aug, 9th - for you madam, we give a good price....

"...you are bound to have a wonderful time shopping in Italy."

Fodor's Modern Guides. Italy 1957.

photo by Mauro Balletti


day 178:


A. had to go back to London today. so after dropping him off at the airport, my sister, limi and i headed up to Florence to the designer outlet stores for a bit a euro-spending.


in years past....it's been about shoes, shoes, shoes, the odd bit of clothing, shoes, shoes and more shoes.....
this year....it was all about limi, limi, limi and more limi.


we found the most gorgeous tops for her by italian designer's, I Pinco Pallino,

i'm a sucker for attention to detail....and the tulle ruffle necklines 

and distressed hemlines on these numbers are delicious (as was the 92% discount...seriously, are there people out there that pay the full whack when they only fit for 3 months)

i also picked up a creative cardigan, some gifts for friends who have just sprouted new babies and my sister bought limi the stripy red hat in the pic above. i think that it deserves its' own photoshoot!

i had never heard of I Pinco Pallino before this trip (probably because their non-sale prices are more in the i-own-a-yacht-and-sail-to-st-tropez-every-year price range) but with the theatrical inspiration and detailed finishes, i'll definitely be hunting out more of their sales.

p.s. we bought 7 tops and larger sizes for limi (12-18 months) to try and get the max wear out of them. they're more like dresses on her at the moment and can be layered over long sleeves for winter and then hopefully still work as tops next summer.....so expect to see a lot of them in pics.

aug, 8th - date night....

"Romance is as much a part of Italy as its art and its history. Perhaps the feeling of romance that wells up in you when you come to Italy is one of the greatest things that Italy has to offer a world that is tired of war and political intrigue....hotel managers, waiters and bellhops make you conscious of your own love and accentuate it in such a way that you feel more in love in this country than in any other."
Fodor's Modern Guides. Italy 1957.

[my date last night. posting such a posed shot, will get me in BIG trouble...but hey i love it. 
he was wearing a shirt and shoes last night!]


day 177:


last night was the first time in 176 days that A. and i have gone on a dinner date without a baby, buggy and big bag in tow. yes, we've been on dates since Limi was born (we were proud that we managed a night out before she was 2 months old) but these dates were: to watch a movie, to a music concert, to lunch and to dinners separately...so...there has been no romantic dinner dates, for just the two of us. 


it just hasn't seemed necessary...in 176 days....wow, on reflection that does surprise me and ASTOUND my pre-limi self!!! the first few months, we were just keen to keep her close to us and she slept so soundly through every dinner that it just didn't seem like a big hassle to scoot her along. then, we were travelling quite a bit and her routine was out, so it just seemed easier to subject ourselves to that rather than a baby-sitter and now, for the last month or so, we just haven't got our act together to pay for someone to come and sit. (it definitely would be different if we had family close by)


but in celebration of A.'s birthday (today).....my sister offered to baby-sit while we went off to the small hilltop town of Todi, for dinner at the gorgeous Pane e Vino.


although Limi is generally a joy to take along to dinner....you just don't realise what a difference it makes not having her around until you're sitting there...not thinking about whether she's cold or hot, not thinking about whether she's in the way, not thinking about whether she's awake or asleep, not thinking about taking her home and putting her to bed.....


the NOT thinking.....was absolute bliss!!


and so was the just being a girl and a boy again, out on a date. welcome back you two.


p.s. my sister and mum were absolute stars and she was sound asleep when we got home. thank you, thank you, thank you again.....best birthday-gift-that-i-benefit-from ever!

aug, 7th - making music....

"With a single musical instrument, a guitar or an accordian, the most ramshackle house can be made gay with singing and music."

Fodor's Modern Guides. Italy 1957.

day 176:

for me....music, instruments and singing are all important ingredients for a child to experience growing up.

aug, 6th - 6 months....

"Conversation in Italy is personal. Italians are interested in you, your family, and children. Especially children - so you can fish out those snapshots of the bambini without feeling gauche or provincial."

Fodor's Modern Guides. Italy 1957.

day 175:

6 months old today! so...the 6 month round-up....

Dimensions & Weight:

Lenth - 67cms 
(now requires two people to measure a very wriggly baby...bring on the standing-against-a-wall-with-a-ruler years)

Foot Length - 9.8cms (no change)

Hand Length - 8cms (no change) 

Ear Length - 4.5cms 

(which hasn't changed in 4 months now..so just goes to show that ears don't grow very fast)

Hair - growing...yay!!! still strawberry blonde.

Weight - still haven't weighed her...but you know, she looks healthy.

This Month's Likes & Dislikes:

Likes -

• scooting around on the floor without actually crawling
• rolling and rolling and rolling....still
• playing in the park with her yoga-buddies (day 159)

• sitting...with some dramatic face-planting....(soft surfaces still critical)
• swimming and especially splashing (day 161)
• sleeping with her hands behind her head....sunbathing style

• soprano singing....very, very...very high pitched...still
• blowing rasberries....still
• bouncing...boing...boing....boing in her door bouncer (day 168)
• eating toes...still
• her cousins sheika and ethan...they make her belly-laugh

• saying mamamaamamamamammmmmamam...now to brainwash her with dada too
• unusual pureed food combinations....pomegranate + plum + guava or spinach+ parsnip + basil or melon + avocado...and alfresco dining

• violent forms of affection...hair pulling, nose grabbing, nail raking, eye poking.....still
• grass between the fingers

Dislikes -

• baby porridge (day 164)
• peas
• loud sneezes
• not being able to crawl....very frustrating
• the italian baby formula equivalent...not quite the same

p.s. since this is the big half a year....i will also post a parent-progress-report when i get back to london next week.

aug, 5th - village life....

