Italy Part I: Venice

Like I said previously, J and I's trip to Italy was absolutely fantastic.  Finally we've managed to sort through the 2,200+ images and pick ones we want to share with our families and friends. It is even harder to choose pictures to share here because I don't want to go overkill with them, but I also don't want to leave things out.  Hopefully I've managed to accomplish this.

We arrived in Venice midday and were both exhausted having not slept at all on the flight.  I thought that the dramamine would've made me fall asleep (it usually does) but I was wide awake the entire flight.  We took a waterbus to the Piazza San Marco and lugged our suitcases through the square and to our hotel (only 2 streets over!).  The streets were fantastic, basically the size of an alleyway, but in a city that doesn't use motor vehicles and has so many waterways, big streets don't really make sense.

The rest of the day we wandered the Piazza San Marco and the streets around it.  We found ourselves right next to the Rialto Bridge!  We both starting hitting a wall so we went to eat and at first we thought that we would be in and out (because our server was going pretty quickly, the opposite I've been told about any Italian restaurant), but when it came time for the check our waiter disappeared and it took us nearly an hour to get our check.  We got back to the hotel and tried to stay up but both passed out.  I managed to sleep and get myself on Italy time, but J unfortunately woke up at 2 and was wide awake for the rest of the morning with nothing but Italian TV to watch.

The next day J and I didn't really make a plan for what we wanted to do other than we glanced at a list of places that J's aunt and uncle gave us of places they went when they visited Italy.  In the Piazza San Marco we could not go into San Marco because backpacks were not allowed and J had his with him, but we were able to go up into the Companile, or the bell tower in the piazza for a terrific view.  We wandered to the waterfront and opted not to go to the Naval museum.  We found a grocery store and bought ourselves a makeshift lunch of an assortment of meats and bread.  Down near the waterfront we sat on a ledge and just enjoyed how peaceful the entire city was.

The rest of the afternoon we spent getting happily lost among the side streets and coming across piazzas.  We made our way to the Arsenale which is basically Venice's military base.  It was an interesting building but definitely not my favorite.  Onward we went with just a general idea of what direction we wanted to go to.  Found a few interesting shops in the quietest corners, like a mask-making shop where you could watch them work in the window front, a Murano glass store (Murano is a small island next to Venice known for its blown glass), and a pet store!

We were pretty close to the Ospedale SS Giovanni e Paolo (Venice's hospital).  What a beautiful building.  The detail on the outside of the building was just incredible.  Definitely my second favorite building (first being San Marco).  The two of us were running on empty at this point so we made our way back to the hotel to take a quick breather and then headed out again.  We wandered the streets filled with shops until they closed (around 7).  Unfortunately for me we found a yarn shop(!) called Lellabella after it had already closed and I knew that we'd be gone before it opened the next day.

Dinner was at a restaurant near our hotel and now I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture, but the ceiling was covered in milk and cream pitchers.  It was awesome!  Unfortunately this was not our most successful dinner experience.  I managed to get us water and my food (which was small but awesome) in Italian, but J ordered his own food.  He wanted Spaghetti in bolognese sauce, but what he got was polenta with cuttlefish in ink sauce.  I know I know....not even close to what he ordered, but we were both caught off guard, we didn't know what to say (and have them understand what we were saying).  The food was black as night, but tasted like meat sauce (yes I tried it!).  It was not, however, spaghetti with bolognese sauce and thus J was not happy with his dish (do you blame him?).  To make up for the odd meal we headed out for gelato and ended up not only near the Rialto again, but near a chocolate shop where we each got something tasty to munch on back in the room instead of ice cream and some vino.

Back in the room we ate chocolate and drank the wine and it was the perfect way to end our first full day in Italy.  The next day we were up early and on a waterbus before most of Venice was up.  Waiting for our train at the station we decided we needed to make a better plan for what we wanted to see in Florence and Rome so that we would see more of each city than we did in Venice.  When our train pulled into the station and we hopped on, we were excited for what awaited us in Florence.

Back Again, already missing Italy!

