Ring My Bee-elll, Ring my Bell

This is a video of the church bells we hear every single day. Depending on the time that they ring depends greatly on if we react in a nostalgic, almost euphoric manner or angrily yell at them. The worst time they go off is undoubtedly on Saturday and Sunday mornings, when we try to sleep in. Accepted times for the ding-dong in our ears are anytime in the late afternoons or early evening.

Stuff

-Hollleeer. It's the weekend. Tonight we are going to our favorite wine bar, Volpi, for a delicious crostone with sausage, cheese, and yummy truffle oil. Yum.

-The rest of the weekend we have no set plans. There's a food festival we might check out again but we're still not sure. We're such flakes, I know.

-I got my haircut and highlights yesterday so I'm rockin' a new look. (It's actually the same look just a little bit "cleaner"). The folks at Aveda here are awesome and always do a good job.

-Only 43 more days till Greece. Wooh-hooh. I plan on putting together a pretty extensive travel guide entry for Greece after we get back. It will include restaurant, hotel, and other practical information.

-Please think about my grandma and family during this time.

-I have officially decided to get the white Delia's mirror (from an earlier post) AND I gave the book Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight (also from a former post) four stars out of five on Good Reads.

-C is blogging again. Check Alito Pesante out on the right side of my blog if you like to read about cooking and food.

-Next week we've got a busy week with a St. Patrick's Day party on Tuesday night, then a friend's birthday dinner on Wednesday night, and then FINALLY we get to see Slumdog Millionaire on Thursday night.

-Have a great weekend!

O-Key Dokey

My coworker came back from a meeting the other day with a strange device in hand and a bewildered look upon her face. She shows me the little device pictured below and says, "just try to guess what this is." I said, "uh, a mini-remote control for your t.v?" She says, "no. Apparently in Italy you need a remote in order to access confidential bank information online." What?! I just shook my head, laughed, and said "Oh, Italy." Yes, folks, I'm not kidding. In order to access the bank account, the user must type in a username and password. Then, in order to enter the website, you press the button on the remote (called an "O-Key") which causes yet another code to appear that you have to enter on the website.

What's funny is that I can't decide what to think. My first reaction is that the O-Key is archaic, third-world, and old-fashioned because usually that's the case. (I once went to a bank to cash a check and the teller actually flipped through an old leather bound album to find the customer who had written me the check and called her on her cell phone). But is this O-Key innovative, paranoid, and *gasp* even advanced? I frankly don't know what to think and am going to leave this one to the computer nerds out there to decide.

Books Books Books

Dear Books on Polygomous Sects, Holocaust Survivors, Prisons, Drugs, & Ex-Soldiers in Africa, and Africa in general:

I can't stop reading you. What is wrong with me? Did I have too normal of a childhood? What is it about these topics that are so intriguing to me? I think that for the sake of my own imagination and sanity, I should bring it down a notch or two and start reading books that are, let's say, a little more light-hearted and fluffy.

Love,
ME

Recently I've read three great books that take place in Africa. I just finished Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller. It's an autobigraphy of a girl who was born to English parents who recounts her experience with malaria, gypsy- farmer-alcoholic parents, and the everyday danger and adventure of living in Zambia and Rhodesia. I also read What is the What, which described the Sudanese war and the life of a boy who luckily escaped becoming a child soldier. Then, there was A Long Way Gone which retold the stories of a very unlucky but eventually "saved" boy soldier. Now I'm reading Maya Angelou's autobiography All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes, which deals mainly with an African American's ex-pat life and journey through Ghana. I'm a little obsessed about true stories set in Africa at the moment, to say the least.

Then, there's my "to read bookshelf," which looks like this:

In a Free State by V.S Naipaul
Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje
Night by Elie Wiesel
Escape by Carole Jessop
Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Meth Addiction by David Sheff

All deal with one of the subjects mentioned above. Should I say "basta" (enough!) already to these subjects or move on to say, vampires and teenagers and give Twilight a whirl? I'll give this last book a shot and then I think by then it will be time to switch gears and read from a different genre..

Happy Birthday Lauren

Happy birthday, little sister. I can't believe you're 27. I hope you have a great day and enjoy your presents.

I got the Domestic Goddess in the Making these cute plates from CB2 and a fun cookbook from Food Network for her special day. She LOVES orange and has recently begun to cook more often. I was able to be on the phone with her today while she opened her gifts. Fun times!

