boyworld on the move...

in planes, trains...& automobiles...plus a bus or 2 for good measure...after a whirlwind of adventure we are home from chicago with some good memories in the stash! we spent time in high places...low places...places that rock...places for learning...silly places...places that are rollin' in the dough...(no, they were not able to relieve the federal reserve of that suitcase filled with 1 million USD!) & even a place of beauty (though boyworld did protest a bit about this one!)...chicago welcomed us with open arms & a joy that was quite contagious.it is truly one of the friendliest places i have visited & though i am not a city-dweller by nature, i would return for another visit in a heartbeat.

& the food...don't get me started! chicago deep-dish pizza after a day spent in airports & on planes (where there is not one bite of food to be found domestically) is pure heaven.but my true love found in chicago was this~~ intelligentsia coffee. please have mercy, that stuff is amazing! boyworld did not quite understand my swooning...they were busily munching on a dunkin donut when i found this new way to satisfy my addiction. oh well, there is still hope for their immature palates! & thank God for the internet...i can have a bit o' my chicago heaven delivered right to my home...sigh. home again, but the wanderlust continues...in pursuit of good coffee, gelato & adventure all over the world...

Bee~ing there!

road trip!!& at the end of the road...a warm welcome to the table with old friends...take a walk with me in my favorite US city...charleston SC...every turn of corner is a thing of beauty...behind every wall is a secret garden...& the art!...the french quarter is a feast for the eyes...especially at my favorite gallery~~ robert lange studiosrobert is usually found at the easle with a smile & kind word for every visitor, eager to share his joy in the creative process.charleston isn't without some italian influence...yes, that's my ride (i wish...)& they even have gelato at modica (it's not quite san crispino but it's good!)as you stroll along, don't forget to look up...& even wander a bit out of town...maybe you'll find yourself 'up the creek'...shem creek, that is!here comes tonight's dinner on a shem creek shrimp boat...but enough of that...it's time to take a peek at the 'secret'...the premiere of 'the secret life of bees'!!!tickets in hand...a red carpet stroll...the movie was fabulous, very true to the book & extremely well casted. even Little Man, who did not read the book, thoroughly enjoyed it. we were excited to see what they did with the parts we had seen in production, particularly the ones which were filmed in D.'s hospital. the after-movie reception gave us the wonderful opportunity to chat with sue monk kidd...& to enjoy the music of mark bryan from hootie & the blowfish...a gracious 'thank you' to W & W, our dear friends who hosted us this week for a time of true southern hospitality!! all too soon we found ourselves back on the road to home, but not without a little help...next on the horizon...racking up more air miles & a jaunt in the windy city with boyworld!

roman reminisces...

it takes me a few weeks after travel to really digest what i've seen & done. for days, & even weeks, after arriving home i will have flashbacks & let my mind wander through the experiences again & again. but to write about the experiences...that comes later for me. i am tempted to say that it is something from jetlag, but it can't be since it happens even when i journey north or south within my own time zone!


after considering this about myself on our most recent trip, i have come to believe that my writing time is something i do from within my norm. when i am outside my norm, i am more fully living in the present & totally absorbed in the moment. writing is a 'something-other' experience...it rarely is about that very moment in time...for me it is a remembering or creating activity. when i am traveling, i just have no desire at all to be anywhere other than in that which is happening & so writing becomes a chicken-scratch pile of disarray to be sorted at a later date. & so be it. forcing things, especially one's muse, is not a good thing.


our trip last month is what i playfully described to D. as cliche-italy. we revisited 3 places that i could never exhaust...venezia, firenze e roma. every time i have been to any of these marvelous cities, i always come away with a 'next time i'm here...' plan! (& yes, this time was no exception.) we had 1 evening & 2 full days in roma on this adventure involving walking~~ miles & miles of walking~~ lots of food, even more gelati, & some in-deep time at the Vatican, which for this theology/art history major was a very big deal.if you ever find yourself in roma, no matter what your spiritual leaning or artistic knowledge, i would highly recommend visiting St. Peter's & the Vatican Museum. there really are no words... even our children who were with us on the last visit (& were ages 10-16) had not one word of 'are we through yet' at the Vatican. now, if you are Catholic, as we are, this is a must-see-no-exceptions kind of place.for our return trip, on the advice of many others, i booked 2 tours (not something i usually do) that made all the difference for D. & i. the first one was the Scavi Tour...a guided journey into the ruins *under* St. Peter's Basilica for a look into pagan & Christian burial sites & the actual tomb of St. Peter. what a history lesson in layers! (please scroll down past the Vatican Museum info in the link i have provided...& as they note, book early, early, early...it is hard to get a reservation now.) your tour ends in the crypts under the basilica & you may go all throughout the public areas of the basilica at that time without going through the possibly long line for regular entrance.


