Waiting

As Erin and Jeffrey make their way from Asia back to North America, I found this message about waiting that might inspire you...

Pippa

Though I'll post my own pictures of what I saw of the Royal Wedding, I thought I would share this absolutely precious moment between sisters.

Image courtesy of amazonaws.com via Bippity Boppity Boo.tumblr.com via A Cup of Jo.

One of these days, I'll have a sister with which I can share lovely things instead of argue about horrible things. Life is so kind...why not share that? Come to think about it, I guess I've already chosen these sisters...and it's with you that I share all the things that make me so very happy, so very scared, so very vulnerable. YOU are my insides.

Miss you today.

Airing my Italian Laundry

My second part about being in this part of Italy (surpassed only by the amazing feeling of being with my family) was the hanging of laundry outside apartments. I couldn't help but take a few snapshots of what I saw because it looked so darn cute. Take a peek...

Selby Website: swooning

Image courtesy of theselby.com. Image available here. All via A Cup of Jo.

So I've added a house to my Vision Board. This one just happens to be in Hackney here in London. What a shocker.

Since I strive to surround myself with the kind of luxury and kind of positive thoughts as I'd like to have in my life, I was drawn to this house and it's age, character, and, of course, yellow bricks. They remind me of London, Ontario: of the connection I have to home; of the places from which I've come.

It's all good.

Today we went to see the Royal Wedding in Hyde Park. Talk about luxury. I have pictures to post, some of which I doctored a bit because the day was a little gray then a lot sunny. Plus, there was just so much to see, I wanted to focus on the sights that made me feel like this is the most magical place on earth today.

I'm feeling really, really good. I hope you are, too :)

We Have Bebes!

In Toronto today at 1:43 pm, Eliana was born. Her sister Adeline was born five minutes later. Both are perfect. Everyone is healthy.

Mommy and Daddy are in love.

Can you think of a better way to end a day? Because I certainly can't.

SO much love from me to all four of you xoxoxo

Sarah Kay: If I should have a daughter ... | Video on TED.com

We don't have babies yet, but this might get us inspired :)



Sarah Kay: If I should have a daughter ... | Video on TED.com...click here!

Here's the poem by Sarah Kay that just brought me quite easily to tears. "A performing poet since she was 14 years old, Sarah Kay is the founder of Project V.O.I.C.E, teaching poetry and self-expression at schools across the United States."

Tread lightly, friends...

If I should have a daughter
instead of Mom,
she's gonna call me Point B
because that way she knows
that no matter what happens,
she can always find her way to me.
And I'm going to paint solar systems on the backs of her hands
so she has to learn the entire universe
before she can say,
"Oh, I know that like the back of my hand."

And she's going to learn that this life will hit you hard in the face,
wait for you to get back up just so it can kick you in the stomach.
But getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way
to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.

There is hurt that cannot be fixed by Band-Aids or poetry.
So the first time she realizes that Wonder Woman isn't coming, I'll make sure she knows she doesn't have to wear the cape all by herself.
Because no matter how wide you stretch your fingers,
your hands will always be too small
to catch all the pain you want to heal.
Believe me, I've tried.

"And Baby, I'll tell her, don't keep your nose up in the air like that. I know that trick; I've done it a million times.
You're just smelling for smoke
so you can follow the trail back to a burning house
so you can find the boy
who lost everything in the fire
to see if you can save him.
Or else find the boy who lit the fire in the first place,
to see if you can change him."

But I know she will anyway, so instead
I'll always keep an extra supply of chocolate and rain boots nearby,
because there is no heartbreak that chocolate can't fix.
Okay, there's a few heartbreaks that chocolate can't fix.
But that's what the rain boots are for.
Because rain will wash away everything, if you let it.

I want her to look at the world through the underside of a glass-bottom boat,
to look through a microscope at the galaxies
that exist on the pinpoint of a human mind,
because that's the way my mom taught me.

That they'll be days like this.
They'll be days like this, my momma said.
When you open your hands to catch
and wind up with only blisters and bruises;
when you step out of the phone booth and try to fly
the very people you want to save
are the ones standing on your cape;
when your boots fill with rain, and you'll be up to your knees in disappointment.
And those are the very days you have all the more reason to say thank you.

