Ebay experience ~ a bad one.

Hello everyone!!!

As it usually happens, my blog went on vacation during summer. Well, I'm happy to be back at typing and sharing again some thoughts, recipes and things going on in my life.

What I'm going to share with you today is my latest experience with Ebay. I'm sure everybody knows what Ebay is....{well, people like my Mom may not know what it is..} In very poor words, it's a website where you can sell and buy things, used or new. You can find anything! 

I've been on Ebay since 2013, you can check my profile HERE if you want. I have bought a few things at very good prices and sold some things as well. I never had any problems until last month, when I learned something really important: Be Really Careful, Don't Be Stupid. Yep, that's it.

I decided to sell my beloved phone (Samsung Note 4), because it was getting old, my battery wasn't working properly anymore. I listed it for $150 and quickly sold it! I didn't imagine it would sell that fast. To be honest I was going to change the description of my phone, as I had described it as "in great conditions" as it looked brand new. (Here comes my mistake) I was going to specify that it might have a battery problem, but someone bought it right in that moment! My heart started pumping....$150 is a lot of money, at least for me. I wrote a message to the buyer right away, explaining that there might be a problem with the phone and that I could just give him his money back right away. Well, he sounded fine with the phone not working well, that he could have bought a new battery, etc. He asked me to go ahead and send it to him.

I felt relieved and at peace with my conscience. I sent the phone and in the next couple of days I spent all the money, as I badly needed it.

A few days go by and the buyer starts complaining that the phone doesn't work , it was not as described in the listing, blah blah blah.... WHAT???? I specifically wrote to him in private and he told me to send it anyway!!!! That was my innocent and naive (or stupid) reaction. 

He wanted his money back. The problem is...... I didn't have his money anymore! {or any other money...yes, that's how we live, money comes and goes day by day, some days we have a lot, some day we have zero}. 

END OF THE STORY: Ebay held the money from my PayPal account for a couple weeks {through which my transaction was made}, so now I had a negative balance.. they waited for the buyer to send me back the phone and then collected the money straight from my bank!!!! 

That was NOT a nice surprise. Especially when you count every penny in your bank account.

True, I should have not spent that money until I was sure that the customer was happy. The problem is that I was convinced he was ok with it, as I had warned him.

It has been pretty stressful and just so you know.......the buyers on Ebay always win. I have lost because of my ignorance and ingenuity. Well, now I know and I hope never to make that mistake again. And if you are buying something and you are not happy with it, I know you'll get your money back!! But please, don't take advantage of people.

Have you had bad experience selling stuff online? I'd like to know, to learn more about this cyber world out there.

Thanks for listening!

Hugs to you,

One Year Of Silence Filled With Blessings.

One year of silence from this blog. 

One year of miracles.

The pictures below will speak for themselves.

We were extremely blessed with the conception and birth of our fifth baby.

We had the incredible opportunity to go to Italy to visit my family.

Our heart is full, giving thanks to God.

 ...drinking from a fountain in Rome.. {5 months pregnant}

 Castro, Italy.

 Enjoying a delicious meal with family and friends.

 My Love.

 Making pizzas using an old wood-burning oven.

 "Swiss-guard" at the Vatican.

 Beautiful beach at the feet of a castle.

 My sweet baby Rita, one day old.

So many stories to tell, so many things.. a little silence sometimes is good.

xoxo to you all,

October Baby ~Movie Review

I haven't written a movie review in a while.... maybe because it doesn't happen very often that I'm really touched by a movie{and I watch a lot of movies!! Thank you Netflix and RedBox!!}.

Last week I happened to see the title "October Baby" among the movie choices on Netflix and I remembered my Mom had seen it and had talked to me about it. So I decided to watch it.

I know, it's not a new movie and probably many of you have already seen it. It's the story of a young girl who finds out she was a survived aborted baby. You can imagine... a pretty dramatic story about how she tries to find her real mom, the feelings of abandonment and rejection which will eventually lead to forgiveness. At the end of the movie I couldn't help but crying!!!

