Wedding Dress Shopping: An International Affair

When we say this is an international wedding, we don't just mean the location. Even the finer details such as the wedding dress hunt has turned into an international ordeal with the search spanning 3 countries, Switzerland, England and the US.

First Stop: Zurich with my maid of honor July 2011
Just a week or two after the engagement, Katie was visiting from Wisconsin. I wasn't mentally ready to start looking for dresses but I couldn't pass up having the experience with my best friend. It was a laugh of a day. I tried on some massive ball gowns with the tightest corset! This is an Italian wedding my friend, I need some room to 'expand' that evening as we eat the 5 course meal!! Not to give anything away, but I will not be wearing a princess poofy dress to the wedding. But apparently here in Switzerland "it's what most people want."

Second Stop: Buffalo NY with my mom, sister and nieces August 2011
This was a quick trip to NY and I really wanted to have the wedding dress shopping experience with my family as well. The store was very crowded and it was hard to even look in the mirror. We were quick to discover that my tastes are greatly different to that of my mom and sister! My youngest niece, Skyler gave me thumbs up on all the dresses. I did not find anything I loved here either.

Third Stop: London 2 days, one solo and one with Rachel, September 2011
I started liking the dresses better in London but I never had the 'aha' moment. I started thinking that maybe I wasn't one that would get emotional when I found the dress. I learned that I don't have conventional taste in wedding dresses and wanted something a bit different. I was thinking about picking one of my two favorites in London but I was heading to the states soon and I wanted to wait until after that trip before making a decision.

Fourth and final lucky stop Bonita Springs, FL with Kimmie and Stefanee, September 30th, 2011
I was heading to Florida to see all my best high school friends and to see one of them, Allison get married in a beautiful beach wedding. My friend, Kim is getting married a few weeks before me. She had a dressed picked out but it was discontinued before she ordered (fate) so I had asked her if she wanted to look with me while we were in town. My flight was canceled but I remained calm as I waited for 3 hours to get rebooked. I had a really good feeling, I was going to get to Florida because not only was I not missing Allison's wedding but I knew I was going to find my dress there. I booked the appointments one after the other and our friend Stefanee (Kim's maid of honor) set off to the store. We ran through the store and picked out what we wanted to try on. I got extremely excited when I saw one I had fallen in love with online. It was a brand new design so none of the other stores I had visited had the dress. I tried on similar dresses to the two I liked in London and had the same feeling, really really like but no feeling. Then the third dress I put on was the one I had been eying online. I really really liked this one and as I looked in the mirror and Kim was like, that is really cool, can I try it on? And at the moment I was like, "I don't know, I think this might be it!" Then I got a bit teary eyed and then so weak in the knees that I had to step off the pedestal to make sure I didn't fall over. That was it, nice and quick at this store. I sat in the dress as Kim tried on her dresses. She found the one that day too! The best thing, my sample was brand new, it fit and they let me walk out of the store with it that day so I didn't have to worry about how I was going to get it to me in Switzerland!

It's weird to have my dress sitting in my closet here. I wasn't expecting it so soon. They scare you into ordering them so early, it's a hurry up and wait game that I don't have to play. Every time I see it, I get so excited for August. It's exactly perfect and I'm hoping to blow him away :)

The proposal

(wrote this for the wedding website. However, I wanted to transfer here as that will expire at some point)

We were in Boston for our friend's Lauren & Josh's wedding. Mariano had planned to do ring shopping and proposing all in the same weekend. However, he lucked out (as that would have been tricky to do with Laura right by his side) when he passed by a jewelry shop window while on a stroll in Lucerne and took note of a ring that Laura really liked. Lucky for Mariano, Laura was extremely busy at work and only taking quick lunch breaks. He used the rest of the time to sneak off and buy the ring. Now during this time and even on the plane ride over he would ask Laura, "If I asked you to marry me, would you say yes?" Her response always was "Of course!" Well after the last time he asked on the plane, she thought to herself, "Why am I letting him off the hook so easily? He should have to worry about whether I'll give him a yes or no." So she decided the next time he'd ask her, she wouldn't say yes. Little did she know the next time would be for real! Mariano had planned a million different ways to ask but when it came down to it, he ordered breakfast in bed at the hotel with champagne. He wanted this to be a celebratory breakfast so he had a time limit on when he needed to ask Laura. Ten minutes before the meal was to arrive Laura ran to the bathroom and Mariano used this moment to prepare. When she returned, the moment is a bit foggy but there it was again, he asked, "So will you marry me?" Laura, remembering her thoughts from the day before, thinking this was just another hypothetical question said, "I don't know, I have to think about it." Mariano's face dropped and he said, "No I'm serious this time! Will you marry me?" and he took the ring from the side table. Laura of course said, "Yes" and couldn't stop laughing. A few minutes later there was a knock and our food had arrived. The man had asked us if we were celebrating anything special and we told him that we had just got engaged. So sorry mom and dad and close friends, the first person we told was a complete stranger!

