Touching Base

Don't worry peeps -I'm still here!! I'm now in Chicago and finally feeling MUCH better. I'll soon post about Boston and my Windy City adventures thus far (hopefully tomorrow!), so keep checking back!!

Down and Out

What I neglected to mention in my final NY post was that after our delightful Thai dinner, I came down with a serious case of the chills. Despite wearing all my clothes and my puffy coat under all my blankets in bed, I was still cold. I was definitely coming down with something.

Unfortunately the next morning was a travel day, so not much was to be done about it. So I made my way to Chinatown to the Fung Wah bus terminal to catch a $15, 4 hour ride to Boston. Then it was only a subway ride, a bus transfer and a one block walk until I checked into my hostel.

And I've pretty much been in bed ever since. Yesterday (when I arrived) was pretty much a horrible night (alternating between sweats and chills in random fits of sleep), but waking up this morning has been much better. I had saved my last dose of cold medicine for the morning so that I would have a glimmer of hope of surviving outdoors (did I mention it snowed 8 inches last night?). Fortunately for me, that plan worked out and the meds have been helping significantly (and I made it to the store and back, no problem). Unfortunately, I burned through a whole day here and haven't seen or done anything yet. Fortunately my dad set me up with another contact and he has generously offered to take the day off work to show me what is so awesome about Boston.

So tomorrow should be a good day.

City Bears

I forgot to mention this, but it's an important part of New York. Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to city bears:

You won't find them in the wild, but you never know...they might scratch your eyes out.

Flying Solo in NYC

Unfortunately for me, I made two poor decisions the moment I walked out the door. 1) I immediately knew I was wearing the wrong shoes for the day, but was running late so didn't go back to change them. Bad idea. Very bad idea. 2) Though I stopped to take a picture of yesterday's breakfast joint, I did not stop and partake. I figured I'd just find something along the way. Bad idea. Very bad idea.

My plan for the day consisted of trying to track down a store where the über-cute hats were sold, swinging by the Empire State Building (but not going up, as that cost $45, sheesh!), and cruising through Times Square - and all before lunch. Why? Well, that's because at noon I was due to meet up with a contact of a contact that my dad set me up with to "show me the ropes" of New York. I was due to meet him in Chelsea for lunch.

So I set off on my agenda in uncomfortable shoes and an empty belly (I know Andi, you must just be shaking your head at me right now). Much to my dismay, I did not have any success finding the store with the cute hats (largely due to the fact that most of the stores were closed at 10am). Despite the expense, I was really, really looking forward to being trendy and having warm ears in NYC. (Awww) From there I successfully found the ESB, of which I dutifully took pictures and stood in awe of. But only for a minute, because it was dang cold out. So I got back on the subway and resurfaced at Times Square.

Who knew Times Square was so big? I had no idea. Apparently it's several blocks. I walked down a few and back up, stopping to pop in a few souvenier shops, but was too apathetic (read: enslaved by the hunger demon) to make any decisions and walked away with zero purchases. Terrible, I know. You'd think with all I learned about myself in Italy (especially the "need to be fed" part) that I'd be a pro at it by now. Apparently not.

So after being overwhelmed by bright lights of Times Square, I decided to head to Chelsea and await my lunch date. By the time I made it there, my feet were throbbing and I could hardly wait to eat. When I met my dad's contact, he told me he had a lunch date with a few of his guy friends and he figured I could tag along. I thought it was a wee bit strange, but was willing to go with the flow. So we headed to Grand Central Station to hit up The Oyster Bar.

The lunch went pretty well - the oysters were delicious (albeit, not very filling) and it was fun to talk to some real New Yorkers. However, this particular crowd were all self-dubbed foodies and most of their recommendations for me were (you guessed it) food. And seeing as I only had one more significant meal left in New York, the information was appreciated, but not particularly helpful.

