I've Moved!

Although I'm not deleting this blog (I can't bear to lose the posts about Max), I have started a new one on Wordpress.

Please follow me over there, and comment freely!

wmcurella.wordpress.com

6 Months!!

Six months ago, at a castle on a hill in a village in the French Alps, Flavio asked me to marry him. It's been a very L O N G six months. But it also marks the halfway point of our journey! (Because if he doesn't have his visa by February, I'm giving the finger to USCIS and moving to Italy.) It's taken half a year, but I'm finally starting to feel like a bride. Why? Because I started my registry! We're registered at Target, and although there aren't a ton of things we need (please, NO MUGS!!), we have found a few things that would be nice to have.

I think my mom is really getting into her role as mother-of-the-bride (and also mother-of-the-groom, because my brother is getting married in May!), because the day after I set up the registry, she went out and bought us two of the things on it. We have pots & pans now!! If you followed my flurry of tweets on Monday, then you know that while I have 31 mugs and 5 springform pans, I didn't have any cookware. What I didn't mention on Twitter was that this wasn't an accident--I've been looking for the perfect cookware for the past 5 years! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find stainless steel, copper-bottom cookware with glass lids at a reasonable price? I finally found two sets--in the same week, and both at Target, actually--one by Paula Deen, the other by T-Fal. I chose the Paula Deen set for 3 reasons: insulated handles, nonstick interiors on the skillets, and full-copper bottoms (the T-Fal just had weird copper squiggles). After inspecting (okay, playing with) them last night, I definitely made the right choice. They're heavy and solid and beautiful. And her story on the box--about designing stainless steel, copper-bottom cookware because that's what her mother used when she was growing up--made me cry, because it's exactly why I was looking for them.

Choosing the things for our registry (and sorting through the things we already have) has made this whole marriage thing so much more tangible to me. The past six months have been so difficult, especially being apart, and at times it's felt like the future is this unattainable dream that we just can't catch. But it's beginning to feel so real to me, like it's just around the corner, and after all of these hard months, we'll finally get the big payoff. We'll be together. Cooking dinner together with these pots and pans, sitting down to dinner at this table, drying the dishes with these towels, snuggling under this quilt. It's an amazing feeling.

My grandparents recently bought a new dining table, so they've given the old one to us!

The 8-qt. stockpot (foreground) and 10-in. skillet (background). Isn't the gleam of the copper so lovely? The 12-piece set also included 1-, 2-, and 3-qt. saucepans (with lids), an 8-in. skillet, a lid for the stockpot, and a couple of utensils. We've also registered for the matching 12-in. skillet and 3-qt. stack & steamer pot w/ insert.

Ok, so, I love the cookware. But this is my favorite gift so far! A 3.5-qt. porcelain enamel cast iron casserole dish (also from the Paula Deen collection). It's SO HEAVY! This will be great for baking mac & cheese. Yummm!! (A side note: the Paula Deen stuff is seriously great. Besides being beautiful and reasonably priced, the quality is amazing. Everything looks & feels so durable. I know I'll be using these things for years--maybe even the rest of my life.)

Coming Soon to a Breakfast Table Near Me!

Playing around with our new (to us) table, taking stock of our kitchen equipment, & imagining A Very Ordinary Morning in the (Hopefully) Near Future.

at my place setting: orange spice tea, hand-painted tea bag holder from the Smithsonian's African Art Museum, "I Do" bridal mug, small bowl of grapes, "Seize the Day" breakfast plate with peach

at his place setting: a newspaper article about a robot exhibit at WSU's Ulrich Museum, cereal in a monster bowl w/ "Start Your Spoons" cereal spoon, cherry juice glass, St. Dalfour wild blueberry fruit spread, espresso cup & saucer w/ a tiny spoon

Lights! Camera! You get the idea...

