Tanti Auguri Mama!

Today is a wonderful milestone...my Mother's 60th birthday! I know I know, I shouldn't say my Mom's age, but my Mom just looks so damn good! Sadly my parents won't be throwing  grand party in her honor (they are saving up to see ME!!) They also just had their 30th anniversary (prettyyy impressive if you ask me) so they like to think that they just turned 90. hehe they are just so cute :) My mom is such an amazing woman and I am so blessed to have her in my life! I don't think there is anyone else out there who knows me as well as she does, she is always the one I want to talk to when I'm excited about something or when I'm feeling blue.  Love you Mamma bear!

Power food combos

Stumbleupon has brought me many great from the worldwide web, but this article on power food combos is one of my favorites. There are certain foods that become healthier and more beneficial when eaten in combination.
The Top 10

1. Spinach & Beets
     Spinach is heavy in iron, and iron consumption is best absorbed when combined with Vitamin C (found in beets)
2. Tomatoes & Olive Oil
    Tomatoes are rich in lycopene (reduces risks of certain cancers) and is fat-soluble, so combining it with a healthy, monosaturated fat like olive oil helps boost absorption even more.
3. Beef & Carrots
   This combo will help boost your immune function
4. Green Tea & Lemon
     Green Tea is pretty bossy by itself - full of antioxidants, revs up metabolism and keep you hydrated. But when you add lemon to the mix your body absorbs 13 times more antioxidants.
5. Garlic & Fish
    Garlic is heart-healthy and fish oils are cholesterol reducing...these can act as an anti-inflammatory.
6. Red Meats & Rosemary
    Rosemary can help absorb the free radicals in red meat, which are the key signs of aging
7. Orange juice & Oatmeal
     This combination can help prevent heart attacks and clean out the ol' arteries.
8. Apples & Red wine
    These bad boys combined can help prevent blood clots and improve cardiovascular functioning. 
9. Blueberries & Grapes
    Eaten together improves their antioxidant powers
10. Nuts & Seeds & Dried Fruits
      Bossy protein pack

Holiday Vacanza!!

One glorious week from today, Team Americane will embark on a 2 week european tour! Everything has been booked and I could not be more ecstatic! Here's the lineup

Dec. 18 - Depart Reggio and spend the night in Rome

Dec. 19 (Caylin's Birthday) Tour Rome for the day then fly into Dublin that night

Dec. 20 Dubs Mctrubs

Dec. 21 Dublin for the day then fly to Edinburgh at night where we will meet up with Caylin's old teammate!

Dec. 22 Edinburgh

Dec. 23 Early morning flight to London where we will spend the day, then catch a train to Birmingham (meeting Lucy on the train)

Dec. 24 Birmingham with Lucy's fam

Dec. 25 MERRY CHRISTMAS/BUON NOTALE/GOD JUL spent in Birmingham

Dec. 26 Properly going to celebrate boxing day with some true Brits in Birmingham

Dec. 27 Train back to London where Meg will leave for Paris and Caylin and I will meet up with Vincenzo for some sight-seeing

Dec. 28 Morning flight to Venice with Caylin

Dec. 29 Venice

Dec. 30 Train to Bologna where we will reunite with Meghan, Saso and Andrea

Dec. 31 Bologna

Jan. 1 Bologna

Jan. 2 Fly to Lamezia, train to Reggio....IMMEDIATELY BEGIN VOLLEYBALL PRACTICE.

I have been to Dublin before, but it was in the spring so I can't wait to see it all Christmasy. I'm hearing amazing things about Edinburgh and am getting more and more sad that we only have 1 day there. When I was in London for new years last year I only got to see the main sights for a second, so I can't wait to have some more time there. Most excited for "chrissie" (apparently that's how Lucy's mum is referring to Christmas) and to meet Big Lu's family. I've always wanted to go to Venice and be among 3 Sheets....if I pull that off, I might become my brothers hero. Bologna is supposed to be a wonderful city and I'm so happy that our little Italian family will be ringing in the new year together! So many pictures and stories to be posted upon my return..hopefully I won't be lazy and wait weeeeeeeeks!

An Italian Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving 2011 is one for the books. Yes yes, if I had my druthers, I would always spend my holidays with my family, but with this nomadic lifestyle that just ain't possible! Sadly Italians do not honor one of America's greatest holiday's (you think they would jump on board because they love closing up shop and taking time off work!) so we still had school and volleyball when an ideal day would have been solely focused on cooking, drinking and eating.

 Let's just say I have NEVER been so busy on Thanksgiving.
-Woke up a little before 7 to prep the bird....little did I know that prepping including PLUCKING the remaining feathers from the big guy.
-School: explained in Italian the significance of Thanksgiving...when it came to the point where I had to say "Native American" Caylin and I just made the noise. Success.
-Post learning your girls were wild in our skinny little kitchen
-Volley scrimmage at 6, of course lasted longer than anticipated so we didn't get home till after 8 and had to sprint around the kitchen to get everything finished while our guests arrived.

