Everyday Beauty

May Musings

May is wrapping up today and summer is beginning! May, the month of Mother's Day, is also of course the month of Mary for Catholics. This beautiful statue is on my dresser and reminds me daily to try and be the best mother I can be. 

We celebrated Sofia's 2nd birthday last weekend (so hard to believe!) and had a big party with all of our family. She had so much fun being the bella of the ball, playing with her cousins, eating cupcakes and opening gifts. She knew exactly what was going on and that it was all for her. I ordered this dress on etsy from the most adorable shop, Lover Dovers Clothing. I stumbled across the shop by chance and am glad I did. You must go take a peek at all of the adorable designs for children and grown-ups alike!

Isn't this a great time of year as school winds up, and plans are made for the hot days and lazy afternoons of summer? I'm a summer girl and am looking forward to being outside with the kids. We've already broken in the swings at the park.

...and spent many a May day at the baseball field.

I can't wait to head to the beach, the zoo, the amusement park, farmer's markets and flea markets. Naturally, we have to make time to indulge in ice cream cones and frozen treats (with a little help from this book), which I don't think will be a problem.

We've been eating dinners outside under our striped umbrella. Black and cream stripes remind me of Italian cafes, so I close my eyes and pretend I'm there sometimes. It works for a few seconds!

April showers did indeed bring May flowers. These were some of the ones in our yard.

Many a blossom got cut and brought inside.

I think that about sums up the beautiful month of May around here. All of these pictures were taken with my iphone and uploaded to Instagram. It's quick and easy, and I think it's a great way to see what your friends are up to through their photos. I've been using it daily and love it. You can add filters to your photos to make them look old, and quite cool I think. A pile of dirty dishes would probably even look good with Instagram! If you have Instagram and want to follow along with my photo stream, my user name is andreasingarella.

See you in June!

Easter Snapshots

I know it's been a week now, but I hope you had a beautiful and happy Easter! It's a holiday I always love, but it seemed especially nice this year, being here with all of our family. We took the kids to the town park for an Easter egg hunt on Saturday, and then to Grandma & Grandpa's on Sunday for dinner and another egg hunt.

The house was fluffed up and decorated for the holiday, which is just enough but not too much that I dread taking it all down.

I love the playful Easter egg colors of this dress I found at Target....(even if it had to be layered with a shirt, leggings and a cardigan to keep the Spring chill away!)



My older son had his game face on with a strategy to get lots of eggs in the park when they blew the whistle. Luckily it was arranged by age group....

3...2...1...go!



And this little man was just so happy to be there, he couldn't stop smiling.





Kisses for Papa.

Easter morning in the playroom, photo courtesy of my 7-year old son. Ha ha...

The day wouldn't be complete without the annual Easter Day family photograph. I remember Easters in the past with snow flurries. This one was a gorgeous welcome to Spring!

My Girl

We were getting ready to head out and run some errands today, and I quickly snapped some pictures of Sofia. (some are blurry!) Sometimes it's these little moments that make life sweet.

Simple Stitched Tote

 
You might remember from previous posts that my son Mario loves balloons. When he was 4, balloons were the only thing he would draw. (Thankfully, he's moved on to other subjects!) I had saved some of the drawings and decided to preserve his innocent little artwork on fabric. Here is his original drawing on paper:    
                                          

This project is very simple, and I wanted to share the steps with you in case your kids are growing up too fast, right before your eyes like mine are. First, I layed a piece of white linen on top of the artwork, taped both layers to a sunny window and traced the drawing onto the fabric with a washable fabric transfer pen. Then I took the drawing to the craft store and matched up the colors with embroidery floss.

Using a simple backstitch I transformed his sweet artwork into a stitched keepsake for him. I folded in the edges of the fabric about a 1/2", pressed them down and sewed the linen onto a canvas tote bag that he now uses for his piano lesson books. He's 7 now and loves his new bag, but he did tell me I should have made his balloons look rounder. Of course, the wobbly shapes drawn by his 4-year old hands are exactly the reason I saved the picture in the first place.

Flashback to "The Feast"

Thanks so much for the warm welcome back! It is really wonderful to be blogging again. I thought I would go back in time a bit and recap what's been happening around here since I last blogged in June. It was a crazy but wonderful summer, filled with family outings, celebrations and memories in the making for the kids, which is exactly why we moved to Ohio.

One big bonus to living here (for us) is that there are so many Italians......and therefore lots of Italian festivals and great restaurants and delis. My husband is in his glory. As most people probably know, food and family are the backbone of Italian-American culture, and the NE Ohio area welcomed thousands of immigrants during the big wave of immigration at the beginning of the last century. Many of the families have stayed for generations, and I think half the kids in Mario's school are Italian. There is even another Mario in his class, which we never thought would happen!

