happy thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
i'll be thinking of all of you! and the mashed potatoes. and the stuffing (outside the bird). and slavenka's jello salad. and mom's pumpkin pies...

benvenuta ARIANNA!

ARIANNA is here! she's my good friend francesca's brand spanking new daughter! she was born yesterday afternoon (november 25th... one day before her due date) at 4:44pm (my favorite number btw!). she weighs 3.44kg and is 51cm long. i'm leaving work early today to go see her! i would take photos and post them but my digital camera isn't working properly (it's giving me an error reading) and i'm holding out until we're in the US to buy a new one.

november 16th

thinking of you mom and i know you read my blog so i just wanted to wish you a
BUON COMPLEANNO!!!

we love you & hope you have a great day!

early xmas gift

today was francesco's first full day off since we got back from namibia in early april. it was soooooooo nice to spend the entire day together! we slept in this morning and then did some work around the house (hanging some pictures that have been waiting to be hung for over a year... sheesh!) and then this afternoon we went "window shopping." well, that's what it was supposed to be but we ended up buying quite a few things so i guess we went shopping period. francesco bought me my xmas gift! i'm so excited! it's an espresso machine that i've been wanting for ages. this is what it looks like:





it's really easy to use (though the instruction manual was pretty darn complicated... i gave it to francesco and told him to explain to me how to use it after he figured it all out... ha!). i love it! and it looks great in our kitchen with our other red accessories (like our red SMEG fridge).

all in all it was a great day. :)

nonna turns 80!

today is francesco's grandma (nonna) luigia's 80th birthday! wowowowowowow! i woke up extra early this morning so that i could go to the outdoor market at the piazza del mercato in la spezia to buy her a plant for her birthday (she LOVES plants... remember how i took her my dead geraniums?). i ended up picking out a red peace lily. she was very happy. today franca (francesco's mom) is having her hysterectomy so i think it's a bittersweet day for nonna.

phew! dogsitter... check.

i had been putting off contacting our dogsitter because in all honesty i was afraid she'd say no because of gustavo's behavior with other dogs. i didn't think she'd come right out & say no... i figured that she'd be diplomatic and use an excuse like that she was already booked out. so i finally built up the courage and sent her a text mesage yesterday and she replied just a few minutes later with "sure!" phew! phew! pheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew! what a relief. i was already thinking of back-up plans (thank goodness i won't have to enact them!). i'm sad that penelope & gustavo won't be with us (or anyone in the family) for xmas but i know they'll be in good hands. i'm going to wrap up two bones for them so our dogsitter can give them a gift on the 25th.

so i have one more thing ticked off our to do list before our trip. next up: lining up a rental car at a good rate (rates seem higher than previous years but i think it's because of the holidays) and purchasing travel insurance.

trying to piece everything together...

we're counting down the days until we leave for california! we can't wait! the only thing that we're both sad about is leaving penelope & gustavo. poor babies. we're really going to miss them.

tonight over dinner francesco & i were discussing a rough outline of the 21 days that we'll be in california. so far we've decided that since we're flying into LAX we'll stay the first two nights in los angeles and that the day after we arrive we'll go to universal studios. that's about as far as we've gotten. obviously we still have a lot to piece together. at least we know where we'll be for christmas eve & christmas... taft! :) i can't wait for francesco to experience an american christmas.

a flattering week

this has been a flattering week for me...

a few days ago i was reading reviews from previous clients and i came across one that was posted recently and guess what it said?!? something like "the room was great blah blah blah" and then "the girl from california that works in the office is a hotty" i about died laughing! i have to admit that it made my day, though. heeheehee! am i totally shameless?

last night gustavo had his training lesson. sometimes after our lesson we hang around a bit to watch the others training but last night it was really chilly so i decided to go. as i was leaving the trainer called me over to talk to me. keep in mind that the trainer is a bit rough around the edges with humans (but he more than makes up for it with the dogs). he's not the type to pay compliments... on the contrary, he's very quick to point out all of the things you're doing wrong. ha! anyway, getting back to my story... he called me over because he wants me to join his team as a handler. he's an ENCI (which is the italian version of the AKC) certified breeder of boxers & dobermans. he wants me to take one of his boxer puppies and raise it to show in obedience trials. he already has a team composed of five or six handlers and they are really, really impressive with their dogs. it was a very flattering offer, especially considering who it was coming from. i have to admit that it's tempting but we just cannot handle another dog right now (i have plenty on my plate with penelope & gustavo). maybe someday when we have a yard? *sigh* in the meantime i have to admit that the offer boosted my ego just a tad! heeheehee!