sparkle & reflect

Looking Back: November

2011-11-01T22:17:00.001-04:00

I always hate to be the person to say, “Wow, can you believeit’s Insert Month Here?” But really, seriously, wow, can you believe it’s November?Because I most definitely can’t. I feel like it was February five secondsago—February 2010 five minutes ago—and now, here we are, one month left of theyear.

In November last year, John and I were hanging out on abeach in Punta Cana. Over those five days, I read two books (this and I can’tremember the other one), swam with stingrays, went snorkeling, ate coconuts onthe beach and learned Prince William and Kate were getting married.

We did this excursion.

While I haven’t had that need-to-be-in-the-warm-weather RIGHT NOW feeling yet, I’ve already started turning the heat up when John’s not looking and yesterday I broke out the winter jacket.

But can you blame me? This is what the trees looked like in Punta Cana:

And these were the trees outside our apartment on Saturday:

(And that just made this post basically the same as this one. But that was March! It’s too soon for snow!)

So what were you doing last November? And what are you lookingforward to this year?

Apple Picking Success

2011-10-14T16:23:00.000-04:00

Although, truth be told, if you had asked any of us whilesitting at a gas station at 3:30 p.m. last Saturday whether we definitivelythought apple picking would have been a success, we likely would have hadanother answer for you.

Because, as you can imagine, we weren’t the only ones whothought going apple picking on an 80-degree long weekend in October was a goodidea. But! The bright side: We found an orchard, completewith beer garden, cider donuts and live music. Andonce we got our bags and figured out where the best apples were, the day turnedout pretty great.

All photos by the super-talented Dorna.

We had planned to make apple pies when we got home, but with some butternut squash, whole wheat pasta and spinach, Karen made dinner, instead.

Facelift!

2011-10-11T18:19:00.002-04:00

After some back and forth—and lots of Etsy research—I finallydecided it was time for this blog to get a new look. And here it is! What doyou think?

I bought the template from Yellow & Savvy Design and lovethe colors, the cuts and the fact that it reflects my own style a lot more thanbefore. Next up, I'll (finally) be working on the About page and just overall editing some of the features. Baby steps, yes? Anyway, I hope you like it and that you're enjoying this lovely Tuesday!

xo, m

Apple Picking Inspiration

2011-10-07T17:38:00.002-04:00

We’re going apple picking on Saturday—yay for all fall activities, all the time!—and as a way to avoid having like, five pounds of apples sitting around for weeks on end, I’ve been thinking about lots of different ways we can use them. I'm hoping to help John's mom make apple jelly (apple jam?), but aside from that, how good to THESE look?

I found this recipe for "Classic Apple Crisp" over at Pinch of Yum.

And hi, apple nachos. LOVE. The recipe, from Shugary Sweets, is here.

And check out these Caramel Apple Pie Cupcakes from The Craving Chronicles. (p.s., the rest of her food photography looks pretty awesome, too.)

Have you made any apple-infused goodness lately? Any tips?

All photo credits linked above.

On Turning Twenty Eight

2011-09-29T18:40:00.002-04:00

On Monday, we went on a wine tasting cruise on the Hudson River - so fun!

I’ve been making a ridiculous number of lists lately. What we need to buy for the apartment. Recipes I want to try. Movies/books/music I want to see/read/listen to. And that’s in addition to my boring every morning “Things I seriously need to get accomplished today” list.

So it’s only fitting that when I turned 28 on Monday, I started to make a list of what I was looking forward to for the year and, since I am always all sorts of nostalgic, what the past year was like.

I’d have to say that 27 was a bit all over the place, although maybe that’s every year. But there were lots of upsides. The getting married part, most of all. And the moving in together. The having of our family from Italy, Canada and friends from California here. The visiting of new places—Punta Cana last November, Miami in March, Spain in July, Dallas in September. The learning that what’s right for some people, isn’t always right for me. (And that that’s ok.)

But there’s been lots of adjusting to different situations. And lots of time wasted with worrying. (Weddings will SERIOUSLY do that to you. I was watching an episode of Dina’s Party on HGTV the other day and she was throwing a wedding re-do for this couple where the husband got salmonella poisoning and missed the reception. And I was all, OMG that was my worst fear realized. I think I ate nothing but pizza the two days leading up to the wedding. Why pizza? My dad, a former pizza man, says nothing can live in a 400-plus degree oven. If he’s lying, PLEASE don’t tell me.)

All in all, though, I’d like to think that on the first year of my late 20’s, things came together quite nicely.

And now, on to 28. I thought about making a “29 before 29” list, but I stopped at 20 and didn’t feel like forcing it. So we’re going to title this To Do at 28, instead.

Here are a few:

- Make donuts

- Go to Iceland

- Win that godforsaken radio contest already

- Finish my professional website

- Take a photography class

- Do a juice fast

- Have a tapas party

- Volunteer, preferably with something that has to do with reading

- Learn to make tomato sauce from Nonna

- Forget the “shoulds”

I’m hoping that having these here will actually remind me to finish them. That, and the fact that I’m going to print the list out and scotch tape it to my desk. (Better add bulletin board to that list of things to buy for the apartment.)

What about you? Do you have a running list of things you want to accomplish in any given year?

Summer in Spain

2011-09-23T14:54:00.003-04:00

It’s only a few hours into fall, but I’m still wearing flip flops (albeit in the rain…) and though I’m as excited as the next girl for pumpkin spice lattes, I’m not totally ready to give up on the fact that summer is, in fact, over. So, to keep that feeling going, I thought I’d (finally) share a few pics from our July honeymoon in Spain.

I’m in the midst of creating a photo book on Shutterfly—thank you, Groupon—and have been picking out some of my faves. Here are a few:

After a bumpy ride to Malaga, in southern Spain, we picked up our lovely blue rental car, and drove to Marbella to start our 13-day trip.

We had a gift certificate to the spa and a bottle of Cava waiting for us (thanks Carmine, Chris and Karen!). And with a view of the ocean, it gave those first four days a decidedly “honeymoon-ish” feel.

After lots of beaching and pooling and mid-day napping, we made the two-hour drive to Sevilla—my favorite of all the cities, actually. (This photo was actually from the Granada leg of the trip, but we made a similar stop at some randomly packed roadside restaurant on the Sevilla side.)

Road trip food!

I don’t know if it was because it felt like a small town in Italy (although that could have just been the ridiculous amount of tourists) or that the little streets lend themselves perfectly to fun walks, but from our hotel, which used to be a palace, (picture below on the left) to the gardens of the Reales Alcazar to the awesome restaurants we found courtesy of an English language Lonely Planet we picked up, it was seriously amazing.

From Sevilla, we made our way to Granada, where this photo below was the view from the hotel café. We got up early to wait in line for Alhambra tickets, wanted to try all the tea in town and put our blue car to good use driving up the mountains of the Sierra Nevada until we found no guardrails and lots of mountain goats.

After dropping our rental car off with the gas station attendant next to the airport, (who kindly left his post and drove us to our gate.), we boarded our flight to Barcelona. We spent three days walking for hours, dodging people and street performers on Las Ramblas, shopping—oh, how I love you red-ish pants from Zara—stuffing our faces with (even more) tapas and loving all things Gaudi.

Overall, it was amazing, honestly. And I know you’re supposed to say that about your honeymoon and all, but it really was. There were times when we wondered whether we should have gone on a more beachy or exotic trip, but I think this suited us much better—the wine was cheap, the roads were perfect for getting lost and the company couldn’t have been better.