Truthfully, the rest of my afternoon was not very exciting, so I won't bore you with the details. My feet hurt, I was still pretty hungry, and I didn't really have any specific destinations in mind, so I just wandered. Certainly nothing to brag about. My one success of the afternoon was that when I returned to where the hat shop was supposed to be, this time I found it! Yaaaaaaaaay! I am now the proud owner of a ridiculously expensive, reversible, and oh-so-trendy hat. And I couldn't be happier about it.

Soon after I made my way home (for what was something like my 8th subway ride of the day; definitely got my use out of that pass) and Mary, Dylan, and I shared our last meal of my adventure together at their favorite Thai joint near their house. It was a bring your own wine joint, so we did. It was delightful. And I can't exactly remember now what was so funny, but we laughed a lot. Fun times.

Even though my last day in New York was probably my least favorite, I'd have to say, I definitely heart NY. It's big, it's diverse, it's terribly interesting. The city just demands your attention, and you've gotta respect that. I've got big love for the big city.

The Big Apple - Day Two

After such a full Saturday, we planned a much more low-key day of exploration for Sunday. We began with breakfast at the local bagelry, Brownstone Bagel & Bread Co, a brief one block from the apartment. Unsurprisingly, I was initially overwhelmed with the multitude of delicious options, but eventually settled on a toasted garlic bagel with light cream cheese and lox. (Mary comments this was very Jewish of me. Oi-vey!)

Next on the list was a casual walk through "the Slope" - the name of Mary and Dylan's neighborhood - on our way to Barnes & Noble. (I had a coupon in my pocket due to expire today and a hankering for Obama's memoir Dreams From My Father.) Everything here is A for Adorable (in Brooklyn, not B&N). The buildings are not sky-scrapers, the blocks are short, the stores are appealing (and unintimidating) and there are the most precious brownstones everywhere. I now really, really want to live in a brownstone. I want to chat with people on my picturesque front stoop, call to my neighbors from my eye-catching windows, and jangle my keys in front of the most inviting front door. (*Sigh*) However, unlike the Cosby's, I do not rake in a doctor and a lawyer's salary, so I'm thinkin' I might not be able to afford it :( But I digress...

We make it to B & N and after minimal browsing, I make my way to the counter to purchase my book. Now, in order to use the aforementioned coupon, I have to know my Dad's membership number (it's a members only coupon). Since I know his phone number, I'm thinkin': no sweat. Long story short, after several tries of guessing the incorrect phone number (and a few snide remarks), the clerk eventually has to look it up by city and state. He finally rings me up, does not gather my things for me, and delivers a little lecture about how I should keep the membership # with me. Then he stares at me and waits for me to leave. NY stereotype proved true: NYers can be rude. This guy was dishing it out and I got a full serving.

But whatever, it doesn't get to me. We continue in our pursuit to make full use of our subway passes and head back to the Upper West Side (where we left off bar hopping the previous night) to check out a local Farmer's Market. We had been happy to find they were open year round. We immediately buy hot apple cider and walk the strip. Too bad it was about 5 vendors long. Awww. We taste-tested a bunch of fabulously delicious honeys though and just as I was about to make a fatty purchase, I realized that since it's more than 3 oz I can't carry it on the plane, and thus I can't take it home with me. Boooo! That was a downer. But Mary and Dylan promised to come back (and Mary said she would ship me some for my birthday - yay!) After briefly conversing with a man who told us about the several layers of clothing he was wearing (and that he wasn't fat: it was all the layers of clothes) we set off in pursuit of the young designers market.

Apparently it's a venue for up-and-coming designers to show their stuff and crack the market. We'd been hoping this also meant that the prices would be affordable, but....it didn't exactly pan out that way. But we did discover some really, really cute and original stuff there. Our favorites included these adorable page-boy hats and one-of-a-kind purses (called pockets - LOVE it). After we left, both Mary and I had non-buyers regret. Perhaps I'll have to go back tomorrow....