We are back from Italy and getting back on East Coast time!  Please bare with me while I go through our 2,200+ pictures and post about each of the cities we went to.  What I will tell you now is that it was absolutely fantastic and I can only hope that we will be so lucky to have the same experience when we go back one day!  Even J said he couldn't wait to go back again and has already set up our Netflix queue full of movies & documentaries about Italy.

Here are a couple of pictures to get you by until later:

Venice: The Ponte Vecchio

Venice: From the top of the Companile

Florence: The Duomo

Florence: From the top of the Duomo

Rome: From the top of St. Peter's Basilica

Rome: From the top of the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument

New Years Resolutions

I know every year most people make New Years Resolutions.  Even if they don't write them down, I think everyone makes some sort of mental list they'd like to accomplish.

This year I decided to make a list of projects I'd like to accomplish (although I'll probably be making a mental list of other resolutions as well!).

New Years To Do List

1. Get Our Grocery Bil Down.  While I don't think ours is outrageous and we've been shopping sales better, I'd still like to get our bill down by $10-$15.
2. Decorate Our Apartment Walls.  I'm waiting on this especially because I'd like to use some of our trip pictures to decorate.
3. Hide a Bookcase.   I love this idea and want to do it to our small bookcase that houes books, games, and water bottles.  I would love to do this with the two large bookcases and mirror in the middle, but we don't really need to spend the money to buy these things.
4. Curtains.  Our current set up is quite the eyesore with sheets for curtains!!  I would like to do something like this or this (the 3rd picture down).  In our bedroom I'm not sure what I'd like to do yet.  We only have one small window and I don't want to overdo anything with the window.
5. Pillows.  Our new couch arrived today! Well 2/3rds of it anyway.  The couch is a solid chocolate brown and I'd like to make a couple of throw pillows to help the couch pop and add some color to the room.  I think I'm going to go for a Chocolate brown, beige, and coral color scheme.
6. Entryway Table.  J and I have both been complaining about not having something right near the door to throw our keys in and our shoes under (because I keep tripping over the few pairs that get left out, the rest are on a shoe rack in our closet).  
7. Porch Furniture.  We have a small porch at our apartment and I'd like to get some use out of it because we barely used (mostly because of the lack of furniture to sit on).  I will be searching for cheap but nice porch furniture.
8. Have a dinner party. J and I have both been waiting to have our friends over for a housewarming party since our place still doesn't look the way we want it to.  However, the couch finally arriving definitely helps because it instantly adds way more seating then we had before.
9. Organization. Currently there are two places I'm dying to fix.  Our one closet has become a dumping ground for sports equipment, items in boxes that we don't need out and everything else under the sun.  It looks terrible.  I'd really like to figure out a way to organize it.  The other spot is the table in front of our couch.  By the end of the week every week it is completely covered in papers, keys, controllers, etc.  Let the reading of blogs like this for ideas begin!
10. Canning/Freezing.  I'd really like to learn how to can things this year and freeze foods so that we have fresh food stored instead of having to buy frozen dinners/vegetables that are usually filled with fillers I can't even .  First though I need to decide whether there are enough foods that I'd want canned.  Also, I want to know how long I can freeze foods before they expire.  I'd like for J and I to waste less food and be able to eat a little healthier.

Have you made resolutions for the new year yet?  

Bon Voyage!

Ciao Amici!

I don't think I've mentioned yet that J and I will be leaving soon on a trip.  Monday afternoon he and I will be on a place heading towards Italy!

I can't even explain how excited I was when J surprised me with a trip to Italy as a graduation present.  It seemed so surreal to me that we were going until last week when I realized that Italy AND Christmas were only two weeks away!  At that point I still had to shop for both.

Luckily for me I like to be organized for trips so I instantly make a packing list.  However, this doesn't mean I packed yet, in fact I only started to pack today!  Tomorrow and Christmas night we are staying at my parents' house so I have to make sure everything is good to go tomorrow before we head over.

I may not write while we're abroad (can you blame me?), but I have a couple posts queued up for you to read while I"m gone.  When I get back expect to hear all about Venice, Florence, and Rome!

Have a great holiday everyone!

Arrivederci e Buon Natale!!

