peace.

among other things, i am finding peace in not having a cell phone here in italy. i have a little phone that i am supposed to use to keep in contact with others in my program, but i secretly don't charge it (oops!). do you know why? because i love the peace. i have always wished i grew up in the 50s or something, a time when we didn't have cell phones and we had to rely on a person's "word." i love the idea of making plans with someone (in person) and then feeling that anticipation of meeting up with them, not texting them when you're around the corner: "almost here, where r u?!" 

i think as a generation, we rely much too heavily on technological forms of communication. so ditch your phone for a day and just live your life, the way it should be. i bet you it'll feel amazing. 

 {and on another note, i came dangerously close to stealing this dog yesterday.}

happy friday!

xo, m.

barcelona.

if i had to describe barcelona in three words, it would be: tapas. tapas. tapas. i may have eaten way too many tapas. our weekend getaway basically consisted of food, beach, and palm trees. here are a few of my favorite photos from our trip:

finally found an elephant at the barcelona zoo.

 twin was looking for monkeys or something.

 then twin and felicia had a moment with the barcelona sunset.

 sunrise.

 palms. contrary to popular belief, palm trees are not native to barcelona. they were brought in for the 1992 olympics, some donated by the bacard family (makers of bacardi). along with the palms came an unbelievable airport, and egyptian sand that is imported each year.

 this is called a space invader. an unknown tag artist secretly plants them in strategic places around the world. neat, right?

 and this...is an original banksy. the first one my eyes have ever seen. i screamed. 

 enjoying some wonderful graffiti?

felicia and me on the night that never ended :)




p.s. school has been so busy this week. but spring break starts next thursday, and along with break comes travel! too excited to say. 


ciao!

this past week i...

1. welcomed spring

2. rode on the back of a vespa for the first time! (but sadly, i wasn't clenched to an italian babeshow, it was one of my professors that offered me a ride...a woman)

3. decided to stop taking the bus to school

4. ate a baccio or two. 

5. cooked yummy pasta (twin and i sort of love spending time in our kitchen now that we're in italy, who knew)

6. attempted to use photoshop

7. realized it may be getting too warm to sleep with my fuzzy purple blanket from twin's boyfriend  (he's too sweet, really) because of #1 on this list

8. thought and daydreamed a whole lot about summer, and what beautiful things it may bring. 

9. anticipated my weekend getaway to barcelona.

{instagram photo from our local gelateria}

see you monday! happy weekend! 

tuscan sunday.

a few photos from last sunday, exploring tuscany.

xo, m.

dear twin...

i'm sorry that i never "remember" my key to our apartment.

i'm sorry that i'm too lazy to cook.

i'm sorry about all the excuses i give for why i can't exercise with you. (don't worry, i'm running out...)

i'm sorry that i don't let you eat cremas as much as you'd like to.

i'm sorry that i ever introduced us to nutella.

i'm sorry that i try to sneak tasty treats into our cart at the market.

i'm sorry i steal your socks.

but i'm not sorry that i love you, so so much.

{photo from fall 2010 in nyc.}

i'm pretty sure, if i could be anywhere right now...

...it would be here. 

{carousel of progress, walt disney world}

pisa. (continued)

hilary and her boyfriend tj were clever.

 mine wasn't quite believable, but hey. 

 hilary, this one just makes me laugh. 

 perfect place for a smooch.

 or a cuddle.

our adventures are really quite enjoyable. 

the best of tuscany.

yesterday i traveled south to the "best of tuscany," four stand out spots in all of the region. our first stop was the ancient city of montepulciano, where we had our very own wine tasting in the quaintest town i've ever come across. it's exactly the place you visualize when you think of italy: winding streets, magical alley ways, and cats everywhere. (okay, so i wasn't expecting the cats, but they added to the appeal!)  being the set of the volturi portion of new moon, we retraced the exact route that alice and bella took in the yellow lamborghini, and then the route that bella ran up to piazza grande to stop edward from exposing his vampire self in the sunlight. turning that last corner to see palazzo commale (the clock tour) was a moment i'll never forget. the tour group that i was with was so amazing that they planned our arrival to the piazza to be at exactly noon, the same time in the book/movie that edward steps out into the light. the little hand struck twelve, and the tower bells rang. i got chills. it was seriously the coolest. thing. ever.

this is the hall of palazzo comalle where ed and bells shared their first kiss once he realized she was indeed alive. i wanted to touch every wall. or maybe reenact. 

this is one of the cats we came across. he tried to bite my friend hilary.

