luuucccyy, you got some travelling to do!

as i wind down my time here in rome, i have a bit of a "to-do" list.  i'd thought i'd share said list w/ you all.  if you think of anything i should do before i leave, let me know and i'll do it for you!  (as long as it's legally possible, of course)

1.  go skiing in the italian alps.  cabin + hot tea + the most beautiful skiing in the world?  heartbeat.

2.  go to naples, and eat as much pizza as possible. 

3.  see the leaning tower!

4.  pompeii - ruins? sure.

5.  see small towns - orvieto, umbria, perugia, bologna.  i want to just wander and talk w/ the local folk.

6.  go to the ocean as many times as humanly possible...as soon as it stops raining.

7.  go to venice for carnival. 

8.  see an opera in verona.  and recite lines from romeo and juliet...

9.  capri - i better be careful or i might stay there forever.

that's all i got for now.  but that's a lot to do in the next 3 1/2 months!  wish me luck ;)  

you all suck.

thanks for all the advice on my life people!  pshh.  i shouldn't have to make my own decisions.

help carrie make decisions about her life

is it selfish to be posting this on inauguration day?  woo!  go obama!  

ok, now for serious matters.  my life.  so we're a ticking the moments til i land back in the U.S. (hopefully not in jail for being an illegal...haha.  joking mom!..i hope.)  and i need to start making some decisions about my life.  eww.  i hate that.  

first some answers to some FAQ's:

1. YES, i am coming back to the U.S. in may.  3 of my best friends are getting married.  two to each other (steph and zack) and the other is pantsy (otherwise known as miss jennifer lyons).  since i'm a bridesmaid in both, i should probably be there, yeah?

2.  NO.  i don't have an italian boyfriend (yet.)  and no, i'm not dating that crazy tenor.  (p.s. sarah p. and liz verified that he was completely insane b/c they met him...that's ANOTHER blog entry)

3.  I have NO IDEA what the hell i'm going to do after this.  german?  french?  (i should probably put SOMETHING in my bank account before i do either of those..)

segue!......

so, what should i do?  nannying is TOTALLY out of the question.  hell no.  here are some options.

1.  auditions - i should probably be doing something in music, right?  so, i can go to new york whenever i can for auditions....but who honestly knows what will come up?  i could end up doing rogers and hammerstein in ohio (not complaining...any job is cool w/ me!).  another option....dare i even say it?....disney?  ::gasp::  i know.  it could ruin all the fuzzy feelings i have for disney.  oh wait - those don't exist.  so, could be a good jumping point.  i do have a "disney" voice i suppose.  but there's no way i'm getting stuck in orlando, florida ::shiver:: (literally just did.)  so what do i do?  cali?  paris?  a tour?  just go audition and hope for the best?  i'm interested in your feedback.  especially those of you 'in the biz' who know about this kind of stuff.  

2.  school - yeah, i should probably go back to school.  i'm REALLY feeling britian for grad school right now (mostly because i KNOW i will melt at those accents. damn.).  but when? and how? and for what?  good questions.  i suppose i should start thinking about that.

3.  real job?  - yeah i know i'm a teacher here and whatnot, but i'll be honest...not so totally into teaching.  never was.  music?  yes.  ESL...ehh.  it pays the bills while i'm travelling.  i'm just being honest!  i mean i love the kids, but i don't want to do this forever.  what the heck am i going to do when i get back to philly?  crawl back to SRO?  for those of you not cool w/ the 'lingo' that would be Starr Restaurant Organization that i worked for as a server for 3 years...good money but not the sort of life i want.  i was pretty miserable.  just ask jeff king or sarah p.  - they had to put up w/ me.  my apologies.  

anyway, these are some things i got going on.  i should try and think of some stuff to do while i'm basking in the 60 sunshine in january, heck yes roma!  woo!  jealous?  you bet your bottom dollar you are ;)

nothing of importance

dearest friends and family,

that last post has no real signifigance.  they're just song lyrics...good song by the by!  (and yes,  SGULISH i know it's like five years old...)  well anyway, that post is about as useless as this one.  but i am completely obsessed with "scrubs" at the moment and i seriously laughed til my sides hurt on this one.  go youtube it - it's glorious.

J.D.: Just try and imagine what they're going through. I mean, sometimes I think about what it's gonna be like when you die. 
Turk: Because you think I'm going first due to my diabetes. 
J.D.: Right. And where do we meet up in Heaven? 
Turk: At the milkshake pool on the lesbian cloud! 
J.D.: I'll see you there, playah! I love religion. The point is, Turk, if someone tried to pull the plug on you without being totally honest with me, you know where they'd end up? 
Turk: In Hell, watching 'The View'! 
J.D.: Next to the super high, unreachable cupcake table. 

my jam.

i'm feeling one with this song right now.  dig it:

the atlantic was born today and i'll tell you how:
the clouds above opened up and let it out.

I was standing on the surface of a perforated sphere
when the water filled every hole.
and thousands upon thousands made an ocean,
making islands where no island should go.
oh no.

those people were overjoyed; they took to their boats.
I thought it less like a lake and more like a moat.
the rhythm of my footsteps crossing flood lands to your door have been silenced forever more.
the distance is quite simply much too far for me to row
it seems farther than ever before
oh no.

