Sub Ball after party

*John, Jake, Tom

*me and Kendall
*Me, Kendall, Abby

Submarine Birthday Ball

*me and Antonia
*Jake and Tom
*dinner
*Alyce and Jesse

Pizza

Jake made an amazing supreme pizza on his big green egg grill.

Yup, our kitchen is that small and scary.

Book Club

Naples Ladies Book Club is taking off! We have met twice so far and are having a blast. Next month, Everything is Illuminated.

*mac and cheese cupcakes:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/baked-macaroni-and-cheese-cupcakes-recipe/index.html

*the italian club sandwiches were a huge hit:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/mini-italian-club-sandwiches-recipe/index.html

Wine trip

A few weeks ago Jake and I jumped in the car and visited a bunch of small vineyards in the Benevento area:

Baby Shower

My dear friend Lindsay just had a baby boy. One of my book club ladies had the idea that we throw her a virtual shower on skype. Each lady mailed me their favorite kids book. She loved it!

Rice Salad with Chicken and Asparagus

Hey Ryders!

Had about as much black bean rice salad as you can stand? Try this out for a nice change:

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/rice-salad-with-chicken-and-asparagus

Party Planning

Jake and I are in the midst of major planning for our Great Gatsby Garden Party next month. Please pass along any suggestions you might have to make it more amazing!

*I just ordered this hat from Etsy. Love!
*I bought this dress, in mauve, from Zara. I will wear the tie below my hips to give the illusion of a drop-waist. Now I just need to find some gloves!

Long time no see.....

*horray for the new couch!
*flashback: saddest santa ever
*amazing chalk man

Is anyone still out there? It has been ages so I just wanted to let you all know we are still alive, just havent been taking many pictures lately.

Tea for Two

A dear friend of mine, Alyce, recently became engaged so I invited her over for some girly wedding chat. I decided to make snacks for an informal tea:

*Tea sandwiches: these prove difficult if you are not a big mayo/butter fan, since they are traditionally made by spreading one of the two on thin, crustless white bread and toping with either cucumber, turkey, egg, etc. Alyce is a vegetarian which made things extra tricky. Here are the two variations I came up with:

-Sharp cheddar, dijon mustard, arugula

-Pesto, cucumber, diced red bell pepper

For sweets, I made:

Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/earl-grey-shortbread-cookies-recipe/index.html

Lemon Blossoms

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/lemon-blossoms-recipe/index.html

Unless you have a death wish, I would not suggest using as much frosting as crazy Paula Deen calls for...I just drizzled the glaze on top and they were plenty sweet.

We snacked and drank ginger tea, yum!

New Years Eve

Jake and I flew home from America on 2 different flights and met up at the Sofitel Rome Villa Borghese for New Years Eve:

http://www.sofitel.com/gb/hotel-1312-sofitel-rome-villa-borghese/index.shtml

We fell into a random italian restaurant for dinner and all of the people were going crazy! The owner was setting off fireworks right outside the restaurant window and all the car alarms in the area were going off. They had a special menu for the night that we didnt know about so they just started throwing food at us- a meat and cheese platter, lentils with sausage, breads, risotto, pasta, steak, fish, fruit tarts....plus wine and prosecco of course!

A Granatino Christmas

I almost died laughing when I opened this- a Jane Austen action figure! My life is now complete, thanks John Granatino!

Frank and Rachel's new puppy

Fancy Ladies!

Miss you!