The August Project - Day 2

What I wore...

Gray Sweater, Black Skinnys, My Favorite $10 Sandals

The August Project - Day 1

Self Portrait...

This is me on the terrace of our hotel in Sorrento. I should have taken a new picture today, but I woke up late and didn't have much time to put myself together...And I also pulled a muscle in my back over the weekend, and don't much feel like posing at the moment...So this will have to do! 

August Project

I am giving myself a project for the month of August... I found this cute idea on Pinterest (of course), and I'm excited to try it! I need to get better at taking pictures of every day life, and I'm hoping that this will help me get started... Day 1 coming up tomorrow!

Adventures in Italia...Part 1

Getting Our Passports Stamped!

 We departed Los Angeles for Italy on Saturday evening at 7... We arrived in Venezia Sunday evening at 8 - covered in plane grime, a little cranky, but so excited to start exploring and taking in the sinking city. We instantly looked like mega-tourists with our cameras flashing and our 20 giant suitcases (20 might be a slight exaggeration - but just barely). Our water taxi driver asked us if we were staying for a year! After finding our appartamento, we dropped off our bags and set out to have our first Italian meal... pizza in the piazza. Afterwards, we found a gelateria and had our first scoop of Italian gelato. And we vowed then and there that we would have a scoop of a different flavor every day of our trip! (Today's flavor: Pistacchio - YUM) Then we came back to relax and get rested for the long days ahead.

First Glimpse of the Canale Grande

Our first full day in Venice, we walked. And walked. And then walked some more. All of the guide books we had read and the locals we talked to had said we needed to just "get lost" in Venice, so that's what we did! We explored every alleyway, nook, canal and staircase we could find. We came across a little cafe where the sweetest Italian man we met gave us free strawberry wine, margherita pizza and tiramisu. He also gave us chalk to write our names in the street...

We Were Here!

Little Canal

Resting Our Feet

Getting "Lost"

Amazing Fruit Market

Ponte di Rialto

Once our feet were too tired to carry us any further, we returned to the apartment to take a siesta before dinner. This became a tradition for the rest of the trip. When in Rome (or Venice) - right?!
That night we decided to venture in the opposite direction for dinner, which was more pizza and pasta of course! Then we made the super intelligent decision to keep going further away from our apartment without our street map, in the dark, in the hopes that we would just be able to circle around when we got tired of walking and find our way back. Bad choice. We gave the term "getting lost in Venice" a whole new meaning! And we learned that Venice really has zero nightlife - the entire city shuts down at about 10pm. So we were the ONLY people out roaming the canals that night, and I'm sure we woke some folks up with our voices shouting directions at each other when a couple of us would take a wrong turn and wind up in a dead end alley. We finally had to resign ourselves to the fact that we were not very good navigators, turned around and re-traced the entire night's path to find our way home. A good night was had by all! (Today's gelato flavor: Coconut - Favorite of the whole trip!!)

Piazza San Marco

The next day, we decided to give our feet a rest, so we took a water taxi over to the little island of Lido and spent a relaxing day at the spiaggia - aka, the beach! We had our daily gelato there (Flavor: Melone - tastes like canteloupe, and is oh so good!), and saw some topless sunbathers as well as many, many speedos, which made me even more thankful that most American men embrace board shorts as the swim suit standard! That night, we stayed closer to home, eating dinner right alongside the grand canal and then returning to the apartment to get ready to leave for Rome the following morning....

Sisters in our cute new Italian bikinis!

 The adventure continues in part 2...

Italian Curiosities

I thought I would share some of the things I learned about Italy/Italian people before I dive into the posts about our travels...

In Italy:

• Everything costs money. Water, public bathrooms, chairs at the beach. Even sitting down at a table in a restaurant will cost you a service charge. However, the servers do not expect a tip more than the extra change from your pocket. (We were surprised to see other people leaving 50 cent tips for a nice dinner.) The water charge was the hardest thing for me to swallow (pun intended). Tap water is never served at restaurants, only bottles of sparkling or still. However, there are fountains with free-flowing drinking water found all throughout each city we visited.. By the end of our trip, we wised up and just held on to our water bottles, filled them up in the fountain and took them to the restaurant with us! Trashy? Nope. Resourceful.

