Places I {heart} in the world: #Positano

I simply LOVE travelling and if I could, I would be always on the road!

My dad taught me the beauty of discovering new places and mingling with new cultures and I am very thankful to him for all the amazing trips he organised fot the family to enjoy. I have travelled a lot with my parents, I wish I could still travel that much now!

This rubrica of the blog is dedicated to the places in the world I truly love.

First on the list is what I call my *happy place in the world*. I am going to be jingoistic here but I have to start with a place in Italy: Positano.



The first time I went to Positano I was 24 and had just graduated. My friend Ilaria and I organised a trip there to celebrate both my birthday and the end of univ and had an amazing time! I knew I had to come back at some point with the love of my life! Positano is probably the most romantic place I have ever been (yes, even more romantic than Venice! And definitely more romantic than Paris!) so I knew that I had to take Mr. Right there...So WE did go two years ago and Positano became *Rob's happy place in the world* too!

If you have never been, here are some useful ideas and tips:

1. make sure the hotel you book is as close as possible to the sea. You will have to do a lot of "climbing" anyway but it is much better if your hotel is not on top of the hill! Rob and I stayed at a small, family-run, hotel that I would totally recommend. Check it out: http://www.bougainville.it/ It is in the heart of Positano and very close to the beach! The staff is super friendly and breakfast just delicious!


2. make sure you know how "tricky" it is to drive alongside the Amalfi Coast. We used my little Fiat Panda to go there and I would recommend you'd use the smallest car you have/can. Travel safe: the roads are VERY narrow! But if you are not driving, have a look around and soak yourself in the beauty of the view in front of you! It is simply divine!


3. all the restaurants in Positano serve amazing food. No particular recommendations here. But make sure you have seafood pasta, babba' and limoncello! For an after-dinner treat, I would suggest music on the rocks


4. visit Capri: a fascinating island right in front of Positano. Several boats connect the two during the day. Once in Capri, be adventurous and do explore the island on foot. Rob and I "circumnavigated" the island and it was the best experience ever! You don't get a more breathtaking view than that! Also, make sure you have an espresso in the so famous piazzetta!
   





5. visit Pompei, the amazing Roman city, a close (but not easy!) drive from Positano. And if you don't want to drive, you can take the train from Sorrento (hop on a regular bus from Positano to Sorrento and then take the train to Pompei). Don't expect a big organisation in the archaeological site, don't forget we are in Italy!, but do walk around the town and enjoy every little bit of it: from the magnificent view of Mount Vesuvius to the thousands of mosaics and wall-plasters. It really is an amazing and unique experience!! Be prepared to walk a lot under a burning sun!! And since you are there, go visit the smaller Herculaneum, a real gem!!

Oh, just writing about it makes me want to go...let's see, when could I go!?

Alter Ego

Pictures of this cool model (on the left, of course!) have been populating many blogls for weeks...so I have been talking about her with my friends, and how much I love her haircut, colour of hair, glasses, style...until one of my girlfriends told me that the reason why I love this model so much is that probably I see myself in her!?

I guess there is a slight resemblance...she is a model though!! And look how silly I look in this picture!!!

All the coins in the house

Now, I am sure most of you can understand what I am going to talk about...

Rob and I, particularly Rob, have a sort of aversion to coins...they are dirty, super heavy and they make my LV purse too bulky! Result of this: our flat is FULL of jars of unused coins!

Perhaps it was because the credit crunch is hitting us or maybe because it was about time to clean the shelves, we spent the early hours of the afternoon filling little plastic bags with coins. We were incredibly surprised to realise how much money those little coins actually meant!

I will be going to the bank tomorrow morning and then pass by the little Paul Smith shop right next to it...I now have the money to buy those gorgeous sneakers :)

valeasc express

So, I finally got the chance to thank Rob for all his gifts for Valentine's Day. Yesterday evening I organised a quite special night-in and made a rather yummy dinner! Now, since I worked all morning and had to run several errands in the afternoon, I did not have much time to spend for the organisation of a grand dinner...Panic not, Nigella Express is one of the books on my kitchen shelf! I started cooking at 20:15 and everything was ready by 21:00!
Here is the menu:
Appetisers:
-bruschetta with tomatoes
-bruschetta with avocado and lime
+prosecco
Main course:
-gammon steak with vinegar and parsley sauce
+ Chianti
Sides:
-peas and mint
-baby potatoes with chorizo
-brown basmati, red camargue and wild rice with lemon juice and olive oil
Dessert:
-bowl of diced oranges and wallnuts

If you need a quick and easy to make menu to impress your guests, I would totally reccommend this one!!