DIY: Christmas Bows

At work the other day I participated in a gift swap.  I had a hard time getting a gift for it because I couldn't decide whether to go girly, boyish, or neutral.  Finally, while out shopping with my mom, I decided to just go with a scarf and mittens.  Lame, I know, but my brain was stuck when it came to creative ideas.

When I got home and went to package it up, I realized I didn't have any tissue paper to put in the bag I had.  I rummaged through my things and found a box I could use.  I wrapped it with my cute Christmas paper from Ikea then realized I didn't have any bows let to put on the box.

I wanted some sort of decoration on the package, so I googled 'making paper bows' and found such an awesome youtube video and viola!  In five minutes I had a Christmas bow.

**Unfortunately, a mishap with my camera made me lose all of my pictures of the process of making the bows!!  Luckily, the video below has plenty of pictures!***

What you'll need:

• Scrapbooking or colorful thick paper
• Double sided tape
• Glue (I used tape for everything but the video calls for glue), A stapler can be used too but might smash your bow.

Follow this link to get to the tutorial on how to make your bow.  There are also plenty of other videos if you don't like this one.

Definitely a great and easy way to make bows for gifts, especially when you don't have any or don't have any that match your wrapping paper.

DIY: Stain your old table

When moving out of our last apartment J and I asked our roommate D if we could have the table she had if she wasn’t going to take it with her to her new apartment in Boston.  She let us keep it, so we moved it with all of our belongings to my parents’ house.

Thanksgiving two years ago, but you can see how light the table is

Before moving into our current place J decided to do his own DIY project with the table.  Since the table had accumulated nicks and paint from using it in our past apartments, J decided he wanted to sand and stain the table.

Newly sanded, but not stained yet

A friend from J’s work already had stain and lacquer for him to use and he got it okayed to use the sander at work and complete the whole project as well.  He began working on the table and decided partway through to only stain and sand the top and paint the legs and underside of the table black.

Sorry for the poor quality picture.  Early stages of lacquer and stain.

 When he was finished after many coats of stain, lacquer, and paint, we had to wait a week for it to cure and be able to use it.   It was well worth the wait.  The table looks brand new and I’m in love with the color (deep mahogany). 

Doesn’t it look so nice with all the holiday décor now?

DIY: Christmas Decorations

             I apologize for the lack of posts this week; the Holiday’s quick approach has me running around getting last minute things together.  I hope all of you are having a less chaotic week!

            This past weekend was pretty relaxing around here.  J’s parents sent us some of his Christmas ornaments to decorate our tree with since we only had 5 ornaments on our tree.  We listened to holiday music and decorated. 

From J's aunt, reminds me that our trip is not far away!

From my aunt, it says "Our First Home"

Some of my favorites are the ornaments that J's grandmother made

Also, since J’s table is ready for us to use we got some new placements, a poinsettia and used some other Christmas goodies that J’s parents sent.

            MyChristmas yarn wreath is up on our door.  I had to tie it to our doorknocker since there is no hook or nail to use.

            Our last holiday decoration is a DIY project I finished a couple weeks ago.

What you’ll need:

I've filled in this frame previously with pictures from magazine as you can see here.

•  Old or new Christmas cards, just the front part. (I try to use cards our families send us.  I write who it is from and the year on the back.  I like that it becomes a decoration that is personal to us).
• Picture frame, preferably one that has a matte already cut for multiple pictures or you can DIY by purchasing matte board and cutting out sections with an exacto knife.
•  Scissors
•  Tape

Making this is pretty simple.  Take the backing of the frame off.  Play around with the combinations of cards in the openings.  When you’ve decided which cards you want where, you may feel you need to cut down some of the cards or cut a card into two pieces in order to use it in two different slots.  Tape all the cards back in place, place the backing on and the project is complete!  Hang wherever you feel needs some holiday décor.  I put one in our bathroom to brighten our awful white walls and one in our Living Room area.  

What I love about these is that they aren't permanent, you can change them up every year and you can change it for all seasons/holidays.  It also allows you to showcase what your family has sent you over the years.

Hope you’re enjoying decorating for this holiday season!