"What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, more unashamed conversation." -Glenn Close

So Halloween isn't really a thing here....instead All Saints Day (November 1st) is a national holiday where everybody gets work and school off. Except the American students. So that's cool. Good thing we plan on celebrating Halloween in style tonight regardless. :) Here's a little blog one of our professors sent us about Halloween/All Saints Day in Italy (kinda interesting!): http://www.athomeintuscany.org/2009/10/20/ognissanti-in-tuscany/ Just got back from a 10 day backpacking trip around Europe: Portugal, Spain and Prague. So tired. Blogs about those trips to come soon...and lots of pictures of course! PS....10 days out of Italy=NOT a good thing for my Italian language skills, which are minimal in the first place. This morning when I was basically a zombie leaving my apartment to go to school, I ran into my sweet older Italian neighbor lady and literally just stared at her because I couldn't remember how to say goodmorning in Italian. GOODMORNING. Like the firs...

LAST weekend, my friend Briana and I took a casual weekend trip to London, UK. And I need to move there. It was definitely my favorite city so far (but how can I even say that...I've loved them all). All of the buildings were so regal and stately and just GORGEOUS and clean. The weather was a lot like home, with leaves blowing everywhere, grass and parks all over the place, and beautiful trees blowing in the wind. And who WOULDN'T fall in love with all of the double decker buses and classic black taxis and the fact that drivers sit on the right side of the car and they drive on the left side of the road. It was crazy. And I loved it. Just walking around London. Some Deltas met up in London (because we love each other and we love Delta Phi Omega). Classic picture by the Tube Map in London. Realistically though, we only took the Tube once because its expensive and we were on a budget. We walked EVERYWHERE. Another opportunity to tone our butts and legs. Always appreciated. ...

Two weeks ago, three friends and I took a trip to Venice! We stopped in Florence along the way, where I saw the Ponte Vecchio (the famous bridge with the finest jewelry venders in the city....no I definitely couldn't afford ANY of that), went into the Uffizi on my own (cool museum, too bad I don't know anything about art), made friends with an old Italian man while he painted me a picture of Florence on the street outside of the Uffizi along the Arno River, and climbed to the top of the duomo (the most stunning view imaginable). Here are some pictures from the day in Florence (it was rainy and cold and miserable, but can you really complain when you're in one of the most famous cities in Italy?): The Duomo in Florence! A nice little copy of the David. Nice and nakey, like all of the statues in the Uffizi. The Arno River. Sitting along the Ponte Vecchio, overlooking the Arno River! Ponte Vecchio My artist friend. SUCH a nice man. The best part of my day in Floren...

Not only do I have the best parents in the entire world, but I also am confident in saying that I have the BEST GRANDMOTHER A GIRL COULD EVER ASK FOR. Today I got a special packet in the mail from my beautiful, amazing grandmother that contained.....GUESS.... RECIPES. Here's a list of the things I cannot WAIT to try making while I'm here: Cheesy Broccoli Potato Topper Fiesta Rice and Vermicelli White Bean Pita Pizzas Garden Ratatouille Ziti with Asparaghus Sauce Zesty Rotini with Fresh Herbs Pasta with Pesto Steamed Veggies with Yogurt Sauce Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole (one of my FAVORITES) Tetrazzini Sounds a LOT better than the frozen pizza I heated up for lunch today.... THANKS GRANDMA!

thinking of my amazing family still today as i'm thinking about passing the one month mark and the journey ahead of me. i wouldn't be here without all of their support and love. :) the best dad in the ENTIRE world. the best MOM in the entire world. (and kyle of course, my guardian angel :) ) this boy makes me one proud big sister. la mia famiglia. i love this picture. I AM TRULY, TRULY BLESSED.

It's been over a month. A month and four days, actually. Officially the longest I've ever gone without seeing my parents in my whole entire life. The second longest time I've gone without seeing them is when I lived in California for a month freshman year of college. And that was like, 29 days. Not even a full month. But I have officially passed that one month mark now, and it's crazy to me. When I'm at school (and when I was living in California), I call my parents pretty much every day. At least twice a week. I text my mom goodnight. I call to ask their opinion about pretty much everything I do in my life. In short--I'm not independent. I like to think that I am, but I'm not. I am a mama's girl/daddy's girl through and through and there is no doubt that I am a product of their raising. And I love them. And they are two of my BEST friends in the whole world. And I respect their parenting and the way they raised me and I am so grateful for them and t...

This weekend, my Women's Narratives class had a day-trip scheduled for Friday, so I couldn't go on a trip for the weekend. This definitely turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because the day-trip was beautiful, and yesterday (Saturday) I went on a spur-of-the-moment day trip to Pisa with two of my roommates, Crystal and Margaret, for a little shopping. :) Fonti near Spoleto. Ancient bridge near Spoleto. I guess this bridge is known for 6 suicides a year (people jumping off of it) becuase it is said to be the most peaceful/serene place to die because it is so beautiful. The Marmore Waterfalls. SO COOL. Carsulae, an ancient Roman town near Perugia. The ruins aren't all uncovered yet, but from what they've uncovered they've figured out a basic lay-out of the village. Hannah in Pisa: Take 2. Crystal. Marge.