This is Home

I was planning on telling all of you more about my European adventures, but then I saw the prompt for Juliette, Faith, & Allie's link-up.  Today for the Blog Everyday in July challenge, you're supposed to talk about your city.  And that made me think just how much I missed my hometown! After eighteen days of travel, I was definitely ready to get back to the familiar (but oh, so sad to leave the views and the food and the history and the . . . oh. Sorry.).  So, let's talk about the familiar!

I've lived in this small city an hour outside of Detroit for my entire life! (Well, minus 1.5 years of my life, but I don't remember them, so let's not consider that.)

Sometimes we get these really incredible sunrises that make me want to sing.  Except that would ruin the moment.  So I don't.  

Being located in Michigan means that my hometown sees all two seasons: winter and construction season.  Kidding, kidding.  We get a gorgeous range of new buds in the spring, green, green in the summer, crunchy leaves in the fall and an eternal winter that lasts twice as long as all the other seasons combined.  You do the math on that one.  

We have a cute little downtown with cute little shops and cute little parades that big city people think are lame, but I deem "cute."

Proof: My friend, who is from a much larger city, and I biked down to watch the Memorial Day parade that lasted pretty much all of seven minutes.  I loved it.  She didn't.  Oh, well. Can't please everybody.

We were a little late to the fro-yo game, but I am now proud to say that my hometown has not one, but TWO fro-yo shops.  You're pretty much ready to make my town your next vacation spot, aren't you?

If not, maybe this will convince you: we have a food truck! An actual, real life food truck with actual food that actually is pretty good.  I was really hesitant to go at first, but I'm really glad that I did.  It's so unique and becoming a definite feature of my town.  I hope it sticks around as long as I do!

More cool things about my town! In addition to our cute little downtown area that gets all dressy for Christmas and summer, we have a super classy strip mall.  No creepy abandoned buildings here! Everything is new and exciting and busy nearly all the time.  

Annnnd, for all you outdoorsy people, we have a metropark with lots of hiking trails, fishing spots and beaches to get your tan on.  Golf courses and ski hills? Yep, got those too.

If you aren't as in love with my city as I am, that's okay.  You have to live it to love it in my opinion.  However, I will offer one more point that may sway you: 

we have pie. 

An Open Letter to Gelato

Dear Gelato,

It was love at first sight.  Then, at first taste, I was ready to spend the rest of my life with you.  After indulging in your creamy deliciousness two times within six hours of being on Italian soil, I didn't know how our relationship could get any closer.

Hazelnut Chocolate - Verona, Italy // 4/5 stars

Amarena (cherry) - Venice, Italy // 2/5 stars

Sure, your tiny little scoops were wimpy by my American standards, but all that meant was that I had room for more! I paid the price for you and I didn't even flinch.  While I haggled to lower the price of €3.50 keychains, I put down the same amount of money to get two flavors of you in my belly with no problem.

Stracciatella - Venice, Italy // 4/5 stars

You offered me so much variety and choice.  I was never bored when I was in your presence.  Although, I do admit that occasionally you did cause a panic attack because I was next in line and still couldn't decide.  (Especially at that place in Rome that had 150 flavors . . . that was rough.)

Coconut & Nutella - Florence, Italy // 5/5 stars

Every relationship has their problems though.  That's just a rule of life.  Ours is no exception.  While you usually were the perfect escape from the scorching Italian sun, there was that one time where I took a chance and ordered a random flavor that left me trying to get the taste out of my mouth a few hours later.  I've learned to forgive that offense though because nobody is perfect.  Rule of life #2.  

After Eight - Florence, Italy  // 3/5 stars

To wrap this up, gelato, I just wanted to tell you that I miss you terribly.  Although my wallet may disapprove of our relationship, there will always be someone who doesn't understand.  It's hard on me because I can no longer look around and see at least five gelato shops within ten steps that allow me to indulge in you.  Instead, I can only look at the pictures and remember all the great times that we once had.  

Pistachio - Florence, Italy // 4/5 stars

Arrivederci, gelato.  Until we meet again! 

