Mamma Americana

An Etsy Christmas

Now that Christmas is over and the gifts have been given, I can finally share some of the great things that I've found on Etsy. Here is a description of Etsy from Wikipedia: "Etsy is a website that provides the general public with a way to buy and sell handmade items as well as vintage items and craft supplies. Handmade items cover a wide range including art, photography, clothing, jewelry, edibles, bath & beauty products, and toys".

I really wanted to give handmade gifts this Christmas. I would have preferred to make them myself, but with my Dad's illness etc. that simply wasn't an option. A stuffed elephant for my 9 month old nephew was all I could manage. 

Etsy was a life saver. I was able to shop online, which saved me the hassle of trying to shop with a 2 year old in tow. Most sellers ship internationally, and the dollar to euro exchange rate was an added benefit. 

The best part though is the "feel good" factor. You get lovely, high quality handmade gifts that are totally unique and you're helping to support an artisan/crafter (usually a woman) at the same time. It really is nice to know that our money is going to an individual as opposed to some big company that manufactures its goods in China. 

Here are some of the goods (in no particular order) with photos from the seller's Etsy Shops:

Porcelain Tea light Delight N.1. Design by Wapa Studio

Porcelain Tea light Delight N.3. Design by Wapa Studio  

A pair of these went to my mother-in-law. Gorgeous porcelain from a talented ceramicist.

Wapa Studio

Amethyst Draped Marquis Earrings from Allison Mooney

 Apatite and Gold Flower Earrings from Allison Mooney

Beautiful earrings for some sweet cousins.

Allison Mooney

Bugs With Style SnaxSax Three Pack from Sara Bruno

These are re-usable bags for snack food. I gave a set to my-sister-law and one to myself. What a great alternative to zip-lock baggies! A must if you have little ones.

Snax Sax by Sara Bruno

Let it snow!

The temperature has been dropping all week long. Yesterday it was finally cold enough for snow. Big, fat flakes came down all night long. This morning we awoke to a sparkly winter wonderland.

It doesn't snow very often in Florence, maybe once every 5-10 years.  So of course it's a big deal. We put on Eleonora's snow suit for the first time ever; bundled ourselves up and headed out the door. 

We decided to go the large park nearby. Most of the neighborhood had the same idea. It was very cute to see so many families out sledding, making snowmen and having snowball fights. Quite a magical morning, and one I won't soon forget. 

 

I hope it snows again tonight!    

Christmas time in Florence

We've really gotten into the Christmas spirit this past week, attending both of Florence's annual Christmas markets. Last Saturday we visited the Heidelberg Christmas market (through December 20th) in Piazza Santa Croce. It's a lovely german style Christmas market with wooden stands selling all sorts of goods. I really enjoy the genuine bavarian food. A great bratwurst and a good beer are at the top of my list every year.  

 

 

Then on Tues. we headed over to Florence Noel (through Dec. 13th) at the Stazione Leopolda. The market was smaller than in years past; the economic downturn is most likely to blame. The kid stuff was all there though. They have a nice little spot where the kids can write letters to Babbo Natale (father Christmas) and then they can watch as their letters are delivered via conveyer belt to the next room. The next room is made up to look like Santa Claus's home. He and Mrs. Claus are there to welcome the children. It's all very cute and not nearly as formal as visiting a Department Store Santa in the US.

Eleonora and her daddy at the entrance to Florence Noel. Lorenzo wasn't thrilled with the foamy snow. He was worried that our little girl would slip and fall. 

Writing a letter to Babbo Natale.   

 

I've also been busy crafting. As I mentioned in my last post I've been working on a felt advent calendar. It's done, except for the felt ornaments. I've been making those as we go along. 

 

If I'd had more energy I would have written a tutorial. It was fun to make. Maybe I'll write a separate blog entry about the process later on this week.

And last but not least, Eleonora and I decorated a gingerbread house. The house came as a kit from Ikea (imported from Sweden of course!). 

  

My Dad is doing better too. They'll be flying home on Tuesday. Hopefully the doctors in the U.S. can pick up where the Italian one left off. 

 

  

A Trip Through the Italian Healthcare System

I think a trip through the Italian Healthcare System was the last thing my Dad expected during his visit with us. And yet it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He's suffered for about 4 years with the same symptoms (dry cough, weakness, tired, shortness of breath etc.). His general Physician had sent him to various specialists over the years and nothing was ever diagnosed. Until now. 

He was hospitalized at Careggi (Florence University's teaching Hospital) on November 19 with pain in his chest and a slight arrhythmia . The very night he was admitted they found a serious case of pericarditis (inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart) with a moderate amount of fluid. The fluid was putting pressure on his heart and causing pain and restricting the action of the heart. A case like that could be fatal if left untreated.

