A brief tour in the magical Tuscany ;)

Good evening everyone!

University has oficially begun and I haven't much time to write here anymore...ah, life. ;)

BUT! :) ...I have to make you see something beautiful today! I just came back from a few days away, and I chose Tuscany as my destination: I visited a bit of Florence, Pisa and Lucca (in occasion of the well-known Lucca Comics&Games, our Italian Comicon!) (...and yes, I am a little nerdy ;) )

 I'll just leave here a few photos, maybe one day, when I have some more time, I'll tell you something about these wonderful cities ;)

[I just had a brilliant idea! If you may want to know something about those cities or the region in general, from the tourist point of view, for example, you can just leave a comment down there and I'll make a new post about it!]

Meanwhile...enjoy! A big hug to everyone ;)

Varicoloured

 Florence's Piazza Santa Maria Novella! (It's all so huge... ;) )

Some pictures of Florence from above Giotto's bell tower!

                                                               Sunset on the facade!

                                  The romantic Arno river with the famous "Ponte Vecchio" :)

 ...and Pisa, with its well-known tower!

 Pisa's Cathedral....

..and the river Arno seen from Pisa, at sunset!

I received an award! :D

Hi everyone!
First, I am going to say sorry for having been away for all this time. University strikes again! :(
Today I'm passing here and...what I find? My favourite blogger, Ulla Susimetsa, had just given me this award! I thank her a lot while recommending all of you to read her fabolous blog, "Wrestles with words"!!

Here is my prize!

 The award comes with some questions I have to answer to, so it is with great pleasure that I'm doing it!

1. What's your favourite book?

Well, it's hard to choose one...but I think my favourite book is "The Great Gatsby", by F.S.Fitzgerald. I really don't know why it fascinates me so much, maybe because I was in trouble with love the first time I read it...:)

2. Your favourite lyrics?

My favourite lyrics of all time are those of "Wish you were here" by Pink Floyd. For various (obvious?) reasons.

3. If you could meet a historical figure (anyone!), who would that be?

Woah, that's hard! I think I'd met Alexander the Great, who, I think, had a great personality basing this thought on which he did apart from war. For quite the same reasons I'd really want to discuss with Socrates or Dante Alighieri. (...very different people, uh?)

4. Your favourite season?

I think it's Spring. Not too cold, nor too hot...and smells of rebirth, every single time! Even in my melancholic days I'd answer Autumn all the way.

5. What are you afraid of?

The dark. I am afraid of darkness, just like a child!

6. Your greatest strength?

My ability to pass through hard times without losing my mind.

7. Your biggest vice?

I can be an excellent liar, if I want to. (But that happens very few times, because most of all I am a kind person :) )

8. Would you want to live forever? Why/Why not?

Definitely not. I prefer living only once with the ones I love, then seeing all my loved ones dying in front of my eyes. I can't stand death!

9. What's your favourite word/expression?

"8/8 m8!" It's such a nerdy thing but I use it often while talking to with my brother (he taught me that) and my boyfriend, for expressing approval and rate things of all genre lol

10. The tastiest food you've ever eaten?

Definitely the Lasagna (I am Italian, so...) when my wonderful grandma made it, I think she added some secret ingredients! :)

11. If you were to invent a time machine, where would you go and why? (And what would you do and how long would you stay and who/what would you take with you and...)

Humm...I'd go back to the evening I celebrated my 18th birthday, the last I had with both my grandparents...and I would hug them more than I did then and never let them go, because I miss them like crazy. And I wish my boyfriend was there too, just to introduce him to my wonderful grandpa and granny, whom he was never able to meet.

So it is finished! :) I really wanted to pass the award on to some other bloggers with less than 200 members...but I don't know any! So, if you are reading it, and have all the requisites said above, feel free to accept this award and answer to the questions I wrote for you!

You just have to add the picture of the award to your post and mention the blog where you got it, and then you can pass the award to anyone (< 200 members!) you want to, creating some questions for them :)

My questions to you are:

1. What word describes you best?

2. What's your favourite music genre?

3. Do you prefer staying at home watching the rain from the window or go out and sing in the rain?

4. What is the book/movie you recognize yourself into? (Maybe you feel very similar to a character...)

5. Do you have a favourite food?

6. Do you read a lot? If yes, who's your favourite author?

7. Are you a sporty type?

8. Do you like reading/writing poetry?

If you are going to answer them be sure to leave a comment down here, so I can read and get to know you! :)

Thanks, and a big hug! :)

Varicoloured 

My personal Color Clutch! #DIYstuff

  Hi everyone! 

As promised, (sorry I'm a little late!) here I am with my first DIY: it isn’t perfectly finished but it was the best I succeeded in doing!

