My Little Stinging Bee

Who knew that one of the pleasures of having kids was Trick or Treating all day long, collecting all kinds of junk and then stuff your face with it? Yes, because when you realize that your baby is too little to eat chocolate...you can't possible waste it, can you?

Happy Halloween everyone!!
Boooooooo.........

Knitting Fever

The reason why I have been slacking around here (and around the house) it’s because lately I started knitting. I always dreamt of making cute little baby sweaters and stuff, but never really had the time or the patience to actually start.

Then about a month ago I was cruising around the arts and craft section at the bookstore and came across a really cool book about knitting…and the rest is history.

Just the idea of me resembling an old lady, sitting all day long on a rocking chair knitting her lifelong sweater didn’t really appealed to me. Then once I started I was hooked.

It’s kind of a healthy version of crack cocaine…but at least it won’t kill ya! Once you begin a project all you can think of is to finish it AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to see what it looks like.

Now, as you all know, I’m a very impatience person so I have to see the results IMMEDIATELY. Yes, ask me how many fucking time I had to restart the same scarf because I either ripped a hole in it or missed 10 stitches for going too fast? Too many.

But it’s all good. It’s kind of a brain exercise. You know, the one where I learn to be PATIENT which I’m sure is one of those things that will come in handy in life…right?

Meanwhile, Luca is sporting all kind of cool staff thanks to Mommy new addiction. Today, for example, we were at the library and this cute gay couple came up to us and said: “Oohh my gaaad, he’s soo cute and definitely the best dressed baby I have seen in NYC!”

Luca looked at me with a quizzical expression of appreciation and maybe a little disgust too.

It's The End...

...of whatever leftover freedom I had.
It all started very innocently about a month ago, when Luca started taking his first steps on his own. We all clapped and cheered on how proud we were and how adorable he looked.

Now, nothing can stop him. The kid literally runs. And me behind him of course.
It’s pretty hard for a lazy broad like me who usually fakes nausea or some other weird disease not to step into a gym, to run after a toddler 24/7.

I feel like I have to train for the marathon of a lifetime because I have the feeling that this will go on for quite a long time…right?

Yesterday my gym membership expired, but this morning, the good girl that I am, I went in and paid for another year. No, I did not use it, I just went in and paid. Hey…I can only take a few minutes at the time!

No matter how cute he looks when he runs around with his little hands up in the air and his new All Star Chuck shoes, he’s still a danger to society. Especially dogs and other kids because he likes to pull or hit the crap out of them and I definitely have to learn how to be faster to probably avoid a lawsuit.

Which means I REALLY have to hit the gym sometimes...or buy a new pair of tennis shoes!

The Daily Bite: Pollo alla Cacciatora

(Chicken Cacciatora)

For the past couple of weeks I have been on a mission to find the tastier recipe for “Pollo alla Cacciatora” and after trying all the different variations my Grandma had patiently saved in her cookbook….I got it!

This is definitely my favorite and the sauce is unbelievably delicious just with the chicken or over pasta.

Here it goes:

Cut a big onion in a half and soak it in cold water for about half an hour. Pat it dry with a paper towel and sauté in a large pan with 2 Tbs of extra virgin olive oil and a little tsp of lard (this will give the meat and the sauce an amazing taste, but if you prefer you can just use the olive oil).
When the onion is cooked, about 5 minutes, put it aside.
Cut in pieces a 3 lbs chicken and braise it in the same pan with the leftover oil. Add the onion, salt and pepper to taste. Add half a cup of dry red wine (I personally prefer it with dry white wine, but both options are really good) and about 1 to 2 cups of tomato sauce. This is usually to your taste. If you would like to use the sauce for some pasta you can definitely add more tomato sauce.
Let it boil in the sauce for about 20 minutes to half an hour and serve hot.

This is one of the simplest recipes. Has a lot of taste and doesn’t need any spices. There was a note at the bottom of Grandma’s recipe: Questo non e’ un piatto per gli stomachi deboli (This is not suitable for delicate stomachs!)