Festa della Donna

This Sunday, March 8th, was Festa della Donna, or Women's Day. Before Sunday, I used to think this was an annual holiday only for women in Italy. After reading this explanation of International Women's Day, I learned that it is indeed celebrated all over the world. Which led me to wonder why this day is not celebrated in the U.S? Yes, we have Mother's Day, but so does Italy and a lot of other countries, in addition to Women's Day. Interestingly enough, International Women's Day has been observed since the early 1900's! Here in Florence, women of all ages go out with their friends and celebrate. These flowers (mimose) are the traditional flowers for Women's Day in Italy and can be found everywhere from restaurants to supermarkets to street vendors.

Our group went out to eat for pizza on Sunday. We were a group of eleven girls- ten Americans and one Italian. We even had a baby on board to pass around! There was plenty of "ooh-ing" and "ahh-ing" over this little one.

This is only one half of our table. (I didn't get any good shots of the other side). Happy Women's Day!

My Absolute Favorite Pasta Dish

My favorite pasta dishes are always incredibly simple. I love spaghetti with vongole (clams) and fusilli with homemade pesto, but time after time my "go-to" pasta is undoubtedly, always penne pasta with zucchini and garlic. It's easy- you don't have to go to any special trouble to find zucchini- and it never fails to be delicious. When C saw that I took photos of my precious dish, he asked me why. I told him I wanted to blog about how to prepare it and he said, "why would you want to blog about how to make that? It's the easiest thing to make in the world." I replied with the fact that it might be easy for you and me but if you would have asked me five years ago how to make this dish, I would have had no idea. It's basic and easy but since it's my favorite I thought I'd share my recipe and tips to prepare la mia pasta preferita.

For one large or two smaller servings, all you need is: your favorite pasta, olive oil, about one to two cloves of fresh garlic, and three to four zucchini.

I like to use "rigid" penne, but spaghetti or any other kind of pasta will work, also.

I start off by boiling the water and then putting in the pasta to let it cook for about 10 minutes. While the pasta boils, I sautee' chopped zucchini with extra virgin olive oil on low heat for about 5-7 minutes. Then, I add whole cloves of garlic that I've smashed flat with my knive. You add the garlic after so that it doesn't burn. I let that sit for about another 4-6 minutes, until it's all nice and soft (but not soggy). Then, don't throw away the water you cooked the pasta in! Take about half a cup of this cloudy water and add it to your zucchini and pasta. The water has tons of starch in it and is an excellent way to add a thick consistency. Lastly, I remove the pasta from the rest of the water and add it in with the zucchini and garlic. Let it sit for a few more minutes.

Note: You can either cut the zucchini into matchstick-like strips or into little squares.

After you take it off the burner, drizzle some more olive oil on top and salt and ta-dah! Buon appetito!

Is that Spring I Smell?

After wearing rain boots almost ALL week long, I was relieved to see the SUN on both Saturday and Sunday. It was so nice! C and I spent all day Saturday and Sunday on our terrace, reading, eating, and just hanging out. There were a few signs that Spring is definitely on its way, and that this time, it's here to stay...

Our lemon trees' leaves are starting to get their healthy green glow back.

I had to use *gasp* SUNSCREEN!

The skies were clear and there was no sign of rain.

It eventually became so warm that I had to change out of my sweats to *gasp again* flip flops a tank top, and yoga pants. (By the way those aren't my sunglasses. Ew).

We even played Scrabble twice. (No, I didn't plan the word "date" for the photo. I promise it was one of my words. I am not THAT cheezy!)

Lastly, our little plants are also starting to bloom. Oh, the joys of Spring. Let's just hope it stays this way and Florence doesn't experience a relapse and goes back to its gray and rainy days.

The Magic in Mirrors

I wholeheartedly admit that I have a serious obsession with mirrors. I already have a collection of about four or five from our travels and plan to arrange them all on one single wall one day. I recently found these two and am have having a hard time deciding on which one to get. I know they would both fit in well with the mirrors I have so far that are similar colors and styles.

The first one is from Home Decorators. I especially like the color and the antique feel.

The second one is from Delia's . I love the baroque look but am not sure if white would work.


Which should I get? I'm not opposed to painting them if they end up not working with the others as well I think they will.

Bizkit the Sleep Walking Dog

Thanks to the blog Dooce, THIS VIDEO is one of the most hilarious videos I've seen in a long time. I don't know how to post videos into my blog unless it's straight off my camera, so you'll have to click on the link to see it. The dog is sleeping and as he's dreaming about chasing something or someone and...... well, you'll see!

Everyone Should Have a Pair

Remember the footed pajamas you had as a kid? Well, they make them for adults, too. Check out the Footzie's website for more colors. They keep your whole legs cozy and warm and don't leave your ankles bare, which is especially nice in the winters.

I especially like the non-skid sole:

This is me with my Footzie's. They are so comfy and warm!