There are a hundred and one things that need to be either fixed or replaced in my house. Today we made one small step toward the ultimate goal of Fixing Everything. My grandparents hired an electrician, and last week we went out and bought 5 new light fixtures: a lantern-style porch light, 2 simple flushmounts for the bathroom, a glittery pendant for the dining room, and a cone-shaped mini-pendant for over the kitchen sink. The final effect is so lovely...the house looks so much more modern! Next up, we'll be replacing the old ceiling fans (three of which are broken).

The new lantern-style porch light. Omg, it works!!

One of the new bathroom flushmounts. This one is in the wall, over the sink; the other one is hanging from the ceiling.

The glittery pendant in the dining room. Click here for a picture of the old chandelier.

The mini-pendant over the kitchen sink. Click here for a closeup.

Love/Hate

Things I Love:

• food shopping, in general
• but more specifically, when I find things I didn't know I always wanted
• like cocoa roasted almonds
  
• and meyer lemon sorbet
• and I especially love sweet old men
• who tell us about unadvertised deals on deli meat
• and give us free baby swiss ♥

Things I Hate:

• bookstores that change their layout
• without any warning
• and don't label the travel section
• which is now with the money management section
• like I need a reminder that I suck with money
• I just want a vacation!
• and I don't like people who aren't readers
• especially when they're in bookstores
• because they TALK
• just go sit in the café and drink your $6 beverage

Also, I wish I'd been able to find a book that I wanted. I know I'm going to finish the one I'm reading pretty soon, and even though I have a bazillion unread books waiting to be consumed, I'm just not in those sorts of moods. Ideally, I'd like to read something else by Louise Shaffer, the author of the book I'm currently reading. But Borders didn't have any of her other books, and I'm not patient enough for Amazon. Maybe I can find something to kill time with until A Lion Among Men comes out in paperback on the 25th.

Sweet Sunday

Sunday is my favorite day of the week. It has been for years...since high school, at least. It's such a sweet, quiet day. A wonderful day to be at home. To clean, or bake cookies, or read a book. A great day to listen to the radio. A day to be thoughtful. I hate that I work on Sundays now, especially in the morning. Today is the last Sunday of my leave of absence, and I'm really trying to get the most out of it. Sunday is "grocery day" in my family, so this morning I went to the market with my mom. I had a coupon for these lovely roses, which were already on sale, so I ended up getting them for half price. And they look so pretty in the vase my aunt gave me while I was recovering. ♥

After the surgery, I completely lost my appetite for a couple days (and I hadn't eaten at all for 2 days before the surgery). Now that my appetite has come back, I'm trying to be more mindful of what I eat. Avoiding cholesterol and fat, increasing fiber and water. It's definitely a work in progress, but actually a lot of greasy, salty foods that I used to like don't even appeal to me anymore. I've found that writing down what I eat and how much water I drink really helps me. I'm not counting calories or anything, but keeping a list has encouraged me to make more thoughtful choices. I feel really great. :)

Recovery

calla lilies from Flavio...so much prettier in person!

It's been 9 days since my surgery, and I'm recovering really well. The pain is gone, my appetite has returned, and I haven't had any post-op complications. I'm still a little sad about missing my trip, but I've emailed the airline to try to get a credit for future travel.

One of the best side effects of my recovery has been the increase in my water intake. Initially, I was drinking lots of water because I needed fluids and nothing really appealed to me except water. Since then, it's become almost a habit to reach for my water jug whenever my mouth feels a little dry. And holy cow, I can't believe the effect it's had on my skin already! My face feels so soft and smooth.

I'd just like to say one more thing... My spirits have been so buoyed by all of the love I've felt from my family & friends this past week. Emails, phone calls, cards, flowers, and visits...they've all really touched my heart. Thank you. ♥

Sad Day

Well, my trip to Italy has been canceled. Saturday morning, I woke up very sick, and yesterday I was having severe abdominal pains. I went to the ER and found out that I had gallstones. Last night I had my gallbladder removed. I'm back at home now and thankful that I have this 2-and-a-half week leave of absence from work to recuperate.

Tea Time!

