It's all about traffic

Hellooo,

THE most painful time of my day is for sure coming home from work.

You might think that I'm crazy since leaving the office shouldn't be a bad time at all but it becomes the worst experience ever when it means being systematically stuck in traffic for an hour or even more. 
Hold on...many of you could think it's quite normal...but I'm not talking about Paris, London or LA. 
Hey, I'm talking about BO-LO-GNA in Italy, not even 400.000 people, a beautiful city (see http://www.bolognawelcome.com/en/) but traffic should not be such an issue. Unfortunately IT IS and no Bologna Mayor has ever been able to do anything about it. 

When I'm on the ring road around Bologna (it's called the Tangenziale) and I'm stuck and upset, waiting to move my car for just 10 meters and then stop again, I'm soooo sympathetic with Michael Douglas in "Falling Down" when he has a nervous breakdown going to work in terrible traffic... 

Obviously I don't own a gun... but why are all these people on the road at the same time as me?? Are we all contestants of a survival reality show where the winner is the one who won't start kicking the car next to his?
And why as soon as we're on the move there's a guy that comes so close that it looks like he wants to come in the back of my car to have a chat?? 

I'msoangryI'msoangryI'msoangryI'msoangryI'msoangryI'msoangryI'msoangryI'msoangryI'msoangryI'msoangryI'msoangry..... Uhm... It's probably better that I don't own a gun.

The funny thing is that all of these people probably feel the same...sometimes we look at each other and we make funny faces becoming companions in our misery!

If you experience the same kind of misery as I do, you know that the ideas you have whilst you’re stuck are never the best, right?

Would you like to redecorate your bedroom? Don’t choose the colour yet…you might be influenced by the frustration and go for an acid green that would hurt your eyes and hunt you in your sleep.

Are you planning your next vacation? Wait before buying the plane tickets…as a reaction to the crowd on the road you could end up in a Tibetan Monastery even if your original idea was going to LA…

Make a list of the positive things that you like about the place you live because in theory they should outnumber the negative. If this is not the case….

Look for your next place to live :)

On my side I use the long time I have to think...

What do I think???
Hmmm...
I think that if I was the President of Italy, I would merge the ring road outside of Bologna with the motorway so the traffic wouldn't be an issue anymore...
I would try to reduce the debt and create employment but MOST OF ALL, if I was the President of Italy I would be best friends with Michelle (Obama) and we'd go shopping together. 

You need to be at least 50 to become President. Apart from that, I would be perfectly capable to go shopping with Michelle and tell her what's the IT bag of the season....
Sometimes the ideas you have whilst you are stuck in traffic are truly great. 

Baci Baci. xx
S.

It's all about Ikea

Hellooo,

Today I had a transcendent experience. 
I went to IKEA. 

Going to Ikea means having a list of 4-5 things to buy and coming out of the shop with at least 20 things in the trolley. 
Things that most of the time, the second you set foot at home will shockingly appear for what they really are: pointless.
But they are the opposite while you're in the shop, aren't they? Everything looks so useful and so cheap that you can't leave without buying them. 
You magically convince yourself that with the rug "Gundlandst" or the lamp "Vastram" your house will look a completely different place...and for such a small investment!!!

Why is that?? Do they disperse in the air some kind of Swedish essential oil that make us think we all live in an Ikea catalog? 

Today I decided to try something new and I entered the shop repeating like a mantra: 

KeepcalmandgototargetKeepcalmandgototargetKeepcalmandgototargetKeepcalmandgototargetKeepcalmandgototargetKeepcalmandgototargetKeepcalmandgototarget!!!

I walked fast through the fake bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms (but ohhhh they looked so cozy - sure, they were tiny but a family of ten people would be so happy there!!!)
Then I realized... I was gradually abandoning my new resolution and in less than 5 minutes two tea towels, a fake plant, some plastic boxes, a pack of Swedish biscuits had found their way into my Ikea bag...

OK, OK, time to get serious about it!

I started walking so fast through the last part of the shop I even forgot to look for a couple of things that were on my list! 
BUT, the most important thing is that I finally avoided buying candles, cushions or glasses (they are a terrible temptation, so many kinds and so cheap...you always end up having a box of glasses in the trolley).

