brown goat
the life of city dwellers with a healthy obsession with natureArchive for travel
the tuscan coast
my heart is swelling as i think about my sister-in-law enjoying a summer of european study abroad, especially now that her travels have brought her to italy. this article in sunday’s ny times travel section has made my heart swell even more…oh how i desire to return to italy, more specifically to the italian coast.
tell me that the following passages don’t make you want to be there too, enjoying the fine food and the crystal blue mediterranean waters:
“…the slope-hugging road…can be thrilling to drive, with breathtaking views to the south, north, east and west. The sun glints off the water, then sets below it. Best to abandon the car and find a seat in a waterfront cafe before that happens. Porto Santo Stefano has many of them, and they adhere to an unimpeachable philosophy, which is that a predinner glass of prosecco or white wine should be accompanied by a pre-dinner nibble, or rather cornucopia of nibbles: peanuts, olives, cubes of mortadella, cubes of Parmesan cheese. On a warm, breezy night, these arrived with a first round of drinks, and they were replenished in full with a second round. We even thought about staying put for a third, the scene around us giving us cause to linger. Buffed yachts glided out of the harbor while battered fishing trawlers lumbered in, the beauties making way for the beasts.”
“…the tone of our meal there was immediately set by the first thing to hit the table: an amuse-bouche of sautéed red mullet, diced tomato and olive oil, combined in a spoon, enough for just one happy bite. Each ingredient was flawless. After that there was squid-ink tagliatelle with shrimp and artichoke, oversize fusilli with scorpion fish and more red mullet, and nuggets of rabbit — the bones gone, the meat tender — with black olives and roasted tomatoes. It seemed right to add that bit of turf to the surf, and the turf justified the bottle of northern Italian pinot nero we chose.”
during my dreams of italian food, sun, and water, my thoughts move to the idea of our baby playing alongside david and i on the italian sand and my heart swells to nearly the point of bursting…
oh…just the thought of it makes me smile from ear to ear!
off to visit in the sunshine state
have a wonderful weekend, lovelies! after working eleven days in a row and being on-call over the memorial holiday weekend, i get a three day weekend of my own and i am spending it in sunny pensacola parked right next to my parents pool. my goals for the long weekend: spend time with my family (jessica is driving up too!), sit and read by the water, enjoy yummy food, and NOT to step foot into a car until sunday.
back next week!
cute is one of my best qualities*
we had the most splendid weekend in new york! it was a welcomed reminder of how much we love it up there, despite my efforts to pretend that big cities are not for us…who am i kidding?! i love the pace, i love the people, and i love all the choices!
we spent a lovely and warm friday in brooklyn- walking through the beautiful botanic gardens, having lunch on the patio of cheryl’s global soul watching a young child diligently water all of the plants in his backyard, walking through park slope, prospect heights, and prospect park (brooklyn neighborhoods), having coffee, doing some very early christmas shopping at the fun boutiques on 5th avenue in park slope, and then walking over the brooklyn bridge into manhattan. friday night we were treated by uncle joe to dinner at sardi’s before going to see billy elliot on broadway.
saturday we spent the morning at the union square farmer’smarket where we were overly impressed with the selection and, particularly, the prices…cheap, cheap. cheap! we then stumbled upon a greenwich village neighborhood street festival which was lots of fun and then dined on delicious pizza at johns pizzeria on bleeker street. we spent the afternoon at the moma. uncle joe treated us to dinner again saturday night at a lovely italian spot, da filippo, on second avenue at 69th street.
on sunday, we had breakfast for the third morning in a row at the apartment- delicious fruit, smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, bacon, toast with delicious jams, coffee, and fresh orange juice. we spent our last few hours in the city at the met where i loved the model as muse special event- very well done including thoughtfully chosen music, fashion pieces, and great design of the exhibit.
a special thanks to uncle joe for hosting a fabulous get-away weekend that served as a great reminder that we LOVE city life, particularly in that part of the country!
serenbe
located in palmetto, georgia is the most idyllic sounding town with the name of serenbe. it has been described as a place where the quality of life is extraordinarily high, where there is an easy sense of community, where the principles of sustainability touch everything from your home’s methods of construction to the organic produce on your table that was grown by one of your neighbors. serenbe is 900 acres of serenity nestled about 30 miles south of atlanta in the chattahoochee hill country and is protected with a master plan that calls for 80% green space.
the community sounds ideal with farms, creative neighborhoods, and miles of well-worn footpaths that make walking easier than driving. AND, the restaurants sound amazing…the farmhouse at serenbe serves a prix fixe weekly changing menu that features organic prodcue grown right at the serenbe organic farm. this week’s menu features a tasting of artisan cheeses, oyster croquettas, ”chicken and dumplings” (confit chicken thigh with buttermilk gnocchi, and spinach), and gran marnier brioche french toast with mulled “summers past” berries with tahitian vanilla bean ice cream….my mouth is watering! the hilfeatures a seasonal, classic american menu created by executive chef/owner hilary white that features a variety of appetizers, gourmet pizzas, entrees, farm-fresh vegetables, and desserts with many ingredients coming from the serenbe farm. and, the blue eyed daisy bakeshop is a casual neighborhood eatery serving a variety of breakfast items, classic sandwiches, salads and snacks AND it is also stocked with yummy treats like cupcakes, pies, cookies, and tarts.
i really want to go for a day trip…maybe one weekend SOON…
go cats!
we spent the past two weekends cheering for our davidson wildcats at two very exciting (well, one exciting and one exciting BUT disappointing) basketball games. the first of our two weekends was spent in birmingham with my parents. the four of us cheered LOUDLY as davidson pulled off a very close win against a sold-out crowd at samford.
this past weekend, we were in charlotte and davidson with some of our college best friends—what a FUN weekend we had! it was so much fun to be back in north carolina (the residency destination talk has begun…again!) and although davidson lost in a CLOSE game, we had a blast catching up with best friends and meeting baby elizabeth!
and, to make the situation even better, all of this davidson basketball watching has afforded me the pleasure of cheering, in person, for my favorite player, #42 ben allison!
if anyone sees a shirt bearing a nickname for english ben, like barr’s white lobster or curry’s steff-in shirt found at a square game.com —PLEASE let me know. i am dying to have one! and, if you are reading this and do t-shirt design, i am digging the thought of a prince benjamin tee.
david and i don’t think we are very good luck for the team, so our attendance at the socon tournament is “to be determined”…
with or without us on the sidelines, good luck cats! here’s wishing for another successful ride through march madness!
’tis the season
as usual, our christmas time in florida was most joyful! this year, in particular, we had TONS of fun!
over 5 days, we visited with family and even some dear high school friends,
ate at jerry’s drive-in (twice!), went to a christmas concert at the church where we were married, had 4 christmas celebrations (and got lots of nice new stuff),
shopped at some cute pensacola gift boutiques and at joe patti’s (of course), went out 3 times with cousins and aunts and uncles (SO fun!!!), AND attended a reheasal dinner, a wedding, and a christening.
hope your holidays have been as great as ours. here’s to a fabulous end to 2008!
home from our beach vacation
thank goodness for birthdays! it was lovely…AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL. i don’t think we could have scripted it any better. we had such a fabulous time celebrating, something we feel like we’re pretty darn good at. it was perfect in every way. i thought about creating a top 10 list but then that would place some sort of hierarchical order to certain things over others- i would have had a difficult time with that. i decided instead to choose my 10 favorite pictures to illustrate the best of the week. more pictures can be viewed on flickr, just click the flickr link straight from the blog.