In August, we headed to the Murray Hill section of Cleveland for the annual "Feast of the Assumption", more commonly known as "The Feast". Most Italian festivals coincide with holy days in the Catholic church. You celebrate by eating good food, visiting the catherdral, peeking inside the bakeries (and buying a pound of cookies and some cannolis), and shopping the antique shops and boutiques. Just hanging out together and enjoying the energy of the gathered people. Good stuff.

Of course no festival is complete without rides for the littles. Sam rode this truck ride no less than 10 times. And he seriously thought he was driving.



Sofia's first cannoli!

And filling her belly with homemade cavatelli. Heaven!

I know it's just a festival, but it's really important for us to stay connected to our heritage. Although so much has changed since my grandparents' generation, family traditions, special recipes and stories can be passed on forever.

Going Home

It's been quite a month around here. I will give you the short version of the story.

The opportunity presented itself so George and I decided to do something we've been hoping to do for years: move to Ohio to be near family. So, in May we put our house on the market, expecting it would take months to sell in light of the current housing slump. I cleaned, organized, donated and sold. The man at the Goodwill knows me well now. I'll tell you, the house was never so clean! It almost made me want to stay.

Well, much to our surprise, our home sold in just 48 hours! We were, of course, thrilled and shocked at the same time. It was definitely meant to be. Then reality set in.....we have to pack everything in this house into boxes, and fast! So, that's what I've been doing in my "spare" time. I have a long way to go, but it's coming along.

It's funny, I spent my younger years planning how to get out of Ohio and see other places, other cultures, meet new kinds of people. And I did some of that. And I loved every minute of it, and wouldn't trade those years for anything. But now, all I want to do is pack up our little lives and go back to Ohio. Life is funny, isn't it? We are so excited to start this new chapter of our lives, and we feel incredibly fortunate and grateful beyond words that it has fallen into place.

We move in only a few short weeks, and I'll be wrapped in packing tape, surrounded by cardboard boxes until then. Not sure when I'll be all set up and blogging again, but I'll try and pop in soon to say hello. Enjoy the beautiful summer, my friends!

I Guess She Likes Hummus

 
Sofia is the pickiest little eater. But we did recently discover that she likes hummus, when I left the container on the edge of the kitchen table, a little too close to her high chair.

 
My initial reaction was to grab the container and start cleaning her up, but then we started laughing and realized she was having a good old time digging in. So, I let her have a bit more fun.

 
 
 
And we discovered a food that she will actually eat!

 

Mother's Day Love

 
Mario colored this precious picture for me, and was so excited when he gave it to me. Aren't these the best kind of presents? I have a box full of his handmade treasures I will never part with. It's sweet to think about what goes through his little mind as he's drawing a picture. His favorite shirt at the moment is a red one, that he would wear all week long, and sleep in if I let him. The fact that he put me in a pink dress cracks me up, and my crazy hairdo is not too far off from reality! I love the happy clouds and sun (wearing sunglasses of course) and trees. Observing the innocence, wonder and happiness of childhood is one of
the greatest gifts of motherhood.

I hope all of the mamas out there have a Happy Mother's Day!!!

First Easter

 
We spent Easter out of town, with family, and had a wonderful holiday weekend. It was Sofia's first Easter, and I kept reminding myself that she has no clue what Easter even is....so there was no need for a fancy basket. So, she got a book and a soft bunny and a few marshmallow bunnies. She enjoyed chewing on all items equally as far as I can tell!

 
We managed to get one family picure where we are all sort of looking at the camera and no one is crying or pouting, so I thought I'd share it. I hope you had a happy Easter too! 

Hello Saturday

 
Well, I couldn't sleep, so I came downstairs {it's 3:30 am} and thought I would tackle something on the mental to-do list I've been writing all week. Deadlines, things I need to do, things I want to do. You know. I have sort of come to terms with the fact that there are about 2 million things racing through my thoughts at any given time, and I can really only do one at a time. Which one should I start first?

I made a pot of coffee and had a heaping tablespoon of Nutella {I know}, and here I sit with not too much to say. Just wanted to say hello!

So, hello! I hope it's a lovely Saturday for you! I know it will be be for me. I am so HAPPY to have my husband back!

{Large glittered Gothic letters are from Wendy Addison, a few years ago. I think maybe you can still call her in her studio and order things the old-fashioned wonderful way. If not, you can also buy them by calling here.}

xo