Grown Up

This year was kind of a lame 4th of July. Xena got sick on Friday, and although she's feeling better now, she's been moping around the house all weekend. I'm not really sure what was wrong with her, but I suspect she got into something in the backyard that she turned out to be allergic to. Both of her eyes were swollen, which I treated with some eye drops from the vet (who said the swelling could've been from a bug bite or a bump on the head), and then she got very sick to her stomach. Anyway, whatever it was must've worked its way out of her system, because she's fine now. Still a little sleepy/mopey, but her appetite is back and she's been running around outside a little bit.

Last night I found a diary I kept for two weeks in April 2007. I realized just how much I feel like a completely different person from who I was then. Also yesterday, I realized that I actually like Adult Contemporary music now (and have no patience for the new "cool" Top 40 stuff). I guess I'm officially a Grown Up. I never really thought that I'd feel like an adult, and I don't remember there being one day in my life where the line was firmly drawn between childhood and adulthood, but looking back over the last two years of my life...well, the line is there. And I think it's been there for a while. And I'm not really sad about it.

In other news... leaving for Italy in 9 days. Bring on the kisses, the love, the ice cream, the 4-star hotel with free room service, The Balcony, the parties. ♥

Sorting

Yesterday I finished reading the most wonderful book. If you like Venice, glass works, history, a little bit of mystery, and a little bit of romance, then I can't recommend anything more highly than The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato.

Other than that beautiful book, not much has been going on lately. I've been helping Flavio with part of his thesis project, and I've been working, and I've been cooking a little bit. Tonight I'm making spaghetti pomodoro again, and I picked up a bottle of Arbor Mist sangria zinfandel to go with it (I don't know if this is a good pairing or not--I really don't know anything about wine--but I like Arbor Mist, even if it is a bit too sweet to drink with dinner).

I'm going to spend the afternoon going through some of the stuff I have packed away in the garage. Even though I'm not moving out until November-ish, helping my grandparents move a couple weeks ago taught me that it's never too early to start packing. Especially since I have a lot of stuff, most of which I probably don't even need/want for my apartment. Also, this will be a good opportunity to take inventory of what we have, so we can start figuring out what we still need (before we register for wedding gifts).

P.S. Sorry for my lack of photos lately. My computer is basically out of memory, and I need to do something about that before my trip (2 and a half weeks!!!), or else y'all won't get any photos of that either.

P.P.S. So I really want to go to Èze. Like now. Well, not now, but in the off-season, when it's empty and cheap.

Bad Week Gone Good

Well, it's been an interesting week. I spent Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday helping my grandparents pack, move, and settle into their new home. Although there was a lot more work to do than I had anticipated, and I learned way too many weird things about my grandparents, it felt good to do something nice for them.

Although the work wasn't completely done, my mom and I took today off to see a movie, eat at our favorite café, and do a little shopping. We saw My Life in Ruins, the new Nia Vardalos movie, which was absolutely wonderful. Sweet and funny with lovely scenery, exactly what we needed after a few hot & stressful days of moving. I had an amazing sandwich at Caffe Moderne ("The Roman": roast beef, provolone, parmesan, arugula, and a black pepper & rosemary mayo on multigrain bread), followed by an espresso and a dish of pistachio gelato (I also sampled the lemon-basil sorbetto). Before leaving the square, we stopped in at Lucinda's, where I bought a 16"x16" print of this lovely Kelly Rae Roberts piece.

And finally: today I booked my flight for next month's trip. Although I ended up spending $300+ more than I would've if I'd booked 2 weeks ago, and I have to leave Italy a day earlier than I'd planned, it feels good for this trip to actually be official now! Also today: Flavio booked our hotel room in Venice. We were originally planning to stay at 3749 Ponte Chiodo, the charming little B&B we stayed in last time. Unfortunately, it was only available for one night, and we wanted to stay for two. Then he found Hotel Priuli, a 4-star hotel close to Piazza San Marco!! We've booked the "Venice in Love 2009" package, which includes a free bottle of sparkling wine, free room service, a private motorboat to Murano, and lots of discounts at various shops & restaurants. Seriously?? I could die.

