day 2 or 'everyday italians'

the next morning, sunday, bobby and i got up at almost 12 . . .pm!! that's right, we slept all night and then into the morning. it must have been the sleeping pills, or the time change, or the fact that we didn't have 3 little ones asking for breakfast and tv. poor allen was waiting for us to get up with fresh bread and coffee. and he wanted to take us on a road trip to bolgheri. so we sipped and ate and headed out. the road to this village was gorgeous. a tree lined road that lead to the cobblestone path that lead to this quaint little town. there was a wedding that day in the small church and we got to see the bride and groom arrive. it looked like the whole town was there and they were cheering and applauding. maybe they were italian movie stars or soccer players. we walked the shops and learned something very early in the trip, don't go shopping at lunch time. stores close for lunch and nap time from 1 til about 4. so if you want to do some shopping you have to do it before or after. some of the little souvenir shops and cafes were open so we did some shopping there.

we had lunch at 'La Merenda.' we ordered white wine, paninis, salad and i had the most amazing fagioli soup. after lunch, a cuppuccino of course. it would be the first of many. now if you are wondering, i did have dairy during this trip, lots of it. and i was ok. i was supposed to incorporate back into my diet to see my reaction but there was no way to do it slowly in italy. not when there is cheese and cappuccinos and pecorino and cream sauces. i'll get to all of that later. so we enjoyed our lunch and talked about italy and a little about work. it was so great to be able to share this time with allen and get to know him better, and especially in a totally different atmosphere.

as we left, the bride and groom were coming out of the church and we watched as the spectators threw rice and took pictures and lit fireworks in their honor. we blended right into the crowd. it was quiet the scene.

for dinner allen wanted to take us to a seafood restaurant that he loves. enriquo, the chef/owner was the personal chef to a baywatch babe although we never found out who, in san francisco for a number of years. we met allen's neighbors, simone and valentina who joined us for dinner. from the moment we got there we were treated like special guests. enriquo brought out a fish tank with the fresh catch of the day. we got to inspect and pick what we wanted him to cook. now i consider myself a foodie. i love cooking and anything related to food. but i have never seen anything like this. there was no menu just options. for the first course i chose a fish soup that valentina described as being 'something special.' bobby opted for the raw seafood. not sushi, but italian style raw fish, with soy sauce. second course was lobster ravioli. the main course was a gigantic red snapper cooked with potatoes and bell peppers. it fed the entire table. and of course wine, lots of wine. for dessert, i had creme caramel while others had gelato and a special dessert of granita swimming in vodka. my only regret, besides eating too much was that i didn't take a picture of the fish. but i did get a picture of the dessert.

the other thing we learned right away was that italians take dinner very seriously. we headed off to dinner at 8pm and by 12 we were having dessert. we talked and laughed and got to know each other. enriquo sat at our table and shared stories about life in italy. i loved listening to them talk in italian. i can understand some of it if they speak slowly. but once they started talking to each other i was lost. at one point i was overwhelmed by the smell of fresh baking bread. well it was so late that the bakery next door was already preparing bread for the next morning. so as we were talking enriquo walked over with a plate of fresh baked croissants. chocolate chip and peach filling. i was so full but i couldn't resist the hot, tender taste of a freshly baked croissant. it was flaky and heavenly. at that point i thought to myself, how did i get so lucky? it's one thing to be able to take a vacation like this, away from the kids to such a beautiful place. but it is something entirely different to be able to experience this life with people who live there. this is their everyday and i felt a part of it.

so by 1:30am we were headed back to the house to get some sleep. monday bobby and i were off on an adventure of our own.

in other news
this was the scene at school today. no, there was no disaster, no train crash or fire or lock down. the school had a special ceremony to commemorate the first responders of the september 12 metrolink train crash that happened right next to the school. it is a day that we will never forget. my kids were not at school at the time of the crash but there were children, staff and parents there, some of whom helped victims out of the trains or comforted them until help could arrive. so today the school planted an oak tree in their honor. the fire department, police department and the mayor were there to help celebrate and remember this moment. the kids sang a song and sent wishes to the victims and heroes of this day. there was even a helicopter fly over. i spoke to jordan's teacher who was one of the first people at the scene. she was still visibly shaken up and i'm sure has been through so much from witnessing this event. she is glad that the year has come and gone.

all of the local news crews were here and some of the newspapers. it was supposed to be on the today show this morning and on the local news throughout the day. if you can remember, say a little prayer today for all of the people affected by this tragic event.

day 1 or 'looking for signs'

i really wasn't sure how to start this blog post. how do you summarize a trip of a lifetime in a short and entertaining way? not sure i have the answer to that. but i realized, thanks to sarah, that i couldn't do it in one post. so i will be posting over the next few days with our trip memories, anecdotes and some of our 700 pictures. so here goes.

