OH HEY.... I REALLY AM STILL ALIVE.

i have failed miserably at keeping this up. i warned you, though, so i don’t feel that bad about it… well ok i feel horrible about it, but honestly, i told you so…

but this is what the new year is for, right? resolutions. along with my resolution to use the gift certificate to the spa i received for my birthday (yes, in october), take dance classes, do my portfolio, etc, i plan to keep up this blog. it may only be once a month (and far more abridged than my previous posts), but i know you’ve missed me, even if only a little, and i’m going to try really hard to make time for it.

here are the barebones, minimal highlights of the past 4 months:

milano for my birthday: the cast - yoanna, gaby, kevin, christo, matias, ryan, jeremy, alyssa, beth, ashley, rosie, max, jason, and danny—yeah, we roll deep; repulsive (I need a worse word to really describe this place) hostel (i still get the heebie jeebies thinking about it); amazing duomo climb/nap; the opera “orpheus” with gaby at la scala, a famous and beautiful opera house; shocking nightclub til 4 am; castello sforza and michelangelo’s pieta; waiting at milano centrale for 6 hours for an available train to come…exhausting weekend trip. amazing birthday.

  

 

 

october 9th florentine halloween: a night of rambunctions (i’m making it a word, k?). i was a french maid (classic) and we encountered an emo boy, a hobo, some indians, cows, an ipod, pippi longstocking, mafiosi, doug (our director), salt and peppa shakers, a devil, the incredibles, a one-night stand, bread man, chefs, etc… the entirety of csu was at the two ghibellina apartments. epic night.

field trip to roma with csu: tombs at cerveterai and tarquinia made for some awesome photo shoots; gabz, yoyo and i roomed together in the beautiful 4 star hotel da vinci; cal poly slo reunion with the kids studying in rome for the semester at campo dei fiori followed by a long walk/stumble with friends along the river back to the hotel; crazy tour day of the collosseo, forum romano, pantheon, fontana di trevi, spanish steps, st. peter’s, etc. but i really MUST go back. def have not spent enough time in rome yet. 

 

plp break - london, salisbury, and dublin: with jason, max, and andi in london plus sarah and seren in dublin. london = metro (mind the gap), architecture, fish and chips and other amazing (non-italian) food, london eye (with max at night = amaaazing views). salisbury = stonehenge tour (blew my mind). dublin = fun city (cute pubs, trinity college, did the guinness tour) but preferred the beautiful (though rainy) wicklow tour to the countryside and the last night with our new roman friends.

 

 

field trip to verona, vicenza, padova, and mantova with csu: two words—carlo scarpa. brion-vega cemetery and castel vecchio = architect’s heaven on earth. saw palladio’s villa rotonda, the colosseum in verona, rubbed juliet's boobies for good luck, the teatro olympico, a zaha exhibit, the libeskind 9/11 memorial, etc. an architectural feast.

thanksgiving in firenze: 3 different houses had thanksgiving potlucks. needless to say, we ate like kings. i made baked caramel brie with caramelized almonds and granny smiths and we had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, polenta, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, green beans, macaroni and cheese, cornbread muffins, pumpkin pie, peach cobbler, and lots of vino. perfection! 

thanksgiving break in barcelona: i love barcelona. great hostel, amazing architecture, great food and company. yoyo, gaby, ashley, andi, beth, ryan, matias, jason, zach. gaudi’s park güell, casa mila (getting in with the group of spanish teens fo FREE), casa battlo. paella. block of discord. las ramblas with the boys playing soccer every minute with the ball dubbed “uno.” herzog and demeuron’s forum—way better in pictures. paella. toyo ito’s apartments. sagrada familia and running up the stairs illegally. calatrava’s bac de roda bridge and photoshoots in the middle of the street. jean nouvel’s torre agbar. sangria. olympic park with girls and the calatrava spire. mies van de rohe’s barcelona pavilion. tapas. loss of uno on the metro = purchase of dos and almost missing our plane (crazy metro antics—3 girls through one metro stall with backpacks)!

the holiday season festivities: ugly sweater day party (la festa di giorno di maglione brutte), csu catered holiday party and secret santa (i got potpourri from adam), hanukkah (latkes and candlelighting at yoyo’s), and SNOW in firenze (snowball fights at piazza michelangelo and beautiful snowy views of the rooftops of florence). 

winter break: paris with the entire family (mom, dad, briana, grandma christiane, uncle pascal, cousin raphaël) for 8 days filled with food, fun, and festivities. then down to the south of france with mom to avignon, arles, and marseille for new year’s (éclairs au chocolat and champagne, anyone?). down to milan for a day and florence for another 4 days then mom was off :(

the month of january: megan (and edward and haley) came to visit for a week (they’re studying in copenhagen for the year) and we had a blast exploring florence and being roommates. classes started up again, and now we’re already down to the last week before finals! heading to venice for carnivale and then frankfurt, berlin, and prague for break with yoanna! so much to do, so little time! 

well, that’s what’s going on in my little life right now. i really wish i could get into more detail for you, but then i’d be here for 17 days just writing. maybe one day i’ll go back to it and put in the details. until then, use your imagination :)

xoxo