Oh! I almost forgot! I tried two new recipes today: Easy Cheese Danishes (for breakfast) and Roasted Shrimp Cocktail (for dinner), both from Ina Garten. Both recipes turned out perfectly, although I overfilled the danishes and the cocktail sauce was a bit spicy for me. I'll definitely be adding these recipes to my repetoire, and I want to play around with different fillings for the danishes. Sorry I can't share pictures...the lighting in the kitchen was bad when the danishes were done, and I was too impatient to grab my camera before tucking into the shrimp cocktail.

Now my hard-earned, heavenly day is coming to an end. I think I'll sleep well tonight. :)

Spaghetti Pomodoro

Get your twirl on!

If you've ever ordered from an inexpensive tourist menu at a restaurant in Italy, you've probably had spaghetti pomodoro, spaghetti in a light tomato sauce. It's a common primo piatto, or first course. The first time I had it was in Venice, last November. I've never liked spaghetti sauce, so I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed this dish. I asked Flavio how to make it, and this was the recipe he gave me. Of course this is just a basic method; there are endless variations. Flavio likes to add mozzarella, black olives, and cherry tomatoes. I think I would really enjoy it with sautéed mushrooms.

Spaghetti Pomodoro - serves 4

• olive oil
• 1/4 onion, chopped
• 28-oz. can peeled crushed tomatoes
• basil (fresh is preffered, but dried is fine)
• salt
• spaghetti

Sautée onion in a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove onion, if desired. (The onion imparts a nice flavor to the olive oil. When I've had this dish in restaurants, the sauce has never had onion in it. I hate onion, so I remove it. Flavio would prefer to leave it in.) Add the crushed tomatoes and stir in basil and salt; cover. Stir occasionally (keeping the lid on the skillet between stirs). Let simmer for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook and drain spaghetti. Stir pasta into sauce and serve. Buon appetito!

Bella Monkey

[ raveled. ]

I just finished knitting another monkey. Partly I wanted to figure out exactly what I'd done to make the last one (because I hadn't written anything down at the time), but also I wanted to make something pink and girly. Although I wish I'd done a better job embroidering the face (I just don't have the patience for it!), I'm pretty happy with how she turned out overall. And I love the way these photos came out!

Missing Italy

Well, it's not official yet, but it looks like I'll be spending some time in Italy this summer. I'm definitely going for Flavio's graduation at the end of July, but I'm hoping that I can stretch this into a 2-week stay. If I can, we'll basically be having our "honeymoon" (even though the wedding won't be until November, maybe). I'm so excited!! This is all contingent on me being able to get a little leave of absence from work, but things have been so slow (and are only getting slower), I don't think that'll be too hard to swing.

I've been watching a lot of Passport to Europe with Samantha Brown on the Travel Channel, and just about every day they show a different city in Italy. It's filled me with a strange feeling I can't quite describe...something in between homesickness and the travel itch. I'm eager to be back in a place I love, but just as excited by the prospect of exploring new parts of that place. I want to go to Verona, visit the Casa di Giulietta and rub the statue's bronze boob for good luck, and ride a free bicycle through the streets while I take in the mix of Roman and Venetian architecture. I want to go back to Venice and eat four ice cream cones again. I want to travel to Bologna and take my first scooter ride and see if the mortadella tastes as good as the Oscar Mayer bologna I grew up eating.

And don't get me started on how jealous I am of Flavio right now. Tomorrow morning, he's hopping on a train and heading for the coast. He's just going to spend the day reading, sunbathing, and swimming in the Mediterranean. Then he'll spend the night camping on the beach. If I didn't love him so much, I think I might hate him a little bit. ♥

I'm Not Lion

[ raveled. ]

This is Albert. Recently, Flavio requested a knitted monkey. I looked for patterns but couldn't find one I liked. I admit, I've been completely spoiled by Ysolda's neat, tidy, seamless!!! toy patterns. For this monkey, I used the Elijah pattern as a template, and then just modified it as needed to create a monkey-ish head and limbs. Unfortunately, I didn't write anything down as I was going along, so I can't give any tips for recreating this little guy.

