Merry Christmas!!!

The Cute Xmas Penguin on my new pijamas

Merry Christmas

Santa's assistant - Prep & Landing

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Andrea Bocelli

You better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout 

Coz I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town

He's making a list,
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out who's naughty and nice.
 

Santa Claus is coming to town

He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
 

You better watch out!
You better not cry
Better not pout, I'm telling you why.
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town

It's Way Too Close to Christmas to Be This Far from You - A. Tippin

This is for all those who will spend Christmas without their loved ones. 

It's a song by Aaron Tippin, and it's really romantic. 

I'm sorry but I could not find a video on the web nor was I able to share the mp3 on this blog. 

Search it or buy the CD if you can. It's really worth it.

My heart just made a wish

That all these miles would disappear
And if that wish came true
Girl I'd be there or you'd be here

But on this late December evening
Tell me what else can I do
It's way too close to Christmas
To be this far from you

I don't care if the weather never breaks
Or the size of the snow flakes
I'll do what I have to do
I'll get through
Cos it's way too close to Christmas
To be this far from you

Darlin' there's always a fire burning
Way down deep inside my heart

Drawing us together
No matter how far apart we are
No there's never any question
That this love of ours is true
It's just way too close to Christmas
To be this far from you

I don't care if the weather never breaks
Or the size of the snow flakes
I'll do what I have to do
I'll get through
Cos it's way too close to Christmas
To be this far from you

  Oh, it's way too close to Christmas
To be this far from you (x3).

Naughty or Nice?

I made my list, I checked it twice... And what did I find out?
That after a whole long afternoon elbowing my way through Milan's packed crowd, this year my list as a lot of nice people on it! Too many! I definitly went way over my budget!
At least I hope to get something back...
I've been extremely good this year!!!
So, please Santa, give me a wonderful Christmas!
I just want to have a lot of fun!

I love those J-I-N-G-L-E bells - Frank Sinatra

I love those J-I-N-G-L-E bells.
Oh, those holiday J-I-N-G-L-E bells.
Oh, those happy J-I-N-G-L-E-B-E-double L-S.
I love those J-I-N-G-L-E bells.

Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh

Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh

Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
Over the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bop tails ring
Making spirts bright
What fun it is to
Ride a sleighing song tonight

Jingle Bells
Ji, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh

I love those J-I-N-G-L-E bells.
Oh, those holiday J-I-N-G-L-E bells.
Oh, those happy J-I-N-G-L-E-B-E-double L-S.
I love those Jingle bellsssss.... all the way.

 

 

 

 

Only two days left till Christmas!

Enjoy a classic Xmas song performed by a great classic voice.

From the album A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra.

 I find the initial and final parts extremely cheerful and very 50's!!!

 

Let it Snow! - Dean Martin

Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go,
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

It doesn't show signs of stopping,
And I brought some corn for popping;
The lights are turned way down low,
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

When we finally say good night,
How I'll hate going out in the storm;
But if you really hold me tight,
All the way home I'll be warm.

The fire is slowly dying,
And, my dear, we're still good-bye-ing,
But as long as you love me so.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

 

The perfect song for a day like this! Dean Martin's version.

 

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

The other day I was searching a list of Christmas movies and specials. Among all the most famous films, I spotted this title: "Yes, Virginia". Since it was something that had to do with Christmas and it held my name, I couldn't help searching for more information. It turned out to be quite an interesting story. In the United States it is widely known, and it's part of Christmas folklore, but I've never heard of it in Italy before. So, here it is. [Do not get scared by the length, it's actually quite quick to read and certainly worth it!]

In 1897 eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon asked her father Dr. Philip O’Hanlon whether Santa Claus really existed. Dr. O’Hanlon suggested she write to The Sun, a prominent New York City newspaper at the time, assuring her that "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." 

One of the paper's editors, Francis Pharcellus Church replied, rising above the simple question, and addressing the philosophical issues behind it. Church was a war correspondent during the American Civil War, a time which saw great suffering and a corresponding lack of hope and faith in much of society.

Although the paper ran the editorial in the seventh place on the editorial page, its message was very moving to many people who read it. More than a century later it remains the most reprinted editorial ever to run in any newspaper in the English language.

Is There a Santa Claus? was the title of this editorial appearing in the September 21, 1897 edition of The Sun and it included the famous reply "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus".

Is There a Santa Claus?

We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:  

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.

"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.

"Papa says 'If you see it in The Sun it's so.'

"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

            "VIRGINIA O'HANLON

"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."                    

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. 
Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

One last thing: "Yes, Virginia" is the title of a CBS Animated Holiday Special.

A December To Remember - A. Tippin

I’ll search and find that special tree
One that looks just right
Then I’ll decorate it perfectly
Even if it takes all night
Then I’ll light the fire
Turn the lights down low
And hang up the mistletoe
And make some lasting memories
We’ll never forget

A December to remember
Always in our hearts
Spending everyday of the holidays
Wrapped up in each others arms
All I want for Christmas
Is forever to be like this
A December to remember forever more


Don’t spend a single cent
On a Christmas gift for me
Cause the thing that I want most of all
Can’t be found beneath the tree
It’s the loving look that’s in your eyes
That money could never buy
And I what I give you in return
Will last throughout the years

A December to remember
Always in our hearts
Spending everyday of the holidays
Wrapped up in each others arms
All I want for Christmas
Is forever to be like this
A December to remember forever more


And all I want for Christmas
Is forever to be like this
A December to remember forever more.

