Giveaway Winner!

Well, I remembered to bring our internet key to Turin, so I was able to go ahead and pick a winner for the giveaway...

And the winner is PASSION!! Here are the wonderful quotes she shared:

"I've loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." Galileo Galilei

"Nothing is inevitable. The future is not written in stone." Claire from the show Heroes

"I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him."Galileo Galilei

"I find your lack of faith disturbing."Good old Darth Vader

I love the Galielo and chuckled to myself when I read the Star Wars quote (Vader is a favourite of mine ;) Thank you to all the entrants for sharing your wonderful quotes, you've given me much food for thought and have enriched my days with such wonderful words :)

I'll be sending you an email Passion, congratulations!!

Can you help?

Do you like...
Decorating?
Crafting?
DIY-ing?
Revamping awesome second hand finds?

Do you love...
seeing other people's decor projects?
hunting for inspiring pictures of people's rooms and houses?
tutorials for creating great spaces on a budget?
your room/DIY/handmade furnishings so much you want to share them with me?

If so and you have ANY information, links, pictures that can help me with decorating and furnishing our new apartment, please pop over here and leave me a comment. It will be GREATLY appreciated :D

Incoming

There was a lovely little package sticking out of my mailbox this morning. Most of the non-letter post I get is either too fat or too stiff to slip into the mailbox so it ends up sticking out, into the street and I have to bare my tired looking face (and pj's usally) to the world to retrieve my mail, heh.

The package was delightful, a really thoughful swap parcel that I'm so grateful to receive! Have a look...

Everything was packed into this adorable little bag.

And here are all the bits, some journalling tags, some candy in a HK tin, a delightful selection of tea and a wonderful poem.

My partner even wrote her little note to me in this adorable card. It's definitely me :)

This was for the scavenger hunt swap, we listed 6 themes of items we'd like to receive and our partner picked 3 to send us. Mine were something cute, something wordy, something paper, something animal, something kitchen, something red and I got ALL OF THEM! The return address label even had a cat on it :) This has restored my faith in swappers, I really loved everything here and will be sure to share the poem with you all in another post. It's wonderful. Thank You Lisa! x

Outgoing

Dont forget tomorrow is the LAST DAY to enter the stationery giveaway!! I'll be collecting all the entries at 23:59 GMT+1 (or thereabouts) tomorrow evening, so if you're reading this and haven't entered, go have a look NOW ;D

Today was another empty mailbox day. But it's cool, it means I'm totally up to date with my replies. I just have a first letter request to complete.

Outgoing

A letter to Micaela. Have you seen her coffee date?

A letter to Patty.

A reply to Megan.

Letter for my Getting to Know you swap.

Some goodies for the "I heart suprises in my mailbox" swap. (3 envies, 2 notecards and some stickers and memo sheets as extras)

I am in London from the 3rd - 12th of August, so I won't have incoming or outgoing post to document. BOOO! :( But it means I get to ramble at you on various subjects... in between packing of course ;) Wishing you all good mail days!! xx

4 Letters

1 Package

1 AU

1 EU

3 NA

Don't Panic!

All went well and we have the keys to the new apartment :D However, we don't technically move in until the 1st of August, but I'm going to see about getting our names on the mailbox as soon as possible ;)

So, here is the long awaited new address

Maria Nagy

Via Monte Santo, 16

28100 Novara (NO)

Italia

BUT

Don't panic, we still have the keys to the Cameri apartment until the 29th of August, so if you've just sent something or haven't seen your sent mail on here yet, don't worry, I'll get it.

So, update your address books and start filling my new mailbox with love people ;)

Incoming

There was no post today (BOOO!!!!) but I did receive two swap packets yesterday. I won't post pictures, for a few reasons. I got some stationery from Brasil, some of which creeped me out a little and I'm not entirely sure how to use it. I also received my kawaii swap package.