I love you, sweetie. Albert will be in the mail tomorrow, along with your surprise!!!

Puddles

It's been 9 days since my last post, and it's rained every single one of them. Poor Xena doesn't seem to know what to do, tip-toeing through the mud and muck. Although the sun is shining today, there are storms in the forecast pretty much every day for the next week. As long as it doesn't flood, however, I'm not going to complain about the rain. The farmers need it, right?

Other things that have happened in the past 9 days:

• I finished some books. The count is at 22 now, which completely blows my mind. That's two more than I read in all of last year.
• I've become kind of addicted to Twitter. Follow me!
• Flavio helped me translate an Italian song, "Sincerità" by Arisa. Now I've got the album, and I can't wait to be able to translate them all.
• I broke the dryer. FAIL.
  
• 24 hours later, and my clothes laid out on drying racks are still damp. Eff.

Ok, I guess that's all.

Rained In

It rained buckets last night. Today, my car can't make it down the street due to flooding, so I'm effectively rained in. It's a bit like being snowed in, without the fun for Xena. She loves playing in the snow, but she hates rain. Around 2 o'clock this morning, she climbed into bed with me because of all the thunder and lightning.

I guess I'll be spending my day reading (almost done with #19!) and finishing up some immigration paperwork. I want to mail this stuff tomorrow, but if I still have to report for jury duty, I may not get it in the mail until Wednesday.

Lit.

Is it possible to read too much? Believe it or not, I just finished my third book this week. A contemporary vampire mystery/romance, a fictionalized account of the Bosnian war, and a Depression-era whodunit. Although I have about a million books on the shelf that I've never read, I'm worried that I'll run out soon, at the rate I'm going.

My jury duty got postponed a week. I'm crossing my fingers that it will keep being postponed until I'm no longer on call, or even canceled altogether. My hopes aren't up too high, though. I guess it's one of those things you've just gotta do at some point. Civic duty and all that.

Not much knitting going on around here. Or cooking. Or anything else worthy of being photographed. Sorry folks. I've been too busy cleaning and reading and enjoying the beautiful weather. And catching up on the first four seasons of Lost, which Flavio's got me hooked on. I just started season 2 today.

Happy Spring

Today was a pretty great day. The weather has finally decided to be beautiful (and, hopefully, stay beautiful). This morning I took Xena for her longest walk yet--about 3/4 of a mile. She's doing really great! She even sits down when we reach an intersection so I can check for traffic before crossing the street.

I spent a good chunk of the afternoon downtown with my mom, trying to figure out where I need to go and how I need to get there, because I've been summoned for jury duty next week. *sigh* Since we were in the area, we decided to go to Caffe Moderne (one of my favorite places) for a late lunch. I had an amazing smoked salmon & cucumber panini, a side salad of mixed spring greens, and a pomegranate Italian soda. Followed up by a hazelnut cappuccino and a dish of pistachio gelato. It was the perfect lunch.

Then I bought licorice and some beautiful roses. Great day. The end.

Black Beauty

I'm teaching Xena how to walk on a leash. I thought this would be impossible, but it's actually proving to be pretty easy, especially now that she's got a harness. She doesn't pull the way Max did, and she's a lot better at ignoring other dogs than I thought she would be. The biggest problem I'm having, actually, is conquering her fears. Sometimes she gets a little skittish--I don't know if it's from a sound or a smell or what--and she just sits down in the middle of the street. Today I walked her to a nearby park, and she wouldn't go in. About half a block away, she tucked her tail between her legs. Of course I didn't force her, just turned around and walked back home together. I'll keep trying, though. I'm hoping that the more I walk her, the more comfortable and confident she'll get.

Harvey (and Friends!)