Guestlist:
Tripod of hostesses
Pappa Gilroy (america)
Saso (Italy)
Andrea (Italy)
Matt (America)
Anna & Walter (Italy)
Valentina (Italy)
Lucy (UK)
Vince (Italy/UK)

Menu:
Turkey - prepped by Kelsey, monitored and carved by Pappa G
Stuffing - Kelsey
Green Bean casserole - Meghan
Cheesy Potatoes - Caylin
Mashed Potatoes - Kelsey
Gravy - Kelsey
Salad - Matt
Stuffed chicken things - Saso's Mom
Succotash - Pappa G
Pumpkin Pie - Kelsey
Apple Pie - Caylin
Nut Pie - Caylin
VINO

The food was amazing, the company was great and we all had plenty to be great-full for!

This was our "thankful" door where everyone had to write about what they were thankful for :)

A Perfect Saturday

Captains log: Saturday November 19, 2011 = food, "family", LAUGHS, volley, winning, food, LAUGHS, boozes, booze + games.

I'm not sure I could rev up a much better Saturday than the one I had yesterday. I got to sleep in until after noon! (thanks to this little gem of a thing called school, I have to wake up at 7:45 5 days a week......not really for me....especially when I have practice every night till 11). Then I was hittin the kitchen with Caylin to prepare our weekly brunch (more like linner). We had quite the guest list: Our UK's: Vince, Lucy, Jennifer; Alex (joining us from Cali) and Mamma and Pappa Gilroy. Charlie Gilroy and Lucy had quite the battle of wits, that had the rest of us in shambles...adding valuable minutes to our lives. An obsurred amount of gay jokes were spewed.

Next stop: volleyball game vs. Palmi (going into the game we were tied in points and had a couple of Brazilian "stars") Stellar performance from team America and we took the win in a dominating 3 sets. Even our setter put in effort! So happy with the teams performance!!

For our evening festivities, we had dinner at Wallace's, a fun Irish pub. At one point Chumbawamba came on and we got very excited and made a mini music video at our table....and we wonder why people think we are drunk all the time? Then we met up with the rest of our crew for some chatting and drinks. The real fun happened when we got to the wine bar and decided to start playing THUMPER. Once everyone got the hang of it we had 13 people around in a circle playing and the entire bar watching us. Such a classy game to play while drinking our wine.

Loving this new "hot streak" I'm on....Passport has arrived, winning volley, flights booked for the holidays, credit cards in the mail and should be getting my package in the next 2 days...I will really be able to give thanks on Thursday!

Adventures

These last 2 weeks I have had a few great 1 day adventures around Italy with some pretty rad people....

Adventure 1: Scilla con Caylin, Tanner & AJ (Caylin's cousin and friend visiting from Spain)

We hiked up to the old castle which had an amazing view and then just walked around the town for a bit where we met an awesome dog that followed us all the way back to the train station...good ol' Rosco!

A couple of days later I was off to Rome on a mission to get a new passport! Night trained there with Valentina (not something I would recommend. Let's just say a giant fat man with stinky feet snoring the whole way, is not the ideal way to travel.) After GREAT success at the US embassy in the morning we had a couple of hours before our train left back to Reggio, so we had a power tour of Roma trying to catch as many sights as we could...

Victor Emmanuel Monument in Piazza Venezia

The Oh So Glorious Colosseum

Trevi Fountain...threw my coin in and will be returning to Rome soon

The last little day trip was to Pentedattilo, an abandoned town in the mountains about an hour outside of Reggio. Meghan's parents are visiting and staying in a B&B where our main man Steve works and puts together tours around, so that's how we stumbled upon this little gem. 

Seriously one of the coolest places I have ever been. I've been lucky enough to see some amazing and famous sites thus far, but this was pretty crazy because we were the only one's there and could climb through these old houses and castle surrounded by a spectacular view. My only regret of this trip is that I didn't dress properly. Not to worry, my 10 year old instincts took over and I was climbing (dangerously) on everything with my sandals and blazer. 

Mom and Dad: please get here so I can take you to these places

Descrivo la mia famiglia

Ho una bella famiglia! La mia famiglia è composta da quatrro persona e Karma, il nostro cane. Mia mamma si chiama Toni ha sessanta anni e alta e magra. I suoi capelli sono blondi e ha occhi verdi. Lei non lavora. Lei è bella, intellegente e molto simpatica. Mio papa si chiama Bruce ha cinquantaotto anni e molto alto e forte. Lui lavoro in ufficio. Lui è vivace e molto divertente! I suoi capelli sono neri e ha occhi verdi. Mio fratello si chiama Kyle ha ventisei anni e fa in supermercato e va all’universita. Il suo molto alto e magro. Practica tanti sport, ma il suo sport preferito è pallacanestro. Lui è chiuso ma molto simpatico. Tutti personi in mia famiglia giochiamo la pallavolo.


Thought I should utilize this blog to practice my Italian. Just a simple description of my family that I love and miss oh so much!