I won't go into too much detail, for fear of sounding spoilt and ungrateful, but I was a little disappointed with the items I recieved... they were just not very good quality. I can deal with receiving items not to my taste, hell, I expect that every every so often, but it wasn't even that. It's left a bitter taste in my mouth and I'm loathed to participate in public package swaps for being flaked on or receiving substandard goods. People seem unreliable all of a sudden.

Trust me when I say that I don't swap to receive. That is exactly the reason why I try to send things I think my partners will like, enjoy and get use from. It's the first time I've received things that were poor (and I'm not talking about monetary value) and it stings a little.

Meh. What will be will be. As I said, I don't want to sound ungrateful (although I'm sure I will to many) but I will never use these things and they aren't things I'll feel comfortable in recycling for future swaps. Maybe I can post pics here and see if any of you would like them?? Let me know if you're interested.

As for outgoing, I've been working on letters and have another small stack awaiting a trip to the post box, but I shant do so until I can forward on my new address. We have a meeting at the Immobiliare (letting agents) in 3 hours, so as soon as a new address is agreed on and finalised I'll be posting it here (well, after aperitivo and some booze (; ).

Flip! I'm so excited to move you have no idea!!! A few people have expressed concern at mail getting lost, but HAVE NO FEAR we have the keys to this apartment until the end of August, so I shall be able to pick up any strays until then :)

Incoming

These beauties were found in my mailbox yesterday morning. I was super excited to receive not one, but TWO items. Two lovely gifts of postal happiness and I was a very good girl by not opening them straight away, but waiting until everything was done so I could sit down and enjoy them properly. Much love to the senders x

The adorable little letter was from Megan and was a joy to read :)

A package from Micaela, I worried about it reaching me to no end.

Fawns! How did she know I love fawns?

And the contents were darling, a really funky little ring that I wore yesterday (and that fit perfectly on my favourite finger to wear a ring), a quirky notebook with handwritten note inside and an absolutely beautiful vintage handkerchief. And of course, a wonderful letter, that was again, a real joy to read.

Thank you both for making my day :D

Yesterday I wrote two letters and will likely write one or two more today, but I shan’t post them until I have packed and sent a swap. Which should happen today or tomorrow.

I’m a little apprehensive about visiting my mailbox today… how could there possibly be any treasure awaiting me after yesterday’s haul?

Also, I should have some definite news about my address by tomorrow evening and shall update that with you all here.

Take Care my lovelies x

Incoming/Outgoing

I feel a little sick today. I’m hoping it’s just hunger and not actual sickness. Last night the bf’s parents took us out for dinner and I ate some lovely seafood and drank a little too much Sicilian wine, which of course, forced me to sleep in. Today will be a lazy one (I hope) reading up on Reggio and planning for our move, which will be nuts.

Anyway, onto the post….

Incoming

This little pretty came from Patty and arrived on Saturday morning. I was really excited because her return address had rubbed off from the front of the packet so it was a little mystery until I opened it. Thanks for the stationery Patty!!

Outgoing

I got pretty creative with sellotape on these envies because the stickers weren’t very sticky and the envies were a little waxy, so I didn’t want anything to fall off in transit. Overall I’m so happy with how they came out I’m sharing the front and back of each envie with you :)

This one is going to Caiti, hers was unsealed at the time of photographing it because I’d promised to send along a poem that I forgot to include last time. This time, I remembered ;)

A reply to Audrey in Malaysia

A reply to Zoe in the States

A reply to a first letter from Kendra

A reply to a first letter from Elle

A postcard reply to Maike in Germany, who sent me a cute penguin postie to cheer me up when I was having some bad mail days :D (this postie was handmade by a swap partner, i love it!)

And finally a card for my Mum to cheer her up seeing as she’s incapacitated at home with her badly broken arm :( I wanted to take a picture of the card because it’s gorgeous, beautiful paper with raw edges and pressed flowers, but silly me sealed the envie without snapping it :(

I’m going to drop these off at the post office later today, so the recipents should have their little envies within a week. I hope.

