ohhh and another thing...

the trees are currently heavy with oranges----> oranges falling onto streets.
Where are we?!

a little magic around every turn...

The last few days have been quite magical. There have been so many little surprises which seem to be accumulating into a brighter, more intense, and deeply satisfying... what? dare I say life here. hmmm- that sounds a little too bold, but I'll go so far as to say flatly: things have been good. Quite good in fact. I took a walk on Saturday which was filled at every turn with shocking beauty. Unfortunately, when I took out my camera the battery was dead so I'll have to save the details of that trip for another post- one when I traverse that path again. 

One of the most obvious joys in being here is the escape from winter in Minneapolis. Sorry to all of you back there- I heard you got dumped on again. Man, that's rough. I don't complain much about the weather when I'm there, it's part of life Something that if you can get past just enduring it, it can become enjoyable. But, no matter how you look at it, come February and March each year the winter begins to feel oppressive. Here it's so lush and green. The air is fill of humidity and ..... flower are blooming...... 

Each winter about this time of year, I buy my favorite flower from the flower shop- I never really thought it "grew" somewhere- or more specifically that it couldn't grow anywhere I would every visit, but on a walk in Trastaveri on Friday- there is was... in all it's splendor: a Yellow Mimosa tree, (I looked it up.)

Roman Playgrounds

there is a notable lack of playspaces for kids here in Rome, perhaps we're just looking in the wrong places- but we're trying. Yesterday Claude and I walked out to a big green space marked on the map only to fine most of it was unplayable, but we treated it like a nature walk and gathered lots of seed pods, bark, and pinecones in a small open area. Ohhh and check out the Roman Playground- ancient marble rubble- it works.

a little taste of italy...

Since so much of the immediate joy we've found here in Rome has been food related, I thought I'd share with you what we made last night for dinner since I think it would be equally as easy and delicious with the ingredients found back home...

I wish I could say this is my photo and more than that- this is what my soup turned out looking like... but that's not really the case. Given better lighting and my good camera (which I didn't have on hand) I suppose my photo could have looks just as appetizing- just different... I assure you- it was equal parts easy, remarkably yummy and made both of my boys feel a little less sick... I can't help but wonder if they'll every get over these cold/cough/nastyness.

Here is the link to Jamie Oliver's recipe. I made ours a bit differently. We didn't have any stale bread around (it's too good to go stale!) so after I pulled the cherry tomatoes out of the oven I tossed a bunch of really nice bread, cut into cubes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and grated a bit of parmesan over the top... I put those back in the oven to crisp up so they were more like croutons than part of the stock. I'm sure either way would be quite good, but I must say I like a little bite to any bread in my soup- even if they just soften up in the broth, it's nice to taste them as they go from hard to soft... Ok those are my tips- enjoy!

a fix and beautiful textiles and an outing

I had a bit of a wardrobe snafu when my knee ripped through my one and only pair of jeans I packed for Rome. Yes I do have another pair of pants, but these are my JEANS. I live in them... so I did a funny hand stitched repair. I'm not so excited about how the fabric patch shows through. I would have done it a bit differently in retrospect, but i really like all those stitches reenforcing the fabric. Which got me thinking: how this might look on some knees or elbows which hadn't gone quite so far. hmmmmm.

ohhhh and then there is this rug in our apartment. I've never seen a rug quite like this before, but I love the stitches and how the design sits in the weave. So simple.

ohhhh and today we went to the Pantheon. I like that that sort of statement could be an afterthought- what is life becoming?

weekend walk...

It's been quite a week- Minneapolis to New Jersey to New York to Rome... and we're now here. It's been both easier and harder than I thought- traveling across the world with a young child, not to mention for us adults. Since we'll be here for such a long time the pressure to see everything and fit it all in has been lifted and we're able to take each day as it comes, sluffing off jetlag slowly,  finding new exciting places and things, uncovering a new life here in Rome. I miss the ease of our days back in Minneapolis, but with this kind of beauty around every turn how could anyone wish themself anywhere but here- right now. I'm so grateful: sometimes very tired, a little overwhelmed but so very grateful to see how this all unfolds...

right now...

it's magic hour in the garden.

I love Italy (as if that's any surprising confession)

this much bread (and it's a hearty hunk of goodness) cost € 1.09. And don't even get me started on the pizza. Have mercy. I think I'll come back home packing a little more goodness that I came with- and it will be worth every bite.

ohhhh and I'm not the only one in the house excited about all the foodgoodness here. Claude fell asleep in my arms last night whispering ever so softly "pizza... pizza... pizza...". Seriously love that- a boy after my own heart.

side note- what's up with my crazy eye in this photo? oh well. it's not about me- it's all about that bread- part of which is now happily in my belly.

Good Night from Rome.

We made it! And happy belated valentine's day!

Phew! We've arrived in Rome!

I'll post more once we're a little more settled, but all is very well here! The house is beautiful and all set up for us. We took a walk yesterday and watched the coliseum emerge from behind a hill. The perfect entry.

Hope you all had a good valentines- we were on the plane, which made for my least romantic valentines day to date. Lots of baby wrestling and very little fun- but all that work brought us here- Feeling pretty lucky and loved today!

Hello Sweetie!

I had an order fall through today- soooo This little lady is looking for a home. Email me if you're interested!