January has been so busy for us what with back to school routine, me teaching over two weekends and one evening, Matteo having his tonsils out and the boys having a great social life and going to two birthday parties. I’ve craved time at home in the warmth and comfort food.
I wanted to do a little twist on the classic leek and potato soup. The only way to get Ethan to eat sweet (“orange”) potato is in soup and he gobbled it down. It can’t have just been for the reason that I said as soon as they’d finished they could go back to watching their superhero programme on TV!
Ten years ago my first son was born, and immediately I fell in love with wanting to do everything I could to nurture and raise him well. Jul developed normally in so many ways and for the most part he was a happy little guy, but Jul was also suffering. He was unusually and frequently sick, he already had many negative reactions to breast milk and then foods, he was itchy and sensitive, the list goes on. At the time the doctors were stumped as to what was causing Jul to be so poorly and over time it only became worse.
I’m not a fan of January, it’s cold, dark, grey and always feels like the longest month of the year. The last four weeks have had a big contrast. We’ve had two weeks of Christmas school holidays, which involved a lot of relaxing and a bit of work and then the other two weeks have been the end of term and then the start of the new term, so all routine and busy rushing around. We can’t wait for Spring to arrive.
I wrote a little bit in my first #dolcevitabloggers post about my time doing Erasmus in Urbino. I travelled to quite a few places in Italy during the five months that I spent there but I would still say now that it remains my favourite city. I just loved the cobbled streets, the architecture and the amazing surrounding scenery of the Marche hills.
What a busy month December was. It was packed with stuff and just went so fast. I am loving putting together these monthly posts and videos looking back at the past month. I hope the boys will look back on them in years to come especially this one when Christmas was so magical.
Goodbye 2017, you’ve been good to us. This year I set a goal to take more family photos. I’d bought a new camera in the January sales and wanted to capture more images of the four of us together and I’m so pleased to say I’ve done it; at least one photo a month for a whole year.
The holiday fun is here and we’re absolutely delighted to start partying. Well, for the most part. There’s also that crazy panic that starts overtaking us once we realize that we actually have no idea what kind of a look to pick for the New Year’s Eve, nor do we really have the time to spend six hours on getting ready. But dammit, you really want to look good and feel beautiful. Worry not, that’s why we’re here! Ladies, are you ready to bring the glam and show up there looking drop dead gorgeous? Then read on, because we’ve got some great tips for you right here.
We’ve had a great few weeks with the boy’s birthday and preparations for Christmas. This time last month we only had five days to go until the boy’s birthday and as I write this there are only 10 days left until Christmas. They’re so excited that Santa is going to bring them a bike and I can’t wait for the school holidays.
So when did my connection to Italy begin? Most people think it began when I met Matteo in 2003 but actually it was quite a bit before that. My first taste of Italy was as a teenager. We stayed in Sorrento and visited Pompei and Capri. Something about the people, the food and the language must have drawn me in as while I was doing my A levels I started teaching myself some language basics using an audio course.