due settimane.

my bags are packed, i'm ready to go...

it's official.  in two weeks at this time i'll be on a plane headed for chicago.  i can't begin to tell you how hard that is to believe.  in actuality, this is my last week in beautiful roma.  next week i'll be in padova (a really cute city outside venice) with natalia and the girls.  i finish teaching in the next three days.  my bags are practically packed because when i return to rome, i'll have less than 24 hours until departure.  my mind is desperately trying to remember everything i wanted to do and buy before i leave.  a bit of coffee, a pashmina, little gifts for everyone.  oiy!  i'm a mess.  so anyone who's had dreams of something italian should speak now or forever hold their piece (or at least until my next trip..ha).  let me know, and i'll see what i can do.. ;^)  

see you all soo soo soon!

backtracker..

hello lovelies.  i never posted anything about my kickass easter weekend, so i will indulge..  this easter i went to a small town in tuscany with the family.  pitigliano is a little bitty cliffside town, where most of the buildings date back to the 1200's.  we arrived and i was immediately at a loss for words (ha, hard to believe, i know).  the house was divine.  high curved cathedral ceilings, carved from stone.  dark wooden rustic armoirs, that have been distressed naturally through time.  huge plush couchs, huge bay windows that overlook the rolling hills of tuscany.  the air smells better, the flowers are more colorful, the food tastes better.  

THE FOOD.  generally speaking, we run a tight ship here in rome.  we don't eat bread (italians who don't eat bread?!) and we usually only have pasta once or twice a week.  for easter weekend we started with a slough of carbonara.  for those of you who aren't familiar, carbonara is traditionally egg pasta with a creamy sauce of egg yolks, parmigiano, and LOTS of cream.  oh and then bacon to top of the heart attack.  we then had asparagus grilled with lemon and grated parmigiano, and a pate of salmon.  the weekend was strewn with homemade bruschetta and fig jam, the traditional "colomba" which is basically big cakey bread, and lots of wine.  we were in tuscany after all...  

easter in italy is much like how my family celebrates in the states.  there is a huge breakfast of cured meats, more colomba, easter eggs (of course), and fruits.  then about 4 hours later we ate the fire-roasted lamb.  roasted right in our fireplace, with rosemary and garlic (we had giovanni's brother pietro to thank for that).  then we roasted some potatoes and smothered them with gorgonzola.  we ate with our hands and drank wine.  it was heaven.

 

VERY important question:

how much would stephanie and jennie want to kill me if i dyed my hair like this before their weddings?

O.K. maybe not so drastic, but you get the idea.  also, in a bright green dress will i look like a lost lass from ireland or worse, poison ivy?  that would be bad.  

who remembers my bout with red? so cool.  such a pain in the ass.  i know.  not that anyone cares...but i've found a NEW dye that stays in for weeks!   or so 

everyone claims...and there's a salon in philly that uses it.  let's imagine my past red obsession INTENSIFIED.  not so much the ronald mcdonald look (though i totally dig that).

then there's the whole pink thing.  i've been missing that for sure.  and have also gotten several suggestions to go back.  i definitely wouldn't be able to go pink before the weddings..  that would just be terrible.  

oh yes, and the whole job thing.  i suppose wild hair will limit my options more so then they already are, but honestly, when has that stopped me?  i'm feelin' a little drastic people.  hair change is inevitable.  i just need your solid advice.  these are very important life decisions!  so help me out!  grazie.

worse case scenario

it's 3:34 a.m and you are awoken by a strange rumbling.  you sit up immediately (is this the apocolypse?) and realize the entire building is shaking.  crap, it's an earthquake.  what do i do? i'm from scranton, earthquakes concern me about the same as being attacked by flying monkeys. of course, i stumble out of my room, shoeless, in my pajamas, and hurry to the girls room.  what the hell is earthquake survival? aren't we supposed to crotch in a ball under the bed or something?  no, i think that was atomic bomb survival..  anyway, it stopped.  it was hella scary though.  i wish i had my handy worse case scenario game to tell me what to do.  let's test your earthquake survival skills.  in case of an earthquake, you should:

a. hide in a large fixtured structure, like a bathtub or refrigerator.

b. stand in a doorway, or hide under a desk

c. stand near a window, and be prepared to jump

d. do whatever necessary to get outside.

we'll see who knows how to survive... you never know when an earthquake is going to be your alarm clock.

da baffetto

rachel 2's visit is officially over.  it's been really great to have my friends see my life here.  it reminds me how much i have learned about the city over the past few months, like: 

- the 84 bus is okay, but wait a minute and the express will probably come

- the best gelato is on via del lavatore near the trevi fountian.  (seriously though. i've had it all.  it's the best)

- the taralucce from Todis are divine.

- the night bus is NEVER a good idea

- if you want to eat well, and fairly cheap, go to the jewish ghetto

rachel's first night (actually both rachel's AND rachael's first night) i was insistent on going to this pizza place called da baffetto (the mustache).  three years ago when we were here we talked to a nice swedish actress who's name escapes me, perhaps sarah could help me out with that one, but anyway, she told us to go to this restaurant in trastevere.  i undoubtedly thought she said IL buffetto (the buffet) and we never found our destination.  this time around, when i heard of the famous pizzeria DA baffetto i immediately knew it was the place we were trying to find years ago (p.s. NOT in trastevere at all).  rachel of course didn't remember any of this, and i rolled my eyes.  SARAH would have!  

anyway, i remember meeting this girl, not much older than i am now...and saying to myself, "wow.  that's awesome.  she lives in rome, and knows all the hot spots.  i wish i could do something like that."  maybe not verbatim, but it went something like that.  i realized the other night (as i was recounting the story to rachel) that now - i'm now that girl.