i was nervous, to say the least, about leaving our three kids for 10 days, to travel across the globe, to a foreign country, where we really didn't speak the language, and miss the kids' first days of school, with bobby, to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. a few times i thought to myself that we were crazy and no matter how much it cost we should just cancel our plans. i mean really it is only 15 more years before sofia will be off to college and we will be empty nesters ready to start a new life. right? wrong. oh, so wrong.

this trip was an experience that was needed and greatly appreciated. let's not talk about the fact that the new lens i ordered didn't come until 8:15 pm on thursday. and there was no way i was getting on the airplane without it. we spent the night at bob and d's and at 4:00 am on friday morning bob drove us to the airport. kissing the kids goodbye was a lot easier to do while they were sleeping.

the days before the trip i was looking for signs that would tell me it was ok to go. nothing really clear came my way. but when we landed in detroit, (yes, detroit people), for our 5 hour layover, (that's right i said 5 hour), i saw this sign and something inside said it would be alright. that and the fact that our plane landed in one piece.

so what does one do for five hours in an airport, in detroit? i'm not going to lie, we thought about getting a cab and going to a movie. but logic got the best of us and we stayed in the airport, had lunch at tequila joe's, no alcohol was consumed, and watched '17 again' on the laptop. cute movie by the way. then we boarded our airbus for the 9 hour flight to rome. we took sleeping pills to help with the long flight. and because it was an international flight movies were free! so we watched 'he's just not that into you' and 'wolverine.' when we woke up in the morning we were in italy.

next step was getting the rental car. we rented a stick shift to save on money and hopefully gas. we ended up with an alfa romeo 'mito.' cute little car, and i mean little. i had complete confidence in bobby to get us around town, but getting out of the airport parking structure was another story. in his defense, the turns for the ramps were hard to get around, but the car stalled . . .a few times. now i have to admit that i do not do well in pressure situations and i promised myself that i would use this vacation to relax and make an effort to laugh at stressful situations. well, it didn't work this time. i wanted to walk away from the car and pay the extra money for an automatic. but bobby reassured me that it would be ok. i think his exact words were, 'calm down, you're overeacting!' not the best way to start our romantic getaway.

the other thing i have to admit is that i am terrible with directions. so map in hand i was going to help bobby navigate the crazy road signs for the 3 hour drive to allen's house. we saw the beautiful sights of italy, ate at a roadside autogrill, and decided to take a side road that lead us to the natural sulfur springs. it was incredible and of course we had to get in, even though it smelled horrible. sign number 2 was this grasshopper that landed on bobby's back. they are good luck, right? and we needed it as we got back on the road. we followed the map through some windy but beautiful scenery. then we were back on the highway. the street directions which came at us way too fast said to turn on the toll road, which was a mistake. the toll road had no exit so we had to stay on it and ended up driving in a big circle to get to our exit. 45 minutes later, and frustrated, we met up with allen who took us up to his village.

when you think of tuscany you think of little hilly towns with old buildings, laundry hanging from the windows, little old ladies sitting outside their homes gossiping or sharing recipes. that is exactly what rosignano marritimo is. we were shocked and felt like we had stepped into a dream. allen showed us our room on the third floor of his 14th century home and let us settle in. then he took us to the restaurant across the street, literally 10 feet away, for our first authentic italian feast. prosciutto and melon, potato ravioli, balsamic vinegar braised pork, fried rabbitt and torte with frutta de bosco, oh and wine. and the third sign was that our table number was 3. and 3 just happens to be my lucky number. we were in heaven. and we were exhausted. so it was off to bed.

that was day one. stay tuned for the next post...

in other news:
we took the boys to school on tuesday for their 'unofficial' first day of school photos. they had a great first week and their teachers are awesome! this will be a good year.


today was sofia's first day of preschool. despite the fact that she told me she was not really excited about going to school she had a great time. she will be going 3 days a week.

home

just popping in to say we made it back and had an amazing time. i will be sharing stories and pictures over the next few days.

hope everyone is well.

take care

world, take care of my kids.
school, take care of our boys.
kids, take care of your grandparents.
ups guy, take care of my new lens.
pilot, take care of our flight.
handlers, take care of our luggage.
italians, take care of the americans.
bank, take care of our money.
bobby, take care of me.
everyone, take care of yourself.

see you soon.

journal

i love taking something with me to jott down our vacation experience. last year i took an art book and wrote down our adventures from the rv trip and wedding. so this time i wanted something pretty and practical. i found a notebook that you can alter and add pages to. the book came blank with the black binding. i covered it and used the dividers that it came with to make section dividers for our days, our meals (i intend to record and photograph it all) and our thoughts. i'm sure it will be full by the time we get back and ready for pictures.

i'm keeping the cover simple. it will be in my bag and i don't want to ruin it. i'll finish it when we get back.






keep crossing thing off our to-do list. but still so much to do.