on a side note...for a truly beautiful experience though, i would suggest arriving at St. Peter's at 7 am, when it opens. very few people are there, it is still relatively quiet, & the morning light is quite mystical.another highlight of our time in roma was not just another tour, it was a chance to meet a blog-buddy too! John Paul Sonnen has been blogging for sometime & has recently started offering guided tours of the Vatican Museum & St. Peter's Basilica. when he posted his tour offerings, my first thought was that we've 'done' the Vatican enough times that we wouldn't need a guided tour. but his informative posts kept haunting me & i realized that he had so much more to offer than we have ever experienced...how true that is! we spent an entire afternoon with him & it passed in the blink of an eye. please be sure to visit John at his blog, orbis catholicus, & if your are heading to roma, drop him a line to schedule a very worth-it Vatican tour.next up from roman reminisces...food & GELATI, plus a stroll through some typical tourist sites...

doorway to adventures...

rochambeau alerted readers last week to an artistic look at doors, hosted by Elizabeth at The House in Marrakesh and Frank Gardner of My Paintbox in Mexico & so i dug into my charleston (SC) photos to find these beauties...a former restaurant that has been closed for years on east bay st sports these lovelies...close up...a gorgeous guardian of the door: who wouldn't love this stately beast as a door knocker...& his neighbor is equally stunning...technically not a door, but certainly a beautiful entry into a secret garden...layers of doorway beauty...a peek of perfection...a stunning side door from one of the churces in the holy city...for dessert~~ who could resist a gelato door handle!...
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today is also...enter through the door della mia cucina for this week's recipe...

roasted sweet potatoes

peel & dice 2 large sweet potatoes

place in a baking dish with a layer of olive oil on the bottom

dice 1/2 a red onion & mix into diced potatoes

sprinkle pototoes with sea salt, fresh ground pepper, rosemary, & parmesan cheese

drizzle with more olive oil

toss to coat wellbake at 375 for 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are tender buon appetito~!

mid winter...

i feel as though we have barely passed the christmas season...january simply flew by. today's feast day on the liturgical calendar...feast of the presentation(image source) has always felt like the true end of celebrating the nativity of the Lord (which technically ends much earlier in january, on the feast of the baptism of the Lord). one of our traditions is to put the nativity scene carefully away for the year & replace the old candles around the house with new ones. also referred to as candlemas, this is a traditional day to have candles blessed in rememberance of Christ as the Light of the World...

for all those prognosticators out there eagerly awaiting the vernal equinox & hoping for some weather that pushes crocus blooms...today is also groundhog day! my home-state hero...punxsutawney phil sadly predicted 6 more weeks of winter (isn't this always the case!), but i don't believe him! i downright refuse to believe him! he's wrong~!! definitely...

after the disappointment of that varmint in a top hat & his furry opinion (yes, i'm miffed at him this year!) we moved on to superbowl sunday preparations. in boyworld this is a very. BIG. deal.

i'm just the cook.

Big Bro's favorite team is in the super bowl year & so it's become quite a party here. i decided to combine another celebration with our feast preparation & thus, our dessert falls in with the nutella theme for tuesday...world nutella day! the recipe will follow tomorrow or the next day... be sure to catch all the sure-to-be-yummy nutella posts on february 5!

i think the timing of world nutella day is superb because it is also mardi gras. my fat tuesday fun usually includes a chocolate indulgence! it also includes daydreaming of the year that i might spend this time in venezia...for carnevale! check out britt-arnhild's recent post & her glorious links...

following on the heels of all this celebrating...ash wednesday, the beginning of the season of lent.

but now, it's back to la cucina for me...!

opening...4 stories high

travel (nearby)...what a very special treat...while on the town with D., having lunch in a darling caffe, we saw the poster for an opening exhibition featuring Xris Kessler's art..."you were there with me: New Perspectives on the Sky"..."Closedown"...acrylic on canvas...source

the light was perfect...

an admiring public...Xris with our favorite work of the evening ("Faith"...oil on canvas)...his inspiration...actual view from the 4th...also from the 4th...model for "closedown"...& Xris - we've got your back. literally..."last dance" & "prayers for rain" by spinning fire light...room with a view...
fire theatrics...amazing!...thank you Xris, Johnnie, Bobby (videographer) & Seraphire Productions (fire theatrics!) for a fabulous evening!

please respect the artist & his exceptional work...do not use his images without permission. please click on the link (his name above) & contact him directly if you have any questions.

all artwork in this post is Xris's; all photos are mine.
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30 days of thanks...
for those who live their gifts, sharing the beauty with those around them...