getting into the holiday spirit.

My dear roommate (and friend) invited me to spend the weekend with her and her sweet family as they prepared for December with christmas tree hunting (good old fashion, hike, pick, and saw your own down) and then decorating it. It was relaxing and filled with a good nights sleep and tasty food. Thank you Kayleigh and Family! 

the tree was knew it was the own, so it hopped up and walked to the car.

Left to Right: Bruce (Kayleigh's Step Sisters Boyfriend,) Daniel (Kayleigh's Boyfriend,) and Kayleigh

the tree farm. definitely not Utah.
 no show in these mountains and Christmas tree hunting in short sleeves? What is up with that?
I couldn't say "Audrey's eyes are frozen, she will see it later" quoting Christmas Vacation because it was not cold! 

Part of the gang! 

The beautiful Katelynn, Kayleigh's sister. 

Last week I was surprised to find a large package in the mail for me. Inside was a countdown calendar from my sister. It was those cardboard, square chocolate, calendars that have surrounded the holiday seasons through out my childhood. Instead of counting down for Christmas, my instructions were to count down to coming home. Today was the first day of twenty five. Let the count down begin. 

Like last year, to count down Verbaledudette will host the ultimate gift guide to help you with your weeks of merriment. I am going to begin it today (another way to count the days until I get to go home to Salt Lake City, a place where I am in incredibly homesick for recently.) 

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

Verbaledudette's Gift Guide Day One: A Penfield Oxon Messenger Bag

oh yes. 

For that hip, bike riding, class act in your family - do not hesitate one bit to pick up this gender neutral bag. Perfect for lap tops, school supplies, baby sitting stuff, traveling, knitting needles, and much much more! It is a "rugged satchel- style messenger bag from Massachusetts... tough cotton canvas shell with a full leather trim." 

The easiest place for you to buy this beauty is Urban Outfitters (sold in stores and online.) Get yours today! 

Have a wonderful evening! Happy Monday!  

count your blessings

It is a quiet, chilled, evening tonight. The sun fell beneath the buildings early today (at least in my opinion) and ever since four o’clock, the city has been draped in a bleak darkness. I am currently writing this while cuddled next to the radiator under the kitchen window. A colorful blanket (that I got for my great deed of graduation, if you remember) is wrapped around my legs like a butterflies cocoon. I have two pairs of socks on to cover my tingling toes. My hands are purple. I know it is from the lack of blood they receive due to my disease, but I like to pretend it is just because they are too cold, like in cartoons.

 

            Looking outside the window, there is no light, except from an apartment window a few rooftops away. The curtains are drawn; open wide, and I can easily see the figures of an older male and female dancing. It is a slow dance, their bodies crippled with memories of a good life, but you can see they are in love. I sit here, imagining their lives. I guess they have housed three kids, two boys and one daughter, who are now all grown up and on their own travels. Maybe they fell in love early and were surprised with a child at a young age, pulling the idea of marriage faster than they thought it would come. The way they are holding each other is frail, beautiful, and supportive. It makes me think of my parents dancing on Friday nights after my Mother has had a stressful week at work.

            My Father used to always put on Macy Gray at five on Friday nights, in anticipation for my Mother to come home. Gabrielle and I, dancing together, watching my Dad nod his head and stir whatever meal he was making, a glass a wine swirling in his hand. He always comes over and grabs me, rocking me side to side, twirling me out. Ever since I was little my parents and I would dance together. I think they are the reason I love it so much and, not to brag, is why I am pretty good dance partner. My mom would do this twist to the floor as soon as she got into more comfortable clothes.  It is her signature move that the two of us always pull out at weddings. We wouldn’t eat until eight or nine, but no one cared because we were too busy in the music and the environment.

            I wonder if this couple does something similar. I hope my parents never stop dancing together and that one day I will stand outside of their house and look through their window and see the same image I see in the apartment a few blocks away.

And of course, it is music monday! Enjoy "Drop Names Not Bombs" by Louise Burns 

xoxo

life’s too short to even care at all.

 Hello from my bed. It may be only 7:00 but I already have my fuzzy socks on and am positioned under the covers. The lights are even off. No, I am not ready for bed; it is just kind of really chilly in this apartment, and I didn’t want to sit in those uncomfortable squeaky chairs in the kitchen. Italians obviously do not believe in decent warming devices in their apartments (probably because they do have a lot more hair on their bodies than other countries… but STILL. I am a hairless American who needs to be warm!) Okay, I am over exaggerating a little bit. Truth is, my bed is comfortable and I like the way the comforter practically glows in the dark because it is so neon yellow.

