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Yesterday Marc and I celebrated Valentine's Day at home with a movie and chocolate covered strawberries. He had a dozen strawberries shipped to us from Shari's Berries and they were WONDERFUL! They were large, juicy and oh so YUMMY!

I can't wait to do that again!
Happy Valentine's Day.

Each year I try to get a Christmas ornament from each place I visit so I can be reminded of the wonderful adventures I've taken. This year we went back to Italy and spent time in Bologna, Faenza, Ravenna, Ferrara, Parma and Modena. I don't seem to have an ornament for Parma...but I do have five pounds of cheese! I also didn't get an ornament from Modena, but I do have several bottles of Aceto Balsamico DOP. Hmmm, I think I have my priorities straight, don't you?
Here is my ornament from Bologna.

This is from Ferrara.

Here is one from Ravenna.

We visited Saura and Ivana Vignoli in Faenza. They do such beautiful work, which I'll show you in a later post. Saura gave me this ceramic fish to use as an ornament.

This year Marc and I decided we're going to start collecting Christopher Radko ornaments. We made a deal that we would each choose one ornament each year and we would decorate with Santa Claus ornaments. They are so beautiful, it's hard to choose. Before we knew it we had 5 ornaments and a tree topper! Here they are...

What do you think?

Here are a few random pictures of my home decorated for Christmas.

Old pictures of relatives from Sicily.

Our big 9 ft. Christmas tree in the living room and some of my Santa collection.

More of my Santa collection.

The small 7 1/2 ft. Christmas tree in one of the front windows.

Some of my snowman collection.

Chocolate Santa on the kitchen island. Doesn't he look good enough to eat?

The outside of our house. This is the first year we put lights outside. We're on a corner, so the lights go all the way around the house. It's very festive!

One of my favorite Christmas decorations is my collection of monks. They're so jolly...they make me smile.

Are you smiling yet?

I love to decorate for Christmas. Here are some of my Department 56 houses.

Here are a few more houses low enough that Buttercup can enjoy them, too. She' just a little spoiled.

One more 'treasure' from Savannah. We brought home this little toy shop to display on a small table in the living room. The toy shop lights up and the train moves around the Christmas tree. I can't wait for my little granddaughter, Preslee to see it!

Just a couple of mice 'treasures' we found in Savannah last Christmas. We just had to bring them home. Aren't they adorable?

Last year Marc and I went to Savannah, GA for Christmas. One of the treasures we brought home was this Advent Calendar.

We decided we would fill the door for each day with candy treats. I would fill the even day doors and Marc would fill the odd doors. That way one of us would be surprised each day we opened a door.
I went to the 42nd Street Candy Company here in Oklahoma City to get my treats. They always have a wonderful selection of sweet treats for every occasion.

I wonder what Marc will choose for his days? This is going to be fun!
Life is good.

I love the products from the Santa Maria Novella Perfumery. The main perfumery is in Florence, Italy, but I found them in Bologna, too. WooHoo!

The hand cream is wonderful! It smells good, is not greasy and makes your skin feel smooth as silk. I also got my italian soap "fix" and a jar of shaving cream for my husband.
It's the little things...Life is good.

I am a huge fan of cooking classes. How could I possibly go to Bologna, Italy and not take a cooking class? I found the perfect class with Chef Stefano Corvucci at the Culinary Institute of Bologna.
Marc and I scheduled a 3-hour class to learn to make Tagliatelle, Pappardelle, Ravioli, Tortelloni and Ragu Bolognese. The class was held at 4pm in the back room of Chef Stefano’s restaurant. We had the room to ourselves, but were able to watch the pastry chef prepare desert for the evening crowd. Her Tiramisu was HEAVENLY.

Chef Stefano is a really effective teacher because he is so passionate about his food. We learned to make pasta by hand, not a machine.

It was hard work, but so worth it. When we were finished cooking we sat together in the restaurant and ate what we had cooked. It was so good!

I’ll certainly be taking another of his classes on my next trip to Bologna.
Life is Good!

Today my sweet little Meatball had his 4th birthday. He and Buttercup shared a doggie friendly birthday cake from the Barking Dog Bakery.

Note the gleam of blue frosting on his tongue and mouth. He's a happy boy!

I’m always looking for the best tech gadget to take on vacation. I need something that gives me access to the internet, allows me to journal my trip each day and has enough storage to hold all the pictures I download daily.
I used to take my Sony VAIO laptop, but it was kind of heavy. Then I got a netbook. It was perfect because it was small and didn’t weigh very much. The last year or so I’ve been having trouble with my close-up vision, so the tiny screen on the netbook was no longer working for me.
My solution was an iPad and I had an opportunity to put it to the test in Italy a few weeks ago. It passed with flying colors!

I purchased a white 16 GB iPad with Wi-Fi, but no cellular. I then added an app that allows me to journal my vacation. The iPad had enough space to hold two weeks worth of vacation pictures and a nice size screen for viewing. I also added an Apple soft case, which protected the iPad nicely. I only use the iPad when I’m in my hotel room, so I didn’t need to have the added expense of the iPad that requires a data plan. This machine is slim and lightweight, so it’s very easy to pack.
When I’m not using it on vacation I’ll use it in the theater room. We found a great app that is a database for our movies. This iPad will get constant use. It’s a win-win situation.
Life is good.

Marc and I just returned from a trip to the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. Once again, we had a fantastic vacation! Our home base was Hotel il Guercino in Bologna, with day trips to Faenza, Ferrara, Modena and Ravenna.

This is a picture of the front of our hotel. It was very reasonably priced, clean, and neat as a pin. The staff was always friendly and ready to help. Our room was very small, but that’s part of the charm of Italy.
We ate till we couldn’t eat anymore, then ate some more. You know, Italy is all about the food! There was a foodie tour, and a cooking class. I even met up with a high school friend that I haven’t seen in over 30 years.
One of these small towns just may be the place I live when my ship comes in!