Italian Bank and Olives

If you work in a South Italian bank in a little town called Bitonto 

and you take a good care of your clients, you'll be lucky. Why ? 

Because your richest clients would be farmers and as Italians are incredibly generous and caring people, they might bring you bags and boxes of the goodies. Oil, olives, fruits and vegetables. Even wine. Right now, among some other fruits and vegetables, olives are freshly collected from the trees. Before I came to live in Italy, I thought olives were fairly delicious although too salty for my taste. I had never tasted a fresh olive. I can tell you it's another thing. So what did my Italian partner do the first thing on Sunday morning. Sliced some fresh olives and tomatoes and in they went to oven with some oregano, oil and salt. I had it with some whole grain rise for a lunch and it was the best thing I've had this month. Got to love him !

October

September and October are wonderful time in Bari if it doesn't rain. 

This autumn has been really dry and calm. Just beautiful. Warm, fresh and sunny.

It was just a lazy Saturday, first eating out with my family, then having

"gelato" at Torre a Mare (south along the coast from Bari ).

I know a little girl who definitely appreciates living close to the sea...
Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Clay Necklace

So here are the very first clay amulets I've ever done. And the very first necklace that came out.

I've used a brown fine metal string and some metal parts together with the clay. I'm thinking of

using also some stone pearls in the next necklace.

This evening I'm gonna be modeling new amulets. 

Please feel free to leave some comments or 

suggestions for illustrating the amulets.

Bye for now, xxx

The three necklace looks quite nice with this Pull&Bear sweatshirt.

Birthday

Yesterday was my my birthday and I'm feeling...yes a bit old(er), but most importantly delighted. I received so many lovely phone calls, messages, wishes and love, that today I'm feeling all warm, loved, happy and inspired! You see, all you need is love for the inspiration and I've been lately so busy with my two little kids that I haven't had time even to think about my life, nor my relationship with my lovely partner and not to speak of so many dear friends who also inspire me greatly. Just today, I also feel like I'm just fine the way I am as a mum and as a partner, as a friend and as a sister. I could write you a book of my thoughts right now, but I'm just going to say that even if my silly life never goes the way I planed it somehow it always gives me more than I ever asked for. There's one thing I've done right in my life and it's the fact that I've always followed my heart. Today I'm extremely thankful for everything I have and what will be part of my life in the future. Thank you.

And as I'm feeling so inspired, next post will be about my new little necklace project. 

I promise to write soon.

xxx

Lately at My Home...

I promised my self I would continue to write my blog after the baby is born. I'll do it, I thought, even if it would have to be written at night, and ofcourse I didnt. I've been quiet for a couple of weeks now because I simply sleep at night and day time I'm happy if I have the time to take a decent shower.

Why didn't anyone tell me in advance it's going to be so hard. I actually thought that the hard part would be taking care of the baby, but the truth is the hard part is my other child, the older one. She's dealing with her "terrible two years crises", a new born brother, potty training ( which has successfully been finished) and who knows what else. There are days when she's adorable, and others when I'm ready to pack my suitcase and run. 

I actually do feel a great frustration for not being able to play with my daughter when ever I want...With one child you can pretty much handle everything but with too kids you're gonna have to start letting go. Let go of cleaning the house, let go of cooking two times a day and why not just spend an entire day in your pyjama at home coloring or reading books. It's also ok if your child has nothing to do. It's ok if she's feeling bored, because that's life. That's when she's gonna have to start creating and using her imagination.
However, I've started to think of ways to make my life a little bit easier. Firstly I've started to order food home instead of going shopping and when my daughter starts to count the numbers  (gets crazy) as they say in Italy, I'll give her some art materials such as play dough,
which keeps her busy for an hour or so.

Today I received a packet from Amazon with the book order I made a week a go.
I ordered a book about art projects with kids, the holistic baby guide and a book called Baby-led Weaning. More about these the next time.

Maisons Du Monde

Have you ever heard from Maisons Du Monde ?

I hadn't, until a friend of ours brought some catalogues from a newly arrived furniture department store in Bari. They have beautiful beautiful colorful furniture and textile styles varying from industrial to Atlantic and Romantic. They also have some really wonderful stuff for kids. And why is this 

interesting ? Well because we finally found our new home. We're moving in a couple of months time and have started to look for new furniture. Some furniture we would like to buy from antique and second hand stores, others we'll take from my new favorite store. Ahh so exciting. Let me remind you that we're now living in a one bedroom flat and we've got a bouncing toddler and a new born baby to live with. So we really need this new home now. Luckily we have a huge balcony or more like a terrace which you can enjoy at least 6 months a year here in Italy.  

