MN Little Italy 20 ........Buon Natale !

[Rosa]

Here we are then ........

Just popping in after a long latitanza to say a belated Buon Natale a tutte. I hope it went well for everyone, including those who battled to get back to the UK. I must say I'm glad we stayed put this year - it took me 3 hours on Monday to get back from Milan so there was no way I was going farther afield.

I hope you're all well and I promise to try and pop in more often from now on. My hectic work schedule has calmed down as I've hired a couple of wonderful ladies who have lightened my load considerably, so I should have more time and energy to MN.

Anyway, back to my DS - got Professor Layton and Pandora's Box for Xmas and am finding it hard tearing myself away .

Ciao!

Hey Sputnik!

No, not yet. It's going to be hideously expensive if I do.

Am on netbook thing I bought to tide me over and get some work done.

Grrr. Unnecessary expense at this time of the year.

Still, quite fun having a new gadget.

Brange! Hey! Merry Christmas to you too.

Hey Brange, nice to see you!
Hope you can get back more often, you too Penthe.

BTW I am going to be joining the Wire addicts on here soon as I got season 1 for xmas

snap Sput! Have also got The Wire for xmas. Hi Brange, nice to see you back. Enjoy playing with your new gadget Penthe.

Hello and glad to see you penthe and brange. Glad everyone survived. Am a bit sick and in crappy mood so won't bore you. Typing from my lovely new iPhone so happy in that respect! Can't wait to have new wire addicts... I'm catching up and loving it.

Hey Brange!!! Great to see you!!!

All warm here thanks for asking.

No gadgets here and no THe Wire. Going to the west end later so maybe will get not to be left out of the convos.

buon natale everyone!! glad to see you again brange and penthe!!

we've had a nice quite xmas with a lovely meal, feeling still stuffed!!
happy you got a warm house just on time for xmas, pippi, did you have the 4 extra too?

will catch up better later, need to tidy up (2 days of doing nothing in the house is very dangerous) as we have people coming later and dd is on the rampage - we've re-dec'd the xmas tree on xmas eve while she was in bed, but it's been a nightmare since... and it looks like , after getting to nearly 16 months with just 3 teeth, she has 6 coming through all at once, just there, but not out iykwim

ciao!

Hello everyone!
Hello Brange and Penthe , so good to hear from you! (Brange, 'fess up your addiction to nintendo ds !)
Yes, so happy to have new The Wire adepti, so we can obsess about it together (I watched the first 2 series, 3 to go... I'm trying to dilute the experience).
I'm a bit envious of MM's new iphone... but I do have a fab pair of grey ugg boots. How have I survived with out it for so long???

[jealous] of new iphone... But my Dh's birthday is tomorrow so I will have access to the Wire too finally (with his permission of course)!

Off to start cooking an Indian feast for DH birthday... Not looking forward to hair smelling like curry house though...

-2wks to the start of my new job... Am getting nervous now...

mmmmm slurp at indian feast, what are you making?

only 2 weeks??? But you won't be working really will you? You'll be mnetting surely

Onion bhajis, garlic naan, pork in cardamom, chicken pistachio korma, lemon rice, cauliflower madras. It's a lot but it will be 7 or 8 of us. And chocolate cheesecake - not very Indian but fancied it!

They wanted me to start work asap (I had to sign the contract on Xmas eve!)... So this may be a real job after all...

did you cook everything from scratch Minerva? am really impressed! and did you find ingredients easily in FGV?

btw... I think you are amazing for having found and accepted a job so quickly. you'll kick ass, I am 100% sure of that

Franca are you ready to discuss season 2 in its entirety (offline obviously, wouldn't want to give anything away to all you newbie motherfuckas!)? I have just finished season 3 and am totally and absolutely and irrevocably blown away. but i was like that at the end of season 2 as well....

My Iphone is super cool, but unfortunately no one has my swiss number so i never get any calls... mind you, i never get any calls on my uk phone either...

mmhhh btw SuiGeneris... when are you due again? it must be almost time no? how are you feeling? did you survive your ILs?