I need you so much closer

so come on.

        - transatlanticism, deathcab for cutie

here comes trouble..

everyday after school the girls and i have to walk down a busy street to get to the bus.  it usually consists of eva running around rampant and random strangers gasping and trying to stop this little munchkin.  i, on the other hand, usually stroll along with camilla watching eva run around, and telling the strangers not to worry.  the other day, eva was doing her usual run around, bumping into people on the street as she went and she spotted the corner flower seller.  oh no.  i know what's coming next.  

"mi dai un fiore per la mia nonna, per favore?"  (can you give me a flower for my grandma please?).  

"eva do you have money to buy a flower? because they cost money.."  

the flower man laughs and tells her to wait a minute.  i try to pull her along but it's hopeless.  i tell her again we can't have a flower without money.  and the flower man tells ME to wait a minute.  OK.  i'm thinking he's going to grab a left over flower that he couldn't use anymore.  he comes back with 2 dozen long stem red roses, and i immediately say there's no way we can take them, and he says "it's a gift for grandma" and smiles.  i gave him 5 euro (because that's all i had), and eva took the flowers which were probably as big as her.  i couldn't help but smile at her abilities to swoon at 2 years old.  she'll look at you with those big blue eyes and blonde hair and you're done.  all i can say is that the Pesce's are in for some trouble with this one.

Italian Post Office

awful news.  my macbook battery died.  i know, you're gasping as you read this.  i was pretty upset myself, ESPECIALLY since i just bought the damn thing not even a year ago.   so, the lovely people at mac are hooking me up with a new battery (yay!), BUT they can't send things overseas (boo.).  hence, my trip to the post office today to send my parents my dead battery.

when you enter the post office, you are confronted with a big machine with buttons, which will then dispense your number in the queue.  decisions already?  i'm screwed.  i went with the safe bet - all other inquiries (or the lose translation of..).  

normally, i'd be all revved up to be pissy and get my angry face on like everyone else in the queue...but i held my breath patiently as i pulled number 666 and the next to be called was 389. now, of course i thought i was in for some sort of danger...getting the evil number and all, but i decided to make the best of it, and take in the scene.  

no one was sitting.  sure, there are probably about 30 seats bolted to the ground awaiting a huffy customer to sit down, but i assure you half of these seats were left empty the entire time i was in the post office.  and the people sitting had their heads down either in shame for sitting when everyone else is standing, OR they were sleeping.  i did see a few talented people catching a few zzz's while standing up however.  i mean, how can i sit when there's a 91 year old man just chillin.  if he can stand, i can stand.   

then i noticed people milling about checking out other people's numbers.  i had mine in my pocket, i didn't want anyone to see my evil number.  then i noticed a woman with multiple numbers.  she must not have known which button to push - but alas, no!  she had multiple numbers for the same queue (about 100 earlier than mine, might i add) and she was giving them out to whom she pleased!  oh, well i wasn't going to play her game.  i looked away, and pretended like i was next in line...right.  

then a glorious thing happened.  a nice elderly gentleman asked me what number i was.  i showed him my ticket and he gave me one that said 557 - even better than the ones that ticket hoarder was holding!  we were obviously best friends for the rest of the time.  clearly making friends with old men is my specialty.  we chatted and bobbed on the balls of our feet stretching out our tired calves and gave each other a silent cheer when the sign hit 500.  finally, my friend's turn was up.  he looked like a kid on christmas scooting up to the window...after all, he could only scoot.  he waited 2 hours to make a 3 minute transaction.  that sounds about right.  i gave him my congratulations on his way out, and waited only a short time after for my turn.   and in closing, here's a summary of my trip.

fur-trimmed coats: 18

identical red plaid taxi driver hats: 2

number of songs i listened to on my ipod: 23

minutes waited in total: 93

success at the post office: priceless.

time for 2009!

cheers all!

i hope you're christmas/hanukkah/festivus  were all as delightful as mine.  liz, sarah, and i conquered rome like pros (with a little overdrinking mishap...don't always do what the romans do.  my advice to you).  this christmas was humble and extravagant at the same time.  granted, we are in beautiful italy - how could we NOT be extravagant?!  but humbling, because i think we all really appreciate what we have.  we are pretty blessed to have been able to do this...and i know i'll look at these pictures when i'm 70 and remember my fabulous christmas in rome.  

i will not go without saying that you were all missed dearly - especially the fourthsome of our little quartet, who had to spend the holiday with her husband (WHATEVER.).  it was definitely incomplete without you here, SG.  though, after all of our reminiscing of holidays past, i realized that even though i was away from my family, i was with my "family".  people who probably know me better than i'd like to admit.  

i rang in the new year with david b. "cecile" smith - otherwise known as rachael's dad.  how is possible that i am halfway round the world spending my holiday with loved ones?!  i just can't get over it.  we had a absolute blast, and cecile and friends were way more gracious than they should have been.  when we were sick of "auld lang zyne", we burst out in "all you need is love" at the top of the spanish steps, and had an italian sing along.  that was probably one of the best moments of the whole holiday.  all we need is love.  and i am so grateful for all the love i have. as we welcome this new year - yeah 2009! - let's remember all the love we have in our lives.