[ raveled. ]

Last night I finally finished Harvey, the little white rabbit I started knitting back in September. As much as I love all of Ysolda's toy patterns, I hate picking up stitches on a stuffed thing, so I put off doing these ears for forever. Well, now he's done, just in time for Easter! It feels good to have another one in the "done" column.

Before:
After:
Coming soon: Pauline, Petrova, and Posy Fossil!!

Ysolda

[ raveled. ]

Last night I finished Ysolda, and she turned out so darn cute, I couldn't wait to take pictures of her this morning. And the pictures I got turned out pretty cute too, and I couldn't wait to share them with the world. But arg, it was not to be! I don't know if it's my camera, my software, or my computer, but I had the hardest time uploading my pictures. I think it's my software, because it turns out that the photos actually did upload like three times, but they're not showing up in the software (but I can open them in, like, MS Paint). So, long story short, these images are unedited and will be replaced with bright, shiny edited pictures later when I've recouped enough patience to tackle the issue. edit: Okay, they're brighter now. But my computer still blows.

The doll--well, mostly her outfit--is modeled after a photo Ysolda posted on her blog several days ago. She's even wearing a miniature Icing Swirl beret! I was going to braid her hair, but I messed it up, so I just gave her short little pigtails, which I think I actually like better because you can really see her outfit this way.

Dear Whitney,

We're quite lonely. Please finish knitting our friends.

Lots of love,

Ollie and Bambolina

Bambolina

[ raveled. ]

I finished Bambolina's dress last night (including sewing a scallop-edged ribbon to the hem of her dress, like a little ruffle that's peeking out). I'm so happy with the way she turned out! I also knit a little mousie, but he still needs ears. And also also, I started another doll. They're just too fun! This one was inspired by an outfit Ysolda posted about in her blog last week. I'm even playing around with the idea of making a miniature Icing Swirl beret for her.

Little Surprise

I'd forgotten that my print copy of Ysolda Teague's Whimsical Little Knits, which I pre-ordered back in...January?...was coming in the mail, so I was completely surprised to find it in my mailbox yesterday morning. Happily surprised! Even though I also received the PDFs for these patterns as she released them individually, there's something really nice about having a little book to hold. And what great timing, too! You see, we had a little blizzard here yesterday, and there's no way my little car could've even made it down my street, so I stayed home from work. Cozy in my pajamas, watching Twilight for the third time in a week, I started knitting the Poppy pattern. I didn't have enough yarn to do the whole body in the flesh-colored yarn, so I decided to knit her wearing a shirt under her jumper, and once I get to the legs, she'll be wearing some striped knee-socks. The flesh-colored yarn is leftover from my Brenta Beret, and it's kind of an olive-y flesh tone (like Flavio!), so I'm giving her black hair and calling her Bambolina (Italian for "little doll"). I love her already! ♥

A Unique Approach...

The last ten days have been pretty uneventful. I read two more books (the Rosie Winter mysteries by Kathryn Miller Haines), finally saw Twilight, cooked some food, washed a lot of dishes, and actually thought out a pretty fantastic solution to my wedding woes.

We're getting married backwards.

I guess the normal sequence of events goes something like this: ceremony, reception, honeymoon. Well, we're going to do it in the opposite order. The honeymoon part is still pretty up in the air, but if it works out, we could be taking a little trip to Paris before having our reception at an agritourism farm in Italy. We've decided to do it at a farm (instead of a castle) because we want something very relaxed and cozy. My family won't be there, but this will be our opportunity to celebrate our marriage with his family and friends. We spent a little bit of time this morning Googling agritourism farms in Piedmont, and so far our favorite is La Cascina Rosengana. After the reception, we'll come back to the US and get married at the courthouse, with my parents (and hopefully his) as witnesses.

It's a unique approach, but it seems to be the best fit for our situation. This way we both get what we want: he gets a traditional reception in Italy with all of his family and friends, and I get a no-fuss ceremony with my parents (and hopefully a honeymoon in Europe). Now, obviously this solution doesn't lend itself well to wedding photography. But I've come up with a solution to that problem too! And it's so much cheaper than traditional wedding photography. I'm thinking that after we get married, maybe we can hire Gingeroot Studios for a portrait session. They do some really beautiful work, and a portrait session is *so much* cheaper than traditional wedding photography.

