Ci Vediamo Presto

In just a few hours we're off to the airport. This trip is my mother's 65th birthday/retirement celebration so my entire family is going which should be really fun (and probably occasionally hectic too).

I'm mostly packed and starting to get a little nervous about the flight -- I am a bit of a nervous flier. Once we're in the air and I've had a drink I am sure I will be feeling much better, but there's lots to do between now and then so I am trying to focus on that.

Enough about nerves though, we're off for a grand avventura! First stop is Venice for 4 days and then we move on to a little town just outside of Florence called Impruneta where we will be staying in a farmhouse for 6 days. I am looking forward to seeing the sites, relaxing and enjoying la dolce vita. I am not bringing a computer so I will be without email or internet access for 10 whole days (I think I am a little nervous about that too!) so blog posts will be on hold until my return. I hope to come back with lots of good stories and photos.

See you all soon.

P.S. I finished "City of Falling Angels" and I'm glad I did even though it was just OK.

Update: This should make getting there a little more complicated. Oh well.

Abandoning books

In anticipation of my upcoming trip to Venice (so excited!) I started reading The City of Falling Angels last week because I thought it would be great to have some background on the city. The problem is I'm really not loving this book. As a matter of fact, I am finding it kind of boring, but I am over halfway done and even though I want to I just can't cast it aside. I know that Becky is right when she says "life is too short," but the combination of feelings of guilt and defeat are killing me. I cannot abandon books unless they are truly awful.

Now I've made an even more foolish choice -- I have started a second book. Reading more than one book at a time usually slows things down to the extreme, but I am hoping that doesn't happen this time and I actually manage to finish both books before I leave for the airport. Wish me luck!

Brand Timeline Portrait

I got this idea from Tracie. The idea is to put together all the logos from brands you use in a given time period.

My portrait includes all the brands I saw from the time I got up this morning until lunchtime. It is a lot! And I am sure I am forgetting some.

Happy Anniversary

Today is my brother and sister-in-law's 11th wedding anniversary and I want to once again wish them a happy anniversary.

Here's last year's post which also links to the previous year's post.

On a lighter note, one memory of their wedding day that always makes me laugh is when I was helping Brenda, the bride, get ready. The ceremony was supposed to be held outside, but the weather was looking a lot like rain so a last minute decision was made to move the ceremony inside. Brenda was understandably unhappy with the weather's failure to cooperate with her wedding dreams and in an effort to be helpful and lighten things up I told her that in Jewish culture it is considered good luck if it rains on your wedding day.

She turned to me and said, "Well I am not Hopi and I am not a Jew so it really just sucks."

And then after a moment we both burst out laughing. Apparently someone else had told her that Hopi Indian culture also believes it is good luck to have rain on your wedding day. Even though I wasn't quite helpful we did end up laughing which was really good. I called Brenda a Hopi-Jew for a long time after that.

A dream come true

Since our sunny, swimming day turned rather quickly into a rainy day we decided on an afternoon run to Barnes and Noble. Zoë wanted a particular Fancy Nancy book and I will take any excuse to go to the bookstore. We were met with Fancy Nancy success as well as some choices that will hopefully be good airplane reading (we leave for vacation in less than 2 weeks!) and we just got home a short while ago and I was thinking that I would love to sit down with my book and read for awhile. When we walked in the door I asked Zoë, "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going up to my room and read," she said for the first time, ever.

Cue choir of angels singing "Hallelujah!"

I smiled broadly and said, "That's a great idea, have fun!" And off she went upstairs to her room to read!

Now I know why I look so young!

Just last week someone genuinely told me I look a lot younger than I actually am. She actually said "then you must be older than you look," to which I replied a rather grudging "yes, I am." And now, thanks to the NYTimes I finally have the answer for my youthful appearance -- indulgence!

Hooray and open another bottle.

Friendship anniversaries

Last Friday night I had dinner with my oldest friend HT (meaning I've been friends with her longer than any other friend I have -- not that she is chronologically the oldest friend I have). She lives in Manhattan so after work I hopped on the train and met her at Balthazar-esque bistro called Artisanal. We had a truly lovely meal which was made even more delicious by its chocolate fondue ending. (Note to my wine and cheese loving friends: this is a place for you.)

While the food and the wine were quite good, the best part of the meal was sitting and talking and laughing with my friend with no children or husbands or anyone (except maybe the family at the table next to us) getting in the way. I'm really not sure that we've had time like that since the day before Zoë was born -- a very memorable day spent together. At one point in the evening my friend suggested that we should celebrate our anniversary of being friends. Shockingly we are just 4 years away from our 30th! We decided some kind of trip together would definitely be in order.

Then HT said she wanted to start celebrating these kinds of anniversaries -- not just her wedding. On the train ride home it occurred to me what a good idea that is. I mean what makes our 30th anniversary of being friends any less special than someone's 10th wedding anniversary? Of course, not all friendships are worth celebrating in anniversaries, but some truly are. Ours definitely is.

Emily's Oversharing Meme

I got this from Emily, Queen o' Memes. She says:

In the spirit of last week’s NYT’s Magazine cover story, which was all about another Emily (Gould) and oversharing on her blog, I’ve decided to create The Ultimate Oversharing Meme. A word of warning here: this meme is not for the faint of heart.

1. Name the singer/band/performer you are most embarrassed to admit you actually paid good money to see in concert.
Hmm...this one is tough because I haven't been to many concerts. I feel claustrophobic in loud, noisy crowds so I tend to avoid them. The best I can do is say the first concert I ever saw was Huey Lewis and the News. I'm not really embarrassed to admit I saw Huey Lewis, but I am embarrassed to admit that I wore my Huey Lewis and the News concert t-shirt like it was as cool as a Pink Floyd t-shirt. It was 8th grade.

2. Which reality TV show have you watched more than once (come on. I don't believe you if you say "none," unless you don't own a TV)?
My list is long and shameful. I have watched more than one whole season of the following shows: American Idol, What Not to Wear, So You Think You Can Dance, The Bachelor, Project Runway, America's Next Top Model, Design Star and, of course, the original reality show The Real World. I am a complete sucker for these shows. Think of me what you will.

3. Which complete trash novelist have you not only read but enjoyed enough to read more than one book of his/hers?
There are a few on my list, but the worst is Judith Krantz. It all started in the early 80's with Mistral's Daughter. I went on to read most of her books.

4. What sappy musical could you watch over and over and over again?
Like Emily, there are several musicals on my list I could watch over and over. To name a few: Annie (the first one I ever saw), Camelot, The Music Man, and My Fair Lady.

5. Who was your first celebrity crush?
The Fonz. Ayyyy. I refuse to elaborate further except to say I got over it before he jumped the shark.

6. Who is the most embarrassing celebrity on whom you have a slight crush today?
Rob Lowe. I'm sorry, but despite all the scandal I still think he's hot.

7. What movie that everyone else and his cousin and even his dog has seen have you never seen?
Dances with Wolves. Too much hype. Never saw it and never will.

8. What were you drinking the first time you ever got drunk?
Rum and cokes. I was on a family vacation and hanging out with an older cousin. I was 14.

9. Which old re-run will you still pause to watch if you’re flicking through the channels and see that it’s on?
Family Ties. I loved Michael J. Fox.

10. What book/movie/t.v. show that only a fifteen-year-old would think is funny makes you laugh?
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. I found this movie simply hysterical and have even contemplated seeing the sequel.

All right, that’s it. You’re tagged if you’re brave enough to overshare.