Florence, Garderns, and White Wine.

Yesterday marked the one week since I arrived in Florence, but it feels like so much longer. 

I'm having quite the adventure.

First real night out:

This is a doner kabab. SO GOOD! Possibly the Italian equivalent to Blue 9.

Italian Yoga.  I will go before I leave. 

The Duormo at night. 

So on the NYU Florence campus is filled with Villas, in fact, I live in one.  We toured the main villa on Friday, basically very wealthy couple values art and collects as much as they can, virtually turning their home (mansion/villa) into a museum, which conveniently got left to NYU.  

These gardens are their backyard: 

The whole group. 

Downtown Florence:

And the food... Oh, the food.

 I love Italy.  And I'm not going to lie, my favorite part about it is the food.  Hands down.  Best food of my life.  I've been taking full advantage of gelato, pizza, pasta, and panninis.  

There was no memorial day to be had today.  No burgers and hotdogs, just more pasta, but I'm not complaining.  Wednesday is Republic Day here in Italy, which means no class and everything is closed.

I left class early and went into town for a Dr. visit.  I'm not one for directions and maps, I'm also not one for exploring a foreign city alone within the first week, so therefore I haven't a clue how to navigate around this city.  But today, I suckered up, followed the map and found my way downtown, all by myself to the english speaking doctor.  

In all of my 22 years of going to doctors I don't think I've ever had a doctor take so much time and show so much concern in diagnosing me.  The little Italian woman asked me so many questions, wrote on her pad, pulled trinkets out of her Marry Poppins like doctor bag, and wrote me a nice long list of prescriptions.  All this excitement, travel, and pollen has given me quite the sinus infection. Gross. Now, I'm not saying Italian doctors or healthcare is better than American (I'm not one to join the healthcare debate) but this particular Doctor expressed so much concern and took so much time figuring out how to help me, much different than the usual 5-minute easy fix diagnosis American doctors usually give after they've barely given you 2 minutes to explain yourself!  It's also interesting that in Italy, they prescribe you a different medication for each sympton you seem to be having.  Interesting.

I went to Venice this weekend, bought Italian sandals, took a gondola ride, ate delicious pasta, and met 2 dogs - August and Trisha.  I've been meeting all the Italian dogs, lately.  Awesome. 

Pictures soon to come!

The hat.

This is my new hat.  

I love it. 

From now on outfits will be chosen according to what will "match the hat" 

Off to Venice for the weekend!

 My latest obsession:

Firenze

Things I have learned:

You don't need to leave New York to feel uncomfortably american, just visit the JFK international terminal.
Buy an Italian phrasebook BEFORE you get to the airport. The airport doesn't have them.
Wine in Italy, is just like coke, pepsi, juice or water. You can drink it with every meal. And it's served free on Alitalia.
Reading signs and following the crowd can get you just about anywhere you need to go.
Italians have "orange juice" but it's not orange (its red) nor does it taste anything like oranges.
Italians don't believe in water fountains, making it very difficult for my beloved sigg and I.
European candy is FAR, FAR superior to American candy.
Food in Italy is FAR, FAR superiod to food in America.
Only Italians in touristy areas speak English.
Despite how natural and delicious the food is here, Italians love lard. 
There is a group of gypsies that live up the street from the nyu campus. 
Food next to the Duermo is more expensive. 
Pepperoni in Italian does not mean pepperoni, it means peppers!
Mozzerella cheese in its real form comes in little rubbery balls soaked in bowls of liquid.
In Euros anything less than 5 euros is in coin form!
Paninis are really really good.
Italian bread has lots of salt on it.
Everything is closed on Sundays.
When you exit the door of a Florence bus you must exit through the middle, when you enter it's through the front & back.
You must hail the bus to get it to stop, however if you try to hail a taxi it won't stop.
Italians don't believe in window screens, and buildings aren't built with ventalation systems so you have to leave the windows open.
Europeans like Americans significantly more now that Obama is our president.
Gelato is healthier and far, far, better tasting than ice cream.
Internet is a luxury.
Italians don't believe in dryers.
Life here is far simpler than it is in the US. And I like it.

Good buy Rome.  I thought this was funny. 

 Florence from the airplane window. 

The "valley of death" which we walk 4 times a day to and from class. 

Campus. 

The Duermo. 

The best gelato ever. 

The view from my window. 

Other window. 

Our bright and sunny room. 

I could not post this without saying something about the series finale of LOST.  Despite having to wait 24 hours after it aired, and having to download it from iTunes and then wait the full hour for it to download through Italy's slow internet, I was finally able to watch it.  It was perfect.  I cried pretty much the entire two hours, especially at the end.  That show has been so powerful to me, its messages, its themes, how important it is to keep faith in something even when it seems fruitless.  The ending was so moving.  I love that the directors purposefully placed symbols of all faiths in the church, it was such a powerful image, and I couldn't help but wish a place of such acceptance could exist and if it did how much I'd like to go there.

Non sono pronto.

I leave for Italy in 3 days and am no where close to being ready!

I'm close to ready from a "to-do list" standpoint, but from every other standpoint I could not be farther. 

I don't know Italian! 

I don't know a single person who will be there! 

I don't know where I'm living or who I'm living with! 

And I do not understand the whole european outlet thing! 

