do you believe in what you see?

Today was another wet, beautiful, grey day. I woke up to the sound of rain rattling the shingles on the neighbor roofs. Hopefully, I get the privilege to fall asleep to natures sweet sound. I only had Italian class. We reviewed for our upcoming final. It was not very exciting, but I taught Nicola how to pound and explode (the handshake) and now he is the king of it. He even corrected Joanna on how to do it. Made my day.

I just finished dinner with Joanna and now we are sitting in the kitchen being creative. I painted my nails pink and edited photographs. Joanna is painting a sugar pot for a gift. I love artists and sharing creative space.

Today’s gift is for the handyman in your life. Weather than be your Father Fred, your Brother Bill, or maybe Grandma Sue. It is uniquely designed, but still works wonders (so I have been told. Not really. But it looks like a wonder worker.) Paul Bunyan would be proud! Introducing Axes by: Best Made Co.

Where to Find: http://www.bestmadeco.com/collections/axes

Price: $100-400

Ciao. 

Title: "In the Waiting Line" by Zero 7

the rain in spain stays mainly in the plain

Clouds, grey and dark, hovered around the city like a child’s ‘blanket and chair’ fortress. Firenze, bustling with eager shoppers and umbrellas, hid beneath the quilted sky as drops of warm rain sprinkled the streets and it occupants. Wet air held heat in its breezes, whipping around corners and up the side of Brunelleschi’s Duomo. The thick scent of Sunday four-course dinner leaked out of neighboring windows and spiraled with the smokes of top floor chimneys. I wandered the streets for two hours; umbrella in hand, stepping in each puddle my shoes came to the edge of. Admiring the city, once more, as it’s frail beauty was washed with nature’s shower. When I came home, the apartment held a dark silence. The kitchen window showed no change in the sky as the hidden sun set.

To finish a perfect rainy afternoon, I sat down (with Rachel) in the living room for a little movie marathon. First to be watched was Pineapple Express. Following the runaway few days of a drug dealer and an innocent weed smoking murder witnesser, I enjoyed each scene. James Franco captures my heart no matter how greasy his hair is and how often he says dude. The second film was Pulp Fiction.  A hipster favorite, that I have previously seen, but did not remember anything. (The reason was my not remembering is going to be blamed on the fact that I was in bed, on a liquid diet, because I had just escaped nose surgery.) This time, I loved it. With an amazing cast and sound track, Quinton Tarantino presents such witty, sexy, funny, action, thrilled, fun, into one film. My only complaint: John Travolta’s hair. (For reasons that do not need explaining.)

Tonight I had pasta for dinner and then Joanna made me dessert. The dessert was coop cookies and peanut butter.  “How to make tagalongs when you can’t find a girlscout” –Joanna talking about the snack. What a wonderful day!

Today’s gift is for the geeks. For the Star Wars know all and the Darth Vader quotaters.

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you like the lies of Luke’s father. Those are in fact Hans Solo in Carbonate Ice Cube Trays. “The Empire will compensate you if he melts” now has a new meaning. The empire, being a glass, will be officially colder when this fantasy hero thaws. Also, you can even use they to make chocolate too! What a perfect gift to buy that dorky friend you love!

Where to find: http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/kitchen/e845/#tabs

Price: $9.99

Goodnight! xoxo

Title: My Fair Lady 

I went Christmas shopping in the rain.

I love Christmas shopping. Joanna and I went all around the town today looking in shops, checking our list twice, and marking off “need to gets.” It was a splendid day. Tonight we are painting our nails and having a movie night! Girls weekend!

Gift Number Three: The I Am T-Pain Mic

Some friends cannot sing. It is a given fact, whether they know it or not. Help them out, and your own ears, by getting them this voice-transforming microphone. Now they can sound like T pain. What more could you want?

Where to find this: Walmart

Price: $39.97

Sorry this post is so short! I do not have much to say! I miss you and love you! Xoxo  

Does anyone know how to play Rook?

Eddy rearranged the furniture in the main room, so now I am forced to face Joanna as I type. We are enjoying it by having our feet connected. It is hard to explain, but the two chairs are facing each other, we have our legs extended, and our feet touching so they are suspended and supported in the air. This is what happens when you spend too much time with someone.

