So that day trip to San Marino was cancelled because it snowed last weekend in Tuscany.  Why all the shock?  Well, it hasn’t snowed in this manner since 1985 and it normally doesn’t snow ever here.  We just aren’t in the snow zone geographically.  Well, things have changed apparently!  I suppose it can be worrying regarding climate change, but it was really a delightful surprise more than anything else.

Snow Capanne 2009

My first official winter in Italy and it snows, woohoo!  My family spent the weekend playing in the snow and having lots of fun together as well as eating a lot of food.  See the snowman my family made?

Pupazzo di neve

It’s all fantastic, except for the longer-lasting effects of the sudden snowy weather.  Transportation has been severely affected here in Italy, everyone says it’s just much more snowy even in places that expect it.  So of course there are the major delays of trains, cancellation of flights, blocked freeways, utilities going out due to damage, etc.  The list goes on.  We’ve been having a lot of blackouts in our town, highly annoying when I’m working on the computer.  It’s funny though that many folks used the weather as an excuse to skip work and complain about various things.  Oh Italia…

Snowy leaf

Posted on December 24, 2009 at 1:08 am | italy | No comments

Things have been a bit rough lately and I haven’t felt much like blogging my personal thoughts.  However, it’s high time I get back into the groove and share how wonderful living in Tuscany really is…to do it all justice.  The holiday season here in Italy is one of the most pretty and fun times of year.  There are lots of open air holiday markets and the old towns are decorated with lights, each with unique designs.  It’s less a time of consumerism and more a time of family – that’s how I feel as compared to typical American shopping frenzies I’ve experienced.

It’s pretty cool to see how families come together for the holidays and there is ample vacation time for kids and adults alike.  Folks get time off for Christmas, New Years and La Befana – a female Italian folklore character celebrated on January 6th.  More often than not, these holidays are strung together and many get a long vacation just like when we were kids.  Pretty nice setup…it’s always been said the Europeans know how to take it slow.

Tomorrow I am heading out for a day trip to the Republic of San Marino – an independent state within Italy.  Supposedly lovely Christmas markets and such…however, it just started snowing so I wonder if the trip is still on!  I’ll update soon.  For now, I leave you with lovely thoughts of Christmas time cheer, roasting chestnuts and snuggling at home with family.

Posted on December 18, 2009 at 6:13 pm | italy | No comments

Sometimes events converge at seemingly the worse times.  These past months have been difficult, but this past week even more testing…sigh.  But of course, we must all move on.  I read this poem and even though it is sad…it is hopeful.

Head, Heart by Lydia Davis

Heart weeps.
Head tries to help heart.
Head tells heart how it is, again:
You will lose the ones you love. They will all go. But even the earth will go, someday.
Heart feels better, then.
But the words of head do not remain long in the ears of heart.
Heart is so new to this.
I want them back, says heart.
Head is all heart has.
Help, head. Help heart.

Found via Caterina.net

Posted on October 25, 2009 at 5:13 pm | life thoughts | 2 comments

As always, the days have been flying by and lately I have been finding it difficult to concentrate on anything. I am thankful that some freelance work is picking up, so at least I am forced to be productive given certain deadlines.  My brother visited this past weekend, so it was nice to just chill and have a valid excuse to not work.

However, I am feeling the pressure this week, because a friend will be arriving this Thursday night for a two-week long visit.  We are going to Munich for Oktoberfest and then back to Italy for random roaming.  This means I must finish more than two weeks of work in about two days. Ugh! Need to really focus, but I have a knack for finding something else to occupy my time…like blogging randomly.  Sigh sigh…

Balloons during our town's Festa della Madonna - I feel like I'm just floating around...

