See this little lovely lady? She arrived at my house yesterday....
...and she brought her lovely girly friends with her... isn't this fabric cute?
She may be Russian but she came all the way from Japan. I couldn't wait to get started on a little skirt for Isabella. I also have enough to make one for Sofia.... I'm thinking it'll be a cute surprise for when hubby comes home. Here's Isabella's skirt. I added this soft satiny ribbon trim and when Isabella walks it creates a great swing to the skirt. I thought it was missing just a little something so I bought some fat baby blue ric rac to add to the bottom edge. It'll be just that much cuter I think. So onto something else....

My peppers are in peril!

My plant is covered in these icky teeny tiny bugs! I'm not sure what to do! I don't want to spray a chemical onto the plant incase it kills it or seeps into the future veggies.... not sure what I should do! I don't want the bugs to migrate to my sweet little baby tomatoes which are right on the table beside it. I thought about moving the plant but I have no where to put it on our teeny balcony. If anyone has suggestions I'd love them.

So I just found these little lovelies...

I found these at Strawberry Fool. I want them! Ok so I'm not too sure why I need the picnic basket as we already have an electric cooler but the picnic blanket would be nice and the little cooler would be awesome when I go grocery shopping as it's a half hour walk for me with milk and meats etc... it would be just so chic and smart! Only problem is... They only ship to the UK! Please oh please ship to other European countries!!! PLEASE!!! I'm in love! They also have plates and other fab stuff if you are in the UK and are interested.

HEE! HEE! HEE!!!

Ok, I had to add these too, they're just too adorable... and they gave me a chuckle. The girls would love these! (They're at Strawberry fool too.)

Well.... that's just it. Yep, I woke up this morning thinking it was Thursday. I must be trying to bump up the days so hubby can get home sooner. I swear i already went through Wednesday this week but apparently Tuesday was so much work it equalled 2 days in my head.

See, Sofia woke up at 6:30 yesterday morning (usually she's a 7:30-8 am kinda girl) and it totally threw off her whole day. She was whiny and cranky and grouchy and throwing herself on the floor in a fit kind of mood.... ALL DAY!! I swear, I asked myself why I haven't taken up drinking yet as a hobby. It was just that kind of day and of course when Sofia is like that it affects miss Bella too... oh, 2 cranky females under the age of 4.... so much fun! Then Sofia cried bloody murder cuz she didn't want to go to bed even though she was sooooo tired. That went on for about an hour.

Then hubby mentions on the phone last night he might have found a new job... (ok, it's so hard to find jobs here now it's next to a miracle to find one). Now wait for it... hubby calls this morning to tell me he'll be home Friday for a few days!?! Ok, at this place now, he's hardly been home... ok he's been home 3 days in a month and a half. Then he tells me he changed jobs!!! Ok, here we go again. Ok so I usually leave that stuff upto hubby as he's more experienced in that field and knows a lot of the companies or people who have worked for them.... wow! I hope this works out the way he wants it to. He said he had an agreement to work a little and then have some time at home, etc....

Anyways, I'm so glad I got the kids pooped out this afternoon... they're both sound asleep at 9 p.m.! Can I get a woot! woot! Ah.... momma might just relax with a glass of wine tonight and work on the skirt I've been making for Sofia. Evening folks!

Thursdays, Thoughts. I've been busy lately... apart from my girls that is.

I have a few Etsy shops (see the right side for my links) and my birthday cards (especially my ice cream one) have been selling like hotcakes! The ice cream theme must be a wildly new popular theme for birthdays! I actually did this card up for a friend a couple of years ago. Anyways, I have it in a sort of girly style so I thought I'd offer a version that would suit the little gentleman in your life. I also added a cuppy cake invite for my clients. It's oh so scrumptious! I'm just in love with it now! I might have to try and spin it for a baby announcement! We'll see. Here's the two new cards:

So I have been staring at this computer so much lately I felt I needed a non-electrical craft release. I bought some fab fabric fat quarters off Etsy and have been trying to decide what to do with them. Originally I though I might make a cute little clutch but I've been seeing so many cute skirts on Etsy lately I thought I'd use the fabric for a new skirt for Isabella.... I'm trying to figure out the best way to work it so it will work for Sofia too.... we'll see what I come up with.... I am sewing it all by hand... yes I'm throwing back to the days of pioneers...haha! I actually am doing this by hand because I don't have a sewing machine... it's on my "honey I want" list. Apparently hubby's brother has their mom's old sewing machine so I asked G to call Davide to see if I can steal it from him for a little while until I get my own. G's sis is coming this weekend to bring some little ride on cars for the girls. We are in search for a little playhouse for the girls to put on our balcony for the crappy rainy days and for the super hot days. See our condo's backyard is in full, super hot sun in the afternoon. It's just too hot even for me to be out there. I figured at least they can play in the playhouse on the balcony with the blinds pulled and still get some fresh air. I hope we can find a used one cuz really, those plastic houses don't really get too worn out before the kids grow out of them.... heck, then maybe we can pass it onto Elisabetta and Alessandro. Ale is G's nephew and we recently found out they are expecting! And it gets better! Betta is due right around Sofia's birthday! Maybe we can celebrate together! I'm already on the hunt for baby gift ideas!.... I might have to make a cute monkey hat or something!

