Tuesday, October 08, 2013

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. 

Sunday, October 06, 2013

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.

Thursday, October 03, 2013

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.




Sunday, September 29, 2013

I almost forgot...

Ciao and hello!
I almost forgot....this is ME!


I'm on the balcony and I took this pic especially for the blog! I'm all in black..as usual. Black is my best friend...timeless, chic and minimalist.

Rain has started to fall even here in Italy...it hasn't stopped since this morning and in the meantime I'm getting ready for my birthday party on Wednesday. I'm planning to have an Aperitivo with some of my closest friends. It will be nice to have them here. Finger-food and Lasagne :))
I'll upload some pics on Thursday.
So, today we're stuck at home. Thomas is now watching Fireman Sam, his favourite cartoon and I'm enjoying the time for myself. Actually, I've just had a mad hour cooking corn, zucchini and some spinach for tonight..it's steak night!
I played a lot with T earlier. I strongly believe that running around the table (chasing him) is a fantastic way to loose some calories.. what do you think? ;)

I hope you'll have a nice evening!

Baci Baci. xx
S.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Fireworks!!!

Hello!
Just had the most beautiful (and loudest) fireworks display outside our apt!! 
And bonus...T didn't wake up! :O


Buona notte! Good night!

Baci Baci.
S.

Greetings from Italy...

Ciao and welcome to my Blog!

My name is Sara. 
I'm 100% Italian, I have a English husband (Andrew), a 3 year old born-in-Paris son (Thomas Raphael) and a collection of fantastic design handbags that I consider part of the family LOL :)
I currently live in Bologna (Italy), after a long time spent abroad, in Paris, London and Paris again. 
I have a typical Italian family, my parents are very traditional with huge FA-MI-LY values and a house always open for friends. But I'll tell you about my family later.

This Blog is a friend I intend to share with you to talk about life, family, ideas, dreams and obviously fashion :)

I work for YOOX Group, www.yoox.com one of the biggest e-stores for multibrand fashion, art and design and I consider myself lucky for dealing with the most famous fashion brands in the world every day!
I know...you're probably envious right now but I promise you that it's not easy to:

  • not spending ALL my salary on yoox.com 
  • not spending ALL my salary on thecorner.com (a e-boutique for high fashion and niche designers - the other website we have)
  • not spending ALL my salary on shoescribe.com  (dedicated entirely to high-end shoes - the latest site we created) 

As you've probably understood, my life is a constant temptation of handbags, shoes, dresses, accessories...and I try to juggle between being a career shopping-addicted girl and a great mum for T (Thomas). 
If you want to know more about the company I work for, take 3 minutes and watch the video here http://www.yooxgroup.com/en/company_profile/the_group.asp  
You'll also see where I work! :)

I have to go now but I'll come back soon to start telling you more about my life, my family and my day-by-day experience in Fashionland. 

Baci Baci 
S.