P.S. If you'd like to see some photos from the wedding, click here.

Oh, Hi..

2010-12-02T21:31:00.000-05:00

Wait, what’s a blog? Oh, yes…this poor thing I’ve ignored for the last few months. But I came on the other day and realized that Dec. 3 marks the one-year anniversary of Sparkle & Reflect. (Well...if you don’t count that many month hiatus.).

It got me thinking how much has changed since this time last year. There's been lots more writing, a few more trips made, and that whole engagement thing—which means lots more planning than I ever thought possible (or necessary.) But I also realized how much has stayed the same: Miriam’s here, I'm still wearing last year's black boots and I still love the Real Housewives.

So, I’ll take this anniversary eve as a sign to start writing again. Stay tuned for more posts, more photos, more quotes and—I’ll let you know upfront now—more wedding-related stuff.

Here’s hoping you’ll keep reading! xox, m

wedding task wonders: photographer

2010-03-21T20:51:00.001-04:00

My friend Anish took this photo at Laura's wedding...maybe he should be my wedding photographer?

In the first month or so after we got engaged, there was a flurry of lists and plans and emails. I set aside a notebook especially for all my half-thought out notes, most of which can be found written sideways and in a scribbled handwriting that thankfully my journalism experience has taught me to decipher.

There was the buying of bridal books and magazines, the adding of new blogs to my Reader (under a new category and everything!), and there might have even been a Google Wave titled "Wedding Research" created. I had friends pass on Excel spreadsheets full of venue details and dutifully, John and I took all the 360-degree tours their websites offered.

And then, in mid-February, we booked the venue.

And then, the next day rolled around and we stopped thinking about the wedding.

I mean, ok, I stopped thinking about the wedding. And our wedding, I should italicize, since I had no problem checking out Erica's invitations and helping other friends with their own venue selections—oh, and reading a million articles this one.

Lots of people have asked for updates, sure, and I just keep feeding the line that we're in the process of looking for photographers and DJs.

But now it's not just a line anymore. Since we have quite the popular wedding date, I think we need to get on this whole photographer thing, especially since it's pretty much at the top of our list of "Important Wedding Priorities," as determined by that random list we filled out in that wedding planning book.

Which brings me to my problem: How does one go about finding a good (read: amazing, artsy, absolutely fabulous) East Coast photographer?

Every blog I read has me falling in love with photographers that are either on the West Coast or in some other part of the country. I know lots of people who have their photographers fly in from somewhere else, but my anxiety has me wondering how it'll be to meet them at the wedding (what if we don't have that much-talked about click?) and what if, as Sabina mentioned, NY lighting isn't nearly as amazing as Southern California lighting?

We're in the process of putting together a list now, and while we do have some good leads, I figured better to throw it out there and see if anyone else did, too, before I come up with some other wedding-related thing to distract me.

By the way, have you seen this wedding dress made of cake?

and, she's back...

2010-03-17T16:08:00.000-04:00

...although barely.

We haven't had power at the house since Saturday afternoon. And just in case you were wondering, I'm typing this on Thursday morning. And more than likely, we won't get it back until tomorrow. Le sigh.

At first it was actually kind of fun: reading by candlelight, camping out at my grandmother's, exchanging those "No, you can't believe the tree I SAW fall down" stories ... but then... well, then it just got kind of old. My clothes—and our food— are spread across three different houses, I'm charging my phone in my car and I haven't slept in my own bed since last Thursday night. (Friday we had a slight re-do of New Year's in Joyce's living room.) And, trust me, I know it could be a lot worse.

But, on the bright side, if I had to make a list of "Things I Won't Take for Granted Again, I Promise" electricity is definitely at the top.

No one's crossing this street....

Power lines plus trees equals not the best idea.

So at 12:30 on Sunday night, as we're finishing dinner at Melissa and Cheri's, Joyce gets an email saying a tree fell on her parents house. Since they're in Florida, we went to check it out.

The tree uprooted and skimmed the side of the house. After some friendly firefighters told us that no, in fact, the tree won't fall through the attic and into the living room, Joyce called her Dad, who remembered the name of his insurance person IN HIS SLEEP. Here, she's looking at the bright side as well.

three amazing things

2010-03-04T16:17:00.000-05:00

1. Short haircuts

I've had short hair since the end of April 2008, right after Sherry got married. I wanted it long for her wedding so that I'd be able to put it up, but once the weekend was over, that was it. I chopped it into a short bob, slightly longer in front. And I loved it. Like, loved it to the point where I spent the first week hoping it wouldn't grow too fast, just in case I went back to the salon and my hairdresser somehow couldn't remember how he'd cut it the last time I was there.

I kept it short, going from bob to cropped and layered and choppy, until this past October, when I had my last haircut. Because in December, I got engaged. And as soon as you get engaged people start asking if you're planning on growing your hair so that it will be long enough to curl or pull up or back for the wedding. I thought about it and since I couldn't really make up my mind, I let it grow. Eventually, it hit my shoulders and was much easier to keep out of my face at the gym.

Until Tuesday. I couldn't handle it anymore. It was weighing me down, to basically be literal about it. So I went and chopped it short once again, and immediately, right as I was sitting in the chair reading some old copy of Allure, I felt like myself again.

2. New ways to wear almost-abandoned clothes

Pretty much any time you walk into the Gap, you're guaranteed to get something on sale. In fact, I can probably count the number of times, I've bought something for full price—a super cute clutch that was stolen one summer in Italy and a t-shirt dress from at least 4 years ago that has become my default bridal shower outfit. So when I found a cute, long green tank for about $10 last summer, I figured there would be some way I could wear it. Turns out, there wasn't. It was too long to wear with jeans and when it was hot out, too short to wear with leggings.

And I almost forgot about it, poor thing, until earlier this week, when I rescued it from the murky bottom of my dresser drawer. I tried it on over leggings, pairing it with a long grey sweater, which balanced out the shortness. And look at that— it turns out the whole "shopping your closet" thing might actually work.

3. Individual hummus packs

I'm obsessed, obsessed with hummus. The problem though, is that the damn small print on the packaging says you have to use it within a week of opening. And since no one else in my house shares my love, it ends up going bad because, as hard as I try and as much as I'd like, I CANNOT eat an entire package in a week.

So on Sunday, when I was food shopping with John, I was lamenting this very fact when he handed me this 4-pack of Sabra individually-wrapped hummus containers. AMAZING.

I knew there was a reason I was marrying this boy.

[photo courtesy of Sabra]

lost observations, episode 6

2010-03-03T20:53:00.000-05:00

Well, this week went by pretty quickly, didn't it? I swear I feel like I just posted about our favorite island/alternative universe dwelling friends and then look at that, here we are again.

In much the same way that I'm feeling slightly lazy about writing this post, we were also too lazy to cook last night. Instead, we ordered in soggy sweet potato fries, turkey burgers, mussels (One of these things is not like the other...) and french onion soup. Internet, have you ever ordered takeout french onion soup? No? Good for you. We learned our lesson the hard way.

Here’s what we thought throughout:

- Sayid goes to visit Nadia. She’s married and Sayid calls her husband “brother.” As in, literally? We Lostpedia it and find out that yes, in fact, it is his actual brother.

- Sayid's carrying a picture of Nadia, says the little girl. Well, little girl, that didn't just make Mommy and Uncle Sayid incredibly awkward.

