I’ve finally managed to write a little post about one of our favourite places in the world, Cape Breton Island (in Nova Scotia, Canada). I have many fond memories of visiting the island as a kid and teenager and was so happy I could finally take my own family there last summer. Cape Bretoners are some of the kindest people in the world and will go out of their way to make sure your time visiting their island is the best it can be. Click over to Classic Play to hear more about what the island has to offer. And if you’ve already visited the island I’d love to hear what you enjoyed the most while there.
Traveling With Kids: Cape Breton Island
23 MayGoji Berry Granola Bars
15 May
The other day while I was wandering around the charming Orticola Flower Market in Milan I picked up a bag of Goji berries at an organic fruit tree stand. I think we’ve all heard, over and over again over the past years, how healthy and beneficial these berries are for our health. To tell you the truth I was actually avoiding them due to all the hype (and the fact that I read you’d have to eat a truck full to reap any sort of special health benefits from them).
In any case, I was hungry and the berries were there at the right time and place. I have to admit that when I tried them I was pretty disappointed with the fact that they are….tasteless. Seriously, I think cardboard has more flavour than those goji berries. I was expecting something sweeter and with a rich flavour (especially since the berries have such a beautiful dark brick orange-y red colour).
So yesterday when I was looking for something to bake for the kids I decided to try and use up some of the berries (in order to make them a bit more edible than straight out of the bag).
Since they were quite dry I decided to soak them in a little bowl of apple juice for about 10 minutes before using them. And the berries actually came to life. They became soft and plump and the apple juice brought out a distinctive flavour that I didn’t taste before. It’s possible I ruined all the health properties of the berries by soaking them but it was worth it.
Read on for the recipe… Continue reading
Gratefully Grateful *18*
14 MaySo much to be grateful for last week. Especially a surprise week-end away with some of my closest friends. It involved a famous flower market in Milan, lots of foreign foods, Pina Coladas and some charming little vintage shops. It’s amazing what a few days away from your daily grind can do to your spirit and energy level.
Throw in a relaxing Mother’s Day on Sunday including breakfast in bed and kid made art and poetry and I was (am) a happy woman.
Grateful to have been able to see and appreciate…
…carnations in every possible colour. Gone are the days of them being considered “grocery store flowers”.
…huge origami cranes and lilly pads in a lovely fountain in front of an even lovelier old villa.
…this little scenario that I would like to re-create in my own garden. So lovely.
…old metal watering cans filled with bright flowers.
Wishing you all a lovely week (it’s already half over!).
Gratefully Grateful
*1*, *2*, *3*, *4*, *5*,*6*,*7*,*8*, *9*, *10*, *11*, *12*, *13*, *14*,*15*,*16*,*17*
Bess Top
7 May
A few months ago I wrote all about the 241 Tote purse pattern that I bought online, printed off at home and sewed up. I loved how easy and convenient it was and have decided that it’s the perfect solution for someone like me who lives in rural Italy where it’s almost impossible to find any decent sewing patterns.
And from what I’ve seen online lately PDF sewing patterns are really gaining popularity amongst the online sewing crowd all over the world. Just this week I saw that Jenny from The Southern Institute launched the Sew Fab Pattern Sale which is a bundle of 19 (+1 bonus) PDF patterns for $29.95. For a girl who in the past paid upwards of $15-$20 for one pattern I find that a pretty amazing price. 
So after my success with the 241 Tote I decided to try my hand at another online pattern. And seeing as I’ve been a Sew-Fan of Imagine Gnats for a long time I ordered her beautiful Bess Top pattern (which is all over Pinterest!).
I love the style of the top and the versatility of the pattern (3 different lengths and sizes 2-20 included). It’s flattering on just about any body type as well. Believe me I know, I’ve made all my friends try it on.
As you can see above I made one blouse/shirt length and the other a tunic length. I also really love the subtle high-low hem.
I used 2 Max Mara linens for the shorter version. The linen has a lovely drape and will be perfect for our hot Italian summers. I find that little pleat at the shoulder just the perfect touch as well.
For the longer tunic version I used a really lovely patterned cotton (again Max Mara) with a solid black for the shoulder/back. Turned out very elegant and will be perfect with black leggings in the winter.
The pattern calls for jersey knit strips to finish all the edgings. Unfortunately I don’t have any jersey in the house so I used a thin bias instead and it seems to have worked out just fine.
Can’t wait to make up some more Bess Tops in all sorts of fabric and colour combinations this summer. Now to convince Rachel to draft up a few kid’s sizes…
**Get 10% off everything in the Imagine Gnats Shop (including the Bess Top and many other lovely patterns for women and kids) with the discount code Jillian10 until Monday May 12th.
