Virtual Coffee {20}

Hello dear friends, and welcome to coffee!

If we were really having coffee today, I would show you these carrots I bought at the “new” organic store (I’m using quotes because it’s been open over a year already, but is still considered new around here, it’ll stop being new in about ten years or so, that’s when people here consider a business to be “established”).

For some reason dirty, earthy carrots always seem healthier to me now, like they were just picked this morning… Although when I first moved here and saw this I was shocked that they didn’t wash them before presenting them to the public, it’s a wonder how we change over time, isn’t it?!

I would tell you that I’m beyond thrilled that all our furniture for the beach house arrived last Friday and while the husband spent the day supervising the very capable ikea personnel assembling said furniture I spent the day on beach recon. I know, tough job and all that.

Of course there’s the minor glitch that we have no windows and doors, and (of course) that not all the furniture actually got assembled but we’ve decided to just be happy for the good and completely ignore the annoying.

In any case, we’re going down to the beach with the kids tomorrow, to show them the house and take them for their first dip in the sea this year (yeah, I know, what have we been doing all summer?!) and to start taking some stuff down there. I had never realized how much crap one needs in a new house, I’ve got a list, it gets longer everyday… sheets, towels, pots, pans, plates, cutlery, glasses, toilet paper, cleaning products, vacuum cleaner… seriously it never ends. I don’t think we’ll be done lugging stuff down there for a good long while, but I’m soooo not complaining!

I’d also tell you that we managed to organize a little week vacation and are going to Sardinia next Saturday, we’ll be back just in time for preschool to start. I realize that most of you are already firmly back in the school routine, but hopefully you’ll enjoy a little vicarious vacation through me in the next couple of weeks.

I just realized this post is all over the place what with the carrots and all so I figured one more tangent couldn’t hurt… Here’s a picture of my kids that totally captures their personalities: Sassy and Sweet, guess who's who!

So now tell me, how’s the summer winding down for you? Are you excited for the beginning of the school year?

And then go and visit our hostess Amy! Toodles.

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Surviving Ikea and Beach Reno part 2

view from my room

Last Wednesday the Husband and I went to Ikea to order all the furniture for the beach house and to finally put an end to the drawn-out discussions on the merits of one sofa bed over another, one type of chair over an other and on and on, but what in fact happened was us almost putting an end to our marriage.

This is nothing new, every single couple I know fights when in Ikea for some reason or another, it’s the curse of Ikea. But what normally is nothing more than a spat that resolves itself in the walk from couches to dining room sets turned into a blown out of all proportion bonanza of passive aggressiveness not seen since the wedding planning days, due to the fact that we were in Ikea for eight straight hours. Yes, eight hours. We had both lunch and dinner there. It’s a miracle we didn’t get divorced. It’s actually an even greater miracle that we chose, ordered and paid for all of the furniture for a three bedroom apartment, kitchen and closets included (as houses in Italy come with none of these things, plus we’re renovating so the point is moot anyway).

Anyway, the apartment will look AMAZING, if I do say so myself… if cheaply furnished. When we saw the total amount we spent we almost clapped our hands in glee. I mean, it’s not like they were giving furniture away for free or anything, but compared to what one usually spends here to furnish a house… let me just say that we spent less than we would have to outfit just a regular-sized kitchen in a normal store, so you can understand the glee, right?

Anyway, Thursday we went to check on the progress on the apartment and were thrilled to see that the floors were practically completely laid, the kitchen backsplash was up, the walls were whitewashed and the bathroom floors and tiles were almost done. So “YAY!” was our initial reaction, thinking of our basically certain two week vacation at the end of august in our new house. HA! What’s that they say about chanting victory before the battles done? But first, here are some pics:

Entrance as seen from inside the house. Not grand but all our own!

just wanted you to see the cute little sign they have to put on construction sites.

Living room side - see the floors?! Yes, that's my tush in the background.

Kitchen side! the backsplash has a few decorated tiles, but you can't tell from this angle, will take a better shot next time.

hallway leading to bedrooms and bathrooms

pink bathroom! 

green bathroom! (not yet fully tiled when this photo was taken, but all done now!)

So, as we gleefully plan the last jobs that need doing, the plumber coming in to put a few vital things in (like toilets), the electrician finishing up, what color we wanted to paint the walls and such, we ask when the windows and doors would be arriving. Windows and doors we ordered the first week of July. Windows and doors that, we were assured, would take no longer than forty days to arrive.

please note the lack of a window.
 also note the husband looking pensive to the side - he's been complaining of being heavily under-featured on here.

