Italy

Change is here. But first! Before we get into it, I want to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for supporting Surviving In Italy for these past ten years, for buying my book,…

You know that you’re making some questionable choices when you’re unphased at a dance club on a Thursday night when a young man lifts his shirt (displaying a tattoo on his stomach that says “Lizard”) to pull a gun out…

For years my in-laws have been harassing us about having a baby. “If you didn’t want children, why did you even get married?” They asked. So, when we found out that I was “expecting,” F was super excited to tell…

The governing force of the Italian people isn’t the Pope or the actual government. No, it’s a social norm that dictates how to dress, host, and behave in public and in social interactions called Bella Figura. Bella Figura literally means,…

I’ve written about this before but I get a lot of questions asking for travel tips so here’s an updated post on how I personally survive long trips. I’m a wuss. I truly hate to be uncomfortable so much so…

If you’re gonna have a holiday get together (and you should) then you don’t want to miss a chance to sip (or chug) some delicious Vin Brule. If you’ve been to Florence in the winter, there’s a chance you stumbled…

Alixann has been my wedding photographer twice. Francesco is my first and only husband (so far, just keep putting your socks in the wrong laundry basket, buddy), but we’ve been married three times total. Once in a courthouse, five days…

Hello everyone! I’ve been shakin’ things up lately with a design update, a new store, and now, a fancy new podcast called Bad Travel, available on Soundcloud (and soon on iTunes). Bad Travel explores wanderlust in a new light, the…

If you’re anything like me, you like little keepsakes that remind you of the places you’ve been. In Italy, it can be a little hard to find gifts that aren’t’ ridiculously overpriced or just really lame. I mean, how many…

Francesco and I were in Cassino, Italy, for two weeks for our niece’s communion. For those of you that didn’t grow up Catholic (like I didn’t), it’s a Catholic rite of passage and-let me google it. Wikipedia says, “In the…