We made it!

After a long layover in Chicago we are here in Roma! The overnight in Chicago was made bearable by a great visit with an old friend who lives there and his family, Chad Lindstrom. Keely and I had dinner with them on Saturday night and it was a wonderful meal...probably one of the last home cooked meals for a while!

Our flight left at 5pm on Sunday and we flew nine hours in coach....wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We had our own row and to be honest, even in Business Class, I am uncomfortable and can't sleep a wink. We watched the Tourist...apropos, since it was filmed in Venice... where we are going! Keely got a preview. Then we just read and ate the lovely and delicious airplane food and nine hours later we were in Roma!

I have to thank Rick Steves because I did read up on Rome in his book and he said to avoid the taxi guys that come up to you as you exit the terminal, and I did have a guy come to me and tell me he was a taxi for 75Euro. Rick said to make sure the taxi says "taxi" and has a phone number and that the law is that they can only charge 40Euro from the airport to anywhere in Roma. So I told him no and we got a taxi and I made sure it was 40Euro! I am feeling so good about myself!

Upon arrival at the hotel, we were dead tired but could not get into our room for a few hours, so we walked around and found that we are just down the street from the Colosseum and all of the ruins there, and very close to the other major sights. Our travel agent (that's me!) did a great job. The hotel was nice and clean and very quaint and once we finally got our room around 1pm, we crashed out for five hours! I finally dragged us both out of our comfy beds because I realized that if we continued to sleep...we would be up at midnight and wide awake!

We rallied and went down the street a bit to a cute little plaza with a fountain and several restaurants and chose one that looked good, as it started to rain just a bit. We sat out on their patio anyway...it's the Italian way! It was so fun to sit and relax and watch the local people hanging out in the plaza. The Italians have such a wonderful lifestyle that embraces family and friends and making time to enjoy life.

We ordered dinner and it was so delicioso! Lazagna and pasta with pesto, asparagus, tomato, haricot vert (those baby green beans) and potato...so yummy! Of course I ordered vino bianco and got this cute little pitcher of wine...I love Italy!

Waiting....waiting...waiting...

Hi all! We are now in Vegas at my parents place in Lake Las Vegas. Just here for a visit and then back to OC for some last minute errands and then we leave on Saturday! It's a bit sureal at this point, but once we are sitting on the plane I think it will kick in that we are going traveling for six weeks...crazy!

Boy are these suitcases heavy! And it's only been one day... We are definitley going to be building our muscles on this trip :) How can clothes weigh so much? It's a mystery.

Ahead of schedule!

It's Wednesday and I am done packing! Well...done packing up the contents of my house. Now I do need to pack for our trip! But I am ahead of schedule and it feels good. I'm sitting here wondering what to do now....I have two days to fill. Of course there is always the ever present need to shop for more things to pack :) I will try to resist buying anything except the black sweat pants that I do need. Send all of your will power vibes to me!

But wait! My lovely daughter has just informed me that all of her jeans are too tight. So I see that we will need to do a bit of shopping for her. This is what happens when you have a nice boyfriend that takes you to In and Out Burger all the time :) I, on the other hand, do not have a nice boyfriend (or any kind of boyfriend for that matter) and so I do not have any excuse for my chunkiness.

For all of you loyal followers, I now have a Skype account (christiscorp is my Skype name for anyone that wishes to Skype us while we are gone) However, I am realizing that now I am going to have to look presentable at all times of the day and night! This is not so good because I like to sit around in my pj's with no makeup on and my hair in a clip. Definitely not presentable :( I do think there is a button that I can press to turn off my end of the video feed...may have to instigate that quite a bit.

Anyhow, this woman of leisure is off to dinner...to add to my chunkiness!

The packing continues...

Oh dear! I have come to the realization that I do have a serious problem. I need to go to "dish fetish anonymous" to deal with my dish addiction. Although, in my own defense, I am a person who loves to entertain and also am an interior designer...so it is understandable that I would have an affinity for dishware. Right?

And then there is the fact that I love to cook and actually do use all of those strange cooking implements. So...many, many boxes and a broken back later, I have packed up my kitchen and two hutches worth of dishes, pots, pans, etc. I am giving away the things that I am not in love with and that I just held onto for the comfort of having them. I think I am on my way to a healthy state of being, at least regarding my cooking stuff!

Next it's the bathrooms! I have already gotten rid of most of the excess and will just be packing the essentials. Don't even get me started on my closets...

It's amazing how much "stuff" we hang on to that we never even see or use! I feel lighter as we speak!

Connections...

WOW! We have so many different connections to so many people, companies, accounts... I spent an entire day canceling things, rerouting things, forwarding things. It will be nice to be free from all the "things" that tie a person down. When all is said and done I should be connected to my phone, storage unit and car. Oh yes...and don't forget the credit card! At least as far as financial connections...

As for personal connections, I hope to stay connected to all my friends and family through email and phone calls while we are gone. Please don't hesitate to write us and comment here. We would love to hear from you all!

Packing!

It's April 1st...April fool's day! The joke is on me today because I got the delivery of a whole bunch of boxes, which means...I actually have to pack up all of my things! Not my favorite thing to do :( But the reward will be worth the effort as I set off on my great adventure with Keely and leave little worry behind.

My storage space is ready for me and we are moving everything in on April 23rd with some Newport Harbor High School muscle! All those meals I provided for my son Connor are finally going to pay off! I have enlisted Connor and a few of his friends to help me move ( I got 'em cheap!) and it should be fairly simple, as I have reduced my belongings from a somewhat spacious home to a small, two bedroom apartment's worth of "stuff".

Over the next couple of weeks I will be packing what is left of my life into boxes to go into storage for an unknown amount of time. It's strange to not have a plan for once, other than take off for Europe and see what happens after that. I like it though. The feeling of freedom and opportunity is a good one. Of course, we will see how I feel when I return...homeless and jobless!