Last sunday we visited first time Maisons Du Monde in Bari and our daughter didn't hesitate twice once she saw this little monkey friend, she had to have it. So there he is.

I just love the creative solutions for children's rooms nowadays, this may be too much, but I can't wait to start decorating my daughter's room.

Think Again

I've already mentioned the book " New Day"( Uusi paiva) by a Finnish author Heidi Kuusisto. In her book Heidi talks about well being that starts from eating raw healthy diet and taking care of your mind by meditating and doing some physical exercise everyday. In general, living a much simpler and quieter life for example by not reading the news for a week. Just concentrating on the things that are important to you.

I myself have been stressing this morning about the

baby that wants to eat all the time and therefore leaving me with little or no time to put in to effect the tasks I had in mind for today. And why do I make tasks when I know it can be hard to do them with a newborn ? Now there's a good question.

So I asked my self do I really need to go to food shopping this morning or could I do it with my toddler this evening ? I want to write my blog and draw a " playing carpet" for my daughter. ( She got her first car toys this week and I got an idea to draw her a playing carpet with some streets and crossroads). Then there are the usual chores for tiding up the flat and preparing lunch and dinner...That's a lot to do

for one morning so could I just stop everything for a moment and think again...

Finally I didn't go shopping.

Instead I prepared my self a nice green smoothy, sat down to write my blog and started to sketch the 

playing carpet.

I'm already feeling better

and also the baby seems to be sleeping so everything is looking much better already.

Have a lovely and peaceful weekend everyone !

Play Time

Four weeks a go I was preparing my self with a new life with a crying baby and little free time, it turned out that the tough part is not the baby but the big sister. I haven't been able to dedicate so much time for my daughter now and she's responding with bad behaviour and tantrums. It sure hasn't been easy. When ever possible I try to set up some activities for my toddler, so that it's easy for her to start playing and get dirty. 

At her age ( 2 years and 6 months) she often plays only for 15 mins or so and 

then needs to do something completely different. The good thing is that when I dedicate a good 15 mins to play with her she kind of get the strength to continue on her own. Here's some of her favorite activities. 

Riding with the bike still needs some hard practicing.

These Puky bikes are really popular in Finland, here in Italy it's the only one I've seen so far.

Everything has to come to it's end and surely also this hard period, I'm going to stay positive and

hope for better times, xxx

Pretty in Yellow

This spring and summer time I've favored yellow clothing and accessories for my daughter.

I made some shopping early in the spring and was inspired by a couple of sandals I've found for Luna.

I made this little outfit, perfect for the beach wear, out of some leftover fabrics at home. 

I also made this little green and yellow stone necklace and decided not to use any metal bits, so there's nothing that can brake up or scratch her. She was excited !! The first necklace just for her. ( No need for stealing from mom).

Here's the new lock I invented for this necklace. 

Pretty in yellow, here's my little girl.

Six Days

Six days have passed and I'm feeling incredibly in LOVE. Samuel sleeps, eats and cryes only when he's feeling cold after a bath. He's adorable !! At the moment he seems to be much calmer character than his potential big sister who's showing some signs of jealousy by now. I'm going to be writing a bit less for the following weeks, because one : I need a rest and second : I want to dedicate  time for the kids now. I just wanted to let you know that everything is going well here.

Until the next time, xxx

Another Man In My Life

Finally he was born, my son Samuel. It's true at least in my case that everything was easier and faster with the second child yet as amazing and wonderful than with my first one. Tomorrow arrives my mom and we're going home from the hospital.  We're ready to start the new life with our baby. Welcome Samuel. We're about to start a long path together.

What You Do With What You Have

Here's my advice for anyone feeling down right now. I know we all have bad days and it's so easy to want something we can't have. But what we really should be doing is looking around, 

right now and realize that 

this is it. 

This is my life.

Only you can decide if you want to enjoy life as it is, or if you'll always look away wanting more...

I mean dreams are great and important. I think it's dreaming that drives us forward in life, but it doesn't mean life isn't good as it is. 

Well here's a little something I was thinking about the other day after reading a post on a blog that talks about well being and happiness.

I wish you all a wonderful day, xxx.

