sshhhhh!

don't tell anyone, but i had to stop my sandwich-making to do a little man's work and vanquish the beast i found in my room just now.

an explanation

i've just finished reading louisa may alcott's "little women" and am just starting "pride and prejudice" by jane austin... and believe me, strange things happen to your thoughts when your main source of daily contact with the english language is reading books that old. i may or may not have but probably did think something was a "capital idea" yesterday. it's probably about time i came home.

albert crombey and fish

with my parisian adventure (sadly) behind me, i'm spending the rest of time abroad with the girls' family in france. playing pétanque (bocci),

just kidding...

i just found out i'll be staying in france for an extra two days, so i won't be getting back stateside until the 14th. if all goes according to plan i'll be leaving s.c. again not too long after that, so clear out some space in your calendar for me, cuppycakes!

and in other news, i topped off my last night in italy the most perfect way possible: pizza alla norma followed by trying one more flavor of gelato. and really the only way to express this is yelling it. I JUST ATE COCONUT GELATO OUT OF A HOLLOWED OUT COCONUT HALF. in case you can't tell, it was bellisima.

and i have a ton of posts waiting for you, so don't think this is over. a peak at what's coming up: my visit to the cemetery here, a video about my trip to rome, a recipe post, and more.

love and gelato,
linds

wait... what?

maybe you caught it, maybe you didn't... but just to be clear, you've should've found something a little strange in my previous post. as i mentioned, tomorrow, july 31st, will be my last day in italy. as most of you know my original plan was to head back to south carolina on august 12th... so here's the deal:

"swiftly go the days"

there were days when i never thought i would actually get to the point where i'd be saying this, but tomorrow is my last day in italy. considering the things i've gone through this past year, it surprises me that this fact feels like one of the hardest things i've had to accept in a very long time.

slow down there, ken

barbie ain't that kinda girl...

subtlety is the key #2

subtlety is the key

quick update

hey cuppycakes! just writing a quick update from my phone so everyone knows i'm ok.
love and gelato,
linds

Posted from Blogium for iPhone

i scream, you scream, we all scream

carpe diem.

even though this is just a sign for a little bar in taormina, it's still sort of inspirational. maybe? not really? whatever... just go with it, okay? 

in any case, i'm totally "seizing the day" (and just moments from seizing the day away... anxiety is killer). i'm taking a three day vacation ALL BY MYSELF. i'm terrified, but also really excited. i'm about to see and do so many amazing things. traveling alone brings up a lot of fears and worries for me, but i know that this is the only way i can really explore some of the "must-see" things here in italy. i'll be taking tons of pictures along the way and i'll be sure to post all of the specifics of my little trip here after i get back (you never can be too careful...). 

before i head out i just wanted to send a big thank-you to all of you awesome cuppycakes who stop by to follow my journey.

much love and keep me in your thoughts,

linds

p.s. no worries cuppycakes, i've got some posts scheduled to publish while i'm gone so you won't be lonely.

taormina, take two.

taormina is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful places on earth. on my second trip there i finally went to check out the ancient greek/roman theatre. while i was there it was still set up for the taormina film festival, so a huge screen was blocking the view of the sea... but it was almost better this way. the crazy contrast of modern technology and ancient architecture was astounding. apparently there are shows and concerts there all summer long. can you imagine sitting down watching a performance right where some toga-clad greek or roman person sat to watch a performance of their own THOUSANDS of years ago? that just blows my mind... i can neither confirm nor deny that i sat for a good few minutes looking at the seat next to me imagining a conversation with the man who sat there two thousand years ago.

hopefully we'll go back

muchos buenos

in a recent conversation with a friend of mine i was asked if i had a sort of "bucket list" for italy. yes, yes i do. i have a lot of things that i definitely want to do before i leave here. one of my more recent additions to this list is to try as many kinder products as i can. so far the bueno bars are my favorite. i think today i'll try the white one :). i've already sampled the nutella to go cups, the white tronky bars, and (obviously) the bueno bars. i discovered the other day that kinder makes some kind of hippo shaped chocolate treat, called a happy hippo or something like that, and you can bet that as soon as i find them i'll be buying a box. and for all my cuppycakes back home, i'm definitely bringing home a bounty of ferrero goodness to share with you guys.

