September 11, 2011

On this ten year anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, I am attempting to reflect on the way I felt during the aftermath of those events, marking the first day I ever felt terror in the sense that we acknowledge it today.  Being only fourteen, I could hardly grasp the gravity of that day and initially only succeeded in considering the effect it posed on my own family; most specifically my dad, and his working at SFO.  It was an event of unprecedented magnitude in my life.  As the days went by, I still worried about my family, but I also feared for my country, I mourned the lost, and I admired the heroism of my compatriots.  We sifted through the rubble and when we came out the other side, we had grown more united, more resilient, and more patriotic as a people.

Looking back on it all now I still feel shreds of the fear and sadness, but mostly I feel proud of the incredible sense of rebirth and camaraderie we have achieved as Americans.  I pray that the families of the 2,977 lost will in time find solace and that we as Americans will continue to rebuild the cracks in our collective foundation.

Love to all, and God Bless America.

Rificolona

Annually, September 7th is the vigil for the birth of the Virgin Mary, and Florence has a century-old tradition of a lantern-lit pilgrimage to the church of Santissima Annunziata in her honor.  Over the years this sacred festival has digressed into a parade from Santa Croce to Santissima Annunziata in which young children and families wander excitedly through town sporting their specially decorated lanterns.

Traditionally, peasants would throw rocks at the rich pilgrims to ruin their lanterns.  These days, it's an excuse for young boys to get away with shooting spit-wads at strangers.

Yes, I got hit.  And yes, it hurt.

This was the most beautiful lantern I saw all night.  Hand-made, and of the Duomo!

Give Me Everything

For Britt's and my Friend-aversary this year we went out to eat at a California-Italian fusion restaurant called Cucina Urbana.  My favorite thing I tasted there was a grilled fig and melon salad, modeled by Brittany below.  Afterwards, we went to take in the view at a rooftop restaurant called Mr. A's, where we watched airplanes landing with a spectacular backdrop of downtown and the harbor.


Saturday night Preetam, Shawn, and Ian came over for a BBQ at Brittany's place before we went out in the Gaslamp.  We ate all-American food, sipped on strawberry-basil martinis, and caught up on our increasingly fabulous lives.



Sunday night we headed to LA, got Indian take-out, and watched TrueBlood altogether before crashing at Ian's house.  His adorable dog, half daschund and half cocker spaniel, spent the evening being cute, and in return we spent the evening oohing and awing.  We were in LA to visit some friends and also to go see Conan O'Brien's show at Warner Bros. studios, where Ian works.  We took a walk after breakfast to kill some time before the show and also swung by the Huntington Library, where Charlotte works.

We weren't allowed cameras, but here's a screenshot from our show!

That night we met up with Charlotte and Andrew for dinner in Hollywood.  It was so fun driving around that area with the Hollywood sign behind us and a thousand other recognizable things all around.  Dinner was such a treat for me.  I feel like I didn't even talk that much, just looked around the table taking in my friends and reveling in having so many of them gathered around me all at once.  I don't think any of us realized just how much we would get separated after college--half of my close friends from study abroad are still littered around the world (I, of course, being one of them).  This trip really made me realize just how much I want to be closer to everyone.

¡Olé!

For my vacation within a vacation, the family and Tia Diane headed down to good ol' San Diego. I couldn't believe it had been well over a year since I'd been there, and an incredible 8 months since I'd seen Brittany. We did our usual beach-walking, BX-hopping and seafood-indulging, as well as the traditional Tour de Del.

We reunited with Brittany for dinner in Old Town, at the restaurant formly known as Casa de Bandini, and (not so) newly christened The Cosmopolitan. How's that for vanilla? It was very handsomely decorated and had delicious tacos.

The waitress didn't write down any of our six orders, assuring us she has "a very good brain". She then proceeded to mess and mix up Britt's and my tacos. But it was ok, we got a good laugh and extra tacos out of the deal!


After dinner, we strolled around Old Town, finding lots of local flavor to entertain us.

One day, we left the boys to fend for themselves at the hotel and hopped over to the only real resort on the island, the Hotel Del Coronado. It just never gets old! We peeked into the shops, walked the grounds, and even tried on thousand-dollar cashmere and mink capes (not too shabby).

Another night we boarded the Coronado ferry and met Brittany at The Fish Market, where I induldged in my favorite seafood cioppino, bib and all.

Who knows what this was about:

Them there be fightin' words!

On Saturday the family headed home, but I stayed on to visit with friends for a few days more...

I missed BBQ sauce...and my family

My aunts and uncles recently came over to visit me while I'm home, and we had a lovely barbeque at the house. I unfortunately haven't been able to see everyone on this trip, but hope to make that happen next time! I'm just lucky the whole gang hasn't disowned me yet for traipsing around Europe.

My cousin Ashley just got engaged, and she asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding next fall-what an honor! I've never been in a wedding before and am so excited for all the fun activities that are sure to surround her big day. Here's the five cousins that were present, celebrating the exciting news:

It took us all a while to recover from ribs and other southern delicacies and to gird ourselves for dessert, but it seems there's always room for strawberry shortcake.

And here's my favorite family member, Emma, modeling for the camera!