Why my Christmas was better than yours

1. Brother Ben's hand-wrapped gifts:


2. Josie trying to make out with Sam:


3. The view from home - SO Maine.


4. Tiny people that help you make Lemon Meringue Pie and pretend you're a kid again:


5. Christmas Breakfast - You all can have your bacon and eggs. I'll take Mom's cinnamon buns and Mimosas:


6. I won $1 when I sat down to Christmas dinner, you?


7. Real life little angels:



8:

matrimonio all'italiano

My first Italian wedding was understated, classy and fun - just like Soana, the bride. The elegant dress and tux...




...the 3-minute civil ceremony held in the evocative Terme di Caracalla ancient baths...

...the cozy reception hall



- complete with fireplace - where we dined over 4 courses and approximately 14 different desserts (including the official wedding cake - a mountain of profiteroles)...



...it was all almost as breathtaking as Soana herself.

farewell to spinsterhood

My ex-coworker and friend Soana is getting married on Sunday here in Rome and last night was the bridal shower/bachelorette party - "addio al nubilato" - which roughly translates to Farewell to Spinsterhood! Amen to that.

We went to a cabaret show in Ostiense - despite a mediocre meal and a comedian that I could understand perhaps only 60% of the time, it was a blast.

Eat your heart out

For the first time this season, it really felt like Christmas to me last night. Tina invited me over to make gingerbread cookies and with our homemade Christmas CD playing in the background, her Charlie Brown Christmas tree twinkling in the corner and the smell of molasses, cinnamon and ginger wafting from the oven, the spirit creeped over me. The bottomless prosecco bottle(s) may have had something to do with that. It also may have had something to do with the unusual form some of our hand-cut cookies took on.

Flavio - what do you think of the cookies??

Grazie Roma

...or so the cheer goes, when the AS Roma soccer team wins their game, as they did last night - and we were there!

The soccer stadium is a beautiful thing, especially at night. As Sam, 2 co-workers of mine and I approached the stadium, the one Roman with us was full of warnings and stories about riots and wild fans and rules about what to do and what not to do in case of riots or violence at the stadium. The opposing team, Atalanta, is famous for their rabid fans and their rivalry against Roma, so even though this was not an important game, anything could happen.

It appeared foggy as we approached - but upon opening the car window we realized it was smoke and not fog. From what, though??

As we walked into our section, security made me remove and give up the cap to my water bottle. This was to prevent me from throwing it.

And as we found our seats, we saw ALL the Atalanta fans quarantined like sheep in this one section, next to our section, surrounded by the riot squad. This was going to be fun!!!

Atalanta scored first, which ignited total chaos in their section - objects (such as flares - hence the smoke) were flying everywhere betweenour sections and my ears were buzzing from all the cheers, chants and excitement.

But in the end, superstar Totti saved the day - again - scoring on both of his penalty kicks:

...after which he performed his usual celebratory gesture of sucking his thumb, in honor of his new and expected babies...

It was a fabulous night - so thrilling!! I want to try to follow Italian soccer more closely now, especially since Roma is in 2nd place, and because next weekend there is the Derby - the 2 Rome teams (Roma and Lazio) play one another! I will be staying far far away from the stadium then.

I think this was the highlight of Sam's trip thus far. Mostly we've been walking around, chatting, drinking wine, comparing cultures and food and taking it easy. Today we are resting up after our night of celebration and then heading to the Christmas Market in Piazza Navona - I think I might need to buy myself a Roma jersey while there....

(all photos are Reuters copyright)