Posted on September 29, 2009 at 11:16 am | italy | 1 comment

Whoa, another year has passed and today I must say Happy Birthday/Buon Compleanno to myself!  It’s a bit odd to feel old and young at the same time.  I started feeling old because getting to a certain age, you start thinking about how much should have been accomplished by now, by this stage in life. Funny how easy it is to think of the things you haven’t done yet, versus everything you have!  I went on a major cleaning spree instead of napping after lunch, because it feels so good to clean everything and then take a hot shower.  Reminds me of Monica from Friends, although I’m not a neat freak really…I think…

Of course on the flip side, I know that I’m still young and have so much time ahead of me. Married life is still new and there’s so much to do and experience together. The sunny side of not having done something yet, is that you can go do it still!  Yup, I’m full of contradictions.  Old…young…bahh! Well, it’s just another day after all.  My hubby is taking me out tonight, so I’m sure we’ll have lots of fun and tomorrow will be another day.  For now I leave you with some old photos as I’m going through my digipics files and organizing.  Nostalgia! I should also warn you that it might be a bit of Linda overload, so many photos of me!

Various old photos of me...

Posted on September 17, 2009 at 5:19 pm | life thoughts | 4 comments

Even though we are all appreciating the cooler weather as Autumn approaches, I am feeling a bit nostalgic and missing our summer day trips already.  More photos on my Flickr photostream…

Posted on September 2, 2009 at 1:56 pm | italy | 1 comment

The other day my husband and I decided to go on a day trip to the little town of Collodi to visit the Parco Di Pinocchio and the neighboring gardens of Villa Garzoni.  We were inspired to visit after reading about the area in a travel magazine.

Pinocchio

Although it was burning hot, I had fun visiting the locations since I had never been there and everything was new.  I also learned that the real Pinocchio story is nothing like the Disney version I grew up with.  In fact, it seems to be much darker and scarier…so I decided to buy the original book – Italian version – to sharpen my language skills and learn the truth!  There’s something exciting about reading stories in their original language as well.  Pinocchio Park was a bit disappointing as a whole because it is meant for little kids.  My husband and I were the only people around without a kid!  Oops…tourist literature failed to mention these details.  Not to mention I felt it was a big rip off as activities within the park were at an additional cost to the entrance fee.  Hmm…for the state of the park and attractions I wouldn’t say it was the best deal!

This is me strangling the snake!

The Garzoni gardens that also included the Collodi Butterfly House was much more worth the entrance fee.  Wondrous gardens like you would imagine and it was pretty cool to see the butterflies up close and personal inside the house.  We hiked up to the very top fountain of the garden as well, not realizing high noon probably wasn’t the best time with this brutal weather.  Too bad there was no entry to the villa itself, only the garden.

Looking up the Garzoni garden...

Looking down after hiking to the very top!

Overall, it was still worth visiting one time.  I decided to search for more treasures in Tuscany because I’m sure there are fabulous places to visit that might not be so openly advertised.  I would love to visit places with history and culture that inspire me as well.  I just wish the level of conservation and maintenance was higher in Italy!  It’s so sad to see the beauty from the past just deteriorate…

Pretty things I saw...

Posted on August 27, 2009 at 7:19 pm | italy | 1 comment

I don’t know why it has taken me so long to layout a simple book of photos.  Although I realize wedding photos can take forever because photographers touch them up – I’ve been totally lazy and old school about it.  Just a bit of contrast or brightening in Photoshop since all my photos are an accumulation of family who graciously volunteered to be photographers.  Now that the August Italian vacation period is nearing its end, I was finally able to gather all the images together.  I think perhaps it took me a while also because I got sick of staring at photos of myself!  So weird.

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…

Posted on August 22, 2009 at 6:36 pm | life thoughts, wedding | No comments

Even though I know it to be true – I still shock myself when counting the months that I have been living here in Italy.  The first six months after officially moving have nearly flown by, now just a memory for me.  Now it’s August, the mandatory month of vacation for my husband (and many others in certain industries).  Most everyone in Italy takes time off in mid-August to go on vacation.  I suppose it’s just too hot and humid to do anything else.

Lately I’ve been in a reflective mood and realized there are still so many things that I need to get used – or perhaps I will never get to that point?  Besides politics, corruption and injustices that I never can understand properly or accept…there are lots of little cultural things.  I’m starting to think I sound like a total dork, but one of those things are topless girls.  Seriously, I am so not used to see women topless.  Now, at the beach I suppose I’m getting used to it since I realize women just don’t want horrible tan lines.  However, in regular advertisements, TV shows and magazines…not the X-rated kinds, but normal ones…it’s totally okay for women to be topless and nearly all naked.