1. recent kinder haul... all of these were gone in less than an hour.

2. the bueno packages come with two little bars like this. each bar breaks into four little pods that are full of creamy hazelnut deliciousness.

sentimentality? from me?

i'm not going to lie to you, cuppycakes... i don't really miss charleston. i DEFINITELY miss my family and friends. but charleston? not so much. however... today i find myself wishing i was back there. and now you may be asking 'well, if you don't like it there, why would you want to be there?' the answer can be found in today's date. IT'S THE FOURTH OF JULY! i don't care who you are... independence day is awesome. almost as near and dear to my heart as halloween. and considering my almost unnatural affinity for dressing up (and candy), that says a lot. and what's not to love? explosions, spending the day in your bathing suit, parties, hot dogs and hamburgers, watermelon, parties, laying by the pool or in the sand all day and then watching EXPLOSIONS all night. and to make matters worse i haven't even had a hamburger in nearly two months.
obviously american independence day isn't celebrated here... that wouldn't really make sense. so it's pretty much just any other sunday. plus i'm sick. and not feeling well always has a way of making you want to be at home, snuggled up in your own bed. but i digress... there were a lot of things i knew i would miss out on my being in italy for an entire summer, but for some reason it completely escaped me that this would be the first time in my life that i will not celebrate independence day. though that's not to say my day will be completely lacking in all forms of celebration-- my post is up on the OneTravel blog today! they spelled my name wrong,  but i don't really care because i've spent almost two months now being called everything BUT the way i've always said my own name. so go check it out! it's the first post on the main page, onetravel.wordpress.com
much love and a happy fourth to you all!

well, isn't this exciting?!

as many of you know, you can head over to onetravel.com in your search of Cheap Tickets to anywhere. but, what you may NOT know is that the company maintains a blog at onetravel.wordpress.com. this blog publishes company updates and also posts from guest bloggers about their travel experiences at destinations all over the world. right now on the main page there are posts about florida, singapore, london, spain, and a few other places as well. and this sunday, july 4th, my post, this is stromboli, will be there as well!

i've gotta say... that pretty much kicks ass. i've gotten some feedback from some of you saying that you liked my blog... but i expected my friends like it. it's for you guys. what i wasn't really sure of was if other people would like it too. and, since i was contacted by onetravel and asked to submit something, i'll take that as a sign that people outside of my friends are enjoying what i'm writing here. and that was just the sign i needed to go ahead with my new blog, the cuppycake lifestyle. i'm getting all of the technical stuff done with it now, so within a couple weeks it should be up and running with quite a few posts for you guys to check out.

so, my little cuppycakes, i really just want to thank you for coming over and reading, and i hope you guys like my new blog too!

lovelovelove,
linds

oh! and don't forgot to head over to the onetravel blog either on or after the 4th to check out my post!

lei sa che ora è

considering this piece has extremely high emotional value for me, it just had to be first in my graffiti series. i'm still in total shock that i just happened to randomly walk past this. sheer perfection. 

and considering the subject of this post, it is hereby dedicated to my amazing friend and partner in crime, amy. you are an incredible person, and you totally know what time it is.

this is stromboli.

can you guess what's in this van?

here there are those vans like the ones floating around north charleston (yes, i know that they have those in places outside of north charleston, but that's most relevant to my home) that are used as mobile taco stands. i saw one while in the car one day and was instantly on alert because from the depths of my soul i am totally yearning for some hispanic food. i understood that the likelihood of that van being able to provide me with anything resembling a taco was nonexistent, but still i asked nathalie what kind of food they sold.
and guess what it is. just guess.

papino

i know, i know… i got some splainin' to do. it's been a while since i've posted… but we all know my capacity to procrastinate is immense. and just thinking about everything i wanted to tell you about stromboli and all the writing and photo uploading that would entail was enough to TOTALLY put me off. but then i talked to my dad. it was the first time we've really talked since i've been here, so i was so excited. and he told me that he started checking my blog so immediately i started thinking "well i've got to post everything now so he can hear all about it!" (he's seen the pics on facebook already, so at least he knows a little bit). so, you can all leave nice thank you comments for my dad on this post :) also, in honor of my dad, here's what i got him for father's day! i was so proud of myself, i think it's all pretty perfect.

