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. :)