Nutrient Rich Food For Kids

Here's how to make easily a basic Italian dish more healthy and more nutrient rich for children. In Bari children eat lots and lots of pasta, often with only the basic tomato sauce. They add some parmesan cheese which is very rich in calcium and some vitamins but that's about it. My pasta for my kid includes whole wheat pasta ( which causes shivering for the majority of South Italians) instead of the white one.

For the sauce I've used fresh tomatoes, zucchini and garlic. After cooking I add the best quality olive oil (produced in Bitonto 15 km from our home), chia and sesame seeds and some fresh basilica. 

Chia seeds contain calcium, iron, magnesium, omega 3 fatty acids, 

phosphorus and manganese. 

They're also good sources of protein and dietary fiber.

Sesame seeds instead are an excellent source of copper and a very good source of manganese, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, vitamin B1, zinc, molybdenum, selenium and dietary fiber.

I've taken some time to study a bit about good sources of calcium because my daughter won't drink a drop of cow's milk. She never did after breast feeding.  

She just doesn't like the taste. This is interesting because my stomach doesn't tolerate cow's milk and so I haven't used it for years. Could it be that my eating habits are transferred to my kid ?

She gets her calcium from natural yoghurt that she often eats with a drop of honey in the morning. Other calcium sources are various cheeses, tofu and seeds.

So far these "extra ingredients" go only to my daughter's plate (and my own of course), 

I still need to convince my stubborn M.  

Summer Outfits and Relaxing Times

This week I've taken time to relax, to have slow short walks by the sea and in the centre and to start a tiny little project. I'm making a little green dress out of some left over fabrics for Luna and a matching necklace. It's her first necklace so I have no idea how long the necklace will be worn, or if she will wear it at all, but I have an inspiration and I need to finish what I have in mind.

I will post a photo when the dress is done, xxx

Seasonal Goods

Delicious Figs and Mulberries, the summer season is on ! 

As I have mentioned in some of my earlier posts, one of the best things of living in South Italy is to be able to enjoy the seasonal food not only in the summer but all around the year. I personally have been very interested on healthy diets for more than ten years now but there have been periods in my life when I've given less thought about it. Now as a mum of a two years old and soon a new born baby I want to introduce the best eating habits and diets for my family. Now this is not the easiest task in Italy (I'll talk about this another time) but I'm not going to give up. Eating well as a mum has proven to be vital for my energy levels and for me it's the best way of simply feeling good about my self.

Mulberries are rich in Vitamin C and they also contain small amounts of Iron, Magnesium and Calcium.

Where as Figs are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin B6, copper, potassium, manganese, 

and acid. 

Colours For The Summer

These photos you may have already seen on my Instagram or FB profile, but I try to write a bit of something about ALL my creative projects in my blog. 

To be honest I'm quite lazy to use any jewellery these days, because they're not very practical to use with small kids. They get easily caught with the clothes and make scratches, but when ever I have a moment for my self like this day I love to wear them. This bracelet is made of red coral beads and some turquoise stone mass beads.

While at Home

Today I'm going to present a couple of things I've made while at home 

with a very little budget.

I'm the one who always loses the keys. 

Mostly my keys get lost in my massive handbag.

I solved this problem by making this relatively big key holder. 

It's made with Mona Luna and IKEA fabrics and it works !! My keys haven't been 

lost ever since I've started to use this one.

 I bought this beautiful fabric from MARIMEKKO last summer while 

visiting my home in Finland and so far I've made two things out of it. 

The i phone case and a little skirt for my daughter. 

There's still some fabric left, but I haven't decided yet what to do 

with the left over.

In the last picture you can see the little summer hose of Luna Lisa 

and just yesterday I organized it a bit and created a little reading angle. 

I think it's a cute little nest for spending 

a moment in privacy for Luna. 

Here it is, the summer house of Luna.

Something I Love

Some of you already know my latest passion and hobby. Bead works. Lately or lets say since my daughter reached the toddler age I've been too busy, or simply incapable of doing any new jewellery. I've used my creativity doing things with her, or for her and that has been enough of creativity for a long period. BUT the materials and the passion are still there and I have every intention to continue

with this path. Next I'll be creating a new page for my blog and present some of the best work I've done. Then I'm thinking of making a couple of new colourful pieces for the summer. What could be 

a better period for jewellery than the summer time.

Enjoy the warm weather everyone, xxx

And here's the link to the new page :
http://everygirllovesapearl.blogspot.it/p/beadworks.html