Marian: This is for you, my dear. I hope you like it and enjoy the earthy flavor of it. Sorry I didn’t post a photo, I forgot to take one last time and I think if I cook again Chicken Cacciatora…my husband will divorce me. There is a limit for everything…yes, even for a man!

Toys recall is not enough…now even the cookies suck!

Tonight, after stuffing my face with some delicious Chinese food my fortune cookie said: Your biggest dream will become true right now.

...I’m still waiting.

A Tribute To The First Year Of Your Life

Happy Birthday...my little angel. I can't believe that today you are 1 year old. First because it went too fast and second because I feel 100 years older. I think it's because of all the beauty sleep I missed and all the wrinkles I have to show for...but I tell you what...it was all worth it!
Here are some photos of you from the past 12 months, starting from the the first minute of your life.

Love,
Mommy

I Don't Know How....

...but we made it through the first year without killing the kid, yet. Last year at this time I was pushing my guts out and what turn out to be a beautiful healthy little monster.
Yes, It's been a year of exploring, discovering, learning and most of all of pure guessing on what motherhood is really like. It is without a hint of shame that I honestly admit how I bluffed my way through it.

It was fun, it was stressfull and many many times frustrating...but we made it, little monkey.

Do you think we can still be your parents a little longer?

The Silence Of The Lambs

When I told my husband how many children I really want...he stopped talking to me.
For the past 24 hours he's been avoiding me and he's even scared to breathe next to me, in case that will get me pregnant.

Ahh boys, they always think their brain wears underwear!

Honey Start Cracking Up Some Barry White Please

For the past week or so I have this incredible desire of having another baby. It’s something that I can’t really explain, like a sudden urge that takes up your all body and mind and won’t let go.

It started with just the idea of what life would be with another little boy or girl. Then it became kind of a curiosity to see how Luca would react with a sibling. Would he be jealous, caring and loving towards a little sister or just a little selfish animal with a younger brother?

Then the idea became a possibility. Hmm…what IF we actually had another baby?!

Now, it’s a fucking obsession to the point that I found myself staring at preggo women and newborns on the street with that kind of I ENVY YOU, I WANT YOUR LITTLE BABY type of look. And, as you can imagine, doesn’t look so good and it REALLY scares people away.

So I thought…hold on a minute, all I need is a touch of reality to make me realize that this is just another crazy idea of mine and who’s better then my dear husband to smack me in the head with it?

At the word “pregnant” alone the poor bastard started to tremble and I could see replaying in his mind the few, very few times we had sex in the past couple of months and trying to figure out how the heck he could have done it again.
When he was 98.9% sure that that wasn’t his doing, he took a long breath and said: “What?”

Then he started mumbling that maybe it is too soon, the apartment is too small, is money going to be enough?...and blah, blah, blah.

And guess what? After all his mumbling and bitching around now I REALLY want a baby.

I told him that this month after my period, we’re gonna start trying, so that by July we’ll have a little one. That’s it. End of the story. Is this or else. (I actually threaten to find sperm somewhere else, as long as he didn’t mind raising someone else’s kid).

He’s answer after all this: “Talking about performance anxiety huh?”

Tell me what do you think. Am I rushing into it? Is it going to be absolutely crazy around here with 2 kids under 2? Keep in mind though that I always wanted to have kids very close in age, so that they can go through life together. I was an only child and hated it. My husband was an only child and loved it. Who’s right?

This Is When My Mom Felt Bad And Lended Me Her Camera...

...for some more lovely pictures of Pesaro. (Yeah, she got all excited when I told her I was going to post them on my blog!)

A Little Corner of Paradise

I know these pictures don't really pay justice to the beautiful little beach we have being spending time at while in Italy...but hey...all I had was my little crappy phone.

I thought about bringing my professional camera, but due to the size of it, it was either that or the kid.

