Why spending euros when you can spend dollars?

As a European living in California, I have been dealing with the change of products, medications, food...

After a while, you may think I adapted to the American ways, the products, the food, and the rest, but let's be honest, I haven't completely dealt with the changes.
Food wise, I manage well, but with deodorants or medications... Not so much! Yes, I still buy my products from France, not everything, but deodorants for sure, I'm not going to ever get used to the ones in California. The medicinal part, I have been setting myself to the fact that I should stop trying to get everything from my country. It's a waste of money and time because it's costly to make the product fly over the ocean. I think that everyone who was raised around certain medications will obviously know what's good to take in certain situations, while when you come in a new country, you can't know for sure that the medication will work just like the one you have known all your life. 

I'm not entirely sure why foreigners are so determined to keep their little things up like we know you love your cereal but we have the same here as well...

I'm not complaining, but when you are used to a particular taste, it can be complex to change and get used to another one. The biggest one I had to deal with was the milk, Santa Cleopatra, I've never had to get used to something so difficult, it tastes so different that I had the hardest time to get used to the milk. Then, whenever I used to go back to my country, I couldn't really drink the milk there cause I was so used to the one in California. 
Obviously, it's more than just the milk or cereal, it's also the way you live your daily life. 

Back in my country, I used to go everywhere by walking, taking the subway, and the metro... Here, you need a car, and if you are like me afraid of driving, it can cause a little problem! The one I commonly see is how parents are always behind children when it comes to football games to go watch or to actually get involved with their school projects. In my country, don't expect your parents to come watch you all the time, they were busy doing something else. Let's be honest, I prefer the Californian way better, but then again, parents shouldn't be slaves either. The best way is to come watch your kids play, but if you really cannot, just don't come. Kids, if explained, will understand unless they are treated like kings and queens then it's a lost cause, just go watch their games! 

To end this little post, if you come from a different country, don't excuse yourself for finding everything boring, or weird, you aren't used to it all! It's different! I can only assure you that you aren't the only one is this situation. A little advice though, you should really try to find similar products from your country in California or wherever you are, you will be a lot happier. Spending Euros in America by byuing online will cost you more at the end. 

"For a foreigner, L.A. is such a big, wonderful and weird place that, until you find your niche, you feel a little bit discombobulated." - David Lyons

~ Bella

Wedding planner.... Just kidding...

Let's go back to Wednesday the 11th, 2016...

I talked about love and being a hopeless romantic. I explained how we, hopeless romantics, dream and have a picture of our wedding if it ever happens. 

So here is a little idea of what I imagined my wedding be like. Not everything will be stated as it's a long process! 

Let's start with the most important thing which is the cake... That's obviously just my opinion! 

Traditional cakes are rather boring for me and the only thing I can arrange of having is a Tiramisu. It's my favorite and I don't care what people think, I will have one at my wedding! 

The wedding will be in Fall as I LOVE fall! I'm sorry but I cannot think of a better time, not too hot nor cold and the trees are beautiful!

Not too many people as I cannot stand too big of a crowd if I invite you it's because you are a part of my life and I don't think I can make it without you there. So the invitations will be drawn by my brother, and a really sweet photo of my partner and myself will be on it... 

The flowers... 

Alright it's not my cup of tea and to be fair I ain't an expert on it either! 

An arrangement of dahlias, scabiosa, astilbe, veronicas, lisianthuses, hypericum berries, roses, dusty miller, and millet. 

The dress! 

I can only show you the one I've fallen a while ago... Italian wedding dress... 

Bridesmaid: I love navy blue, but it will be in fall so burgundy colors would be more appropriate...

For the reception, I wanted to spend it at a big garden with lanterns and candles to illuminate the night. Have a friend be the DJ or someone we knew, and not care too much about the time. I've spent a lot more time in Europe and my wedding will need to make me remember where I come from. 

I think I need to stop here, but you've got a bit of an idea about the wedding I would love to have... Little and sweet.

And hopefully, I can spend time in Italy after...

"Two souls but a single thought. Two hearts that beat as one."- John Keats

~Bella

What happened to my earphones?

Let's be honest we all lose our things, once in a while, or for some people it's all the time... We cannot lie, it is a real pain!