He was hospitalized in the U.S. with the same symptoms back in September but they didn't find anything. He was told that it was allergies, or that it might be gastric reflux. You can imagine his sense of relief to finally have an explanation for what was going on with his body. It wasn't all in his head.

The hospital discharged him on November 24th with an appointment to see the doctor again on the 1st. The pharmacy gave us a list of retired nurses in our neighborhood who were available to make house calls. Dad had one antibiotic that had to be injected once a day for 6 days.

The next day he had a bought of stomach flu (no details needed) that lasted 12 hours. Thursday he woke up with swollen hands. We took him to see our family doctor and she prescribed Lasix (a diuretic). My Dad's hands were so swollen that we were afraid we'd have to cut off his wedding ring. Thankfully the visiting male nurse used to work in the E.R. and had lots of experience in removing rings from swollen hands. He asked for a roll of gauze, a bar of soap and some small scissors. He cut a strip about a foot long from the gauze and soaped it up. Then he slipped one end under the ring using the scissor tip to push it up and under. He was able to get the ring off by pulling both ends of the gauze and going around the ring in a circular motion. We were all amazed.

Dad is doing better. He's feeling stronger by the day. He saw the head of internal medicine again yesterday. He's scheduled to have another echocardiogram on Friday, and he'll see the doctor again on Monday. The main question now is what is causing the chronic pericarditis. The doctor is not convinced that it was a virus since it's recurring. He thinks it might have something to do with some laparascopic surgery that was done in 2006 to remove the gallbladder and part of a large liver cyst. We'll see. 

The main thing is that he gets his strength back so he can fly home. Once there the doctors should be able to pick up where the doctor here left off.

Life is slowly getting back to normal. We put the tree up on Monday. I've been working on a felt Advent calendar. It's almost done. I'll post a pic. when I'm finished. 

My new sewing/craft/office space and iMac

I've been MIA for a while for a number of reasons. These last three weeks have been a blur and I have to say that I feel awfully tired as a result.

Heres what's been going on (in chronological order):

Getting ready for a Halloween party

Halloween party

Cleaning up after Halloween party

Getting ready for my Dad and step-mom's visit

Weekend trip to visit my good friend and artist Olivia Kim. I'll post some pics. if her new work soon. 

Trip to Ikea to get my new sewing desk etc.

Dad and Joanne arrived on the 9th.

Put sewing desk together, mount cupboards etc.

Sight seeing in Florence, shopping (fun, but tiring)

Planning, preparing and cooking an early Thanksgiving meal (on Sat. the 14th). We did it early because Dad and Joanne are supposed to leave on the 25th, and we were supposed to be in Salzburg, Austria this weekend.

Then my Dad came down with a cough (17th)

My new iMac arrived on Tues. the 17th, so I had to get that set up and transfer all my stuff from one computer to the other (using a cable) and reinstall the software on my old computer (Lorenzo is going to use it in his office).

Dad was feeling worse yesterday so we took him to the doctor, who recommended we take him to the E.R. 

Spent all day at the hospital ( 1:30 pm-10 pm) waiting for them to run tests and then finally admit him. He seems to have the flu or something and also had a heart arrhythmia. Not sure what the cause is. 

More tests on Friday. Their supposed to fly home on Tues. but that is looking doubtful at the moment. 

So as you can see, I'm a bit exhausted.

But on the bright side, here's my new space:

 

It's in the kitchen; not ideal but it will certainly do. Eleonora has her own table and chair so she can keep busy while I'm sewing/crafting/e-mailing etc.

A new life for my former spice rack: It now contains spools of thread, fabric paint and misc. items.

I think I'm in love... awww... Isn't it precious... My precious...

Goodbye PC, Hello Mac

I haven't been posting as often as I would like lately for one reason: my PC. I have an HP that was a good mid-range model in 2005. It came with 250 GB of storage, which was quite generous back then. 

The problem is it's totally full. I bought an external hard drive (also HP) last year to to back up my photos, music etc. Well, I haven't used it since March because of issues with the driver. I already went through support, talking to some guy in India who gave me a long list of things I had to do to remedy the problem. It worked for a while and then I was back to square one again. ARGHH!

Now when I turn on my PC it makes a whirring sound and is just painfully slow. Not to mention that there is some internal bug that turns it on again right after I turn off. ARGHH! 

So I've decided to make the switch to Macintosh. The new iMacs just came out. Here's the 21.5" model that I'll be getting in early November. The 27" model is just gigantic!

Aren't they beautiful? Pics. from Apple.com

I can't wait! It will be a pain to transfer my stuff, but it's so worth it. I've purchased the Belkin switch-to-Mac kit, which should make it easier. I'll be revamping my workspace too, with pics. to follow.