It is a remaking of the famous Color Clutch, the nail-polish container which occupies very little space and stores all your polishes in a very little space and upright, displaying all your colours at once! :)

...the semi-final result! (not                                                                                                                   decorated yet)

 You can find the original one, if you may want to buy it, here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/khc/color-clutch-compact-nail-polish-storage?ref=video

The idea of recreating it myself started when I found an old earphones box, which was perfect for making my own Color Clutch, since it had a transparent plastic side that allowed me to see what was in the box without opening it.
You can create your Color Clutch box by cutting away one side of a random box and substitute it with a transparent layer of your choice, for example with cling film!
Therefore, I went buying some foam rubber, in order to cut in it some little rectangular forms to put my nail polishes into, and, after taking some measurements…there it was! My Color Clutch was ready!

 Up here you can see the foam I cut my "rectangular" shapes...

All the measurements, and the number of nail polishes that will be included in the box, depend on the dimensions of your box and of polishes: for example, I had to layer two pieces of foam (which were, as my polishes, 3 centimetres thick) in order to fill up my box, which is 7 centimetres thick!

It isn’t perfectly cut, I know: I hadn’t cut any piece of foam before! I tried with some scissors and with a box cutter, but it is totally unprofessional ;) I’m sure you can do better, I only wanted it to work, and it does, even if it is not so beautiful to see ;)

You can also decorate the box as you want: since it can be easily put on a bookshelf, it may become a very singular design piece! I haven’t done it yet, so my photos show an incomplete work ;)

There it is! I hope you like it as much as I do, since it is SO much useful!

Hugs and kisses, 
Varicoloured

Back from my holiday! :) #newsincoming

Hi everyone!

I just got back from my 10-days holiday here in Italy, where I mostly studied (university exams incoming!) and saw very many beautiful places (almost everything you can see in the Northern part of my beautiful country) some of those you can see in the pics below ;)

 A pic of the sky we were under while travelling towards the train station....

 ...and what we saw from our train: we're heading to the lake!

 Lake Garda in the distance ;)

An actual phaenomenon of diffraction called...ok, I can't remember but it is ;) And Lazise's ancient walls, on Garda lake :)

 Lazise's harbour ;)

 The majestical Verona (above and under)

And a little pic from the (mostly rainy) few days I spent by Lake Maggiore & in the mountains...

...just before returning in Milan! (and its Duomo ;) )

...and I can continue with another thousand photos!

It was a wonderful experience, as I love travelling no matter how, where, when...

However, I was here to announce another couple of things: I will very soon publish two fabulous and SO very useful DIY objects for you I managed to on rainy days! J And they (SPOILER!) are both regarding beauty objects, as I’m trying to tidy up&organize the gigantic mess I call: bedroom ;)

If you think you may like it just be sure to stay tuned here, in a few days my exams will be over and I'll be a person again! ahahah jk ;)

A huge hug to all of you! :)

Varicoloured

Let's go on holiday! #part 2 #packinghacks

Here I am, guys!

I'm so sorry I wasn't able to publish this second part yesterday, as I promised you.
But here we are now, and we can continue with our holiday hacks!

[Oh, if you missed it, here you can find the first part :) http://varicolouredlife.blogspot.it/2015/08/lets-go-on-holiday-packinghacks.html]

3. The right dimension: No, we are not only talking about that of the luggage, which you must check if you planned to take a plane! If you really want to pack carefully and wittily, your key word is small.
You must have heard about "travel sizes": well, it's time to go travel-shopping! Besides little packages of shampoos, body lotions, make up, shaving foams etc. in shops you can also look for travel-sized hair-driers (I actually have one, it's by Philips and I found very easy to put it into any luggage, even the fullest, because of its bendable handle and the very practical silky sack in which it is sold!), or hair curlier or straightener if you may need them. Another must have for you is microfiber bathrobe and towels: they take such a little space and dry superfast! Say goodbye to humid everything in your suitcase :)
More little the things, lower the weight, wider the space you have for clothes or souvenirs!

4. and last, How many of...: This point shall be connected with point 1, the list. In fact, all of us always face the same problem, when departing, especially if we're leaving for a not very well known place: how many T-shirts/trousers/sweatshirts/blouses/eccecc should we bring with us?
I always suggest bringing the less clothes possible (e.g. one T-shirt per day, one pair of trousers per 2 days, one sweatshirt per 2/3 days depending on the temperature of destination/season of the year, of course one underwear set per day etc...) so that you leave with some space in your luggage, just in case the weather at destination is quite different from what you expected and you can buy something while staying there...but it is all based on you. My advice here is: follow your normal habits when facing a weather similar to that of your destination, and pack consequently :)

Again, THANK YOU for being here and reading, I really hope this will help somebody!
Also, if you have ANY suggestion or would leave me any comment down here...do it, I'll be the happiest girl alive :)

A big hug and..have a nice holiday! :)
Varicoloured

Let's go on holiday! #packinghacks

Good evening guys!
I'm going to go away for a few weeks! On holiday, finally! :)
I am superexcited, I'll be away with a few friends, touring around Italy (the northern part), so I'll see you (ok, write you) again after Sept. 18th :)

So, why am I writing this to you?
Well, you have to know I freakin' LOVE packing for holidays. Organizing is definitely my thing. Since I know it is quite a rare gift among people ( ;) ), I'll leave here just a few things you have to know about packing! Let's start!