I didn't know any of the actors.. and that's not the reason why I chose to watch it. I deeply believe that to abort is to kill, even if the fetus is only a few weeks old. God creates Life, and we are not the ones who decide to end the lives He gives us. Of course, many people don't know this, are misled by society, they make wrong choices... but the soul of all those babies in Heaven are praying for their Mommies, loving them and forgiving them from Up Above.

Love to you all!

Pen Pal experience

Today's post is inspired by the blog Truly Lovely... I just read about the idea of finding Pen Pals for those who are interested. It touched me right away because I grew up writing letters to pen pals. I had different ones, from different countries. I studied foreign languages basically my whole life, it was for me a great way to practice the languages I was studying, so I had a pen pal from France, 2 or 3 from United States, one from India, one from Indonesia and also one from Italy, my own country, just for fun. I met the Italian girl after a while we were writing to each-other, it was so much fun!! We spent a few days together in Florence, where she is from, I remember I had a great time.

The most amazing thing happened when I met one of the American girls I was writing to. Her name is Grace, she is from Denver, CO.. I met her first in July 1993{I was16} when I went to America for the first time in my life thanks to a pilgrimage with Pope John Paul II. She is also Catholic, I went to see her at her house after the meeting with the Pope... and then, after a month she happened to go to Italy for a trip with her Classical Orchestra.. and I went to see her again!!! After that we stopped writing to each other, for different circumstances.. but 3 years ago, after 13 years... I went to visit her in Denver, now both married and with little children. The children played together and we had fun talking about our lives, what changed throughout the years since we stopped writing to each other. Even if I don't always speak to her {sometimes via FB}, I cherish this experience in my heart.

I could say many more things... but now you understand why I love this subject!! If anybody is interested to find a pen-pal.. please link up with Kassi, from Truly Lovely. Just click on the image below.. who knows, maybe you'll find a friend that will stay in your heart for the rest of your life. :)



Love to you all!

 

xoxo,

 

A Sad little Post

It happened 3 weeks ago, something tragic that nobody would ever want to experience: the death of a young child. Matthew was only 9 years old when he was brutally killed. He was my daughter's classmate, he used to sit next to her. As soon as I heard the news my heart sank, then I felt bad for his family, his teacher and my daughter, who never ever before had to deal with such feelings. I watched closely her behaviour, to make sure she was ok.

Me and my husband decided to go to the funeral and take all our kids.. death and suffering are part of this life. We strongly believe that Matthew, innocent sweet child, is in the arms of our Heavenly Father and is now watching over his family.

It's just sad to see his desk empty now, everytime I go pick up my daughter. The good thing about it is that it reminds me how short life is, and when my time comes I hope I'm ready, standing up.

 

xoxo,

 

A Little Sweetness

It's Thursday night. Wow! Tomorrow it will be one week since my little family moved in the new apartment... Things are going great! Today I accomplished a lot!! I organized my sewing and crocheting things...and I sorted a mountain of socks!! It's incredible how socks hide everywhere.. we found socks in the couch, under the beds, the dresser, the fridge!! :) I collected all the socks I could find from the old house and today I did the job to find for each of them their "twin-brother"... it took me a while.

This past week, many things have happened.. with the mess surrounding us we even celebrated the birthday of my sweetie-pie husband!! :)) I wanted to make him a nice card, find something he needs.. in the end, among boxes to unpack and clothes to fold, the only thing I did was baking!!! and I know he loves it! We celebrated his birthday for 2 days in a row, on Sunday with the kids.. I prepared a gorgeous Black Forest Gateau. I had never done that recipe in my life.. not even tasted it... ever... but the picture on my "Tea Party Treats" lovely book was so inviting.. and it came out delicious!! It's basically a chocolate cake filled with cherry jam and whipped cream. Everything topped with a smooth and creamy chocolate ganache. mmm

The next day {the actual birthday},  while the children were in school, I made him some incredibly good Limoncello Meringue Pies.. tiny pies... just divine! I wish they were bigger!!!! The lemon cream had a hint of Limoncello {I used the one homemade by me}... I can't describe how good they were.. I just know I will make them again soon! :)

 

 My gorgeous book...

