melted smoosh

what. a. year.  i expected there to be some bumps along the road as we transitioned back to life in the States, but as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving here for the first time in three years, i've been blindsided by how much i actually will miss Thanksgiving at the NAC. that place really knows how to celebrate a feast in every sense of the word: emotional, spiritual, and gastronomical! the entire day was filled with purpose, from the sunrise Turkey Trot around Vatican City to an incredibly gorgeous liturgy to the gourmet meal, and necessary leisure time in the afternoon. moreover, our first Thanksgiving in Rome fell on St. Cecilia's feast day, and so that evening, we walked down to the Basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere to hear none other than the Sistine Chapel Choir sing for mass. as we walked back up the Gianicolo hill, Nick and i marveled at what incredible memories we were making. Thanksgiving 2018: Thanksgiving 2019: napkins shaped like bishops' miters in hon...

um, hi. we are on the last full day of our 14-day voluntary self-quarantine after returning to the US from Rome. and as we have spent the past two weeks hunkered down without stepping outside, relying on our fantastic friends and family to deliver groceries to us, we have watched the insanity continue to mount around us. it's hard to believe that my post about Lenten observances in Italy was written within this same month, let alone in the same year. like pretty much everybody else i know, our world has been turned upside down by the COVID-19 virus and it's difficult to imagine a time when we didn't know it was coming. but we didn't. at least, we didn't anticipate how directly it would impact our lives. i remember specifically the day that i first heard the NPR Up First news summary podcast mentioning the outbreak in Wuhan. the podcast was released on January 21, and described "international concern" over this new virus. i listened to it on Friday, J...

life is just beautifully, wonderfully, crazily crazy. two years ago i never would have dreamed that we would be contemplating moving to Rome for a year. and when we arrived in our own little apartment here in August 2018, my days were so filled with figuring out how to use the Italian dryer or how to ride the bus or how to communicate with the grocery store clerks that i didn't have the mental space to contemplate coming back for another year. and yet our expat friends all wisely assured us that the first year is the hardest and we should stay at least two (if not five!) years to make the most of the experience. well, at this point we are taking it one year at a time, but comparing this August to last August, i know it was the right decision to come back. we spent the last six weeks in the States, and it was so wonderful. Pittsburgh is home  home, and the Steel City welcomes us back with open arms every time we return. possibly my favorite picture of Kira, Auntie Extraordinai...