Monday, August 18, 2014

he found a wine he likes!!!!

it only took three and a half years
but
my beer only husband
finally 
found a wine he likes
and 
we found a beautiful vineyard to explore as well
our quest for this vineyard 
all started after we spotted a
50 euro
bottle of wine
at our local wine bar
why on earth was this wine 50 euro??
(note to readers, we are cheap winos
and
only spend avg 6-10 euro a bottle)
we saw the vineyard
on the label
google mapped it
realized it was only a couple of hours away
and
decided
to drive there
to try it
in 
hopes it would be cheaper there
then 
at the wine bar
enter
the drive up was gorgeous
 at the end of this tree lined road
sat the vineyard
(this picture doesn't do it justice)
the winery was founded in
1811
Giancarlo Begnoni
the head of the vineyard

was there when we came
and 
he provided us a wonderful tasting experience
without even setting up an appointment!
(perks of going mid week)
he gave us a brief history about the wine he "made"


and 
friends it is worth every penny!
it has only been made
seventeen times
in 
fifty years!
we even got to see the historical cellars
the oldest cellar
dates back to the 11th century!
it is dedicated 
to 
Santa Sofia
the newest cellars

were built in the 18th century
the tour was delightful
very informative

and the grounds were simply gorgeous

i apologize
i wish i had more
and
better pictures
but 
we had a two year old with us
and 
between 
wine tasting
chasing a two year old
and 
listening to the wealth of information from Giancarlo
(whom speaks mainly italian and i speak mainly english)
my photo opportunities were limited
but 
aviano folks 
take my word
drive the two hours 
out towards verona
and 
see this beautiful vineyard
and taste
the wine
it's extremely pleasing to the pallet
(do i sound like a wino yet)
 my beer loving husband
finally bought a case of wine
he calls
"all his"

love love
from 
aviano

Saturday, August 9, 2014

the fear of color

before aviano
before a toddler
i was a professional
i wore makeup daily
rewind a few years 
prior
to 
"professional"
and 
i was a college student
who lived with a girl
who 
LOVED 
makeup 
and was GOOD at it
lucky me!
she did my make up for EVERYTHING
even my wedding!!
while i never 
loved makeup
i did enjoy it
and 
wasn't scared per say to wear it
then aviano happened
and
lack of conveniences
mixed with a toddler
made for a 
bad bad bad 
makeup situation

let me paint you a picture
first aviano's bx
carries limited amount of makeup
there's
clinique, estee lauder, lancome
and 
your main drugstore brands
covergirl, almay, revlon, maybelline, and loreal
(no neutrogena which prior to aviano is what i wore)
 and 
there are very rarely any reps to help you color match 
at 
the higher end makeup counters
so options are
the bx
a sephora 30 minutes away
or 
online
but 
when you have a two year old in tow
you don't dare walk into to sephora
trust me i have
it's a disaster!
so
i mainly dealt with the bx selection
still
with a two year old in tow
which means very very little time to look

second
time to apply makeup 
changed drastically
after having a child
(mom's you know what i am talking about)
given the circumstances
and 
the fact i wasn't a professional anymore
and 
didn't have a true need to wear makeup daily
my makeup situation
was 
well honestly
very sad.....

enter
morgan
from 
 
 
  isn't she adorable!!
and
she's an okie!
not just any okie 
but
she's an okie 
that through multiple people
knows me
and 
my family 
she was one of the
"lucky" 
ones to be transplanted to aviano
and 
she is a licensed make up artist!!!
i proposed 
because i knew my sad makeup situation
and 
was kinda sacred to buy the wrong color
that we do 
a bx make up makeover
(thinking this professional make up artist would LAUGH in my face)
she agreed!!! 
and it made shopping so much easier
i took care of the kid
she grabbed a few colors
asked what i liked and then we checked out
went back to her place
and 
she demonstrated on half my face how to apply
then 
let me apply
but i am getting ahead of myself
so 
first here are the contents of my make up bag before our shopping spree
 
