Balsamico Tradizionale

Finally did it - bought the 12 year aged Balsamico Tradizionale (it was on sale for once, and Mag approved the big ticket item!) and I have 4 words to say after serving it with both vanilla ice cream and salad:

IT WAS WORTH IT!

YUMMMMMY!

One Superwoman!

Sometimes I do wonder how I got this lucky! No doubt we live a comfortable life in China with all the help that's available to us here thanks to the culture of commonly having helpers in the house (we foreigners are no doubt quick to hire them too upon arriving in China...). But it goes beyond that. I absolutely adore my Ayi Ms. Yi (the exact translation of Ayi is Aunt, so I'm an Ayi to my Ayi's daughter, but most people refer to their domestic helper as an "Ayi") and she's bailed me out more times than I can remember at this point.

The other day she and I were working in the garage trying to find some lost wedding pictures we can't find after the move. I wasn't very careful while moving around boxes and I completely ruined my favorite beautiful expensive Tory Burch sweater given to me this summer by my sister (which reminds me - ouch, I was supposed to buy her a replacement one online... will do this week, Sorry Sig!). It looked like something a wild cat had attacked with snags and threads pulled everwhere. I simply couldn't believe it, it looked terrible and there was no way it was wearable the way it looked!

I was ready to throw it in the garbage when Ms. Yi saw my puppy eyes nearly filling up with tears as I confirmed the fact - completely ruined! As usual, she quietly told me she would look at it and see what she could do. Thread and needle in hand she sat down with the sweater the next day for 2-3 hours and handed it over to me in the afternoon - like new! I know how to fix snags and small pulls in a knitted sweater but the damage on this one was just too great...! As usual, Ms. Yi did the impossible like so many times before. Amazing!

Here's a picture of the now fixed infamous sweater after hours of work and a fresh wash...

Lunch at Gronkulla!

Today I hosted a little lunch at home for some wonderful women I met during Emmy's music class last spring. We had a great time and chatted up a storm while enjoying some salad, quiche and blueberry cake. A good ole' time and as always, we shared many great pieces of advice for us tai-tais to survive the Shanghai jungle!

It's a first!!

Inspired by a younger boy, I grabbed Max bicycle in the garage, dusted it off and removed his support wheels...and guess what - he took off fast! It didn't take long before Max was the most confident guy on a bicycle! So exciting!! It feels like a mile stone each time something big like this happens and this year has been full of them - learning how to swim, to bike, to read (a little) and just growing up a lot! Now we just have to see if we can get our dear son to sleep through the night in his own bed....now, that would be a big first!! :-)

Cheers!


Lovisa

Bicycles!

So we finally bought some bicycles - we must be the last people in China to get ourselves this mode of transportation used by m i l l i o n s of locals but also expats around town. It's simply one of the easiest ways to get around town and we're now proud owners of 2 new ones. I ended up with an older updated version of the trendy Trek Calypso style with a h u g e comfortable seat (a welcomed cushion :-) while Magnus went for the speedy and exercise style Mountain bike.

We also got a wagon for the kids so I can take them both to school which is really cool. They love sitting in the back seeing all the fun things you see while bicycling instead of driving. It takes us only 18 minutes to school! Great stuff!

MOVED IN!

We're finally moved into our new house in JinQiao area of Pudong! We absolutely love the house and the move has been smooth sailing from beginning to end - with a single coffe cup ear broken out of a total of 340 boxes and packages, I think we can call ourselves lucky...

The house was so much better than we first remembered it and it feels wonderful to finally be in it and so much closer to civilisation. It now takes us all 4 minutes to school (we even found a new secret road making it quicker!) and Magnus is enjoying a short ride to work too. The morning rush is gone and the tireless waiting at dinner time due to traffic as well. I could only explain this little retreat with two words - peace and happiness!

Here are a few pictures of our new pad and more to come once I've put some finishing touches in the rest of the rooms :-)

Come and visit us ANY time!!

PICS of new house here.

Lovisa