Because there's nothing more beautiful
than the way the ocean
refuses to stop kissing the shoreline,
no matter how many times it's swept away.

You will put the wind in win-some-lose-some.
You will put the star in starting over, and over.
And no matter how many land mines erupt in a minute,
be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called life.
And yes, on a scale from one to over-trusting,
I am pretty damn naive.
But I want her to know that this world is made of sugar.
It can crumble so easily,
but don't be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it.

"Baby," I'll tell her, "remember,
your momma is a worrier
and your poppa is a warrior,
and you are the girl with small hands
and big eyes
who never stops asking for more."

Remember good things come in threes
and so do bad things.
And always apologize when you've done something wrong.
But don't you ever apologize
for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining.
Your voice is small, but don't ever stop singing.

And when they finally hand you heartache,
when they slip war and hatred
under your door and offer you handouts
on street-corners of cynicism and defeat,
you tell them they really ought to meet your mother.

Induction

Image courtesy of trafalgarssquare at esty.com

The general consensus is that within 24 hours, the world will have two brand new girls to make our worlds better places.

My whole heart is back home right now...I'm praying hard for health, happiness, and the wonderment that comes with everything working out exactly as it is supposed to.

I love love love you two already!!!
In fact, I love love love all four of you!

Italy in April, 2011

So it begins...on April 12, I took off on a two-week whirlwind European Tour. Part whatever. I will just take a second to say that I recognize that I'm a lucky woman: every single experience that has EVER happened to me, positive, negative, or otherwise, has brought me right here and here just happens to be quite positively amazing. Like the feeling I had floating in the ocean on Railay Beach in Thailand, I am constantly overwhelmed with reminders that life is exactly as great as it's supposed to be thanks to everything that has brought me here.

That aside, I was up super early on Saturday morning to catch the cab at 4 am. Yuck. BUT I scored big time when my three friends also had to be at the airport at the crack of dawn. Way to save £35 on a cab ride! It was awesome. From London to Pisa, on a train to Pisa Centrale, then to La Spezia, my mother and I texted each other. I think we were both pretty excited.

I arrived at the La Spezia station and expected my mother to be standing on the platform, waiving a white scarf (yup, I'm serious) and tearing up a little. Too bad the train schedules are so fickle in Italy: she was totally thinking of doing just that, minus the white scarf for some odd reason, but was at the wrong track. At long last, I met the two of them as they rounded a corner, fresh-faced and eager to see me. Here were the smiling faces I later captured on the train ride to Riomaggiore:



On the way to the villa, we chatted and I snapped some images of the local sites. It was a beautiful fishing village that many people have recommended visiting. I will admit I'd probably never find myself there, but had a wonderful time with my family. :)

This collection of wine bottles ebbed and flowed with the days of the weeks my folks were at the villa. They weren't sure to whom they belonged, but they did find counting them day by day rather amusing.

Since we were hungry and I was a little travel-lagged, we stopped into the local restaurant-with-a-view-of-the-sea for some panini, wine, and olives. So begins the good life.

I think this guy has seen a few good lives ;)

Night One: the casual self-timed shot.

After checking out this radical fisherman...

we took a tour of the town's "main drag".



Saw how some things are made...

and marveled at Main Street Riomaggiore: a thriving metropolis
(wink wink).

Dinner was at our favourite local restaurante on notte uno. Talking with the hands...we're so Italian now.

Check out that fresh lobster!

Fresh off the boat from Jolly Olde, I was quite happy to be with the Mother Hen. Equally enjoyable was the time spent with Doug. This was the longest time I'd ever spent with him in life (gasp!) and not only is he a lovely man, but he has the funniest stories to tell about life here in England. Told me that they'd have to come over and "show me around". I'll take it!



A little serenade for the walk home ;)



Day two train trip out to Rapallo and adjacent towns started with a failed self-timed group shot...



Thanks for this one, Mum!



We whipped through Moneglia...



whipped past the seaside by train...

and finally rested in the cozy Rapallo.