Two Weeks!

I've been engaged for two weeks! I can't believe it's only been 14 days since I was in Annecy, having lunch on a park bench next to the cleanest lake in France, touring a castle-turned-museum, debating with Flavio how to properly pronounce gaufre while we stood in a long line to get one. It was the perfect day. Warm sun, cool mountain air, the funny French radio station, little French children laughing on a playground, tandem bicycles, ducks and pigeons. I miss it. I miss him.

Book Worm

I just finished my 9th book of 2009! That's almost half of the total number of books I read in 2008 (20 in all). I'm not really sure how this has been accomplished. I mean, I don't really feel like I've been reading more often than I did last year. I have been reading better books, though. I mean, quicker books. The last three have been contemporary forensic thrillers, and I read all three in the past 2 and a half weeks. I'm taking a break from the genre, however. I have a stack of Kathy Reichs books, seven deep, waiting for me on the desk, but this last one (Déjà Dead) has given me nightmares and made sleeping through the night difficult. My cousin recently loaned a couple of books to me, The War Against Miss Winter and The Winter of Her Discontent, and I'm excited to dive back into mid-20th Century America. Well, the books weren't actually written then, but they're set in the time period, so it's close enough.

And I have plenty of other books on my reading list for the rest of the year! Here's a little peek at what will be keeping me busy:

• Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
• The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman
• Coraline by Neil Gaiman
• American Gods by Neil Gaiman
• A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
• Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
• Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers
• Criminals by Margot Livesey
• Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

And, of course, lots others! Hopefully I can keep my current pace. Maybe I'll actually be able to finish the 50 Book Challenge this year?

Au Gratin Potatoes

Wednesday night, I made these au gratin potatoes to go alongside a dinner of roast beef and carrots. This was my first time making au gratin potatoes from scratch. I'd been wanting to try it, then lo and behold, Cook's Country publishes a recipe in their latest issue. I love it when things work out like that! Plus, it gave me an excuse to buy a couple new pieces of kitchen equipment: a cheap mandolin slicer (which I love) and this Green Apple nonstick glass gratin dish. I like the gratin dish, but 'eco-friendly' nonstick coatings make me suspicious. Anyway, I may or may not keep the gratin dish...I really want this Emile Henry one.

Playing in the Kitchen

Today I had an unexpected day off. I started my day with a trip to the grocery store, where I bought a lovely bouquet full of my favorite springtime colors. For me, my perfect idea of spring is full of drizzly days and old movies and French music and anything that smells vaguely like lavender.

I also found these cute dishtowels on sale. They remind me a bit of a pie plate my mom has, which has a recipe for apple pie inside. I think they'll look sweet in our kitchen, which is (so far) looking to be a mish-mash of cottagy things, flowery things, and a lot of Starbucks mugs.

For dinner tonight, we made taco salad. I had a craving for this while I was at work on Thursday, and the real thing didn't disappoint. I found this recipe for baked taco salad bowls (so easy!), but otherwise this didn't require much more effort than just making tacos (which we do almost weekly in my house).

My cousin Aubree's birthday is on Thursday, so today we made some cookies for her. I think I got more sprinkles on the table than on the cookies! I hope she likes them anyway!

So that was how I spent my unexpected day off. Later this week, on my real days off, I'm going to be playing with my new mandolin slicer to make au gratin potatoes!

Why are you reading this? Just say YES!!*

Well, I'm back from Italy. It's bittersweet...I'm glad to be home, but it doesn't feel much like home without Flavio. But we'll be back together soon, and hopefully then it will finally be permanent. Anyway, on to the pictures!!

On Thursday, we spent the afternoon at Lake Como.

