September will always make me think of Autumn and the fact that holidays are approaching: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas…what a great time of the year!
Thinking of Halloween, I bought my first “spooky” thing of the year :-O

I love PEZ! I think I’m gonna start a collection like this one

As I was admiring my jack o’ lantern Pez I noticed my cat meowing up the fireplace…

…did she see a ghost?
Yesterday I went to do some shopping and since I left my lil buddy at home, I thought it would be nice to take him back little presents


He is loving them both!!
As I was paying for my shopping at the cash register, I asked the volunteer bagger (who makes quite a bit of money with tips only) not to bag my grocery as I wanted to use my reusable cotton bags (and to be honest I wanted to save a few more $ so decided to do it myself). I couldn’t believe the disgusted faces I saw! She seemed upset and her colleague told her “oh it’s gonna be tough with these recycled bags”. He said it as if reusable bags are an evil thing! I wanted to say something, but decided against it. I think they should look into different means of income if they need more money or maybe they can volunteer to take heavy grocery to people’s cars. I know many older gentlemen and ladies who would tip well and greatly appreciate the service. I don’t mean to take away anybody’s job, but I will keep promoting the use and reuse of cotton shopping bags, instead of wasting and polluting with plastic bags! Did you know that the average family consumes 2,500 plastic bags per year? If you are in need of a cute reusable shopping bag go here
My fave design is this one

I think I’m gonna buy it for myself!

Now meet the Low Impact Man: Steve Vromman a Belgian man who is trying his best to lower his impact on Mother Earth. It’s all about recycling, low cost, organic food and alternative energy. In other words this man is made a choice and it’s all GREEN!

Are you living sustainably? If so, what are you doing?
This is what I do:
*carry reusable bags with me when I go shopping
*I get my tomato sauce from a man who uses his tomatoes, his own recipe and recycled glass bottles.
*I buy my marmalade, honey, veggies and fruits from local farmers
*I carry empty bottles to the grocery store to get my laundry detergent, fabric softener and dishwashing soap refills.
*If I’m driving and I have to stop for more than a few seconds, I turn the engine off.
*I only have energy savers bulbs in my house.

I could do so much more and I’m slowly getting to it.

…is what I’m looking for. This summer has been so hectic and hot. I wonder if the air we’re breathing contains enough oxygen. All I hear everyday is ambulances going by taking older folks to the emergency room with heat strokes. It’s not funny at all, we need some rain and at least a bit of summer wind.
June was a fun month. My Dear Daniel and I reunited after 15 long months and he was happy to follow me to my summer gigs.
First we headed to Ireland, to be part of “The Circus”, Take That’s best selling tour. The appointment was at Croke Park, Dublin. First we met some good friends and we had a great night together, followed by an early rise next day to secure a front row spot at the largest European Stadium. It was very exciting although a bit tiring…but we made it! Front of the b-stage all the way!!! We got a chance to listen to the support acts: Gary Go and then The Scripts. They were ok, but I was impatient to see my lovers on stage!
And they didn’t disappoint! The show was filled with eye candy and surprises.




After an amazing experience and a bit of a staring contest between me and Howard Donald we went to London to see Pet Shop Boys at the O2 arena. What a fantastic music and a great stage performance!

July was the moving month! We found the home for the next 3 years of our life. And after 120 boxes to open, she is ready to be lived in! Yes, I stand behind my choice of gicing a gender to anything and my apartment is a she!
I decided I will post some pics as soon as possible, but for now we’ll start with the kitchen: little corner

what I see outside of the window

I love tea

I had to pick an old porcelain country sink

my kitchen helpers

this is gonna be cozy in the winter

where I keep flour, sugar and bread crumbs

more apples…

where we sit to eat, drink tea, make delicious food…

TJ is having a bit of an art attack, so we decided to play with finger painting…

the artist at work

artsy feet

I’ll be quiet now and leave you some honey for your ears…

I wanted pink hair but the hairdresser didn’t have the right colour so I ended up with this….

…oh well! =^.^=

I’ve been looking at pictures of my childhood and it made me think of my favourite cartoons. Check these out!

Jem and the Holograms

Magical Emi, the magic star Mahō no Star Majikaru Emi

May you always have many things to laugh at
and real good friends with whom you may have a chat.
Things you can dream about,
places you want to go,
and the money in your hand that you can always blow.
Time for reflection of ones you hold dear,
the courage in your heart to do this without fear.
And may you always know
the love I have for you
but I know in your heart you know that this is true.

