December 2006 -- San Francisco and Christmas

Hi all!

December was a fun month this year (it usually is just by virtue of Christmas but this year was extra special). The week of December 9th, Edo and I went to San Francisco for a national American Geophysical Union conference that he attends annually. We arrived on the Saturday afternoon prior, and Uncle David picked us up from the airport where we immediately went to his friend Bill's house to collect the Aerobed we would be sleeping on; then we stopped by the market on the way home to get some sushi because we were all hungry! Considering that it came from the Castro version of a Harris Teeter, it was damn good sushi.

That night, we went to a party celebrating the 10-year anniversary of David's friends Jim and Sam. Everyone was really nice; the tree was gorgeous, and the food was great! There was a ham, amazing empanadas, and desserts aplenty -- not to mention the copious whites, reds, champagnes, and possibly even beers that were available.

The next day we awoke fairly early and went for breakfast at a restaurant called the Squat and Gobble, which has very good value for money and the food is very tasty. Afterwards, David was kind enough to drive us all over town

(really... ALL OVER TOWN.. I think we covered all seven square miles in one day) to see all of the sights, architecture, and a panoramic view of the city from the Observation Tower at the new Modern Art museum in Golden Gate Park. For dinner, Edo took David and his roommate/friend Dale to dinner at a restaurant in the Castro called Catch. I wasn't feeling very well so I sat that one out.

On Monday morning Edo had to go to the conference to present his poster session and do some schmoozing, so I stayed home for most of the morning relaxing. David and I went into Union Square around 2pm to visit the new mall (I never picked San Francisco for a town that would have a mall but it's very nice). We had lunch at the Coolest Food Court Ever and then David went home while I met Edo outside the Virgin Megastore. Edo and I had a coffee in Union Square and then we went home and cooked a risotto for David and Dale. We really enjoyed having a quiet dinner at home with them; we stayed up chatting and eating until David finally decided that it was past our bedtime so we went to lie down.

Tuesday Edo was working again so I hung out in the morning relaxing, and in the afternoon I went for a walk in the Castro and for a lunch at a place called Fuzio. The food all sounded amazing but I ended up getting minestrone and garlic bread which was very good. After I ate a bit and walked around a couple of shops, it started raining so I headed back up to David's place and then went into town to meet Edo again. That evening we met up with one old friend who moved from Duke to Clemson, and two guys who Edo knew from Torino and had dinner at a place called Lulu. The food was really good! We were going to try a place called Azie but the wait was long (our own fault: we didn't make a reservation) so we went to the sister restaurant next door which had a slightly shorter wait and a bigger bar.

Wednesday morning Edo went to the conference but came home around 2pm, and we headed down to the Monterey Peninsula. We stayed in Carmel-by-the-Sea in a romantic little cottage-style hotel. By the time we got down there it was almost time for dinner so we went to a place called Merlot! and he had seafood spaghetti while I got penne with roasted vegetables in pink sauce. We also had a cup of mushroom bisque which was delicious (better than mine....grrrr) and a dessert each -- profiteroles for me, flan for Edo.

Thursday we drove down to Big Sur and Nepenthe which was beautiful! There was very little fog so we had good visibility and we decided to eat at the restaurant on top of the hill. Mediocre food, extortionate prices, and a view that you can't find anywhere else. It was worth it. That area is probably one of the most scenic in the entire US.

After lunch we headed to Carmel Valley which is the wannabe Sonoma/Napa and has lots of up-and-coming wineries. We visited several of them, tasted their wine (including port from the barrel!), bought lots of it, and then went back to town.

Then we went back up to Carmel which is this cute resort town that looks like a Thomas Kinkade painting (in fact, he's painted Carmel... and he has a gallery there). We also walked to the beach which had an amazing grey hue because by then the fog was starting to roll in, and it was getting late in the afternoon so it looked very surreal. After I make my first $$ couple million, I am totally moving there.

