Happy Birthday Husband!

Over the weekend my husband celebrated his 32nd birthday!

As most of you know we were planning on going away for the 3-day weekend, but with him being TDY we didn't know if he would be back in time.  I held off on booking anything, and then my husband  told me a few days before he returned home that he just wanted to hang out at home and relax after working hard for a month straight.  So, we just took it easy this past weekend and enjoyed being with each other.

I baked him his favorite cake for his birthday...yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting!

It turned out a little dry, but that's because my oven is stupid.

We went out to dinner on Friday night with friends, and had a great time!

Saturday, my husband informed me that he wanted to go golfing since it was a beautiful day.  I haven't golfed in about 2 years, so I told him that I would go with him but not golf.  I spent 2 hours walking 9 holes with him, and kept his score.  

We passed a group of guys playing halfway through, and one of the guys asked if we were dating or newlyweds.  I told him that we had been married for 2 years.  He then told us that there was no way in hell his wife would spend the day with him keeping score of his golf game.  After we walked away from them my husband said, "That's because my wife is cooler than yours." ;) 

We spent the rest of the weekend catching up on our favorite shows, got pedicures (yes my husband gets pedicures), and just enjoyed each others company.

One Year Down!

One year ago today my husband and I arrived at Aviano!  I seriously can't believe it's already been one year...it went by so fast!  We have 2 more years to go here, and then I'll be super sad to be leaving.  Yes, I'm one of the few spouses here who actually LOVE living here!

Since we only have 2 years left here the husband, and I came up with a list of places we absolutely want to see before we PCS out of here...

Dublin (hopefully going for my birthday in May)

Paris/Normandy

London

Greece (cruise)

Rome (we're going this summer)

Poland/Auschwitz

Amsterdam

Brussels & Bruges

Edinburgh

Lanzarote (Canary Islands)

Croatia (a few different places)

Egypt (obviously only if things get better)

That's it! ;)  I think it's doable!

Also, it's my husband's birthday today!  I'm off to go bake a delicious cake for him.  I'll post pictures this weekend!

Traditional Italian Dinner

Last week I had the privilege of having a wonderful 4 course Italian meal IN an Italian's home.  There's an Italian woman who has a wine shop in the BX (Raffa for those who are stationed here) who hosts Italian dinners in her home.  For €20 (per person) you get an amazing four course meal cooked, and served by her in her beautiful home.  It includes all you can drink wine as well!

First we had some antipasto...arugula tossed with balsalmic vinegar, bruschetta, and a little piece of bread that had cheese and honey on top.

Then we had penne pasta with a spicy delicious sauce!  There were thinly sliced pieces of zucchini in it as well.

Followed by chicken breast with a yummy lemon sauce, and roasted potatoes.

And then dessert which was AMAZING!  There were chocolate cookies at the bottom with a delicious cream on top.  Then some chocolate syrup with a little bit of cream on top.  It was to die for!

I can't wait to be invited to another one of her dinners again!  I'm planning on scheduling a dinner with her again when my family comes to visit as well!

Caorle, Italy

Last Sunday afternoon my friends, and I took a drive to a nearby beach town named Caorle.  This was my first time at this beach, and is now my favorite!  Caorle is situated on the Adriatic sea, and is about an hour drive from Aviano.

We walked along the beach after we got there, and searched for sea shells.

The Church of the Blessed Virgin of the Angel

After checking out the church we took a stroll along the carved rocks.  There were many, but these were my favorites...

After looking at all of the beautiful rock sculptures we headed into the actual town of Caorle.

The bell tower that dates back to 1048.

Cathedral of St. Stephan built in 1038.

I fell in LOVE with all of the brightly colored buildings.  

Caorle reminded me of Cinque Terre.

Great Weekend!

Hello all!

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!  I did despite my husband still being TDY.

My friends "adopted" me this past weekend.  We went to the movies Saturday night, and saw 'No Strings Attached'.  It was HILARIOUS!

Sunday we went drove to the beach, and spent the day walking around the town.  It was my first time to this particular beach.  It's my favorite so far!  Pictures of my fun-filled beach day will be posted later this week.

I did not stay up to watch the Superbowl.  I happen to LOVE football, but I could care less about the Steelers or Packers.  Plus I didn't feel like staying up until 12:30am to watch it!

Also, we've been have these BEAUTIFUL sunsets lately!  

Isn't it breathtaking?!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Wine Tasting & Lunch

Yesterday some friends and I went to a winery that's about 45 minutes away from Aviano.  I cannot remember the name of the town, but don't you worry...I saved the address into my GPS for future trips back!  I tried some of their vino at a friends house a few weeks ago, and I thought it was delicious!  So, we decided to take a trip out to the winery to pick some up. 

This trattoria was just down the winery, and had an amazing menu fisso (fixed menu).  I got lasagne with radicchio, a pork chop, spinach, red wine, water, and a cappuccino all for €12 (about $16).

I purchased 2 bottles of Cabernet Sauvingnon, 2 bottles of Malbech, 1 huge bottle of Diro, a 5 liter bag in a box of Refosco (about 6 bottles of wine), and 1 bottle of Pinot Grigio not pictured (was for a friend).  And yes, as you can see I only like red wine.  Give me some vino rosso secco (dry red wine), and I'm a happy girl!  The more dry the better too!  

The best part about all of this wine was that it cost €35=about $47!!! 

 Only in Italia! 

Festa della Zucca

Way back in October (or November...I can't remember!) the husband and I went to a pumpkin festival in the city of Venzone, Italy.  Venzone is about an hour drive Northeast of Aviano, and is a very scenic drive as well!  Venzone is a cute little town that hosts the Festa della Zucca (pumpkin festival) every year.

I loved all of the kitties hidden everywhere, because I'm am a cat freak.

The pumpkin carvings were amazing to watch!

This pumpkin is 452 kg = 996 lbs.

We had some delicious pumpkin pizza at this place.

The duomo

Next to the duomo they had a crypt with mummies inside...