• It is HOT in July. It's hot here too, but it's the kind of heat that I love: dry, desert air. In Italy, you leave your air-conditioned hotel room for more than a minute and you will need a change of clothes because yours are soaking wet. 
• The roads are mainly made of cobblestones. Italian streets were not made for high heels. I brought 3 pair with me - I wore 1 pair, 1 night, for about 20 minutes, then I had to go back to our room and change into flats, because I almost broke my ankle 6 times. The widest road I saw was on the Autostrada (freeway) and it was 3 lanes, and that was only for a few miles (kilometers there, of course), heading into Rome. All of the streets inside the cities are narrow, and many of them do not even have lines painted on them, so you really have to know where you're going or else you will get seriously lost and/or in several head-on collisions. There are alleys EVERYWHERE, but there, alleys aren't ominous and sketchy like they are here, they are simply a smaller street.

• The drivers are CRAZY! Everyone drives vespas or smart cars, and they squeeze those things into the tiniest spaces possible, zipping around buses and pedestrians like mad. I'm sure there are driving laws, but the drivers there sure don't seem like they follow them. They go where they want, when they want. And I don't think I saw a single car there that didn't have dings and dents in both front and back fenders. It's like a giant game of bumper cars. 

• There is no such thing as caesar salad. Or fettuccine alfredo.
• They have AMAZING swimsuit stores... Our favorites were Calzedonia and Golden Point.. My sister, mom and I drug the boys to every one we could find... and each ended up with at least 2 new suits. For under $20. Seriously. If you ever go to Italy, find one of these stores. You will be in swimsuit heaven.

• Their shoe stores - not so good.

Italians:

• Don't eat a big breakfast like Americans do. They will have a shot of espresso and a brioche (sweet roll) or chocolate croissant (What we had every day - YUM) and be on their way! 

• Don't like their cold drinks cold. If you order a soda, water, or even iced coffee, don't expect any ice! It will come to you from the refrigerator, but they even keep their fridges set lower than we do... And in mid-July, when it is 95 degrees with 100% humidity, that can be a problem for us Americans who love our ice.
• Do not eat bread with oil and vinegar. Bread is brought to the table with the meal, to be eaten with the food. We got a lot of weird looks every time we asked for bread and plates before the food came (even though they do leave an oil/vinegar set on every table...)

• Are much more laid back than Americans, especially when it comes to customer service. They serve you on their time, not yours. You will sit at restaurants for a good 20 minutes before being brought drinks or having your order taken. And once the food arrives, don't expect to see your server again until it's time to order dessert. At the end of the meal, when we are ready to pay the check and get a move on, Italians will sit and chat for hours, so you probably won't be getting your bill any time soon!

I'm sure I could think of more, but this could get out of control quickly... So for now, I'll say Ciao! Up next, Adventures in Italia, part 1!

Whirlwind...

I'm going to pretend like it hasn't been 10 months since my last post and just continue right on where I left off.. Sound good?
It has been a whirlwind of a year to say the least. At the moment, I am coming down from a post-wedding/honeymoon high, just sinking slowly back into the weary reality of full-time jobs, bills, and car trouble. The last month and a half have been so exciting and eventful, and I am now in full wedding-withdrawal mode. I was so busy planning, stressing myself out over each detail, and by the end, so excited for the whole thing to be finished, that I didn't realize how quickly it would all fly by, and then in a matter of hours, it was over. No longer a bride, now a wife, all of the wonderful moments of that one day now simply beautiful memories. It has definitely been a shock to my system. I am enjoying newlywed life to be sure, but at the same time, wishing that I could re-live those magical hours again and again...
I have yet to see the photos from my photographer... (Please hurry, I can't wait much longer!) I will certainly share them when they arrive, but for now, here are just a couple...

Me with My Ridiculously Beautiful Bridesmaids

 Moments Before "I Do"

My next couple of posts will be all about our most fantastic honeymoon/family vacation to Italy! Stay tuned... I'm back at the blog! 

Habits (The Bad Kind)

Everyone has them, right? RIGHT?

Please tell me I'm not the only one...

I try to cultivate more of the good variety as a rule, but for some reason, the bad ones are just so much easier to keep around. I have many...too many. But the one that I've recently been trying (currently unsuccessfully) to rid myself of is my sailor mouth. To be more clear: sailor mouth = affinity for using foul, offensive, unsavory, and otherwise un-lady-like expressions. I have found that most people who suffer from sailor mouth tend to employ the gamut of dirty words available to them to get their points across. I, however, only have an issue with one - the big F bomb. I know, I skipped the minor leagues and went straight for the pros... You know what they say- "Go big or go home!" Let me explain - I haven't transitioned over into old salt status just yet - I don't go around dropping random bombs into my phrases or conversations with people. No, my bombs are mostly reserved for those special times when my sailor radar is activated. (Special times = at least 19 times a day. Radar = overly active temper. I'm Italian. We're not known for our level-headedness.)