A week ago, my dear mother decided to help me out with the movements of furniture in my bedroom. I'm far from being strong and the help was clearly needed. I had left my earphones next to the closet, safe and sound. Next thing I know, they disappear.
This happened a few times before with magazines or just a pen or even a water bottle. But my earphones, I need them every day, so losing them isn't a fun time. A real life nightmare.

After looking around the room, nothing came up, and surely my mother, all nicely, tried to explain that she might have moved them but didn't know where she may have put them... Can't scream at her... Sadly! Two days ago, I discover them under a pile of shirts... Don't ask why they were under a bunch of shirts, I don't have any comments on the subject all I know is that they are with me, and it's all that matters...
I'm not one to lose my stuff, and if I do it's because someone managed to misplace my things! Short tempered when it comes to misplaced objects or important papers that belong to me... You can surely relate to the situation!

People don't understand messy people! When I was younger, I had the messiest room in the entire house! Don't bother trying to understand, it's a lost cause! I knew where everything was, and if somehow I managed to clean my bedroom, everything would magically disappear... I grew up from that stage, I'm less messy, a lot more organized and even though my bedroom may seem like a battle scene, just overlook the disaster of my lazy moments and move on!

I've got 5 tips if you are interested...

1. Labels!
Although this may sound very childish, labels save lots of time! Don't waste your time opening cabinets or drawers.

2. Make your bed each morning!
I know this one is annoying, and if you are not a morning person (like me), you will have a hard time, but trust me it's worth it. Your room may actually end up looking a lot neater than before.

3. Use a calendar!
This is to help you keep up a cleaning schedule, for example,
every Monday dust the room...

4. Surround yourself with organized people!
It's for your own good! Seeing how others organize themselves may help you understand how to do it yourself, and it may motivate you to have a clean house... Make it a competition on who's house looks spotless.

5. Final tip, accept the fact that you'll never be perfectly neat!
Acceptance gets you further than you may expect. Nothing is perfect, even the cleanest person will have something dirty around the house.


At the end of the day if you lose your things, don't get freaked out, you will eventually find them!

"Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most."- Mark Twain

~Bella

Do you have a twin because I technically don't have one...

Twins are either of two people closely related to or closely resembling each other...

I do have siblings, but I'm the oldest and sadly, I ain't a twin. I wish, though!

A couple weeks ago, I realized that I do have a twin, well technically nota twin but a friend that is kind of just like me, when it comes to love!
Despite the fact that I'm very angry at him, and even though, he is all the way in Italy, I cannot stop thinking how similar we are when it comes to love. 
He once told me "Chi si definisce ultimo romantico, crede nel''amore vero, quello che dura per sempre. Crede che quando ci si innamore si hanno occhi solamente per quella persona... Un amore passionale, sfrenato, portato al limite ma con una base di rispetto reciproco." 
Which pretty much roughly translate as, " Who defines the ultimate romantic, believes in true love, the one that lasts forever. He believes that when you fall in love you only have eyes for that person... A passionate love, unbridled, brought to the limit, but with a base of mutual respect." 
Now I skipped a few passage of the message because it didn't seem that important. 

He calls it the ultimate romantic while we call it the hopeless romantic. Either way, it means the same thing. I've always defined myself as a hopeless romantic, and it won't change anytime soon as I love, love itself. What it means, is it's a person who is in love with love, who believes in fairy tales and happy endings. They are defined as sentimental dreamers that spend their time thinking about spending the rest of their lives with a person. To them, it's not just about one person being loved, it's about giving and receiving love. Hopeless romantics give 100% of their time. 

They are to the person they love, and they hope for the same in return. 

My friend, who is Italian, happen to be the exact same way! Let's start by saying that we love to give and receive flowers, a box of chocolates, it may seem old style, but we love it! 
We give everything we have to the person we care and love, then we are the one to get brutally hurt. Being a hopeless romantic isn't easy at all, it usually ends in heartbreaks and disappointments. I've seen heartbreaks many times before, but the ones that are the hardest to overcome are the ones who are deeply, romantically involved! They hold on to the hope that things will get better, that love will conquer all, and overlook the truth, believe that their partner is better than they really are. Sadly, it's just a fantasy of them. 