...

then, we headed to a cheese farm on a private villa. we ate homemade pasta, some yummy pecorino and ricotta cheese, and even got to watch the cheese making process. Then, everyone held the baby sheep. It was awesome. 

then we moseyed on over to montalcino. the ride there was probably the 20 prettiest minutes my eyes had ever witnessed. my sister couldn't have said it better, "it looks like a screensaver." rolling hill after rolling hill, the brightest shade of green you could envision, each hill adorned with beautiful cypresses. these hills went on for miles, with castles at the end of our vantage points. we felt water from a natural hot spring, took photos of the breathtaking landscape, and smiled, a lot. 


the last leg of our trip was my second favorite part of the day, next to the new moon stuff (still dying). we visited a wine cellar where a little italian man named mario explained the wine making process to us, in italian of course. i understood some of it, but mostly just enjoyed his cuteness and top hat. we then filled a room with long tables where we tasted about five different wines, each aged differently. mario's wife served us bread and prosciutto, and we "cheersed" to our wonderful day in italy. the day ended with the showing of one of my favorite movies on the bus, love acutally. i had a moment with the tour guide because he said it's one of his favorite movies too. oh, and during our morning ride, we watched new moon. seriously one of the best days, ever. 

here's mario.

...

and some other fav's from the day...

xo, m.

maybe.

maybe i wish i was better at speaking italian. 

maybe 17 is my favorite number. maybe i look for 17's everywhere. 

maybe i've never worn red.

maybe i shut my eyes sometimes and pretend i'm at magic kingdom in disney world.

maybe i thoroughly enjoy smallville and truly believe there's a clark kent out there for me.

maybe i'm terrified of flying.

maybe i wish i was a morning person.

maybe i'm unrealistically hopeful.

maybe i have a new found love for maps.

maybe i miss home sometimes.

maybe i wish i sketched more.

maybe i want to cut my hair short. again. 

maybe i love cuddling.

maybe i need to wear my retainers more.

maybe i'm currently obsessed with nutella.

maybe i have zero tolerance for the cold. 

maybe i need to run more. 

maybe i wish i was a better skier. and ice skater.

maybe i enjoy meeting people on forms of public transportation.

maybe i want to catch a sunrise from the brooklyn bridge.

maybe i'd like to own a star.

maybe i love the smell of burning wood.

maybe i make wishes at 11:11.

maybe i've never tried sushi.

maybe i can't sleep unless twin is in the room. 

maybe i love photography.

maybe i want to own my own store one day. (with twin, of course)

maybe nothing makes me happier than the ocean and an occasional shooting star.

maybe.

pisa.

i went to visit this lovely little tower today. come to find out, this is the only thing that pisa has going for itself. well, this and the airport. but anyway, we took the fun, cliche photos of ourselves holding this guy up, managing to dodge the policemen who make it their job is to keep tourists off the grass. every half hour or so, a  police man would blow his whistle, and that was our cue to run. it turned into a little game. i enjoyed it. 

(cliche photos to come.)

i feel home.

do you want to know where my favorite place on earth is, thus far?

...

oh new york, you've cast an irrevocable spell on me. and i wouldn't have it any other way.

*this is actually the coolest map you'd possibly ever find. it's called a "crumpled city map," which i found here in florence. it comes with a little bag in which you are supposed to "crumple" the map into, because folding is just so overrated. 

(i am too nervous to crumple mine just yet.)

a little bit of 'la dolce vita.'

arts and crafts for homework? yes please.

a lovely fishtail braid by my friend hilary.

 if you visit italy, you must hit up this sandwich shop. 

oh, but it doesn't have a name. that's how good it is.

 i was so inspired by this classroom.

 every street tries to pull you down it. i give in to most of them.

 photograph by my twin of me in pure bliss.

xo, m.