Life after Italy

My life after our trip can be pretty much summed up with the words Work & Babies.

This combination seems pretty self explanatory to me...my job had been so busy and crazy, that after work, I have to fill my mind with cuteness and these faces to keep me from going crazy.

Hopefully they help you too!

Then, on the weekends, when there's no work to be had, I have to be sure to sneak in a little bit of this:

even if I have to drive 2 hours to get there :)

Summer has begun!

Italy

Our very special Italian moment came in Rome, with our visit to the U.S. Ambassador to Italy!  I am fortunate to know him through my job, as he is one of the original founders of my company.  He managed to squeeze us in to his extremely busy schedule and spend an hour making us feel like the most important people in Rome!

Thank You David for having us!!

Back to Reality....

...but let's look at the pictures just one more time!

So, as most of you know, the vacation that I went on last month, was to ITALY!! and I didn't go alone, I didn't even go with just me and my Husband... we were lucky enough to also travel with my Parents and my Brother.

We had a great time as a family enjoying the homeland and eating the food.  The Tour group we travelled with was through Gate 1 Travel.  I highly recommend them and I'm so happy that we chose to travel with them.

And now time for a small sampling of the 4000 photos that us 5 people managed to take over 10 days!

Vacation is the Spice of Life

I am one who LOVES travel.

I am not however, one to travel Alone.

I much prefer a companion when I travel, someone to laugh with, enjoy the sights with, and to butcher foreign languages with.

For my next trip, I'm blessed with 4 travel companions...4 of my favorite people in the entire world...and we're gonna take the world by storm every minute of our trip.

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!

Stay tuned for updates...!!

Cooking Chronicles

Bon Appetite Cookbook has been keeping me busy.

Recently I made a scallops dish that was a total Flop!  However, I'm proud to announce that that has been the only disappointment so far.

The Tunisian Chicken dish has been a fan favorite so far!  I enjoyed the leftovers for days afterwards, and to me, beyond that first bite of awesomeness, that's the mark of a great recipe.

(Apparently I don't have a pic of that one though)

This one was braised chicken with Peppers and Kale.  Yummy!

A rare fish dish, this one was a solo evening when the Hubs was away for a friend's father's funeral :(

The Swordfish with Avocado and Tomato relish was very fresh and delicious.  It's a once in a while recipe though.

 This one was my biggest adventure so far.  Making Ribs without a Grill...

The sauce was a homemade sweet & spicy, basted every 15 minutes, in the oven, on a rack on a cookie sheet...

They weren't quite fall-off-the-bone, and my dad's are still better, but they were lick-your-fingers good, and we ate them all.

Cant wait to get cooking on the next one!

Easter re-Cap

Easter is always a special time of year.  It's one of the great holidays of the year where my family gets together to celebrate, and of course EAT!

One of the best parts about Easter weekend is that Good Friday is a NYSE holiday so I had a 3 day weekend!  Friday was a totally amazing sleep-in day.  Saturday brought family, my husband and brother, and some homemade Pasta Making Italian family adventure....!!

We put up the picture of great-grandma in the window to guide us, and came out with yummy, quick boil, fresh homemade spaghetti.

 It was awesome :)

God Bless Boston

We take a break from our regularly scheduled programming:

This week, Our hearts are consumed with devastation, and prayers for those who were in Boston on Monday.

So many emotions wrapped in Anger and frustration, with a bow of Awe for the first-responders.

I know I'm not alone when I say that I just can't understand how anyone could want to do this.  How anyone could possibly plan to hurt civilians on such a joyous day and occasion?

This senseless act of terror is not something that logic can explain or that hearts like ours can understand.  The only thing I can say, is God Bless Boston, and all those who were there that day.