-17

let the countdown begin! wooohooooooooooooo! i'm already starting to think of what i'll be packing...

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.