Six years ago today....

..C and I had our first date. This photo was taken around that time in Granada. We look so different and have grown and changed so much since then. I was almost 24 and C was 26 at the time of this photo. Happy memories. :)

The Perfect Party Detail

Okay, girls. It's time to clear out those junk drawers and get CRAFTY. Check out these adorable accessories for wine glasses. It looks like you can just make one stop at your local Hobby Lobby or Michael's because all you need are some earring hooks, ribbon, glue, and any charm or old earring piece that matches your color scheme or party theme.
Knock the socks off your guests at your next dinner party because these wine clips are too cute for words. They are the absolute perfect hostess detail.

My Piccola Havana in Firenze

I am so pumped. Tomorrow night after we eat at the restaurant I mentioned last week that has great food but awful translations (Le Barrique), C and I are going to check out the Cuban band, Perfidia Quartet at the Jazz Club. They play classic Cuban music and sound a lot like the Buena Vista Social Club. I can't think of a better way to kick off the weeekend!

Sleezin' it to Mallorca

I just saw tickets from Milan to Mallorca on Easyjet (otherwise known as Sleezy Jet) for 50 euro A PERSON total...ROUNDTRIP! Too bad C doesn't want to take advantage of this amazing summer deal. It'd be a perfect weekend getaway in June! This is my absolute most favorite thing about living here. There are countless cheap weekend trips on Ryanair and Easyjet that you just CAN't pass up. Where else can you fly to an island in a whole other country for fifty euros roundtrip? I tried to convince him that the water is a sparkling blue, just like this pic. He doesn't want to go!
WHAT is wrong with him!???? Please try to convince my Love that he is loco for not wanting to go to la isla mas bonita en España. Grazie.

Currently Reading

I just started Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, an African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller, which describes her alternative childhood in war-torn Rhodesia, Malawi, and then Zambia. So far I'm enjoying it but am only about thirty pages in.

Bicicletting

On my bike ride on Sunday I decided to bring my camera along. I figured I might be nice to capture a few shots of Firenze. After all, we actually had sun and I was in an exploring kind of mood.

These gypsies on the river were eating. Ew.

This is a picture of a mutilated bike in my bike rack that had seen better days. It might be hard to see in the photo but someone completely took apart the frame in order to steal the front wheel. That's why I always use two locks on my bike! People are viscious when it comes to stealing bike parts!

Love vs. Hate #4

Here's another edition of my weekly (or semi-weekly) Love vs. Hate. For those of you who are new, I try to post a regular Love vs. Hate entry which describe the bello and not-so-bello things about living in Florence. So here goes. I love our Teatro Verdi. It's the theatre house of Florence and they always have some great shows! I was dying to see this show in particular "Cuba the Musical," but I think C and I have settled on the Tango show that's next month instead.

I hate the poo that's all over the streets. You can't really tell from this photo, but it's poo that's been dragged along the sidewalk either from a poor man's shoe sole or a hairy culo. If you think THIS is gross, you should be glad I didn't take a picture of a pile of fresh fecal matter, which is the REAL thing that I hate & I find more often than this dragged stuff. But there's just something really wrong with taking pictures of exrement so I won't go there. C and his friends have a theory that suggests that because there is such a large amount of poo on the city streets, it must be because every morning in Florence a poo canon is fired off! Thoughts?

Spaghetti Number Five

Ahhh, PASTA. The sheer sound of the word makes my mouth water. Ask C what I eat every day for lunch and it's always PASTA. I crave pasta and if I don't eat it for a few days I actually feel like a drug addict whose fiending for a fix. Whether it be pasta with zucchini and garlic, tomatoes, or even tuna pasta with corn and peas, I am one hundred percent in love with pasta (especially C's homemade pasta).

When I was strolling the aisles at the supermarket the other day, I came upon the pasta section. If you've ever been to an Italian grocery store, you've probably witnessed this Holy Grail of Pasta Selections. It's almost like any cereal aisle in the U.S. It's so overwhelming you just have to close your eyes and choose. Only here there are literally hundreds of types of pastas and they have to cram all of the top-sellers on the walls of these tiny supermarkets. In Italy you'll find smooth penne, "rigid" penne, ravioli-like shaped pasta of all types of color and sizes, four different kinds of fusilli, plus pasta you never even knew existed.

