The Last Week in Italy & .... HOME!!!

The last week in Italy consisted of tonnnns of gelato (yogurt flavor mostly; it's SOOO good!), crepes, pasta, and bread. It was kind of crazy because instead of trying to maintain some sort of figure I thought "oh well, I'll be home to diet soon enough" and just went crazy.
The Tuesday before I left everyone that I'd become close to came to a sort of "going away party," if you will, for me. And they all tried to wear some sort of pink...just for me! That is how incredibly sweet and thoughtful the friends are that I made there. We had a delicious and huge aperitivo at Lab 16 and then went to Karaoke. Karaoke was absolutely fantastic. Hester & Andrew sang Eye of the Tiger, Alex & I sang Total Eclipse of the Heart (but a weird stupid version with extra verses).... and many more songs. It was a blast...and totally weird to think I wouldn't see most of those people again for a long time, or maybe ever.
The rest of the week I got to spend more time with Alex, Lillian, & Hester... & then was able to see Dide one more time on my last day before I left. Saying "bye" to everyone was horrible... I just wanted to cry all day that day. At the end they all gave me the sweetest cards/ little gifts & then I just wanted to cry more. I couldn't have ever asked for more amazing friends to spend an incredible three months of living/learning/experience/travel/fun with.





After too long of a flight for my liking I was back in Dallas. It still blows my mind that I can get on a plane in Italy and end the day in Dallas, Texas. I lugged all my suitcases through customs and cried when I saw my mom again. What's the first thing I did then? Went to Walmart with my mom on the way home of course! ;-) I got Nutella, fruit, and vegetables...you know..the essentials. Sadly, I next arrived at home and stepped on the scale, so the Nutella has yet to be opened. Probably the biggest most noticeable and shocking differences to me when I arrived were 1) the friendliness of EVERYONE. I love it. And I'd missed it SO much. 2) The driving... not like maniacs. 3) the enormous selection of products. I was looking for my favorite cereal from Italy in the cereal isle... I walked down the whole 30ish foot isle looking for it...the entire isle was cereals. Then I turned around to the parallel shelves, and there was more. 4) The weight of people here. Probably Walmart wasn't the best place to be observing. But I'd say most people are probably 10-15 lbs on average heavier than Italians. 5) I don't have to breath clouds of smoke everywhere I go! yaaay! 6) Water is free and public restrooms exist...YAY!!

I can't lie, it feels REALLY good to be home. :-)


In other news... my amazing boyfriend got a job at Ernst & Young in Columbus, Ohio. He worked so hard to get that position. With his intelligence, work ethic, incredibly personable, humorous,genuine personality, and not to forget stunningly good looks, there wasn't any way EY could NOT hire him. He blew them away in the interview & was hired by the time he'd driven half-way home. So I'll be moving up to Columbus, Ohio hopefully mid-June to finally start a life together with Brett. Now all I have to do is find a job (much scarier than it sounds! eek!).