A friend of mine used to say huzzah all the time, it’s so funny!  I am celebrating because I’ve finally got my new blog up to start documenting my little art biz journey.  Thanks to Marisa from Creative Thursday, all the little fishie friends in our goldfish community, art trader magazine and many other inspirations – it’s finally up!  Check out my new blog torta gialla!

I am starting small and simple, but have a lot of great ideas in mind.  It’s both exciting and scary!  I am sure it will be challenging updating my various different blogs for different purposes, but I hope torta gialla will be the most active with my artwork.  This blog will remain as my personal outlet of random thoughts.  Ciao!

Posted on July 20, 2009 at 6:17 pm | blogging | 2 comments

I suppose this has been mulling in my mind these past few weeks, but perhaps now it is clearer and seemingly so simple.  I’ve been taking some e-courses online to pump myself up for a new venture.  Everything from art, design to more general, almost motivational topics…and I must admit I was a bit skeptical at first.  I mean, how much can you learn from someone just through the computer screen?  I had always put the burden on myself to work really hard, put in so much effort that it is painful, in order to really achieve something.

Flower from the roadside...

I’ve always been the loner and “independent woman” as some like to say.  I suppose I could blame it on my upbringing or culture, but those are just excuses.  It is odd for me to realize now, how stubborn I must have been.  I always thought I could do it alone or didn’t need any help or guidance.  Or maybe it was the proud side of me that was taught to believe I could do anything if I just put all my effort into it.  I suppose that is still true – if you really want to learn something, you can do it!  However, in taking these courses and learning so much I’ve realized that it’s okay to get help.  It’s okay to ask others for assistance, for guidance…and going through these experiences with others is also really enjoyable.  I guess, it’s just a simple change in my frame of mind.  So simple, so wonderful and life changing to just think differently.

As opposed to tortured artist hashing things out in the studio, it’s perfectly fine to be a beginner with lots of questions.  Amazing.  I don’t know if it’s silly for me to realize this suddenly, because it so simple.  I mean, we all went to school, we all had teachers and were guided by everyone around us growing up.  We are who we are, shaped by all the experiences and people in our lives.  But when you realize all the support that exists around you and open yourself up, it’s so much nicer.  The world seems like a place full of possibilities, rather than some turbulent mess that you are trying to make your way through…

I don’t know if I even make much sense in writing this out, but inside I feel better and happier and definitely pumped…yay!

Posted on July 20, 2009 at 10:37 am | life thoughts | 1 comment

It has been very hot these days, with record highs throughout Italy.  Whew…being a Californian girl, hot summers are nothing new.  However, humidity and lots of sweating is something new indeed.  Dry hot versus wet hot – is one better than the other?  Amazingly, I still have dry skin even with all the humidity!

The heat is really making it difficult for me to do anything for long periods of time.  I stop to rehydrate, wipe off sweat, wash my face, stand by the fan and such distracting things.  So annoying!  I guess it’s a silly complaint…and if you haven’t realized already, we don’t have air conditioning here.  Back in California everyone had air conditioning or you could run to the mall or public places to cool down.  Here in Italy (perhaps because we are in a smaller town?) places don’t usually have air conditioning units installed or when they do it’s not set at full-blast where it feels freeeezing indoors and scalding hot when you step outside suddenly.

I suppose it’s a good thing to sweat a little sometimes and slow down your life.  However, it’s also a really good excuse for me to do nothing.  Giving into major laziness…so this is why there’s siesta and nap times, especially in the summer.

My sunflowers! - I miei girasoli!

The lovely thing about summer here in the Tuscan hills though, are the lovely views of sunflowers all over.  I can see fields and fields right from my bedroom terrace!  We also tried planting some and although they turned out a bit skimpy inside pots instead of in the real earth and soil, the first one flowered today!  A little one, but so cute and lovely to see the bright yellow.  Makes me smile…

Posted on July 17, 2009 at 4:01 pm | italy | 3 comments

…or perhaps I should say renewal, because that sounds more positive!  Years ago I blogged quite frequently and encouraged all my friends to start blogs as well.  Some years later I took my blog down and avoided the digital life and online stuff in general.  I didn’t really know what to write about after a while and sharing the mundane details of life seemed silly.

