Happy Easter

As I may have mentioned once or twice, we're flying out to Pisa tomorrow for a week in Tuscany and Florence. Excited! 

I always feel a bit overwhelmed actually being in places you've spent your life dreaming/thinking about (a room full of Rothkos in Los Angeles, the Colosseum in Rome, the Grand Canyon, the Pyramids in Cairo, Venice, New York, Paris...), so haven't done much in the way of planning, but I have the feeling there will be pleasure at every turn.

We decided today would be our official spring cleaning day, and I'm pretty exhausted actually, and still to pack (leaving the house at an ungodly 3:30am). But there is an amazing sense of... something... after a huge clean and overhaul - achievement definitely, freshness of mind and spirit, a clearer awareness of the space you spend so much time in, and its potential to effect your mood and state of mind. It's definitely a good thing to do once in a while!

In brief, here's what we did today:

- four loads of washing - whites, colours, towels and bedding. So fresh and so clean!

- vacuumed then mopped the floors

- took my chaotic and enormous box of make-up, skincare etc and sorted it into favourites for the window ledge (now bedecked with tiny armies of Chanel nail polish and MAC lipsticks and a jewellery pile as big as a dragon's treasure horde), a box for the bits I use every day, and a box for the other bits. (You don't know how good this feels, no more rummaging through dusty bottles, tubes and pots)

- dusted every surface, nook and cranny

- burnt three Red Cedar incense cones from Labour And Wait

- hung a print we bought at the Bauhaus Museum in Berlin about eight months ago
- tried to use some Italian words and phrases in coversation (do 'pizza' and 'pasta' count?)

- downloaded classic Tuscany/Florence novels The English Patient, Romola and A Room With A View to my Kindle

- ate happy bacon and eggs, one Lindt gold bunny, huge cheese and tomato sandwiches in olive bread, a bowl of popcorn

- drank two coffees, two teas, three waters and right now a glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc

And currently:

- attempting an Easter chicken dinner inspired by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's recipe for 'Hot Cross Chicken', with dried fruit, spices and citrus zest

- laying out clothes and shoes for packing

- working towards the bottom of the wine bottle

- listening to Crowded House, Split Enz, Johnny Cash, Bat For Lashes, Nirvana, Mountain Man

Will try to post from Italy, stay tuned.

Happy Easter!

x