I had such a great weekend.
Friday night one of my relatives was on TLC’s What Not to Wear (no, she was NOT the nominee), so my SIL had a big party at her house where a bunch of us watched it and drank wine and ate munchies.
Saturday was low key, had some friends over, watched Caprica on Hulu.
Sunday my friend had an oscar party for the ladies including champagne and munchies.
I think we all have spring fever here and are getting the energy to get out and socialize that springtime brings.

I took a trip to the thrift store despite my not a cent in lent challenge. I tried on shoes, blouses, jeans, skirts, dresses, but didn’t buy anything except some more art supplies, which I decided awhile ago, are an investment and are exempt from the challenge. The last time I tried to sell some, someone bought all six pieces, so now time to replenish my stock, so to speak.

Although I love doing a dual post with A this week, I honestly don’t like any of the looks I am coming up with. I am not happy with the tight restriction in my clothing and think I may have chosen the wrong pieces to create a chic look. It’s a good lesson for me. I’m sure A. will do better …
PS This picture was taken of Sunday’s outfit … not part of the dual closet posts …

 

Menu:
Breakfast: bowl of whole milk plain yogurt with homemade granola; banana; cafe au lait
Lunch: leftover green salad from last night with added chunks of ham and cheese, pepperoncini

 

 

 

 

 

 Dinner: roast chicken with potatoes, carrots, onions; wine

 

 

 

Film

We finished the last episode in the HBO series Rome this week. Netflix has made the winter go so much faster. Looking forward to watching the Battlestar Galactica programs and then the Rome series has been so much fun . … what next? Dexter? I’m not sure.

I also watched “In Bruges” last night.

Tonight my other bookclub meets, which is always a good time. This bookclub is also reading (on my suggestion) Sarah’s Key, which my other bookclub read last month.

 This outfit goes in my DIDN’T WORK folder … you can tell by my smile/grimace that I am not happy with this look … oh well. That’s the beauty of having this blog and taking photos of what I wear, clarity!

Menu:
Breakfast: bowl of plain, whole milk yogurt with homemade granola; banana; cafe au lait
Lunch: peanut butter, apricot jam and banana sandwich; tortilla chips
Dinner: Leftover spaghetti; salad; wine

Menu:
Breakfast: vanilla whole milk yogurt with homemade granola and raisins; cafe au lait
Snack: baby carrots
Lunch: turkey and hot pepper jack cheese with pepperoncini and dijon sandwich
Dinner: Taco Tuesday; wine

French Love

I can’t say for sure, but I suspect my fascination with France and Europe stemmed from reading books about life overseas when I was a child. The books on the left and right were mine as a child.  They may honestly be the only things I still have from my childhood, along with a few pre-teen books I saved. I’m a minimalist and don’t hold onto very many things but these two books made the cut.

The first This is Paris was a gift from my mother’s friend when I was a baby. She had just been to Paris and wrote on the inside that she hoped I could visit there someday (which I have been blessed to be able to do). The one on the right, I’m less certain of the orgins, but if you flip it over, it has Grimm’s fairy tales on the other side (remember those types of books anyone?) The one in the  middle was one I picked up at a thrift store for my own children, hoping to spark their love for Europe.

 

I was experimenting with my tripod today. It worked ok, but after a few tries, the flash wouldn’t work, but I managed to get one photo I like.  Tine talked about how my pose yesterday made me seem more confident, so I am practicing that one again!

Menu:
Breakfast: Two slices homemade bread toasted with butter; cafe au lait
Lunch: leftover salad with three strips of leftover chicken; one italian sausage sliced; one biscotti
Dinner: scrambled eggs, toast; wine

Reminder: Anyone else with style questions please email them to me at: mammaitaliana23@gmail.com  Please don’t be shy. I have already received some great questions and welcome some more before my post on Saturday. Thanks again. You will remain anonymous (in case anyone cares!)

Also, my Not a Cent in Lent program is going great, but today for some reason I just wanted to rush out and spend money on summer sandals! It must be the scorching 40 degree weather we are having. Spring fever has hit me!

