i've been wearing a half meter of liberty fabric as a scarf.
if she sleeps...
- ...i get to mess around here.things i've made, things i wish i'd made, things that inspire, things i collect.
la specola, florence
the second time we went to florence we drove. it was a sunday and we found legal, free, fairly central parking pretty easily thanks to our local friend sophie. my brother insisted we visit la specola; his favorite place in the world. it's a very old natural history museum full of very old stuffed stuff. the kids were all super in to it, but i kept the littles out of the last room, which is full of wax dioramas depicting scenes of the bubonic plague. the whole place is creepy, so if you're not into seeing a full size wax model of an autopsied pregnant woman it may not be your scene. claire, this is your scene.
baguette bag
nobody likes a soggy baguette. so i made this. without a sewing machine! now the kid, who always insists on carrying the baguette, won't be dragging it on the sidewalk anymore.
cuneo, italy
part of the motivation for our trip to italy was to visit my husband's (and daughter's) ancestral homeland. when the jews were expelled from spain during the spanish inquisition my husband's family were forced to leave toledo and may have wound up in cuneo, italy. nothing is certain, but 'counio' is his family name. we were very surprised to find ourselves surrounded on three sides by snow capped mountains (the italian alps) and beautiful farmland.
cuneo was known for having an entire building for a synagogue rather than a more secretive meeting place. the small city's main streets have covered pedestrian areas, which was perfect for us because it rained the first day we were there.
we stayed outside of town in a beautiful and simple 'argriturismo' b+b called tetto garrone. it's a family run hazelnut and walnut farm. my daughter made fast friends with the owners' daughter and we all felt really welcome.
me + my ma
happy mothers day!
nyc circa 1980
florence with a 4 year old
don't get me wrong, the whole trip has been with a 4 year old, but some days it's just easier to give in to it. we decided to head into 'firenze' by train. i guess the italian trains take a lunch break, so we had to wait for an hour in pescia with no stroller for the 1 hour train ride. wait, have i mentioned the stroller?! perhaps it should be a whole other post.. anyway. my husband and i were at the mercy of our daughter, the italian train system, the first hot day of the trip, no cell phones or internet, and no plans. we gave up, sometimes things go better that way. no uffizi gallery, no climbing up to the duomo, no architectural tours, no agenda. it all worked out. we saw 'david,' ate pasta, wandered around, got gelato, went home. she was a trooper, we were all exhausted.
we did have a map.
and speaking of liberty...
my friend liberty was the first person to buy my fabric from spoonflower, and she's made a quilt with it! i'm so excited! i love what she made and i'm so honored to be a part of someone else's process (especially super talented liberty!)
fabric shopping
it was bound to happen.
anna ka bazaar was a few doors down from our previous paris apartment. when i walked by and saw bolts of fabric i had to go in. anna ka bazaar is owned by a very nice couple (i highly recommend visiting the shop if you happen to be in paris) that, in addition to selling lots of cute french kids' things, imports fabrics from india.
and then the liberty. it's cheaper here and tissus reine has a very large selection.
i swear i have a project in mind, just no sewing machine.
my photographer
when i uploaded the pics from tuscany onto my computer there were a few photos i didn't remember taking. i thought maybe i'd had too much chianti until i saw this one..
seriously?! i guess i did have too much chianti! here are some of her pics.
