing. 

I am particularly fond of re-drawing famous pieces of art...in my own interpretation of course. '-'

Mona Lisa (Gioconda)
by Leonardo da Vinci

The Lady with the Ermine (Cecilia Gallerani)
by Leonardo da Vinci
'-'
this one.... I laughed so much when I finished it..... Her hand looks like a zombie hand waiting to sink her fingers into the little creature... :) Haha!

It is probably my favorite pastime beside crafts.. which I'm not able to do much of these days due to the lack of room in my suitcases when moving. Moving back to Europe was not the easiest. 

In one hand I love living here, i always dreamed of living in Italy, and it is glorious, Thank you Lord!!! 

But I am missing so many things from Michigan. I left oodles and oodles of containers in storage filled with my stamps, pretty papers, cutters, punchers, markers, pens and other supplies hoping that every time we visit Michigan I can bring some back with me to Italy. 

I really didn't know what would be available here craft supplies-wise. I have been so spoiled in America with the huge warehouse-size craft stores like Michaels, Joanns or HobbyLobby....at my fingertips.... every day if I wished.... :) 

So these days I am learning to recycle and save a lot of things that I used to just throw away

Empty tea and coffee boxes, containers, "cool" sugar and pasta bags... I might use them for making cards or something. (I havent been able to find any scrapbooking or journaling supplies, or pretty papers... nada!)

Storing empty containers and paper bags in my non-working dishwasher

It would make a fun card I think

saving card board and strings

best pumpkin spice cake ever made

without a doubt!

and its gluten free!

Proof: I made it last night and it was all gone (except for one slice) before we went to bed. The remaining slice is being consumed by husband and kid as I write for breakfast this morning. 

So I am making another one today. 

It might not look much but it is THE BEST dessert I have ever made and I think I had my share of making good desserts before. (Though I dont mean to sound arrogant or anything...:) haha)

The cake is extraordinarily MOIST and MILD, not overly sweet. 

The frosting... Well, yes, I invented it myself! I am not fond of heavy, buttery, sweet frostings. In the US I always left the frosting on my plate. 

I wanted to make something LIGHT and FLUFFY. It turned out AMAZING!

No kidding!

You gotta try it, super easy!!

(Since I dont have a kitchen scale yet, I was just guessing the amounts. I was able to do that because I grew up in Hungary where we use the metric system for baking, and I am quite accustomed to the sight of 100 gramms of flour etc. If you are not, I recommend you use a kitchen scale for this :)

Because of Scott's celiac disease I made it gluten free! But you can use any kind of flour you want. 

spiced pumpkin cake

110 g margarine

220 g dark brown soft sugar

135 g flour (gluten free or any)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

175 gramm pumpkin puree

2 eggs beaten

butter a 23x33 cm or similar sized baking dish. preheat oven to 180C. (350 F)

in a large bowl combine everything and mix until smooth. 

spread evenly in dish and bake for 25 minutes. 

Let cool before frosting. 

super fluffy and light frosting

1 cup heavy cream, beat it fluffy

2 T powdered sugar

40 gramm (3 T) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup coconut flakes for crunch

Mmm.... enjoy! 

One more day