I have nothing against the female nude and must agree that the female body is just prettier to look at (sorry guys).  However, I still freeze a bit in terror when I come across said advertisements or magazine spreads.  It’s like, oops – oh wait – no, it’s just a regular magazine…hmm.  I just have to get used to the culture, right?

I’m not sure it’s something I will ever get used to.  Or the fact that many folks can look at these magazines with their parents and gossip about it.  Gosh, I must come from the most conservative family ever it seems!  What happened to the boundaries!?!?

Posted on August 13, 2009 at 11:40 pm | italy, life thoughts | 2 comments

I just saw this little animation short by artist Peter H. Reynolds and totally inspired to share it.  You should definitely watch this little video called He Was Me.  It’s very touching and made me stop and think how many people could really relate to the character.  I have to say that just some months ago I must have been a bit like him.  Stuck in a corporate job and living a sort of blah life, sometimes even toxic it seems from my perspective now.

No offense to all my friends and family who have great careers, moving up the ranks and being successful in their own way.  It’s just nice to know that the seemingly normal progression of life is not the only path available to you.  Growing up we seem to forget the limitless possibilities in this world.  All those dreams and joys that we might have taken for granted as children simply because it came so naturally.  There were no rules or boundaries to our imaginations.

Growing up and following the social norms of what you must do and accomplish to be considered successful seems to stifle  a lot of creativity and freedom in people.  It’s really that sense of freedom that comes from within, I don’t mean physical freedom necessarily. For myself, I became really obsessed with practicality and “doing the right thing” – making sure I impressed those around me and hoping for the love and recognition to validate it all.  Even when I was a kid I used to do things or NOT do things according to the opinions of others if it was right or wrong.  Would people approve and think it was the right thing to do?  I suppose it was mostly family, because I have 4 older brothers and 1 older sister who were great role models, but also seemingly scary elders who could really chew you out if you did something bad.

I suppose it sounds a bit grave, but a lot of times I found myself just going through the motions because it seemed like what I should be doing as defined by the rest of world.  No doubt I had support and love from my family for whatever I did – it’s just that parents who are really busy trying to support their family and care for their kids tend to raise children with that same worry and preoccupation with survival.  In my family it was always about making a proper living with a good job, so you could provide for your family.  Noble goals no doubt and probably very common, but it’s a bit too general and non-specific to enable you to really find your place in life.

A lot of life coaches and we even learn in project management that success must be defined before you can go ahead and try to make it happen.  What does success mean in life?  Well, you just have to picture yourself in the future and what the ideal would be…all the details down to the intimate feelings.  It’s going to be different for everyone…obviously making a living and sustaining is universal, but how exactly?  Someone who wants to live in the country with nature should have a different path of getting there than someone who wants to be a journalist, etc.  It doesn’t mean you have to recreate your ideal world to exactness, but it helps you to realize your real goal – then you can figure out how to get there.  Often we go the other way around, going with the normal flow of school, choosing a career and getting a job and then wondering, “Hey, am I happy?”  Your ideal situation is probably evolving all the time which is fine, but it’s just another way at “solving the problem” so to speak.

All this jabbering is just to say I really like the short animation and that you should check it out, because it spurred on a lot of interesting thoughts for me and I’m sure it will for you too.  I think it’s rather funny that I fluctuate from having very amorphous grand thoughts of dream situations and theories of life…that eventually lead back down to the details and uber practical nature of how you make it happen.  It’s like planning projects (hmm, now I’m getting nerdy…)  It’s all part of my personality and I am definitely still figuring things out.  I’m just very happy that I have the time to think about these things!

Well, some friends are visiting from Ohio for the next couple of weeks, so I’m super excited to be nostalgic, catch up on all the news as well as make plans for the future.  We have been talking about starting up some new creative projects, so I’m looking forward to our meetings.  Yay for excitement!

Posted on July 27, 2009 at 2:47 pm | life thoughts | 2 comments