Lovely Knits

Ok, so my first attempt at knitting didn't go so well. I plan on giving it another go this winter, probably in January when things slow down again. I've purchased "The Complete Beginner's Guide to Knitting" DVD to help me get started. Books are great, but there's nothing like seeing someone do something in real time. 

In the meantime I'd like to share some of my best friend Tracie's beautiful knitting with you. That girl can knit! She made some gorgeous things for Eleonora and I. She swears by Ravelry. Thanks again Tracie! We love our new clothes!

 

Scrumptious silk sweater for me

Autumnal silk scarf

Cute cotton sweater for Eleonora

 

I'm re-posting this pic. of Eleonora in the red silk dress Tracie made for her. It has wonderful red beading along all of the edges.

It's dead! No, It's alive!

I awoke Wednesday morning to a quiet kitchen. As soon as I opened the fridge I understood why. A tropical temperature greeted me as I opened the door. Our refrigerator was dead. And it had probably kicked off the evening before, judging by the state of sogginess in the freezer.

Old Bess was a white side by side Amana that I had found in the local flea market paper, La Pulce(The Flea). We paid €250 for it in 2003; she was 10 years old. It seemed a miracle at the time. An american, looking for an American fridge, and one just happens to pop up. I was thrilled.

We needed a new fridge ASAP. So Eleonora and I set off with my father-in-law to look for a new one. It took us all day and most of Florence to find one. We ended up buying a Samsung side by side. Delivery was scheduled for Friday morning.

In the meantime, our electric water heater was on its last, drippy, rusty, legs and needed to be replaced. The plumber came out on Thursday evening to replace it. While he was working, some water caused a short circuit and our power went out. The power came back on, and lo and behold! Our fridge came back to life. Just like Frankenstein, she needed a good jolt. 

At this point however, we had already ordered and paid for the new one. Plus the old one had just up and quit without any warning and was approaching 17 years. It was no longer reliable. The new one has an A+ energy rating and is super quiet. I love it!

Pics. from Samsung's web site.

Kissing Cousins

We're back in Florence. We flew in from the States on Tues. and have been fighting jet lag ever since. The first 2 nights Eleonora and I were up watching cartoons between 1 and 5 am. Now she seems to be sleeping better, and I'm the one who is wide awake in the middle of the night. Oh well.

On Friday we left Florence for a weekend in Cortona. The occasion being the christening of my nephew Cesare. My sister in-law and her family live in Rome. They chose Cortona as the location for Cesare's christening for several reasons.  

The franciscan priest that married us and also christened Eleonora has been in Cortona for a little over a year now (he'll be moving back to Santa Croce in Florence next week). He is a close family friend as well. And Cortona is about halfway between Florence and Rome. So a weekend at a nearby agroturismo was planned, with the christening scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Our group occupied all thirteen apartments of the agroturismo.

The christening was held in the church of San Francesco in Cortona. Sorry I have no photos of the actual ceremony, my camera was malfunctioning. The photographer was able to fix it for me during the party afterwards.

The party was held in the Teatro Signorelli in Cortona. We had a wonderful buffet aperitif/dinner. It rained while we were there, but stopped in time for us to climb back up the hill to our cars.

Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day. We awoke to a leisurely breakfast of brioches and espresso. Everyone relaxed outside and enjoyed the sun. Then we piled in our cars and drove about 20 minutes to Marciano Della Chiana, a little walled town in the Arezzo province. We ate at a great little Osteria named "Hosteria La Vecchia Rota" in the central piazza. 

Eleonora playing on stage.

View of the theatre

The agroturismo "Principe del Trasimeno"

 A game of cards and rock soup on Sunday morning

The kids have some fun during a long Sunday lunch (the mauve blur is Eleonora)

The aftermath...

 The gang of cousins

Eleonora gives Cesare a goodbye kiss

Nantucket

Sorry it's taken me so long to post. We arrived in Los Angeles on September 15th. Visits home are often quite a lot of work. I find myself helping my mother and grandfather around the house; cleaning, cooking, organizing etc.

So without further adieu, here are some photos from our recent trip to Nantucket. I have more pics. with family in them, but I don't want to post anything without their permission.

Giant pumpkins at the Nantucket Fair at Tom Nevers (I love that name!).

 

Eleonora in front of the winning pumpkin. I think it weighed in at 327 pounds!

 

Nantucket farmer with his pet duck.

 

Who are you calling a turkey?

 

Brant Point Lighthouse in Nantucket harbor

 

View of the harbor from Brant Point

 

Brant Point Beach

 

Eleonora loved finding sea shells...

 

Of which there were many.

View of Nantucket harbor from the ferry.