The Day to Day

It's always amazing how fast time flies by and I feel like I can't quite believe the holidays are upon us once again. Thanksgiving is really late this year and is the beginning of a very busy few weeks of travel for me. I know, I can hear all the violins playing.

We have a four day weekend for our Thanksgiving Break and I'm off to explore Barcelona. I've wanted to visit there since '92 when our high school Spanish trip dropped it from the itinerary due to the Olympics. We get back to Milan in time for the start of the Fiera, a huge festival of goods from all over the world. For those of you in Savannah, think Christmas in the South times 10. It's really that big. And living in the city means I can go more than once!

After the Fiera, I'll be heading to Stockholm, Sweden for the Google Teacher Academy. I applied in October and was one of only 26 chosen for this group. When finished with the two day workshop I'll be a Google Certified Teacher and this, I think, is super exciting!

You can see my video application here.

Finally, Caitlin and I are making a quick run to Florence for some last minute shopping. I'm taking gift requests...seriously! It's such a shame most of my immediate family lives where scarves at not necessary because otherwise they would each have one in every color.

Anyways, back to the here and now.

I've been collecting some pictures of some odds and ends in recent weeks and thought I would share them!

In early November I was offered a chance to attend a cooking class with Clara, who owns and operates Cook In Milano. Several of us from school met at her place on a Monday night and made gnocchi, a vegetable tort, and a chocolate lava cake. Clara was so nice and welcoming and if you visit Milan I would recommend her cooking classes.

Clara and Jill discussing something important!

Olivier practices his gnocchi rolling skills

Ali gets the lava cake ready to bake...yum!

Found this little gem in Clara's kitchen--

Now that I've settled in to my new place, I've been trying to make it feel like I actually live here and am not just passing through. As I travel, I'm always on the look out for cool things made by locals and have been buying a fair bit of art. So, I set out to take my collection and put it up on the wall of my living room. 

You may have seen on Facebook a few weeks back that I took my Guernica poster to a local frame shop and navigated that whole experience in Italian. It felt like such an accomplishment. I started planning around that large Picasso work by using paper the size of each frame. This way, I was able to rearrange several times before committing! 

My project in action--

Clockwise from the bottom- Verona; San Raphael, France; two of Rome; Venice; Kronborg Castle in Denmark; Amsterdam; London; Siena; and, of course, Picasso's Guernica in the middle

And now, a really random one. On the tram Thursday night I stood by this guy...with his extravagant outfit and winged shoes. I promise I tried to get a good picture of the shoes in action as I stalked him down the street, but no such luck; it was too dark and he was too fast!

His shoes had wings. I was so enthralled by them.
August Alderman, I think you need a pair. 

This morning, Caitlin and I went for breakfast at a place that advertises its "American-ness." This is never a good idea for us, as our expectations are way too high for what we're realistically going to get. But, nonetheless, we tried it out.

Ehhhh, the eggs were a little under done and the hashbrowns were a little sad,
but the bacon was just on the right side of floppy. My Aunt Joni will like that one! 

This place sells a few items they've deemed American.

Please note those RIDICULOUS prices! 

They're serving a Thanksgiving meal this coming week too.

Anyone else notice a slight problem?
Venerdi= Friday. Hmmmm.

I had found a store that I wanted to check out, so we headed there after breakfast.

I found my favorite holiday Yankee candle scent! Happy. Girl.

Let's NOT discuss how much Yankee candles cost here. 

And, Caitlin found this amazing knife holder thing-a-ma-jig that I was in desperate need of. And it is so fun. So I must share.

finally, my knives have a home

I'll be home December 20th in the evening. We'll be headed to the Whitemarsh Jalapeno's around 9 if anyone wants to come for a margarita and some cheese dip! I hope to see a bunch of people while I'm home and would love to plan some of those meetings as walks instead of meals! Send me some dates for my calendar!