Coyote Alert!

We regulary receive updates about the community via mail and the other day we received a mail informing us about the increased coyote activity..NOT good. It recently killed a little yorkie and there will be some information meetings coming up. I have only seen one around here and  that was from my car, don't particulary fancy bumping into one on the street, you just never now...

Borrowed this picture from the internet. Creatures like this one, in addition to mountain lions, rattle snakes...and who knows ehat else make me not wanting to go hiking here. Look so sweet but imagine one if these just snapping away your dog or cat in front of you?

Super Sunday

We are truly melting. Sixth week on the rown with 30 degrees plus. Phew. All I want is a cloudy day, some rain or a breeze so I can duccle up on the sofa under one of my super soft Swedish blankets with a cup of tea. And light some candles. Just once. Instead, we are getting toasted outside every day now. It is even too hot to go to the pool.

Had to go to the doc this morning - yep, the paeditrician is open 7 days a week and we had another check up this morning. We had the first available appointment at 9 am, still we had to wait an hour to see the doc. She wasn´t even in the office when we arrived. Sigh. Got another diagnose. We have moved on from croup cough to broncholities and now ear infection. $ 300 in medicin within a few days. Sigh.

                    This is how impatient Emily was after waiting for the doctor for nearly one hour.

Luckily she is no longer contagious and we could go to Zac's birthday party this afternoon. Fun in the park!

Dinner tonight: beef enchiladas! Bought some fresh salsa at the new Whole Foods in Newport Beach. I really love Whole Foods but this branch was a bit of a pain. What were they thinking? Such a stupid design of the shop which made it difficult to move around, it felt really narrow and crowded.

Now the real super Sunday starts and we are not talking football here - series series series.
Good wife starting its fourth season, Homeland starting its second season, Revenge starting its second seasom, Hells on Wheels still going strong and there is a new series kicking off - the much hyped 666 Park Avenue. And of course, Being Liverpool is on too. All getting recorded so we have something to watch during the week. Currently the favourite is Sons of Anarchy. Wow, the last season has started strongly, last episode was so brilliant it took us a few minutes to get back to reality. Phew!

Healthcare

A big topic here in the US is healthcare. Whether or not health insurance should be mandatory and the cost of it. My two cent? Well, anyone should be able to get coverage, and yes, it should be affordable and the way to affordable healthcare is most likely by making it mandatory. Sometimes I hear people complain about the cost, saying they pay $ 200 a month for their insurance. Well sweethearts, I paid around 600 euro for mine in Germany. A month. That was not the private option but the general, mandatory one. So as you might understand, my sympathy is prettylow. Of course, I did not have to co pay anything, only certain things at the dentist such as cleaning etc, medicin (but we are talking German prices here!) were excluded. Generally that gave me a good coverage.  The crazy thing here is the prices. OMG. We pay in advance sometimes and then claim it back from the insurance company and oh boy, do they do know how to charge here. $ 250 for a filling at the dentist, $ 1200 for a crown, $ 20 000 for giving birth.  $ 250 for a scan (I paid $ 100 at the OB GYN in Germany). It is a little kime the wild west. Bargain bargain bargain. If you pay cash, ask for the cash price and the amount will drop significantly. Nuts nuts nuts. Of course, this side of healthcare is outrageous. Did you know that before Obamacare, in some states such as CA the insurance companies could deny you coverage if you had had an addiction in the past? Crazy! Another good thing with Obamacare is that now food chains with at least 50 restaurants have to show the amount of calories on their menu. Do you know how many times I did not pick the salad after checking the calories? Wholy guacamole, most typical American salads contain at least 1000 calories!!!

Yesterday I went to the chemist's to pick up some medicin for Emily, she has a bit of a cold. Total cost? $ 240. Now I could dedicate a whole post solely about chemists here. My experience from Germany is as following: you hand your prescription in, you get your precribed tablets in the box. Original box. Done deal within 2 minutes. Sometimes it needs to be ordered, but then you can pick it up within the hour. The assistant at the chemist will give you some facts about the product and the box will contain any information you need such as side affects etc. Now to the US version: you have to wait until they fill up a little plastic container with your pills. Average time? Depends how buys they are and where you go. But the container doesn't come with much detailed information. Nor does the clerk in 99% of the cases (my experience) know anything about side affects etc. Now, yesterday I picked up some medicin for Emily, when I got home, I realised the top of the bottle had not been put on properly so most of its content had leaked into the plastic bag I luckily had wrapped around it. I phoned the chemist up and complained and drove back down there. 30 min drive, one direction. I did not get one apology, nor did they refill the bottle.  "It was enough for what the doctor had prescribed". You're joking right? I pay full price and receive a tenth of it? So next time she needs it, I can go ahead and fork out the $ 20 again. Consumer rights anyone?