A Small Tribute to Skype

Oh... "technology these days!" as they say. If you've never used Skype, you really don't know what you're missing out on. After having used Skype for over a year now, we only recently got a web cam. FINALLY. I don't know what we were thinking before that. Anyway, since December we've looked forward to our usual "Skype dates" as we call them with our friends and family. Now, not only do we save hundreds of dollars a year on long-distance phone calls, but we can also experience live conversations with our loved ones who are 3,000 miles away. I've posted some photos from our recent Skype conversations.
These are my parents and our overweight cat Toby. Unfortunately, my parent's web cam (or microphone- we really aren't sure) has been broken for the past month so right now we can only see one another, without volume. Which results in some really funny miming and having to resort to texting while gesturing. (YES, we really love our animals. Toby is a participant not only in webcam dates but also in all phone conversations. My Mom likes to put him next to the phone as I talk. She watches and then later recounts to me his reaction).

Brand new to Skype are new Mom KS and her beautiful baby, Graham. Last night was the first time I "met" him on the webcam and it was priceless. Both C and I loved catching up with DS and KS. We felt like we were in the same room with them, as we caught up and laughed and joked with one another. (We even had a dance party, minus the music. BUT we had strobe lights.)

We can't forget Baby Kate, who is JM's little one, who I met a few weeks ago for the first time on Skype. She also just had her one month birthday. Isn't she a cutie?

*Pause*
These are the people I'm waiting on to download Skype. Grrrr. There's no excuse because Skype is FREE.

My sister LS. She needs to get on it! That way we can talk more. Plus, she could show me her latest pieces she's been working on. Hmff. If she only had Skype....

You're guilty, too, Julio. Stop running marathons and going to 80's parties and go buy yourself a webcam. :)

I've been telling my cousin, the girl on the left, to download Skype for a year now I think. Get on it, girl! Come on!

You are ALL missing out on fun, live conversations with Yours Truly. I can show you stuff, too! Like my new pair of jeans or my new highlights that I plan on getting next week.

Thank you, to whoever invented Skype. You've made communicating with our friends and family so much easier! There's nothing better than feeling like our loved ones are all in the next room. xoxoxo

Study Abroad Bill

If you know me, I'm a huge advocate for studying and living abroad. I don't blog much about my job for many reasons but most of you know I work in the study abroad field. Today an important bill was introduced, which would increase participation in study abroad programs for all U.S students from all backgrounds. As you may or may not know, most of Obama's team of advisors have all lived abroad. Let's hope this bill is approved!

Simon Study Abroad Bill Introduced Today
Great news! On the day after President Barack Obama urged Congress to
join him in making education a cornerstone of the nation's efforts to
"build a new foundation for lasting prosperity," Senators Dick Durbin
(D-Ill.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) introduced the Senator Paul Simon
Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2009. The legislation calls for the
creation of an innovative national program to build the country's
intellectual capacity and economic competitiveness by dramatically
expanding opportunities for American college students to gain a global
education. It will establish an innovative program to dramatically increase
participation in quality study abroad programs and make sure such
experiences are universally available to U.S. students from all
backgrounds.

And..Greece It Is

It's official. After weighing their options, my parents decided they wanted to go to Greece and Prague. So in April we're going to meet them in Athens, where we'll spend two days. Then we'll take off to the islands of Hydra and Mykonos for three more days. In Athens, we're going to stay in the same apartment we rented last January for C's 30th birthday. I found round-trip tickets on Alitalia from Florence-Athens for only 99 euro per person.

Mykonos. I'm trying to get a hotel reservation there at Omiros Hotel, which seems like a cute, family hotel near the sea. Trip Advisor had great reviews of it, so I'm hoping it works out.

Acropolis- Athens

I don't think I ever posted anything about C's 30th in Athens last year. This is the invite I made for his surprise birthday, which was in January '08. I was quite proud of it! I did it on the program Paint because we don't have Photoshop. We loved Athens and are excited about going back there.

Weekend Stuff

Friday night I went to L's art show on Via Ghibellina. It was a great spot for her awesome photography! My friends D and M (one of the models for her exhibit) were also there.
This is Rosalita, D's dog, and her friend Nemo.

On Saturday night, we had friends over for dinner. C made sauteed baby zucchini, roasted potatoes with sage and shallots, and a ducken. It's a turducken without the "tur" or turkey part. Basically it was a chicken with a duck inside. It took C over 3 hours to prepare. (Excuse our dirty stove. We do not claim to be food photographers, whatsover!)

This is a not-so-pretty shot of the tiramisu C made for dessert. Again, we kind of need help when it comes to food photography. It is definitely not our forte'. Nevertheless the bad shot, the tiramisu was delicious! (By the way, do you know that tiramisu means "pick me up?"

Sigh. Now the weekend is over. It's time to begin the count down to Monday morning... blah.