I've been dealing with my friend and his broken heart for over a month now and trust me it's the most difficult thing to do. You can't just tell a hopeless romantic "It's over, move on, she wasn't good enough for you, you're better off without her around..." It will make it worse for them as they still hold on to that hope of something working out! Being careful around them and giving your time to try and make them happy is all you can do. They will realize what you are saying, but it does take time. I see myself in him, a lot, and it opens my eyes to the fact that hopeless romantic are meant to be with other hopeless romantics. I'm glad to have him as a friend because we can understand each other and help one another through difficult times. We know we can count on each other for little sweet messages... It's not every day that your Italian friend says, "Ricevere il tuo messaggio questa mattina è stata una delle cose più belle che mi siano capitate negli ultimi tempi..." " Receving your message this morning was one of the best things that happened in recent times."
Heartbreaks and being a hopeless romantic is one of the most difficult obstacles of life.
After being heartbroken so many times before, I bottle every bit of my feelings inside, nothing gets let out. Holding on to a hope that disappear each minute that passes by. I'm sure all my feelings are going to explode, one day, and it will be a huge disaster that I won't be able to control of. Romance... Such a beautiful and terrifying thing. 

Quick note, don't think we don't have any issues, here's some that only hopeless romantics have to deal with once in their lives. 
1. Santa, Cleopatra, we give ourselves completely to the other person and give 100% of what we have to the relationship! 
2. We wear our heart on our sleeves, we give it too easily and so openly that it gets broken in an instant! 
3. If someone says something cute, romantic or cheesy, it stays with us for the rest of our lives. We don't forget what you have said, it's still in our mind! Watch out we might bring it up to you. 
4. We already know what our wedding will be like! Yes, we have been thinking about it, and us, girls already looked for a wedding dress... 

See we've got issues :P 

Don't try to change or destroy a hopeless romantic. Let them be who they are, but don't try and change yourself either, if you aren't a romantic, just don't it push! 

"I will always be the hopeless romantic, more often pathetic than heroic."- Chris Lowell

~Bella

"Non me somiglia pe' niente!"

Everyone watches movies, but how many of you have you heard of Johnny Stecchino or Johnny Toothpick?

I've watched Johnny Stecchino three weeks ago after looking for a mafia movie in Italian and I came across this one. A funny movie as you can assume, but an Italian comedy around the mafia and a farce. I've never laughed this much in a long time while watching a comedy! It grew under my skin, I cannot stop watching it, falling asleep on it, cannot get enough of it... 

The story takes place in Palermo where a mafia boss wants to kill a rat that came from New York. A kindhearted but a cute idiot who likes to steal bananas will be passed off for the snitch of New York hiding away from the mafia. 

Roberto Benigni plays the role of the snitch as well as the  kindhearted idiot. I must say he plays both roles well enough for us to believe he has a twin brother. Two personalities and two different jobs.  One in the mafia, the other a school bus driver who has a friend a disabled person.

My favorite scenes... I cannot reveal them, not unless you watch the movie. I will give away the best part of the movie...

What I find clever about this movie is that they have two plots, one who is based on drugs and mafia, while the other thinks everything surrounding him and stealing bananas, which then later on really believe that it's a horrible crime in Palermo. You could believe both stories because they are so well represented. The movie might be a little old as it from 1991 (Italy), it is a must watch movie! You cannot just let this movie pass you by. I only watch it in Italian but I'm sure subtitles in English exist or an English version if you don't understand Italian at all.

As one of my favorite actor, right after Robert DeNiro, I can only be impressed by how captivating his performance is in this movie, just like in everyone he is in.

Don't be fooled by the humor, every country as its own, so don't expect to laugh at it if you don't understand what's funny. Or you might end up like me, loving the movie and keeping a few quotes in your head. I can thank this movie, now I say "Santa Cleopatra" instead of "OMG"...

"My duty is to try to reach beauty. Cinema is emotion. When you laugh you cry." - Roberto Benigni

~Bella

Oh what's that there? .... Just a kid....

I think I can say that we all kind of babysat someone once in our life, a sibling or friend's kids... But how many of you can certify that the kids love you? 

Let me give you my experience... 
My mother's friend has two young boys, and I've known them since their birth. One is around 2 and the other 8, different ages, different personalities, and different taste in movies, food (except when it comes to popcorn, let's be honest we all have the same taste)...

