Mangia, Prega, Ama

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert has officially become my summer must-read, for obvious reasons. It will also probably be one of the few books I get through over the next couple of weeks, considering I am attempting it in Italian. Beginning in Italy, it is Gilbert’s story of the search for happiness and satisfying a desire for adventure. I shouldn't be able to relate to a recently divorced 34 year old, but as I watch a number of my 20-something friends get engaged and beginning to settle down, I am given a brief flash-forward of what life could be like had I made the same decisions. She talks about living in Rome, meeting a multitude of men about my age or slightly older (where are they?), immensely enjoying conversation over too much food and wine, and inevitably ending the evenings alone (I think so anyway, it’s all in Italian....). I’m hoping that by getting all of this out of the way now, I won’t end up soul-searching for the very first time 10 years from now. As I’m sitting here enjoying a glass of wine (ok, two) and one of my many culinary experiments, I realize that my life looks like a mix of scenes from Under the Tuscan Sun and Julia & Julia. If anyone decides to make a movie about a 23 ½ year old experiencing life and following dreams, could Kate Hudson play me? That would be wonderful, though I’m sure Elizabeth is satisfied with Hollywood’s choice of Julia Roberts for the film rendition of her story. I’m looking forward to reading on and being inspired by the ‘do’ attitude Gilbert has. Anyone can talk about stepping outside of their comfort zone and doing the things they’ve always wanted to, but she actually did. I think that there is a lot to be admired in that kind of courage-I can only hope to channel and hold onto some of it myself!

I spent this weekend with my friend Luca in Florence and at the beach. I met Luca a few years ago, while I was studying in Florence. He swears I hit on one of his friends first, in the karaoke bar where we had all been hanging out. I won’t deny it. I do have photo-evidence of an unattractive wine stain covering my otherwise pearly-white shorts, and it was my first weekend in Italy….so I probably did flash a quick smile Niccolo’s way. Either way, over the past two years, Luca has become an incredible friend and I always enjoy spending time with him, and our discussions about how I’m too traditional and he’s too liberal, or I’m too Catholic and he’s too kind-of-Buddhist. I even got him to read a chapter from Mangia, Prega, Ama regarding Gilbert’s definition of God while I was reading my book on the beach. Baby steps.

I am really looking forward to the rest of this week. I think I’ll take a trip to Lucca on my own tomorrow-it’s a beautiful little Tuscan town, where you can apparently rent bicycles and ride around the city walls. Sounds like a good day-trip to me. Also, my mom and dad will be here this weekend and I can’t wait! I wish my brother could join us, but at least we had a chance to visit for a week in June. We went out for Elisa’s birthday and after a 4 hour dinner somehow still felt the need to teach everyone how to take Irish Car Bombs. It’s kind of a Leary signature, and I do enjoy surprising my friends with the ease at which I can take care of a Guinness. Only Guinness though-I’m sure someone from college has the video of my first and last attempt at ‘shot-gunning’ a beer. I think I’ll stick to slowly enjoying a glass of wine.

Well, dinner is finished, and I am off to get some fresh air before calling it an evening. Ci vediamo!