Shopping and Sightseeing

I spent today with one of the girls that I met at the HeartLink class. We went to two different malls in Pordenone, including the one with an H&M! Apparently, H&M is so not cool to Italians, but I love it! I got a super cute dress and cotton top there, and two tunics, a pair of shorts, and some leggings from other stores in the mall. And only one item was over 10 Euro! There is so much fashion inspiration here in Italy, that I want to buy trendy clothes. I love it! My fashionista nieces would love shopping here!

Then we drove up the side of the mountains and saw an AMAZING view of the town of Aviano and the base. I didn't realize how LONG the flightline really is! I'm really sorry that I didn't have my camera with me, but we did make plans to come back next week with cameras, so I may be able to post that next week.

Then, when I called Jake, he was on the golf course, so Meagan and I went to dinner without the boys at BEFeD. (Not a typo, the e really is the only lowercase letter in the name) They serve amazing chicken with french fries, yum!

A pretty fun filled exciting day in the life of a military wife.

Cinnamon Swirl Cake

I tried a recipe for a cinnamon swirl cake today. As you will soon realize, I don't really make anything from scratch. I love recipes that start with some kind of mix from a box, and then you add to it to make it better. Those"semi-homemade" recipes are the perfect kind for me! So if you have any favs, please share!

It comes from the July 09 Wives Cookbook Blog that I contribute to. Here is the complete recipe.

I loved the recipe! SO easy, and SO yummy too! I don't have my mixer here in Italy, so I had to hand beat the batter for 10 minutes (OK..really I only lasted like 5!) but it turned out fine. And I used two round cake pans instead of the bundt pan.

My ingredients


Here is the batter, right after I "cut in" the cinnamon/sugar mixture.

My final product. Don't make fun of the icing. I'm really bad at icing!

Happy Early Birthday to Jake!

Jake's birthday isn't until next Wednesday, but his gift came in the mail today. I told him he couldn't have it until next week, but he put on the charm and got to open it early.

I got him a Mr. Beer Home Brewing Beer Kit. The Brewmaster Deluxe kit, and let me tell you, it is for sure DELUXE. Tons of bottles, 8 different mixes, EVERYthing you might need to brew a lot of beer. He started a batch tonight, but it won't be done for at least two weeks. :(

Isn't he a cutie?

Pizza Pizza!

Since we are in Italy, I figured we should try making some of the local cuisine, so Jake and I made a pizza tonight. Well, I made the pizza. Jake sat at the table and kept me company. I used mozzarella and provel cheese, mushrooms, and italian pepperoni. I thought it turned out pretty good. At least as good as the cafes down the road!

Thank You

No news today. I had a very uneventful day. I did laundry and dishes while Jake was at work, then this evening we went grocery shopping. We are just a boring married couple now.

I did finish addressing my thank you notes. They have been done for two weeks now, just waiting for addresses, so now they are finally done and will be in the mail tomorrow. Now I don't have to think about ANYTHING wedding related!

Where in the World Are We?

When I tell anyone that we are living in Italy, they want to know where in Italy. I can say, "100 kilometers north of Venice" or even just "In the northeast corner" but for simplicity, here is where I live.

See the red star in the center at the top? That's our town, Fontanafredda.

Venezia

We went to Venice yesterday, so as promised, here is an extra long post with lots of photos!

One of my favorite pictures of us ever!

Rialto Bridge.

Grand Canal.

Just a small canal.

San Marcos Basillica.

The Campanile.

San Marcos Basillica.

Gondolas.

We have had too much Italian food lately, so we had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe!

In San Marcos Square.

Big Clock.

Close-up of San Marcos Basillica.

Jake likes his cappuccino.

Cartier, and an old building.

Just another small canal.

Window shopping!

Gelato time! By the way, the guy beside me is Jake's friend Chuck.

Jake wanted to share his gelato.

One last picture before we catch the train.
Drinking beer on the train ride home.