So far...

I love this year.  2013 has been the best year yet.  In general, every year seems to be getting better and better and this one hasn't disappointed.  I don't want to ruin my blog fodder for new year's eve so I won't list all the cool stuff that has happened this year.  Let me just say that today I love 2013 because tomorrow is our Italian designated Thanksgiving and David and I are not hosting it this year.  Yes, having my entire family here for my cousins' most awesome wedding made 2013 memorable but right now I'm ecstatic that 2013 is our off year. 

Ok, a little behind the scenes note:  I just asked David how you spell ecstatic and he said, "what's ecstatic?" "ME.  I'm ecstatic because I'm not cleaning the house and cooking a big ass turkey because we are having 12 people over for a feast tomorrow."  To which my husband looked at me and said, "cooking a turkey?  have you ever cooked a turkey?"   Yeah, ok, good point.  I'm really happy that I'm not cleaning the house and making my grandma's green beans and that David is not cooking everything else involved in hosting thanksgiving.

Really, I'm not lazy.  It's just that cooking and cleaning are right up there on my list of least favorite things to do.

Hanging out with our friends and extended family (on the dogs' side) is however right up there on my list of favorite things to do.  So, in prep for going to friends' Christine and Valerio's super clean house for a feast of food they've prepared, I am doing this, my usual off-year contribution to thanksgiving..



Where I take these greasy, hard craisin-ish things, pretend that they are cranberries....

And pretend that these mandarins are oranges

And whip up a concoction that we will all call cranberry sauce tomorrow.  I can get away with this because the only americans at the dinner, who know what real cranberry sauce is, are David and my dear friend Christine.  And they won't say anything.

So, here's to 2013.

So we took a mini holiday.  11 years living 1 hour away from Nice, France, we decided that it would be nice to go to Nice.  Yeah, ok.  We have BEEN to Nice before but just for an airport visit or maybe a morning at the market in the old town.  We wanted to be tourists. 

David found this awesome hotel right on the coast where we had a balcony picnic lunch.

Ok, that's the end of the story about our trip.  We only made like 3 photos.  No, not "like" 3 photos.  We made 3 photos. I'm sorry about that now as I try to write a blog post, but at the time I was happy not to be behind the camera.  It was fun to just be enjoying the visit without trying to capture it.

We were only in Nice for a day and a half but in that time we were able to explore the whole old town area, enjoy the view from our hotel room, have an amazing French meal at a small local place ( La Route du Miam-- I highly recommend it.  make reservations, there are only about 6 tables), and visit the Chegall museum (also very worth while!).

We also spent a night in Menton.  Not much to say except Menton is lovely town but much lovelier when the weather is nice.  On the way back home we stopped at an Italian mountain town above San Remo.  Check this out:

A church is way more impressive without a roof.

Ok, so that's about the end of the history's most boring post.  Sorry about that, I think I'm out of practice.

One last thing...

Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day....

It's such a beautiful day today.  Really so beautiful.  The sky is that amazing autumn blue color, the temp is a glorious 68 degree (F) with a slight breeze.  The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the dogs are sleeping... It's a nice day.

In fact, it's such a nice day that it doesn't even bother me that my brand new tire got a puncture.  Who cares, it's just a tire.

So beautiful that I don't even give a shit that my new birthday sweater is too big.  Whatever, I'll make another one.

So fantastic that I'm not even worried that the neighbor seems to be constructing a 20 foot fence directly opposite our house.  Fine, no problem.

It's such an amazing day that even these look beautiful to me...

knowing damn well that in just a couple weeks those little fuckers will need to be picked....

on a day that will most likely be 20 degrees (F) and rainy. 

Happy Sunday.