We took a funicular up the mountain to visit a little village called Brunate. Funiculars are...scary!! The views are spectacular, though. I wish it hadn't been so misty; I could've gotten much nicer photos.

On Saturday, we drove from Vercelli, Italy to Annecy, France. Most of the drive was through the beautiful Alps. This is the entrance to the Tunnel du Mont Blanc. The border between Italy and France is inside the tunnel.

In Annecy, we had lunch on a park bench beside the Lac d'Annecy. This is a view of the lake from the Pont des Amours ('Bridge of Love').

Mmm...buono! Annecy is full of creperies, some of which sell churros and waffles. They don't have waffles in Italy, so Flavio was really excited about having one!

After lunch, we walked up a hill to visit the museum at the Chateau d'Annecy, a restored 12th-century castle...

...where we got engaged!!!!

Yay engaged!!!!

The rest of the trip was pretty relaxing...walking around Vercelli, aperitivo with his friends, cooking, snuggling, playing with Pippo. You can see a few more pictures of our adventures here.

*=The ring box was inside a gift bag. After he proposed and I was putting the box back into the bag, I noticed some writing on the bag's tag. I figured it probably said 'I love you' or something, but no...it said, "Why are you reading this? Just say YES!!" Hahahahhahahahah!!

Stow Away

My flight leaves in about 23 hours. I'm packing up my new suitcase (which, unfortunately, seems to hold less than I need it to), trying not to forget anything important. My beastly cold seems to have almost disappeared. And by almost, I mean that I can sort of taste food and I'm only blowing my nose about half as often now. Sigh. On the plus side, Mother Nature seems to have gotten the memo about my trip, and the weather is going to be absolutely lovely while I'm in Italy. It's even going to be 60 degrees in Annecy on Saturday! I'm really happy that we're spending so much time outside of Milan this time. It's not that I don't like Milan, but I've been sick for so long (today is Day 11) that my energy level is really low right now, and I think the fresh air of the country and the mountains will be really nice.

I still have to pack a pair of shoes, some pants, and ALL of my toiletries (including my hair straightener). There'll be some extra room in it on the way home, because right now Flavio's Christmas presents are packed in there. For some reason, he never got the package and it was returned to me a couple weeks ago.

Well, I'm off to get ready for work. It's unfortunate that, with everything I still need to do, I have to spend 8+ hours at work tonight. I guess I'll probably stay up all night and sleep on the plane. See you all in a week!

Ridic. Sick

I'm on day 7 of a beastly cold. The first couple days, it was just a sore throat and a little cough, but I wanted to nip it in the bud (since I'm traveling soon), so I stayed home from work. Day 3, my throat didn't hurt as much, and I thought I was getting better, so I went to work. BIG MISTAKE!! There are about a hundred people sick at work, and it just made my cough worse. Monday was a holiday and Tuesday & Wednesday were my days off, so I figured all of that R&R would help me kick this thing. Not so much. :\ It's strange...I wake up feeling OK, but as the day progresses, I get completely worn out and I end up feeling worse. Anyway, I stayed home again tonight, but I absolutely have to go back to work tomorrow, whether I'm feeling better or not. I'm hoping that I'll be well by Saturday or Sunday. I caught this from my mom a couple days after she got sick, and she was feeling a lot better today.

On a happier note, I'm so excited about my trip! I started packing my suitcase this afternoon, and lately Flavio & I have been discussing our plans for each day. Lake Como and Annecy are definitely happening, and today there was a little bit of talk about taking an express train from Annecy to Paris. I would absolutely love to see Paris, but I don't know if we'll actually have time for it.

My lovely irises are beginning to wilt, but I can't bear to throw them away. I wish I had a flower press! Maybe I should dry them out?

In Bloom

Well, the blue flowers opened up, and I was surprised to find that they weren't tulips at all! I love irises. In fact, I bought some the day I met Flavio. I'm not very good at arranging flowers, especially with this bouquet...I cut the tulips' stems too short, and they're getting lost among the irises. Still, it's such a beautiful bouquet, and it means so much to me. ♥