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| Hubble Space Telescope, Holly Golightly (Em's literary/film cousin), and Jess as Disgust from Inside Out |
I spent my Halloween night with my dear friend Emily and we party-hopped from one social engagement to the next. She dressed up as the Hubble Space Telescope (SO AMAZING) and I helped with the NASA facepaint (I'd had some practice from past NASA logo-emblazoning). The best/funniest part of her costume was that it was made from old lampshades, so at each new destination, we had to adjust and replace everything when she got out of the car. I went as Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's (Audrey at her best, though I say this about everything that she does) and made most of my costume (I loved my tassel earplugs the most).
"Did you know the Hubble Space Telescope can orbit the earth in 96 minutes? Isn't that fast?!"
"That is very fast!"
Halloween part 1—me and KP. (Morton Salt Girl and Rosie the Riveter) Katie and I found out we were related, which is delightful.
The extent of my Halloween décor: houseplant graveyard.
Hope your Halloween was a happy one!
Friendsgiving was forever ago but I was looking for these photos the other day and turns out I never posted any of them.
I am feeling a little nostalgic as last night we had a going-away party for Adrienne, and Quinton showed up as a surprise guest all the way from Washington, DC!!!!! (There can never be too many exclamation points at the end of that sentence.) All in all it was a very bittersweet night and it has been a bittersweet couple of weeks. I remind myself often of a favorite verse in the
Doctrine and Covenants 130:2. Change it hard and it is not always welcome, but I am grateful for the times in the past when it has been followed with trips to visit and group texts and happy memories in between.
We never got an exact guest count at this Friendsgiving, but it was A LOT. It made my heart burst a little to have our little house bursting with all of our dearest people. Until next year (this year!).
. . . .
previous years:
Last year I was in Italy for the 4th of July and we celebrated our native country with a BBQ at the church (complete with soggy French fries) and a rendition of "Fifty Nifty United States" by Heather, Michelle, and me. I wore red, white, and blue and at the studio, one of the architects told me she liked my nautical (marinara) colors. Last year was undoubtedly memorable, but it was great celebrating America in America this year.
[we discovered a tire swing walking home from the parade!! I miss
this tire swing. nor will I ever forget the time Wade spun me until I was so dizzy I nearly fell off.]
The day was full of time with wonderful friends and exciting festivities which underlined the fact that [excepting stereotypical American tourists] I love America! I'm grateful for the many blessings and opportunities we enjoy in our country.
P.S. 4th of July eve at 7-Eleven. Who are all of these people, you ask? We had no idea. But University Avenue was a madhouse, let me tell you.
Happy Canada Day to my favorite Canadian!
And thank you for introducing me to Nanaimo bars.
Since most of my Italy friends attend the same university and live in the same town that I do, we have frequent occasion for reunions, a late-night waffle run, or bumping into each other on campus. Our roommate Amanda, however, attends school on the east coast, but as she and I are both from New Jersey, we met up for the day to go to Philly and catch up.
Reading Terminal Market is one of my absolute favorite places to go in Philadelphia. It's an indoor market of food vendors built in an old train station and although it fuels my indecision by having many lunch options, I've found that you can't really go wrong with any of the choices.
the Christmas village set up in JFK Plaza (home of the LOVE statue).
Our adventurous day in the city reminded me of many of our adventures in Italy: the directional mishaps, the ill choices of footwear for the rainy weather, the ridiculous conversations with the locals, the indecision regarding gelato flavors (which we were very impressed with; it very much exceeded our expectations)—yes, all of it. The little day trip has been in the works for a while and I'm very happy it occurred.
Also I love the influences of Italian culture in Philadelphia—we passed many a window display with specialty Italian foods, and above, the olive oil-scented items made me laugh (and the scent was perfectly accurate).
(Or alternatively, cinque di maggio)
Last week Limher discovered a Peruvian-owned Mexican restaurant in Siena, just past the Palazzo Pubblico. Alexa and I had been craving guacamole all week, so we all decided to go there in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. We figured it was worth a shot.
We discovered that Italian-Mexican food is essentially on par with American interpretations of other cultures' foods. The guacamole was from a mix (I could taste the sour cream) and the beans were canned. Surprisingly enough, though, it fixed our Mexican craving.
And clearly the place had atmosphere.