My yummi cake!..

One of my tiny Limoncello Meringue Pies :)

 

I'm getting hungry looking at these pictures.. maybe it's time for a little night-snack.. ;)

 

Hugs to you all!!!

 

xoxo,

P.S.
Welcome to my newest sponsor!!! The lovely Kayla and her adorable SHOP! You will meet her soon on my blog!!!

 



Happy to be here!!

Heyla'!!! It seems like many weeks passed since I wrote my last post.. well, it was actually 10 days ago!!! Maybe it's the longest I've been in silence.. Days are passing by so fast, I moved in a new place  3 days ago, you can imagine me surrounded by big {and small} boxes, mountains of clothes to sort, books, video-cassettes {yep, the kids watch videos.. I buy them at goodwill for 1$ each!} and many other things to organize. I'm getting there! I think this new apartment is starting to look like a home and that makes me happy.

Leaving our tiny-tiny little house was like closing a chapter of our life. We have been there for 5 years! My youngest son has lived there all his life {he's almost 4}.. :) We are going to miss many things, especially the big yard and the fruits, fresh from the trees, the birds chirping loud early in the morning, the daily chit-chatting with the mail-man... there are also many things I'm NOT going to miss.. but all I have to say is that it was time to go. God provided another place for us, which so far looks perfect and much bigger!! The kids can actually sleep in separate rooms... yes, that's how crowded we were.. the tiny house was reaaally tiny. :)

Anyways, I will be more active now!! on the blog, in my shop.... I'm also very excited to have a new Sponsor on my blog! I'll speak more about her in the future but I was just want to introduce you to Laura, from La Caseta de Paper. Adorable shop! Please check it out!!

Valentines Hearts

Big hugs to you all!!! So happy to be back...
xoxo,

 

Little Letters ♥ linkup

Hello everyone!! Today I’m going to link my post to a fun game from Emily’s post from her blog Life etc.. I read her blog everyday. You can read her instructions here. It’s basically about writing “Little Letters” to anything or anybody in your life.. you can be funny, sarcastic, serious… whatever you want! I love reading hers.. she has a lot of imagination.

I decided to try.. and these are mine:

Dear nose, I wish you weren’t like a dripping faucet right now.
Dear Coffee, I love your smell and the way you wake me up every morning.
Dear birds, thank you for testing all the tomatoes in my garden to check if they are sweet enough to be picked. Naughty birds! >:|
Dear toys, I wish I had Mary Poppins’ powers and just sing to you to put you back  in order.
Dear God, thank you for giving me the sweetest husband and kids to share my life with. There’s nothing better I could wish for.
Love, Luisa.

On an evening in... Florence!

My vacation in Denver is almost over.. soon we will head back to California. Which place do I like the most? I love both for different reasons... :) What I like about Denver is mostly the beautiful memories that I have and all the people that I love. I try to go see and spend time with everybody! Sometimes it's hard and not possible to do. This vacation I had a great time.. and every time I come to Denver I HAVE to go to eat at Parisi's.. the Italian Restaurant (100% Italian!!) located in the beautiful North-Denver, where I lived for a few years. My husband used to work there {I worked there too!} and we are still very good friends with the owner, a very nice Italian guy from Florence 

{where I was born}. 

The food is fantastic, it's like going to any restaurant in Italy.. even the atmosphere, the quality and the beauty of the environment. I really enjoy going there. Last week we had dinner at Parisi's with our friends. I took some pictures thinking I would blog about it.. of course!!!

..love Italian water... ♥

Schiacciata Bread dipped in flavorful oil... mmmmh

Our happy table!! :)

♥