 I wanted to share with you this wonderful song by one of my favourite country artists, the great Aaron Tippin. It's not one of the traditional Christmas songs, but it conveys the same warm feeling. It's a duet, therefore it's extremely sweet listening to it with your significant other, wrapped up in each others arms. 
I think this song will be the soundtrack of many of my Christmases, starting from this one.
Its musical notes will certainly follow my most important Decembers: the first I'll spend with my boyfriend (this one!) celebrating with all my relatives, the first in what will be our wonderful house, our first Christmas as a family, as parents for many years after...
Too dreamy, as usual. But aren't songs suppose to be the shelter of all dreamers?
Every note is a like a photograph of the future: kisses under the mistletoe, presents, hot chocolates before the crackling fireplace, warm blankets, a bed just undone by jumping children excited about Santa's visit, snow, gingerbread cookies, great meals with a lot of people coming over, Christmas movies on TV, decorated Christmas trees, lights all over the town (whichever it will be)...

Happy Christmassy dreams along this song!

Let It Snow...

Oh, I'm so happy!!! So, so happy!

It's the first of December and it's snowing!!!
It's like a movie opening with the perfect soundtrack!
I start hearing Christmas songs around and streets are being filled with lights and decorations.

And, as if this was not enough to make me cheerful, I've just received wonderful news:
one of my short stories will be published!
It's a small publishing house but... Who cares?!
I'll have something published!
I'm super super excited!
This December has to be fantastic!

The Nest

Long distance relationships are tough.
At the beginning, you try to find all the positive aspects: travelling all the time to reach the other one is nice, you may be even thrilled to catch the train/bus/car/airplane/whatever in order to be with him/her; staying in another place seems like a nice change of scenery, as if you just found another home, where you sort of belong.
All in all, it's actually not so bad!
But after months, or, worse, years the thrill begins to fade.
You realize that travelling is just a waste of the time you could spend together. The other one's house is familiar, but you don't really belong there: the bed is not as comfortable as the one back at home, the bathroom is not your own, meals are at different hours and have a different taste... You just don't fit in the schedules of other people. I know, all this things are almost trivial if taken individually. But if you add them up and multiply them per years... They can be pretty boring, can't they?
And you also realize that even your home is not okay, because you do not have your loved one with you.
So what?

Well, at first you try to go on like you've always done, considering all the hustle and bustle as your routine.
 But it's incredibly tiring!
You start to resent the situation and you think about building a nest, just for you two.
But where to start?
How can you build a nest if you don't even have the twigs to put it together? Or worse, if you cannot even find the right tree to build it on?!
It really becomes a problem. But there's not much to do. You just have to endure. And you have to do it, because, if the relationship is worth it, after a lot of travelling back and forth, you'll find a place.
Maybe it will not be the perfect one right away; maybe you'll use abandoned and shaky nests before, too little or too exposed, or on the wrong tree.
But in the end, if you keep searching and if you keep storing up twigs, you'll be able to build your own, real nest, comfortable and warm, on the strongest tree and well repaired from the rest of the world.

Patriots

 

Nicely done, Pats!

Happy Thanksgiving

        

         I wish everyone a very happy                                                                          Thanksgiving!

I love brownie's edges!

Actually, I'm a real edge-lover!

Loaves, tarts, cakes and brownies... I would just cut them all around and enjoy the perfect crunchiness and crispness of their edges! I just stumbled upon a very nice discovery and I couldn't help share it with those of you who are as edge-lovers as I am: The Edge Brownie Pan!!!

I'd run in the kitchen to cook them immediately, if I had all the ingredients!!!

Anyway, you can find this curious item at Baker's Edge, where you'll also find a Simple Lasagna Pan.

Have a tasty weekend!!!

Percy Bysshe Shelley - To the Moon

To the Moon

Art thou pale for weariness

Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth,

Wandering companionless

Among the stars that have a different birth, -

And ever changing, like a joyless eye

That finds no object worth its constancy?

Halloween is Coming!!!

Halloween is coming!!!! 17 days left!!!

 Since I'll probably go to a party, I'm looking around for costumes and stuff.

On the web there are billions of ideas: costumes, recipes, crafts of every kind... I keep getting lost in all these amazing websites!

 Among many others, I discovered the Plush Team blog: full of creations of various artists. Strange, cute and colorful!

But I fell in love with Sam! Sam is a black dust kitten, little and so beautiful! I just love it! It's (actually, she is) the Plush Team October Giveaway, hosted by The Itsy Bitsy Spider, a very nice shop that you can find on Etsy.

You can participate to the October Giveaway or even buy the Dust Kitten Pattern on The Itsy Bitsy Spider website! 

It's irresistible!!!

This is a photo of the beautiful Sam! 

Good Luck with the Giveaway!!!

Welcome!!!

Hi there, World!!!!

This is the opening of my new shiny blog! 

As I already posted on my profile, I'm a girl from Italy with a lot of dreams!

I'm sorry if my English is not perfect, but I'm not an English mother tongue. I just love it so much that I couldn't help trying to use it here. (If you find errors you can point them out!) 


I'll share with you many projects and dreams and I'd like you to feel free to comment about everything. I've never had many hobbies when I was little, but now I'm always discovering new ones. 
I started knitting some months ago and I'll certainly talk about it in future posts. 
I also like cooking, especially since I found out Martha Stewart website (I cannot see her tv shows from my Country)! She is officially becoming a goddess for me!!! 
Last Saturday I made some wonderful, mouth-watering chocolate cookies with my boyfriend! I've already finished them, without even taking a picture! Next time I sure will!


I have to go now (dinner-time in Italy) but I'll catch up soon!!!