overwhelmed

with things to do. with packing. with school supplies. with dr appointments. with emotion.

we leave on friday. the kids start school in one week. we are planning and preparing and trying to get through the next few days without going crazy. i want to kiss them and hug them all day but they won't let me. sofia keeps asking me if we leave for italy today. she can't wait to spend some time with her grandparents.

bobby and i have our flights, passports, hotels for florence and rome, car rental, guide book, a 'few' new clothes and lots of nerves. how much italian can you learn in 4 days? not much. mi chiamo gioconda. arrivaderci. prego. un caffe per favore. how far will that get us? there are times when the excitement is more than i can handle and there are times when the fear of leaving my kids for 10 days makes me not want to take one step away from them. i trust that they will be taken care of and i know that this is something that is long overdue for me and bobby but they are my everyday. my morning and night and everything in between. i will miss them and will be anxious to get home to hear about school and what adventures they had. ok enough of the sappy stuff.

i will share my travel book tomorrow, just putting the finishing touches on it. it will be a good place to put notes, thoughts and eventually pictures.

this week we have haircut appointments, eye doctor appointments, swim practice, and lots of laundry and packing. anyone want to come over and help?

cousins, a dodger game, a concert and a picture with the cast from the office

in typical mitas fashion we had a jam packed weekend.

saturday my cousins were in town from ensenada. so we took the kids for a cultural clash to duarte to meet them. i grew up visiting them at least once a month and during my college years I would spend a few weeks of my summer vacation soaking up the baja sun, visiting clubs (for term papers on intercultural socialization of course) and going to the tortilleria to get a fresh stack of corn tortillas. there was a moment on saturday when i could not believe that there i was watching my kids play with their kids in the pool. i guess i always still think of us as little kids playing together.

it was funny to see them try to communicate. their daughter speaks better english than my kids speak spanish. i know, i know bring on the criticism. there is no exuse. at one point i tried to show off that sofia knows her colors in spanish. (she learned that from dora not me) I would say 'how do you say blue in spanish.' and she would answer 'rojo.' then i would say ' how do you say green in spanish?' and she would answer 'amarillo.' my cousin turned to me and said 'the only thing you are showing off is that your three year old doesn't know her colors.' that is what i remember most about spending time with them, laughing. laughing till i was crying.

remarkably, i did not take a picture of this day. yeah really. i can't get them all i guess.

sunday we had the awesome good fortune to get tickets to the dodger game. but not just any tickets . . .i met up with a good friend from high school at sofia's preschool. she and her husband are season ticket holders to the dodger club. two tickets in row GG behind home plate for evey dodger home game. a few weeks ago at swim class she asked if we would be interested in taking one of her sunday games. i was like, wha? yes, yes, yes. i debated telling bobby or surprising him the day of. but i couldn't keep this from him. so sunday we headed out to dodger stadium at 11 o'clock with our prefered parking pass and a lot of hope in our eyes.

as we got out of our car and started walking the few steps to the stadium we heard someone calling our name. it was jordan's friend ryan and his parents jay and marisol also coming to enjoy the game. we went to the outfield to try and catch some practice balls from the braves. it was so great seeing bobby's face light up and holding his glove in the air. he never got anything but the experience was worth it.

so then we made our way to the dugout club underneath the stadium. we enjoyed a buffet spread of omelettes, salads, seafood, desserts and candy. basically anything that did not have meat or dairy, we consumed. and there was plenty. it was cool and relaxing. no lines and no prices. it is all included in the ticket. when we were full but not stuffed we grabbed some peanuts and an ice cold water and made our way to our seats. just a few rows behind the net. we sat down on our cushioned seats and watched the teams take their place on the field.

it was cool being so close and really feeling like you are a part of the game. and the guy that would come by to ask if we needed anything, for free, was pretty cool too. he brought us some sunscreen, fried calamari and an ice cold towel. it was bloody hot. we went inside during the fifth inning to cool off and so bobby could get a slice of s'more cake. then we finished off the game in our seats. heat or not we were not going to miss a moment of this experience.

just a couple rows behind us were a few of the cast members from 'the office'; Kevin, Oscar and Angela. i tried getting a picture of them from our seats but i didn't want to look like a stalker. as we were leaving the stadium they were standing in the lobby and i got up the nerve to ask for a picture. bobby and i have seen our fair share of celebrities and really hate to bother them for a picture but this was one i wanted to capture, and why not. so here it is:

really, could the weekend get any better? well, yes.

for the final leg of our day we went to the starlight bowl in burbank for the big bad voodoo daddy concert.


we did this a few years ago and it was so much fun. we met bob and d there, laid our blankets on the grass and enjoyed the night under the stars. we are big fans of their music, mostly their older stuff. the best part was watching sofia dance and play the air guitar. finally, at 9:30pm we headed home. full, happy and exhausted.