- Dogen's baseball drops to the floor and John asks, "What does the baseball represent?" Probably his childhood, we speculate. Maybe we’ll find out in the last episode. You know, when they actually answer some questions.

- Claire looks tan in this episode, which gets us thinking: Shouldn’t they all be a little more tan? Or at this point, perpetually sunburned? Maybe it’s the jungle, wonders Dorna.

- During commercials, we talk about the ridiculousness that is the possibility of Cablevision subscribers losing ABC. Ugh, Cablevision, come on, you want to possibly take away Lost? And Oprah? And the Oscars? Major fail.

- Back to the show: Omer basically tells Sayid to beat up the guys who loaned him money for Nadia. We say: Don’t do it, Sayid!

- Claire tells Dogen to speak English. He’s very obliging with the language changing, says Dorna.

- Evil incarnate? Oh, right, that’s who smoke-monster Locke (SML) is.

- Mid-way, we’re thinking: In both realities, Sayid is being tempted/tested. Even though he's predominantly good (at least, we think so), both Omer and Dogen (and later, SML), want him to focus on and use the bad he has in him. Devil tempting, much?

- At least Miles still thinks Claire looks hot.

- Did Dogen set Sayid up? Because he knew that if he tried to kill SML that SML would just kill Sayid?

- SML proves our point.

- Sayid can have anything in the entire world: Awww, the only thing he ever wanted died in his arms! Dorna and I swoon.

- Claire is down in a ditch, singing to herself. Claire = Crazy. Point taken, Lost writers.

- Side note: Every time I see an egg crack on TV, I automatically think of that old “This is your brain on drugs” commercial.

- Military guy, or Keamy, forgives the debt just like that? Put it in writing, says Dorna.

- Woah, Dogen just told Sayid his whole sad life story and then Sayid kills him! But at least now the baseball thing makes sense. ONE question answered!

- Where do the burning crosses come from?

- Previews for next week: So Ben is gonna die? Well, at least they didn’t say that “Questions will be answered!” Because clearly, they weren’t.

Thoughts: The content of each episode is pointing more and more towards faith, which leads John to come up with this theory: In their original lives, it seems as if all the principal characters have lost faith somehow, whether it's in their families (Kate, Jack), their marriages (Sun/Jin), or the world around them (Locke), so maybe the island is a test towards regaining that faith somehow. We're not sure, but it's a thought.

So, what did you think?

welcome, march

2010-03-01T21:35:00.001-05:00

There's something very clean slate about a new month beginning on a Monday, no?

During March last year, I was here:

Lying on a beach in the Bahamas.

And honestly, after a weekend full of this:

I'd take a cloudy day in the Bahamas at this point. Here's hoping that March warms up, even just a little.

What are you hoping for?

lost observations

2010-02-24T11:39:00.000-05:00

So, I didn't exactly mean to not post about Lost last week. I just got lost (heh) (wow, that was really lame, sorry) - I just got caught up in a whole bunch of other things and by the time I could actually sit down and write about it, it was way after the fact. And anyway, since it was snowing in NY last week, we actually did a virtual Lost part, which wasn't nearly as fun.

Clean slate.

This week, although the weather was still crappy (rain, snow, slush...dear summer, please hurry.) we reconvened at John's apartment. I made pasta e fagioli from my grandmother's recipe—which I can post here, actually, if anyone is interested. It turned out really well, which got my hopes up that maybe one day I'll be able to cook somewhat decently and not have to rely on tuna fish sandwiches and Morning Star veggie burgers.

Here's what we thought throughout:

- We were talking through the recap, but realized you can absolutely tell who the episode is going to be about by who is focused on during the 30-second catch-up.

- This season, the episodes seem to focus on one or two characters, which is totally reminiscent of earlier seasons.

- Jack has a son!

- We think the mom is Kate. Although we're not sure if she and Jack have met in non-island universe. But Kate's eyes and David's eyes are super similar.

- Hurley and Miles are playing Tic, Tac, Toe, which looks just as boring and pointless on the island as it does in real life. No one ever wins! They do get points for creativity in making the board out of tree branches, though.

- Jacob appears to Hurley and we decide that Jacob looks like someone we know, but we're not sure who. He looks like he could have gone to one of the Catholic schools around here, which would make sense if you're going with the whole Jacob-as-Jesus-scenario.

- David doesn't want to deal with his father, and doesn't want to go to Grandma's house to look for dead Grandfather's will. Our parents would have dragged us in the car and made us go. AND forced us to take off the damn headphones.

- Jin is stuck in one of Claire's traps—how in the world is his leg not more damaged? Later, when she "stitches" him up, it's just a hole. Really?

- Hurley writes Jacob's direction on his arm in blue ink, which gives us immediate high school flashbacks.

- What exactly is that animal Claire is keeping in the baby crib?

- Also, her hair totally looks crimped, says Dorna.

- Claire is in Jack's father's will!

- Why does David have an answering machine? asks Dorna. Hm, we wonder, no one has answering machines anymore, do they? We later get into a discussion about cell phones and high school and how kids must text answers to other kids from the bathroom.

- Jack and Hurley arrive at the Lighthouse. Of course there's a 4-story lighthouse! Of course it wouldn't take years to build by who the hell knows who! Of course they never noticed it before!

- In Claire's tent, we sort of feel bad for the Other guy. Also, to back up for a second, did anyone else notice that when Claire was stitching up Jin's wound, he was totally sweating?

- Japanese-speaking, Other-leader is at the auditions David ran away to attend! Creepy.

- Dorna informs us that she played piano for 10 years. John and I think she should have auditioned for Julliard.

- At the lighthouse, Hurley starts to move the dial. Isn't this how the island moved back in the day? We wonder who's coming to the island.

- We want screen grabs of the names on the dial.

- Jack has a lead pipe in his hand - how is Hurley not scared he's going to smash him and not the mirrors?

- What exactly is Jack contemplating by the ocean? He's still annoying, we think. Too self righteous or something.

- Ah, but Jacob says some people need to contemplate by the ocean in order to figure it all out. We stand corrected.

- We think we're going to find out who David's mother is by the end of the episode, but instead, we find out that crazy mother Claire isn't too happy that Kate was taking on her role. We say: Wouldn't she want Aaron off the damn island? It obviously hasn't helped Claire much.

- I might stop watching this show if the preview credits for "next week's episode" don't stop saying QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED.

Overall thoughts: Island-Claire is way too Rousseau-like. Mothers suffering for their children, would do anything for them - even hack a guy with an ax and befriend crazy smoke-monster Locke and all that. Meh. I don't know, it's kind of lame. Also, this episode totally made us think back to high school. Which, since we had a pretty decent time in high school, is fine by us.

Your thoughts?

old hangouts and new babies

2010-02-23T13:12:00.000-05:00

Before this weekend, I hadn't been to Boston in about two years. There's no real reason why, mostly because the majority of friends have moved away and I've moved on to discovering other cities. But when Joyce mentioned a conference she had to go to this past weekend, and suggested I and whoever else was up for it should tag along, I figured it would be a good a time as any to head back.

And so mid-afternoon on Friday, after making Joyce wait a good hour while I grabbed some last minute, just-in-case clothes (although I forgot my toothbrush, as usual) and sent some last minute, don't-want-to-look-at-my-computer-for two-days emails, we dumped our weekend bags into the trunk of her Camry and headed east on 84.