I’m going to go and check the mailbox now… even if it’s empty, today is a good mail day because these letters and envies I worked so hard on will start their journey to the hands of their deserving recipients :)

EDIT:// eeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!! I just checked the mailbox and today is a fantastic mail day! Will share tomorrow, I promise xx

5 letters

1 card

1 postcard

1 AS

2 EU

4 NA

Thank You (& stamps)

Firstly I wanted to say thank you for all the wonderful quotes you've all shared with me. I'm having a wonderful time reading them and think I may even dare to stain the pages of a new notebook to keep them all in... maybe. I'm getting quite excited about picking a winner ;)

On Friday I mentioned getting some stamps. Lovely, real, Italian stamps. I was so excited about this I decdied to photograph the pretties.

I know it may seem strange, but in this post office, they tend to use the printed stickers instead of stamps, but even when they do use stamps, I never get to tsee them because the staff stamp the letters and put them into a collection box for when the Pote Italiane van comes round to collect all the mail. So this is the first time I've gotten to see the stamps up close. I was delighted.

I sat on my doorstep and enjoyed every second of placing the stamps onto each letter. They definitely add the final touch to each envelope.

Now I just need to get off my bum and post them ;)

ps, next time I'm going to order them online. It caused WAY too much hassle and distressed looks from the post office staff and other customers in the queue to bother going through that again. Totally worth it for now, but I'm going to keep a low profile in the future ;)

Outgoing

Yesterday I made a trip to the dreaded post office to bulk buy some stamps and send a couple of swap bot packages.

It felt amazing to have real stamps in my hands again and know that my letters will get the postage they deserve (rather than those ridiculously ugly metered mail stickers). It also means I can avoid the mean post office lady who always complains about my letters... she's just jealous I think.

Anyway, I haven't posted my letters yet, but I'm going into town today so will likely post them from there, but I did post my two swaps, here they are, in all their glory. I really hope they get to their homes ok!

Outgoing

Goodies for a Hello Kitty Swap. There was also a little mobile

phone charm thingy that somehow managed to escape the photo :1

Contents: postcard, card, letter set, memo sheets, notebook, keyring, sticker,

sticky notepad, eraser, cotton candy with popping candy and lipstick

style candy thing. Oh and said mobile phone charm.

I had some fun with the envies too. The airmail design is my definite

favourite of all the ones I've created. It's going on EVERY big envie I

send these days :D

This is for a super kawaii swap. Including a card, a letter set, a sticker

sheet, some ribbon, that little envie contains around 30 sticker flakes,

a cute cookie man keyring, a HK eraser. I also popped in one of those

HK candy lipstick things, but again, it evaded the pic. How does this

happen?

I also sent whole bunch of memo sheets, because my partner's

profile stated she loved them. Lucky I spent a fortune in Artbox

during my last London trip eh? ;)

Again, my fun with the envie. :D

Apart from wanting these to get to their destinations for the obvious reasons, I also don't have the means to make up identical packages if they go missing. I'm sure I'm worrying over nothing... so far my mail from here has arrived without a problem. But I'm still paranoid. I suppose that won't disappear for a while...

It's Saturday morning and the bf is still dozing in bed. I want to check the mailbox but fear it's too early. We're off into town today to discover the San Martino shopping centre. I'm leaving my money at home ;)

Buon Weekend xx

2 Packages

1 EU

1 NA

Blog Award Time

The lovely Fabi tagged me for this award and the rules are that I tell you 10 facts about myself and pass it along. I'm no good at nominating people, so I nominate ALL the bloggers who follow this. I tag you all with this lovely award and challenge you to tell the world 10 facts about YOU :D

