13/52

"a portrait of my family, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Zoe Tiare: it was a hard week... you got sick again and we spent the week togheter, missing daddy, coughing, playing, watching peppa pig, taking medicines... but i love this picture: you two are just so sweet togheter!

Me & my belly: 22 weeks! morning breakfast with my favorite pal.. we had ultrasound this week and everything is going perfectly! now we have just to find a girl name (we already have a name for a boy) that daddy likes!

linking up with jodi's project here

these are my favorite shots from last week: lamb's portrait (those eyes are so expressive!), akari's picture of her daughters (the face in the first one made me smile!) and the light and beautiful surprise in stella's face (expatria, baby).

into the picture!

this morning we were watching some pictures about our last trip to new york (here). zoeti loves watching pictures but this morning i realized that she still doesn't know what a picture is! she was so sweet trying to get the balls in the photo or asking to be picked up by daddy in the following photo... i realize that i'm starting to  think of her as a big girl: she can eat, take off the coat, reach almost everything in her room, all by herself. but then come moments like this one and i have to realize that she's still my little one! that's something scary about his second pregnancy: i don't want to force zoeti to grow faster just because she's going to be a big sister in 4 months...
any advice about it?

what to eat when you are pregnant

i know that in many countries there's no something called "toxoplasmosis" or pregnant women are not routinely screened for it as happens here in italy for example. the fact is that if you're negative (which means that you are receptive) you have to be careful with raw vegetables and fruits, not well cooked meat, fresh eggs and not pastorized milk (and with gardening and cats). i'm one of those unlucky woman who is receptive so i have to take precautions with food. it's strange how much you can miss a type of food when you can't eat it for 8 months!
that's something healthy and toxo free for those of you who need food inspiration:

Breakfast

that's what i usually have for breakfast. beginning a new day with an orange juice prevent from many seasonal deseases and last winter i had no one single cold or cough (even if zoeti brought home a lot of virus!). carbs are important to let you start with some energy and that's why my breakfast has always a carb portion. i add some decaf or barley coffee to the milk.

Some ideas for lunch or dinner

eggs + fresh tomatoes + mushrooms + broccoli with cheese

stracchino (a soft cheese) + fresh tomatoes + steamed vegetables + some bread

a mix of sauteed vegetables (zucchini, tomatoes, red & yellow peppers, onion, an eggplant), that you can use as side for a main dish or for a special pasta!

i'll post some other toxo free recipe as soon as i can!

Enjoy!!

12/52

"a portrait of my family, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Zoe Tiare : playing hide & seek behind the curtains, but i find you from ouside the window!

Me & my belly: 21 weeks - trying to catch baby's movements!

these are my first pictures with my new camera - nikon d90- so i'm still learning but so far i can say i love it! anyone has the same? any tips?

from the last week i loved the intensity of dear lola, a beautiful picture of everly and the snow and this couple of siblings.

joining in with jodi's 52 project here 

father's day recipes

INGREDIENTS for STRAWBERRIES MUFFINS:

á          230 gr of flour

á          100 gr of sugar (i use just brown sugar)

á          130 gr of butter

á          3 eggs

á          150 ml of milk

á          Grated rind of an organic lemon

á          2 teaspoons of baking powder

á          Vanilla

á          A pinch of salt

á          400 gr of strawberries

á          100 gr of chocolate (I used the dark one)

mix dry (sugar, flour, salt, rind, baking powder and salt) and liquid ingredients separately and then add the liquid ones to the dry ones and mix well. in the end add strawberries and chocolate. put the mixture into the molds and bake for 25-30 minutes at 180°C

i used whipped cream for garnish! 

Aubergine millefeuille:

á          A round eggplant

á          2 big tomatoes

á          A scamorza (an italian very tasty cheese)

á          Oil + salt + pepper + chilli

put the eggplant in a mixture of olive oil, salt, pepper, parsley and chilli for 10 minutes in the fridge. then put a slice of eggplant, one of tomatoes, one of cheese and close everything in a pack made with baking paper.
bake it for 15 minutes at 200° C.
to see the result see here

happy father’s day!

yesterday was our father’s day! i know that in other country it comes on different days but here in italy is always on 19th of march. last year zoeti was too small and wasn’t already going to the nursery school, but this year she came home with a beautiful artwork for daddy and a poem! i prepared a special dinner (fish and eggplant with a special recipe that i’m going to share tomorrow) and a dessert that giulio loved: strawberry and chocolate muffins with whipped cream – delicious!

i took very few pictures not because i didn’t want to but because my choice to sell my reflex for a mirrorless was totally wrong for me… this saturday i hope to get back my reflex!

running out of the nursery school with her artwork!

her car in daddy's place

and an old picture of me and my daddy...

happy father's day!

11/52

  

"a portrait of my family, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Zoe Tiare: helping daddy with a new bookcase for her room. she’s so crafty and loves helping with screwdrivers and hammer!