I love car rides where you're so engrossed in conversation that you forget to even turn on the radio. When you don't have to bother pressing Scan in hopes of finding a good song playing somewhere in nowhere Connecticut or settle with "Oh, this must be their version of Z100," and hear Kesha for the 8 millionth time. So thankfully, we amused ourselves with talk of weddings and residencies, future jobs and past boyfriends.

Four hours later we hit the city, taking note of BU's newest dorm, and confirming that the Student Village will, in fact, be the nicest apartment either of us ever live in. We GPS-ed our way downtown to School St., where we checked into the Omni Parker House Hotel. (We also found out it's where the Boston Cream Pie was first created! Oo, but here's the recipe!) Once we crossed Sunset Cantina off our list of dinner choices, we walked around in the not-as-cold-as-expected night, got shut out by a 2-hour wait at Toro and finally settled into a table by the bar at Masa, where tapas were $1 each.

On Saturday morning, after an ill-fated 6am wake-up call (proving that Joyce still hasn't learned that she and alarms don't get along very well, no matter the medium or size of pillow being thrown at her face), she headed to the conference while I had a Starbucks and writing session.

Later that afternoon, I met up with Azalea and her friend Alicia for the prerequisite Anna's visit (they have a new location! in (on?) Beacon Hill! with two floors!). If you went to school, lived or just visit Boston regularly, you're probably familiar with the amazing burritos at Anna's Taqueria - and if you're not, and you're planning a trip there, do yourself a favor and add it to the itinerary. And can I just recommend the $3.99 grilled vegetable burrito?

The girls went off to study while I wandered up and down Newbury St, in and out of stores, remembering when books from Urban were the ideal birthday present. Later, I made my way through the Commons (in the pic below) to meet up with Joyce, passing a saxophonist playing Disney tunes and a middle-aged couple engaged in a serious make-out session next to him.

Learning our lesson from the night before, on Saturday we actually picked a restaurant before going out. As we walked down Boylston and into Vlora, I had a feeling I had been here before, although in a completely different context. If you were in Boston circa 2002, let me ask you this: Do you remember Q Vin's? And if so, was there an elevator that took you down to the bar? Because that's what I kept imagining, or that's how my memory preserved it, like some city speakeasy where everyone sang off-key. I remember the karaoke clearly, though, even if everything else is slightly blurry. Even if it's what happened after, through a haze of cold and hands stuffed into too-small pockets that I remember much clearer.

Joyce and I ended with Finale and a late screening of Dear John, which proved that A. We're not in college anymore and B. I'm a sucker for romances. And Channing Tatum's abs.

On Sunday morning we left early with Azalea to head to Salem to meet Darius, the darling little boy that our friends Laura and Darryl just had. Tell me he's not the cutest baby ever? Those cheeks are seriously amazing.

Here's mommy and baby. Darius turned 1-month old on Sunday and we gave him three Dr. Seuss books to mark the occasion.

And Azalea with baby - so sweet. The four of us went to high school together and Laura's the first of our group of friends to have a baby.

After a pizza lunch and a four-hour car ride home, Joyce and I made one last stop to see Melissa and Cheri's new condo, which is super close and makes me quite excited for many dinner parties together.

The whole weekend was a fun realization that things have changed, but not all that much. That the same people I knew when I left for Boston are the same people that I still see in New York. That people have come and gone along the way. That that's ok. That with new babies and new condos and new experiences, the growing up part doesn't really seem so scary, afterall.

necklace love

2010-02-22T23:18:00.000-05:00

A couple months ago, Dorna and I were shopping at Beehive Co-Op in Mount Kisco, an awesome little shop that sells lots of locally made and handcrafted items, when I spotted Throwing Stars Jewelry. Designer Amy Leff makes such pretty pieces, including earrings, cuffs and rings. But my favorite are the necklaces. I love how they range from sweet to dressy to funky and statement-making.

Find more designs and do some shopping here.

[photos via Etsy]

so, wanna be my bridesmaid?

2010-02-13T09:46:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's taken me this long to post about the bridesmaid dinner I hosted a whole two weeks ago. But, it wasn't totally my fault as I had to wait until the gifts I made each of them were safely in the hands of my cross-country bridesmaids. (Although, I guess it sort of was my fault since I waited something like four days after the dinner to actually mail them.)

But, now, I'm so excited because all 10 girls finally know. Oh and yes, you read that right—10. We're having ten bridesmaids—and that's just the maids, it's not counting the groomsmen, flower girls, ring bearers, readers etc. etc. that in my mind make up the entire bridal party. At first I thought, wow, that's a big number, but then I realized I have this habit of collecting close friends as I go through life. I've know my maid of honor since kindergarten, half the bridesmaids from high school and the other half since college. Learning to rollerblade, waiting for the ice cream man, throwing a million surprise parties, getting driven by the cops to prom (oh, that deserves a post all its own), surviving Warren Towers, eating at the GSU and drinking in Barbados would never have been the same without them. And with the exception of Jennifer, John's sister—who I'll be spending many holiday dinners with and therefore gets lots of years added to the total by default—by the time our wedding rolls around next year, I'll have known all of the girls for no less than 10 years each. That seems like a perfect round number, no?

So two Saturdays ago, I hosted a lovely little dinner in their honor. Since I've been bitten by the prerequisite engagement craft bug, I wanted to make something wherein I would ask each to be in my wedding party. My inspiration came partly from the awesome pieces I saw on Nice Package and partly from this DIY idea on Project Wedding—although I changed it a bit. I found some plain brown boxes and inside I put three pieces of champagne-colored square card stock on top of tissue paper.

The first card they saw had a small white pouch filled with chocolates on it and it read: "You're so sweet..."

They lifted up that card and the second had a black picture frame with a photo of us (and other friends) and it read: "And you've been such a good friend, for so many years..."

Finally, when they lifted up the last one, it read: "That it makes me so happy to ask, Will you be my bridesmaid?"

I wrapped the whole thing with green ribbon, which is one of the wedding colors.

The finished boxes looked like this:

And the end result of them being opened looked like this:

The whole table, which are in the wedding colors, came together quite nicely.

Thanks, in part to Karen's vases:

We started with hummus, cheese and bruschetta and then ate pasta with eggplant and mozzarella, chicken francese, sweet mashed potatoes and peas and mushrooms. Everyone looked happily stuffed at the end, which totally equals success in my world.

Even though Shannon, Erica and Sabina were too far and too snow-bound to make it, they were totally there in spirit. And overall, I'm just so happy and lucky that I'll have a group of smart, beautiful, talented and amazing girls by my side.

happy birthday, chris!

2010-02-10T18:36:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to wish a very happy 20th birthday to my youngest brother, Chris, an amazing person who sings solo at open mic nights, truly believes the old "an apple a day keeps the doctor away," and seriously makes our family so much fun.

Happy Birthday!!! xxox

lost observations

2010-02-10T17:24:00.001-05:00

Before we begin this next installment of Observations Made While Watching Lost, can someone please, please, pretty please suggest another name besides "Lost Observations" or the even more verbose "Observations Made While Watching Lost?" Hello, boring. Any thoughts on that would be much appreciated.

And now, on with it....

So last night, Dorna made us an awesome dish that was full of eggplant and tomatoes and garlic and eggs. We ate it with whole wheat pita's, while watching the opening credits and it was so so good. Unfortunately, I kind of forgot to take a photo. Next time!

Here's what we thought throughout:

- Sayid is alive! As Jacob! We think. Whatever, we called it.