As we wandered a bit looking for a warm place to purchase a yummy drink, we had another famous person sighting. We were again paused at a street corner (this time getting our bearings) when I did a double-take at Hilary Swank. She was right next to me, but harder to identify because a) she was walking past and not standing still b) wearing some kind of head-wrap so you couldn't see her hair and c) she was sans make-up. But I still put out the alert to Mary and Dylan for confirmation.

H.S. had a dude with her and they had walked a few feet beyond us into a shoe store. We decided to fake window shop to try and get some corroboration. Mary caught a full-face glance, but due to reasons b and c, was still a bit unsure. However, the guy accompanying H.S. was really eyeing us and watching our every move. Soon after Mary's sighting, he hustled her out of the store, they avoided eye contact with us, linked their arms and made haste in the opposite direction. The dude kept looking back at us, which of course only made us want to follow them more. So we did. But only for a bit, then we gave up. After some thought and discussion on the way home, Mary declared, "Definitely not hot*."

After the H.S. sighting we headed back to Brooklyn to Mary and Dylan's fav local Italian restaurant. Apparently it was all about the gnocci. Gnocci, gnocci, gnocci. Well, you know how I feel about that!

When we arrived, I was all prepared to order the gnocchi, but then a listing for black pasta caught my eye. Gasp! I didn't even know this was an option on US menus! Despite the strong recommendation and my love affair with gnocchi, I opted for the black stuff. It wasn't as magical as it had been in Venice, but it was still pretty dang tasty. (And for the record, I did get to try a few bites of the gnocchi and it was legendary - no exaggeration. Def delish.) After eating every morsel of our fabulous dinner, we decided to prolong our outstanding (and often hilarious) conversation with an order of banana and strawberry flambe (which we pronounced flambey, just for the fun of it) and cappuccinos. It was all very European. ;)

Eventually we sauntered home for an early night in with a movie. It was a slow-paced, but really fun day. (Our laughing quotient was particularly high.)

Tomorrow M & D have to work, so it's my first day alone in the Big Apple. I have a lunch "date" with a contact my dad set me up with and I intend to see Times Square. So far I have been able to just follow Mary and Dylan around, but tomorrow I'll finally have to tackle the subway system on my own. So we'll see how that goes...

I forgot this in the last post, but here's some more fun with NY stereotypes (as per my observation thus far):

True: the rats are huge, live in the garbage, and are not afraid of you; drivers have road-rage and will get out of the car to tell you (and the neighborhood) about it; there are famous people everywhere; the rude thing; cockroaches; the city really doesn't ever sleep;

False: the rude thing (I've also met several super-friendly/chatty people); all New Yorkers wear leather jackets; everyone here smokes;

*Hopefully you saw The Office this week.

Back in the Hospital

Quick update on my mom - I spoke with her tonight and she's back at the hospital. Apparently there has been fluid building up in her lungs and she may have pneumonia. You may remember that something similar happened that last time she was in the hospital when she (almost) died.

That sounds really serious, so know that she's not detrimental or anything, she just feels like she has a bad cold and is at the hospital more as a precaution/so they can figure out what the heck is going on. Obviously, we're not really sure what the deal is, or if it really is pneumonia, but the whole thing is a bit concerning nonetheless.

So if you can, keep her in your prayers. Thanks peeps, you rock. :)

New York, New York

(I was too pooped to try and summarize/post this on Saturday, so here it is a day late. It's a wee bit long, but jam-packed with fun adventures and pics, so persevere!!)

Twelve hours. We had twelve hours of New York today. And it. Was. Awesome. Are you ready?

We started out the day with bottomless mimosas and french toast covered in Nutella (Nutella!!) with bananas on top. Needless to say, this was a fantastic beginning to my first Saturday in New York. We left the restaurant satiated and the teensiest bit tipsy (it's not everyday I have bottomless mimosas with breakfast). From there we took the subway to Court Street so we could walk the Brooklyn Bridge.

