Missed: 1 Wedding, 2 engagements, 3 babies, 4 birthdays....in 5 months

It's funny how everyone's lives keep going, regardless of whether I'm in them or not. I've missed many life changing events that affected friends greatly and cannot share in their joy in the same way I would have in the States. That makes me sad.

98% of my lifestyle has changed upon moving to Milan and at best, maybe 5% of friends or family's lives have been altered by my departure. It's difficult to stay in touch due to this fact and partially because of the time difference. Its become obvious to me which friendships are meaningful and who truly cares about me because it certainly does take more effort to sustain a friendship across the pond.

I don't get to have a pity party, I knew I would give up on some parts of life and friendships gong into this in exchange for new experiences and growth.....just making an observation.

Halloween....kinda and Max's Big Day

The week of Halloween the boys and I set off on a mission to find a couple of pumpkins to carve. Out of an entire open market of about 4o stands or so, only one had pumpkins, and the pickins' were slim...only about 5 to chose from. And a guy followed me around asking for a coffee date which made the errand more interesting. The rest of the day Gabe was on the lookout for me as we went to the park for a picnic afterwards so cute:) The boys like to take cars along to play with on long walks....they were chatting it up, skipping, motoring their cars along and are always good sports for stopping for pictures.
Max skipping down the road, which he does more than walking, never fails to make me smile. His carefree way and hair bobbing is just too cute. We had a nice day at the market and the park and they got to carve their measly lil pumpkins at Boy/Cub Scouts.

Here is Max as "Top Gun" and "Ninja Gabe". A neighbor, Jacob was dressed up as a Twilight character. There were some shops open for trick-r-treating that they hit up for some loot with some other American kids. Not very many Italians get into Halloween festivities and there seemed to be an overabundance of witches.
My costume fell through last minute so I rallied, borrowed the boy's giant stuffed horse, strapped him to my side, and attended the US Marine/ US Consulate party as a Pacifist Cowgirl/ wrangler of sorts. Needless to say, I got many strange looks and laughs on the streets of-hardly-anyone-dresses up-Milan. A few people from the party took off to an "Americanites" party complete with a Halloween costume costume....everyone there really showed their spirit....all kinds of creative costumes. But I'm pretty sure my horse got the most attention on the dance floor!
The next day, Sunday was Max's birthday celebration, turtle themed. Max loves anything turtle. He even got a live turtle for his birthday, Luigi. I painted the kids faces with all kinds of under the sea creatures and eventually let them paint on my face, it was none too pretty, let me tell ya:)

We used the penguin pinata Max and I made over the summer....it was a big hit. Couldn't help myself on the cheesy factor!
Mamma Jeanne, orchestrating cake time.

My...I mean Max's favorite part, presents!!

No party is complete without the limbo.

Waterland: Venice

An American friend that lives up the street from me, Amber, invited me to go with her to meet up with friends in Venice for the day. I spent a week there in college for a study abroad program and got to experience all the tourist high points, sketch, and take a gazillion 35 mm pictures but was more than happy to go back without an itinerary, with her friend that lived there until he was 15 as our guide. We tried to catch the early train but realized once we got to the station, Amber brought the Dave Mathews tickets she purchased the same day as the train tickets, oops! A bit of a glitch in the plan but we made it just a little later than expected.

The delay gave me an opportunity to soak in all the fantastic detail of the Centrale train station while she went to retrieve the tickets from her flat. It's a mixture of many styles including Art Deco and Liberty. Frank Lloyd Wright said it and Grand Central Station in NY were the most beautiful train stations in the world and I agree. After a lunch of squid covered in ink and polenta, Micheal gave us the insider's tour of Venice.

Micheal, his two friends visiting from the US, two Italian friends, Amber (in yellow) and I on one of the many bridges.

I'll let the pictures do the "talking" for the most part.

So many interesting water alleyways an charming walkways along the canal.

An icon of Venice...masks.

The window shopping was excellent from vintage boutiques, to high fashion, to fine textiles, glass....

(photo by Amber)

The grande canal....the widest and busiest of the waterways.

This is the only woman gondolier that could pass the rigorous test for the job.

The guys decided it was way more fun to take jumping pictures. I concur:)

I felt like a dramatic "Hollywood dip" was a good idea for such a romantic, charming city. I think it would have been more successful with a guy/ girl dip/kiss, ha,ha!

Michael's famous skater pose.

Josh with mad style points.

Incredible textiles....would love to use them on a project!

The infamous San Marco at dusk. There used to be a bazillion pigeons in the piazza but now there are very few. They have been working on getting rid of the flying rats. Which is nice to not have to worry about poo on your head or one dive bombing you for food.

The Doge's palace, beside San Marco basilica, a "triumph of Gothic architecture".

"The Bridge Of Sighs" connected the prison and the Doges's palace. It was the last glimpse outside before the prisoners went to trial.

San Marco and the Doge's Palace.

A corner of the Doge's palace and the sight of a great find on a scarf:)

Gondolas bobbing in the water by San Marco Piazza at night.

This restaurant had different style and size lamps for each of their tables outside. Cute and interesting, neat concept.

We made it home by train about midnight. After all that walking, I fell into bed and had dreams of "waterland". Magical, sigh.