Happy Birthday my baby boy!

I just wanted to say a few words on this awesome pop phenomenon that is the Twilight Saga

Stephanie Meyer (the author) skillfully captivates the reader with the story of a one of a kind love between a human and a “vegetarian vampire” (a veg vamp only drinks animal blood and not human). Obviously the story has many twists, one of the most beautiful being the shadow presence of a tribe of indian werewolves.
Any lucky series comes with an even luckier movie production (see Harry Potter) and I must say I was just as fascinated by the film as I was of the first book from the saga. Maybe it’s because the actor who plays the main character -Edward Cullen the veg vamp- is interpreted by the gorgeous and enigmatic Robert Pattinson.
Well needless to say, I’m in love with a fictional character!
Move over Bella! Kitty is in Forks

Looking forward to November 20th, day that will see the premiere of New Moon, the second film from the saga.

Ok I’m really unforgivable…I can’t believe it’s been so long since I updated my blog…do I have a good reason for being lazy? Maybe…maybe not.
A lot has been going on since January. Mostly, I’ve been doing loads of planning for my new life as my Dear Daniel will be back and my family closes a kinda sad chapter and opens a happier one.
But let’s go in order. What kind of events really happened since January?
February was a smashing month for me: after much online chatting about attending one of the best shows around, after compiling endless lists of Pros and Cons on should I go or not, one night, me and my “sister” decided that life is too short and as Horace used to say “Carpe Diem”: so we booked ourselves a hotel in Kensington, London and we got tickets to the Brit Awards 2009!
What an amazing time I had! I arrived in London and was the guest of a lovely lady friend who opened her gorgeous whimsy flat for me. We had a great night dipping potato chips (crisps in the UK =^.^=) in hummus, chatting girlie stuff and watching TT videos. The day after she took me to central London cause I really wanted to visit Hamleys again. I managed to buy this for TJ

After that I went in Regent’s Street Apple Store and generally looked at everything in awe. I love Apple!
Then I finally met my “sister” and we had loads of fun together: sharing a room, applying make up while having fits of laughter, flooding bathrooms and trying to fit 2 people into a gnome sized elevator.
Then we rode in a posh car headed to the Conrad hotel of Chelsea to have a few drinks with the other girls. Once we got all dolled up we went to the Earls Court and that’s when the excitement shot to the roof! I got to see my faves bands live: Take That performing clad in alien outfits,

Pet Shop Boys getting the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award

Brandon Flowers from The Killers performing “It’s a Sin” with PSB

and The Ting Tings

It was fab, a great memory I’ll always remember especially because it was shared with a very special person, meet my “sister”

We do share an incredible bond and I’m so happy I found her.

I came back from London with a heart filled of great memories, but I soon geared up to my second adventure of the month: going to see Howard Donald DJ in a nightclub in Portrush, Northern Ireland.
I had a great time with some fellow DJHD lovers and although we travelled a lot, drank a lot, took naughty pictures and slept very little we have a great memory: meeting the man himself and taking a couple of pictures with him…he was really nice and I can’t believe how cocky I was (it was probably the alcohol trapped in my system from the previous night)and I was able to talk to him and tease him a bit…but that’s just cause he teased me first, so I’m blaming him!
Anyways I’ll always cherish that moment…

So what have I done after that? I came back home and worked, teaching at TJ school in the morning and tutoring 2 kiddos in the afternoons.
Then after much stress and much searching, I found the almost perfect home for me, Dear Daniel and TJ. “Almost” perfect because to be perfect it needed to be in front of the sea, preferably overlooking the harbor: don’t get me wrong, it takes me less than five minutes by feet to reach the harbor, but I can’t see it from my place.
As soon as I got it I had to start looking for cute stuff to decorate it. Soon I’ll take a trip to Ikea and buy TJ a new bedroom set…I’m thinking we’ll go with something similar to this obviously we’d create a different colour palette for him.
I’m already excited. I’ve been cross stitching too but I don’t have a finished project to show yet. I’m always running around and I have little time to do crafts right now…I miss card making and scrapbooking…I miss hearing the noise of paper cutting, my little hammer for the eyelets, my hands getting messy with the various inks…I can’t wait to create myself a little craft corner in the new place. I would really love to get into the scrappuccino nights like I used to do when I was in Sardinia: creating beautiful pages, drinking loads of teas or cappuccinos, eating pizza, sharing tips and tools with the girls. I should start something like that here