(some of us resting more than others! Don't you just love her?!)






One of my mum's favourite expressions from Eat Pray Love is, "Dolce far niente", which roughly translates into "the sweetness of doing nothing". No one does it as well as some of the people we saw here. Swoon.

Le Petit Prince!

This began the climb up the 6 kilometres to Zoaglia. I took a more scenic route than my folks, dipping into alley ways and up random staircases. In the end, we dodged traffic, got really annoyed, sweat excessively, then wound up in a great town. Well worth the adventure, but isn't that always the case?

The Riviera stretched on and on alongside the windy road.

The Thinker

At last! Civilization!

The wild calla lilies were just breathtaking.

And this is it, folks: Zoaglia.
What a great place for some bread, prosciutto, cheese, gelato, and lattes.

This was more of a beach than I'd seen anywhere else. The Italians are awesome: they'll turn any rock or semi-flat surface into a tanning spot. Love the attitude.

We boarded a train at Zoaglia and rode it as far as the next town.

We sat near this couple who told us in the snobbiest way possible that they were grad students, living in Florence. Well, well, well, hoity toity...wait to see what happens to US next.

We were asked to move twice because other riders had those assigned seats (first sign that something might be wrong), then were asked to show our tickets. Since we didn't have them, we asked politely to just buy them on board (not usually a problem: Jamie and I did it all the time on board). The train operator lady (her official title) didn't speak English well, but her handy dandy electronic ticket dispenser sure did: the ride back to La Spezia would cost us €183 EACH. The cost of the comfortable Eurostar train was certainly not worth that much, so we told her we'd get off.
"When should we get off?" we asked, as the train was stopping.
"Now."
"Now?"
"NOW!"
Righto.
Feeling VERY embarrassed and jolted, we shook it off after a peek at the schedule. We had a bit of time to wait.

We were held over for a half hour in the small town of Chiavali, which turned out to be just adorable. Good things happen for a reason ;)

LOVE this picture:

J'adore red pants

I swooned pretty hard for this little town and it's collection of bicycles.

Night two's sunset.

Mum and I in the villa's kitchen before a great meal out at the top of the village's main drag in Riomaggiore. There we heard Americans in all their glory talking about California and the great food...blah blah blah. We were much more interesting.

We ate stuffed gnocchi and salad that night. This is what Italy is all about.



The blurry, darkened walk from the villa to the restaurant...

I thought the boats looked so majestic at night. Shame I wasn't able to capture them better.

I inadvertantly snapped this photo of this Italian man getting ready for something on a rock. I just wanted the scenery, but it acted as a better backdrop to his story instead...

because he later whipped out this foam "bed", disrobed, and sunned himself in his shorts-Speedo. La Dolce Vita, friends.

The fishing boats of Riomaggiore...

On day three, after a homemade egg and heirloom tomato breakfast, we took a walk along the footpath to the adjacent city, Manarola. Yours Truly was pretty happy about the amount of sunshine she was getting on this face...

The view along the path...

Locks of Love.

Lovers buy a lock, attach it to this wall, then throw the key into the sea. Quote of the day:

"I can't believe you don't want to be a part of this."

The Three Amigos

Teeny Manarola, in all her glory:

Awesome cafe and machinery...

After our long walk, I made a big pasta and salad dinner for everyone. It was amazing to eat the food of the land, to enjoy each other's company, and revel in the fact that our time just flew by.

When I woke up on my last day in Italy, I was sick as a dog. I had a flu or food poisoning. Not that it matters: I was freezing, sweaty, just really poorly. My poor mother was beside herself. I consumed one flaky cookie, some Sprite, and a few bites of pancetta-covered bruschetta. Not exactly enough to sustain me for the whole day that included

an intensely hot ride into La Spezia,
followed by an hour-long ride into Pisa,
a dash from one train platform to another in very few moments,
a plane ride to Malaga,
and a 45-minute wait at the arrivals gate waiting for my friend.

I was just about on death's door. Here is a pic of the Mother Hen and I mere moments before we departed company...



So not thrilled but hey, this is my real life. And it's a pretty good one.