Moroccan Snapshots *5*
6 MaySome last shots of our trip to Morocco.
Stretching out a little injury. Afterwards the instructor turned around happily and informed me “Pretty sure nothing is broken”. Ummm, okay.
They just looked so cool dragging their surfboards down K17 beach (up the coast from Agadir). And these were the only clouds we saw during our entire 7 day trip. Made the Atlantic feel that much colder. 
While visiting the souks of Agadir we got trapped in a little shop that sold teas, creams, herbs, spices and everything else you could ever imagine to cure any ailment a person could be inflicted with. For me the packaging was more attractive than all the proclaimed health benefits. And yes, I did leave with a bag full of cactus cream, argan oil, teas and spices.
Mounds of colourful vegetables and striped columns at the Souk El Had in Agadir.
Making sand kasbahs on the beach.
One of my favourite images of Morocco is always the pyramids of delicious spices. I have already gone through half of what I purchased. Guess that means I’ll have to get back there soon to buy some more.
Moroccan Snapshots *1*, *2*,*3*,*4*
Gratefully Grateful *17*
4 May
As I sit here gazing out of the window it looks as though there is a blizzard happening outside. But instead of snow it’s a flurry of fluffy little poplar seeds (as captured by an IG pal here). I’m sneezy and have a piercing headache but I have to admit that it’s a really lovely site.
Yesterday I spent the entire day in the kitchen baking muffins for a local market today. We’re donating all profits from the bake sale to the Bianca Garavaglia Association which helps organise special activities and events for kids with cancer who have to spend months in the hospital. As some of you know, helping causes like this is something that is really near and dear to my family’s heart. So you can imagine how happy my kids were to sell every single muffin that we made (close to 100).
Earlier in the week a friend of mine and I organised a “Serata Americana” with our kids (the husbands had organised a meal of intestines and insects so we escaped). We prepared hamburgers, hotdogs and french fries. We drank lemonade and Coca Cola. And then we watched Grease (in Italian) with bowls of popcorn and M&Ms. My kids loved it and have since asked for poodle skirts and black leather jackets. Love evenings like that.
So, as you can see I had a lot to be grateful for this week.
And on top of all that I’m (also) grateful for… 
…my first bunch of roses from my garden. Oh and they smell so so lovely too!
…geraniums. And the fact that they are pretty AND can survive even though I’m a horrible gardner and that Birdie lays on top of them all day long.
…our Serata Americana that saved me from eating these cricket kabobs. See, I wasn’t exaggerating when I wrote about the husbands eating insects. Blech.
Wishing you all a lovely week ahead.
Gratefully Grateful *1*, *2*, *3*, *4*, *5*,*6*,*7*,*8*, *9*, *10*, *11*, *12*, *13*, *14*,*15*, *16*
Blago 2014
2 May
One of the things that I love most about blogging is the community of like-minded fellow bloggers that I have met over the years. I have blogger friends all over the world who write about everything from design to food to fashion to sewing. These creative souls have become an important part of my life and a support network that inspires and encourages me to no end.
So you can imagine how ecstatic I was when a few of them arrived in Italy a few weeks ago to attend a little face-to-face event called Blago that I organised.
I came up with the Blago concept after attending The Hive Blogging Conference last year and realising that I really loved spending time with all these creative and amazing women that I have been friends with online for years. It’s great having these online friendships but even greater when you can take it into “real life”.
So a few days after arriving home from The Hive I sent out the first Blago pitch to some of my favourite blogger pals. Luckily I received really positive and enthusiastic responses from all of them immediately. My idea was for us all to meet up here in Italy to spend a few days visiting Milan Design as well as the lovely lake region that I live it.
And because I’m a big nerd I named the event Blago which is a mix of the words lago (lake in Italian) and blog. I figured if you’re going to organise an event with fellow bloggers you’ve got to come up with a catchy title (and hashtag too – check out #blago2014 on Instagram!).
And of course being a blogger also meant I needed to come up with a cool official invite to the event. Luckily, I LOVE that kind of stuff. Like seriously love it.
After a lot of contemplating and looking through my stash of craft and sewing supplies I decided to make a linen envelope (the leather version failed miserably). I used a really pretty Max Mara linen with map print for the outside and a gold linen for the inside. I even added a little tag which I always find makes a hand sewn item look a tad more professional.
Inside the fabric envelope I included an invite with the official Blago logo (designed by the talented Judith who was an attendee) and a little bag of my favourite Italian candies.
I’m a lover of anything to do with snail mail so I was so excited to get these into the mail and to their destinations (which actually took longer than expected due to the fact the local post office accidentally sent half of them back to me).