That evening we had dinner at a place called Forge in the Forest. We shared shrimp dumplings steamed with spinach, a bucket of steamer clams and mussels (the mussels were practically the size of cornish hens... I don't know where the chef found them. I'm wondering if they were raised near a nuclear reactor!) OK the mussels weren't that big, but they were large enough to cut with a knife. Definitely not bite-sized. After dinner we shared a wonderful creme brulee. I've decided that my measure of whether a restaurant is really good or not is the creme brulee. And this was a really good one!

Friday was time to head back to San Francisco but not until we'd visited a few other spots on the Peninsula. We took the 17-Mile Drive up to Monterey, driving past Pebble Beach and seeing lots of pretty impressive real estate. When we arrived in Monterey, we walked past Cannery Row and went to the Aquarium.

Dale was kind enough to give us his season passes and we were able to enjoy it all for free. The Aquarium is amazing; if you ever have the opportunity to visit it, I highly recommend it. We had lunch at the cafe there. Again, mediocre food, extortionate prices, and a view to die for! And again, it was worth it.

On the way back up, we stopped by San Juan Bautista and visited the Mission there. In case you've seen the film "Vertigo" by Hitchcock, the Mission is the scene of the climax of the film.

It's a cool town anyway; hasn't changed very much in the past, oh, 150 years or so. It looks like a town from a Spaghetti Western (I swear, Claudia Cardinale is hiding out there somewhere) but this time when we were there it seemed a little less so because there were Christmas decorations everywhere. At least the Mission itself was as stark and Catholic as ever :)


When we arrived back in San Francisco Friday evening, we had dinner at Bill's house.


He made us a wonderful dinner complete with Prosecco, brie and crackers plus a goat cheese dip for appetizers, pumpkin ravioli in a butter sage sauce, and pesto-covered salmon with salad for the main course. Everything was so delicious! For dessert we had coconut cream pie, and Bill was kind enough to give Edo and me a copy of his book.

Saturday morning we headed back home to Raleigh, and a few plane delays later, we arrived around 11:30pm. It was good to be home!

Christmas was lots of fun too, as always. We went to a party on Christmas Eve held by some of our friends from Mexico, and many different countries were represented at the party. There was even a pinata to smack!

Christmas Day we went to Mom and Dad's house and hung out with the family. It was nice to see everyone again. Unfortunately I had my wisdom teeth out the Tuesday before Christmas so I was fairly limited in what I could do and eat, but I still had a great time.

Thanks to everyone for helping make December a very memorable month!

Nadine West Howell 11/1/1919 - 11/24/2006

The day after Thanksgiving, my grandmother passed away. After waging a battle with Alzheimer's disease that lasted for several years, her body decided to stop functioning in much the same way as her mind had done, albeit much more quickly. The roller-coaster ride of this disease seemed for a long time far more enjoyable for her than for the rest of the family. She was the one at the front shouting and laughing while the rest of us spent much of the time feeling a bit sick. But when the ride stopped, as it inevitably had to, she had deteriorated mentally and physically to the point where just about everyone close to her was ready for her to move on.

I'm not one of those people who sugarcoats a person's personality or attitude once they have died. If I didn't like them living, I don't suddenly start to feign admiration for them once they leave. I've heard people at funerals speak so highly of the recently deceased that you'd think the person was a saint, even though the same people a few months earlier were complaining that said person was a real asshole.

So I'm going to give an honest account of my grandmother's life from my point of view as her granddaughter. Naturally that means that I missed a large chunk of her life before I was born and my idea of who she was is therefore skewed. But for sure know this: when I speak highly of my grandmother, and I will, it's not out of "respect for the dead" (like the dead give a shit), it's because she was genuinely a wonderful person and the consummate lady.

Grandmother was born in Turkey, NC which was -- and remains -- basically a crossroads that produces a lot of turkeys. Clever name, huh? Anyway, I don't know a lot about that period of her life because I've forgotten a lot of the stories she used to tell me about when she was a child. I know she had parents and a couple of siblings, but that's about it. When she was 18, she married my grandfather and at some point they ended up in Goldsboro, where Dad and my uncle were born. She worked for decades as secretary of the high school which meant that Dad couldn't really get away with anything no matter how hard he tried; she always found out. Her job combined with her participation in the First Baptist Church of Goldsboro where she worshipped until her mind no longer permitted it meant that she knew pretty much everyone in Goldsboro. Goldsboro, NC is a city; it's not a huge place but it's not a tiny town where everyone is guaranteed to know everyone else either. But everyone knew Grandmother. Everywhere I went with her we met at least one person who not only knew her enough to smile and say "hi", but actually stopped, asked about the family, said something to me like "oh, you're Tiffani? It's so nice to meet you! You're just as sweet as your grandmother said you were" or something along those lines. I remember this happening from the time I was around 4 until adulthood.