Franca - Bonsoir suggested on another thread that I contact you with a quick question hope you can help with. Off to Italy next week but I need to get my friends & family some pressies first. There are a few London shops they love but I'm not sure what to get. If I bought some Uggs for my 19yo cousin would she think I'm mad or a brilliant? Are cowboy boots still big? They're in Bologna and Cosenza.... TIA

Ciao!
Minerva... it sounds utterly delicious, I'm sure your hosts (and dh) will be delighted

Masseuse, yes, I finished watching season 2 and I can't wait to start season 3. I'll email you as soon as I finish this post

Monkeysmama hello! . Here in Milan ugg boots are very popular and easy to find, I'm not sure if it is as easy to find them in Bologna or Cosenza. I'd be very happy to receive a pair of ugg, so much so that I forced dh to get me a pair this christmas (he wasn't impressed ).
Cowboy boots still popular here as well. Hope this is helpful.

Yes, SG have you survived your inlaws? How are you doing?

Wow MI that sounds great. I want an onion bhaji now! Good luck with the new job.

I am back from the UK now and it has drizzled here all day. Worse than Wales!

Thanks Franca - much appreciated.

hello everyone! hope you're all ok! we've just been enjoying the sofa and the tv, the weather is horrible, so there's no other option really. back to work yesterday, the office was empty and cold, really no point in having it open... we're hoping the weather's better tom so we can go and watch the fireworks, otherwise it'l be yet another NYE spent on the sofa.

back later, can here boubles bouncing....

Hello! I just recovered from whole day cooking the Indian feast. It went down a storm - I can really recommend Anjun Anand's recipe for onion bhajis, much better than what you get in restaurants. Problem is I still smell like curry, yuck.

MM, I had to make everything from scratch as no ready made pastes are available around here. Dried spices (turmeric, garam masala etc) are fairly easy to find at specialised drogherie. However, I do have to be selective in choosing the recipes, as some fresh ingredients (coriander or tamarind) I have not found anywhere yet.

Weather is atrocious here too btw - wanted to go skiing but it's pouring... So I went sale shopping instead...

my dd used to go to swimming with AA's dd... aaargghh another London brush with celebrity that i can forget all about!

(she's much more beautiful and slim in RL btw).

MI- I am most impressed, you ARE a domestic goddess

tried to go shopping today but i am too fat for italian sizes

forgot to add- my dd's kicked AA's dd's behind at swimming

lol at MM's ass kicking DD. Minerva you should write a cook book With Rosa maybe? A Little Italy cookbook. Go on.......... Good luck with the job but if you don't like it.......
Back in incredibly warm Roma now. Can't believe difference in temperature. And the sun is shining (although not ventured out yet). DP has ear infection and just gone to docs. He has been up on the couch all night poveraccio. We will all know about it today though, he doesn't do ill very well!
Franca I got some grey Uggs as well . Am so happy. I bought them for myself in the end (me and dp had put a limit on how much we spent on each other and they were well over so I went and defied logic by putting them on my card and lying to him about the price. He is clueless and doesn't know you will never ever pick up real Uggs for £75 ). Ah well, I have been very very good with not spending money this year and I figure I will get loads of wear out of them (listen to me justifying myself...). DP and I did ebay presents this year, he got me a playstation with all the singstar extras and lots of singstar games so many a tipsy karaoke session could be heard in the North West over the last few days. Very cheesy but loads of fun!

eh eh... I do like the idea of bookwriting... PArticularly if the job does not work out .

In any case, have a great party tonight and talk to you all in 2010!

Happy new year everyone. Back after a long latitanza due to having a full house.
MM: thank you for the gammon in coca cola recipe; it worked brilliantly - so much so that DH and I are having it again tonight for our romantic New Year's Eve a deux.
Are you in CH yet? How is it going?
Due date is 19 Jan but almost thought today might be it: woke up almost hourly during the night with BH so powerful it felt as if I had strapped a basketball to my stomach. When backache also started at 6am I thought it might be a good idea to make hot water bottle and read TENS machine instructions. Things quietened down after a bath, but DH has been galvanised into building the crib this afternoon, so we are now ready to go- so to speak.
Xmas went well - aside from ILs arriving two and a half hours early and without having had breakfast, so pushing all timings etc. Fortunately my sister was here to help and remind me to smile appropriately. Also helped me ignore the "take it easy" instructions issued by those glued to the sofa [grr]- surely it would be better to actually offer to do something rather than say "take it easy" while hiding behind the sudoku??
iPod battery now dead- must post as is and revert when recharged. Buon anno!