i know, i know.

i know i owe you guys a post about stromboli... but i realized today that i very rarely ever post just about my daily life... and today was a nice day, so i think it's a good day to start. and i don't feel TOO bad since the link to all of my stromboli pics is up on the photo links page (check it out. the place is simply heavenly).
the girls slept in pretty late today and just as they were really waking up and finishing breakfast, alessia came over to play! i didn't know she was coming, but the girls seemed to... oh well. then, before i knew it, it was time to go to the girls' grandmother's house for lunch. we've done this a few times now and i really enjoy it. it's a bit like dinners at my own grandparents' house. their "nona" always calls me "bella" and as soon as my fork hits my plate she is telling me to take more food ("prendi, bella, prendi"). and she always prepares traditional sicilian dishes, which is great! my favorite has been the spaghetti with zucchini- i plan on making that myself when i get back stateside.
at lunch we read the girls' end of year report cards. they each got excellent marks, of course. and to reward them renato and nathalie decided to let them get a wii! we had to go on a bit of a trek to get the wii, the extra wiimote, etc, but the girls were simply ECSTATIC. i wish i had video of their first round playing mario kart. they were literally jumping up and down as they played it, smiling ear to ear. there's not much beter than seeing two adorable kids enjoying a well-deserved present.
it was nice and cool out so we had a light dinner out on the terrace. i great end to a relaxed day. and even better- we're all going to taormina tomorrow! i can't wait to get some more great pictures and finally visit the ancient theatre!
on the downside though, i'm missing my fellas back home. tomorrow is hubby's birthday, and the day after is father's day. :(
well, until next time (which will hopefully be tomorrow or sunday), ciao cuppycakes!

to be or not to be? find out if you're cut out for the job.

hey cuppycakes! so you think you want to be an au pair, huh? you're thinkin' to yourself, "yeah, i'd love to travel around the world. this would just be like a long vacation... and i'd get paid!" well, you're wrong. while there are some obvious perks of being an au pair, it is still a job. and while working with kids is rewarding and wonderful and loads of fun, it can also be quite taxing. add that to the strain of being away from your friends and family, living in someone else's home, and not being able to speak the language of the area and you have a definite potential for trouble.
so, i looked at the areas of the experience that are difficult for me and those where certain qualities have been really elemental in keeping everything running along smoothly and i've come up with a little list for you guys. this "little list" ended up getting a bit lengthy, so this is going to be the first in a series of posts.

just so you know

this weekend i will be in stromboli... which means no internet. which means my day off will not be spent cranking out copious blog posts like i usually plan on... so you may be lacking in quality updates for a while.
and, in case you didn't know, stromboli is a beautiful volcanic island with black sand beaches... so you at least know you can count on some nice pics when i get back.
ciao cuppycakes!

i'm gonna have ta get me summa dem.

come si dice "tranny fierce" in italiano?

*you can also find this post on my style blog, glitterati glam.

what it all means.

hey there, cuppycakes! i had planned to write up about seven blog posts on sunday because it was my day off... but i ended up catching up on some television and doing some research about where i want to go once i get back home... and writing only one.

a piece of home?

on my first walk through the city i passed the simply (a large chain of supermarkets here). even though it was cool because it's below street level, i looked at it and felt an air of familiarity. supermarkets are the same everywhere, right? wrong. i mean, they're the same concept, but the little peculiarities make the supermarket here a really interesting experience.

exclusively in italy:

now your mean-muggin' baby can be in a gang! check out this ad i found on the back of one of the girls' topolinos.

the beginning.