My grandmother was exceedingly polite to everyone she met but had the unfortunate habit of drawing attention to her own svelte figure by way of backhandedly insulting her family members' weight problems. I suspect that her vanity caused her to ignore the sometimes lasting effects that this had on others. That is the only truly negative characteristic that I can remember of my grandmother. (Vanity, by the way, is something she gave to me. Neither of us can walk past a mirror without smiling) Not that she didn't do other things that drove us crazy; she was a Mom, after all ;) But most of the things that drove us crazy we could at least acknowledge were done out of love. She was unbelievably stubborn, a hereditary trait that apparently sits on a dominant gene because every Howell since has been cursed (or blessed, depending on the circumstances) with this particular characteristic.

She was truly selfless with regard to her family, sometimes to a fault. She remained faithful to her late husband from the day he died until she joined him thirty years later. This chagrined the rest of the family who didn't believe that sacrificing one's own potential happiness was necessarily the best way to honor someone's memory. I never knew my grandfather, but given the attitude of his children, I would suspect that the first thing he said when he saw her again last week was "good to see you Nadine. Why the hell couldn't you move on after I left you?" to which she probably replied "Watch your mouth, Ed. 'Hell' is such a vulgar word".

Grandmother surely knows that her family is suffering for her loss and I'm sure she would take that pain away if she could. She is undoubtedly finally aware of the pain that her disease caused all of us for years while her body was still functioning even as she looked through us, her beloved family, like we were strangers. That's "the nature of the beast", as they say, but it doesn't make the beast any easier to live with. It doesn't make it any easier to die with either, except perhaps on an intellectual level. Still, knowing that she's finally whole again, and no longer just a shell, does provide some comfort.

The funeral was very short, grave-side and included only family members and her three best friends. After the funeral, the family ate lunch together at one of her favorite restaurants, McCalls. The private, quick funeral was specified in her will; it was her final gift to us... true closure, without all the bells and whistles. She probably knew that a public funeral would've involved much of Goldsboro (she was vain, remember?) and would've been stressful to the family. Even though the funeral was small, she'll be missed by many, possibly thousands.

Rest in Peace

October 2006

Well, October was an interesting month for us. We had several events to attend and we also made it to my family's annual beach trip. For this post we'll go week by week.

The weekend of October 7th, we decided to hold a small get-together for a few friends and family. We had a little mini-housewarming. Originally we were planning to have a large housewarming and invite everyone, but then we realized that it was just too much to do and we didn't have enough chairs anyway, so unfortunately we had to limit it. Still, we had a nice time. We scored for some great housewarming gifts ;) and others brought wonderful food: everything from Panettone to Canoli (good canoli! I clarify that because it's really hard to find around here) to authentic homemade Lebanese-style hummous and baklava. Edo and I also contibuted a little to the party by way of wine, beer -- although Im not sure why we even bother to buy beer because almost everyone I know drinks wine and we end up with a bunch of beer bottles sitting in our fridge when it's all over -- and some hors d'oeuvres plus homemade bread courtesy of yours truly. I also made some salsa and guacamole. I made the salsa mostly for my brother because he really seems to love it, but unfortunately he and his family were unable to make it and I didn't realize that until I had already made it. Oh well... everyone else enjoyed it!


