Archive | home sweet home

Advent calendars

December 13, 2012 at 3:18 pm

Eden and David, two of Elliott’s siblings, have given us not one but two Advent calendars this season. They are both unique and so beautiful, and they really have made this season all the more special each day. As the chapel services on base do not discuss Advent besides lighting the Advent wreath each Sunday, this is a way to incorporate the anticipation and joy of the season into our everyday lives at home.

David sent us this Advent calendar, which he purchased from JohnsonMade on Etsy. I hung the calendar with the help of 5 carefully spaced nails on our kitchen wall as well as red ribbon and clothespins. I love the artwork on each card and the verses and activity suggestions on the back.

Eden knows her brother loves birds, and so her choice of Advent calendar is especially sweet for Elliott. Every day we help Lena open one of the little windows in the calendar and pull out the tiny paper bird inside. Then we help her choose a spot on the tree to place it. Bit by bit, the tree is filling up with a flock of many colored birds. I wonder what’s hiding in the big window for the 25th?

Do you have an Advent calendar, either new to you or filled with family tradition?

My favorite DIY Advent calendar idea this year is from paper{whites}. Her calendar has 25 pockets that she filled with tiny ornaments; each day her little daughter takes out an ornament and puts it on her very own miniature tree!

6 :: in holidays, home sweet home, links I love

why Italian kitchens make me happy

November 6, 2012 at 3:09 pm

my wonderful Italian drying rack

Let me just start by saying that, despite the incredible food they produce, Italian kitchens are not known for being beautiful, necessarily, or even particularly user-friendly. Oftentimes kitchens here in Sicily will be outfitted with small, shallow sinks (a pet peeve of my husband’s) and very little counter space.

However.

Italian kitchens have at least one design feature going for them that I have never seen elsewhere. It’s called the drying rack over the sink. It looks just like a regular kitchen cabinet, but when you open the cupboard doors, you see a beautifully hidden away set of drying racks for your dishes. No dishes strewn all over counters on dish towels, no unsightly dish racks on the draining board, no pots left in the sink to dry. It’s pure genius! Thus far there has been an over-sink drying rack in every kitchen I’ve seen in Italy, even in tiny cottages in the Dolomites.

But I’ve never seen this feature in any other kitchen in the world. Why? Do you have any theories? My personal theory as to why this hasn’t caught on in the States is:

a) dishwashing machines exist there and

b) every American kitchen is designed with a window over the sink.

But why a window over the sink? Do you ever look out the window while you’re washing dishes?

(See some more photos of our kitchen here and here.)

21 :: in home sweet home, Italy

it’s the little things

November 2, 2012 at 11:47 am

In theory I like to stop and savor the little things of life that make it sweet, such as Lena’s glee when I pick her up out of her crib, Siena’s faithful shadow, having just one baby for a little while longer, or waking up beside Elliott each day (something a military wife learns to never take for granted).However, in the hustle and bustle of life lately, I’ve taken fewer photos and often forget that we live in Italy, for crying out loud. (One reader pointed that out recently… to my conviction!) This week I tried to capture some things that have made our lives sweet recently. Here are a few glimpses into life in our home:

in the phone booth in town, I love that she’s talking with her hands!

& morning light in the neighborhood

main square

& view of our town and Mt Etna, the largest volcano in Europe

running down the hill into the main piazza

& a visit to the little general store where I picked up some of my favorite tortellini for lunch

a pit stop for a drink on a walk

& stairs from the valley leading up to our house on the edge of the cliff… a long walk with a baby on your hip!

Daddy’s cowboy hat

& a mailbox in our neighborhood

dazzling morning light

& looking out over our town

our first trip to Centro Sicilia mall… which is all of 10 minutes from our house

making the switch to greener kitchen products

my little girl

where did those neighborhood kittens go?
& well, there’s one of them

bella principessa before church on Sunday
& bike on a balcony

Today I’m linking up with Hello Hue and InstaFriday.

27 :: in home sweet home, Italy, Lena, life lately, Sicily

flow chart for cleaning

October 12, 2012 at 1:00 pm

How great is this chat? I found it on Pinterest when I was looking for printables for my Home Management Binder (blog post coming soon) and feel like I need to tape it on my fridge as soon as I get back to Sicily. I’m sure the whole house cleaning process as outlined here would take me ~~several hours~~ the whole day, but having it streamlined like this would help me move quickly from task to task.

Since moving to Sicily and having a child, the house cleaning and home management tasks have mostly settled on my shoulders, and I’m always eager for advice as I learn this “art of homemaking.” (I would have laughed at that expression before, but now I am convinced it is an art… and I don’t know how to be artistic yet!)

I’d love to hear your favorite house cleaning or home management tip. What do you do to keep a quiet, clean home?

12 :: in Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom Series, home sweet home, links I love