I'm linking up a day late with Juliette, Faith, and Allie to blog every day in July! (Disclaimer: I'm not going to blog every day in July.  That just won't happen. I'm too busy mourning the absence of gelato.)

Are you a gelato fan? What flavor is your favorite? Mine is definitely a tie between Twix, Nutella, and coconut! 

Smoothie Round-up

I love smoothies.
Let me say that again:
I. love. smoothies. A lot. 

My smoothie consumption is definitely higher than that of the average smoothie enthusiast.  My accomplishments include (but are not limited to) drinking a smoothie every day of the week, occasionally drinking a smoothie for every meal of the day and owning about five smoothie recipe books.  My mother is proud.

Since I'm obviously a guru here (#sarcasm in case you can't tell), I'll impart a little smoothie knowledge on you.  Some things I've learned about smoothies:

1) If using spinach, blend the spinach and your liquid first before adding the other ingredients. Otherwise you will have spinach chunks.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

2) Frozen bananas are the best thing ever because they make smoothies thick and you get to eat them with a spoon.

3) There's no such thing as too many smoothies.

With this being said, it would be cruel of me to tell you all this and not give you anything to practice your newly learned skills on, wouldn't it? Here's some of my favorite go-to smoothies:

(I have no measurements because I don't measure things out . . . sorry!)

• Chocolate Peanut Butter: (creative name, huh?) Sweet & thick. Tastes somewhat like chocolate ice cream or a Frosty to me!
• frozen banana (the more the thicker, as they always say)
• vanilla protein powder
• oats
• peanut butter
• cocoa powder
• water
• Orange Strawberry: So delicious! Not as thick as the CPB, but it's so fruity and the orange juice just makes the flavor perfect.
• Orange juice
• Strawberry yogurt
• Vanilla yogurt
• Frozen strawberries
• Frozen banana
• Tropical Greens: Pinapple-y and so, so green. But not thick. 
• Frozen pineapple
• Mango
• Spinach (remember tip #1!)
• Frozen banana
• Plain/vanilla yogurt
• Water

And there you have my three favorites! I also love to include frozen blueberries, raspberries, almond milk & flax seed in a lot of my smoothies. 

If you want some more ideas, feel free to swing by my Pinterest board dedicated completely to smoothies (another one of my qualifications)!

If you end up trying any of my favorites, let me know how you liked it!

P.S. If all is going according to plan, I should be somewhere in Greece right now! I'll respond to comments and update you on my trip as soon as I can get some reliable wi-fi!

Ciao Amici!

Obviously my post on how I'm learning Italian is going great if I had to google translate how to say "Hello Friends" before I even started writing anything. Yep, I'm pretty much fluent.

Despite that little setback there, I am pretty proud of the progress that I am making in it.  I started to learn Italian few months ago with this awesome FREE app called Duolingo.  Ever heard of it? I love it! I will admit that there are probably better ways of learning a language than a free app, but seriously, this was perfect for me.

(Bonus! While you're practicing to become multi-lingual, you get to stare at this cute little guy! If that doesn't convince you to try it out, you're a lost case.)

I wanted to somewhat be able to communicate common phrases while on my trip and I think (hope! I'm writing this the night before I leave!) that this prepared me pretty well.

For example, I know how to say "I have cats!"

Ready? "Io ho gatti!" See! Now I can tell every Italian that I come across and they will be so happy for me. (Do Italians like cats? If they do, we will get along so well.)

Also! Another fun bonus fact that relates to Italian: Did you know that the phrase "kapeesh?" actually comes from the Italian word "capisci," which means "Do you understand?" Woah. I figured that one out all by myself and my mind was so blown.

When I get back from my European adventure, I hope to continue to learn Italian so maybe one day I could have an entire fluent conversation about my cats.  Kidding, kidding.  Just a little though.

Anyway, I hope that you all have a great 4th of July weekend! I'll be sporting my red, white & blue somewhere by the Adriatic Sea.  And if the good ol' U S of A is still in the World Cup, you can bet your boots that I'll be cheering.

And if you're interested in checking out another language, I do recommend Duolingo! Warning: it can get addicting.

Are you multi-lingual?