The second week of September was the answer we got. The apartment resonated with the sound of our jaws dropping to the ground. 

So there go our hopes of relaxing at the beach before school starts. And the worst part, it’s all our own stupid fault. We know how construction works in Italy, we’ve done this before. They never, ever, never, ever, ever deliver on their promises, if they tell you the house will be ready by mid August count on at least an extra month cause something is bound to go wrong.

At times like these I hate Italy and stupid Italian workers who won’t let me go on vacation. Stupid. And mean. 

view from guest bedroom, not great, but I really like that tree.

Virtual Coffee {16}

Hello friends and welcome to coffee.

I am so late today it’s actually more like an afternoon snack! The day just got away from me, nothing exciting happened, just errands, grocery shopping and a stupid work appointment after lunch (as you may be able to tell, I’m still not totally down with this whole working again thing).

I’ve been in a fog all day, my allergies are driving me bananas.  And the heat… unbearable! 

I’m totally dreaming of the beach lately, can’t wait for the apartment to be ready. If you’re interested I posted some pictures from the renovation yesterday, I will probably try to make it a weekly thing now since it’s all coming together at this point. I have that feeling when time dilates and contracts continuously so I’m impatient for everything to be done and the house to be ready but at the same time I feel like I’m constantly doing stuff, getting calls from the workers and going down there to check on the progress, thank goodness it’s not far!

I’ve been reading loads of posts on summer vacation lately and how family routines and dynamics have changed to adjust and I’m a little bit envious as we don’t have that school year / summer vacation cadence yet. My whippersnappers are too little and their daycare is open all year so our routine is unvaried (except for the oppressive heat).

On the one hand it gives me more freedom now, but I must admit that I’m looking forward to a time of summer lists and new adventures.

I can’t seem to lift this humidity induced fog from my brain so I’m off in search of… something… possibly my garden hose, to cool off… or this:

This is what the kids do every afternoon.

And then I’m off to visit Amy and all my other coffee buddies. Toodles!

Beach Reno [part 1]

Remember that apartment I’ve been blabbing about renovating lately? Well, since apparently the renovations are of interest to you, dear bloggy friends, I figured I’d get my act together and start writing some of those reno posts I’ve been promising.

The apartment belonged to the husband’s grandfather who bought it in the late sixties, and it’s where the husband spent most of his childhood summers so it's near and dear to his heart. Though in great condition, the apartment hadn’t been touched since the 1970’s and wasn’t in tip-top shape any longer, so when my husband got it we decided to spruce it up a bit.

If any of you have had the pleasure of “just sprucing it up a bit” you know that what starts out with “oh, let’s modernize the bathroom and kitchen a little” turns into this:

yikes! look at that mess!

 At this point we’ve torn down everything that needed tearing down and we’ve put up all the walls that needed putting up. We’ve also torn up all the floors and removed all the old plumbing and electrical system. We’ve put in all the new tubing for the plumbing and the plumber should be done on Monday or Tuesday, then the electrician’s coming in. 
Why the two couldn’t work side by side, or even at opposite ends of the house but during the same time frame is a mystery far greater than my understanding and one of those things that needs to be chalked up simply to “Italian workers” and left at that.

Next they’re pouring cement over everything for the floor’s foundation and then we start a forty-day lent-like period in which little work gets done so that the foundation dries properly. (Another of those Italian construction mysteries better left alone).

Since this is the first post on the subject I’ll give you some background info.

This is the after floor plan with my notes on the before part as I can’t seem to find the before floor plan:

And some pictures for your amusement: 

The kitchen's going along that wall

This is the new wall between the day area and the guest room (otherwise known as the other side of the living room)

That empty space between the concrete and the wall? That's how much floor we tore up. It's getting filled with cement next week and once that dries we get to put our floor in.

Pipes running along the corridor in front of the guest room

more pipes

Thursday we’re going to Ikea and picking out the definitive kitchen, so guess what I’ll be posting about next?

Hope this has been to your liking, let me know if there’s anything you’d like to know more about. Sorry about the distinct lack of hot workmen pictures but we drew the short straw this time. Next reno I do, I promise I’ll do a much more accurate casting of our construction workers.