For those of you who are un-NY savvy like myself, this bridge takes you from Brooklyn (which is more affordable, less NY-esque, and has adorable shops and brownstones like the Cosby's lived in everywhere) to Manhattan (which is an actual island, savvier, very New York-y, and full of recognizable NY sites). Coo-ul. The pedestrian walkway is a wide, wooden boardwalk elevated above the traffic. This in turn makes the fantastic views even more accessible to the walking (or biking) commuter. I caught my very first (ever) live and in person glimpse of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. It wasn't like seeing The David or anything, but I did have that similar tingle of familiarity - ohhh, I know you!!

Aside from the views, the bridge itself is pretty awe-inspiring (and made me wish I wasn't such a lazy photographer; but with the wind, it was so cold. I really wasn't into having my hands out in "the elements" any longer than necessary). These pics clearly don't do it justice, but you get the idea.

After the long and numbing walk over the bridge, we hopped back on the subway toward the Upper East Side to check out Central Park a bit. When we exited the subway, I finally started to feel like this is New York. The buildings were getting taller, the crowds were getting denser, and despite seeing everything for the first time, things started to look a little more familiar. As I was busy gawking at all the enormous and magnificent stores, I spotted FAO Swartz. Normally this wouldn't merit a second glance, but it suddenly occurred to me, "Isn't this where the huge piano from Big is??" I say as much to Mary and Dylan and without another word, in silent agreement and wide-eyed frenzy, we collectively make a bee-line for the entrance.

As we walk in, we are momentarily stunned by the sheer volume of toys and activity happening around us. But I quickly snap out of it, ignore the sudden surge of sheepishness I feel at asking what I know must be the most frequently asked question to every employee in the store and say, "Uhh, this is kind of silly but, is the Big piano here? And where is it?" to the first employee I can snag. "On the second floor, past the cash registers on the left." Aaaand, we're off!! A few moments, a million toys, and one life-sized Lego Batman later, we are standing directly in front of THE piano. It's almost too much to take in: There it is...and we are totally going to dance on it. Mary and I are immediately about 7 years old and giddy. We hand Dylan all our crap, rip off our shoes, and shove some little kids out of the way so we can have our turn.

Yes. It was as awesome as you are right now imagining it to be. After about 10 minutes of play time we were informed there was going to be a show. A show!? This is our lucky day!! We collect our things and watch the two store employees perform (of course) Chopsticks and Heart and Soul, followed by New York, New York and that song by Bach that is commonly referred to as the Organist Duel. Those peeps earn their keep - they did a fantastic job. Wondering what it would take to own one of those puppies? A mere $250,000. That's right: the Big piano costs more than my house. Yikes.

From here we actually did head to Central Park. I had my eyes peeled for Law & Order film crews, or dead bodies among the bushes, but I'm sad/relieved to tell you we didn't see either. But we did discover an ice-skating rink. Seeing as we didn't come prepare with skates, we settled for observing from a rock perch above the rink. But my Spidey-senses were working their mojo and I realized it is the skating rink from Serendipity.

By this time we were getting hungry (and were pretty frozen), so we got back on the subway and headed for Little Italy (which, if memory serves, is near/in Soho - yet another trendy area in Manhattan, which in itself, is a trendy area...really.) Our destination? Lombardy's - the nation's first pizzaria. As in, the first one in the US...ever. Yeah, no joke. If anyplace was going to have true-to-Italy pizza, it would be this joint. (I've been hesitant to have pizza in the US since being home, but this sounded like a safe risk.) I don't really think you need the play-by-play of our meal, but let it suffice to say, the pizza was definitely up to snuff: legitimatly authentic. (And I'm told quite similar to Tutta Bella in Seattle, so if you're interested, check it out.)

From here we headed to a bar called McSorley's (which if you watch How I Met Your Mother, the pronunciation sounds much like "Swarley" and had me snickering to myself all night.) This was the destination I couldn't remember in the previous blog. (While Mary was doing laundry at a laundromat last week, she overheard some people talking about how this was a super cool bar.) We decided to take the unsolicited, eavesdropping recommendation and give it a shot.