You can't really tell, but the water is emerald green and we used to spend long hours of the day laying down on the rocks tanning and relaxing (I mean me laying down while Luca was too busy eating a pound of sand a day).

The air is breezy in the morning and thicker in the long afternoons. The smell of tanning lotion, sun and salt fills the air until sundown while the voices and the laughter from the promenade spread through the night.

When the lady selling warm doughnuts and fresh focaccia parks her little stand by the steps everybody runs to get a little piece heaven. And these long hot summer days, will be your lifelong childhood memories.

The name of the city is Pesaro and it's a cute little jewel on the Adriatic Coast.

So just you know...in the next few days I'm gonna play a little National Geographic on you and show you all the places we have visited in Italy that I love.

Yep...all on my camera phone!





What is your favorite place/city/town/village/hole and why? Show me a picture if you can or describe it as it appears to you when you think of it or when you close your eyes.

It Only Took Us 34 Hours From Door To Door

Yes, that’s right. We left our apartment in NYC at 3.30 pm and arrived at my family’s house at 7.30 pm of the day after (plus the 6 hours time difference).

Not bad. Considering that Luca only slept 2 solid hours through the whole flight and mommy zero, that we missed our connecting flight in Paris so we were basically stuck at the airport for 4 hours doing absolutely nothing (have you ever tried to entertain a baby for 4 fucking hours? I think I know by heart now every single gates and flight company at Charles de Gaulle airport, how many seats there are per gates and how many toilets and food stands).

Air France was great, they took really good care of us and the flight attendants where very good at entertaining Luca, in fact he had a blast. The only thing that really pissed me off was when we missed our connecting flight, first because we were an hour late from NY and second because they didn’t really tell me when I booked my ticket that the connecting flight to Italy was leaving from a whole different terminal and we had to walk about 2 miles, go through passport and security checks all over again…yeah that’s a bummer! But overall we really had a pleasant experience. Thank you Air France…and thank you Marian!

Luca was a trouper. He really enjoyed flying and never, ever cried on the plane, not even for a second. He was amazed by all the people around him, the gadgets, the toys the noises and when he was tired he would take a cat nap. I had people passing him around and playing with him on the plane, kind of a free babysitting service, which was very handy especially when mommy needed to eat or go to the bathroom.

Then once we got to Italy we had a 3 hours train ride to get to the Adriatic Coast. Even that was great. He mostly snacked, slept and made new friend. At one point I even thought about shacking him and asking him what did he ever done with MY Luca. This was not my baby. It was too good to be true.

Well, I knew I had spoken too soon and I was soon reminded of this. The first night was just a….nightmare. We slept together in my big bed and maybe was the unfamiliar place and fact that by then he was definitely overtired and over stimulated…he fucking woke up every single hour on the dot.

But with a lot of patience and a zombie-like face, mommy managed to overcome also this little obstacle and started dreaming about the peaceful weeks we had ahead of us.

(To be continued…)

DCP: A little suggestion when traveling with a baby, don’t carry 2000 pounds of stuff in your carry-on bag. I realized that all he wanted was to look around and play with whatever he had in front of him….even the food tray on the plane was unbelievingly entertaining to him. I still have a mark on my shoulder for carrying that stupid bag.

Survivor – My Husband That Is

Yeees! We made it…back! The trip to Italy was wonderful and we even ended up changing our return dates and bumped it up an extra week, leaving my poor husband all alone in his misery her in NY.

Luca was having a blast and the weather was just amazing…so it would have been really a shame to come back so soon. Plus the beach, the ocean the sun…these are all great things for Luca…right? (shhh…this is what I told my hubby over the phone when I announced that we were not coming back…hehehe).

I can’t wait to fill you in the details, but right now I’m a little bit sleepy. We landed about 30 hours ago and let me tell ya….JET-LAG IS A BITCH.

Give me a few days of sleep (yeah…I wish) and I’ll be back to shine.