I've been helping out a lot for the past year or two, coming by, babysitting them when needed. I've learned so much from them, it's crazy! Between the diapers, the baths, movie moments, dancing around, building forts, reading (mostly describing the drawings), the cooking, the lullabies at night time, the cuddles and kisses, but also the fights, the arguments on who is better at making popcorn, or just having a time out (they do get punished sometimes). 
Watching kids isn't just about playing, it's about being there for them. They can come to you and talk about anything without worrying about you spilling out to their parents. It's also great training if you want kids of your own...

For the past year or two, I learned that kids are rather easy when you know how to talk to them without any pressure. It must come naturally, they might be kids but they are far from being stupid. They test you, try to know how far you will go, just remember you are older and deserve the respect just like you have to give them respect. You are like a role model to them... You have to show you can be fun, loving, affectionate, understandable but also strict and that they can't control you. Yes, they tend to do so the first couple times, but then again it can be a quick passage. 
My little monsters are quite the monsters, energetic ones that can't get enough of running around, but also have these moments where they just want some cuddles. 
I know those two have crushes... Who could resist me?! Just kidding. But honestly, when they scream your name when they see you coming through the door or say I love you before anyone else, or prefers to have you than anyone else... Or make an exception when it comes to hugging or giving you a kiss... When they both trap you down on the bed until they fall asleep... Or when they lay down on you just to make sure you wouldn't move away from the movie...  It cannot get better than this.

I've always loved kids, always loved to be protective of them, and to be honest they bring out the joy that you may not have in your life. They are the ones that will keep you occupied from everything else that is happening in your life, keep you away from thinking negatively... I'm young, yet I would love to be a mother soon-ish... Let's be honest, I already act like a mother to people and can't get enough of their cuteness...! 

"That sweet feeling when a little kid yells your name, runs up, and hugs your legs."

~Bella

Mother's day is Sunday, don't miss it...

If you don't remember, Mother's day in many countries is Sunday... Don't remember to give your mother a little something. 

I know it's not Sunday yet, but it's better to be remembered what Sunday is... May 8th, 2016, Mother's day. 

Mother's day is as we all know the day we give thanks to mothers for everything they are doing for us. Let's not forget the difficulties they had and have to overcome since our birth. Mothers are strong, but don't forget that underneath the hard shell, they just want you to realize what they have been doing for you. Before being mothers they are women, and sometimes people forget that. Not every mother is perfect, far from it, but they have been trying the best they can to raise you since your birth, from feeding you, changing your diapers, teaching you how to walk, how to talk, to giving you money to go watch a movie with your friends downtown. 
Mother's day is celebrated in more than 46 countries in the world, different tradition, but with the same purpose, giving a day just for mothers. 
This day is to honor mothers, to give them to the opportunity to be thanked for everything they do. 
For example in Ireland and other countries, people present flowers and cards to their mothers to express love and gratitude. In New Zealand, they celebrate on the second Sunday in May. Mother's day in Spain is celebrated on December 8th, they pay tributes to their own mother but also the Virgin Mary.
In my family, we give her cards, flowers, we offer our help around the house, make her dinner or just go out to celebrate. I've learned that spending your own time for your mother is one of the greatest gift out there with obviously an enormous hugs, kiss while thanking her for what she has been doing since you appeared on this Earth.


Two days ago I went to the Bree'Osh and came across several shaped in heart pastries called "Palmier". Nothing like brioches, but just as delicious! 
There's nothing better than spending a little precious moment with your mother and eating a little twist of fantasy. If you don't know what to do or give to your mother on Sunday, I suggest you come by the little coffee place on 1150 Coast Village Road, Suite E, Santa Barbara, 93108, CA, have a little breakfast or lunch with a little coffee or tea. 

Nelly and Pierre don't just have sweet brioches, but also salty ones that I can for a fact say are as yummy as the sweet ones. Don't be afraid to try something new, and don't forget that your mother won't mind having a little away time in a cozy little place. 



Don't forget Sunday, don't forget to give your mother a little something, spend time... 

"My mother is a walking miracle." ~ Leonardo DiCaprio

~Bella