I always wanted to start up again because I realized that there is an audience that cares, all your friends and family and future digital friends, too!  However, I didn’t know where to begin really.  This post I actually started a while ago, but I tend to have a lot of drafts of things that I never fully complete.  I suppose I am the queen of “it’s not ready” and thereby never showing anything.  Or looking on the positive side, I’m very much an idea person…following through to completion takes so much more effort for me compared to starting on a great idea!  I like to say I have ADD, but those are just excuses as always.  I decided to make a change and “Just Do It!”

I was motivated enough to start up this blog when I had my major life change – moving to Italy and getting married!  It seemed like a good point to start blogging again, to share my journey and thoughts.  Specifically I will chronicle my thoughts about living in this foreign country and the oh so wonderful experiences of married life.  I suppose also it’s very therapeutic to be able to “talk” to friends in this way and in English!  I’ve learned a lot of Italian, but amongst a foreign culture  and a language that can go into dialects and variations, it’s still difficult for me to comprehend everything and especially to express exactly what I want to say.  Heck – it’s hard to express sometimes even in English!  This blog will serve as my little private outlet…perhaps one day I will be able to blog in Italian.

So lately I’ve been in a bit of a funk emotionally, trying to find my place with all the changes in life.  After quitting my PM job, I am still freelance designing for web and graphic projects here and there, but have been exploring a bit more regarding starting my own business.  Something with design, but more than anything – positive, happy, beautiful things and thoughts – that’s what I want.  There is so much negativity and grief in this world, I want to create the opposite and make the world a better place – as corny as that sounds.  I’ve been learning a bit about positive psychology and there is a bit about how stress is inevitable in life, but you have to “undo the negative” so to speak.  You have to balance it with positive things in your life, so that it doesn’t adversely affect your health and livelihood, which is why people need to blow off steam, go out and have fun and such.  I want to be a happiness engineer!  Did that just sound really nerdy corny?  Well, I had been in the mode of self-reflection and analysis…researching what I should do and taking e-courses to learn even more.  I think I will be ready very soon, it’s exciting and scary…

Now that I’ve blabbed on for a while, let me share some photography…things that inspire and make me happy.  Have a great day and I will update soon.  Thanks for listening.

Things that make me happy here in Italia!

Posted on July 10, 2009 at 11:18 am | blogging | 1 comment

Whoa – amazing how time has flown by after getting hitched.  A month passed and we finally went on our honeymoon to Greece.  Naxos and Santorini are the islands we planned to stay in.  Now it’s already July and we are back home!

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!

Posted on July 2, 2009 at 12:04 pm | italy, wedding | 2 comments

Wow! I nearly can’t believe that it is all done and we are now a happily married couple. The time really just flew by and it was the most lovely day here in Tuscany. The weather was super hot and sunny, the food was fantastic and we all took a million pictures. Everything was as lovely as you would imagine…my dream Italian wedding in the hills of Tuscany…

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!

Posted on May 16, 2009 at 8:42 pm | italy, wedding | 2 comments

Finally, I’ve made the big move to Italy and will be getting married to my lovey dovey future hubby, Alessandro. It’s definitely a huge change for this American-born girl who grew up in a traditional Chinese family. Having moved from the big city of Los Angeles to the small town of Capanne, life is nothing like I would have imagined it to be. Over six years ago, I studied abroad in Florence and fell in love with la dolce vita. After finishing my post-baccalaureate I returned to Italy for another three months of adventure and exploration. That’s when I met my future husband and our story together began.

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!

Posted on April 16, 2009 at 9:39 pm | italy, wedding | 2 comments