Thanksgiving in Florence

Happy Thanksgiving readers!

This year was a tad bit difficult for us but we made the very most of it and I have to say...we enjoyed it so much! This was the very first year both of us were celebrating one of our favorite holidays without our families. I'm not going to lie...I was sad thinking about thanksgiving leading up to it.  How will this work? Can we get a turkey in Italy? What do you mean I have to work Thursday and Friday? Will we get to make a wish with the wishbone????

We were invited by a group of lovely people to a dinner on thanksgiving day. After work Brandon and I brought over our dishes we made and had a great night with new friends. It was the best feeling celebrating a holiday with others going through what we were. Sure we are all in Italy for different reasons and lengths of times...but we all had one thing in common...being away from home. We are so thankful to have been a part of the amazing dinner!

Saturday was our turn to host a friendsgiving in our new home. Brandon ordered our 14 pound turkey from a local butcher, made the most amazing mashed potatoes and a sweet potato casserole that was to die for. literally i f**king died. I made cinnamon sugar cake balls and each guest brought a dish. It felt like home but with new friends and it was so nice!! We went through 10 bottles of wine and tried to understand as much Italian as possible. Success!

I am so thankful for my amazing husband. He does so much for us to make sure our lives are perfect. No matter where we are in the world he is doing everything and anything to make sure we are both happy. I am madly in love with that man and I can't thank him enough for everything he does.

I am thankful for my family who I miss more than words. Sometimes I feel so weak being so freaking homesick. "Brandi, it's only been 8 months...SNAP OUT OF IT". but I can't. We went from seeing our families all the time to niente. nada. nothing. so strange. BUT in 18 days I will be jumping on everyone!!! I am dying. My mom said it's not too early to wait at the airport. ;)

I am so thankful for our friends! Our LA friends and our Italian friends who have made Italy home. We love you all more than words and we are so thankful for your support! We honestly have some of the greatest people in our lives!

Oh ya, and if you were wondering...Brandon and I made a wish with our wishbone. :)

From my family to yours...we hope you had a happy thanksgiving and got to spend time with the ones you love.

Baci!
b

Halloween in Firenze

Happy [late] Halloween lovies! This year was special for me. Well...difficult and special. let me explain...

If you are a Blicious reader you know Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday of all! I love to dress up and be silly and especially because of this magical day. So, naturally I will do my best to go all out every year. I love to be creative and try and find the coolest couples outfit ever! My husband is the best trooper on halloween and I love that he dresses up for me...errr with me. :)

Italian's don't really celebrate halloween. Sure there are a ton of American bars around the center that did celebrate for us foreigners but it's not their thing. I am missing my friends so much. so much. and I just couldn't imagine a life without halloween. Not even for one year...so Hubby and I did what we could to make it one amazing night! We had costumes in mind but being that there are zero costume stores in Florence or even a party store for that matter...we had to lose our ideas and get creative. The local sex shops had the usual skanky costumes but for 80 euro and above. No grazie! We went to the tutto 99cent store, an art store and our closets to put together these awesome costumes. ha! we DIY'd and boom...clowns were made!

We clowned around all night and had the best time! We partied at Monkey Bar with our amici! My goal when we moved was to meet people who would be lifers and we have been so lucky to become friends with some amazing people. It's not easy meeting people in Florence and all I wanted was to make friends in our new hood! I loved that our Italian friends were in to dressing up like we were. ((with our encouragement of course...chanting BE AMERICAN!)) It was so fun dressing up with the cool Italians who did celebrate! Running around Florence in a clown outfit was awesome! [can we do that more often?]

I hope you all had a happy halloween!

xx
b

La bella vita- More Siena!

In addition to this post with our trip details through Siena...I just had to share some of our favorite pictures with ya'll. There are no words to describe how beautiful this place is. The colors are out of a pantone book. perfection!

and...AND we went to a castle!!!!!!! gahhhh

Most pics taken by my talented hubby.

xx
b

48 hours in Siena

Ciao!

I am so excited to share this post with you guys. If you ever have 48 hours in Italy we highly recommend the trip below.

These are some for the best 48 hours I have ever spent with this guy. We had the most amazing couple of days in the following order:::

1. Rented a car (first time doing this in Italy and it was AMAZING!) We got our car at Maggiore and it was so easy. It was brand new and we had unlimited miles. We didn't need to get gas once in 2 days. So nice! We were able to drop it off at any time the next day which was so convenient. 
2. We started our journey by driving out of Florence. We went through a couple toll roads which was so cool. Italian toll roads! We admired the open roads and it felt so nice to be in a car, blasting the radio and staring at my husband. This is what life is all about! Having fun! We drove to the Terme San Giovanni hot springs and relaxed our faces off. This place was a natural water park. It was 15 euro per person to get in and so worth it. 
3. After the Hot springs we drove to our hotel Borgo Casa al Vento which was magical. It is set on a hill in the middle of nowhere. Dirt roads and all. The scenery is to die for. Pure heaven! We had dinner at our hotel in a romantic cave. Did I mention to.die.for.??
4. We woke up and took a morning walk around the property and fell in love. The colors in Siena are like nothing I have ever seen before. It all seems like a big painting! All we did was point in different directions and "oohh" and "ahhh". dreamy.
5. We checked out and ended up at Castello di Brolio which was by far the coolest site to see. An 800 year old castle! A CASTLE. I repeat a CASTLE!! On a hill that had the most beautiful views we have ever seen. I seriously couldn't have dreamt up a more beautiful place! I wanted to time travel back and live there looking over the walls waiting for my prince Scarpelli to come and scoop me up. Wearing a flowy dress and dancing around the castle with my hair in braids and my white horse and my own wing of the castle...ok, ok...... I swear there was a feeling in the air that I will never forget. Just magic! 
6. We headed to Officina della Bistecca where we had the best meal of our lives. Dario Cecchini was so nice and the whole experience was incredible. This place is for meat lovers only. The unlimited wine, 7 courses of the most delicious meats, the atmosphere, the people, the salt mixture...ALL of it was perfection. Bravisimo!

There you have it! 6 amazing ways to have the best 48 hours and to fall completely in love with your husband all over again. I didn't think I could love that guy any more but renting a car and going on a beautiful adventure was perfect. I loved every second.

 
48 HOURS IN SIENA from Brandon Scarpelli on Vimeo.

Thanks to my sweet husband for making this special video! ti amo fino alla fine!
We hop you enjoy it!!!

baci!
b