this 'n' that

On Wednesday in cooking class, we made our first-ever dessert: Tre Gusti Per Un Dolce. It's a chocolate cookie under coffee Bavarian cream under crème brule under chocolate mousse, with chocolate and caramel made over the stove for décor. So much sugar went into this, it was sickening. But it was SO delicious! Needless to say my stomach hurt for the rest of the day, but it was worth it. This recipe is the most complicated one I've made yet and the only one I can’t see myself recreating at home. It took the full 2.5 hours, and by the time we ate it, it still wasn’t technically done because it wasn’t chilled for enough time (as the photo of the runny crème brule suggests). We’ll see if I have a change in heart, though!

The bottom screen shot is my article that is currently running in CountyLine Magazine for their March issue. I worked on it in January before I left and am so happy to see it up on the website now. Text and photos by yours truly:
 http://countylinemagazine.net/0313/CL_0313.html

Today I ate at Subway for the first time since New Years Eve. Oh, my beloved Subway. They don’t have Italian Herbs and Cheese bread here like they do in America. Where am I again…? That goes to show how un-Italian that bread actually is, if Italians won’t even serve it in their Subways. Oh well, it was close enough. It’s been over a month since I’ve had any taste of an American restaurant, so I’m not too worried about breaking down for lunch today.

The Pope is no longer The Pope--first time since the middle ages that this has happened, and he flew right over our apartment in a helicopter earlier. So wild that I am here during all of this.

Final update: my friend Laura from Georgia State is visiting for the weekend! I’m going to pick her up from the train station tonight and show her around over the next few days. I’ve been cleaning the apartment, doing homework and running errands all day so I’m thankful tomorrow has no schedule.

Buonasera! 

street style: milan

The street style photos that I didn't delete off my camera (still a sensitive subject...). Glad I salvaged these, at least. 

milan fashion week

 Inside the Duomo

Pretty last-minute, I decided to sign up to go on a trip to Milan during their fashion week. I didn’t know anyone going, but I figured I’d never forgive myself for not going simply because of that. So on Saturday, I woke up and got on the bus at 8-8:30 am. During the three-hour ride up, we watched The Devil Wears Prada (fitting) and The Holiday. I half wish I took pictures of the winter wonderland outside the bus windows, but I couldn’t justify it. It wouldn’t have looked nearly as special through a picture as it did in real life, and besides that, my eyes were glued to the scenery. It was thicker snow than I’ve seen in Colorado or anywhere else and it was breath-takingly beautiful. As I was taking it in, it dawned on me that I was wearing a skirt and that I probably should have checked the forecast. I expected similar weather to Florence where I would be chilly with a long maxi-skirt, but able to go about my day and not be in pain. This was not the case—Milan in February is COLD. They say beauty is pain but I think I would have preferred to just wear a snow-suit if only I’d have known.

We arrived between 11-12 pm and walked around the city center. The Duomo in Milan is so intricate! I love how all of the big cities in Italy have some kind of amazing architecture to them. We got to go inside, walk around and see stained glass covering the inside of this church. Next, we headed where Milan Fashion Week was taking place.

(For anyone who don’t know: Fashion Week is an event that takes place semi-annually in each of the four Fashion Capitals of the world: New York, London, Milan and Paris. Fashion houses and designers showcase their latest collections via catwalks and runway shows, and typically, only buyers and media are invited.)

Even though I couldn’t see any of the shows first hand, I got to breathe the atmosphere. And that is a start. There were all kinds of presentations going on, including a Clinique make-up tent, etc. A big screen displayed footage of some of the shows going on inside which was nice to be able to see. Someday I hope I’ll be invited inside where it’s warm and I can take photos of the shows instead of seeing them from a pixilated screen…that’s the goal!
Around 2, a few other girls and I went to pizza with our old-men tour guides. They showed us “where the Milanese eat”, which was a ritzy-yet-cute pizza parlor next to the Gucci Café. I had a margarita pizza and my tour guide told me about the history and origination of that flavor of pizza…good trivia information.
For the rest of the day, we toured the Fashion district of Milan and shopped around. They had the big-name stores that I can’t afford to even look at, and some little-people shopping (kidding) including some of my favorites: H&M, Zara and a few ma & pa boutiques.
When the snow started falling steadier, a new friend and I headed into a coffee shop where I ordered my new favorite Café Con Latte: an espresso in a glass of warm milk. I spoke Italian to the bartender and was able to hold a conversation about what I wanted to order, why I was in Milan, where I am studying and where I am from. The girl I was with didn’t speak any Italian, so the bartender spoke English with her. Then he would turn back to me and began speaking more Italian, which was the best feeling! As we left, the girl I was with asked me if I knew a lot of Italian before coming and told me she was jealous that I could speak that much. I feel like I talk about this in every post, but it really amazes me that I can hold conversations with people and it makes me so happy. I asked people on the streets if I could take their photographs in Italian, and practiced with my tour guides, too. I am trying so hard!
On the way back, our bus got stuck in a snow-storm. We were supposed to be back by 10:30 pm and didn’t end up making it back to Florence until almost 2 am. We had movies to keep us entertained and stopped at an Autogrill for “a pee-pee stop” as my bus driver would say, as well as goodies (hey, I’m working out religiously now. I can eat a bag of chips if I want to eat a bag of chips).
It was such a wonderful day and the terrible luck didn’t come until the following morning when I attempted to upload photos to my laptop. iPhoto crashed so I had to restart the computer—luckily it recovered them. I thought everything had uploaded, so I began manually deleting the pictures off my camera and afterwards realized that not everything had uploaded. I deleted at least 20 good street style photos…I have never been so mortified in my life. Most of my pictures that captured the style of the Milanese are totally gone and I am so sad that I’ll never get them back. Lesson learned I guess.