Turns out to be an Irish pub founded in 1854. They didn't even allow women inside until 1870. It's still a very manly place. All the furniture is oak-y and heavy and burly. Every inch of wall space is covered with framed, old (1800s) pics/articles/nudie pictures of women. We manage to squeeze our way to a table and a man comes to take our order, "All we got is light or dark, so what'll it be?" The three of us are like deer in headlights, so we quickly rattle off our answers: Dark! Light! Dark! In what feels like about 5 seconds, he comes back and slams SIX mugs of beer on the table. Apparently when you order one, you get two. We shrug our shoulders and dig in.

In the mean time, an argument about the Jets seems to have broken out to our left, the table of frat boys to our right is singing a number of different oldies (from My Girl to that song Tom Cruise sings in Top Gun - I can't think of it at the moment), and a table of professorly looking old dudes are deep in discussion. For fun we start "naming" the people around us: the really, really drunk girl, the fat guy, the guy who seems to be partying with every table in the room, and (our favorite) the self-absorbed New Yorker. This guy was at our table and had numerous memorable quotes including (insert NY accent here): "I rode the subway all by myself today for the first time*," and "Both of us is wearin' a shirt with diamonds**, one of us has to change. I tink it should be you." Eventually we get the feeling this is the kind of place that, if you aren't drinking, you aren't welcome. So after two rounds, we head out.

As we head to the next bar, we're waiting to cross the street, and I happen to look up and make eye-contact with a guy a couple of people away. I immediately gasp and elbow Mary, "I think that guy is Paul Giamatti" I say. Mary replies, "Who is Paul Giamatti?" I tssk her dismissively and then say, "Dylan!! I think that guy is Paul Giamatti!!" He scopes it out and absolutely confirms it. By this time we have to cross the street and I am walking away from Paul Giamatti. But it was totally him. I wish I had shook his hand and said, "Hey man, I just watched Lady in the Water and you were wonderful and I cried. Absolutely amazing. You rock. Thanks man." But I didn't. (It was thrilling nonetheless though!)

I won't bore you with our second and third bars, but I will tell you that between those two stops we went to a Belgian fry place. Yes, this place only sells fries. And they are incredible. They're thicker than McD's fries, but smaller than jo-jos. They're salty and delicious and are served in paper cones with a choice of at least 30 different dipping sauces. Roasted garlic mayo, lemon dill mayo, pomegranate teriyaki, BBQ, ketchup, parmasean peppercorn mayo....and on and on and on. It was fatty deliciousness at it's absolute best.

After bar number three, we were dead on our feet and finally headed home (at about 12:30am, in case you were wondering). It had been a very successful first day in NY.

(I bet you thought that list of stuff we were going to do today was mostly rubbish, right? (Especially the meeting someone famous part.) Ha! Little did you know...)

*Dude, I have been in New York one day, and even I have done this.
**This means argyle.

Will I Heart NY?

I have officially begun my East Coast Tour and safely arrived in New York. I will be here for the next four days and in that time, New York City has got to show me what its made of, baby! Since its inception, it has pretty much been the talk of the town; thus, I'm ready to see what's so great about the big bad city. Everyone seems to love the Big Apple, but the question of the weekend is: Will I heart NY?

I spent my first hour on the plane on the ground. Some computer issue kept us grounded on the west side (and behind schedule). Once we finally touched down, it was only an airtrain, subway, and bus ride until I made it to my cousin's apartment (for the record, this took me two hours....largely because I spent about 40 minutes getting OUT of the dang airport). But I am proud to say I figured out how to pay for all those things, boarded all the correct routes, and only had a minor detour when searching for the bus stop (and all with no map!) Not bad for a newbie.

After catching up in the kitchen over a Brooklyn Brewery beer, we had mojitos and fish tacos at a Colombian joint a few blocks away (with cilantro mashed potatoes on the side - I had no idea there was such a thing! They were light green colored and de-licious!!). First meal in The City gets two thumbs up.

