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NewsletterBlog It Forward…My Personal Inspiration
Yay! I am participating in sfgirlbybay’s blog it forward and it’s my turn to share a bit about what inspires my art, craft and musings. Thank you to tiny-ass apartment for passing the torch to me.
I am originally from Los Angeles, a total SoCal valley girl for the first 20+ years of my life. Long story short, I was ultimately driven by love to quit my soul-draining corporate job and pursue my dreams in a new land. I moved to the Tuscan hills of Italy, got married to my love and now living my dream. I design, craft and create art…and really loving my new life! Yup, I know it sounds a bit like those mushy love abroad, cliché life changing movie plots, but it’s really my life and through this blog I share it with all of you!
My experiences in this foreign environment inspires me every single day. I am constantly learning new things about the history and culture of Italian life. It’s amazingly uplifting to be presented with a different way of thinking and living. Some ideas are refreshing, others can be annoying but overall it’s an eye-opening way of living. In the end, I choose how I want to live, meshing my new learnings with my existing culture. Everything inspires me… or perhaps I should say, anything can inspire me, because it’s how I decide to interpret what I see and experience. From the landscape, to cool bikes to crafting with my 4-year old niece to random textures and patterns to the details of nature… all of it…
You can check out my Flickr stream for more random photos. I hope you enjoyed a little look into my dolce vita! Thanks for stopping by and I now pass the torch onward to two brunettes who will post tomorrow. Enjoy and be inspired – by anything!
Posted on February 22, 2010 at 9:23 am | inspiration
Hello fellow explorers and creative minds! My name is Linda, aka tortagialla - a nickname my adorable husband dubbed me meaning "yellow cake" in Italian. I'm your not-so-typical Californian girl who took the plunge and moved to the Tuscan hills of Italy. Now I'm living my dream designing, illustrating and crafting full-time. You can contact me via email linda [!at] tortagialla [!dot] com
Not cliche at all, Linda, sounds wonderful. You are very very blessed
Thank you, Carmen!
so glad you’re happy! I loved visiting Tuscany a few months ago … I can’t imagine how wonderful it must be to live there
xo
How wonderful! Yes, it’s such a lovely place to live!
Thanks 4 share n…..Love the contrast between the yellow flowers and the intense blu sky.
Thanks – that view is literally just a minute away from my home, we pass by it all the time – of course, there are sunflowers only in the summer.
What an amazing adventure! So happy for you that you are living your dream! Inspiring
Thanks so much Gretchen!
How fun to be out there truly living your dream! And probably a lot of other people’s dream too. Ah, Italy!!
Thanks…I suppose it sounds more romantic from the outside, although most times it’s just life, like any other
Beautiful pictures. How exciting to be living in Italy!
Thanks…hey, we have the same name!
yay! lovely inspiration! thanks so much for joining in, and sharing!
Thanks for starting this up and dropping by
It’s so great to live what you love, you are truly an inspiration!
I hope I can help to inspire others to GO FOR IT!
I love Tuscany. Pienza is my family’s favorite vacation spot!
Beautiful! Wonderful post
Sweet…yes, this is a great place to visit if you can!
Great post! I, like your commentors above, am so jealous of your living in Italy! I know that Italians have been living there for quite a while now (you know, a few thousand years or so!) so that it’s not necessarily as fairytale as it seems, but as a California girl myself, the chance to live in such a fabulous country still seems like a dream! Congrats for making it happen, and for a great Blog It Forward entry!
Yes, not totally fairytale…you know how there’s reality to everything. But it’s still pretty darn cool. I think we just have to take the good from everything in our lives, no matter where we live. Thanks for stopping by!
Dearest Linda, i love this post lots and thank you for being such an inspiration! Congratz on following your dream and making it happen! Gorgeous gorgeous photos! Have a lovely merry happy week and love to yoU!
Hi Jacqueline – Thank you for your kind comments and so glad to help inspire others. Hope everyone has a fabulous week and remember we can all achieve our dreams…just have to go for it!
you are living my fantasy life! I’ve always wanted to live and make art in Italy or France, walking to the market in the morning to get my bread, stopping at a cafe for coffee. That’s what life’s like, right?:)
Oh my…well, I think you can live it too…just takes some creative ways perhaps… Yes, it is very local life here, I’m totally in a small town – everyone knows everyone!
thank you so much for your little look into your dolce vita… very amazing!
I love your pictures!
cheers Bine
Thanks for stopping by…I hope to share more!
Linda! That bike! I took a photo of it last September! It’s in Siena, no?
Love this post, so much. It makes me so happy. Brings back wonderful memories and hope for living out dreams in the future. Inspiration indeed.
Yes! It’s in the old town of Siena, parked in front of a shop. I always take photos of random stuff like that, it’s so amusing to me. So funny how we took the same picture, it’s like pulling you back into those times, huh?
Thanks for visiting and so glad you got a flash of that happy memory!
I came across you blog via SFgirlbybay’s blog. I love it! How lovely that you live in Italy. Your blog is an inspiration. I will be spending my honeymoon in Italy this August. It is truly a beautiful place where I can only imagine the creative flow is non-stop!
Ciao, Natalie
Hi Natalie – Thanks for visiting. Oh, I’m sure you will have a fabulous honeymoon – congrats btw. There’s so much to do and see here, you’ll definitely be inspired.
cute pop-up cards!
Thanks Rebecca! I made those with my niece as we watch an art TV program here in Italy called Art Attack…so fun!
wow great photos, love the one with the bike:)
Thanks – yeah…I bet a lot of folks have seen that. If you ever visit the town of Siena…it’s so noticeable!
i love that bike!
Thanks! You’ll have to visit Siena!
Seriously gorgeous photos Linda!I loved learning a little more about you and what inspires you
So glad you came by for a visit, Annette! It’s fun to share and when summer rolls around I can show more greenery…it’s a bit drab now outside