Sunday was reserved for catching up on sleep, relaxing, homework and working out.
Monday is here once again…time for another beautiful week! Ciao!

blending newsletter

My article made it to Blending Newsletter for Florence University of the Arts! The editors made a couple changes that I didn't know about until I read them in the newsletter, such as: changing the word "drinks" to "coffees" for point #4. Okay people, you can write what you want, but we both know there was no coffee. Second, they threw in that Florence attracts not only study abroad students, but also "European Erasmus students". What is that?! As long as my name is attached to this, maybe I should do a good ol' Google search.

Anyways, I'm proud that I can say I've been published abroad. The school newspaper is how I got started at home...who says it isn't my start here? 
http://www.youblisher.com/p/560760-BLENDING-Newsletter-Feb-Mar-Spring-2013/

viareggio e giardino di boboli

rail road graffiti 

 A jewelry shop on the Ponte Vecchio

Enjoying the Mediterranean

Marissa and I cooking for our potluck dinner

I made the rosemary/lemon salmon

My mom sent the candy hearts and Matt wrote me a song for Valentines Day

Graffiti

This week's cooking class project

Friday February 15

Rachel, Stephanie, Marissa and I headed to the train station around 4:00 PM. We bought tickets to Viareggio, a beach town that’s a mere 50 minutes away. On the cheap train, it took 1.5 hours to get there because of all the stops. We arrived around 6:30 or 7 and got to the beach JUST as the sun set. We had about five minutes of sunlight and I got a few photos, but I can’t wait to go back and spend more time on the shore. I might even go back alone with a book to get some “me” time. After taking in the ocean, we found a pizza parlor where I got a Calzone and the best Coke I’ve ever had in my life (at 3 Euro a glass, it better be the best). After, we went back to Florence.

Saturday February 16

In Atlanta, Washington D.C and New York City, the only major cities I’ve spent any considerable time in, there are parks everywhere. Trees line the sidewalks and grass tries to grow through the cracks in the pavement. But in Florence? No. Rome had greenery, but Florence truly has none.

Unless, of course, you make a trip to Giardino di Boboli.

I get in free with my student university card, and it’s truly a hidden gem in the city. It’s the only green I’ve seen so far, and people picnic along the freshly trimmed grass and lay together in the yard. At the top (it’s an uphill garden), there’s a lookout with acres of green. The view of the rolling Tuscan countryside with cypress trees in every direction is beautiful, and when you turn around to the other side of the look out, there is a view of Florence: all of the red-roof buildings and the Duomo, complete with a backdrop of snow-capped mountains. It’s so quiet and serene compared to the bustle of the touristy city below. I’ll have to remember this spot when I need a little get away but don’t want to take a train to get there.

Wednesday February 20

I cooked homemade pasta in my cooking class this week! I think I’ll get a little pasta-maker-contraption (I know it has a name…) when I come home if I can find it cheap enough. This meal took 2 hours to make, but came with serious bragging rights. The pasta was made with flour, egg and spinach. We chopped up leaks, zucchini and carrots, and simmered them with white wine until they were soft. Then we blanched the tomatoes and cooked them in olive oil with some garlic. Lastly we fried an eggplant with a touch of flour to top the dish with a crunchy contrast. Yum-o.

This was also my roommate Marrissa’s birthday! None of us are teenagers anymore. We went to Dolce Vegan for dinner, and I had a soy burger with guacamole/chocolate soy milk to drink. My roommates got Falafel, which is chickpeas mashed up into patties, served with veggies and hummus. That was delicious. For dessert there was an assortment of Tiramisu, strawberry whipped cream cake and chocolate cake. Nothing from the restaurant was made with animal products including eggs, milk, etc. So crazy!

Thursday February 21

My fashion photography class is no joke. It’s so different from the family photography I’m used to, to say the least. It’s very risqué, but beautiful. I’m currently working on a story board to plan my personal photo shoot with the professional models. Kind of nerve-wracking! My teacher has worked with prestigious fashion houses in both NYC and Italy, so it’s interesting to hear about how things like agents work from a first-hand source. Fashion, through any avenue (journalism, photography, design, modeling), is one of the most difficult industries to break into. My teacher told our class today, “if you want it, you have to make it happen.” I think that’s what’s so fascinating about it all, though. Not just anyone can write for Vogue or Vanity Fair or GQ. You can’t just shoot Chanel or Dior’s ads, and major designers have made something extraordinary to get noticed. You have to be passionate, persistent, and far above average to break in and make an impact.

Random notes:

I’m getting published overseas! I have a short article on how to make a quick and easy American breakfast: French toast (ironic?). It’s getting published in an entertainment magazine called Firenze Spettacolo. I also have a separate article that has been chosen to run in FUA’s next newsletter. I will get copies and upload them ASAP…I’m excited!

I went to the doctor last week and the man is from London. He asked me if I had gotten a “flu jab” this year. I thought it was funny—language and dialect are so fascinating to me.

Fun fact I learned in Global Perspectives of Journalism: the shoes worn by Italian soldiers in WWII were made by Gucci.

A difference between Florence and Atlanta: to enter a shop/restaurant in Florence, you push the door. In Atlanta, you pull. That’s not something I’d ever imagine myself noticing, but it’s so second-nature that I have been forced to notice. I always try to pull the push door and end up making a scene.

I booked a trip to Paris for April! I’m going on a Thursday to Sunday for 97 USD. If I was in Georgia and wanted to go to Paris for the weekend…I can safely assume it would be well over one hundred dollars.  

My body literally hurts from the 60-day workout program I’m doing in the comfort of my own living room. Get ready to see some muscles.

Thank you to everyone who has sent me mail so far, it really makes my day when I receive it.

Ciao!