piove

these past few days have been beautiful. today, it's raining and freezing. to top it off, i have school today from 8 am - 16:30 (4:30) . it's been a long, tiresome day and i pretty much can't concentrate anymore. this thursday is labor day for the italians so there is no school. us girls (about 5 of us) are going to go to a small town near siena. good news for the day: i got my luggage. halleleujah. i thought it would never come. i feel like a new woman with clean clothes. also, just had the best gelato ever! panna cotta with straciatella.

siena

i finally arrived saturday night with no luggage. yes, good ol' alitalia lost both of my bags so i have been wearing the same clothes since i arrived saturday and its now monday. sick. it wasn't that difficult to adjust to the 9 hour time change, but who knows....it might catch up soon. siena is amazingly gorgeous. i am going to post pictures soon. im at the internet cafe right now. signora lusini is sooo sweet. she wants us to call her aunt. the language surprisingly hasn't been difficult. i pretty much understand everything and can get around. it feels awesome to be able to communicate. to be continued....

toscana

i'm coming tomorrow.

banana pancakes

the southcoast winery near my house is known to have the best banana pancakes. the practically sinful dessert is a buttermilk pancake loaded with banana’s and smothered with warm homemade vanilla bean sauce. you wish you now lived in t-mec.

b.r.

this screams whitney {banana republic}

wanna get away?

oh the joys of flying southwest airlines. the cheap flights, crammed airplane, stuffy cabin, rude stewardesses, etc.

nothing topped this flight off better than finding out you're sitting next to a convicted felon. that's right folks. the tatted covered man i sat next to has been in jail since he was 18. oh, and he's 48. what did he do you might ask? well, i don't know if this is more comforting, but he did some hard core drugs. it felt like he was the drug lord. ooo,scary. meanwhile, i proceed to ask him about the story of his tattoos. he responds with something like "oh these are a bunch of women, this is a prison tower..." well, let me remind you that my ears were still plugged because of the pressure, so i responded with, "a prison towel?" VERY loud i might add. after i said this he told me to be quiet because he didn't want others to get scared. great, i thought, now he's gonna kill me. f-words were flying out of his mouth left and right. probably, one of the worst flights ever which leads me to answering the airline's clever question...yes please and make it quick.

teatro del silenzio

it just so happens that andrea bocelli will be performing while i am in italy. you better believe i am going to be there. here is a sneak peak of what i will be experiencing. this is the exact location of where i will be. gorgeous, right?! just watching the video gave me chills. i cannot wait to hear him live.

love this

{italian jacquard fiona jacket from jcrew}

&

{swiss-dot fontana dress in sour lemon}

meet signora lusini

just got an email regarding my host in italy. looks like i am going to have some great stories when i come back.

"Mrs. Lusini is a very nice retired lady. Her hobbies are sewing and beekeeping. She lives in a very beautiful large house with garden and terrace in the countryside. She is always very nice and helpful. She provides breakfast - dinner - clean bed sheets every two weeks.If you want you can also use a bicycle that Rita can lend you. When you go out in the evening you can ask to Mrs. Lusini to pick you up. She is always very nice and helpful with the students. She has a cat, that stays in the garden.Distance from the centre of Siena: about 20 minutes by bus or 10-15 by car."

i'm not gonna lie. i am a little worried about the beekeeping part.

inspiring

"primetime" did a special on this man. of course oprah had to do the same thing. video is about 10 minutes, but it is well worth it.

also read this story on cnn this past week. what an honor it would have been to have served with this man.

m & a reception

friday night was the reception for mary and andrew, my favorite couple ever. the reception was at the golf club in thanksgiving point.

{pre-reception picture from left to right: shannon, my bff whitney, me, and celisa}

the bride look absolutely stunning in an ivory, longsleeved dress. the groom looked so handsome also. it was so fun to talk to old friends and meet new people. such a fun night.

{my neighbors chris and john}

rehearsal dinner

thursday night was the rehearsal dinner at andrew's cabin up in heber. the cabin was literally ginormous and was decorate to the T. right when whitney and i pulled up to the cabin, we were greeted by the valet boys that took care of the car.

heading into the cabin, we were greeted by the wonderful hosts who asked that we check our coats and bags. waiters and waitresses paced the floor and served h'orderves such as coconut shrimp, shrimp cocktails, etc. and strawberry, raspberry, orange flavored water, all while a pianist was playing smooth jazz in the background to set the mood. after we mingled, said hello to the bride and groom to be, we got to listen to josh groban's clone singing "the prayer". definitely not as good as my dad, but he did a fine job.

my favorite part of the night. the dinner. we were asked to pick up our seating cards near the door and proceeded to head downstairs where we would enjoy a fabulous meal. the tables were exquisite. i can't even begin to tell you everything i saw. right when i sat down i had to remember, "okay, start from the end and work your way in" when it came to the silverware. this dinner was catered by a fabulous company.

beverage: cucumber water (very refreshing)

first course: spring mix salad, figs, blue cheese, carrots, pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes, and an herbed short bread all dressed in a sweet vinaigrette. the bread was a sun dried tomato roll

main course: filet mignon cooked medium rare, sauteed asparagus, curly mushrooms, all on mashed potatoes with au jeux

dessert: chocolate torte with raspberries, mini bread pudding with vanilla bean ice cream presented with a sugared design, mini apple tortes with caramel sauce, mini "chocolate tuxedo" cheesecake squares, large chocolate dipped strawberries, zabaglione, italian custard { these desserts were served by waiters as we mingled: mini cinnamon sugar donuts, mini hot chocolates with a large marshmallow}

*pear cider was served - delicious and classier than standard apple cider*

while we were enjoying our desserts, we were crooned by josh groban's sound alike. we heard many toasts from family and friends, and ended the night. it was a snowy and cold evening, but just so much fun. definitely my kind of party.

un matrimonio

last night i went to the best rehearsal dinner party i have EVER been to. can't wait to explain the details in full. m & a reception tonight. what a party that will be.

mamma mia

it's that time again. i never thought i would watch another episode of this reality show, but it has got me hooked. then again, how could you not watch this show with a british bachelor who is smokin' hot?
he's adorable, and just gets more adorable as the show goes on. some of the girls are hilariously ridiculous. you have got to have a watch.

pinkberry

this is all i want right now. nothing sounds better than plain yogurt with raspberries. sadly, utah doesn't have a pinkberry store, but thank heaven 'red mango' a.k.a pinkberry is coming to town soon.

your song

where do i start. vegas was pretty much a dream. i laid out at the pool thursday through saturday and got some color, both brown and red (thanks to falling asleep for awhile), sipped a pina collada, and enjoyed the 80* las vegas weather.

friday night was probably my favorite part of my vacation. me and whitney met up with her aunt and uncle to go see elton john's new show in vegas called "elton john and the red piano". he was absolutely amazing. we had orchestra seats in caesar's beautiful coliseum. the red piano was gorgeous and sounded awesome. i was rockin' out to all of his best hits, with one of my favorites being "your song" to end the VERY flamboyant night.

after the show, we walked down to go see the always amazing bellagio water show and listened to "your song" again, had some bananas foster gelato which was as expensive as gold, and walked around the strip till we got tired.

thank you, thank you to the Dantonio's who gave us the orchestra seats to the concert and made our stay in vegas so fun. you guys are amazing!