Trip to Italy - Post 1

Aaron is incredibly fortunate to have three best friends (Ben, Mike D. and Mike R.) whom he has known since they were 12. They went to high school together, Ben and Aaron then went on to college together, and to this day the four of them get together once a year for "Guys' Weekend," even though none of them live in the same city (Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Atlanta). What's even better is that all four of the wives get along well, too. The eight of us have done several trips together over the years, and in 2010 for Mike R. & Tracy's 15th wedding anniversary, we went to Tuscany. Sadly, Mike D.'s wife Amy couldn't go due to impending back surgery, but we also had three other couples with us, for a total of 13 travelers. We rented a villa and a second house outside of Lucca.

Here's where I must give a plug. When we were there, James was the villa's owner and he told us about the history of the area, gave us great suggestions for restaurants and sight-seeing, arranged for an on-site cooking class for us and a pizza party using the built in outdoor pizza oven at the villa! (You'll see these adventures in later posts.) James is now coordinating rentals in other parts of Tuscany as well. I highly recommend going to his site http://www.dowhatyouloveinitaly.com/ if you are thinking of a trip to Tuscany.

There is no way I could do our whole trip to Italy in one blog post, so here's #1, which is our first couple days. First, Aaron and I flew from Columbus to Washington, DC (Dulles) and had a six hour layover before flying to Rome. Aaron is a huge airplane geek so he specifically booked our flights so that he could fly on a 777, and during the layover he went to the Air & Space Museum.

I, however, got a pedicure and some ghetto fabulous flip flops because my other shoes were already giving me blisters. You can't fully appreciate the bling on these from the picture, but trust me, they were stylin'. (They were also all I could find in the airport.)

We arrived in Rome on Saturday morning and met up with another couple, Tim & Kim, and got on a train to Lucca by way of Florence. The rest of the gang had rented cars and one of those cars plus a taxi got us to our destination, Villa Aquilea (it was only a slightly frightening trip).

Here are some exterior shots of the villa as well as views from it:

This place was just stunning. And yes, it had a pool.

Interior shots:

The first night we dined al fresco, but later in the week we ate at the dining room table, which easily fit all 13 of us and could have extended even more.

On Sunday we hiked farther up the mountain to Castellaccio, the ruins of a church which also served as the site of a battle during WWII.

Bottom left is our whole gang, bottom middle shows the four lifelong friends: 

Mike D, Mike R, Ben and Aaron.

That evening we walked to a local, non-touristy pizzeria:

Clockwise from top left: The pizzas took a while but were well worth the wait. Aaron digs in. Aaron goes behind the counter with the staff. A group of young locals were there at the same time so we took their picture. Then they took ours. And finally, a picture of both groups together. The poor staff!

Aaron and me on the hike

Our post-hike snack near the pool.

This is one of my favorite pictures ever.

Stay tuned for more posts about this trip, which will include Lucca, Florence, Cinque Terre and Rome!

First April Weekend Recap

Friday we had a little meet-and-greet for some church choir peeps who are going on our European tour in June (can't wait!). We had a fantastic time and got to bed pretty late.

1. Aaron created a mini-meat tree. Let's call it a "meat shrub."
2. Bella decided she should be the table centerpiece.
3. Cocktail napkin for the evening

Saturday morning Aaron had to help un-decorate the church and go to a customer's house. I cleaned the kitchen, which I'm pretty sure left the cats completely confused, leading to this rare picture of all three:

She's doing WHAT?

Around 5:00 we ventured out to Hound Dog's for some pizza and beer.

Watched a little basketball but then came across Airplane! so we had to watch that, at least until we fell asleep. I guess there was a big, bad car accident about a block from our house in the wee hours, but we heard nothing.