my initial plan for this blog was to keep it as something to show my friends and family what i'm up to while i'm here in italy. as i got the project started i became more and more interested in blogging. recently i decided to use this blog to not only document my time here for friends and family, but as a way to connect with others in the au pair community too. in my curiosity as to what exactly was already out there in terms of blogs concerning the au pair world i came across kacy's blog. she later asked through my formspring widget about how i got started with this job, etc. i have been making a little mental list over the past few days of the posts that i would like to write to help integrate my position as an au pair into the blog, but for some reason the answers to kacy's questions were nowhere in that list. and what better place to start than the beginning? so, here it is:
i first became seriously interested in working as an au pair over a year ago when a good friend of mine went to spain for the summer as an au pair. with the drama of the proceeding year all thoughts of travelling abroad completely escaped me... until one day i saw a facebook update from my other friend, ayana, announcing that she would be spending a year in germany. she told me about the website that she used and i immediately signed up.
the site is called great au pair and it really is wonderful. it's easy to use and you can register for free. (however either you or the family must be a paid member in order to view each other's contact info). i created my profile about march 21st and i left home for italy on may 14th! everything has happened so fast that's it really is hard to believe that i've been here for more than two weeks already! it's also a little sad, because that means that i am already 1/6 through my stay here.  for those not interested in doing the math that means i will be here for three months. without a visa my stay here is limited to 90 days, and getting a visa seemed like a nearly impossible task. i had enough worry over getting a new copy of my passport!
though the time is going by quickly, i'm certainly grateful for what i've got while i've got it. i was very fortunate to find a great family. they have two girls who are ten and eight. they are really great people who are interested in showing me everything that i can see here and are always eager to include me in what they are doing.
over the next few days i'll be posting more about my daily life here, my recommendations for selecting a host family, being an au pair, and more. in the mean time feel free to submit any questions and comments! you can leave them here, in my formspring widget, or my e-mail. also, if you are an au pair it'd be great to here how you got started, where you are, etc!

bare with me.

just a quick update:
i recently discovered that flickr will only display my most recent 200 pictures... and since i took over 100 just in taormina the other day, i was definitely frustrated. i originally planned on just uploading all of my pictures to flickr and then giving everyone the link to my photo stream so all of my photos were available in one spot. however, as that isn't exactly going to work out, i'm in the process of trying to figure what will be the best way to share ALL of my pictures with everyone. i think i've got it, i just need a little more time. on top of the photo thing i'm also working on changing the blog a bit AND writing some new posts featuring tips and general insights for anyone who is or is thinking of becoming an au pair. so one i begin posting again i should be coming back with quite a few new posts.
i'm also trying to dedicate more of my time to studying italian- which means about two hours a day that i won't be spending working on this... AND i'm trying to work some exercise into my daily routine. and also just generally spend less time on the internet...
anyway, here's a picture from my quick trip into taormina while you wait. let me tell you, i was there for three hours and the entire time i had to keep reminding myself i was in a real place, not on some movie set.

update: my current solution to the flickr foto fiasco is my new photo links page. we'll see how this goes. feedback would be greatly appreciated!

just some thoughts on a sunday.

today is my "day off", and let's just say my morning didn't exactly start well. so, understandably, i wasn't in the best of moods. i was laying on my "bed" catching up on some blogs and trying to take my mind off of what's bothering me and all of a sudden i hear ophelia start singing in her room. she has been singing for a few minutes now and it's so adorable that my mood has totally been lifted. ophelia and i definitely have some difficult moments, so it really makes me appreciate the times when i see how sweet she can be. i try to bottle them up and remember them at the times when she is ignoring me, or trying to run way in front of me when we're walking along a busy street and it's really hot and i'm tired because i was walking for an hour before she even got out of school and she acts like i don't even exist and neither do the crazy italian people who completely disregard all common sense when driving. and it actually works.
*update: it turns out she was actually writing a song for eva, who was away on an overnight camping trip for scouts. absolutely precious. she performed it for everyone when eva returned.

non parlo italiano.

i bought these books to help me learn italian. but really so far the only new things i've picked up are: "i don't speak italian" and some pronunciation things (like ci sounds like "chee") and that there are like four or five letters of the english alphabet that don't even exist in italian, oh and also that i hate italian. i'm sure i would love it if i could actually speak it, it's pretty awesome-sounding. however, i cannot speak italian. and italian is way harder than spanish. in spanish a singular "the" is always "el" or "la" depending on gender. in italian, the masculine singular "the" can be TWO different things and i don't really even know the difference yet. and don't get me started on making things plural... i miss spanish.
for now, i will keep up my "non parlo italiano" repetitions.

what i'm looking at right now.