Mission accomplished!! I'm very proud of myself...I'm the living proof that it is possible to go to Ikea and buy only what you really need. 

Of course I had to take home the two tea towels, the fake plant, the plastic boxes, and the pack of Swedish biscuits...................

Baci Baci. xx
S.

It's all about butterflies

Hellooo,

Last night I was looking at some nice pics that my newlywed friend Giorgia posted on FB and I was thinking she looked so happy and in love...

.....before we all drown in an ocean of little hearts and honey let me get straight to the point. 

It made me think about love, happiness, and that particular feeling that we call having “butterflies in my stomach”.

I've had butterflies in my stomach before as I'm sure all of you had but the question is...where did the freaking little insects go?? 

I came up with the only three possible conclusions:

1) They got lost in the jungle that is a human stomach (being a butterfly and not an internal medicine surgeon, it must be tricky to know where you are)

2) They ran out of batteries (why didn't anyone tell me they were battery operated???)

3) They found an unconventional way out… (the most dreadful theory - I don't even want to think about it)

The thing is: they are gone, vanished, retired maybe, but nowhere to be found.

And suddenly...panic... Can I have them back please?? Seriously…did you know they had an expiration date? 

Well, I can find anything on the net, I'm sure I can spot them. Or maybe they only sell them in the US… and they won't ship to Italy!

I guess there’s no way out of it or actually there is but it’d mean start dating again. 

Ta daaaaaa…here you are, that’s the solution! Oh I forgot, if you’re married with kids that wouldn't be a very good idea… well, at least not for your husband and kids!

For those like me who can’t start all over again I suggest to redirect your energy into other forms of butterflies… like the ones you can feel in your stomach when you proudly step out of a Chanel boutique with a nice shopping bag… J 

(Priceless feeling - the handbag does have a price unfortunately) 

   

And if you can’t afford to buy a Chanel handbag, no worries, it’s probably just a matter of time J

Baci Baci. xx

S.

It's all about Fashionland

Hellooo,

When I started working for YOOX last year in March, I knew I was setting foot in the dangerous realm of Fashionland...
You might have visited this intriguing and charming place where everything shines and sparkles and the girls are all pretty (and incredibly skinny - that's obviously a pain..).

Unlike the first time I visited Fashionland (when I worked for La Perla a life ago) I now have a life threatening condition called "handbagaddicitonIhavetobuythemhelp!!" which is a state of mind where you can't stop yourself from buying expensive handbags.
 
I will describe the symptoms so you can quickly realize if you have it too:

Phase 1: THE HUNT
I can spend hours looking for the best deal possible. When I have a handbag or generally something on my mind,  I can't stay put, I just keep looking and looking as if the destiny of the planet depended on it. My husband Andrew says I'm crazy... I think I'm a picky and thorough customer looking for an amazing deal! :)))

Phase 2: THE PURCHASE
Once I set eyes on my prey,  I look for the item everywhere on the net to compare prices, colors... and then I come back to it because I start telling myself that IT IS such a shame to miss it that I should really buy it...
And in just a couple of clicks...ooooppppsss...there..done. Bought it!!!

Phase 3: THE DELUSION
This is the most painful phase because I suddenly start babbling with people around me that it was the best deal ever...it was a once in a lifetime opportunity...it was crazy to miss it for that price...and I actually manage to convince myself. I think it's a kind of magic!

THE CURE for this odd condition has yet to be found.
In the meantime, I do suggest the following:

...possibly to a very secluded place with no shops, no markets, no internet...everything is a source of temptation!!
On another note, Mrs Westwood suggests the following:

But what happens when you buy less, you choose well and yet you still spend a lot of money in the process?? 
Could Mrs. Westwood clarify that please? 

Baci Baci. xxx
S.


 

It's all about taxes

Hello,

Of course it shouldn't be all about taxes...but when you receive a letter from the tax office stating you have to pay a H-U-G-E amount of money I can assure you that everything becomes related to taxes.