                                                                      

The chemist located in the same building as the paediatrician sells a lot of other things than just drugs.....

Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday we went to Orange County zoo and  by coincidence, there was a also a pumpkin patch going on. Being a complete alien to these things, I assume it means, "pimpkin festival or event"? Either way, I decided to buy my very first pumpkin. Not too big, and I did ask the lady selling them if I could buy one already carved. You know the answer, right. No. At least I tried! I was told to wait until some days before Halloween, so patiently I will. Any ideas how to carve a pumpkin?

                                                                      My cute little pumkin

                                                                    Guess the weight?

              I tried to point which size of pumpkin I wanted but oh no, I had to go and pick one myself.

Happy Tuesday everyone! I think it is finally cooling down a little. Wish me a little rain so I can have some tea, biscuits, light some candles and cuddle up under me blanket on the couch!

Bella Italia - Shopping

While I may not be the biggest fan of Italian food - even if we had some delicious stuff last week, it is a little too much dough for me - I LOVED the shopping. Such an elegance, the bags, the shoes.wowowow.
I wasn´t too impressed by Florence, too many tourists and the shops were mainly Louis Vitton, Guess etc. but a visit to the outlet malls nearby made  huge impression. We first drove to Barberino, about 20 minutes north of Florence. It is like a Tanger Outlet in the US, mainstream. But what a difference. The shops were like the shops in any normal mall, they even had my favourite Coccinelle. So much better than the shop I used to visit in Cologne! Whereas clothes in the US often can be a little baggy, they were perhaps a little petite here at times but ahh. Ladies, if you need some handbags, shoes, or business attire, this is the place.

The following day we went to The Mall, about 20 minutes south of Florence. This is where you find all the big brands. Roberto Cavelli, Prada, Gucci...I went to a similar outlet in Palm Springs and I didn´t find it so much cheaper, nor did I find a lot of stuff, but here I could have spent a lot of money! And so could all the Japanese and Chinese, had it been possible to spend more than 2000 euro a week in one shop. What a luxury problem!

Finally we went to the Prada Factory Outlet, they only allow 100 people in each time so you hve to take a number and see if you are within the current "number range". It felt like a mini Macy's with just Prada. Not so fond of their clothing, but ladies, the shoes, THE SHOES.

                                                                        I want some too!

Not the best photos since it was forbidden to take pics inside and I had to take them with my iphone.

Have to admit, both me and hubby did some shopping. I am now a proud owner to my very first Prada shoes.

Bella Italia - Wedding

The reason why we went to Tuscany was of course Bea and Enzo´s wedding. It took place at Castello di Fugliano where we also spent our last three nights. A very cute little castle not far from the villa we stayed the previous nights. The advantage of the castello was that we had a small apartment instead of a hotel room. Mental note for the future when travelling with a baby; always book an apartment. SO much easier. Especially when you have a fussy babs who only eats home cooked food.

 One if the advantages of having a wedding where everyone has to travel is that the guests will spend a couple of days at the venue and this really felt like a three day wedding. Above the meat for the BBQ the noght before the wedding.

                                                                BBQ the night before the wedding

                                                                        Bride & groom

                              

                                                                 Castello di Fugliano - the venue

                                                                           Our cutiepie!

                                                           Just married and singing of joy, haha!

                                                                           Ready to mingle!

                                                                       Mingle by the pool

                                                             

 

Surprised no one fell into the pool. given that there were wuite a few kids running around

 Our first Italian wedding. There were so many courses (primi and second piatti - two of each!) we lost count, very yummy!! The wedding was a mixture of Italian and Swedish tradition, though perhaps more Swedish with lots of singing and speeches. I think I counted 10 different nationalities among the guests, this factor definitely contributed to the ease among the guests, so easy to mingle and chat to everyine.

Bella Italia - S.G & Certaldo

After the two nights in Florence we drove down to San Gimignano where we had booked ourselves into a small hotel for 4 nights. We hadn´t had time to do any research about the area and were very pleased to find out that this was a little gem. San Gimignano is an old medieval town and there is so much history surrounding it you can nearly smell it. A couple of miles east we found another little town, at first glance quite dull but then we discovered the historic centre at the top of the hill.

                                        Salami and cheese to die for. Oh cheese, how I have missed you

                                                                    San Gimignano

                                                                     Certaldo at night

                                                              Vineyards & olive trees. Fantastic views.

  

Lots of vino!

 

So quaint. Certaldo. 

                                             One of the many little restaurants we visisted-