- Claire is back! And in LA! Pregnant?

- Of course Kate is going to bring back Sawyer. And of course, she can be "very convincing."

- Why does Claire want her suitcase so bad?

- I wish I could be totally unflinching if someone stuck a gun in my face too, mechanic-guy.

- John wonders why Kate can steal a cab and leave Claire on the street, but then feels guilty when she sees a stuffed whale?

- Explains why Claire wanted her suitcase, though.

- Dorna says that the hippie-looking guy is named Lennon, which is way, way lame.

- I wonder if, while Sayid is being tortured he's thinking: Karma.

- Now Claire, why would you get in the car with someone who 2 scenes ago pointed a gun at you?

- Kate is still way too Joey Potter for me to handle. I don't care if she's a "criminal."

- Dorna loves the fact that the guy helping Kate and Jin find Sawyer is the creator of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

- If Always Sunny in Philadelphia guy was the one who Kate hit before escaping the cages, then does that mean that these guys are Others? So they're NOT new characters, then? Confused.

- Jack is always trying to save the day. And it's annoying.

- Sayid really trusts Jack?

- The pill looks like Ginko Biloba.

- Honestly, I thought that when Aaron's almost-adoptive mom opened the door, she would be someone we knew.

- So it made me feel better when Ethan was her doctor.

- There are lots of creepy-looking people on this show, btw.

- Also, why does it seem like Ethan's lying when he says that Claire doesn't have to deliver the baby right away?

- Poor Sawyer, maybe he really loved Juliet.

- The Ginko Biloba is actually Poison.

- Why in the world would Claire give Criminal Kate her credit card?

- Because she's just going to cancel it later, obvs, say John and Dorna.

- Maybe Sayid is actually the black-shirted guy (which a friend I talked to this weekend kept calling Esau), and maybe black doesn't mean evil, afterall?

- Finally they let Jack in on the fact that Claire's his sister.

- Always Sunny Guy is shot, by Claire!

Overall thoughts: This show felt alot like filler. It seemed to be setting up a few of the subplots and was there for some explanation but mostly to keep moving the show forward.

What were your thoughts on the episode?

words

2010-02-10T00:46:00.000-05:00

"If you have a broken heart or a battered soul

Find something to hold on to or to let go

To help you through the hard nights like a flask filled with hope

Darlin' do not fear what you don't really know."

- Brett Dennen, "Darlin' Do Not Fear"

A perfect remedy if you ever need inspiration and/or a reminder that no matter what, life is, in fact, pretty amazing: Brett Dennen on repeat.

happy world nutella day!

2010-02-05T22:44:00.000-05:00

A couple months ago I was on Facebook and I stumbled upon the wonderful fact that February 5 is World Nutella Day! Who knew? Apparently lots of people, actually, as this is the fourth year it's been happening. Four years! How could I have missed this? Especially because in my family almost every day is World Nutella Day—particularly if you're my brother Carmine, who has been known to eat quadruple-decker Nutella sandwiches and is the willing recipient of jars and jars of the stuff from our grandmother.

It's been a diet staple for as long as I can remember, smeared on bread and pancakes, eaten off a spoon or the end of a knife, served at breakfast and after dinner. Or, if we were really lucky and happened to be in Italy and it happened to be the week of the feast and all the adults just so happened to leave the house earlier than usual, in place of actual dinner. Then, feeling like we had actually gotten away with something, we'd pair Nutella with peanut butter on two slices of PanCarrè—the perfect mesh of our Italian and American-ness.

So, to celebrate this joyous occasion, John and I decided to make crepes with Nutella from an awesome (and easy) recipe provided by his mom. They took us about 15 minutes to make and tasted great, if we do say so ourselves. Now, in keeping with the theme, we're going to round out our night watching Fellini's Roma.

Here's what they looked like:

And here's more evidence that I should never become a food photographer...

What's your favorite way to eat Nutella?

Oh, and one more thing, while we're on the subject, has anyone heard of anyone making spaghetti with Nutella? I swear I heard this years ago and I never known anyone to do it, but one of these days, I think I'm going to try...

and so starts the final season...

2010-02-03T16:00:00.000-05:00

I actually remember the first episode of Lost. I was living in Boston, in my senior year of college, and my roommate Erica was sitting on the couch watching it. The rest of us made fun of her for quite some time, citing the sci-fi aspect and who really survives a plane crash in the middle of the ocean? We were much more content with the realistic content in Grey's Anatomy and the O.C.

But, I apologize now to Erica, on the Internet and everything, because a few summers later, John and I spent way too much time indoors catching up on all the seasons. (I actually sometimes think it was more satisfying watching it on DVD, since we could just go on to the next episode without waiting an entire week and sorting through a whole bunch of speculation to get there.) I realized after watching episode after episode that the show was great and entertaining, even if at times ridiculous. Added bonus: The wonderful Dorna and Pedro were equally obsessed.

So, last year we started our own little Lost parties on Wednesday nights where we alternated between eating Greek, pizza, Turkish and sometimes leftovers, consistently trying to figure out what the hell we were missing/forgot/didn't understand. This year, the tradition starts again—although we're down one person, with Pedro moving to Philadelphia and all.

Last night, we put together the ingredients needed for a proper premiere:

1. Cooking. Oh, didn't you know? We're all grown up now.

Oh no, I definitely didn't take this mashed potato mix from my mom's kitchen.

2. Actual cooked food. Very strategic placement by Dorna, I should add.

3. Snuggie/Mermaid costume stand-in.

4. Fire.

5. Necessary "What, how is that even possible?" face.

Some observations we made while watching:

(There might be some spoilers in here, so if you haven't seen the episode yet, get on that. and then come back here and let's talk about it! Oh, and I kind of forgot to write down who said what and when, even though I think, in theory, I meant to.)

- Last season, the color of Juliet and Sawyer's hair completely clashed.

- We don't like Evangeline Lily's hair in that L'oreal commercial. We prefer it all unwashed and wavy-like.

- We are obsessed with hair. Ever notice how Sawyer's always looks wind-blown?

- Airplane! Is this happening at the same time? Or are we going to see it all meld together in the end?

- Bad CGI, says Dorna.

- But Desmond's still cute.

- The TV is fuzzy already, but now the sound, too? Oh, oops, sorry, now they can hear.

- Bernard and Rose are so cute.

- Does anyone else remember how the guy sitting between Locke and Boone is the one from the Aaron Burr peanut butter commercial?

- Locke's body was inhabited by the black-shirt-wearing guy. But why does he want to kill Jacob?

- How in the world does Juliet survive beneath all that metal?

- Charlie's back!!

- We assume Juliet will die cause she's on that new show.

- More new characters?! The other others?

- Kate and Sawyer are totally Joey and Pacey.

- Sayid is dead. But not for long, we think.

- If some strangers who just lied to you about killing/not killing your friend, would you really take the food/drink they offered?

- I liked Locke better pre-smoke monster.

- We called it halfway through: Jacob is inhabiting Sayid's body.

Overall thoughts, from Dorna: I feel like we're seeing the most basic and common of themes kinda emerge in the most intricate of TV storylines ever: good, evil, fate, destiny. Funny how, even with a complex show like Lost...it boils down to that.