i know 
it's sad
AND 
the foundation bottle is empty
the fact is 
i had not bought any makeup 
since christmas 2013.
the lipstick was from christmas party 2011
the rest of the makeup 
well 
i really don't want to date it....
so
morgan had her hands full
or 
a blank slate
however you want to look at it
she asked me
"what look do you want to go with"
i said
"easy" 
haha
but after 3 minutes with my wonderfully energetic daughter 
she understood!
we grabbed some more foundation
then headed to the drug store side
after asking my budget
she started to grab
she would bring two or three colors 
of one product 
such as eye makeup 
to me 
while i was entertaining my tot
and 
she would explain why she picked each one
then
i made the decision which to keep
or 
to keep them all
we left with my make up bag filled with these wonderful products!
 it is exactly what i need 
to have a 
day look
and a 
night look
that i can transition to easily
and quickly
and it's a wonderful foundation
for me to start building back my inventory
when we get back to the states
and
i have more choices
the best part though
was having her show me
how to put on the make up
while it sounds silly
shouldn't i 
a thirty year old woman
know how to put on makeup?
yes
i do
know the basics
but
despite the lessons on pinterest
i wanted to know a few tricks/tips/etc
and she walked me through everything
even while my toddler was tormenting her house and her cute dog blondie
(again, morgan, i apologize for that!) 
so without further adieu
a before and after pic

i can not tell you how the couple of hours spent with her
boosted my confidence in trying new colors
(like coral on the lips or gold on the eyes)
and 
gave me confidence in application techniques in general

knowing i will reenter the professional world soon
i feel that i will go with a fresh look
and
one that i can manage 
every day!
in fact i was able to put on make up today and feel comforatable with it!

aviano folks take advantage of having her here!!!
even if you don't have a special event to go to
she can teach you SO much!!
 
 

and hurlburt field folks...

you are lucky to get her! 


thank you morgan!!!


love love from aviano! 




 










Sunday, August 3, 2014

a view only God could design

We decided to get away to Cinque Terre this past break
many speak of the beauty of cinque terre
but 
until you see it 
you really don't understand 
how beautiful it really is
cinque terre is a group of five cities
along 
the italian rivera 
the cities are
Monterossor al Mare
Vernazza
Cornigilia
Manarola
and
Riomaggiore 
We stayed at Riomaggiore
 at
the best thing about this hotel 
is 
FREE SECURE PARKING!!
the hike back from the shore to the hotel
made for a wonderful workout 
Upon check-in
we learned that two of the major hiking paths
via dell amore
and 
the path from manarola to vernazza
were closed
because of mud slides
so
we took the boat
from riomaggiore 
coast at riomaggorie
to
monterossor al mare
to enjoy the view of the coast
and
of course let the little one enjoy the boat
***travel tip***
if you want to go primarily for the beach
stay at monterossor 

at monterossor we took the train to vernazza
when in vernazza stop here 
 
was amazing
and 
had an abundance of flavors 
next 
we hiked 
oh boy did we hike
from 
vernazza to corniglia
this was a 4 km hike
with 36 pounds of toddler 
on my husbands back
 he's a trooper
at the halfway point 
we caught a breeze
and a nice little pit stop 
created by a local 
  
(there were quite a few four legged kiddos on the hike!)
but without the hike
we would have never seen these views
 





 once we reached corniligia 
we took the train
to manarola
 
 where i got to tote 36 pounds of pure cuteness
outside manarola 
about 30 minutes uphill
in groppo 
is the
you can buy all your wine here!!
cinque terre is known for 
sciacchetra
a very sweet white wine
it will run about 30-40 euro a bottle
they have other whites and reds 
that are in the 6-15 euro range as well
after manarola 
we headed back to 
riomaggiore
to enjoy a wonderful dinner
where i enjoyed
the traditional
trofie al pesto
it was delicious!
then the next day we headed to 
carrara 
to see the marble quaries that michelangelo used!
but that will have to wait!
until next time
love love 
from aviano