Wayback Wednesday - Honeymoon Memories

Joining my girls at The Adventures of Goober Grape and Monkey Man, The Life of a Sippy Cup Mom and Our Life With Jake for another edition of Wayback Wednesday. This week's theme: honeymoon memories.

Ah memories, like the corners of my mind...

Matt and I wanted to go somewhere on our honeymoon that neither of us had been before. Someplace new to explore. We're not lay on the beach and relax type of people - we want to hit the ground running and go go go. We want to learn something new, see pretty things and eat really good food. So Italy was the perfect spot for us. Being Italian myself, I figured I would blend right in...except for the fact that I look like the Polish side of my family.

Our first stop on our week-long tour was Rome, where we stayed in the lovely Starhotel Michelangelo. The room was beautiful. And there was a continental breakfast every morning which included about 10 different types of breads/pastries and Nutella. Yes, we were expected to eat Nutella every day. Enough said.
The view from our hotel was none other than St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Not too shabby.
I took about 500 pictures of the ceilings at the Vatican. I was very dizzy, but very impressed. The level of detail in each painting is amazing. And just knowing how incredibly old they are - just makes you appreciate it all the more.
No trip to Rome would be complete without a trip to the Colosseum. It was sort of weird - we were in the middle of a bustling city and yet here is this relic of history that almost seems out of place with the modern amenities all around it.
We walked about 10 miles each day - there was so much to explore. But we only had 3 days, so we made sure to hit the hot spots - like the Trevi Fountain.
And, as they say, "When in Rome" - we ate like the Romans do!
The next stop on our journey was Florence. They were a little strict about what you could take pictures of, so unfortunately I don't have a ton of photos from this leg of the trip. In the background of this photo here is a replica of the Statue of David. The real one is under heavy guard - we saw it, but were forbidden to photograph it.
We did lots of walking in Florence too. Even stumbled across my very own restaurant! Note the skinniness - I don't even know where those pants are. Sigh...
But I digress. We only had 2 days in Florence before we boarded the train for Venice - my favorite part of the trip!
This is the taxi stand outside of our hotel. On the water. Taxis - on the water. Seriously, you hear about it, but when you see it, it's mind-blowing!
We spent 2 days walking around (did I mention how much walking we did!) and soaking up as much as we could. One of our favorite parts of town was San Marco Square. We ate seafood risotto there both nights - if we stayed longer we would have eaten even more seafood risotto!
The last part of our trip was a short boat ride to the island of Murano. We watched a master craftsman work his art - creating the most gaudy glass creations you have ever seen (gaudy that sells for thousands of dollars!).
Before we knew it, our week in Italy was over. We took a water taxi from Venice to the airport and said "Ciao Italia - we'll be back!"
Want to join in on Wayback Wednesday? Check out the blogs of the ladies hosting it - you can link up there!

Ciao Bellas!!

A BBQ, Bounce House, Baby Pool & Blog Awards

Alternate title: This post is brought to you by the letter B :-)

We had a busy long weekend which included a BBQ birthday party for a good friend on Sunday. When we told Ish we were going to a party he grabbed his shoes and insisted on wearing this ridiculously too big Mets hat (he is obsessed with saying Mets lately). We allowed him to because, well, he's so dang cute.
We loaded into the car and we were off for an afternoon of fun.
There was a bounce house at the party - Ish had a blast, especially when the big kids got in with him and really bounced him around.
I wish I had video of the hysterical laughter coming from this kid.
There was also a slip and slide - Ish of course had no idea what to do on one, so he just stood there and let the water hit him. It was about 90 degrees out, so I'm sure it was refreshing.
Then he spotted the baby pool. He walked right in - in his clothes and his non-swim diaper.
Cousin Alex soon joined him.
Then cousin Ashley decided to join in on the fun.
We ended the day out with a few snacks. And Ish went to bed early after all that fun in the sun. I love him, but boy do I like early bedtime days!
And after Ish went to bed, I logged on to find out that two great bloggers passed on some great awards to me!

Thanks to Katie over at Sluiter Nation who passed on The Sunshine Award. I have to say, I should be the one giving this to her - I LOVE her blog and always look forward to her posts. Her little guy just turned one and I'm looking forward to seeing pics from his first birthday party.
And thanks to a fellow New Yorker (YEA NY!!!), Harmskills from Baby To Go for the Sugar Doll Award. She has a great blog of travel tips, product recommendations, cute family pics and giveaways.
I encourage you to check out these lady's blogs - you won't be disappointed!