Mom and Dad left before dark (why? nobody is entirely sure) even though Alix seemed to be enjoying herself talking to some of the new Italians in the area but the rest of us hung around for a while chatting and eating. The honor of Biggest Winner of the Night, however, goes to Silver because most of the food was right at her height sitting on the coffee table in the living room so she would feign disinterest and then walk past and snatch a piece of bread along the way. It was irritating at the time but even moreso since then because she's realized that she can do it and sometimes she gets a goodie. Now Edo and I have had to go back to basics teaching her good "table manners" (which, for a dog, means "get the hell away from the table"). She's also taken quite a liking to my bread which would be flattering if (1.) I didn't know that the only thing she won't eat is radish, and that includes several non-food items, and (2.) it takes a long time to make them so, since I can't make them during the week, we have to try to make them last as long as we can. Having a dog robbing us of a roll or two is definitely a hindrance to that goal. Edo constantly reminds her that she's a lucky dog to have owners who: let her sleep in their bedroom instead of outside in the cold, accept that she brings no income into the house and continue to keep her and feed her in spite of that, and don't beat her when she does something cheeky. Nevertheless, she has a sense of entitlement for these sorts of things and doesn't think it's anything special to be treated like a queen. Dogs, who'd have 'em?

The next weekend we went into Raleigh (yes, it's sad...where we live involves going "into Raleigh") for two reasons. First, we met Hanya at the Borders near where she lives to have a chat and also take advantage of an "educator's discount" offer thingy that they were having that day. Many of Edo's Christmas gifts have already been purchased which severely limited what he was permitted to buy, but I did allow him to pick up a book about Hitchcock. We've been watching a lot of his films lately and Edo likes to watch the Special Features to find out what was going through his mind when he made the film. I enjoy watching them because of Jimmy Stewart ;)

After we left Borders, we met Mom and Dad at the State Farmer's Market to buy our annual pumpkin and selection of gourds. Edo thought it seemed silly but that didn't stop him opining about which pumpkin would be most appropriate for our front porch. The gourds, however, he did not seem to care about, or for. But it's a tradition now that Mom and I have been doing for years and so the men just have to deal with it. The pumpkin/gourd arrangement will stay on our porch until after Thanksgiving, when the "Christmas Season" will officially begin.

By the time we'd finished shopping, we'd worked up quite an appetite so we decided to have dinner with Mom and Dad at the Ocean Stars restaurant in Apex. It's not the most well-known seafood restaurant in the area, but as fish camps go, it's probably the best. We figure it beats another more famous fish camp in Durham ;) by a mile. It's not exactly Michael Dean's, but that's a different kind of restaurant altogether anyway.


The next weekend was our annual family beach trip which, for reasons that we won't go into here, meant Mom, Dad, Alix, Edo and me. We stayed at a place in Surf City, NC which isn't exactly hopping this time of year (not that any of the beaches are, but this was even less than normal) but the beach was lovely and the house was nice too.

We were about 45 minutes from Wilmington so that Saturday afternoon we decided to go into Wilmington where we shopped a bit down by the Cotton Exchange, and then we ate on the river at Elijah's restaurant. The weather was perfect for it, and it didn't get cold until well after sundown so we were able to enjoy our meal outdoors. Edo and I shared the Carolina Bucket (quite literally a pail of seafood all steamed together with sausage, potatoes, and corn) and then a chocolate raspberry torte for dessert. Mom ate the Chef's Salad; she wasn't very hungry, and Dad got a cup of the NC seafood chowder and a fried oyster sandwich. He said the sandwich was great, and I tasted the soup which was delicious. He can keep the oysters. Blech.

The next day it was time to head home, so we left late-morning and made it to Raleigh early in the afternoon. We hung around Mom and Dad's house until 4:30 when we could leave to go collect Silver from the vets where she was being kennelled, and then we went home together. It was a great weekend but too short! Next year hopefully I'll be able to take a day or two off work so we can go down there and relax and enjoy the coast a bit more.

Finally, we reached the last weekend in October. That Saturday night was Stacy and Mike's Harvest Festival party. It was a costume party but Edo and I didn't dress up; we just weren't up for that this year. We did bring some meatballs which people seemed to enjoy and we also ate lots of the fantastic food that Stacy and Mike prepared. She made a chili with buffalo meat which was delicious. And her spiced cider was fabulous as always! We had to leave a little early (around 10:30) but it was nice to see everyone for a while anyway.