1. I am the youngest of 3 daughters, the eldest is 13 years older than me, the middle one is 10 years older than me. I am technically the product of irresponsibility and incorrect medical advice. My dad used to say I was their love child, but it took me many years to understand what that meant.
2. I have three tattoos. A star on my wrist, an Ankh on my inner left forearm and a fantastic gecko on my back. Each of them holds a special meaning for me and I don't regret any of them. Although I do wish I'd placed the ones on my arms in less conspicious places.
3. I have a fear of falling. I can't stand walking over grating or glass panels and I get really dizzy walking down 'new' stairs. Oh and escalators. I irrationally believe I'm going to fall through/down with every step. But I'm working on conquering that fear.... slowly but surely.
4. I used to have recurring nightmares that the Terminator was trying to kill me and my family. They would always end in my mum's house where I'd stupidly run into a bedroom with no way out. I would always wake up just as he got to the bedroom door.
5. I spent an amazing 3 weeks in Africa in 2008. We took a tour of Namibia and spent 3 days in Botswana. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life so far. I will never forget seeing the milky way in all it's glory like a belt across the sky, nor the 15 minutes we spent following a leopard through the bush in the cold mist of the morning. In fact there are a thousand different memories (and over 1,000 photos) I want to share with you... maybe another time?
6. When I was in my teens I was dead set against marriage, but wanted 4 children. Now I'm ok with the idea of marriage, but not sure if I want children anymore...
7. I am half Hungarian and am in love with Budapest. If you ever have the chance to go, please do. It's a beautiful, enchanting city. Unfortunately it's become much more 'mainstream' and western since the early 90's, but there are still wonders to be found. Especially the Christmas and Easter market in Vörösmarty tér. And the view from the top of Gellert hill is magnificent. Oh and go and have a soak in one of the many thermal baths. One day I will own a flat there and spent my weekends relaxing in the water from hot springs and eating too much sour cream on my stuffed cabbage, hehe
8. Just before I went into hospital many years ago a friend wrote to me and said that if the lit end of your cigarette becomes pointy, it means someone is thinking of you (...and that would be her), it's one of the myths that I still hold to my heart, even now. Sometimes I hope that it's her thinking of me. We lost touch some years ago... (And yes, I smoke :\)
9. I tend to have very deep, intense, but short lived friendships. I have lost so many friends along the way that it makes me terribly sad inside to think of them. I am determined not to lose anymore, so forgive me if I seem distant sometimes, it is because I am trying to stop our friendship from burning out too quickly.
10. My favourite alcoholic drink is Mead. If I get married I am taking a month off work and ordering several barrels of mead to keep the tradition of the honeymoon. A month of mead, that's my kind of holiday ;)

I hope you've enjoyed my little snippets. I'll really enjoy reading yours, so please, join in! :)

...

Ok, it looks like there won't be an outgoing mail post today :( BOOOO!!!!

I have to go back to Milano to pick up my translated degree, then we are going to Torino tonight to pick up one of the rent receipts because the idiot landlord is claiming we still owe him a month's rent which is complete rubbish.

Ugh.


So I have a bus, a wait, a train, a tram, another tram, another wait, another train, another bus then tidying up at home and getting some food together because we won't have time for dinner before we have a bus, a wait, a train, a walk to the flat, a walk back to the station, another wait, antoher train and finally a 20Euro taxi home. If we're lucky we'll make it home by 10:30, if not then it will be 11:30.

I'm not looking forward to this... :(

Also, my mum has been in hospital because she fell and badly broke her arm. I wanted to call yesterday but they kept her in for another night, so I'll have to make do with a phonecall from the train this evening. Assuming they let her go home. I hope we manage to get decent trains. With air conditioning, clean seats and empty carriages.

Wish me luck!

Incoming

On the one day that I actually have to leave the flat and not just to make the short trip to the supermarket either, it's raining like crazy. I have to cycle up to my bf's workplace to pick up some emails he's kindly printing for me (because we haven't moved all of our things yet) and I have to go into Milan in a few hours to go to my workplace and later meet with a sworn translator to get my degree translated.

So, I have a dirty, wet bike ride to look forward to, being splashed by cars and trucks alike, then after getting home, showering and drying off I have to go to Milan and spend time walking and waiting around in the rain. Such a pain!