Sunday we went to church, then to Yabo's Tacos for lunch and then, on the first 70 degree day of the year, we went to a three hour symphony chorus rehearsal. Indoors. But it was still nice when we got home so we had some porch time and a little neighbor time.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Stay Tuned,

My week in outfits, inspired by nail polish

The day before Easter I painted my nails this color:

Essie - Coat Azure

I got a ton of compliments on it, from both friends and strangers. On Thursday my chiropractor commented that my nails matched my top. Then he asked if I repainted my nails every day. When I thought about it, I realized that every outfit I had worn that week went with the nail polish. And thus, a blog post was born.

I am not a fashion blogger, as you will soon see. I leave that to my blog friend Shanna (who, by the way, is in the running to be the US Blogger Ambassador for Wallis Fashion; you can vote for her here). Anyway, here goes nothing.

Easter Sunday

Singing in the choir, I have to wear black on the bottom, and Easter wasn't very warm. I brightened things up with this Isle Apparel dress over leggings. The necklaces and earrings are Sabika; the rings are Swarovski.

Monday

I love this maxi skirt. The skirt and top are from Target. The bracelet is by friend-of-a-friend, Debbie Rae Designs, and the ring and earrings are from Gem Mountain Studios in Laguna Beach.

Tuesday

It's hard to tell in the picture, but the tank has multicolored beads and stones, and the cardigan is tiered. Necklace and earrings by Sabika; bracelet is Silpada (I've had it forever).

Gwensday

I kept it basic with black and grey (love those plaid ankle boots), but accessorized with nail-matching turquoise jewelry.

Thursday

This is one of my favorite outfits. The vest is hand-painted and can be worn three ways. You can kind of see my turquoise Fossil bag, too.


(Note: this picture was taken Saturday, when we ventured out for pizza so yes, I repeated the outfit.)


















Friday

This is a really fun top, and I love the color of the pants. The earrings and ring were a gift; I bought the necklace in Lucca, Italy.











Due to a few nail breakages, I ended up trimming my nails and this week I'll be wearing a more neutral color, so I won't have to worry too much about matching my clothes to my nails.

Stay Tuned

Flashback Friday - Wayyyyy Back

If you're Facebook friends with me, you've probably seen most of these pictures, but to some of you they're new. To me, however, they're old. I'm talking back to the beginning here. 

This is my mom and my grandma. I shared this picture on my mom's birthday post, but I didn't realize at the time that she was pregnant with me in this pic!

Left: me with both sets of grandparents (they're not sitting with their spouses, though). Right: me and my brother John Mark with my mom's parents and my aunt Linda.

My dad had this picture of me on his desk up until his death.

This is me at Cedar Point at about 21 months. Naturally, I'm eating. That hat was purchased at Cedar Point and it had a braid down the back. Awesome. Sauce.

This looks like it's probably Easter. My brother and me (being all ladylike and holding down my dress).

John Mark and me with our dog Sugar. Check out my sweet haircut.

And the pièce de résistance: This is at our grandparents' house. My brother is playing the almost-bigger-than-him baritone, which he played all through high school until he switched to the sousaphone (after he got taller) and me playing the organ. Please take note of my stylin' pants (it was the 70's, y'all).

I hope you enjoyed this little walk down memory lane. I'm sure my brother did. I have a really special picture of the two of us at our aunt's wedding in which he's sporting a scabbed up face after I pushed him head first down a sliding board. I have GOT to find that photo.

Stay Tuned,

Random Gwensday

So here's my totally random thought of the day: Carly Rae Jepsen's follow up to "Call Me Maybe" is "Tonight I'm Getting Over You."

I guess he stopped calling.



Moving on, in other randomness, I took a look at search keywords that people type in that then lead them to my  little blog.

• "gila monster sign of spring" - Is this some kind of play on the groundhog?

• "gila river confessions" - What kind of confessions does a river have to make?

Other than just "gila monster," the most popular searches revolve around my tattoo. For those of you newer readers, that post is here. Apparently if you search "midtown tattoo erie pa" you'll find this blog. 