Melissa and Ken were there and I haven't seen Melissa in months and Ken in years so that was nice, and I also saw Jo whom I hadn't seen in months plus some old friends from college who showed up right as we were about to leave. It was a good night.

November is also fully booked so I'll be back in a month with my report ;)

Take care,
Tiffani

August and September 2006

During the months of August and September, not a whole lot of travel was done so I have decided to combine the two months into one post. Many interesting things happened during this time, but not a lot that I have photos of and since text alone tends to get pretty tedious, I decided that unless I can throw in some pretty pictures (and possibly some weblinks) , I won't spend too much time on what I've been doing the past two months.

In August, I officially resigned from my job at NCSU, ending a decade of existence on that campus in one facet or another -- excepting a couple of years when I was living in the UK -- and it was a fairly emotional moment for me. But it wasn't that emotional because I went on to a position at Duke University which is very similar to what I was doing before, but, you know, with more money. It's also a bit of a promotion.

Duke is much more convenient to where I'm now living in Creedmoor, NC with Edoardo.

We are renting a lovely three-bedroom house with an enormous yard (Edo would agree... he has to mow it) plus Cathedral ceilings in the Master and living room and even a wood-burning fireplace.

We love the house and the yard (read: I realize this is in direct contradiction to my recent comment about the yard; let me qualify it by saying we love the yard when Edo doesn't have to mow it), but it's a bit far out so when our lease it up next Summer, we'll probably move back into town.

Anyway, since my last day at NCSU was on August 18th, we spent that weekend with some family near Charlotte. We stayed with my Grandmother who lives on a lake in Norwood, NC (it's one of those sleepy, blink-and-you'll-miss-it towns that's great for when you want to get away and relax) and we enjoyed sitting by the lake and catching up on all the gossip. I've discovered that my Grandmother and I are really a lot alike -- even more than I had thought. We share many of the same opinions about issues relevant to the family and to life in general, and we seem to respect the differences of opinion that we do have. We also saw her friend Henry, who Edo has trouble understanding because of his thick Southern accent, but Henry has trouble understanding Edo's thick Italian accent as well. In fact, it was quite comical watching them try to communicate while my grandmother and I prepared lunch. We had a giggle over that.

We also briefly stopped by to see my Uncle Kyle and Aunt Mitzi, neither of whom I have seen in years. They live only a few doors down from my grandmother so it was very convenient.

The night we stayed in Norwood, we drove to nearby Charlotte for dinner with my cousin Brenda, who has the music in her soul! If the time at the lake was relaxing and tranquil, the time in Charlotte was like a whirlwind! But we had a great time chatting and watching people walking around downtown. We ate at Rock Bottom Brewery which has great food and is a great place to hang out and people-watch. The one thing I really dislike about the Raleigh-Durham area is the lack of an exciting downtown. Charlotte's downtown is a lot of fun (they call it "Uptown" for some reason) and I would like to be able to have a place like that to go.

The following Thursday, I started my new position as Assistant International Student and Scholar Adviser at Duke, and I'm really enjoying it so far. Everyone is really nice and funny; nobody takes life too seriously here even though we're doing very serious work (but hey, you have to laugh once in a while). People have a witty, sarcastic sense of humor and not a day goes by when someone in this office doesn't have me in stitches with laughter. Some days I think it's a matter of survival... one of those "if you don't laugh, you'll cry" kinda things, but generally speaking people seem to be really happy here.

Fast forward a few weeks to the middle of September, and my divorce came through! A huge thank you to Pam from NCSU Student Legal Services; I couldn't have done it without her. I'm currently in the process of trying to re-establish myself with my maiden name, but that will take a little while to be complete. But at least I'm finally free to live my life the way I want to, and I don't feel quite so weird living with my boyfriend since I'm now divorced :) I found that when you're filling out those "optional" equal opportunity questionnaires and they ask you about your living situation, there's strangely no option for "separated and living with partner". go figure. In fact, almost all of them fit me: married (check), separated (check), divorced (almost), living with partner (check), single (kinda). So at least that cleaned up that little portion of my private life.

