Venice, I love you.

this past weekend, we traveled to Venice, Italy for Carnivale. Carnivale is this huge Italian festival where people dress up in masks and costumes, throw confetti at each other, and basically have a huge party on the streets. As soon we stepped off the train and onto a boat ( since Venice doesn't have cars on the main land) my eyes went big from all the wonder. Venice is the most beautiful place I have ever been too, filled with color and life. I loved watching the children throw confetti on each other, letting the wind blow the colorful pieces all along the narrow streets, eventually making it hard to see an inch of cobblestone. We walked for hours and hours never getting tired because all we wanted to do was soak in as much as this wonderful place as we possibly could. We ate pizza for every meal, made friends on the train, and laughed and laughed and laughed some more for three days straight. Venice, I fell in love with you and I am so happy that you entered my life for those three magical days.

Photos By Evan Trine.

Lean with it, Rock with it.

On a rainy Sunday morning you will find me and my two roommates sitting around around our kitchen table, eating our eggs, talking about all the events that went on during our weekend. While we were in the process of this routine, I recieved a text from my friend Evan saying that we are leaving for Pisa in 30 minutes. We husseled as quickly as we could, ran to the train station, met up with the boys and 2 hours later we were standing in front of the leaning tower of Pisa. I enjoyed watching all the people hold their hands up as if they are holding the tower as much as I enjoyed the actual tower itself. After we did as many touristy things as we could, we headed back to the train station only to find that our train was leaving in a minute, and being the crazy kids we are, we sprinted ( like for real) down the tracks and jumped on the train as it was about to take off, laughing all the way to our seats.

Evan refused but I finally made him take a tourist photo.

Photos by the one and only Evan Trine.

Singing do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do

One of my favorite things to do in Florence is to put on my headphones, crank dem tunes up, and just walk. Its hard not to feel like you are on top of the world when you are struttin your stuff down the streets of Florence with some sweet music coursing through your veins. So I invite you to jump inside my ears and just enjoy the ride. This is my walkin playlist.

1. Adele- Rolling in the Deep

2. James Vincent McMorrow- If I had a boat

3. Die Alone- Ingrid Michaelson

4. Electric Feel- MGMT

5. Now My Feet Won't Touch the Ground- Coldplay

6. Sweet Darlin'- She and Him

7. Lisztomania-Phoenix

8 All Delighted People-.Sufjan Stevens

9. Dog days are over- Florence and the Machine

10. Ragged wood- Fleet foxes

11. Day tripper- The Beatles

12. You Ain't goin nowhere- Bob Dylan

13. First day of my life- bright eyes

14. The wind- Cat Stevens

15. Mrs. Potters Lullaby- Counting Crows

16. You and Me- Dave Matthews Band

17. Magic Words- Dusty Rhodes and The River Band

18. Om Nashi Me- Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros

19. Two weeks- Grizzly Bear

20. Boy with the Coin- Iron and Wine

21. Okay- KaiserCartel

22. When I'm alone- Lissie

23. P.Y.T- Michael Jackson

24. Stay with me Tomorrow- Patrick Park

For tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun.

Yesterday was absolutely lovely. We anticipated the rain since it has been pouring the past couple of days, but we woke up to a lovely surprise of sunshine. We decided to venture around our neck of the woods and ended up and the Boboli gardens, which so happened to be breathtaking. The gardens are acres and acres of pure green and secret spots. We had so much fun just following the hidden paths and seeing where it lead us. We were seriously blessed with such a warm and wonderful day, and I look forward to many more of them.

in with the new, out with the old.

When it's midnight and you are starving because you have been studying so long, there is only one pick me up possible in San Diego. That being the famous Cali Burrito. For those of you have never heard of such a treat, it involves carne asada, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, and french fries.. 1000 calories of pure goodness. So when we moved to Florence, we were troubled with the thought of not having the midnight snack run privilege, because other then clubs and bars everything shuts down around 9..Until one day we stumbled across the Kabob. And let me tell you, our world was rocked. So my darling readers I would like to introduce you to the Kabob. Open 24 hours filled with fresh yumminess from Istanbul, and get this the kabob is actually some what ok for you, at least thats what they tell me. So cali you are missed but I have moved on. And just like grey is the new black, and Justin Bieber is the new Joe Jonas. The Kabob is the New Cali.

and then while I'm away, I'll write home everyday

and I will send all my loving to you.

Leah Willis

cfo fua- Florence University of the Arts

Via Magliabechi, 1

50122-Firenze -Italia

I like twardles.....

and letters, and pen pals

I got all ma sistas with me.

I am very blessed having these two lovely ladies in my life. They keep me crazy, they keep me sane, and most of all we have fabulous dance parties in our living room. Thank you Lauren and Stephanie for being my Florence sisters.

