the problem with following San Francisco blogs

...is it makes you miss the place after you move away, especially upon hearing about stuff like this, via EmilyStyle:

I would so be there.

Corsa degli Scalzi

Today is the corsa degli scalzi, a big celebration in marmee's hometown of Cabras:

In the village of Cabras (West coast of Sardinia), the first Sunday of September visitors can assist to the barefoot run, "corsa degli scalzi", a procession at a run, while the statue of the Saint Salvatore is brought from the village of Cabras to the church Pieve of Saint Mary. The origin of this run are not sure, but the legend says that in 1506, during the barbaric invasions, while men were in charge of defending the coast, women saved the Saint, moving him to the village of Cabras. This event is very famous in the island, either for the barefoot participants dressed with a white tunic or the deep religious devotion of locals.
-from www.sardinia-hotels.travel/

I had never gotten to see it (I don't count the year I was one) until last year. Lamb and I were awoken to the sound of pealing, I mean peeeeeaaaaaaaling church bells--the kind of pealing they excel at only in Europe, it seems. Getting dressed in silence and then groggily stumbling out the door, we walked bleary-eyed to a point at the edge of town and waited until we saw the mass of white approach:

With her camera Lamb took a movie of the whole thing which is so cool, you can hear them praying and shouting all at once; I'll have to see if I can somehow download that here at some point.

Update: we actually got to see it again yesterday...I'll be posting pictures when we get back home.

Philly layover

We have 8 hours in Philly on our Orlando --Rome flight. I've never been. I'm thinking Liberty Bell, cheesesteak

(I'm a cheesesteak virgin),

and LOVE. Not necessarily in that order.





Image by eisenzahn

leaving on a jet plane

time to blow this popsicle stand.

Italy.

Africa.

I am

         so.

                 excited.

and so blessed.

can time please stand still so I can take it all in?






Image (I love it!) from vanilla_coquelicot

Our road trip*

*Steve would like me to clarify that it was a move, not a trip. 'Scuse me, love. A road trip conjures up images of lots of junk food munchies, scenic stops, and random detours. And while all of those things happened, it had to be tempered by the fact that we had 3 cats, 2 bikes, and 1 enormous cargo carrier with us-- in or (bolted) on our hyundai. We all have a little Sanford & Son in us (right?!)--

and this was ours:



left to right, top to bottom:
1) iconic New Orleans.
2) beignets at Cafe du Monde. One of my favorite moments: sitting at our table & listening to the street performers play Ashokan Farewell. We did SO much good eating on this trip. At some point I'll have to write a post just on that.
3) back in my home state.
4) our lil' road warriors. the epitome of troopers.
5) western sunset
6) in the middle of all the blurriness you can see the Brunes through the pet barrier. This was after he puked but before he went so stir-crazy he blew through the barrier to come sit up front with us.
7) it will probably be a long while before I'm standing below those arches again. That was a sad realization.
8) one last look at our hole in Napa. lotsa memories here.
9) our favorite breakfast place in Phoenix. We rolled into town just in time for it to open, at 6:30. I love it when everything works out like that.
10) somewhere between Arizona and New Mexico

Happy anniversary

31 years ago today my parents were married in this church in Sardegna.



Happy Anniversary you guys.

a long-overdue review

of my 2009 resolutions.

1. Eliminate our debt. done! I am so proud of us.
   
2. Go to Africa. flights are booked, vaccinations gotten, no turning back now.
   
3. Exercise at least 4x/week-- yoga, running, or pilates. got off to a rough start at the beginning of the year, but this got boatloads better in spring and summer. Even if it meant getting up at 4:45 am for a while there.
   
4. Stop cursing. mmmmm, no...not so much. Need to work on this. But maybe the resolution should have been to curse less, not stop altogether.
   
5. Blog more. yup.
   
6. Plan meals each week, including 1x/week grocery shopping rather than 5 or 6. I still suck at this. it's the grocery shopping part that blows. I have a new plan to try in Florida that hopefully will be more successful.
   
7. Join a CSA this summer for our fruits and veggies. No, but only because the CSAs wanted a year commitment and we were moving. It's gonna happen in Florida.
   
8. Make a big deal out of my family and friends' birthdays, since I know how great it feels to have a big deal made out of mine. Maybe a 50% fail rate here. It's a lot easier making a big to-do of the birthday when the person is nearby, of course. When there's a mailing that needs to be done in advance I fall short. Again, I need to get better at planning ahead.
   
9. Throw the best-ever bridal shower for my sister. it's in the works
   
10. Give my husband a 10-second kiss every day. admittedly sometimes this doesn't happen. I'm going to go smooch on him right now.
    
11. Be more informed about current events (don't live in a bubble). Still sorely lacking in this. I want to subscribe to the Sunday NY Times when we move back home. Not sure if that will help but I love the romantic idea of opening the front door to a newspaper on the stoop.
    
12. Go for a picnic at the Palace of Fine Arts (it was undergoing renovation when we were living in SF). what an awesome day that was.
    
13. Make handmade cards. yes for husband and close family. or the "sorry for getting you drunk" card I made for a friend last March. other lovies get pretty letterpress cards that I can't resist buying.
    
14. Plan a wonderful Valentine's Day. For the first time in years Steve has off the 14th. it was wonderful, in our typically off-kilter way. pillow fights and po-boys.
    
15. Just roll with it. Wabi sabi. Life is imperfect. Getting better. Always a work in progress.