Friday, July 30, 2010

manifest destiny (& happy friday)


oh my, is it friday already?
i said goodbye to roma and landed safe and sound at home in virginia earlier this week. things have been a little crazy since getting back, jet lag, flatmate issues, reality checks.
so it goes, back to life, back to reality.
its ok though, i'm ready. my roman holiday was wonderful. good food, good wine, art, family, italians, what could be better? but the break also offered a much needed respite from the overwhelmed, stressed and burnt out feelings i was having towards grad school at the end of last semester. and so, i returned feeling refreshed and ready to get back to work.

i also returned with the goal of cultivating a new outlook and attitude about what i need to do. do you guys practice the whole idea of manifestation? it feels a little hokey, but i'm trying it out. basically saying what you want to have happen in positive and affirmative terms. for instance, this is my new mantra:

"i will successfully defend my thesis proposal in september. then i will write my thesis over the rest of fall semester and in the beginning of spring, finishing it in february, revising in march and defending it in april. (since my proposal has been such an ordeal, my thesis writing expirience will be surprisingly smooth!) and i will graduate in may. my advisor, committee members, and family will be so proud. most importantly, so will i."

so theres that. i've been telling myself that story daily since i got back. and maybe writing it here will push it to happen too. anyways, i'll let you know how that one goes.
thanks for reading friends. and have a lovely weekend!

photo: self portrait in red at MACRO future.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

ciao roma


view from the kitchen window of a full moon rising over roma last night as we cooked our last dinner in this apartment. oh how i'll miss this place.

Friday, July 23, 2010

happy friday, loves

my stay in lovely roma is coming to a close. i head home monday, so this weekend i plan on soaking up every last bit of italy that i can. tonight, MACRO future and dinner is tesveccio. tomorrow, the beach? (swimming somewhere! its hot, hot, hot.) saturday night, shakespeare's the tempest in borghese park. sunday, the flea market, packing, and dinner with old childhood friends. (and in general this weekend, consuming as much as i possibly can of all this divine culinary amazingness that i'm surrounded with, of course.)
hope you have lovely weekends, friends. do something nice for yourselves as a reward for enduring all this heat, yes?
thanks for reading. xs & os.

when in rome

eat chocolate for breakfast.
no, really though.
i remember the first time i came to italy as a child of about seven years old because my father was working with a university colleague here. after a jet lagged sleep, we awoke at a family friend's house to a beautiful big breakfast put together by his lovely wife. as a kid who was never permitted sugary cereal or even sodas at that point, i was shocked by what i found there. sweets! sugary, chocolaty sweets, and nothing more! our breakfast consisted of cookies and pastries, espresso for the adults, and warm milk for the children. in short, it was heaven. and i was flabbergasted to be allowed to participate.
that morning i was introduced to the brilliance that is nutella, as well as my favorite italian supermarket indulgence, these little chocolate strachitella cookies, both of which, to this day, taste exactly like italy to me. so when in rome, eat chocolate for breakfast. you'll feel like a real italian, and because, plain and simple, it is oh so good.

on the street: trastevere

man + dog.
resting in the shade of basilica san chrisogono.

little italian cats


are too.
(except for my billie jean, of course.)

Thursday, July 22, 2010

little italian cars

are the cutest.
(on the street, tivoli.)

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

a revelation

i never knew how divine a fresh cannoli can be until i tasted one in roma.
say hallelujah.

jacob hashimoto

yesterday i had the pleasure of visiting the MACRO (Museo d'Arte Contemporanea di Roma). the museum building itself is a beautiful space, and i found there some really interesting artworks and curatorship. my favorite piece, however, was a site-specific installation by american artist jacob hashimoto, entitled silence still governs our consciousness.

created specifically for the MACRO, his installation consists of seven thousand paper kites that the artist made using traditional japanese techniques. each kite is suspended from the ceiling using string, transforming the space into a a delicate sea of paper, light, and air. visitors are invited to walk around and through the sculpture, thus viewing it becomes a participatory experience.

from the MACRO,
"The work fills the room like a 'diaphanous canopy' evoking in its spectators the sensation of being 'surrounded by a mist filled forest of kites and strings - a quiet, meditative, sculptural environment.' The piece synthesizes nature and technology to yield a fluid and organic landscape. This encourages meditation and evokes new readings of the gallery: as a void, as space, or as time."

hashimoto lives and works in new york and verona, and appears to have gallery representation in both cities. i hope to see his work stateside in the future.
its breathtaking.
here are a few photos for your eyes, my dears. enjoy!




















Monday, July 19, 2010

weekend: florence

spent the weekend in florence consuming ridiculous quantities of delicious food, art, and vino. saw way too many tourists, but that made for good people watching at least. and an added bonus: the temperature was about ten degrees cooler than in boiling roma. so, without further adieu, a few faves.


a view of michelangelo's duomo.


new favorite: margharitta with arugula.


snoozing.


so many bikes in florence!


mimi the clown.


a piazza and carousel.


our little hotel.


ha.


everyone loves david.


uffizzi.


in a secret garden.


cypresses.


lunch!


gelato!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

details: texture

one of the things i find most bewitching about italy is the textural feeling of its city streets. ancient brick, peeling paint, new growth. so much beauty lies in such details.


















thanks for reading, friends. xo.


Tuesday, July 13, 2010

your soul is gigantic.

your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic then you can possibly imagine. a human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are.

photo of my feet and confetti on the steps in front of a cathedral in tivoli.
words from the story 'the egg,' by jack sharp, via.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

mercato trionfale

well, hello friends. i hope you're having a lovely weekend. just thought i'd share a few photos from the market in our neighborhood of prati in rome. its amazing. you can find nearly everything there. beautiful, fresh produce, cheeses, meat, seafood, fresh pasta, baked goods, grains, olives. its delish.
be forewarned, however, that these photos are not the best. its an indoor market, so theres some pretty terrible lighting. also, the only day i've remembered to bring my camera we were in a crazy hurry, so they were all shot on the fly.
anyways, happy marketing!

in season now: peaches, apricots, plums, pears.


and tomatoes, of course.

sweet sweet cherries.

yellow plums.


funghi!

pretty burloti beans

onions and potatoes, oh my.

more tomatoes.

pretty basil plants.


figs.

legumes.


fresh cheese and pesto!


spicey.


little hearts.


sweet treats.

(yummmm.)