so you can get the full ambience, this is what's playing in the background. no big deal. just an awesome patio, calabria, and a beautiful full moon..

what was that? oh, yes, my life is awesome. thank you for noticing.

cuppycakes, meet nespole.

until i came here i had never in my life seen nespole [ness-pole-ay] (called "medlars" in english, according to the interwebs). and, for all nineteen years of my life, i was fortunate to be ignorant of their existence. why? BECAUSE THEY ARE TOTALLY THE MOST DELICIOUS FRUIT EVER. seriously. my nespole will pwn your fruit with its awesome fuzzy stem behind its back.

help a cuppycake in need

i don't know if i mentioned this or not, but the other day renato and nathalie had a very interesting couple over for dinner. they both used to work as chefs and now the husband is a painter (he took my picture so he can paint sometime!) and the wife does catering and also teaches cooking courses. the purpose of the dinner was for them to come over and check out the house to see if we can have a sort of competition here. the competition will be for all of the pupils of the course which nathalie attends (around fifty or so) and it's kind of like a final exam for all of them. so that i don't feel left out renato has invited me to prepare something for the competition as well. i'm quite nervous. there will be about 100 people here (about 50 students and their friends/family). that's a lot.
renato suggested that i make something that is traditionally american... but since america is pretty much a mixture of every other place in the world, that is kind of difficult. when i think american food i think burgers and fries... but making a sampling of burgers isn't as simple as it may sound. tiny buns aren't easy come by. especially in a country where people don't even eat hamburgers. finding the perfect thing isn't going to be easy. and unfortunately i don't really know much about cooking... but what i do know is cute. i will probably be spending the next few days scouring the bakerella website. i saw these mini burger and fries trays the other day, but as adorbale as they look, they don't look particularly tasty... a brownie between two sugar cookies is a bit much for me. anyway, if you have any suggestions about something cute, simple, and delicious i could make PLEASE feel free to send them my way.
ciao!

cuppycake polish.

just a quick update: you may notice that i have removed my twitter feed from the sidebar. if you follow my tweets or are my facebook friend you may have seen me posting about my low twibido...
back home i generally only used twitter from my phone. here in italy i have disabled data roaming on my phone because it is something like $19.95 per megabyte received (CRAZY!)... which means i cannot access twitter on my dear, sweet iphone. so i will probably not be tweeting at all over the summer... rending that particular widget totally useless for my page.
and, if you are perceptive enough to have notice the disappearance of my twitter widget, you have probably noticed its replacement, mr. formspring widget. formspring widget, meet cuppycake followers. followers, meet formspring widget. feel free to use mr. formspring widget to ask me anything, blog-related or not (though i would prefer them to be related to the blog/my experience here in messina). but, in the end, the choice is yours. i will check my formspring.me inbox daily and i hope to get some great questions from you all.
ciao!

scacchi e damas

the other day eva taught me how to play scacchi [ska-kee] which is the italian name for chess. it was quite fun. afterwards ophelia arrived (she had a full day of school and eva only a half-day) and she was on my team for a game of damas (checkers, which i recognized because it is also called damas in spanish). playing games is proving to be a good way for the girls to practice english with me in a nice, relaxed environment. it's helping me to learn some italian as well!

the cuppycake and italian boiled peanuts.

i know this post will definitely draw a lot of attention from "y'all" back home. today i ate lupini.

festivus for the rest of us.

last night the italian futbol team was in some sort of huge game... i don't really know the specifics. during the day there were a vendors on the streets selling team paraphernalia. futbol is a big deal here. on the way to pick up the girls last night we stopped at a supermarket to get a few things because pretty much everything is closed on sunday here. there were quite a few people buzzing around trying to pick up odds and ends, and renato told me that this was because soon EVERYONE would be home in front of the television to watch the game.
luckily for me renato and nathalie don't really care about futbol, because sports certainly aren't anywhere near the top of my list of saturday fun-time things. i was much more excited that we went to a gallery event for some of their friends at an antiques shop while the girls were at their party.
as it turns out our team won. i know this because of the massive celebrations of which i was an unwilling participant. as nathalie, renato, and i sat at the small table in the kitchen having a little dinner and some conversation about my life back home we could hear the shouts of joy from people all around the city. victorious horn honking. LOUD music pouring from cars driving by.
it was late and when we were done eating i thought i would fall straight asleep. HAH! i thought wrong. FIREWORKS! BANG! POP! not exactly a lullaby. more honking. a little more yelling. going through my mind were a combination of hyperbole and a half scenes and "oh, brother!"'s (like that lady on SNL's weekend update).
it was so different. the only thing i can really compare it to is the superbowl... but times about ten thousand. at least with the superbowl there is no loud celebration... if you don't care about the superbowl, then superbowl sunday can be just another sunday for you. with futbol? not a chance.

feeling like a very tiny cuppycake.