Last but not least, last Saturday was my 10 year high-school reunion. We're not going to get into how old that makes me feel, but the whole experience was a sort of emotional catharsis for me. I'm sure the alcohol helped. The night went the way I had hoped it would: the cliques kinda dissolved although naturally people were more interested in catching up with old friends than with people they never spoke to in high school, and that's fair enough. Most people were very friendly and the ones who weren't, well it just didn't matter. If someone didn't want to speak to me, I really didn't care the way I did in high school. I guess all that teen angst has more to do with the high school experience than the fact that I went to Broughton, which is notorious for being snotty and clique-ish. However, Jen's husband Scott did mention at one point in the night that it looked like the Young Republicans convention in there. People can change, but they don't change that much I guess.

Some highlights of the night: having a drink with Jen, Scott and Kristy Lee at Nana's Chophouse across the street from Ess Lounge where the reunion was being held (that eased the pain, I'm sure); seeing James Little, Michael Kennedy, and Matt Meares who I always remembered as the "nice guys" and they're still nice; hanging out with all my old friends who I haven't seen in years like Kristine Vallila, Matt Sims, Erin Maynard, and Emily Howell (who, by the way, looks fabulous and is probably the only person there who looked significantly different than in high school); and finally, being spoken to kindly by people who never bothered to talk to me in high school and a. not thinking "ugh, you loser... you ignored me in high school so why are you talking to me now?" because I'm a bigger person than that, and b. not caring about the people who still didn't bother to talk to me... I can now look on these kind of situations and think that the problem isn't me, it's them. And I couldn't do that back in high school. So I enjoyed myself even though it probably won't go into my books as the greatest party ever; it was nice to catch up with people and realize that most people can grow out of their high school attitude (and laugh at the few who didn't!)

Until next time....

Tiffani

Charleston - July 2006

Hello again. It's that special time where I write about our monthly travel. This time we went to Charleston, South Carolina. Edo has never been there but I have been several times. I have always loved Charleston and I was eager to share this wonderful city with my boyfriend.

Unfortunately, it was mid-July and one of the hottest weekends on record for much of the United States, so our romantic walks around the Battery and through the Market weren't exactly the textbook passeggiate that I had imagined (complete with the cool breeze blowing through our hair, looking out over the sea arm-in-arm, giggling at the crazy items for sale by the Gullah vendors, and sitting on the park benches talking about how happy we were and how we hoped this moment would never end)

and more like the reality that is always Charleston in the middle of July (a hot breeze blowing over the Battery providing no relief whatsoever, looking out over the sea but not standing too close because damn it was really hot, complaining about all the crap for sale in the market and squeezing past the other sweaty tourists, and sitting on the park benches sweating and sharing a bottle of water... not drinking so much as to be rude and not leave enough for the other, but just enough to not shrivel up like a dried prune, desperately waiting for the moment to end). Good times.

Actually, it was good times. My parents lent us their new rental car (a Hyundai Sonata with all the bells and whistles... we could even see how many miles we had left to drive on each tank of gas and we could set the temperature in the car to a particular degree and it would automatically engage). We went down for my birthday, and we arrived on Saturday afternoon after a trip that involved a failed attempt to eat lunch at a Cracker Barrel -- really, we should've known better, those places are always packed -- and finally settling for a Bojangles near Lumberton where we ate the sort of food you can get at a Bojangles, prompting Edo to look around the restaurant and say "sometimes your people make me feel sad". I know Edo, I know.

Once we arrived in Charleston, we checked into our hotel, and we went into town to eat dinner at 82 Queen which my Uncle David introduced me to a year ago and got me hooked! On the way to the restaurant, we walked through the Charleston Place shops and saw a woman with a black dress walking past. Sometimes I think Edo forgets that I'm not one of his male friends (only sometimes... other times he's keenly aware that I'm all woman, but this is a PG blog so we'll leave it at that) and he looked at me as if to say "wow, check her out!". I stomped my foot, Tiffani-style, and said "I'm wearing a pretty black dress too!" and then laughed. He said "Tiffani, you know you're my favorite" and I said "I'd better be your only". Then we walked on to the restaurant.