There are 2 major circumstances that activate my sailor radar - and they are practically unavoidable - driving (especially in Utah -where I happen to reside), and my innate clumsiness.

The driving situation in Utah is bleak, to say the least - and I grew up driving on unpaved country lanes where road improvement meant picking the more sizeable boulders out of the gravel - so that is saying something. Aside from the pot holes that can tear a tire off of its rim, you can't leave your driveway without hitting road construction, and the drivers here are just...ridiculous. I could try to explain the phenomenon of Utah drivers better, but it would take far too long, and really, it's something you just have to experience for yourself. I guarantee that the ignition fuse to your own sailor radar would be significantly shortened!

It's true, I could leave my wheels at home and brave the public transportation system, but I have a couple of tendencies that I fear would make me unpopular with the mass transit crowd: The fact that I shower daily and use deodorant, and my penchant for personal space. So, I guess my only other option for now is to petition the state to require everyone in Utah to retake driver's ed.... Except me, of course.

As for the 2nd trigger of my radar... I don't know how I've managed to survive almost 29 years without a ride in an ambulance. I can't go more than 3 minutes without stubbing, tripping, spilling or dropping something. This invariably sets off my sailor mouth, which then leads to even more stubbing, tripping, spilling and/or dropping. It's a vicious cycle. I'm looking into baby-proofing. For adults.

I guess the main point of this post is to apologize in advance to anyone who ever might have the great misfortune to ride in a car with me, or be within earshot when I run into a wall, stub my toe or drop my keys. One day, the most severe words to leave my lips will be "aw, nuts" or "gosh darn it" - but for now? Plug your ears. I'm a work in progress.

Checking In...

Summertime, and the livin' is easy!
It's been a whole month since I've stopped in to say hello, so I thought I'd better at least pop in to let all of my rapt (I'm sure) readers know what I've been up to lately! Summer decided to keep us waiting here in Utah this year, and didn't show up until about the last few weeks in July... So, the last month and a half I have been spending every minute possible outside, soaking up the sunshine, camping, boating, picnicing, hiking, and generally celebrating the warmth, while most of the time forgetting my camera, or leaving it sitting securely in my purse... Clearly, I'm not quite in the takingallofthepicturesIcanformyblog mind set yet! I'm working on it! For now, here a just a few snapshots of what the last month or so has looked like for me (pilfered from my fabulous friends, who always remember their photo-snapping devices!)

At the end of July, we celebrated Rod's 28th birthday with our awesome friends... We went to dinner and a dueling piano bar... We had the great idea to embarrass Rod by paying the pianists to make him go up on stage and dance around! That idea backfired... Rod, sly prankster that he is, decided to one up us (well, me really), and he paid the pianists more money to make me come up on stage, announcing that we had just gotten engaged. I reluctantly made my way to the stage, but informed the piano guys that I would only stay up if Rod stayed with me. They agreed, and so we both ended up dancing around and making fools of ourselves!

Don't worry, I still love him!

We had another girls' night out, and went to the Tim McGraw concert...Courtney scored us the hookups, (she knows all the right people) and we all got to ride in a hummer limo to and from the concert. We were kind of a big deal! And somehow, we snuck up to (read: were escorted) the VERY front row, and yes, I shook Tim McGraw's hand. And touched his leg. It was definitely better than alright!

And last week, I FINALLY got a new job! (Insert jump for joy, applause, and multiple cartwheels)

More updates on that later, but for now, just know that it is awesome! And my losing weight plan might be in danger of failure.

Unwelcome Guests

Yesterday I had a near-death experience.

I had just finished the teeth-brushing/face-washing combo, and I leaned down to dry off on my towel, and came eye-to-eye with... an earwig. AN EARWIG!! I'm pretty sure my heart stopped beating for about 15 seconds. Until my blood-curdling scream, arm waving and repeated jumping up and down revived it. Seriously though, could there be a more disgusting insect to invade my morning routine? And I know the whole "crawling in your ear and laying eggs" story is a myth, but don't think I haven't been thinking about that and violently convulsing ever since! And I haven't been able to step foot in my bathroom without checking every surface and crevice before using the facilities. Honestly, I think I would have preferred a mouse sighting. Yes, I know, they are equally creepy when you catch them darting across the room out of the corner of your eye, and I know they carry multiple diseases, but at least they have the decency to do it in a semi-cute package! (Nasty, weird-looking tails excluded).