Anyway, onto better and brighter things. I've had some lovely post days recently, but due to my terrible habit of letting my camera batteries die down to nothing, I haven't gotten round to showing you all. Here goes :)

Incoming

Artsy postcard swap, received on Saturday

A first and suprise letter from Kendra, received on Monday

Another first and suprise letter from Elle, received on Tuesday (ie yesterday)

I've spent an age replying to everyone and setting up swap packages, so tomorrow will be my posting day. I hope you're looking forward to seeing all the pretties (and hope I can pull my finger out and share the pics with you on time ;)

Giveaway!! :D

I promised to set up my giveaway when I got back to Italia and I’ve been here for long enough now that I’ve settled back in, unpacked everything and tidied up, so no excuses. It’s Monday and what better way to start the week than with a giveaway?

Here are the goodies you could win…

A selection of postcards (9 to be precise)

6 sheets of labels and stickers. 4 French inspired and 2 from the Dutch Door Press.

4 letter sets (made up of 1 envie and 2 sheets per set).

3 envies recycled from clothing factory waste fabric & 1 uber cute kawaii card & 1 Fabriano Milano map bookmark.

(Sorry for the poor quality pics… you can click to enlarge :)

Giveaway rules:

You must be a follower of this or my personal blog (because all of you matter to me) to enter.

To enter, leave a comment on this post telling me your favourite quote and credit appropriately (I've started to collect them :)

For an extra entry, blog about the giveaway and leave a comment here linking to your post

Please remember to leave a link to your blog or leave your email address so I can get in touch with you if you win.

The giveaway will end on Friday 30th July and the winning entry will be picked on Saturday 31st of July. Remember I’m in Italy, so my time zone is GMT+1.

This is international, so everyone is welcome :D

Outgoing/Incoming

I hastily posted some letters yesterday morning as I bought some more Euros and topped up my oyster card before going to the Airport. I did take pictures of them, but ok my mum's camera as mine was packed and I ran out of time and didn't manage to upload them. Which is typical, because my flight was delayed by two hours, so I needn't have rushed :/ I'll have to get my mum or someone to forward them to me at a later date... Instead, here's a boring list of what I posted: A reply to Muriah in Canada, a reply to Candi in Australia and a suprise letter to someone in Italy. I also posted mundane things, a letter of great importance to the student loans company, my mum's credit card payment and I returned by very last love film disc

Incoming

Letters from Zoe and Caiti

A lovely postcard and letter from Audrey

And 3 swap items... just draw, a stationery swap and the taboo subject letter

I've also been flying high because I spend a little too much money on stationery while in London.
You probably don't remember, but when I compiled this stationery wishlist, I said the next time I was in London I would treat myself to this notebook. Well, when I was faced with it, I had to decide whether I would rather have the London book or the Someday Diary by design doma. In the end I went with the someday diary and I'm writing a little in it every day to keep track of my first year in Italy. It's a splendid little book full of dreamy photos to keep me happy and inspired. Or happily inspired ;)

I hope that you all have wonderful things planned for your weekends. I'm going to Turin, where the forecast is said to be somewhat cooler than the 36 degrees expected for Milan tomorrow. This heat is really getting to me :(

Buon weekend ragazzi!

3 Letters

1NA

1 AU

Getting to know you swap

I've been lucky enough to have been made an officer for the Kawaii Europe group on Swap-Bot.

To celebrate I'm hosting my very first swap which is a getting to know you introduction letter type swap for the group members. If you're based in Europe, love kawaii, love swaps and love letters, please stop by to join the group and the swap :)

For any members of the group stopping by, feel free to post any questions or comments here, you can also email me or leave your questions on the swap page.

Happy Swapping!

Outgoing

Well, I'm posting on time for a change ;)

Outgoing

Two cards for an 'Artsy Postcard Swap'

3 packages, all for swaps, two for stationery swaps and one for a scavenger hunt swap.

The Scavenger hunt swap detail

All the little bits. Something ephemera, something travel inspired and something I think she'd like :)

2 Postcards

3 Packages

1 EU

3 NA

1 SA