82 Queen is famous for its She-Crab Soup, so we shared a bowl of that. Then Edo had the Grouper with tasso ham gravy over grits (it was good, but not as good as the Shrimp N Grits we had in Savannah) and I ate the stuffed tomato over tempura-fried julienne eggplant. For dessert we ate creme brulee with a glass of champagne. It was really delicious. That was Edo's birthday present to me, along with a CD from Manu Chao and a book called The Unbearable Lightness of Being. The meal was very romantic and the atmosphere was charming. I highly recommend that restaurant for a romantic date.

On Sunday, we went for lunch at a place called Sermet's Corner where we shared a plate of penne with creamy red sauce, shrimp, calamata olives and feta. The food was pretty good but the problem with feta and calamata olives is that they are such strong flavors that they pretty much drowned out the flavor of the shrimp and the pasta. And the air conditioning wasn't working very well so it was pretty hot. But it certainly wasn't a bad meal.

We then walked around the Market, bought some benne seed wafers which are my favorite thing about Charleston, and sat in the pastry shop for about a half hour drinking water and talking. Edo mentioned that he's missing pastry shops like they have in Europe, and I agree. There are two French pastry shops in the Raleigh area, but no Italian ones. He seems to be flirting with the idea of moving back home one day. I wouldn't be opposed to living in Italy.

After we cooled off, we made the trek back to the car and drove down to the Battery

where we walked around, took photos of the architecture of the homes and the sea, and then sat on the aforementioned park bench sweating like mules. Then we went back to the hotel for a swim.

When we arrived at the hotel, a storm rolled in so that nixed our plan to swim. So we watched TV for a bit and then headed back into town to have dinner at California Dreaming which Mom and Dad kindly paid for as my birthday present (along with the hotel, plus some work clothes later on in the month!). Our reservation wasn't for about an hour, so at first we stopped in O'Malley's Irish Pub to have a drink. It wasn't busy at all but it was a pretty nice atmosphere, and the bartender was very nice. He gave us directions to California Dreaming.

Once we arrived at the restaurant, we had a short wait and then we were seen to our table. This particular restaurant is known for it's fantastic view of the city, the sea, and the marshes. So we had a lovely but filling meal (we shared an appetizer of croissants with honey-butter, then Edo had the fried shrimp with french fries, and I ate the shrimp quesadilla with a stuffed baked potato), and then we walked down to the little pier where we took pictures. The one thing we didn't get was the sunset, which looked like a huge red ball in the sky. But when we tried to take a picture of it, it didn't take properly. So we'll just have to remember that moment. We watched it move behind the horizon like you see in films. It was so beautiful.

After dinner we drove around Mount Pleasant for a bit and then headed back to the hotel. The next morning, we headed back up to North Carolina but instead of taking the interstate, we decided to take Highway 17 up to Wilmington and then take I-40 back to the Triangle. The drive was a bit slower but it was much nicer, and as we drove through the 17 Bypass at Myrtle Beach (which is still amazingly bad for traffic even though it's a bypass), we stopped in for lunch at a little restaurant called Anthony's Pizza and Pan Pasta.

We ate there mainly because we were really curious about what "Pan Pasta" actually was so we decided to check it out. What we found was, according to my Italian boyfriend, "the best pizza in America". So if you're ever in the Middle of Nowhere, South Carolina, definitely check out Anthony's Pizza and Pan Pasta because you will not be disappointed (the cannoli were really good as well).

When we got home we ate a light dinner and collapsed. It was a good weekend but it was nice to be back in the house and rest a while.

In August, we don't have plans yet but lots of options, so you'll find out when we do :)

Ciao!
Tiffani

June 2006 Events

Hi Everyone!

Well our June trip to Charlotte, NC (my cousin is doing a dance showcase) and Norwood, NC (to visit my Grandmother) got cancelled "due to circumstances beyond our control". However, all is not lost! The benefits are thus: we get to save a bit of money for an even better July trip over my birthday, and we are going out to dinner with a couple of friends this weekend to a restaurant which my friend swears is authentic Italian -- a pretty daring promise considering that my date is from Italy. We shall see. I have yet to eat Italian food outside of Italy, but as long as it tastes good, that's what matters. And a good wine list is always a bonus.