Suddenly, the SMC “Falabella” you were dreaming about disappears in front of your eyes..the Céline “Luggage” you were visualizing yourself with (see pics below) definitely fades away and you’re left counting the handbags you should have never bought..and yet you did.

     

  

This is exactly what happened last week when Andrew told me over the phone that we had received a letter from the French Tax Office (we used to live in Paris so being good citizens we pay taxes there too).

I almost had a car accident from the shock. 

I didn't understand WHY or HOW they came up with such a request since, as a matter of fact, I don’t own Versailles Castle, a Yacht in Cannes or a Loft on Avenue Montaigne!!

In France they have a saying that goes "On est jamais mieux servi que par soi même" which basically means that if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself...

Why do I tell you about it? This year instead of filling the tax form by myself as I've always done, I asked an accountant to help me out just to put my mind at rest. 

BIG MISTAKE! 

I don’t know what she did but I assume she declared millions that I unfortunately don’t have!! And as a result I received the evil letter…

You can imagine how worried I was and I immediately asked my accountant to check the letter because it had to be a misunderstanding. 

The first reply I had from her was a glacial: “I think it is correct”.

No way!! How can I declare even less than last year and ending up paying three time what I paid last year??? I've never been good at maths but I'm beginning to think that maybe I should have been an accountant after all…

Have you ever found yourself in a situation like that??

You are so convinced that you are right and at the same time so frightened that for some mysterious reasons the other party will be right too???

After insisting with my accountant, last night she finally admitted that “actually it looks like there is an issue in how they registered the tax form”. D’HO!!!

She asked me to send her the Form she registered with the tax office back in June.

Double D’HO…she never sent me a copy!

She is now stopping the tax process and will ask the Office to revise my form….

HALLELUJAH!!!! :)))

Partial score of this defining/hopeIwinsoI’llbuymyselfanotherhandbag match: Sara 1 – Tax Office 0

How will this end?

Stay tuned and you will find out! (seriously…the waiting is killing me!!!)

Baci Baci. xx

S. 

It's all about cookies

Hello, 

Yesterday I went to my lovely friend Ale for a cup of tea and cookies.

These are the cookies she made for me and Fra, the other friend who was at the tea party:

I can assure they tasted as good as they look in the picture! 

Ale is a very organised and skilled cook so even with her three (yes I said 3!) kids around I'm not surprised she can make cookies and cakes and so on...

Unfortunately for me (and for people around me too) I can't bake. There...I said it!! 

I can cook but I don't like baking even if I love eating cookies and desserts!

So today, with a "I-don't-know-how-to-bake-and-I'm-proud-of-it" expression all over my face I bought a roll of pastry at the supermarket and made some cookies with Thomas. 

By making some cookies I mean I found the cookie shapes and let Thomas cut the pastry... 

Since the pastry was very thin I had the fantastic idea of remodeling it so it would be thicker.

One thing I didn't consider though is that the pastry rises in the oven!!! :O

So when I checked the cookies in the oven..ehrm...this was the result:

Well....they were supposed to be stars, moons, hearts, flowers and boys but they just look like a not-well-shaped blobs of pastry!! D'ho!

I've decided not to get too depressed about it and stay zen...after all it's true what they say, isn't it?

Ohhhhmmmm....Ohhhhmmmmm....

I'll just keep trying to find a way to make perfect cookies with a perfect ready-to-go-in-the-oven pastry!! :)))

Better go hiding the shapes under some icing sugar now!! :D

Baci Baci. xxx

S.

It's all about my birthday

Hello Hello!
And yes...another birthday has gone by. This was a good one!

As you can see I celebrated in style with a yummy passion fruit/lemon mousse/cake from a very fancy patisserie.
Some of my best friends were there and we chatted and had a lot of fun. It is true what they say:

And last night we laughed a lot. :)
Sometimes all we need is to focus on people we care and realize how lucky we are to have them and to be part of their lives.
My birthday had a great start with T singing happy birthday in Italian, English and French (!) and ended with my friends celebrating with me.
Thanks Andrew, Betta, Ettore, Max, Ale, Franci, Dalila and Gae! It was a perfect "3?th" birthday! :D

Baci baci xxx
S.