1. The list: First thing's first, you have to write down all the stuff you'll have to put into your luggage. It'll be easier to organize everything without leaving anything out: that means no more fear when it's too late to add things in! (see: when you just sat on your plane/train/you are 2389150 kilometers away from home jet)
If you may like it, I'll write a sort of must-have list for men/women in another post, just let me know in the comments! ;)

2. Packing tight: You have to be very very very careful in putting your belongings into the luggage: every single space must be filled with something! Put the heaviest/bulky clothes first, on the bottom of your open luggage, then go on with the lighter ones and so on, layering them one above the other, in the "plainest" way possible. Eventually fill all the little spaces with socks and underwear :) On the top you can put your beauty-case and other non-clothing stuff, but only if it's not good to fill little spaces: in fact, flip flops are, for example, fabolous to put near the "walls" of your luggage, if there's some space left!

Wow, so..I was writing and it became SO late! I think I will continue writing hacks for you tomorrow ;) Have a stay and wait for the #secondpart incoming!

Thank you all, guys, see you very soon :)
Varicoloured

Let's cook: Nutella mug cake(s)! #snacktime

Good afternoon everyone! :)

How are you? :)

Today I was so sick of studying I decided to gift myself with a little sweet treat: the famous mug cake! 

It is very fast to make and bake, and you can do it without using the oven: life is sweet now, uh? ;)

As you know, I live in Nutella's homeland, so I decided to pay homage to it! Moreover, Nutella already contains lots of oil and sugar, this allows us to use very few ingredients.

If you want to try it yourself..let's get started!

 This is one of mine, not decorated ;)

This recipe is enough for two mugs, but you can easily halve it if you are making it all for yourself ;)

We need:

-2 standard mugs

-1 egg

-flour: 4 full tablespoons

-Nutella: 6 full  tablespoons

-baking powder: 5 grams

-milk: 4 tablespoons

-something to decor them ;) (powdered sugar, sugar confetti...)

Mix everything in a mug until it's all well blended, then pour some mixture in the other mug until they are equally full. Now leave them for a minute or two (maximum) in the microwave, decore it and..eat it while hot! (but not too hot ;) )

And that's the other I did with this recipe, for my brother ;)

Trust me, they may be not so "cute" to see, but way so good to eat! :D

A sweet hug :)

Varicolored

Let's cook: Pancakes! #breakfastedition

Hi everyone!
As you all know (or maybe not) I love cooking, especially for the ones I love.
This has brought me to wake up at 7 a.m. today (I remark, 7 a.m. on a SATURDAY MORNING. It's like a HUGE sacrifice for me) just trying to make some pancakes (for the first time!) for my family's breakfast :) Aaaand I did it!

Uh, by the way, that's from my Instagram: miriamjaymes :)

So, here's the recipe I used if you ever want to try it and never did before ;)

(this makes more or less 8 pancakes)

Flour: 125 grams (1 cup)

Eggs: 2

Sugar: 15 grams (2 tbsp)

Butter: 25 grams (1/8 cup butter)

Milk: 200 ml 

Salt: a little bit, as you like

Baking powder: 6 grams (1 tsp)

Maple syrup, whipped cream, ice cream, fruit, powered sugar or any-kinda-thing you may want to pour on them ;)

I made it easy: I separated the yolk from the white of the eggs and whisked them with a little bit of salt (tip: a little salt really helps the whites growing!), while I put the yolks and all the other ingredients in a bowl, mixing them together until the whole thing was smooth. Then I gently incorporated the whites in the bow. I prepared a nonstick pan covering its cooking-surface with little butter and cooked my pancakes under a middle-high flame, until they were golden-ish ;)

Served them, garnished them and ATE THEM ALL. :D

They were super yummy, my family guarantees it! ;)

Kisses and everything, 

Varicoloured

p.s. Please let me know if you try them, I am veeery curious to know! ;)

Varicoloured..what? ;)

Hello, Bloggers! 

So, seems I'm going to introduce myself here in this huge world..let's start!

Who am I? What am I going to do? 

I am an Italian, twenty-year-old girl, who wants to share his life with someone, but has very little time to do it, and very few people knowing about her super-various interests: so I'll try to make them all fit in here, sharing them with you! That's why this little space (mine, yours...ours!) is called Varicoloured :)

And..why am I writing in English?

Well, this is my favourite language. Moreover, I'm sure it's much more spread than Italian: in this way more of you will be able to understand me! But I promise I'll write something in Italian too ;)

Varicoloured..what?

Here you'll find pretty much everything: recipes and cooking stuff, mostly life hacks, fashion everything, artistic DIY's (just saying, I'm quite good at printing-making T-shirts, photos soon ;) )..

That's pretty much all, folks, stay tuned for everything if you may like it ;) 

Hugs and kisses,

the Varicoloured girl.