DSCN0691, originally uploaded by cuppycake843.

the apartment where i'm staying is very modern, so, just looking around me, it seems like i could be almost anywhere in the modern world. the actual history around me is more evident from ground level. this picture is of an ancient theatre in catania. the picture was taken from a window inside antonio presti's home, which is in the center of the city. the juxtaposition of it all is very interesting. an ancient theatre preserved, but ignored. it is closed off by this little fence, only waist-high. all around it there is busy traffic, streetlights, stop signs, people quickly walking by- a piece of an an ancient era totally surrounded by modern life.

the cuppycake and "la porta della belleza"

hello cuppycakes! "'the time has come' the walrus said, 'to talk of other things...'" (sorry, i watched the old alice in wonderland the other night). it has been three days and i am finally getting around to posting about my adventures here in italy. my first experience leaving the apartment involved a one hour drive into catania, where the airport i arrived at is located. it was a great drive with beautiful views of mt. etna (the largest volcano in europe!) and taormina. on the way renato tried to explain to me exactly what it was we were going to see. so, i will try and relay to you what was happening as best as i can through my interpretation of what he was trying to tell me and what i percieved while we were there.

sorry cuppycakes!

this blog has, admittedly, been very low on my priority list since my arrival in messina. but, armed with a slew of awesome pictures of a totally touching art exhibition in catania, i will change that... tomorrow. this is, unfortunately, just a quick update to let you know i am here and safe. the girls are great. the family is lovely. i'm eating tons of things i usually don't, and i'm taking great pictures. i have also spent most of my internet time chatting with my wonderful boyfriend, so tomorrow i will dedicate more time to you. while you wait, you can view a quick album dedicated to my day in catania. it's just an auto-upload from iphoto, nothing much... descriptions will be posted here tomorrow.
ciao

silver linings

well, of course, my flight would get delayed. so i will be attempting to leave tomorrow at the same time. though, for the inconvenience they did bump me up to first class for my eight hour flight... which should be pretty awesome. all-in-all, even though this put a damper on my meeting with ayana and will postpone my trip to scicli, i'm pleased. an extra day with my boyfriend and a first class seat for my terribly long flight? sounds pretty nice to me.

utter madness.

i know i have already written a post about how i have so little time and so much to do... well, yeah... you can just cut that and paste here about twenty times. i now have less than one week and i have accomplished pretty much nothing. i have today off from work, so i am going to buckle down and try and knock out most of this stuff so i can enjoy my last few days with my boyfriend... but this impending travel date is pretty overwhelming. i mean, there is less than three weeks between nathalie booking my ticket and the day i am supposed to leave. and at the time that i first saw the ticket, i was thinking i had PLENTY of time. nuh-uh. not so. granted, i did put in quite a bit of time tinkering around with this blog last week, but knowing my procrastinator ways i wouldn't have been doing anything to get ready for my trip anyway.
so, cross your fingers for me- and if you see me on facebook, twitter, etc over the next few days, hound me about whether i've gotten my work done first.
ciao cuppycakes

another sigh of relief

i just subscribed to a podcast to help me learn some italian. the possibility of not being able to communicate with those around me has been weighing heavy on my mind as i try to envision what my time in italy will be like. though, i can't really say why. i did extremely well with foreign language in school, and when dealing with non-english-speaking customers at work i am never uneasy and feel like i can still communicate well. but, i suppose it's just my worrisome nature. anyway, the podcast is from learn italian pod and i have downloaded the five minutes a day series. after listening to a couple, i realized that i don't have anything to worry about. my knowledge of spanish is extremely handy- i recognized the meaning of many of the words and phrases due to their similarity to spanish. so, i believe that with some time spent just immersing myself in the language i will pick it up pretty well. with only three months there, i can't say i'll be coming back a fluent speaker of italian, but i feel confident that by the time august 12th rolls around i will be fairly comfortable in an italian-speaking situation.
wish me "buona fortuna"

whew.

