La Dolce Vita

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Hi everyone- I am so grateful to have felt refreshed and productive today.  It’s amazing what a manicure and a good night’s sleep will do for one’s body.  I can’t believe what a baby I am- I swear, if I don’t get 8 hours of sleep, several gallons of water, 3 meals, and 2 snacks each day I completely fall apart.  Woss.

My afternoon went well, but it was hard not to catch up on all your blogs at work.  I just love seeing what you hotties are up to.  I stopped at about 3:30 for a snickety snack.

Notice the absence of bars.  I literally had 3 bars on Sunday including one of Mike’s frightening Detour Bars that actually contain both cream and butter, and I was ready to abandon for a couple of days.  Peanut butter does a body good.

Dinner was a celebration.  I cooked up some brown rice and roasted a huge tray of veggies with tons of garlic, evoo, and salt.  I made a bed of the rice that I seasoned with a little of this and that, plopped down a sh**load of veggies straight from the 450 degree oven, and then added 2 lite Laughing Cows.

I eventually mixed everything up and each bite was a flavor explosion!  the comforting rice mixed so well with the hot, garlicky veggies, and the rich and creamy cheese just melded it all together.  I lerrved it.

This left me feeling so well-nourished.  It’s funny, this dinner is so much less in volume than some of my normal dinners, but so much more satisfying.  Normally when I finish a raw-veggie laden meal, I “feel” full but I am not full.  It is like my body knows it’s only had x calories in the form of veggies, and even though volume-wise it was a lot, not getting the right mix of protein and fat can be unsatisfying.  So happy tummy tonight?  Check.

I topped off that lovely feeling with this whole fruit organic strawberry bar from WF- the perfect sweet ending to my yummy meal.

Speaking  of dessert, let’s talk about my trip to Italy, shall we?  To giveyou a general idea, each day we would wake up at a nice early hour. I would have a bar of some type (usually a Clif), a packet of Amazing Grass Superfood in Chocolate dissolved in some water, and a piece of fruit at the hotel.  Then we would get Diet Cokes and venture out in Rome- it was simply too hot for coffee or tea!  Here’s our stash of yummies I packed for the trip including various teas (unused), vitamins and medicines, bars for both him and her, and Stevia.

We spent most of the days just walking and walking and walking- everywhere.  Every square foot of Rome is covered in important historic monuments, works of art, or fabulous sights.  We didn’t want to miss a thing, so we chose to tour via foot instead or taking the metro or a cab. 

Here I am in front of the Lateran- so excited to be there!

As some of your know, I am essentially a curator, and I will be totally pompous and say that I know a lot about art.  I worked my butt off in college to understand art’s inception thousands of years ago, to grasp its evolution into the modern age, and to acquire  the historical, religious, psychological, and political knowledge neccessary to explain art’s physical manifestation of mankind in its contemporary time and place.  I have been lucky enough to be able to travel a great deal in my life, and have passionately pursued studying art in both personal and professional endeavors.  As such, even though I had never been to Rome, I felt like I was coming home.  I was finally able physically experience the momentous works that have inspired my life pursuits. 

Perfect Corinthian capitols at the Pantheon

 

Old Testament mosaic cycles at Santa Maria Maggiore

Laocoon and his sons, my very favorite sculpture of all time

Base of the column of Antonius Pius

Bernini angels on the bridge to Castel S. Angelo

Mt. Parnassus by Raphael in the Papal apartments of the Vatican

Deposition by Michelangelo and Caravaggio

Michelangelo's spellbinding columnade surrounding the piazza of Saint Peters

Apoxymenos aka the Sweat Scraper

Touring the city with Michelle (my future mother-in-law) and Mike was so wonderful.  Although both extremely intelligent and well-educated, neither is incredibly well-versed in art history.  They were so amenable to listening to my explanations of all the various monuments, paintings, and buildings.  They asked questions and really learned a lot!  It was so much fun to be able to help my new family get to know not only a part of me, but an entirely new level of understanding human history.

Here we are inside the colosseum, sitting on some two thousand year old ruins!

I hope your enjoyed hearing about the trip thus far- in my next post I’ll have a few more fun pictures and get into the nitty gritty of the FOOD!

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