Mi Casa Es Su Casa.....

......unless you want an oven in su casa! We've finally moved into our real apartment and I truly can't complain. It's nice, it's fairly modern, there's a flat screen tv that we can plug our computer into to watch real television, the shower feels excellent on my head, buuuut there's no oven. This was suppose to be "The Year of the Oven," and now that has been renamed to "The Year of the No Bake Cookie!" Yuuummm.....when I was 12! Do they think Thanksgiving pumpkin pie and Christmas cookies bake on a two-burner stove? I don't think so! This is a true tragedy!

Thoughts of having no oven have completely consumed me, but luckily, I am an even tempered, level headed, mature 29 year old woman. HEAR ME ROAR! Maturity means I don't yell at Derek for having no oven because it's obviously not his fault, I don't bring up the no oven 'sitch' in every conversation I have and to everyone I meet, and I haven't cried over it. That would be SO crazy if somebody cried over not having an oven! I am once again starting to become very upset, so I think it's best we move on.

Here are those pictures of our new hood I promised you weeks ago! Bolzano is an awesome city and I may not have originally thought it was a happening tourist spot UNTIL I ran into a Rick Steve's tour downtown! Rick Steves! First question asked, "Is Rick Steves with you?" He wasn't, but there was NO WAY I was passing up the chance to meet this traveling nerd. Anyways, hope you like the place as much as I do! **Note** I did not edit these photos. On most days, I would rather come down with full blown AIDS than deal with Photoshop!
(Only my favorite place in all of Bolzano!)These next three photos are from just outside of Bolzano, where we actually live.**Another Note** When we bought the DSLR camera, I thought mad photography skills would flow from my fingertips, but as we can all see, that's not the case. Don't think mean things to yourself about my less than stellar photography, okay? Thanks!

Bolzan-o-Rama

It's official. I'm in love. My heart now belongs to Bolzano.

We've been here for 3 1/2 weeks now and I guess I'm starting to get the hang of it again. If you call eating bruschetta and two scoops of gelato every day, "getting the hang of it." We've been living in a hotel this whole time and it really hasn't been that bad, other than the lack of the world wide web. And they translated 16 & Pregnant into Italian, rather than leaving it in English and having Italian subtitles. *Side note: I didn't even know a girl was pregnant with twins the other day, that's how much I don't understand Italian! While not horrible, this hotel situation has kind of messed everything up. We're living out of our bags still and don't really feel at home, so I'm psyched to get moving into our real apartment. Once there, I'm just positive Derek will ask me to make our new house feel like a home. "Decorate, please. Here is my money, don't be shy," he'll say.

Bolzano is beautiful and looks like your quintessential European town! The downtown is the perfect little walking area with cobblestone streets and tons of cafes/bars with sidewalk seating. Pictures to come! There are some awesome grocery stores here, a really nice pet store, and even Mexican food! Although, I think they took the Mexican menu from Chili's. There are ribs and hamburgers with onion rings on top.......

We live amongst vineyards and apple orchards, which are currently all being harvested. The lady next door picks me dead flowers from random gardens. The neighbor man likes to put on his knee brace and climb onto his roof to pick berries and nuts, which he collects in his blue apron and then carries inside. When Derek and I go for coffee at 10:00 in the morning, the "more elderly" have already moved onto wine. When a German man has had a bit too much to drink and needs to go number one, he heads under the grape vines for a little privacy. If my server needs a smoke break, he takes a smoke break. Right next to my table. There are roosters and chickens walking amongst the vineyards and random cats everywhere. This is the life, you can have Chicago!

Our Second Home Sweet Home....

Tis the eve of our return to Italy and it couldn't have come at a better time. It seems like it was just yesterday that I weighed five pounds less and was packing to come back to Chicago. Without fail, the United States equals weight gain and sadly this morning, I found myself doing the ole yank and squat to get my jeans on. This didn't end so well. My jeans split. Very, very sad. Nothing says lose weight like torn pants!

Ciao America! Ciao Ranch! Ciao Fried Stuff! Ciao Rootbeer! Ciao Turtle Sundae at Culvers!

Helloooooo Bolzano! Hello Tomatoes! Hello Really Small Portions! Hello Very Cheap Heart Healthy Extra Virgin Olive Oil!