If you look closely at the photo above, you can see that I settled upon "spaghetti number five." What? There are even measurements of pasta? Sweet! I have no idea what "number five" signifies but I'm assuming it has to do with the size? I haven't eaten it yet but as soon as I decide if I approve of the size of "spaghetti number five" I will let you know.

More Imaginary Home Inspiration

Check out this neighborhood jewelry store's innovative way to store/sell earrings. It's basically a board with holes all over it. One day, when I have a huge closet it will be fun to arrange my jewelry like this, inside the closet. Ah. Dreaming is fun.

Baby Kate

I finally have a picture of Baby Kate. Isn't she a cutie!? I can't wait

to meet both she and Baby Graham!

Cheese and Gerber Daisies

Most girls might prefer roses and chocolate for Valentine's, but I'm not like "most" girls. For me this year it was gerber daisies and cheese!C suprised me on Love Day with gouda cheese and a semi-spicy orange cheese that Ican't remember the name of but is very similar to cheedar. What a treat! Since Italians don't produce orange cheese, getting it involves planning. Any time we make Mexican food or feel the urge for orange cheese, we make a special stop at the Dutch cheese shop L'Olandese Volante (which means the Flying Dutchman! LOL) on Via San Gallo. This is the only place we've found in Florence where you can actually buy orange cheese.

These are the gerber daisies he got me. :)

Valentine Grub

For Valentine's, I decided to make C a big dinner. I figured it was time for me to finally prepare a meal since he has made so many of our meals lately. I felt he deserved a night off!

These are all the ingredients needed (plus chicken & zucchini- they decided they didn't want to show up for the shoot and stayed in the fridge) for the meal. I made chicken parmesan, sauteed zucchini with garlic, and last but not least a key lime pie.

This was the end result of the key lime pie. I even made the crust from scratch, with Italy's version of graham crackers (biscottini), butter, and sugar. The pie was delicious, if I don't say so myself! In fact, I can't wait for seconds....er, I mean, um, thirds.

This was the chicken parmesan. (The photo makes it looks like it's burnt but it's not, I promise).

C after the meal. Ahhhh.. food coma.

This is a random photo under our "Valentine" pictures that I found that's from Valentine's Day 2004 in Dallas. Che bello! It's far from snowing in Florence. The sun is out and we are HAPPY. I hope you all had a good Valentine's! Muah.

Can we say awkward?

Did anyone see this really awkward Joaquin Phoenix interview on Letterman? I understand if Letterman was offended if Joaquin really was completely out of his mind on drugs in the interview (?) but at the same time, show the guy a little respect. In the end, Letterman's ruthless and pretty rude to him.

Just Some Stuff

~*~I have no idea why the below post is in all CAPS. I didn't write it in all caps and have tried editing it but it refuses to go away. Erghh.

~*~I am so glad it's Friday. I have no real set plans for the weekend except for drinks/aperitivo tonight at Kitch. Tomorrow and Sunday there's a chocolate festival in Fiesole, which is where C and I tied the knot. We might go check out the festival, but only if it's sunny. Speaking of which, this week there's no signs of S.A.D. It has been sunny most of the week, which has been easy on the ol' mood-erator.

~*~I'm in the process of securing my Costa Rica ticket for this August. What's funny is that I'm the only one of four people who hasn't bought a ticket already, and it's my 30th birthday celebration. Ha! Go figure. The other three people who I'm going with (C & MicKai) already have theirs. But those jerks got theirs on miles. :) Luckies.

~*~The photo above is of C (duh). I snapped this photo of him the other day as he was making our dinner. I'm so lucky to have a hubby who enjoys cooking for us. Thank you, C.

~*~Yesterday I found this awesome apartment rental on the Amalfi Coast. Anyone want to join us there in June? Divided by 4-6 people, it's extremely affordable to rent for a week! CA, SA, and AM might come. Wooh-hooh!

Showin' Some Pasta Love

Farfalle pasta with portabello mushrooms

Apparently I have no creativity or originality as of late because I seem to only steal topics from other people's blogs and post them on mine. Lol. I stole this picture from Virginia's Italicious cooking blog. Check out her site and read the easy recipe.

I'm including this post not only to remind myself that I should prepare this dish soon but to also share with you this divine lil' dish. "Farfalle" in Italian means "butterflies" because of the obvious shape but in English we like to say bow-tie pasta. All you need is a little butter (or you can choose olive oil), garlic, portobello mushrooms, and pasta and you're all set. Buon appetito!