So, what did you think??

beyond cut and paste

2010-01-28T12:24:00.001-05:00

I've been attempting to spread my "crafty" wings lately. I want to finally graduate from the school of construction paper and pipe cleaners and on to ribbon and gift tags and homemade cupcake wrappers. I'm starting to wonder if this is a symptom of engagement, as it seems everywhere I go I find DIY projects ranging from place card holders made from icing tips to this fun and colorful wedding.

I'm actually in the midst of working on something now, which I'll hopefully share with you very soon. But a few weeks back, when I was looking to buy some ribbon, I stumbled upon this little shop that sells the prettiest packaging. Plus, it's called Nice Package, which makes it even better.

I think I am now officially ready to ditch the safety scissors.

But am I the last one to jump in? Do you like to make/create?

[Photos via Nice Package]

words

2010-01-26T10:58:00.000-05:00

"And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should..."

-max ehrmann

Today is one of those days. Where I need to read someone else's words to make me feel better. Where quotes offer reassurance in a way that my own attempt at convincing can't. Where I have so many things going through my mind and I can't seem to harness even one. So rather than try to fix it one by one, sort each one through until it either doesn't exist anymore, or has figured itself out, I just try and let it all go. Chalk it up to the universe and something larger and fate and meant to be. To this is better than that. If it's possible, I'm not sure. I don't know how good I am at it. But it's out there, and it is what it is. And maybe it will work.

What do you do when you're having a bad—or just weird—day, week?

keeping time

2010-01-21T21:22:00.000-05:00

Aren't these clocks fun? They were created by Masumi Hayashi of Lio & Linn, are hand painted and made of solid mahogany. Masumi also has a pretty line of jewelry, which I'm planning on posting sometime soon, but you can get a sneak peak here.

Why taking Uggs on my honeymoon might be a good idea

2010-01-20T17:50:00.000-05:00

So, did you see the recent New York Times article on the 31 Places to Go in 2010? (If you didn’t, then you may or may not have heard about how pissed M.I.A. was that the newspaper named Sri Lanka number one.) But the article had lots of interesting info on places I never really thought about visiting, like Bahia in Brazil.

But, the part of the article that most caught my attention was number 9, Antarctica. See, awhile back I came up with a list of things I Must Accomplish in Life. The list ranges from the random (grow my own vegetables) to the slightly profound (publish a book, set up a charity). But overall they’re mostly fun things that I want to do at some point like learn to drive stick shift and to play a musical instrument. One of the most fun things on the list is to visit every continent. Because let’s face it, if you’ve heard me hum, you know I have no beat/rhythm or anything else required to play a musical instrument.

And this is where the Times comes in. Denny Lee writes: “This may be the last year that Antarctica is open to mass tourism — not because the ice is melting too fast (though it is), but because of restrictions that would severely curtail travel around the fragile continent.” The restrictions, the article says, are set to take place in two years.

Now, for some reason, in my mind Antarctica was the last continent on the list to visit. The one where I would be oh say, 60 or so, with an overwhelming desire to cruise and an inability to sit still on a beach for too long. But then I started thinking: Two years…2011…wedding. What about ANTARCTICA for a honeymoon?

Imagine telling people you went to Antarctica on your honeymoon? I wonder if you would meet any friends the way you always hear happens at resorts in Jamaica or Hawaii. “Oh, Jane? Yea, she’s the friend I met while soaking in the sub-zero temperatures on the deck of my Antarctic honeymoon cruise.”

To be fair, there are companies that say they'll have ships ready to sail even after the restrictions—the article mentions one of them. But, c'mon, a parka emblazoned with "Bride" on the back? I might be all over it.

writer's block prevention

2010-01-15T15:22:00.001-05:00

I've had "Keep Calm and Carry On" as the banner on my phone for awhile now. But isn't this take on the original slogan inspiring for any author/blogger/cover letter writer out there? I'd love to look up from my laptop and see this whenever I couldn't think of the next sentence. They have lots of other variations too, like "Keep Calm and Snap On," "Keep Calm and Bake On" and "Keep Calm and Dance On."

Visit KeepCalmShop on Etsy for more.

[Photo via keepcalmshop/etsy]

Clean house, clear mind?

2010-01-14T16:28:00.000-05:00

About mid-week last week, I started to get this strange feeling. It seemed like everything I owned – from clothes to my published clips – was in a completely state of disorganization. And by that I mean in a complete state of "absolutely all over the place," and I was totally frustrated at not being able to find anything. I took a quick glance around my bedroom and realized that this was in fact, true. My sweatpants were sitting with my summer tank tops. Half-read books that I swore I would finish before the holidays were still sitting on my desk. There was a whole slew of magnetic poetry in a corner by my bed. Seriously, magnetic poetry. They've probably been there since, oh, 2002. Does anyone actually use magnetic poetry anymore?

And so, in homage to that old quote about a clean house and clean mind, I decided to embark on Project Organization 2010. I actually just Googled what that quote was, in case I totally made it up and it seems I might have. Cleanliness is next to godliness? I don’t think that was it. I've never been entirely sure what that meant, anyway. But, you know when you clean and organize everything around you and your mind feels suddenly at ease? That's what I was going for. First phase:

Step 1: Clear out everything from under my bed. Gems found: Back issues of Jane, which were amazing to read, and have since been placed with other inspirational things. A box full of random things from high school/college – including a mixed tape from 1997. A whole bunch of pretty stickers from back when I thought I could actually have the patience to scrapbook.

Step 2: Separate everything into piles, according to what they are. Art. Wedding. Electronics. Journals. Misc.

Step 3: Go to Bed, Bath and Beyond. Walk around the store a few times before realizing that organizational items like, you know, boxes, are set up right in the middle of the aisle. Pick up 4 boxes and one shoe organizer.

Step 4: Lay out all organization tools. Wonder if I forgot to buy labels. Find makeshift labels which are actually circles. Label.

Step 5: Take shoes from closet and put them in brand new shoe holder. Realize shoe holder is only meant to hold 12 pairs of shoes. Manage to stuff in 19.(Also realize in this moment that I own way too many shoes. Especially considering those were primarily just summer shoes. Sigh.)

Step 6: Stack boxes nicely. Place in closet. Slide shoes under the bed.

Step 7: Mind, clear.

Next up: Makeup drawer.

Have you done any organizing lately? Is it just a side effect of the New Year or does it actually make you feel better?

new year, slightly delayed

2010-01-06T17:22:00.000-05:00

The perils of bangs and cheesy glasses...

I will make no excuses to the fact that I am one of those people who must thouroughly analyze the old year as the new one begins. I sometimes wish that I was above all that, that I could make no record of what happened or care, even, and just let the twelve months go already. But that, if you want to take a look at the pile of book reports from second grade in that bottom drawer, is just not me. I am a recorder, a chronicler, a pack rat. I want to remember exactly what happened in case it never happens again. Or, to compare it to what happened already if in fact, it does.

And so, I realize: 2009 was a completely up and down sort of year. There were points early on, in say, March and April, when I was so anxious, when I worried incessantly about everything from work to where I would live to what I would do with the dreaded REST OF MY LIFE. This is quite cliché, I now think, to do at 25. Slightly dramatic, too. But maybe it’s what happens when you drive over a bridge every day and spend far too much time listening to 1010wins.

In any case, the year went on and I did some memorable things, like sleeping in the woods for two nights (ok, fine, it was 1.5 nights, the other half was spent in the car), dancing to the music of an overrated Italian reality show runner-up on the rooftop of my friend’s house late in August, and seeing the Rockies in real life.