I apologize for such an awful introduction paragraph. Lets try this again.

Young the Giant’s most recent album is playing through my headphones right now as my feet are cuddling underneath my neon yellow comforter. The only light coming into the room is from the sliding propped open door. This square shadow of light (play on words, eh?) is enough light to frame Rachel’s bed in a halo like fashion. I am wearing my “your blog sucks” tee shirt and feeling really good about life.

Now, wasn’t that better?

Italy was beautiful today. This morning, I woke up with a burst of energy that needed to be set free. I harvested this emotion by going out on an hour long stroll, wandering through streets, kicking leaves up in the small park to the left, and watching old men row boats down the Arno river. It was truly refreshing.

I simply love this city. Walking home from school after class today, I really tried to soak in everything I passed. I have become so accustom to the route from casa mia (my house) to the school, that I sometimes take for granted how magical Firenze is. For example, as I was walking I breathed in deeply (with my new nose!!) the smells of home cooking, cigars, and that certain Italian city smell (no, not the pee and beer smell thank you, there is another one that I cannot put a name to.) I was walking down the little side street and I noticed the steam coming out of what looked like an air vent for one of the walled apartments. The way it swirled up and dispensed into the cold air as thick white petals was entrancing. I still smile at the lines of clothes that hang out of windows, even though it is a common sight in my days here. Now that I have lived her for so long, I can look passed the tourist monuments and really fall in love with the sweet subtitles.

I have begun to develop the feeling that every city is like this. Salt Lake City is just as beautiful as here, but I do not take the time to notice its details because I realize that I have taken it for granted. You never know what you have until it’s gone right?

Italian language is one of my least favorite classes because I hate being put on the spot and failing miserably when I am. BUT on the plus side, I love the challenge of trying to learn this new, beautiful, language. I want to learn! Oh goodness, my life is so hard. Just kidding. : ) Italian class was alright today. My fingertips were really cold. I have mentioned my pronunciation/spelling problem before, well now in class it is kind of a joke. For example, we were changing verbs from present to past tense, and Joanna chose my word to be the hardest one in the whole wide world (not really) to pronounce just because we all know how I st st stutter. I cannot remember it now and cant look it up in my notes cause I left my notebook at school, but know that it was hilariously hard (for me.) Oh well. Italian class is one of those classes that you dread going to, but once you are there you are fine, and everyone leaves laughing. Nicola may be an awful teacher, but he quite the character. 

This has nothing to do with anything, but it made me laugh. I thought you would need a little giggle on your Monday. 

Thanksgiving is obviously not celebrated here (if you do not know why… you have some serious problems that you need to figure out before reading any further. Google it.) Despite the country we are living in, Joanna, Rachel and I have decided to make a feast. We made a list of items we like to eat and divided them up between the three of us. I am in charge of a fruit and mashed potatoes. I am thinking maybe doing my family’s favorite apples in orange juice mixture and maybe some pomegranates.

Grandma, when Michael reads this to you, please know that I will not do your mashed potatoes justice and I am sending up my white flag. There is no competition; you have already won. Hopefully I will come in at least a close fifth place on the “good mashed potatoes” list. It cannot be very hard right? I mean I do not have a blender or anything... Is it unsanitary to use a rock? (I am only joking Rachel & Joanna; you honestly do not need to worry about if there are going to be dirt and other earthy materials in your buttery potatoes.) 

All I can say is thank goodness I am not in charge of the turkey.

Music Monday Update: Check out the song “Hotel Song” by Regina Spektor. It is a current love of mine.

I finished Like Water for Chocolate. Please read it. I had chills of wonderful emotion through out the entire thing. It is an easy, magical, read. (Please note that the picture to the right is not the real cover of the book, but an illustration someone did. I found it on google and liked it. That is all. ) 

Also, in the news of the social networking, I think you will find great pleasure in the new follower my twitter account has gained. “Titsoffire” has indeed started to follow my unwitty, too quotey, status update, tweet feed. I feel honored, really. Not many people can say that someone with such a great name is one of their 92 followers. 

