Clay Play

What a fun weekend it has been!  We have spent quite a lot of time doing fun projects - clay art being one of them.  

My Birthday

Although this post is over a week late, I did have a photo of this fabulous cupcake that my friend made me for my birthday.  I loved the photo so much I wanted to post it - better late than never!

Have a fantastic weekend~

xo

Christmas wish list version 2.0

In an effort to make this holiday season's shopping a bit easier for my darling and handsome husband, I thought I would send out a newly updated list, (links included honey) to help make it so easy and simple and lovely for him~

xo

Living in Seattle, I could really use these boots!  

Of course I need the Welly socks  to go with them...

I would be quite happy carrying this (in peacock) around town.

Stella would love for me to have this bag (in red of course!) so that I could carry her everywhere with me!

I think that this painting looks so good with my gift list, don't you?

Truly, I love the photography of Mrs. French, but these two always catch my eye~

trying new things

As a photo I failed to take myself has recently come into my possession, I want to add one final (hopefully) Italy post.  Our last day in Italy was spent touring the beautiful countryside outside of Turin, through vineyards and endless grapevine-filled hillsides.  We were fortunate to have beautiful weather and the company couldn't have been nicer (well, unless Kim and Mark had stayed in Italy just a bit longer...).  We enjoyed a marvelous lunch at a restaurant in a village whose name escapes me, eating local fare prepared especially for us.  One of the courses was something a bit different, for most of us I would guess.  When it arrived, my first thought was "oh, we are doing fondue!"  Wrong...

things I wouldn't mind finding under the tree this Christmas...

I have come upon a few lovelies that I would be happy to open this Christmas morning.  Honey, are you listening?  

xo

I found this little bag over at Croska's Etsy shop~

While on the subject of bags and clutches, this is also quite lovely from dalinda's shop~

I certainly wouldn't mind this necklace from my darling Shutter Sisters!

As far as transporting my camera around, wouldn't it be nice to have something cute, like this from shootsac?

And although this might not fit under the tree, think of what a fabulous guesthouse it would make!

saturday morning toast

Poor little #4...  He most often falls victim to being a captive subject.  The others seem to have the ability to whine or run their way out of my photos, but when you are the youngest, and stuck in your high chair, you often end up in pictures.

winter approaches

I snuck outside this afternoon to shoot a few photos on this cloudy autumn Friday.  It is definitely not my favorite time to shoot outdoors but lately I have been inspired, especially by the fabulous Mrs. French who always seems to find something wonderful to photograph.  

Enjoy your weekend lovelies~

xo

Cupcakes and all things wonderful

Today happens to be my favorite day of the year.  I really don't mind getting older, and everyone seems to be so incredibly nice to you on your birthday.  Take for instance the fabulous Mrs. French.  She was kind enough to share one of her marvelous cupcake photos with me so that I would have something that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside on the top of my post. Cupcakes pretty much sum up my feelings for this day.  Is there anything that hollers HAPPINESS like a cupcake?

xo

the food tour

couldn't you just look at photos of pretty food all day long?

These are a few of my favorite things

although I should be posting photos of our Fab-You-Lus trip to Turin, it is monday morning.  and I have been awake since before 4 am.  jet lag.  not quite ready to download/mess around with/post all of the Won-Der-Filled photos that will remind me of such an amazing trip.  instead I figured I could use some inspiration for the week.  get things started off in a positive direction.  maybe take my mind off the smell of smoke from the oh-so-small fire that took place while we were away...

1.  I love being inspired by all of my favorite blogging women.  playing catch-up from when we were away, I am amazed at how incredible each of these ladies are.

2.  I love mornings, although not necessarily the 4 am variety, when the house is so peaceful because I am the only one awake.  and it is so QUIET (sshhhh...)

3.  I love my husband.   not only because he treats me like an absolute queen, spoils me rotten, gives great hugs, better kisses, and is always there to make me laugh.  he is also incredibly hot.  really.

4.  I love my four little princes, who occasionally make me crazy, but more often make me laugh.  and who I really don't spend nearly enough time with just being present and giving them all of my attention.  (something to definitely work on...)

5.  I love my grammy, who lives with us every other week and who is a constant source of love and calm in this crazy wild chaotic house.  I also need to work on my "being present" with her.  she is such a blessing.

6.  I love food, and my favorite food blogs that always make me hungry and provide such wonderful recipes/inspiration/motivation to play in my kitchen. I also love my kitchen.

7.  I love that each day I get a fresh start.  the ability to make changes and create the life/world/home that I dream about.  today is probably a great place to begin.

have a fabulous week~

xo

Day Three from Turin

As the Internet connection is sketchy at best from here, I just wanted to post a couple of photos that I took today from my new very favorite place to shop EVER, Eataly!  Words can not describe the joy, the wonder, the amazement that my shopping companions and I felt the moment we stepped through those beautiful doors.  One article I read stated "Eataly makes Whole Foods look like a 7-11".  They were not exaggerating....  

I will post more photos from our incredible FOUR HOURS at Eataly when I return home~

Ciao for now Bellas,

xo

Day One from Turin, Italy

Note to self - move across that street quickly.  Those cars are fast!  

What a beautiful city - old architecture, fabulous fashion, lovely weather.

Actually stayed awake (with a little cat nap after arriving at the hotel) and it is 8pm!  30 hours awake and hopefully going to enjoy a good night's sleep so that I can really hit the cobblestones with Stella (my faithful camera) in the morning.

Ciao!

Arrivederci!

Happy Saturday!

I have been a bit MIA as of late, and I am sad to say that is due to the fact that coffee was introduced to my beloved computer, and she didn't much enjoy it.  I now realize how dependent I was on her, and how badly I should have been backing her up.  It has been a painful lesson, as I seem to have lost everything I had worked on these past 4 or 5 months.   Aside from the fact that my entire life schedule was on her hard drive, not to mention every one of my contacts, I lost all of the photos that I had taken - a LOT of photos.  My darling husband sent the hard drive away yesterday, so now we have entered into the "how much is recovering that content worth to you" conversations.  It could become very expensive, and so I am preparing myself for the possibility of never seeing any of it again...  There is a serious grieving process involved here.  I must admit however that I might be recovering, due to my early birthday present from truly the best, most wonderful, generous husband ever...  I will introduce you to my newest dear dear friend soon!  As for now....

Tomorrow we leave on a very romantic, food filled one week holiday/bit of work involved for hubby in ITALY!!!  We are flying into Turin, where we have never been, and I can't wait to venture through the city with my much loved Stella and her memory card!  I will be sure to post photos when we return~

Have a wonderful weekend my dears, and enjoy November - the month I like to consider my birth"month".  (birthday is just too short a duration to celebrate something so fabulous!)

xo

Today is the Day

As I am currently attempting to corral the flock of butterflies in my stomach, I only want to say this. I believe we are on the edge of something momentous. We have, in our grasp, the possibility of hope for the first time in what seems like a long time. I am so excited/nervous/hopeful that by this time tomorrow, the United States of America will be on a new path - one that will restore our reputation in the world, bring communities together, and begin to repair the economic disaster we currently are surrounded by.
Regardless of your views, get out there and vote today. If you don't vote, you have no right to complain about the outcome.

The Saturday Market

Yesterday we were blessed with an unseasonably warm, yet damp morning. Thus, number 3 and I headed off to the Saturday market in the University District.