At any rate, I have since been reinforcing my anti-insect battle stations in the hopes that any future multi-appendaged creatures seeking shelter at my residence will know that they are, in fact, unwelcome guests, and to vacate the premises as quickly as possible... Or else.

In other news, Rod and I are most likely sterile after the amount of pesticides I have sprayed in and around our apartment.

Toddlers & Cuticle Scissors Don't Mix

Have you met my grandma? If the answer is yes, then I'm about 99.8956 percent sure that you have heard the following story. If no, then please read on...
I should note that this sortid affair took place when I was at the tender age of 3, and as such, have little to no memory of its occurence. However, after hearing it more times than I have strands of hair, I think I have a pretty firm grasp on the events that transpired (I'm sure that after my grandma reads this though, I will receive her list of corrections)... But where was I..
So, apparently, 3-year-olds don't take as kindly to receiving compliments as adults. I've been told that as a youngster, I was gifted with a freakishly abundant set of dark, long eyelashes. People who met me or passed us (my grandparents and me) on the street would often stop to say how impressive they were. And, as I was being raised to become a respectful, grateful citizen, it was obligatory of me to thank them. I grew tired of this. Obviously, those lashes had to go... I awaited the moment when I could rid myself of them eagerly. I didn't have to wait long. One day, my grandma and I made a visit to her friend's house. The friend happened to be watching her grandchildren that day, and since one of them was several years my elder, they thought it would be alright to leave us alone in the living room for a few minutes while they went to discuss grown-up things. Bad move. The instant they were out of sight, I high-tailed it to the master bedroom to play with the makeup that had been calling to me from the vanity. What I found there instead was far more intriguing: cuticle scissors. You know, the type with the extremely sharp, pointy ends. I don't think I even need to tell you what happened next, but I will... Armed with my 3-year-old know-how, and "I'll show you!" attitude, I unceremoniously snipped every last eyelash down to the root, leaving my lids bald, and me utterly pleased with myself. How I managed to not stab myself in the eyeball remains a mystery. After completing my masterpiece, I emerged from the bedroom and quietly took my seat in front of the t.v. with the other children. No one noticed a thing. Success! Or so I thought. Several hours later, as my grandma sat with me at the piano (she always did this when I practiced... until I was at an older, wiser age where I could be left on my own to practice and not make banging noises on the keys with my fists), I heard a strange noise. Like the largest intake of breath EVER. Followed by my grandma clutching at her chest and babbling incoherently. I was caught.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR EYELASHES????" (Yes, there were that many question marks at the end of her sentence).
"Cut 'em off."
"WHY???"
"I was tired of people talking about them."
And that was all I had to say about that.

Well, my eyelashes grew back. My grandma was worried that they wouldn't. I think maybe she confused cuticle scissors with laser eyelash removal. Unfortunately, they never grew back as long, or thick as they once were, maybe in protest of my carelessness with their ancestors. Or maybe I'm just getting old. Either way, I would really like to kick 3-year-old me's butt.

I just can't stay mad at that face though. It's so much cuter than mine.

Introductions

Since I'm going to be sharing some olden-day stories with you, I thought I should give you some visuals...

Meet my grandparents. These are my dad's parents, Millie and Bill. There was a slight snafu when I was born... Actually, I think me being born was the snafu... I'm still a bit fuzzy on the details- everyone in my family has a different story about the goings-on surrounding my entrance into the world, and they like to keep me guessing as to which tale is the real one- but, long story short, I went home from the hospital with these two, and spent the next 17 years of life with them! They're cool people, if you couldn't tell...

This is them in 1970... I love my grandma's beehive.. Wasn't she foxy? And my grandpa, looking (as my grandma would say) sharp in polyester...

And this is the house I grew up in. I know, I had it rough.

Thanks, Dumbledore

No, this post is not about Harry Potter. Although, I did see the final HP film over the weekend, and yes, I cried. Twice. Or three times.

I have been (unsuccessfully) trying to think of ideas for new posts, and have just recently discovered that I do not have a wildly exciting day-to-day life! Imagine that.

I do, however have several, if not many, stories accumulated from my 28 years of living, and I thought that this might be the perfect place for writing them down, before old age sets in and they fall out of my head completely...

So, if you'll allow me (let's be real, it's my blog and you have no choice), I will be sharing some stories from back in the day, whenever the mood strikes me! It'll be like my own little pensieve... If you don't know what a pensieve is.... Well, there's no helping you.

