Virtual Coffee {35}

Hello dear friends, and welcome to coffee! Today I’ll be having a green tea as I’m on one of my “it’s spring, time to detox” kicks, which, much like the weather is a fickle friend but I’m enjoying it while it lasts.

I have a love/hate relationship with spring. The weather drives me nuts, whenever I leave the house I look like I’m off on a trip as I’m usually carrying at least two jackets and a sweater per person, you just never know how it’s going to change from one minute to the next (just this morning it was hot and humid then chilly with some wind, then overcast, then sunny and now it looks like rain).

My vegetable garden makes sad eyes at me whenever I look out the kitchen window, probably wondering when I’m going to start fertilizing and planting and what not, but the likelihood of at least one more snowstorm is holding me off for now.

And the pollen, I swear the pollen is trying to kill me. The one thing I truly, sorely miss about living in a big, polluted city is not having any allergies as green areas are kept at a minimum in Milan.

Of course, I also love the colors, and the pretty pink flowers blooming on all the trees on my street, and alternating my dark and dreary wool sweaters with my bright and happy cotton ones, and the smell of renewal and possibility in the air that just says spring to me.

Pretty flowers, also, five minutes before taking this picture it was sunny. Crappy spring weather!!

I’m also in full spring-cleaning mode, part of the reason is that my live-in housekeeper/nanny is enjoying her hard earned holidays back home with her family. I thought this month and a half without her would be pure hell, but I actually enjoy having full rein of my house again. Sure, we’ve had many an organizational bleep as I’m used to having someone trustworthy to watch the kids whenever I need it, but apart from that it’s been easier than expected.

In fact, I’d been trying to talk her into using more “environmentally friendly” cleaning products, mostly because I’m extremely sensitive to chemical smells and most traditional cleaning products make me nauseous (I’m not exaggerating, also, it’s a great excuse to have a housekeeper!). Of course, she refuses saying that vinegar and water just don’t get the job done. I was on the fence because, well, as she does most of the cleaning I’m not going to get into an argument with her over it (I swear, it’s like I’m living with my mother!) also, I didn’t have enough experience cleaning over a long period of time with homemade products to judge. So I went out and bought some cute, colorful spray bottles and have set them up in the two main bathrooms we use and the kitchen. Well, you know what? Vinegar and water kicks ass. Seriously. Also, the kids can play with it with no adverse effects. In fact, yesterday they cleaned the windows and they thought they were playing. How awesome is that!!

These spray bottles just make me happy. 

I’ve been experimenting with essential oils to cut down the vinegar smell, because the husband complained that the kids smelled like salad the other day, so I’ve been using varying combinations of rosemary, eucalyptus, tea tree, lavender, sweet orange and rosewood essential oils to find the perfect smell and as a bonus the first three essential oils are also anti-bacterial.

Ok, after this little green propaganda moment I’m off to clean the bathrooms, and I’m surprisingly excited about it!

Don’t forget to go visit our hostess Amy for coffee too, please!