Under the Weather

Woke up this morning with a scratchy feeling in my throat, a sniffly nose and the beginnings of a headache. I like to think of myself as a generally healthy person, but I think the changing seasons (or living with kids) have gotten to me, and I've been bit by the sickness bug.

There is a French guy, friend of the families, who is staying in the flat next to mine - his arrival brought on specialty pies and desserts! I had no Thanksgiving dinner, but this certainly was delicious. Really craving bacon wrapped brussel sprouts with mayo and sriracha dipping sauce!

Only went out once today to go to the post grocery store, the granny and dad took the kids to/from school, good think too because *Bbrrr* I was freezing out there!

Tea from home and a little box of red wine, which cost only .37 cents!

Sneezes erupting all over the place, shaking shoulders and lots of lots of tea. I bought little boxes of red wine, they're the perfect size for a minimal-drinker like me, taste good, and very inexpensive! I was so happy to find that you can get a good bottle of wine here for only 2 euros, one of the few things that's cheaper over here than back in the States.

Thrifted this pretty birdie at the market on Wednesday. 

After watching an episode of the magic school bus with Matteo my spirits were significantly lifted by doing sing-a-longs to The Jungle Book, Robin Hood, Duck Tales and the Little Mermaid! Reminds me of how great all those movies are. I just found out there is a Duck Tales Movie, that I *think* I've never seen. I'm going to curl up on the floor with a blanket and pillow by the radiator and hopefully feel better in the morning after hot teas and disney movies. Aaaah. How I wish in my parents house surround by the comforts of home... till then, I'll seek refuge in creamy chocolates!

D -d-d-d danger! Watch behind you, there's a stranger out to find you.
What to do? Just grab onto some Duck Tales!

Black Friday // Cyber Monday

Thanksgiving is coming up, and that means an overdose of food & the kick-off of holiday shopping! 

In honor of the most popular shopping weekend of the whole year I'll be offering 20% off the whole shop from Thursday, Nov 22nd - Monday, Nov 26th. 

Use coupon code: BFCM12 at checkout to redeem your discount! Shop the store HERE. 

Here are some of my favorite holiday items/outfits in the shop right now. 

Red Leather Envelope Clutch
Red Silky Cut-Work Blouse
Gold Leather Loafers

Black Velvet Cropped Bolero
Gold Chain Jeweled Bag
Gold Studded Black Leather Wedges

& some Etsy items on my holiday wish-list... Happy Shopping!

Hand painted rabbit on a porcelain mug by Madrab

2013 Little Foxes Calendar by Gingiber

Gold Vermeil Snake Rib Bone Ring by Gemini Rising

Cioccoshow & More

Photos from my weekend in Bologna and at the monthly antique market in Spilamberto. 

SO. MUCH. CHOCOLATE. 

It was amazing, they had outside stalls all throughout the center of the city, people walking around with hot chocolate, chocolate "shots" for sale, tons of truffles, chocolate bark, rolls of chocolate salami, chocolate waffles, fudge, cake, and so much more. Yum. 

I also went to see the University library and visited a gorgeous anatomy classroom. The classroom was made entirely of wood and had a marble table in the middle. The lecturers chair looked like a throne and the whole place smelled like a hot sauna. 

Checked out the markets, was looking forward to finding more vintage silk scarves but turns out that all the vendors have put away their stock of them! I'm guessing that because it's getting colder they figure people aren't interested in them... :/ I did get lucky with hats though, 6 in total! (will post photos of those soon). 

At the Bologna University Library

Chocolate dipped dried orange slices

Little Bookshelves inside a little shelf on a shelf.

Chocolate Sheep! 

Finished reading "How We Are Hungry" by Dave Eggers, such a pretty cover. 

More chocolate. 

... What I took home with me. Really excited about that chocolate salami. 

That's right, not cheese - chocolate!

Brussels sprouts are one of my favorite foods. Mmm. Even better with baked procuitto. 

The wooden classroom & epic lecturers chair. 

What the inside of chocolate salami looks like - bits of crushed up biscotti! I found a recipe for this and will definitely be trying it out once I'm back home. 

Lining the archways of the Bologna Library

Vintage Christian Dior sunglasses. Sigh! 

Nature Walks

Not much to do around here during the week in terms of social activities. I'm not complaining though - lots of pretty things to see, nature wise!

I'm headed to Bologna this weekend for the Chocolate Festival! I'm looking forward to do a lot of taste testing :) 

A Change of Plans...

I was supposed to catch a 6:30 flight from Bologna to Paris this morning. That didn't happen.

I really should have gotten to the airport earlier, considering this would have been my my 1st time at the Bologna airport, and we all know it takes time to figure out where you're going in a new airport, especially in a foreign country! I going to fly with "Ryan Air" a discounted airline, but they have a completely separate building just for checking in, once I figured that out and got on the airport shuttle headed there, I only had 10minutes to get through the massive security line before my gate closed. 

Major Disappointment. This would have been my 1st visit in Paris and I was so looking forward to it! 
I came home, made a cup of tea and some oatmeal, settled down on a blanket next to the radiator and settled with experiencing Paris through the eyes of Woody Allen with Midnight in Paris. A wonderful film that brightened my morning, mom and dad - you have to watch this! Now I've got Cole Porter tunes stuck in my head and on my spotify playlist :) 

I'm going to try again on Nov 30th to visit Paris, I feel like I've already fallen in love with it! You can be sure I'll be arriving really early to my flight next time around. I won't come back to the States until I've seen Paris! 