NY stereotypes I have already witnessed to be true: graffiti on the subway, sirens, garbage on the street (perhaps it was garbage day?), easy-to-use public transit, sirens, aggressive pedestrians, crazy drivers, and sirens.

NY stereotypes I have already witnessed to be false: people are mean/rude (I met several extremely helpful/friendly people on my trek to Mary's apartment.)

Tomorrow we may try and hit up a farmer's market, little Italy, Empire State Building, talk to someone famous, check out Central Park for possible dead bodies, and something else...but I can't remember what right now. Stay tuned!!

Update on Moms

Mom: Had four (yes FOUR) stints put in her heart on Wednesday. She spent the night for recovery and is now home. She's feeling pretty well, but not great. The stints have reopened a valve that was completely closed and a bit calcified (so that's good), but it looks like it might just be the first step in her road to a healthy heart.

Bonus Mom: Beginning to prep for round two of chemo; now we know what to expect. A burst of energy (thanks to the white blood cells they pump in for the occasion!), followed by a few really haggard-ish days, and lastly followed by a slow return to normal. Her first big clump of hair fell out this week, so Emily (bonus sister) came over to do the honors and shave it all off. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure it looks great :)

Thanks for your continued prayers!

THE Date

So I know you're all waiting with bated breath to find out how my first blind date was, but unfortunately it was neither a huge disaster, nor magically fairytale-esque. I know, disappointing, huh?

Instead it was a typical date. Now don't get me wrong - I had a fun time and it was an extremely positive first blind date but, well, you know how I like to tell a story...and when it comes to recounting this date as a story, well, there's just not much to tell.

We ate at the Crab Pot in downtown Seattle on the Pier (which I highly recommend, by the way: excellent food you get to attack with your hands, rolls of paper towels at the table, and a huge bowl on the ground to throw all your scraps in - what could be better?) and enjoyed good conversation over the cracking of crab shells. We laughed quite a bit, which I of course enjoyed immensely, but then I am pretty funny, so....

After which we made our way down the street to a little jazzy bar and listened to the band over a few drinks. It was more difficult to have "quality" conversation as it was pretty loud, but we each polished off two drinks before we called it a night. At that point we hugged good-night and went our separate ways.

See? I told you: a good night, but not a very good story.

Parental Health

Thought I would give an update on the good ol' parents:

Mom: My mom has been recovering slowly but surely from her heart-stopping experience earlier this year. She's been working on rehabbing her heart and she's basically back to where she started: in need of surgery. So...she'll be going back to have the angioplasty done today. Obviously this makes our butts pucker a little bit, considering we almost lost her last time - but it SHOULD be no problem. Her doctor is simply good people and he's looking out for her. She's in good hands...but we'd still appreciate your prayers :)

Dad: As you may remember, my dad fell and broke his patella (floating knee-cap bone) the week of Jane's mastectomy. They can't really cast it, so he just sucked it up and hobbled around during the holidays and is mostly back to his old form at this point. It still smarts from time to time, but he's doing well.

Bonus Mom: Jane had her first round of chemo early last week and so far...she's been doing really well. They gave her a jolt of red blood cells right after and she was up and bustling around, accomplishing everything within arms reach she had so much energy. That was followed with a couple of low days. Feeling tired and ache-y - like the worst hangover ever (as she described it to me). But she perked up and has been doing quite well. She still has some low-energy days, but for the most part - she's the same ol' Jane; bubbly, happy, and gettin' things done! The other piece of good news is that she does NOT have to have the follow up medication for one year. She only has 5 rounds of chemo to go (three weeks apart) and she's done. Woo hoo!! Thank you so much for all your prayers!

I'm Being Set-Up...

...on a blind date, that is.

And the truth is, I'm not even that nervous about it. I thought I would be (it being my first blind date and all), but after traveling alone in Italy, it's like...meh. That was WAY scarier than meeting a new person for the first time. Besides I met all kinds of new people in Italy - and technically - went on dates with them. Granted, those weren't blind dates. But still. This should be a breeze by comparison....right?