Thanks, big guy. You're alright!

As Old As Me...

Today is this guy's 28th birthday!

I'm 9 months older than Rod, and he LOVES to rub it in, old people jokes and all... But on his birthday, and for the next 3 months, he is just as old as I am! And I take full pleasure in rubbing that in! (Right back atcha Babe!!) Today, I want to share just a few of the reasons why I love this cute boy...
- He can ALWAYS make me laugh, even when I'm in the worst mood and (in my grandma's words) in need of an attitude adjustment!
- He makes me feel safe.
- He tells me I'm beautiful, even on my most unbeautiful days.
- He is a great son/grandson/nephew/brother/cousin...He is amazing with his family, and just watching him with them I know that he'll be a great husband and father too!
- He is a very hard worker, and he is very good at what he does!
- He loves to cook, and he is great at it! (and on the rare occasion that I get home after he does, he loves to surprise me with dinner!)
-He is very smart!
-He takes such good care of me! He is always willing to listen to me, always asks how my day went, and always takes care of the things I detest doing -vacuuming, taking my car to the shop, killing bugs, etc...
-He is a great friend, and my BEST friend!
There are many more, but for now I'll just say...Happy Birthday Babe! I hope your day is wonderful! I'm so very glad you were born! Thanks for letting me be your girl! XoXo

Splendid Summer

Just a little recap of what I've been up to the past few weeks...
For the 4th of July, Rod and I went to the Riverton Carnival with our good friends the Frehners- Jake/Courtney, and the Necaises -Cary/Chelsey/Baby Daxton. We didn't go on any rides, but we did enjoy the greasy goodness of carnival food, and we watched the fireworks!

The Girls

Daxton's First Fireworks!

Cary, Chelsey & Daxton

Jake & Courtney
Rod & I

Happy 4th of July!!

Last weekend was the Kenny Chesney concert! My cute friend Courtney got me a ticket to go with her and Chelsey, so on Saturday, we had a BBQ at Courtney & Jake's house, and then we headed to the concert for a girl's night out, and the guys stayed in for babysitting duty!

Country Girls
Kenny Rocking The Stage
Thanks for a super fun night girls!

Happy Summer!!

Dates, Colors, & Inspirational Indecisiveness

Over the weekend, Rod and I sat down and settled on a date for our wedding -

June 30, 2012

will be the big day!

Let the (real) planning begin!

I have to make a lot of decisions, and if you know me at all, you'll know that decision-making is definitely not one of my strong suits! As astrology will tell you, Libras (my zodiac sign) are known for their indecisiveness... I've never put much stock into the whole astrological business, but when it comes to that facet of it, they nailed me right on the head... Anyway, I've been trying to decide on color schemes... I've probably gone through about 30. I think I've finally settled on one, but who knows, it could change again! For now though, my colors are - Black, Ivory, Green, & Burnt Orange just for the flowers (here it looks more red, but you get the idea)... I think I want to do a woodsy theme, using tree branches and greenery in the decorations...

I have a lot of spare time on my hands while I'm at work, because I sit at a desk and type all day... Boring. So, every once in a while (every day) I take advantage of the internet and all of its wonders! Usually I read the news, other blogs, catch up on facebook, and occasionally do some online shopping, but more recently my focus has shifted to wedding-themed sites. (Okay, I've been looking at them for years...But now it's for real!) The Knot is one of my favorites, and they have a feature that lets you build an "Inspiration Board" to put together ideas of what you want your wedding to look like... So, on one of my exceptionally bored days, I whipped one up just to get the "idea" ball rolling...

The pictures are kind of hard to see, but that's what I have in mind so far! We'll see how many times I change my mind in the next few months.... :)

Freedom - It's a Wonderful Thing!

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!!
I am so proud to live in this beautiful country where we have the freedom to do/say/think/feel whatever we choose, and I am so thankful for the people who are willing to sacrifice their time/efforts/lives to make sure that we continue to have that freedom. Thank you, thank you, to all of the people serving our country, who have to spend time away from their friends and families so that we can be with ours...
A special thank you to my "little" brother Aaron, and my sister-in-law Marci! Aaron is in the army special forces - That's right, my little brother is a Green Beret, how cool is that?! And Marci is a medic, jumps out of planes, and pretty much kicks some serious bum! She is one tough chica and I definitely would not want to be in a boxing match with her!

Thanks for serving our country! I'm super proud to be your sister, much love to you both!

And much love to you all!!

Have a safe and happy Independence Day!!