Dezign With a Z Wall Decal Review

A fun playroom needs fun art, don't you think? When we started to transform the basement into Ish's ultimate playroom I started Google-searching wall decal ideas. Then I discovered Dezign With a Z from a fellow blogger's review. I was impressed with their selection and was intrigued by great reviews I read online.

The lovely folks at Dezign With a Z offered to send me a set of decals to review for Ish's playroom - baseballs and basketballs, perfect for my little budding sports fan. Whenever Ish sees a baseball he says "Mets" - how cute is that?? It's like he knows being a Mets fan is his destiny. ;-)

My first thought was to have the baseballs sort of "flying" through the room on a couple of the walls but Matt and I decided that we actually liked the pattern of them the way they were on the transfer sheet, so we decided to put them on the wall "as is" and created a sort of frame-less picture of the baseballs above the new bookcase we bought. The process of putting them on the wall required patience (and a little elbow grease), so I put Matt in charge of that part!
Here's the finished product (I'm digging how it creates sort of an optical illusion on the wall):
The basketballs were hard work (you really need to be precise in placing the transfer paper), but Matt persevered. We decided to place them on the wall in the same way we did the baseballs - "as is" from the transfer paper, except we did the basketballs in an up and down pattern (as opposed to the left to right pattern of the baseballs).
I am so happy with the outcome:
I think they really add character to the room and have a fun feel to them. When Ish gets older I plan on ordering some decals for his "big boy room" - whether it's cars/trucks or sports themes, whatever he shows a preference for.

So if you're in the market for wall decals, check out Dezign With a Z - you can catch them on their website here, on Facebook here and on Twitter here. Trust me, they have whatever it is you're looking for!

Disclaimer: While I was given product to review by Dezign With a Z, the opinions in this post are 100% mine (and Ish's!). We were not compensated in any way for our review.

Boogie Winner

The winner of the Boogie Wipes is lucky #28 - MommyJessica!

MommyJessica said...

I would like to try Grape Scent

suparstarz714 at aol.com

June 24, 2010 8:25 PM

I'm sending you an email Jessica - congrats!

Thanks to everyone for entering.

The Fireman's Fair

Every year the local firehouse hosts a little fair in the middle of town. Nothing fancy, some games, a few rides and some good eats, with all proceeds helping keep the firemen employed. Last year Ish was too young to really have any fun there. Apparently he still is - as is evident in this picture:
It all started out well and good. We strolled in just after the 6PM opening.
Matt and I were looking forward to having some Zeppoles at some point.
We decided to let Ish have a shot at the fishing game he's played before. He seemed to enjoy trying to catch those little fishies.
When he snagged one he tried to celebrate by jumping into the pool of water.
When he was told no, he immediately melted down.
And he continued his meltdown at the little prize bucket. I picked out a cute leopard for him.
We thought he would calm down and help Dada at the balloon dart game. No such luck.
He lessened the level of his meltdown when we put him back in his stroller and gave him the little leopard he won for himself and the frog that Matt won for him.
So, with a calmer Ish on our hands, we decided to try a ride. A little kiddie train. Ish seemed ok at first - there were buttons on the train that held his attention for about 2 seconds.
Then the train started to move and this happened. The operator stopped the ride and we got off. He was nice enough to offer us a free ride if Ish ever calmed down.
So, with games and rides a disaster, we opted to try our luck with the food.
The food he was on board with! Chicken Fingers and fries makes everything better.
And dessert, well dessert is just the cure to whatever ails you!
Yes, that Mister Softie has healing powers.
So, with a happy (and full) Ish we decided to take one more spin around the tiny fair to see if he would want to try his luck at another game or ride.
When we got near the train, Matt asked him if he wanted to try to ride the train again. Ish thought about it for a second, but his final answer was no.
There was one ride Ish LOVED though - the ride home!
And just because I'm rarely in any pictures, here's me and Ish when we got home. Mr. Froggy and Mr. Leopard and Ish are all in the crib sleeping now.
So, lesson learned. No more fairs this year! We'll try our luck at the 4H fair later in the summer, but that has animals, so different story.

And yes, we did get our Zeppoles. To go. Word to the wise - don't get Zeppoles to go. There's a reason you're supposed to eat them at the fairground. Powdered Sugar. Everywhere.

A Boy & His Pots

Dada can show him what to do with them. :-)