Wintery Weather

We're back in Saluzzamore after a wonderful vacation in the US.  We rested, relaxed, ate and shopped the entire time.  It was great.  We got to see almost all of our favorite people....

From US October 09 Visit

From US October 09 Visit

From US October 09 Visit

From US October 09 Visit

From Micah & Anna's Wedding

..... and we ate all of our favorite foods including crabs!

From US October 09 Visit

We bought a new winter wardrobe for Fabri and some fun stuff for me.  We also came home with all of the American-made ingredients I need to make my first Thanksgiving dinner.  I'm super excited about that.

At the end of our trip we went to Micah and Anna's wedding at a beautiful vineyard outside Charlottsville, VA.  It rained the whole day of the wedding and then an hour or two before the ceremony it cleared up.  They had the ceremony outside with the mountains, the autumn leaves and the sunset in the background.  They didn't need flowers or lights, it was just naturally gorgeous (as were we). 

From Micah & Anna's Wedding

So that's a very brief summary of our trip.  You can see more pictures in my Picasa web albums (as always there's a link to the right).  It was nice to get home and see the puppy.  He's gotten taller and filled out a lot.  He is looking a lot like a Labrador.  He was very happy to see us, but he did fine at the Motta's house and it was clear they really enjoyed having him.  Maria Pia called the next day to check and see how he was doing and everyone was happy the other night when we came with Olney for dinner.

Fabri immediately got back to work and hasn't slept in since the US.  Sunday will be his first day off since we got back and I'm looking forward to that day.  When Fabri doesn't sleep in, Olney doesn't sleep in, so I don't sleep in.  A horrible chain...

I've been back to work as well, but I gave notice at the Wall Street Institute where I teach.  I will be teaching for another month and a half with them.  Then I'll find other ways to fill my time.  Fabri and I are advertising our services as English ~ Italian translators specializing in medical & scientific themes.  I want to study Italian some more so that I can speak better/more correctly and I want to spend more time at the museum.  They are redoing all their displays in this period and I'm really excited to help with that and learn a new aspect of museum work.

Last night we had our friends Anna & Cladio over for dinner.  Anna is from California and has lived in Saluzzo for I think 5 years now.  I made Maryland steamed shrimp (one of Fabri's favorites) and a new pasta recipe from Rachel Ray.  Everything was really good and we had a great time.  Olney for a little wild and kept jumping up on Anna.  We have to do some more training...

Tomorrow we're having Gaetano & Detta, Giovanni & Brunella & Lulu, and Paolo & Giovanna over for fondue.  I think that's a good winter weather dinner party.  Did I mention that it's like winter here already?  And not the good winter moments when it is very cold but sunny & clear; it has been foggy,  grey, overcast and COLD.  Yuck!  We had a couple of days of clear blue sky and I could see the mountain peaks have quite a bit of snow.  No more hiking in the alps this year.