Will my iHome work?! Anyone!? 

I don't want to leave my lovely apartment. 

With my lovely american trader joes down the block. 

I don't want to leave my roommates- both Ashley AND Fish. 

I don't want to leave work, or New York, or my wonderful boyfriend whom I already miss! 

But I am going to. 

I am going to step out of my comfort zone and go. 

And it will be an adventure, and something I would seriously seriously regret if I didn't do. 

So here's to the beautiful east river at sunset. 

(Also known as my back yard!) 

Birthday Weekend

I had quite the weekend. 

It began with the much-anticipated opening of Nordstrom's Rack in Union Sq. 

Where I treated myself to some pre-birthday dresses.

 

On my birthday Nate took me to Alice's Tea Cup on the Upper West Side. 

I love tea time, and always have. 

The scones, the cream and preserves, the mini sandwiches and pretty napkins, being treated like a lady. 

Well this place had it all.  It was the quaintest little tea shop filled with mix-matched little tea cups, Alice and Wonderland themes, and the most mouth-watering blueberry scones I've had in my life. 

I loved it.

I also love the boyfriend that took me there.  Not many men enjoy the fine taste of Hawaiian-flavored herbal tea with blueberry scones and sandwiches in an elegantly decorated dining room.  But mine did.

Then we went to Central Park. 

It was sunny, beautiful, and filled with people. 

We took a nap on the lawn and then we found... 

A giant Newfie.

He was awesome.  Nate wants one close to as badly as I want a cavalier. 

Then we went to Pets on Lex, where they have begun to completely ignore me based purely off of the the sheer number of times I go in there to look at the cavaliers without any intention of buying one and supporting pet shops, puppy mills, and unhealthy dogs. 

And speaking of pups, I am preparing for pumpkin!  We got her a bed this weekend.  And Ashley bought her two adorable dog bowls for my birthday!  Nate and I managed to watch approximately 100 episodes of It's Me or the Dog, Underdog to Wonderdog, and The Puppybowl on AnimalPlanet.com  Basically Victoria Stillwell is a dog training goddess and my new hero.  She has taught me so much and is such a fierce woman.

That night we went out with a group of friends to my favorite mexican restaurant. 

 

We at pounds upon pounds of guacamole, drank margaritas, and it was good. 

Then ended the night with Balderdash and wine.

I have good friends.

It was a good birthday.

I highly, highly recommend that you see: 

Kate and I saw it tonight and it was just fantastic. 

Hilarious, lovely, and very real, not to mention completely fascinating from a cultural perspective. 

The film really showed life from a baby's perspective and was just brilliant.

It is right it should be so;
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.

Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.

-William Blake 

From Time and the Conways

I am officially done with academics until Senior Year!  Just performances here on out.  Tonight was opening night and it went really well.  I feel like a large weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  My dad comes tomorrow, and I get to see Nate for more than a few hours for the first time in almost a month.  I'm working 2 events for YogaWorks this week, which is very exciting.  I really love my job, I love earning my own money, I love working with people, I love that my job brings people to yoga, and I feel so inspired by the company I work for and the people in it.  Really, I am only a lowly grassroots marketer, but I have big ideas, alot of hard work, and alot of heart in me, and I am confident that will take me where I'm meant to go.  It's now 1:00am and I am researching Yoga Therapy Programs.  I feel like a junior in high school all over again- staying up to the wee hours of the morning dreaming about college, nyu, and the city, only this time it's real life!  Real life begins in a little less than 8 months for me.  I have big plans for my future, and I'm not afraid to fulfill them. 

To Springtime in New York City.

Two Years.

Two Years Ago:

Today: 

We went to dinner on the Long Island sound, watched the sunset, met an awesome dog named Carolina, saw a swan, fixed Laz's break lights, found the perfect look-out spot of the city skyline, almost got fined $3,000 dollars for "not being residents" of our perfect look out spot, and celebrated a very wonderful two years together! 

Weddings

Is it just me or does everyone seem to be getting engaged, married or pregnant lately?! 

(Hopefully in that order) 

Last week I traveled all the way to California to see my best friend Lisal get married. 

She was beautiful, the reception was awesome, and it was all around a lovely wedding. 

In the two and a half days I was home I got to see my family, go to In and Out and play with little savanna (my mentally handicapped dog).

It was a good weekend, and going into it the last feeling I expected to feel was sadness, but as I decorated Lisa and Scott's car, watched their slideshow and spent time with their family sadness is exactly what I felt. 

Things change when you're married no matter how you want to look at it. 

Your husband, and the family you've created together becomes your first responsibility, before friends, before school, before a social life.  

(And it should, in my opinion). 

My best friend Lisa is now a married woman, she's moved on beyond late night jacuzzi's in my backyard, and weekend trips to New York.  She's married.  And I'm not.  And things will never be the same. I am extremely happy for her, but there is alot of sadness involved too. 

T

This is Lisa's little niece, Claire.  She is the cutest, and playing and holding her makes me want to be a mom asap! 

T

The Bride and Groom.  

 Didi! 

The car.

I, on the other hand, learned that I am no where close to being ready to get married (give me a few years.)  And when that day does come it will be worth it.  Tomorrow is Nate and my 2 years, by the way!  And I'm very excited.