February | 2015 | Jillian In Italy

Archive | February, 2015

Urban Jungle Bloggers: Hanging Plants

Time for another Urban Jungle Bloggers post! Unbelievable that a month has already passed since the Plants and Tea theme in January. Is it just me or does February always fly by? Here in Italy we’re already heading into spring and experiencing beautiful sunny warm days. Everyone is walking around with a smile on their face and a spring in their step. My favourite time of year despite the itchy watery eyes.

When I first heard this month’s UJB topic was Hanging Plants images of polyester, multi-toned orange and brown macramé monstrosities from the 70s came to mind. But after browsing through some shops in Milan and Copenhagen and doing some research on Pinterest I came to realise that there are so many beautiful and contemporary ways to hang plants in your home nowadays.

2015UJBhangingplants2 After thinking about it for a few days and looking for the perfect spot in my house for a hanging planter I decided I was going to go the DIY route for this month’s post. I thought it would be a perfect little creative project to do with my kids while they were on February break and my daughters were happy that their room was going to finally get some greenery. First we made some little pots with air-dry clay that I found in a local craft shop. It was really easy to work with and was dry the next day. Plus, I love the milky white colour and texture of the dried clay so there was no need to paint them. Since my daughters are experts at decorating sticks with coloured yarn we decided to get some bamboo from the garden and deck it out a little. The result is so cheery and colourful and perfect for my twin daughters’ bedroom.They’re pretty wonky and crooked but I love them. And more importantly, so do my girls.

*Urban Jungle Bloggers is a monthly series initiated by 2 bloggers: Igor (Happy Interior Blog) and Judith (JOELIX.com). Every month they share ideas to create an urban jungle through styling ideas, DIYs and green tips & tricks. You can find additional inspiration on their Urban Jungle Bloggers Pinterest board and keep up-to-date on our website and Facebook page. Want to join? Use #urbanjunglebloggers on Twitter and Instagram. Or let them know and they’ll share the badge and upcoming topics with you. Let’s bring some green into our homes and blogs!

Tags: gardening, greenery, home garden, photography, plants, succulents, urban jungle bloggers

Comments 12 Comments
Categories Creative, daily life, diy, Family/Kids, Living in Italia, Living in Italy, photography, urban jungle bloggers

Indian Snapshots 4

17 Feb

The other day I was perusing Expedia for flights (one of my favourite ways to pass a cozy winter evening) and I was so tempted to book a trip to India. Luckily my husband was sitting next to me and gave me one of his “are you off your head?” looks and I managed to not press PURCHASE. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to resist though.

Here is the next batch of my favourite images from our recent trip to Delhi and Rajasthan.

I’m pretty sure this guy is paid to sit at the Jodhpur Fort and smoke his pipe. And I’m also pretty sure there are thousands upon thousands of photos of him out there in the world.I loved this little girl’s brightly coloured outfit. She was swirling around and giggling and generally making everyone in her vicinity smile and feel happy. 2014indiabagru2 One of my all time favourite things about India has to be the decorated trucks you see everywhere you go. The time and effort that the drivers put into embellishing their trucks with stickers, tassels, garlands and pompoms and hand-painting the bumpers is unbelievable. I asked one of our drivers to stop at a roadside “Truck Decoration” shops and I bought a suitcase full of all of the above. Judging from the owner’s reaction I’m pretty sure I was the first tall blond female customer to enter his shop. Woman doing her daily washing in the Rajasthan countryside.

Our bicycle rickshaws in the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary.

Even pigeons like to photo bomb. Amer Fort, Jaipur.

Rest time.

Jodhpur. The Blue City.
Indigo pit. Twenty metres deep. I had to keep a hold of my son because he was way too interested in finding out if it was indeed twenty metres deep. Bagru, India.

Our breakfast table at our hotel in Udaipur. You can see the famous Lake Palace Hotel in the background (remember it from Octopussy?).

Indian Snapshots *1*, *2*, *3*

Tags: family travel, India, photography, rajasthan, travel, traveling with kids india

Comments 4 Comments
Categories Creative, daily life, India, photography, Travel

Days For Girls Update

12 Feb

A little over a year ago I posted here about the non-profit grassroots project called Days For Girls. I had just started up Italy’s first (and only) team and was really excited and full of ideas of how I could build up a community of women who would be willing to help me help girls around the world manage their monthly menstrual cycles with ease and dignity.

I’ll be honest, at the beginning it felt slightly awkward talking so openly about periods, pads and menstrual flow with complete strangers. But I’m happy to say that I am now 100% comfortable talking about every detail of women’s reproductive systems with everyone from the local baker to my car mechanic.

For those of you who have never heard of Days For Girls I’ll quickly re-cap what the project is all about.

Days For Girls was started by Celeste Mergens in 2008 after working in a Kenyan orphanage and noticing that a lot of the girls weren’t educated about their menstrual cycles nor equipped to deal with it.

Soon thereafter Celeste started up Days For Girls which is an incredible and supportive network of volunteers around the world who make and put together re-usable menstruation kits that are then delivered to girls in need in over 60 countries around the world (over 60,000 kits have already been delivered).

These kits last for approximately three years and have literally changed the lives of girls and women who before had to miss school or work due to their periods. This in turn has helped lower school drop-out rates in many areas as well as less loss income for days missed at work. So much good!

This project has come to mean so much to me over the last year. I’ve introduced Days For Girls at many local clubs and events and have always had so much enthusiasm from everyone I’ve met. Even the sweet and hilarious 85 year old man who kept insisting that they would make perfect pencil holders before realising their real use.

One of the most common reactions I see from people as I explain the project is the feeling of shock when they realise that they had never actually thought about this problem before. We think of helping people with food, water, clothing and shelter but rarely does it come to mind to help girls deal with monthly menstruation and educate them about women’s health and the female reproductive system. To hear more about our Indian kit delivery and see photos click to read on… Continue reading →

Tags: days for girls, grassroots, India, menstruation, non profit, project, travel

Comments 27 Comments
Categories days for girls, Family/Kids, grateful, Inspiring Souls, photography, Travel

Indian Snapshots 3

2 Feb

After a whole week of being sick with a really bad stomach flu (like REALLY bad) I finally feel like a human being again.

Last week I didn’t even have enough energy to plug in my hard drive and wade through my India photos. If you know me you’ll understand that means that I was practically on my death bed (have I ever mentioned I tend to exaggerate a teeny tiny bit at times?).

But I’m feeling good today and managed to put together the next set of my favourite images from our recent trip to India. Sometimes I can almost taste and smell the memories of that trip just by looking at the photos. Love that so much.

Tasseled pillows in the market place. I resisted. And I regret it so much.

Miniature eggplants and the sweetest red carrots you’ll ever eat.

Basket of flower garlands ready for the temple.

This woman had so much character. My kids were terrified of her though.

We were so fortunate to have a guided private tour of this old palace in Deeg. The ornamental tiger cage (for live pet tiger) was a favourite feature. The kids spent hours running throughout the grounds, jumping over fountains, avoiding gangs of monkeys and having the time of their lives with their friends. A favourite day on our trip in India.

While visiting the fort in Jodphur we came across this sweet little parakeet. He was the most curious little guy who seemed to love getting his photo taken. If you’re interested I have about 659 other photos of him…

This is his shy pose. 2014indiajodhpur12 I almost can’t look at this photo because of the sadness of not being able to get a hot syrupy bowl of Gulab Jamun is too much to bear. There is nothing like it on earth.