I decided to try out Blurb.com to print a book of our photos instead of getting digital photos printed and putting it into an album.  I figure it’ll be a nice opportunity to try out the service, not to mention the imagewrap hardcover books look so damn snazzy!  I laid everything out using Blurb’s templates, pretty simply design and used the maximum of 160 pages since I want premium paper and hardcover.

I do hope it all comes out nicely.  I also sincerely hope I don’t run into lost mail issues, since I think Blurb has European locations.  I seem to be losing random pieces of mail every now and again, so annoying!

Now I’m onto the tedious task of getting all the book pages onto my Flickr for sharing, because I am so many months backlogged in photo sharing.  Although, I am starting to think I take way too many photos and wonder if people even have time to go through so many.  I also started wondering about security and if photos would be used for some advertisement, because a friend mentioned that the fine print can be tricky with a lot of photo sharing sites.  I figure Flickr should be safe given the use permissions, even though a google search brings up the photos and who’s to say someone wouldn’t just take the images?  Hmm…these days it’s so tricky when sharing things on the internet.  It’s been around, but at the same time still so new and undiscovered in certain facets…

I am still not settled in and the room seems to be in a mess with piles of items to attend to.   Real life items and digital items too, but I wanted to put down some of my initial feelings and thoughts before I forget and time sweeps me forward and away!

Wonderful variety of food - yum yum!

Naxos was a lovely island to visit for the history and sites, but also just quiet times together.  We stayed at a very nice hotel and half-board was a good idea, because we always had to go back for siesta given the heat, have dinner – then head out again.  The beach life was also very nice, although I think we aren’t very beachy people.  Getting roasted isn’t that much fun, but small intervals proved to be very relaxing and we are just a bit more tanned now!

Lovely secluded beach areas in Naxos - Boating around from Santorini

While in Naxos we also took the ferry to Paros, which was much the same – maybe even a bit more quiet.  We were told that mid-June wasn’t the peak of the season either, so less people in general everywhere.  I am glad though, because peak season must be crazy.  On the ferries I always felt like we were cows being herded around, to think when there would be more tourists…yikes!

Santorini was not exactly how I had imagined it…perhaps too many movies and my crazy imagination went too far.  However, it was pretty cool and amazing to see the houses built on the mega steep hills.  I do think it’s cooler-looking in photos than in real life.  Weird!

Beautiful architecture and views - blinding white at times!

We had a fantastic time, many adventures and much aching of legs from walking too much.  I always said, “hey, that beach looks better, it can’t be that far, right?”  Hehe…I get myself into trouble I suppose.

Now I feel a bit odd to realize vacation is over.  Back to the normal routine, although I can’t say that’s a bad thing – Italia is wonderful.  Perhaps I’ve grown just a bit too comfortable with no schedule.  Now when things really need to be done, it seems like a mountain instead of the mole hill that it is – I used to work a crazy amount of hours in Los Angeles after all.

Romantic sunsets...even though ours at home is pretty cool too

Well, I’m a bit relieved to be home anyway…casa dolce casa, right?  Back to good Italian food and real espresso coffee.  Until later…ciao ciao!

We Are Married - May 16, 2009 - Italy

I think it’s all still a bit surreal for me at this point.  Our routine in life hasn’t changed much, so I don’t feel so different. Only now we have these lovely wedding bands on our fingers, symbolizing our eternal love and unity. Yes, I am starting to get cheesy I suppose…well, back to looking through all the photos, compiling, chronicling and scrapbooking before we head out on our honeymoon June 16th.  We will be visiting the Greek islands of Naxos and Santorini for two weeks – very excited about that as well.  So I have exactly one month to take care of other things and send out thank yous!

I would like to say thank you to all for your congratulations, best wishes and gifts. We appreciate your kind thoughts and best wishes!  Grazie!

View of Florence

Many have warned me that the allure of new things and rosey-colored view of Italy from tourists’ eyes would soon fade. I have seen the corruption and noted the many issues that lie beneath the cobblestone streets. To be sure there will be many more realizations, not only because Italy is a new country to me, but because I am growing up and getting married as well. Warnings duly noted and who knows what will happen in the future. For now, we are happy together and excited to start our married life.

Our house

I have been meaning to create a fantastic wedding blog to chronicle the experience of being a bridezilla in Italy, but I haven’t had the time and the clock is ticking away. We are exactly one month away from the wedding date and I wanted to post an update and wedding announcement without any further delay.

Alessandro e Linda - 16 Maggio 2009

Alessandro and I will be married in a civil ceremony on May 16th, 2009 at the local commune of Montopoli. After the ceremony, which really only lasts about 15 minutes, we will host a luncheon with family and close friends to celebrate the occasion.

Our wedding invitations featuring turtles!

We have definitely been lazy at planning things out and really late in terms of sending out invitations. Not to mention things just take longer to get done in Italy. We want a simple wedding, so didn’t make a big fuss out of it. Only when you compare with couples who plan years ahead does it seem like we are naive little children still!

Civil wedding ceremony at the Montopoli commune

Nevertheless, we were able to get our paperwork done, restaurant and menu chosen, seating chart planned, invitations printed, rings purchased, honeymoon booked, flowers picked and booked…amongst many other little tasks on the wedding checklist…

Wedding luncheon invitation

Ale and I are both looking forward to the luncheon as well, because the food is fantastic. We had a private taste testing a while back and realized that the restaurant was open only for us one Saturday afternoon. Guess it helps when your brother-in-law and sister-in-law know the chef!

Wedding menu has similar sformatino that we ate for Easter lunch. I added the croissant wings though - cute!

The restaurant is on an agriturismo estate called Assia that boasts equestrian grounds, a fancy private pool, multiple lakes, a beauty spa and many kilometers of hiking trails amongst other amenities.

Corte Francigena Restaurant

I definitely plan on taking advantage of the scenery and grounds to take a million pictures while we are there. We went on a little hike to explore the grounds and there’s so much to see and hear. The frogs are extremely loud at the main lake and for some reason they hop so fast, I can’t spot them clearly. Invisible croakers it seems. While walking around I was wondering how dirty the train of my wedding dress would get though…thoughts of a bride-to-be!

One of the horses came to say hello!

The one thing my mom asked for was at least an official wedding photo. I will need a million pictures to choose from though as I plan to make a wedding album to send home. Let us hope the weather is good, since it has been unpredictable these days.

Corte Francigena is inside the Assia agriturismo in Galleno

In proper Italian tradition, we also made wedding favors, called bomboniere. My craft side came out, so I actually put them all together myself. They get handed out at the travel agency where we have our Lista di Nozze, registry for our honeymoon vacation.

Our bomboniere (wedding favors)

Traditionally, the bomboniere contain confetti inside – not the scraps of paper though. Confetti is the word in Italian for candies that look like giant white almond M&Ms. They are supposed to represent various virtues in marriage and that is why you put them in the favors. Of course, we had to be a bit different and also added chocolate bars. Everyone said chocolate would melt, but it’s the thought that counts right?

What's inside our bomboniere? Kinder maxi!

Unfortunately, everything is happening so quickly that my side of the family will not be in Italy for the occasion. Instead, we will be having a reprisal of sorts, summer 2010 when all of my family will visit. I am thinking to do the Chinese tea ceremony at that time, even though legally we would already be married for a year! Planning for that will have to wait until later, but I hope everyone can save their vacation days to visit Italy summer 2010 – perfect opportunity, right?

Tuscan landscape

That’s it for updates now. Hopefully, I will have more time this summer to get back on track in terms of everything online and my websites – after the honeymoon anyway!