On top of that, even though we won't be leaving the Triangle in June, we have done and will be doing some pretty awesome stuff anyway!

My Uncle David arrived from San Francisco and stayed here for a couple weeks. It's always nice to see him, even though he was pretty busy with some personal stuff when he was here. He was able to make it to my family's first ever Pool Party and Pig Pickin', which my parents hosted in order to thank the neighbors for making them feel so welcome over the past 8 or 9 months, and to "officially" start the Summer!

The Pool Party started at 3pm, and the pool was populated primarily by neighborhood kids to begin with. I joined them shortly after 3 (I'm ashamed to say that I have lived in that house since September and I had never stepped foot in the pool until that day. But in fairness, much of that time was winter and I spend most -- OK all -- of my weekends with Edo).

One of my friends arrived around 3:30 and we swam for about an hour or so, and then other people started arriving right as I could feel my cheeks turning pink so I got out of the pool. After my other friends arrived, I was pleased to find that several of them had brought their swimsuits and happily went in the pool to cool off on that humid, hot day.

The party was catered by White Swan BBQ (no way were my parents going to get up at 4am to slow roast a pig all day!) and they brought a LOT of food. There was half a pig, fried chicken, plus potato salad, boiled potatoes, slaw, hush puppies, and sweet iced tea. Our friends brought over lots of alcohol plus, like six cakes, some of which weren't even opened :( No offense everyone! There was just wayyyyy too much food!

We ended up having about 80 people there, but several people were able to take home doggy bags with barbecue and sides and desserts.

One of my friends who's Lebanese brought homemade hummus and baklava, plus a fabulous aperitif called Blackhaus Schnapps which is a blackberry flavored vodka. Apparently "aperitif" can mean different things depending on who you're talking to, because I always considered it a drink along the lines of Baileys or Kahlua, at least as far as proof is concerned. But this stuff was 40% alcohol, which in my mind, qualifies as "hard liquor". But whatever... it tasted REALLY good! I highly recommend it!

One of my Dad's friend's from Indiana commented that apparently, The South has come a long way given the diversity of the crowd at this particular Pig Pickin'. Beyond the fact that there were white Americans and African-Americans present, the following countries were represented (and I mean these are people who are actually from these countries, not second, third, or eighth generation-ers who grew up in America but call themselves Irish or whatever): Italy, France, India, China, Nepal, Lebanon, and Turkey. Our Indianian visitor was impressed by the fact that everyone was getting along, there were no shootings, and no racial slurs. But to me, it demonstrates what a bad rap The South obviously still has in the rest of the country, because he's the only person who even thought twice about it! Sure, we still have racism and poverty and all of the things that embarrass most Southerners and that some Northerners like to use as an excuse for thinking they are better than us, but the fact is that the world I live in, the circles I run in, and the people I know are very open and tolerant. Why shouldn't a Turk, an Indian, and an Italian be able to enjoy a conversation over dinner? Food is international, and every culture communes over meals. So why wouldn't we all be able to do it together? *stepping off soapbox* At any rate, a good time was had by all, and that's what matters.

Last weekend, Italy and the US competed in a World Cup match that ended in a tie. This is a good thing because Edo and I were not forced to split due to national pride :) To be honest, neither of us particularly cares about who wins, but we did enjoy watching the game and spending time with our friends at The Federal Pub in Durham. However, just because we weren't concerned about the outcome, doesn't mean that nobody else cared. There were Italians and Americans, sitting dangerously close to one another in retrospect, who were shouting, biting their nails, bitching at the ref (but really, he did suck... three red cards in one game? come on... the only person who deserved the red card was the Italian who elbowed the American player in the eye). After the game, we went home, watched a movie, and had an early night. Man, we're too old to drink beer in the afternoon.

So there we have the June highlights. Even though there weren't any trips to be discussed, we still had a good time at home! My parents haven't made any sort of a commitment, but an annual Pig Pickin' would be really fun (hint hint Mom and Dad hehe)

In the famous words of Eeyore, "thanks for noticin' me"

~Tiffani