Then that whole lots more time on my hands thing happened. And my caravan of Italian cousins came to visit. There was the engagement, which put lots of things into perspective. And it all ended with a New Year’s Eve party that ended with 12 of us sleeping in one room, complete with a pitched tent, snoring boys and an alarm that went off at 8am.

And now that I’ve come out on the other side, I want to stop dwelling and start moving forward. In 2010, I want to stop worrying so much. I want to let go. I want to take more risks and trust my instincts more.

Plus:

- Win a radio contest. This has actually been on my resolution list for the past two years, but I seem to forget about it until a few weeks before the end of the year. Can someone remind of this in say, June?

- Take cooking lessons from Nonna. She always said I needed to know how to cook when I got married and since I have that whole engagement thing going on, I should probably get on the whole cooking thing, too.

- Run another 5K.

- Take better care of my skin.

- Write something, anything, every day.

How'd 2009 turn out for you? Any new year's resolutions made for 2010?

Some housekeeping

2010-01-05T16:24:00.000-05:00

While I’m still wrapping my head around the last couple of weeks (all good things, thankfully), I realized I forgot to mention a couple of recent guest posts I’ve done. If you'd like to check them out, here's some info:

The first was for Italian American Girl, a wonderful blog written by Margaret about her experience as a first generation Italian-American, with lots of upcoming events, news and issues in the I-A community. I wrote a post about my obsession with dressing like a "Italian girl" and some of the great Italian fashion brands that are popular in Italy and also found in the U.S.

You can read it here.

The second was for i-Italy, an online magazine about Italian-American life with which I’ve been affiliated for a few years now and think is an amazing resource. I wrote about the new Jersey Shore show and the negative and positive feelings Italian-Americans have towards it. Have you seen the show? What do you think about it?

You can read that post here.

And I’ll be back tomorrow with another update, promise.

a snowy proposal story

2009-12-22T10:17:00.000-05:00

I obsess over beginnings. If someone’s telling me a story, I want to know how it all started. Where they were and how they were feeling. What they were wearing and what they were thinking about. I want to be in their head, to figure out every detail that made it whatever it was.

And so when I first thought about how I would post this story, I thought back to the beginning of “me and John” and realized that on Saturday, it happened in much the same way. That is to say, while I knew it would happen one day—first meeting John and later, getting engaged—the way it all fell into place was so simple and felt so easy. Like it was always meant to be this way.

Back on a Saturday in 2005, I went to a bar that I never really went to, on a night that I probably shouldn’t have gone out. It was raining and I worked late. My friend and I had made plans to hang out, and after I picked her up, we contemplated going back home and then, once on the road, going to a restaurant instead of out for drinks. But we didn’t. At the bar, we met a friend we knew. We started talking. His friend walked over. I looked out at the crowd for a second and when I turned back to the table, there was John. He was standing in front of me, his hands in the pocket of the red jacket he was wearing. I think he said hello. He might have shaken my hand.

Fast-forward four years later, to another Saturday. He and I weren’t supposed to hang out that day, or at the very least, not until later that night. But I was stressing before I even woke up. In that time between sleeping and being fully awake, I lay in bed, mentally running through a checklist of things I had to do. Wrap Christmas presents. Finish a blog post. Take my cousin’s shopping. Drop them off at my grandmother’s. Later that morning, I called John. I vented. He offered to come down and pick me up so I could get out of the house for an hour, before my cousin’s woke and up and before it started snowing. We were set to have some foot of snow later that night.

At first, I said no. It’s not worth it. Don’t worry about it. I feel guilty leaving my cousin’s here. He didn’t listen and an hour later, we were in his car. I assumed we’d go to lunch. Instead, he said his heat broke in his apartment and we need to go there to fix it. Broken heat? And you want me to go there? No way. He kept driving and for once in my life, I stopped complaining.

We arrived at the apartment and I saw the bottle of champagne on the table. I walked in and when I turned my head toward the living room, there was the Christmas tree in the corner. It was covered in white lights and there were red roses underneath. Beside it, were three red wine glasses and inside each was a round, red ornament. Later, I realized it wasn’t cold in there at all.

We sat near the tree and he started talking about us, our relationship, why he thought the apartment was the best place to propose. He handed me one of the ornaments, on which he had written the date, 12.19.09. He talked about the past four years, everything that had happened. The next ornament said “Us.” He told me the ornaments were shatterproof. On the final one was written “Love,” and when I looked back at him, after putting it on the tree, he had gotten on one knee. Tearily, he asked me. Crying, I said yes.

The next few hours were a blur of champagne and pictures. We drove to John’s parents house, and, thanks to the impending snowstorm, everyone was home. There were tears and cookies and toasts. We went to my house. My mom, who always knows everything before anything actually happens, already knew. Little did I know she had gone with John a few weeks earlier to look at the ring. Around the same time, John had asked my dad’s permission. He said yes. He was crying and congratulating us all at the same time. It was exactly as I’d imagined it.

I had always told John that I didn’t want to get engaged while on vacation. I wanted to be able to tell everyone in person, right after it happened. We’re both so close to our families, that they’re part of what makes us what we are to each other. I wanted them to celebrate that with us. And so thus began our little "engagement caravan." At every house, came more congratulations and excitement, more toasts and tears. One of my grandmothers’s actually said she was happy because she got to be alive. We all yelled at her for this. It made me happier than anything, though.

Later, a bunch of us got snowed in at my house. We ordered food. Karen made cookies. We watched Love Actually.

I was in a daze through most of it, remembering all the things that happened over the past four years. I felt lighter somehow. Not in an “ Everything is easier now” kind of way but more in a “Yes, right, perfect” kind of way. Because without knowing or realizing it back at the beginning, it turned out that the boy in the bar that Saturday would be the boy that many Saturdays later, knew exactly what made me, me. Exactly what made us, us.

p.s. special thanks to my new fiance for sending me these pics at 6am!

Where did you travel this year?

2009-12-16T10:21:00.000-05:00

My lovely friend Danielle (that's her above) just got back from visit to Marrakesh with her boyfriend. Her photos were so pretty that I asked her if I could share some here. It seems like the whole trip was is in shades of blue...

Whenever I see pictures from other places, my first reaction is to want to get up and get out of here as quickly as possible. I have this habit of consistently saying, "Oh, I want to go here." And, "Oh yea, I want to go there." And, "Ugh, I just want to go everywhere." This then results in me researching how much it will cost to fly to Australia, Moscow and/or Costa Rica, depending on my mood and the weather, only to realize that it will probably take more planning than a quick Kayak search. So, I sign up for another version of one the 10 million travel newsletters I already get, in the hopes that some amazing deal will cross my path.

That being said, what I have been doing the last few December’s is making a list of the places I’ve been that year and the places I’d like to go the following year. In 2009 I visited:

- the Bahamas, where I went in March for my friend Melissa’s bachelorette party.

- Las Vegas, which was two weeks later, at the end of March, for my friend Laura’s bachelorette party. Needless to say, 2009 was the Year of Weddings.

- Italy, in August, in what turned out to be the big trip of the year, and a much needed 10-day break from everything.

- Aspen, in October, with John and Miriam, where we (sort of) surprised John’s cousin Paul for his birthday.

I don’t want to be too presumptive about 2010, given that I don’t know where I’ll be on the financial end of things, but if I could dream up anywhere, it would be to go to Iceland and Spain. I’ve wanted to visit both places for years – particularly Iceland – so maybe a 4 or 5-day trip can be squeezed in there somehow.