So darling, throw away the key

As you stroll along the Ponte Vecchio, you will notice hundreds and hundreds of padlocks clumped together on chains. Legend has is that if you and your loved one attach a padlock to any surface of this famous bridge and throw the key into the Arno river, your love will last forever. Everday as I walk side by side with the river I glance at this bold statement and the people who have fled to Florence in order to lock their love away.I can't help to daydream about all the different kinds of love, people, and stories that had stood before the Arno river sharing a truly magical moment together. I think about how long these locks have been here and if the couples that threw their keys into the river still feel the same way they did in that one second when their keys hit the sparkling blue and green water. And since today is Valentines day and I am in fact a hopeless romantic,I choose to believe that their love is securely latched for all to see.

Happy Valentines day my darlings.

sending you all my loving.

the family that eats together stays together

There are things you do because they feel right and they may make no sense and they may make no money and it may be the real reason we are here; to love each other and to eat each other's cooking and say it was good. - Brian Andreas

Every week we switch off making dinner for the boys and the boys making dinner for us. So on Wednesday night all 7 of our boys piled into our little home as we made them gnocchi with a homemade alfredo broccoli sauce, mozzarella with basil,oil, and vinegar, and bruschetta from scratch.( I was proud of myself for that one, since it was my baby.) As we sat around our living room watching Italians funniest home videos, laughing, and sharing a meal together, I realized how in only a few short weeks we have made a little family for ourselves. And with that, I couldn't help but feel extremely blessed.

Guilty Pleasure

As I mentioned in the previous post, Steph and I have become quite the Gelato concours. Our favorite has to be the Gelato shop on our street. It is only 1 euro for a cone filled with sweet wonderful goodness. Yesterday after a long walk around the city, we justified stopping and getting our favorite snack for the 5th day in the row. Am i ashamed?... not even a little bit.

currently thankful for

- warm jackets

-cappuccinos

-1 euro croissants

-getting out of class early

- Lauren, Stephanie, and Evan

-having internet at school since my home is still like the stone age

- being able to talk to my darlings in the States

- Glee voiced over in Italian

- new friends

-getting Gelato everyday on my way home with Steph

- listening to Sufjan Stevens as I walk to class

- pasta tuesdays

- Italian Beatles cover bands which I will be seeing tonight.

it's the freakin weekend baby gonna have me some fun

This weekend was perfect. from start to finish. so here is the breakdown of our lovely 3 days.

Friday: After getting a glorious nights rest, the girls and I woke up to pure sunshine. So we got ready as quickly as we could, left our big coats at home and went and met up with the boys for the chocolate festival which was heaven on earth. Then we all decided to hike up to piazza michelangelo to gaze at our beautiful city of Florence, where we sat in the sun soaking up every bit of beauty we could. The day continued when we went to a karaoke bar, where the ladies killed it with hit me baby one more time. ( dedicated to Paige Milgrom of course) And the boys didn't do so bad themselves.

Saturday: The morning kicked off with Steph, Lauren, and I making the boys a old fashioned american breakfast of eggs, bacon, potatoes, and toast. The day was followed by laying around before heading out with the gang to explore the town.

Sunday: Since today is in fact my wonderful roommate laurens birthday( happy birthday lo!!) Steph and I spent sunday wandering around town searching for a gift for Lauren. After we found something we though was perfect for her we rewarded ourselves with McDonalds french fries and milk shakes. then we ran into the boys as we splurged on H&M goodies for ourselves. The night was finished by going to our favorite spot the club house where we all watched the super bowl and feasted on hamburgers, hot dogs, and buffalo wings.

So Thank you weekend for being so good to me. You were truly loved.

Please enjoy some of the pics I snapped this weekend.

Photos by the great Evan Trine.

well thank you IPhone.

well since I am such a slacker on the photo front. ( which I am kicking myself about) Please enjoy the lovely view of Florence via my IPhone. And I have to say it's not tooo bad.

Purple toes for dayz

When you happen to walk an average of 3 miles a day in newly bought Steve Madden boots, your feet will start to feel the repercussions of it, I know mine do. With every step on the beautiful cobble stone streets, my feet seem to scream out with agony. I feel as each toe is saying "why, why are you doing this to me? Do you hate me this much?" The feeling eventually turns from pure pain into numbness, this is where I find peace, cause after all I can't feel them. Because Lauren, Steph, and I try to avoid complaining ( cause after all we are in the MOST beautiful city ever) we have coined the phrase purple toes. simply meaning. my feet hurt so much that they have changed from their soft pale nude color into a bright purple due to the swelling. So every now and then while we are making our trek from our lovely little home to the other side of the river, one of us will turn to the other and gracefully recite the words "purple toes." and when you just can't take it anymore it only takes on simple phrase... "purple toes for dayz." And let me just tell you, there is no such joy as ripping dem boots of your feet, and slipping into a nice cozy pair of socks, and like that the toes stop yelling and are happy.