Life without Facebook

As much as I hate to admit it, I use Facebook too much. 

It's great for keeping in touch with family and friends (especially while traveling!) but it also can make me a little crazy. I'm going to try and go without it for at least 1 month. Facebook has fueled so many of my own personal "issues" that it really has no business altering. I'm looking forward to it :) 

2 Months

I've officially been living in Italy for 2 months now, 2 months and 1 day, actually.

It's crazy how time has passed since I've been here. Sometimes it's the most arduous thing in the world, literally counting down the days until I'm back home in Texas - and sometimes it passes far too fast (particularly while I'm weekend vacationing). I've felt like I have absolutely nothing to do, and sometimes too much. It's a strange feeling getting settled into a new home, making a new routine for myself, getting acquainted to new places and turning strange faces into friendly ones. 

Each day I'm here the kids, Carlo & Matteo, get a bigger place in my heart. Before coming here I thought the job would be really easy, I quickly learned that there was much more to it that I had originally anticipated. Kids can be really difficult, and when they're being brats it's really easy to just "not care" about them, after all - they're not my kids. But the more time I spend with them the more I realize just what cool little people they are, they ask so many questions and are so interested in everything! They can be entertained for hours by one little thing and at the same time get thrown off by one little thing, like a sticker. Such complex little people, suffice it to say that I'm learning loads from them. :) 

Only 6 weeks left here until I'm heading back to the States. Until that time I plan to visit Roma, Napoli, Venezia, Torino, Paris twice and Valencia! Gagagaa, so much to do, happy to do it :) 

Some photos from earlier this week in the village. Some things I'm sure I'll miss once I'm back in Texas:

1. Walking everywhere. I haven't driven in a while and I'm okay with it. It's nice to be in such a small safe place where I can't possibly get lost and pretty much walk anywhere in 10-15 minutes. 

2. The Trees. The many many many tress. Especially in fall - so beautiful, makes being outside so much more wonderful. 

3. The Weather. It's cool but the days are still sunny (we've had some rain, but not too much). A pair or pants, boots, t-shirt, sweater & scarf and you're good to go. In the mornings/at night maybe add gloves/hat/coat and you're set. I love Autumn! 

Election Day

Election day is today! 

Even though I've already sent in my ballot, today is an exciting day. I hope that all eligible voters get out there and do their thing today :D

To celebrate the day, a special coupon code - only valid TODAY, Tuesday, Nov 6th. 
13% off the shop :: VOTEOBAMA

I made an Election Day treasury on Etsy - check it out for Patrotic goodies. 

Shop This Stars & Stripes Button Up :: HERE 

Shop This Stars & Stripes Polo :: HERE 

The Trilogy

During the week I spend a lot of time at home in this little village of Spilamberto. We had a time change  a week or so ago and it's getting dark outside quite early. This means a lot more of me spending time at home, and that means watching more movies.

There are so many great films I've never seen, and considering my acting career choice, one would think that I would be better versed in the movie world. Believe it or not, I've never seen any of the movies in the Batman Trilogy... until now! I watched Batman Begins last night and The Dark Knight is on my list tonight. Every week night until I leave I plant to watch at least 1 movie on my "list". 

On another note.... I've added a bunch of items to the SALE section of my shop. Check it out! 
** Additional 10% off Coupon Code :: SILKYSCARVES **

New Scarves

Scarves Galore! 

I hit the vintage-scarf jackpot in Bologna with these beauties, soon to be posted in the shop! Feel free to use this code: SILKYSCARVES for 10% off any order in my shop until Nov 30th! 

Visit my Etsy shop, AmandelOe, HERE

Happy Halloween!

Yes, Halloween isn't very popular in Italy - but I was determined to celebrate it the best way I could! I found this beautiful Masquerade mask in Venezia and was happy to put it to good use. A few stores decorated for the holiday and I noticed our little neighborhood grocery store have a bin of over-priced kitsch Halloween items for sale -  so that gave hope I would find some fellow Halloween-ers.  I made an American friend a few weeks ago, Rachelle, she lives in Bologna so we decided to get together, dress up and not miss out on all the fun our friends back home would be happening. 

The 1st bar we went to had halloween decorations and such, but there was also a Juvuentus v. Bologna football match going on, so that was really more important than Halloween. Afterwards we went to an Irish pub and ran into a couple of Australians and a few other dressed up Italians. All in all, an enjoyable night (although I would have really loved to be in Austin with my friends, but hey... I'll be home in 50 days, it'll be here sooner than I know)!
My dear friend Nikki send me a sweet card and some pumpkin stickers, I shared them with the boys & they went crazy over them! They really love pumpkins and wanted to dress up and go out, but the mom wasn't up for it. I showed them the Nightmare Before Christmas, I don't think they quite understood it but I hope they enjoyed it, I sure did! I also re-discovered "The Magic Schoolbus" and "Bill Nye the Science Guy," two shows making our English lessons much more interesting!