"Even in Italy, where regions rich with artistic inheritance are the rule and not the exception, Umbria remains outstanding.....

In addition to its natural beauty, art, history and wine, Umbria offers its share of traditional festivals, whose colorful celebrations so enliven Italy."

Fodor's Modern Guides. Italy 1957.

day 174:

[T3London - Things To Do in London will return next Thurs]

this week we're in Italy...

we've been coming back to the same small village in Umbria for 8 years now, so we know the area fairly well (although shamefully, my Italian has still not progressed beyond the odd-word-lots-of-hand-signals stage) so....instead of a T3London post, i'm focusing on our favourite things in Umbria...

il nostro preferito cose (our favourite things)

Alfresco dining at La Grazie - Via Apparita, 79  06057 - Monte castello di vibio - doglio  (Perugia) Tel.:0758796041, 

Horse riding with my brother-in-law across Umbrian terrain.

The views and endless dinners at Titignano - Titignano -  Orvieto (TR) Tel. +39.0763.308.000

Pizza in Todi, sitting at a long table in the alley or in the garden with a gorgeous view. Cavour Pizzeria 21/23 c Cavour 

Rum & Perra (rum & pear) shots in the bar downstairs and stumbling back up the hill to bed. 

(only open in Summer and pre-Limi)

Picnics on my sister’s farm, feasting on her wood-fire chicken.

Tavola Vino from the petrol pump wine shop - Cantina Sociale Colli Perugini - 1 Zona Industriale Cerro 075 8749 523 

Our favourite places being captured in oil by artist, Lucy Macgillis. 

Racing (well it's all relative) up the hill in my sister's fiat cinquecento's restored with retro seat covers by the wonderful Otello Moriconi

The molino del Azienda Agricola San Romualdo olive mill run by Emanuele Scapicchi. 

Watching all our hard word being turned into golden oil.

Linen from Montefalco or Anghiari

Delicious lunch feasts on the terrace at home

Panacotta di brusco in Grutti at La Noce

Pistacchio gelati in Orvieto

Finding sagra's (food festivals) in small villages across the region. Particularly the Nutella Festa in Collepepe in July. 

Goat's cheese in ash from Fattoria Ma'Falda.

Cooking in heavy copper pots from Montepulciano

Bespoke woodwork by Luigi Bonini and his family's company

aug, 4th - a renaissance scene....

"Renaissance art has a deep reservoir of emotion behind it.....it was rich in detail, but it did not lose itself in detail; it was characterized by a feeling of the whole, of unity. Each part was felt in relation to every other part and in relation to the whole. The result was a harmony which has not been achieved since classical times and has not been equalled since."

Fodor's Modern Guides. Italy 1957.

day 173:

sometimes you stumble across a scene that makes you stop. stare. and smile inside.

walked in to find A. bathing Limi in the Travetine basin in our bathroom.

aug, 3rd - let them drink caffe....

"The Family, as the number one institution in Italian life, is followed next by the Church, with the caffe rating third place."


-----------------


" The caffe is a combination of club and office. Here, for the price of a coffee, an Italian can read all the newspapers, brought to him attached to wooden rods, and transact business, with the waiters producing pen, ink, stationery, and stamps as needed. Or if he wants, he can sit outside under an awning and enjoy the parade of beautiful women passing by..."

Fodor's Modern Guides. Italy 1957.

day 172:

a morning shot of caffeine has been my friend for 5.5 months. i especially love the ritual of strolling down to our local deli/coffee shop and picking up a takeaway coffee or sitting down to have a chat with the staff (who have all seen the before and after of Limi - from inside to out).

but coffee in Italy....is in a different league altogether. here it is an art and the setting is a finished painting. the village that we visit is tiny (you can stroll the full diameter in 7 minutes.....we've timed it as part of a fitness-counter-balance-to-the-pasta-eating) but as in every Italian village, life revolves around the piazza. so in the morning, we step out of the huge front door, 

stroll along the cobbles to the piazza and order our "due cappucinos, per favore" from Giovanni (trying hard to resist the cornetto con crema).

this year it's even better as we have a good excuse to take limi for an early morning promenade. although we have to factor in extra time for the locals to squeeze her cheeks and say "bella bambino" (which is not really a reflection of limi but more the attitude that Italians have to all babies).

the day hasn't started in Italy until we've had our caffe, said "buongiorno" to the locals and surveyed the countryside.

aug, 2nd - aaaah, we're here....

"The Italian Family...affords all its members practically everything that there is in life: work, play, and love."

Fodor's Modern Guides. Italy 1957.

day 171:

aaaah, we are here....family is the best.

aug, 1st - italia....

"The Italian...has a flair for life,  and it is generally a very lusty and effusive life."

Fodor's Modern Guides. Italy 1957.

day 170:

[A. found the most amazing vintage travel guide for my sister's library - Fodor's Modern Guides - Italy 1957]

we are heading to Italy tomorrow. my sister and her family have created the most magical house in Umbria and my mum looks after it while they are in Hong Kong. so Italy is about family. we are fortunate to head there fairly often for long, lazy, Summer days, olive picking in Autumn, squeezing around the fire in Winter and berry hunting in Spring. it definitely is La Dolce Vita!

we haven't had a chance to take limi yet. so this will be her first trip and i can't wait....