But the most searches are for "gila monster tattoo." I bet those people are sorely disappointed when they are directed to a blog post showing my tattoo of a black cat.

Stay Tuned,

Monthly Measures #3 - When XL Isn't L Enough

So, how did I get here? Growing up, I was very thin without even trying. I was warned that it would catch up with me, but why on earth would I do anything about it (and what would I even do, until it's too late)? Even in college I stayed pretty thin. I've never been an athlete, but I guess traipsing around campus from class to class provides exercise. How about that?!


After graduation, I settled into a desk job and ever-so-slowly started putting on a little weight. Then I married someone who is ridiculously thin and even 20+ years later shows no signs of ever NOT being thin. He could eat whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, so why couldn't I?

I love clothes and I love to shop. I became irritated when the sizes got bigger. I tried different weight loss plans - the Zone Diet, Slimfast, Weight Watchers, Eat Clean... I participated in a "biggest loser" type class at my gym, and actually saw success. But something would happen: illness, surgery, death in the family, and I'd get off track and not get back on.

Over a year ago, I ordered a T-shirt online. I'm certain that I ordered an extra large, but I received a size XXL. I was disappointed, but I was pretty much mortified when I tried it on and it wasn't too big. Granted, sizes are all different and I don't wear XXL in everything, but still...

My trouble area is my stomach. This apparently gives some people the idea that I'm pregnant. I've actually been asked by complete strangers "when are you due?" And please note that it's always been women, not men, who ask the question. Seriously? Why do people DO that? And of course, I'm usually so thrown off that all I can say is "oh, I'm not pregnant." But what I'd often LIKE to say is:

I don't have any wise words for this month's post. I guess I'm just venting. Since last month, I have lost a few more pounds, and I did buy a new charm for my bracelet. But I'm not putting it on until I get to a certain point and I'm super close but not quite there yet.

Stay Tuned,

Wrapping up Easter

For a church musician, Holy Week is often also known as Holy Hell Week. Extra rehearsals, extra church services...it's a busy time.

Thursday night we were at the church at 6:00 to rehearse for over an hour, grab a quick dinner, then participate in the Maundy Thursday service at 8:00. Anthem count = 7 (I think).

Friday I went in to the office for a couple hours, then had to be at church at 10:30 to rehearse for the Good Friday service at noon. We had members of the Columbus Symphony there to accompany us. We did selections from Handel's Messiah, as well as the Mozart Lacrimosa, the Bach Crucifixus and a cool arrangement of Ah, Holy Jesus for choir and viola. The highlight for me, though, was being able to just sit and listen as the orchestra played Barber's Adagio for Strings. Simply sublime. Anthem count = 9.







Friday afternoon I got to meet up with my mom and our nephews. The boys were on spring break. We met at Easton and did a little shopping before landing at Adobe Gila's, where Aaron met us.

Jeremy (16), Aaron, James (13)

Saturday we went to a place on OSU's campus for a good greasy breakfast. It's called Hangover Easy. I purposely didn't take pictures of my food, as even a photo would clog your arteries.

Then it was off to church for a 10:00 rehearsal for Easter. The weather was pretty nice, considering how awful it's been, and we hung out on the screened porch with various friends until it was time for the OSU basketball game. That certainly didn't turn out as our crowd had hoped, but we had fun anyway.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early to sing at three church services, at 8:30, 10:00 and 11:30. Anthem count = 4 (only!). Then it was off to have dinner with framily (you know, friends who are family).

(Clockwise from top left) Aaron and Bob wore matching jackets. Katy and Kash (one year old) say Happy Easter. Lamb cake by Will. Mixed berry cheesecake by Mark. Maggie (three years old) and Kara (nineteen months). Kara tries coconut cream pie (and by the way, she kept that hat on all day - so cute). Cousins Maggie, Kara and George (22 months) play "ring around the rosey."

It was an exhausting, but lovely weekend. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!