New Toy

Meet my new toy, the Ipod Touch.


I got it as a birthday present and it's FAB! Not only can it be used as a music/video player and for connecting to the internet, but if you turn it around it's a mirror too! So you can listen to your favourite music whilst on the move and check that you're presentable at the same time. No more spinach in the teeth moments. Genius.


I'm trying to find entertaining clips from You Tube so that I can load it up with stuff to watch on an upcoming trip. Any suggestions??? Key words to help my search, specific clips, etc. So far I've got a few music vids and quite a lot of Friends clips - some are about 9 mins long, so they're nice to watch.

Look at this one - It's very short.

Let's talk about shopping again.

This evening I went to Ikea in order to avoid the nightmare that is the weekend Ikea experience. Look at these photos:




No one in there! Woo hoo! Ikea without people is just great. We needed to buy light bulbs as the kitchen one has completely gone whilst the bedroom light was too dull - in OH's opinion. He likes football stadium lighting/hospital lighting, whereas I like a more subdued ambiance. We made a compromise of floodlighting in the kitchen, slightly dimmer in the bedroom and even softer lighting in the living room. It's all about compromise.

I also picked some Christmas tree baubles up. It's hard to remember what I've got in the way of Christmas decorations until I get them down but I thought I'd buy a few new bits anyway. I love the run up to Christmas. It's funny how Christmas starts at different times in different countries. In England they're fully into the swing of Christmas shopping, shops are decorated, the street lights have been turned on, etc. Whereas here we're just starting to festive up. People are just beginning to think about Christmas shopping whilst I know people boasting about having already finished it in the UK. Mum has even ordered the turkey!

More shopping woes

I went out to buy a foundation cream yesterday as my current one has nearly run out. The only place that sells it near me is a pharmacy about a ten minute walk away. This pharmacy has a corner of creams and makeups which is separate to the rest of the normal pharmacy bit. You have to queue and ask for everything you want. The two assistants behind the counter have a long drawn out discussion with every client whilst I wait. Finally it's my turn, I ask to see the darker shade of the foundation, what with me thinking that after a full summer here I might be a shade darker, but no, lady stares at my skin for what seems like an eternity then tells me I'm still very "chiara" and sensitive skinned. She still smears my hand with the darker version just to prove her point. She's right I guess. Thinking since I'm at the front of the queue and I'm not coming back anytime soon, I get everything off my chest and ask also to see a face cream in the window which caught my eye. Liking what I see I ask how much it costs "16 euro normally, but 12 with a discount card" she replies. Me: "I haven't got a discount card", assistant: "oh never mind, it's still 12euro" Right. I ask myself "so what's the point signing up for a discount card?", but realise I've just "saved" myself 4 euro (or have I?) so decide to shut up.

How I miss places where you can browse the various lotions and potions at times like these. Thinking Boots/Superdrug (UK). AFAIK the only products they have behind the counter in these stores are medicines which require a pharmacist to sell.

Mr and Mrs J-Lo have finally admitted to having a bun in the oven. I knew it! She's been wearing floaty clothing for way too long to be anything but preggers. Auguri.

Hey

We’ve been a few days without internet since a storm struck the centrale (something to do with Telecom - isn't it always) last week. I’ve heard of many others having problems with the internet here but it’s been years and I’ve never been cut off. My luck ran out it seems.

Having a break from the internet isn’t all bad though. You get more things done, I’ve even done a bit of a cambio stagione in my absence. Not really a cambio stagione up to Italian standards, but ok nonetheless. I mean, many tops can be worn practically all year round, especially with a cardi on top so there's no point storing them away for months is there? The downside to no internet obviously is that you don’t have all information to hand such as weather reports, phone numbers, etc. I needed the phone number of a restaurant and had to dust down the enormous phone book and start flicking the pages to find it. Back to basics indeed. I’m so behind on other blogs, forums etc too. We’re back online as of today though so I’m catching up. Oh dear I can feel myself slipping back to being internet dependent again already ;)

I wanted to write about my last days in my twenties before the technical hitch. Too late for that now. Yes, I’m now in my thirties. EEK! Another year older... I had a really lovely birthday, my parents came over and as a caramba che sorpresa my sister and her bf came over too! All lovely and special. The piano bar man in their hotel sang happee bird-a-daya to me too.



What are the good things about being 30 I wonder? Help me out, I’m new to this.