Anyone have any good (or bad) blind date stories to share with the class??

The Condo

The DeFuria girl cousins got together a few weeks back to share a weekend of family bonding at the good ol' grandparents condo in Ferndale. Fun times!


The first night we arrived, we played a lot of Old Maid (the Jumbo Cards!) and even though Katie is pictured here as the "winner," we played about 8 more times over the course of the weekend and Emmy lost EVERY TIME. It was uncanny, really.

For a bit of entertainment, the next morning we decided to take the ferry to Lummi Island. We had decided to walk-on for a wee bit of exercise (and to save ourselves the expense). Wouldn't you know, the ferry was closing the gate just as we arrived. We decided to make a run for it - and they held the boat for us - yay!!!


This created quite a bit of wind-blown hair on my end (and notice the extra cool, retro coat. As you know, my coat was stolen in Italy, so I had to make do with what I could find in the closet at the Condo. For those of you that don't know, everything there is circa 1960).


Self-Portrait Group Pic (first try!!!) Gosh we're cute :)

Waiting for the return ferry after a warm and hearty lunch at The Beach Store Cafe - yum! (And dang! it was cold that day - 25 degrees, brrrr!)

We spent the evening channeling our inner-grandmas in memory of Gramma Jane. I found this robe and matching slippers in the closet (which were probably Pat Widden's but oh well) and we laughed the evening away remembering/imitating all the funny things we could about Gramma. (I simply must get one of these snazzy robes for myself....)

On our final morning we awoke to a silent shroud of snow. Unfortunately we all had to skedattle before too long, but the condo sure looked sweet covered in white.

Behind Door # 1...

A new city, a new sojourn, or (a)nother year in Italy? It's a good question, really. What's a girl to do?


Door # 1: Stay in the U.S.
This option is obviously the least glorifying, but it has it's bright spots. I have the opportunity to start a new job in a fresh city. Granted, it's not the best economy to be job hunting, but that's out of my control, so it is what it is. But the fact is, I've lived in Washington state my whole life, perhaps it's time I branched out...

I have to admit, this thought does excite me - especially the prospect of the east coast (the unknown is always exciting). Which is exactly why I intend to do a little scouting around first. Next Friday I leave for a two-week, three-city, mini-tour. What's on my list? Chicago, Boston, and New York.

So if you know anything about those cities, hit me up with your advice and recommendations. I don't have Rick Steves to guide me this time around and I want to make the most of my trip. So I need you to tell me: What should I see? What parts of the city should I visit? What should I avoid? What travel tips do you have? And perhaps most importantly, where should I eat?

Door # 2: A Second Sojourn
I think I have enough cash left in the travel fund to scrape it together for another 6-8 week trip. I wouldn't be trying to recreate my Italy trip, but I would follow the same basic recipe. (But obviously exploring someplace new.) The trouble with this option lies in the fact that the five-year ARM on my mortgage is up for renewal this year. This means I will likely need to refinance and in order to do that, I need to be employed....so, yeah. Not a good time to be out of the country. (Although my friend Sarah makes a good point in that, my rate will most likely be moving toward the Federal Rate, in which case my rate will go down on its own, thus making a refi unneccesary...so perhaps it's not an issue.)

In any case, I want to hear your country suggestions. Right now Ireland and Australia are on the top of my list. I've also had some votes for Thailand and Vietnam. What do you think? Where should I go? Or perhaps more importantly, where do you want to read about (and travel vicariously with me) next??

Door # 3: A Year in Italy
As some of you have warned, this obviously has the most potential for disappointment via trying to "relive" my previous visit. It also represents a looooong time faaaaaar away from family and friends. That's tough. But, it's also a year in Italy! It just doesn't get any cooler than that. This would obviously be the most difficult to coordinate on all levels, and is perhaps the least realistic of the three options. (But that doesn't mean it can't happen.) Plus, who doesn't want to be fluent in Italian?