Me & my belly: 20 weeks! we’re half a way! and you’re moving constantly!!

last week i loved the sweetness of tui creek tales sepia portraits,  the details captured by oyster and pearl, and the composition and reflection in mon petit cirque’s one.

linking up with jodi’s project

pause.

don't get me wrong... i simply love my family and my child is my reason on life (along with my husband and you, my little soon-to-be-born). but... there are days, like today, when i just want to get off this crazy wheel! this was one of those week where i can't organize dinners or shopping list, where i don't have time to clean the house, where i always feel like a mess... and, on the top of everything, zoeti had fever for almost the whole week! she was so sad and annoyed when the fever was high and incredibly active when she felt better. but this week i didn't have the energy either to keep her constantly in arm or to play no-stop. 
but this week is going to finish today! zoeti is without fever since yesterday, i have cleaned the house and we're going to have dinner with my parents (so no cooking for me!). and... i allowed myself a complete hair treatment this afternoon while my mother-in-law was watching zoeti! 
sometimes a mom just needs to remember how to be a woman to become a better mom!


and that’s the result of 3 hours of attentions, massages, hair brush and gossip: a cute haircut and a big smile!

4# book review

 

this month i’ve read the great gatsby by f. scott fitzgerald and i’m so totally into the roaring 20s. i don’t have to tell you what’s the book about since it’s one of the most famous american classic in the world but if i had to sum the book in just one short sentence it will be: it’s a book about the desperation of love. the background of a shiny, happy, rich life that the main characters have in common is nothing that a curtain for their desperation and their loneliness.

it was not easy reading the book in english; as you already know (and can easily understand from how i write… ) english is not my mother language and many expressions that fitzgerald used are not so common. So, to understand the story better, i’ve seen also the first movie, the one with mia farrow and robert redford. i’ve read a lot of reviews of this movie and seems that are all agree to say that the book is hundreds of times better and the actors chosen didn’t suit the fitzgerald’s idea. i’m not so an expert to write something like this… i think that lights and costumes were great, but maybe the book has a dept that the movie doesn’t show.

in the end i’m satisfied by my choice of book and the movie was on my to-see list for a while so…

abilmente 2013

   

last week i’ve been to abilmente, an exibition all about creative stuff. there were jewelry supplies, paper models for bags and soft toys, fabrics, ribbons, parties supplies… and a section totally dedicated to cake designers! this was my first time and i really really enjoy my ride! i bought some ribbons, all the needed to create a pattern owl for zoeti and some supplies for her coming birthday (20th of may). her theme this year will be la Pimpa, an old italian cartoon with a kind little red and white dog, called Pimpa, and her friends, such as animals or plants… i think that zoeti is still too young to decide and remember her birthday party so i’ll keep it simple, just red & white decoration and some Pimpa’s designs here and there.i finally managed to find paper straws and cupcake supplies with red and white polka dots!! I know that in US and Australia maybe you can find them everywhere but i live in a small town, near venice, and if i want something like these i have to buy it on internet (with high shipping rates). so find this cute shop (decochic) near where i live was a kind of miracle! and she does international shipping if you're interested in!  i love red & white so i hope it will turn out beautiful! and i hope in a sunny day this year!


that’s la Pimpa

10/52

"a portrait of my family, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Zoe Tiare: playing at the Ikea. you're becoming such a funny, happy, little woman! you kept saying hello to every single dog we met (and i don't know why but there were like millions of dogs!). you make me laughing sooooooooo much!!

Me and my belly: 19 weeks. first time in our new tub and seemed that you enjoyed that a lot!

My favorite shots from week 9/52 are the one from jellow finch (the little one kissing her bunny reminds me zoeti with her furry hat... yes, a hat, that apparently she can't live without!); the sunlight in big little's pic, and the sweetness of rebecca's.


Linking up with Jodi's 52 project

happy international women’s day!

today i just want to share some inspirational quotes i’ve found browsing the web. they’re all from women. Please, notice that it’s not  because i’m disrespectful that i’m quoting together actresses and Mother Teresa… they are all women that say something meaningful for me. of course there are somebody, such as Mother Teresa, that not only gave inspiration by words but they used their entire life to inspire people. but i’m sure that even great writers, such as Jane Austen, or innovative designer, such as Chanel, can be a model for some women in some fields. i’ve found people to admire at the supermarket, when i was them helping strangers, between friends, that started new job adventures believing in what they were doing, in my family, when after the 2nd WW they found the courage and the strenght to stand up again. some of them are women and some are (or were) men with great women at their side.

# "We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be" :: Jane Austen
#"There are no ugly women, only lazy ones" :: Helena Rubinstein
#"I was the first woman to burn my bra - it took the fire department four days to put it out" :: Dolly Parton
#"I could not, at any age, be content to take my place by the fireside and simply look on. Life was meant to be lived. Curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life" :: Eleanor Roosevelt
#"Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence and of the greater possibilities of their future" :: Maria Montessori
#"After centuries of dormancy, young women can now look toward a future moulded by their own hands." :: Rita Levi Montalcini
#"Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get" :: Ingrid Bergman
#"Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman" :: Coco Chanel
#"It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start" :: Mother Teresa
 
do you have a women’s quote to share?

stills: a weekly collection

   

in granny’s car // you learned how to put coins in your money box // you’re painting on everything these days (even baloons!) // vegetarian cous cous // pancakes for afternoon // happy birthday daddy! // the last 5 pictures: antiques and modern fair in parma (mercante in fiera)

linking to the beetle shack

happy birthday giulio!

happy birthday to the most amazing man and husband and daddy that we would ever ventured to hope for!

i took this picture yesterday at a famous antiques and modern fair in parma (more pictures coming soon)

9/52

"a portrait of my family, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Zoe Tiare: playing with a trumpet (granpa's present). Sorry for the bad quality... it's an iphone picture (no camera nearby)

Me & my belly: 18 weeks


Jodi's project here