So that's about it. I'm trying to get my Suzy Homemaker on and actually craft something by hand. It's no less strain on the eyes but for some reason it just feels so much more relaxing. As soon as I get it done, I'll post some photos.

Have a great Thursday and I'd love to see what you are all busy with!

Well, today was busy.

We did a bit of shopping this morning.
I finally remembered to buy some grappa for hubby. He was on a tour with clients one time and they were given this drink to try. He was told that if you put rose petals into grappa and let it sit, it makes a wonderful flavoured grappa like the one they tasted. Ok, so this chick isn't at all into grappa (gimme a glass of wine and I'm happy) but we'll see if his concoction works like the other time he tasted it. If you aren't sure what grappa is like, imagine drinking terpentine.... ok so it's not that bad but I believe it's comparable to Newfoundland's famous "screach" I believe it's called. Germans have their schnapps, Russians have their vodka... Italians have grappa.
Anyways, G bought me beautiful roses for Mother's Day so he said when they start to wilt, wash them off and stuff them in the bottle...

This afternoon, both girls fell asleep during "quiet time." I've started calling it this as Sofia needs her nap and usually Isabella doesn't want to nap and fusses... hence "quiet time." Sofia dozed off right away and I turned around to look at Isabella on the couch and boom, out like a light... "YES! QUIET MOMMY TIME!" No, not "mommy productive time" or "mommy clean the kitchen time"... "Quiet Mommy WASTE TIME time". I got a chance to check out some blogs I've been wanting to check back into and found a few new ones... of course, they are all crafty or sewing ones.... just what I need to jumpstart the ideas of "oh I should try that". As if I don't already have enough to do. Let's see..... I started a bag for my double stroller so I actually have my own cup holder - yep, it's not finished.... I have a gifty for my friend Sherry who's expecting.... yep, not quite finished yet either... let's see..... I have to finish flowers for Sofia's sun hat.... and I have a bunch of yarn I bought to make some more flower headbands and hats and whatever else.... plus I'm waiting for fabric to arrive so I can sew myself a purse (yes the one mentioned in a previous post). I'm sure I'm forgetting something. I seem to be good at that these days.

As for forgetting things.... did anyone ever tell you (assuming you have kids) that after the birth of your children, you lose all memory? I didn't see that one in any of the books I read.... or at least I don't remember reading it ;) Lately my memory has gone to pot! I'm surprised I haven't left a kid somewhere. My hubby gets so frustrated cuz he'll tell me to do something for him and in a few days he'll ask me about it and I'll respond with "What? You asked me to do that?" I think it's just that I have such a busy day that if it's not something on the usual routine, it easily gets forgotten. Anyone else find this? I'd love to hear!

This afternoon turned out with a surprise. I got the kids in the stroller so we could go pick up a few more petunias (crazy flower lady me) and when we got there, the shop was closed..... ah, wonderful Italy. Yes, it's normal. I just didn't realize that flower shops fall under the category of businesses that are closed Thursday afternoons.

See there's a lot to remember when you want to do shopping here as well. See, some coffee shops (like the one near our house) are closed Monday until late afternoon because they are open Saturday and Sunday. Restaurants I believe are closed Tuesdays.... for the same reasons.... grocery stores are closed Thursdays... same reasons I believe. Now for the twist... if I was to go into Cremona (the city across the river 4 kms away) the days would be different. Why? Because it is a different region (that's province to us Canadians or State to Americans). Hell I'm screwed! Like my brain doesn't function well enough to remember to buy grappa for my hubby for like 2 months among other things.

Anyways, it didn't make the long walk quite so bad. Since we were there I decided to check out the street near the shop. Turns out there's a nice quiet little park/playgound back there. If you know me, you know I have an issue with this and our town.

Our town has 2 playgrounds built quite close together ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY that runs through our town. Ok so you are thinking that doesn't sound quite so terrible.... wait for it....neither one has any sort of fence or hedge or anything around it! Let's just say the girls have never been to them because it's totally not safe enough for me. There are semi truck just motoring down that road. Hell, cars don't even stop for us at the crosswalk.... surprisingly it's usually the semi truck that stop for me to cross the road. I told hubby that one day I'm gonna have to pop open my shirt just to cross the road... maybe then someone will stop! One time a car was slowing down to stop and SOME ASSHOLE IN A BMW ACTUALLY SPEEDS UP AND PASSES HIM! Yes, oneday someone is gonna get an apple or water bottle chucked at their car!

Anyways, this playground is right near where I go for groceries so now we can make a pit stop there and let the girls play on the slide and swings. Isabella was so pleased she actually didn't fight coming home tonight for supper cuz I said we'd go back tomorrow if it wasn't raining.

Well, that was my day... and my usual rant about idiot Italian drivers... and Castelvetro's playgrounds..... (ok enough ranting already - back away from the keyboard!)

Hope everyone else had a productive Thursday!