This morning I had cinema class and I loved it. We watch a film by Derek Jarman called “Blue.” It was an audio documentary of Jarman’s struggle to fight HIV/AIDS and how the disease slowly diminished his sight. The screen was completely blue the entire hour and forty minutes. Audio included Jarman narrating lines from his diary and supported music/noise. It enthralled my senses and made my imagination go crazy. Go Jarman!

Today’s weather was simply splendid. It rained all last night, so this morning was fogged and wet. The air was humid and the sky a warm grey. It was really nice walking to the store with Joanna as the sun set.

Now for the big reason I know you all came to visit Verbaledudette this lovely December second.

Gift Guide Item Number Two: Skeleton Coffee Mugs by Phoebe Richardson  

Are you sick and tired of not being able to stack your friends/children’s/parents/neighbors mugs to create cool designs in their cupboards?  If yes, this is your gift. A set of four perfect sized white “bone” china coffee mugs with a simple image of a skeleton on it, create the best little gift for that unique person. These are so retro, no one will even consider them Halloween related, but rather, they will think they are just plain awesome. I call the rib cup!

Where to find them: http://www.farfetch.com/shopping/women/item10076693.aspx

Price: $54.00

P.s. Thank you Grandmother with the package of games and my chocolate Turkey! You are the sweetest! I love you!

P.p.s. Does anyone know how to play the card game Rook? Joanna and I cannot figure out the directions. Two blondes, what do you expect? 

Verbaledudette's Gift Guide

Happy December first! Like my sister, you are probably stressing about what to get everyone for Christmas. Eagerly counting down those days and crossing off those lists, browsing through endless magazines and falling in trampling lines early in the morning. I get it. Christmas gift shopping is difficult. That is why I am here to lend you a bit of a helping hand. Consider me one of Santa’s little helpers; Audrey the Elf (minus the pointy ears.)  Starting today I am going to show case a couple of items for the next twenty days (because, lets face it, if you don’t have all your gifts by the twentieth, you’re on your own. Also, I come home that day.) that you could get to spread holiday smiles on all the faces you know. Prices are going to range, stuff for him, and stuff for her. It is going to be spectacular.

1. The Bubble Wrap Calendar

Every year, people have to buy a calendar around Christmas time, for the obvious reason that after Christmas, the year changes. Are you sick and tired of going to your friends/families house and having to write your birth date down on a calendar covered in kittens, The Jonas Brothers, and sandy beaches? How about those tacky ones that don’t even have adorable pictures on them and are indeed very boring? This gift solves your problem and is fun for both adults and children! It is a three in one gift bargain!

Who doesn’t like bubble wrap. Admit it. We have all found the temptation to squeeze those little air locked pimples, or danced all around their odd texture even when our mothers said not to. The calendar even comes with all the U.S. holidays labeled in the little date bubbles. Its measurements are forty-eight inches tall by eighteen inches wide. It is printed on heavy one hundred pound glossy covered stock (whatever that means) and is handmade in Brooklyn. Practical and supports our locals. It’s simple lay out and vertical design is nothing but classy and chic. This will put your gift receiver on top of a little pedestal over all their horizontal calendar owner friends. They will be the envy of all calendars, and it will all be because of you. Everyone likes bubble wrap. Everyone needs a calendar. Get everyone, a Bubble Wrap Calendar.

Where to find it: http://www.perpetualkid.com/2010-bubble-calendar.aspx

Price: $19.99

Today I woke up and outside my window the sky looked clouded and grey. With this feeling, I had deep hopes that maybe we would be getting one of those famous Florence thunderstorms that was supposed to wash the city every day in November. I had hoped that December first might bring something different. But a couple hours later, the sky is blue and the clouds are blushed with rising sun pinks. So much for my rainy day. There is nothing like working in the studio at school while droplets scatter and shake the glass ceiling above. The noise echoes and is magical. Is it so much to ask that while I develop photographs today that it rains? Come on Florence, open those skies and let it loose!

Rachel’s friend Eddy just got here. I have yet to meet him because he hid in the other room and then they just left. Which was kind of odd, but then again, I wouldn’t want to meet me either while I am in the middle of blogging, in my pajamas, sitting in my warm bed, under a neon yellow comforter, while my stomach growls for breakfast. It’s not really my most presentable sight.

Well, I am off to start my day. I only have film photography today and I cannot wait to print! My final project is coming along so nicely. Every combination is a sweet surprise. It is a challenge, but it is worth it.

Ciao. Ciao.

xoxo