I’ll be back soon with more details about the actual event (which turned out to be a big success). And yes, I am already mentally preparing the next Blago get-together (and it’s going to be a good one!).
Traveling With Kids: Flipboard Magazine
30 AprI can’t believe it but it has been almost 2 years that I’ve been writing my Traveling With Kids column for the creative parenting site Classic Play. I have absolutely loved writing these travel posts which have inspired me (and my family) to do some pretty amazing trips and activities around the world.
Our travels and adventures as a family over the last decade have been action packed. We’ve experienced everything from visiting some the world’s most iconic sites to seeing little corners of the world that have been barely touched by tourism. And we are 100% grateful to be able to do all of this.
Jen from Classic Play put together a super neat Traveling With Kids Flipboard Magazine with all of her site’s travel posts (full disclosure: I’ve written most of them). I’ve loved looking back and re-reading some of those old columns (the interview with my kids and the travel disaster columns are still my favourites!). So if you’re in need of advice for traveling with kids or information on many travel destinations around the world please check it out here.
**I just want to add that I receive many emails from people around the world with specific travel questions or that are in need of travel advice for traveling with their families. I’ve been trying really hard to get back to you all but am still a little behind!
Gratefully Grateful *16*
28 AprI can’t seem to get my GG posts up before my week is over. I always have big plans to post on Sunday evening but then as soon as I sit down on the couch after the kids are in bed I become useless. I can’t even manage conversation or full sentences with my husband. Anyone else out there afflicted by this?
Last week was a good one. A lovely day shopping in Antwerp (adore that city), a delicious sushi dinner with old friends, a lovely bike ride in the Belgian countryside, a serving of my daughter’s homemade lava cakes (they are so good) and a sunny return to Italy. On Saturday we spent the afternoon lunching with friends outside in the hot sun followed by an evening aperitivo with other good friends (including a few IG acquaintances!). Life is good (even if we just found out that someone in London spent 2000 euro on a limousine rental with our credit card – I hope they had a good ride!).
This week I’m grateful for…
…the Urban Jungle Blogger series. It’s so much fun to integrate more green plants into my house and be part of a community of fellow urban gardeners. And for once in my life I’m succeeding in keeping them alive (knock on wood). 
…the sweet smell of these Lilly of the Valley flowers. And the sweet skinny legged girl holding them.
…that they still love to blow the dandelion seeds (me too!).
I wish you all a wonderful week ahead!
Gratefully Grateful *1*, *2*, *3*, *4*, *5*,*6*,*7*,*8*, *9*, *10*, *11*, *12*, *13*, *14*, *15*
Urban Jungle Bloggers
25 AprTime for another Urban Jungle Bloggers post. I had so much fun with last month’s post and especially admiring all the other images done by some seriously talented bloggers, stylists and photographers. This series is really taking off and I love being part of it.
This month Judith and Igor chose the theme “Show your green balcony or windowsill”. I love the idea of having windowsills overflowing with assorted green plants in colourful pots. It gives a room so much life and colour.
Unfortunately we have to keep our windowsills pretty clear due to the fact that we have to open our windows twice a day in order to close and open shutters (too many break-ins to risk leaving them open all the time). But living in gorgeous Italy makes it all worth it.
The last week I was visiting my in-laws in Belgium and since they have such a beautiful garden filled with the most lovely plants of every kind I decided to do my UJB shots there. And being the great sports that they are they didn’t even mind me rearranging their whole terrace and moving plants, pots and garden furniture here and there. I lucked out in the in-law department.
And since it was a warm and sunny day I decided to use an outside stoop next to a large window. I guess you could call it an outdoor windowsill?
As you can see my in-laws have a great collection of Tuscan flower pots (bought at a shop close to me for a fraction of the price as in Belgium).
They also have a great collection of green plants and succulents of every kind. And I have no idea what half (or more) of them are called.
Fermob furniture in tones of purple and red match the whole garden perfectly.
I couldn’t resist including a few colourful flowers.
Doesn’t this look like the perfect place for an afternoon tea and book reading session? And look, I accidentally made it into one of my UJB images!
Can’t wait to check out all the other Urban Jungle Bloggers posts this month. If you’re interested their FB page is overflowing with lovely greenery.
Featured Posts:
About
Jillian in Italy Interview by Classic Play!
Jillian In Italy interview on Pret A Voyager
Embroidery With Kids
Father's Day Origami Garland
Miniature Bulletin Boards
Surprise Activity Garland
Italian Crostata Recipe
Snail Mail Booklets
Doily Fairy Lights
Jan Fabre Exhibit With Kids
Japanese Handicrafts
Miniature Waffle Cookies
Jillian In Italy 