Obviously, it's possible to combine the options; they're not mutually exclusive. I'm considering this fact as well. However at this point, I've put the most research into staying in the U.S. (it's the most practical and easiest to research). Thus, I'm tending to lean that way...

I appreciate the feedback and great input/thought provoking questions I've gotten so far. At this point, I haven't made any decisions, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on each of the specific options (assuming you've got some to share).

At the very least, I wanted to share where my thought process has been lately (because I get asked this question a lot).

A Note about iTunes

For those of you that patronize the iTunes Music Store, it's worth nothing that last Tuesday Apple announced they'll be changing their music download prices (which will now be DRM free...meaning it won't have those pesky limitations on sharing and burning). NEW music will be $1.29 and everything else will be $0.69.

Not exactly sure what is considered "new" but it might not be a bad idea to load up on new music and hold off on old music until the price change takes affect (which will be in April).

You can see the announcement here (scroll down to 10:26am).

Deja Copperfield

Despite the fact that I am now over 500 pages into David Copperfield, I still have the eerie, vague feeling that I've read this book before. I'm nearing the end and with each major event that takes place, I'm certain that the emotions I'm experiencing as I read are merely echos of sentiments previously felt. I still don't trust in Dora's attachment to David. Uriah Heep still creeps me out like nobody's business. I still don't know if Mr. Pegotty ever find Lil Em'ly. I'm pretty sure David's apartment is going to burn down....everything is just so familiar, yet I simply cannot put my finger on it.

This truly is a strange experience.

(And for the life of me I don't know how it ends!!)

I know, I know: Where've I Been?

In a funk, that's where.

It's been so long since I've posted anything, I hope you're still out there, dear readers. And I hope you'll accept my apologies. :)

When I (finally) arrived home after the longest last day in the history of ever, I fully intended to write a nice little sum-up post, book-ending my trip abroad with final thoughts, funny little quips and witty life lessons that I'd picked up along the way. However, the longer I was home, the more daunting and impossible this task became in my mind's eye. How could I possibly package what I had learned about life, Italy, and myself into a tidy little blog post? I found that the harder I thought about it, the more impossible it seemed. The more I tried to collect my thoughts, the more scattered they'd become.

Eventually my frustration bloomed into full-blown blogger's block and I even began to avoid checking my email, as it simply reminded me of the mounding debt I owed my blog. But I've been home for over a month now and enough is enough. So let me explain. (*pause*) No. There is too much; let me sum up: Buttercup is marry Humperdink in little less than half an hour...

Oh wait, that's the wrong sum-up. The truth is, when I came home, I experienced a greater culture shock than when I first arrived in Italy. It was only when I came back to what was "normal" could I see just how different my life had been over the last two months (and how that perception of normal had shifted). It ranged from small things like the thickness of pizza crust and over-cooked pasta, to bigger things like how strangers don't frequently start conversations with you and how ordering coffee is really more about one's own self-perception more than it is coffee. Suddenly, home didn't feel....well, exactly like home. Instead I was lulled into re-evaluating everything I thought I knew. (It was similar to the feeling one gets in college when he/she realizes there really is more than one way to skin a cat, as it were.)

But it wasn't just culture shock that had me stunted. I was also suddenly and brutally aware of the difference between living alone (in a far, far away distant land) and living at home...on the family couch...out of a bag. While initially I had been hesitant to travel alone and spend 100% of my time with me, I had really grown to like it. In fact, I loved it. But once I was home, the only time I was ever alone was on the pot (and that wasn't exactly the "me" time I was looking for).

Anyway, despite all this nonsense running circles and colliding in my head, I reasoned that moving forward from this point, I had three possible paths to choose from:

1.) Stay in the states, move to a new city and find a new job (possibly career)
2.) Plan another short sojourn like the one I'd just completed (destination unspecified)
3.) Move to Italy for a year (or so) and study the language

Depending on the day (or my mood), I'm in favor of a different option. So I'm interested, what do YOU think I should do next??