 

Menu:
Breakfast: Two biscotti; four strips of leftover chicken from last night: cafe au lait
Lunch: snacky Sunday lunch at MIL’s house as usual: pepper jack cheese melted on a raisin bagel; salami slices
Dinner: pasta with marina sauce and Italian Sausage links; braised carrots; green salad with homemade viniagrette; fresh bread with butter; wine

My overcoat. I mentioned a while back that I have to wait a year or two to replace my Calvin Klein coat. I made the mistake (please don’t do the same thing) of loving the coat — its super soft fur cuffs and collar, it’s excellent, excellent superior wool — but buying it in the WRONG size because it was on sale. So much better to have waited and bought a coat in my own size. This is a size 10 and just overwhelms me, I think.

Menu:
Breakfast: dish whole milk plain yogurt with homemade granola; cafe au lait
Lunch: My usual snacky lunch at MIL house after mass. Today I had tortilla chips with cucumber dip; salami slices with wheat thins; Cheez itz (or however you spell them!)
Dinner: pasta with red sauce; roasted asparagus; green salad; fresh bread with butter; wine

NOT A CENT IN LENT UPDATE

I have done well so far, but there were two items that I still question whether I broke my own rules.

The first is when I bought some art supplies: I bought new spray paint and glue sticks, spending less than $5. I have sold every one of my small art pieces on line and need to put some more out there, so I’m not sure if this counts as a necessity or not. To me, it was an investment and a way to make more money because they are selling like hotcakes, but maybe I’m just justifying it.

Then this weekend I took my two children to McDonalds. I didn’t eat anything because of my not a cent in lent, (and because I think it is crap food) but didn’t realize that even taking them to eat out would be breaking my own rules.

My children had done really great in school last week in a number of areas, so this was a treat for them. They have had McDonald’s no more than 6 times in their lives. I hate it, but I also don’t want them to freak out when they are older and want to eat there all the time because they were never exposed to it.

 The good  news (?) is that it gave my older child a stomach and I think we may never be tempted to go back. She said she only wanted the happy meal toy anyway, so I said next time we’ll just go to Target and she can pick out a toy and skip the food.

Menu:
Breakfast: dish of whole milk plain yogurt with homemade granola; cafe au lait
Lunch: banana and peanut butter sandwich; leek with olive oil and lemon juice; small dish with marshmallows and raisins (don’t ask)
Dinner: chicken breasts with molasses marinade; roasted rosemary potatoes; green salad; wine

Today we had a lazy Saturday. The most exertion I did was taking the kids to swim lessons, but spent most of my day working on freelance writing assignments on the computer. If it weren’t for the swim lessons, I may have stayed in pajamas all day!

 

MENU:
Breakfast: banana, cafe au lait
Lunch: Two giant leeks with olive oil, lemon juice, salt pepper, brocolli with a cream sauce
Dinner: grilled cheese sandwich and red pepper soup

 Last night I began watching season 2 of HBO’s Rome. It is a good series, but  not as good as Battlestar Galactica. This weekend should be pretty mellow and I’m looking forward to reading and relaxing.

Reminder: I am still looking for people to participate in my Chic Readers posting next week. Please let me know if you would like to participate. I am looking for pictures of you and possibly will ask you a few questions about your style. Thanks so much.

 

The Gospel According to Coco Chanel by Karen Karbo    — Very cute book. I cherry picked it however. I’m not big into the history of France or Chanel’s personal history. I just wanted to glean some style tips from it, so I skipped the historical parts. Oh well.

Your Carriage Madam by Janet Lane — got this out-of-print book from the library on recommendation of Marsi. I’m only a few pages into it, but love it so far. I’m already improving my posture.

Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann — This is actually the current book I’m reading (along with Your Carriage Madam). It reminds me of Tana French’s Likeness is an odd way as it deals with inclusive groups of friends viewed by outsiders.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness – I saw this book on The Evening Reader’s blog and ordered it from the library.

Franny & Zoey by J.D. Salinger — Of course like people across the world I now want to re-read this.

The Nautical Chart by Arturo Perez-Reverte — I adore this author and snatched this up at the thrift store.

Reading Lolita in Tehran — another thrift store buy I will wait to read.

Brava Valentine  by Adriana Trigiani — I am trying very hard to wait to read this until my bookclub does.

Leone’s Italian Cookbook — my Italian father sent to this me as a surprise gift in the mail. (it’s off to the side)

UPDATE:

The Human Stain by Philip Roth — Some of you might have seen this book in my last posting. I returned it to the library without reading it. I do that sometimes when a book doesn’t immediately grab me and I happen to have a big fat stack of good books to read.