Well that’s about it for the moment. I will update again very soon

Well it has been a while since I last updated this blog…shame on me!!!Looking back to my last nerdy post, I must say that unfortunately  the Large Hadron Collider at CERN was shut down given the complexity involved in repairing its damaged magnets. It should be restared in Autumn 2009. Meanwhile, Japanese science will take a giant step forward in June with the opening of the Japan Particle Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC): a huge facility combining an intense neutron source, a proton synchrotron and neutrino-beam generator all rolled into one. Cool. Will the particles be shaped like Hello Kitty? I hope so!
So back to me: what happened since September?
The biggest news is that my own Dear Daniel stayed with me for a month. We had loads of fun together and I can’t wait for him to be back for good.September was also the month of the awaited Queen concert in Rome. It was brilliant, even better than the last one and it’s always double the fun when you get to see it with your loved ones.September was also the month of my birthday…my own Dear Daniel showered me with gifts. He was very generous. He took me out to shop in the morning…walking by the busy streets hand in hand, carrying the shopping bag…and then we had a nice dinner at night followed by the best gift of them all…
The iphone 3G white is fantastic. A supercool gadget. It holds all of my music and I’m chuffed to bits about it!October was a good month until the end of it, where my dear had to leave again. November was the “ticket frenzy” month… Take That announced The Circus tour, a massive stadium tour between UK and EIRE and I’ve decided to do Croke Park in Dublin. It will be great. ME, my Dear Daniel and my best mates all there for the boys! Wooohoooooo!!!
I was also very pleased to be able to attend an amazing event: Take That and Polydor launched a private party in Paris on December 1st for the release of The Circus album… Me and my mate were lucky enough to get an invitation and I can honestly say the whole trip was one of the best thing that happened to me. I was able to meet the boys and I had loads of fun in a very private contest with free bubbly! Definitely a one-of-a-kind experience!
The album is great, they’re best ever! When I listen to a new cd I usually have my favourites and the ones that I have to listen a few times before I can say I kinda like them, but that didn’t happen with The Circus! I listened to it all and it just blew my mind away! It’s a masterpiece! Each song has the potential of being released as a single. Now I’m really looking forward to the tour in the summer!

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve grown very excited because of the fascinating and breathtaking experiment the most valuable international scientists team are conducting.

The LHC - Large Hadron Collider - is the largest and most complex scientific instrument ever built and the highest energy particle accelerator in the world.

The fabulous team has been working 20 years on this and they’re now ready to start “the show”. On 10 Sept 2008 (ehm notice the date 08-09-10  countdown coincidence?) in Geneva, Switzerland the first beam  was successfully steered around the full 27 kilometres of the the LHC at CERN. I feel so incredibly blessed to be witnessing such a milestone for human kind. Unfortunately there are lots of people that are accusing the CERN of being incautious and possibly causing the end of the world. It might be just fear of the unknown. Not many of us have enough physics knowledge to understand this experiment, but I trust most of us will try to learn about it, before acting really stupid.  So here you find some interesting links:

Is the LHC safe? Let’s hear it from a member of the LHC safety assessment group…give him some credit the man has been working on this for quite some time…CERN didn’t just wake up and thought they’d smash a few hadrons together! http://cdspages.web.cern.ch/cdspages/1120625.htm

Good old Wikipedia explains it quite simply http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider

Wanna play? Be a CERN scientist for one day
http://www.particledetectives.net/LHC/LHC_project.html

And if you just want to laugh about it, the LHC provides quite a comedy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3iryBLZCOQ

Well I better stop it here…I’m a busy woman…I have a Higgs particle to look for!

Now I know mafia isn’t a joke, but I think when most people think of mafia, they imagine Al Pacino, Marlon Brando or perhaps Fat Tony from the Simpsons…having said that, when I move to the States, I might get this license plate….

I might also add this on my front door…just to show how humble I am…

Now this is so true…

I’d like to talk about it, but I’ll just sound repetitive…so I’ll close the post with one question: what exactly does Italian salad dressing has of Italian? I think just the adjective.