My thank-you project went on this morning with a delicious brunch (it was supposed to be breakfast but we got up sooo late! It worked out well though, no lunch to cook :)):
-pancakes and blueberry syrup (instructions: put the syrup and fresh blueberries into a pan and bring to boil. Let bubble for 2-3 mins and then pour into a jug. Ready to serve!) - Another great Nigella's idea!

Can we still vote? Are the lines still open?

Just to say that I disagreed with almost all the choices made yesterday at the Brit Awards from the hosts to the awards. Did you watch it? Did you like it? I could not believe Coldplay went home with nothing!!
Great opening though..first time I saw Bono without glasses..and eyeshadow :)

Project #1

So my first project, in trying to "reinvent" myself, was to make a scarf. I had so much fun that I ended up making two (so far!). The black is for Ilaria and the white is for me.

Do you like them?

Khaled vs Hosseini

I read both books by Khaled Hosseini, one in Italian and the other in English. Last summer I read "The kite runner" (in Italian "Il cacciatore di aquiloni) and I have recently finished "A thousand splendid suns". I am now trying to decide which one I liked the best. They are both very well written books and both stories are quite intense and engaging...

Perhaps because I am a woman, or maybe because in its tragedy, the sentiment of hope seems stronger than that of desperation, I think that the palm of victory will go to "A thousand splendid suns".

Have you read them both? Did you like them both? Which one is your favourite?

Everybody's changing

So, Rob and I went to see Keane a couple of days ago and after the first song I started questioning whether we were at the right concert or not?

Have you seen them recently? This is the third time we see them in four years, three albums=three concerts, and I can say that apart from the skinny black jeans that are still a must, the band looks, and sounds, nothing like what I remembered..and not in a good way! Ok, he did not have his voice (or was it just an excuse!?), but what about the terrible techno rythm? And in all honesty, I don't think the rest of the crowd appreciated their new style either...next time I'll buy tickets for their concert, if there will be a next time, I'll make sure I am completely happy with their new album...which means I will listen to it more deeply!

I HOPE this was just an isolated incident, but I FEAR it's just the beginning of the end...

The Day After

So, Valentine's Day is over...did you have a nice time?
I was at a conference all day friday and all day saturday, lucky me! Thankfully, Rob is so special! He took care of everything; went to Borough market and bought so many delicious things to have for dinner, from appetisers to dessert!
He also got me amazing roses (see pic- the card with the two birds is the one I picked for Rob, another wonderful Caroline Gardner's work of art!) and 5 gifts; he gave me the gifts one at the time and it was really exciting to see what was next...In order as I received them:
1) Miu Miu alphabet brooch
2) Chanel blue satin nail colour
3) 4 Clinique facial products
4) Nigella Express
5) Diorissimo perfume
Pretty nice gifts, ah?

And what did you do? Did you go out or did you stay in?

**I bought the door hanger at a car-boot sale in Durham (North England) for 0.50 pence!! Can you believe it!??**

Simple Things

This is the first simple, little thing I am going to post about things I make at last minute decision!

My wonderful friends, Federica and Lorenzo, were coming to visit us and I wanted to have fresh flowers on the kitchen table to welcome them. I usually buy a rather big bunch of flowers and put them into an amazing old, ceramic, blue and white jug; this time, however, once at the flower shop I fell in love with just four little pink and lillac flowers which I thought were beautiful if kept simple. The trouble is: I don't have a nice, thin vase. So, I decided to quickly "decorate" a glass, tomato sauce jar, with a blue doily wrapped around the neck of the jar with a string. This is how it came out: very simple but lovely, I think.

Do you like it?

Etsy shop!

Here I am!
I spent the whole evening listing my first three items on etsy and it was sooooo exciting! I finally have my so desired etsy shop!
Go have a look, if you like:

my etsy shop
or search via my username: valeasc (of course!)
And please don't forget to let me know what you think about my first creations :)

** Special Thanks to the team at colors grafica (http://www.colorsgrafica.com/) that designed my logo and banner**

Ladies and gents

Hi everyone!

After reading so many blogs and becoming blog-obsessed, I decided it was about time to start my own and join the blogsphere! This is just an announcement; so please visit me in the days ahead and share thoughts, ideas and projects with me.

This blog aims to give a space to the creative side of me that is otherwise trapped in, and suffocated by, the daily life and work...

Apologies for my Italian friends but this blog is going to be in English. And many apologies for the English speakers but this blog is inevitably going to have many mistakes :)

See you soon!!