all i can say right now is "whew!" i just an e-mail update about my passport! my application has been approved and my passport is being printed! my passport has probably been the number cause of stress for me over the past few weeks. i am extremely anxiety-prone, so i of course had all of these visions of may 14th arriving, and my passport still not being here. over the past year or so it has seemed that every time i try to take a step forward i get knocked back at the last moment. and in the case of me going to italy (which a part of me will still plan on not actually happening until i am really there) my passport has been the main (foreseeable) hang-up. now that i know it will get here in plenty of time, it's becoming a lot easier for me to accept and feel excited about my trip. everything seems to be coming together, and i feel like it's almost time for me to be able to take a deep and proclaim my departure from summerville, sc.

the good and the bad.

i've always preferred the bad news first, so that's how i'll give it to ya. i checked my passport status online this morning. it's still being processed! ah! i am scheduled to leave so soon! *see countdown in the sidebar. it gave a number to call if you were traveling in seven days or less, so if i see no progress between now and then i will definitely be dialing that... but for now i have registered for e-mail notifications and will just be sweating it out i guess.

now for the good news: i just received an e-mail from nathalie, which is always exciting. she was writing to let me know that on sunday, may 16th (which is the day after my arrival) we will be visiting an old baroque city in the south of sicily called scicli. after some google magic (she spelled it differently in her e-mail... you'd be surprised at the difference little letter can make) i easily found some images of it. hopefully i'll be posting some of my own after my visit. it's beautiful, of course. and also classified as an UNESCO world heritage site. she said that while there we will be tasting wine, oil, essenza (essences, i presume) and just visiting the city. i am hesitant about a wine tasting, as i've never had wine, or any alcohol at all for that matter. but still incredibly exciting news! as each day passes i find it's increasingly difficult to focus on anything but italy. i just hope my passport is here in time...

so. much. to. do.

these are going to be two of the most hectic weeks i've had in quite a while. there are so many things i need to do, and even more things that i'd like to do. i will be spending the next three months in a foreign country, so there are some very obvious preparations involved there (packing, packing, packing, spend time with friends/boyfriend/dad, packing, spend time with dad, find necessary items such as a power converter, try and learn a little of the language and culture of italy, packing, etc). but also, while i am gone, my dad is putting this house on the market. so i am trying to tidy up the place, as well organize and take inventory of my belongings that are remaining stateside... just in case.
and, on top of everything, my boyfriend will be moving back to california at about the same that i will be leaving for italia. which means that while i am there we will have a nine hour time difference between us. and also that when i leave there, there will be an indefinite (but definitely long) period of time before i get to see him again. it's terribly difficult to be totally unsure of the next time you will get to see the person you love. i would love to spend the entirety of these next two weeks with him, just hanging out, being us- but there is so. much. to. do.
despite all this however, i still cannot wait to be in messina. it's in the back of my mind all day. i've been ready for a new adventure for what seems like forever now. and, as you can see from my little countdown over in the sidebar, i don't have to wait much longer.
well, enough rambling for now.
buona notte (which is "goodnight" in italian- my phrase for the day) everyone.

it's really happening!

this cuppycake is going to italy! nathalie e-mailed me today with my flight info. i have been so excited lately- i spent the entire morning checking out blogs, sites, and forums about messina, learning italian, what it's like for americans in italy, being an au pair there, etc. i still cannot believe i will actually be going to such a beautiful place to live with such an amazing family. i'm very enthusiastic about keeping up with this blog because my incredible friend, amy, left today for tel aviv, and we will be keeping up with each other through our travel blogs. it is so crazy to think we will both be spending this time so far from home, and from each other.
and, most importantly, i would like to give a shout-out to the lovely ayana, without whom i would have never stumbled upon this magnificent opportunity.
i am still a bit too shocked to have much else to say... so, with that, i'll say goodnight.