My final statement deals with a lot of exclamation marks. Prepare yourself:

MY BEASTIE BECCA IS COMING TO VISIT ME OFFICIALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for reading! Ciao. Xoxo

*title: “Cough Syrup” by Young the Giant

the ordinary mind is broken, you did it and you don't even know

Good morning. This post is being written from my kitchen table on an absolutely rainy beautiful day in Salt Lake City. Everything is so green. (Except for the section of dead grass over the fence and on the hill. It could rain all it wanted on that piece of dry straw, but there is no hope for grass to be its natural color of golfers green. Oh well.) I was celebrating this rain fall in the title of this post. I know it has nothing to do with rain, but it is indeed lyrics from the song "Rain" by Mika. Thus proving my point that it has something to do with anything.

I went to the gym this morning. It was a pretty typical morning for the ol'Body Wise work out center. 9:00 A.M. is "old people who should not be seen in spandex doing aerobics in neon spandex listening to the Black Eyed Peas while breathing heavily day because there spandex is too tight" time. I do not participate in this lovely event (although I did have my spandex on) but watching it while I sweated on the elliptical trainer gives me up most motivation and delight. (I did almost come to a puking point when the instructor bent over to stretch giving me a view of old, sweaty, saggy, old people bottoms.) I guess the moral of this paragraph is: the gym is a great place for me to get my morning sweat on AND for old people to get dates, work out and wear their spandex from the 80's.

This is a big week for me. Today I am going to finnish painting the kitchen. We (being my mother and sister and I) painted it a nice Tuscan Sun Yellow. (My mother calls is "Baby Poop," my sister calls it "Pooh Bear," my father calls it "Squash" and my Grandmother calls it "Different.") I will also clean my room and the hallway. It's a big day. On wednesday I will go to the dentist so they can knock my front tooth out and glue a fake one in its place. On thursday, I have nose surgery. See I cannot breathe through my nose, at all. I can smell (that seems to be the question everyone wonders when I say I cannot breathe, so i saved you the time from asking.) My nose is too small (ecspecially my nostrals,) I am allergic to everything that grows, and these little things that line my nose (they start with a "T" but I am too lazy to find out the precise name) are all swollen clogging my breathing passages. So this doctor is going to get his tools out and drill me some bigger holes up my nose and play around in there until I can breath correctly. Doesnt that sound delightful? Its like we are paying some guy to pick my nose for me for 45 minutes while I am unconscious until my nose is clear and air flowable.  

Now it has come to that time of the post where I do this Song Challenge thing. It used to be fun, but now it has become something kind of tedious and predictable. Take lasts posts for instance "A song you can play" and "a song you wish you could play" and then there is the "a song you like" "a song you don't like"  and "a song you want at your wedding" "a song you want at your funeral." We are just going down the list opposites. Do you really think someone is going to go back on to this site to find out what song I wanted to be played at my funeral? I think not. Its been real, but it has become real boring. But I will finnish the challenge.

Day 28: A song that makes you feel Guilty (not to be confused with "a song that is your guilty pleasure")

"Tempted By the Fruit of Another" by Squeeze

Now I personally love this song and it doesn't make me feel guilty at all, but I am sure it makes someone else feel guilty and it makes me feel bad for those who do feel guilty. (I guess? haha.) 

Happy Music Monday! I leave you with this fun song called "Whirrling" By: The Joy Formidable 

all it was, was a girls day getting pedicures

Day Seven is a song that reminds you of a certain event.

Now let me paint you the picture. I do not remember how old I was at this moment but it was my cousin Kellie's wedding week. Danielle (my other cousin,) Gabrielle (my sister,) and I had just gone to lunch at the mall after getting pedicures. Danielle was driving, I was in the front seat, and she said "Have you girls heard of Mika?" This was back in the day before music became my life, but I had recently heard "Grace Kelly" by Mika, at my friend Lauren's dance performance. Anyways, she put on the song "Big Girls (You are Beautiful.)" We danced and sung along to it over and over again until I knew every single lyric. Every time I hear that song, or Mika in general, I think about how fun that car ride was and how one day the three of us will go to a Mika concert together. It is bound to happen.

(Photograph of the three of us at the wedding. From left to right: Me, Danielle, & Gabrielle) 

So after that long introduction, I am proud to present "Big Girl" by the one and only fabulous Mika.

Happy Music Monday also! I started doing music mondays a while ago but then fell out of it. But today I have a special song for you. This is for you people who like a little electronic/dance mix. 

Mindkilla by Gang Gang Dance 

Enjoy!