And you? Where did you go in 2009 and what would be your dream trip(s) for 2010?

Friday Favorites

2009-12-11T14:40:00.000-05:00

A rotating roster of inspirations

Things:

I am slightly (or not so slightly) addicted to chaptstick. I was gifted this lip balm from the Philadelphia Reading Terminal Market recently and love it. I’ve been using it all week, and even though I’ll probably lose it in the abyss that is my bag my the end of the month, for now, it’s my favorite. I tried to find a link for it, but I think the company is just really small. Burt’s Bees is similar, though.

I’ve been trying my hand at a whole slew of creative projects lately and these letter stamps from A.I. Friedman have been providing quite a bit of fun.

Links:

Back in October, World Hum posted a link to a video asking people “Where would you wish to wake up tomorrow?” If you click back to the original site, you’ll find a few more. It’s really simple and nostalgic (a mood I’ve been in as of late). If I could wake up anywhere tomorrow it would probably be on a beach somewhere, which is slightly cliché, but I don’t care, since it’s 26 degrees in NY. http://www.worldhum.com/travel-blog/item/video-you-must-see-where-would-you-want-to-wake-up-tomorrow-20091019/

Thoughts:

I’m not so sure about this, but do radio DJs not listen to the music their stations play when they’re On Air? Because, you know those stations that play 24-7 Christmas music? Don’t the DJ’s go crazy after a month+ of nonstop All I want for Christmas, Grandma got Run-over by a Reindeer and Christmas Shoes?

I blame the below sentimentality on the constant Christmas music on Lite FM.

2009-12-11T13:29:00.000-05:00

This photo is actually from 1989, but I think Miriam would have had a heart attack if I put up a more recent one.

I spent most of my summers growing up splitting my time between two towns in Italy. This is relatively equivalent to parents who send their kids to summer camp. Mine just happened to be a bit further away, although I can guarantee your summer camp probably had more people than my small town. That being said, it was the single experience that has changed my life the most.

And having Miriam here has been sort of surreal in the sense that, when I was 16 and wished that the half of my life that I lead in Italy could be lived here, I always imagined the two of us laying on my bed and looking through pictures and laughing at how ridiculous we (and our taste in boys) was.

And then last night we did.

We spent awhile going through pictures of summers in Calabria (our family is from a town about an hour outside Reggio Calabria) from 1998, 2001 and 2003. It was amazing, especially considering these pictures were stashed away in a flower-patterned box for years. Granted, we had awful haircuts and awful taste in clothes. There’s one picture from, I think—and sort of hope—1998 because then it would be slightly more excusable, where I’m wearing a white t-shirt, a calf-length pink and white patterned skirt with white and purple Puma sneakers. Together. Seriously. And I thought this was Cool.

But, I realized, particularly in 2001, how much fun we had. It was back when most of my Italian friends were 18 or slightly older and had just learned to drive or just gotten hold of their parents’ car for the summer. We would drive from our town in the mountains to the beach 10 minutes away and spend afternoons alternating between swimming and lying on the beach. We’d trade towels and lay all over each other. We were too tanned for our own good. And then, later, at night, we would make our way back down to the beach and do the same thing, minus the swimming and the sun. We’d make jokes and say things we shouldn’t say, and wear things we bought from the mercato because that’s what we saw everyone else wearing. But we didn’t care because we didn’t really realize any of it at the time. It was before broken hearts and before we had time to stay in one place for too long. It was like a movie with no real plot. And sure, it sounds sentimental, but it was.

Things there are different now. Everyone has moved out and on. Some of us talk, occasionally, some of us don’t. This summer, I was walking through the park where many of the pictures from 2001 were taken and there was no one there. The park that used to be filled with some 20 kids on any given night was scary-empty. I think it took awhile for this to feel like the past for me, but then one day, that’s what it was. And it was ok.

Chocolate overdose (Or, why eating chocolate for breakfast is always a good idea)

2009-12-08T00:20:00.000-05:00

I have this habit of eating junk food for breakfast. Not donuts or Danishes or other um, normal, breakfast “sweets,” but ice cream, cake, chocolate, cookies, left over Halloween candy…. I blame this on that fact that I’m Italian, and for generations we’ve relied on a steady steam of sugar in the morning to get us going. Case in point: My cousin Miriam, who’s been visiting from Italy since October, came over for breakfast a few weeks ago. Did she want bagels? Yogurt and granola? We both went with Nutella on toast.

So, take this whole chocolate-for-breakfast thing and factor in that I come from a family of self-professed chocoholics and you can see why my brother, Carmine, Miriam and my boyfriend, John, and I were quite excited to go to the World Chocolate Expo in White Plains on Sunday “morning" — I think it was slightly past 12 when we got there. A better breakfast couldn’t be had.

We walked into the auditorium at the County Center—which I don’t think I’ve been in since my high school’s Cheerleading Competition in 2001—and found more chocolate than anyone (or their stomachs) could want before lunch. There were three long rows of booths with chocolate-flavored coffee, truffles, fudge, toffee, maple syrup, fondue, cupcakes and lots of non-desserts like jarred peppers, cheese and wine. And the best part, I think, was that most of the companies were from the Hudson Valley, with almost everything homemade and/or handmade. Is there a difference? Hmm..anyway, needless to say, we all left with a slight sugar-rush. Take that, Cheerios.

Oh, hello there fountain of chocolate.

We bought Keuka Lake Coffee Roaster's Italian chocolate raspberry coffee. Usually, I'm not a huge fan of coffee's that are sweet, but this one was perfect in a not-overwhelming type of way.

Miriam had toffee for the first time. This almond-flavored version is from Chappaqua Toffee Co.

Ok, this picture totally sucks, but that hand painted piece of chocolate is a s'more. I have it sitting here at my desk and I'm totally tempted to eat it. And, so cute, owners Heidi and Arthur are father and daughter.

Oliver Kita made this gorgeous chocolate-covered apple. I would be so sad to eat it!

More pretty Oliver Kita chocolates

Chocolate-covered pretzels rank up there with one of my all-time favorite foods. Seriously - salty, sweet, perfect. And this one from Fretzels by Jill has all of their toppings. All of them. Amazing.

We love, loved this fudge by FudgeLuscious. Wouldn't the candy cane be great as a hostess gift or to bring as dessert to a holiday dinner party?

Fudgeluscious also has these make-your-own-fudge Oreo kits. (You can see it on the left, right next to that little cupcake tin full of fudge.)

Miriam holding up her maple syrup-flavored cotton candy from Breezie Maples Farm. We tried their organic maple syrup too, which was amazing.

Our happy—and full—little group.

For starters

2009-12-03T09:11:00.000-05:00

So, for the past couple of years I’ve had this habit where, whenever I find a blog I like – or don’t really like – I search out the very first post to see what the author wrote about. Most fall into two categories: they either just post a quick “Hello, welcome! I hope you enjoy!” Or, they get right to it, jump in and start talking about whatever they intended to talk about in the first place.

I, on the other hand, have no idea where to start. See, I’m not that good at beginnings. I prefer to walk around the periphery until it seems safe enough, think about it, then think about it a little more, and then finally talk myself into actually doing it. Does this explain why its 2009 – no, DECEMBER 2009 – and I’m just starting this blog now? But I’ve found myself with a bit of free time at the moment, so I figured time to make the move. Now: Hello! Welcome! Let’s get to it.