Dusting off the blog cobwebs...

 (Written 8-8-11 while in San Nicola with no internet access. Please excuse the bit of repetition from my last blog. It's been so long that I couldn't remember where I left off).

I have gone silent on this blog. With all the best intentions to keep it updated frequently, life has gotten in the way. Work turned crazy and there were many days that I just didn’t think I’d make it through. I prayed the days would speed up to summer vacation while at the same time wishing the days would go by slower so I could accomplish my long list of to-do’s in the office.  The work has been more of a challenge then I had anticipated. There were days that I honestly did not think I would get through. However, I must say the support I felt from my teammates and most importantly Mariano, my rock who has quite literally held me together,  helped me get through it all and some how I’ve come out the other end and my sanity is slowly being restored on a much needed vacation in the south of Italy. It has taken a few days but I am now at peace and relishing the days of relaxation. Looking forward to a fresh start at work once I am back carrying with me the lessons I have learned over the last few months to make next year more successful. I won’t let a little thing such as the Olympics being held in London get in the way of that either!

While it has seemed that my life has been the office the past few months, now that I sit here with the sea breeze blowing softly over my skin in San Nicola Arcella and the relaxation has set in and I reflect on the past few months, a lot has happened. Some big events that deserve their own separate blog but here is a bit of a recap.

We’ve moved into our apartment and spent numerous Saturdays at Ikea and other furniture stores to turn the place into our home. My stuff arrived late May and we are almost all together. Of course, there are still a few nagging boxes and pictures to hang but for the most part we are open for business to entertain guests. We’ve had a few already. Mariano’s parents have visited twice. The first time was for Easter and we were barely moved in. We had our couch, coffee table and were using his old couch/futon for our bed. Our table was supposed to arrive but hadn’t so the night before, Mariano rushed around after work, renting a van and getting to the store just before close to get the table himself. We spent Good Friday building it, and were still building as the family arrived. As we finished, Mama filled our bare kitchen with yet more pasta but also yummy meatballs, eggplant parmagiana and Napoli pastries to name just a few of the delicious treats imported directly from Italy.  They visited again in June. This time, we were much more put together so it was much nicer to host. We’ve also hosted one of Mariano’s best friends, Lello and his girlfriend. Most recently my best friend Katie came for a visit along which overlapped a friend from work’s visit. This however, is a separate blog entirely.

(A full Italian fridge. This is what happens when Mariano's parents visit. Our cupboards were magically filled as well!).

We had a couple of touristy outings, Mount Pilatus and the Rhine Falls. Both of these are major sites in Switzerland, Mount Pilatus being in our backyard and the Rhine Falls about an hour away. However, Mariano had visited neither in his 7.5 years living here in Lucerne. Not going to Mount Pilatus was becoming like a badge of honor for him. No one could believe it, especially because we can get free passes through the office. I didn’t even force the issue and he booked our tickets for April 30th. The weather was not perfect, the clouds surrounded the peak. Though, they did move rapidly giving a short window of opportunity to take in the breathtaking sites that lie below. We enjoyed a local favorite at the hotel restaurant on the peak. I don’t remember the name but it is basically mac and cheese , potatoes with caramelized onions that they serve with apple sauce intended to eat all together. It was nice while the sun was shining keeping us warm but it soon disappeared behind the clouds never to return again. It became extremely cold quite fast so we finished up as quickly as we could and descended back down the mountain via the gondola. It took a while to defrost. Even though it was a warm day in town, it was probably a good 30 minutes before I removed my gloves. The next day we awoke to a sunny Sunday. Mariano suggested a walk and I suggested we hop in the car for an adventure. I was told sunny days in Lucerne were rare so I wanted to take advantage. (We ended up having a fabulous spring with warm sunny days. Our summer has been just the opposite, cold and wet. It has been weird to read everyone’s face book statuses that cry of excessive heat when many days in June and July I wore a jacket to keep warm). Our random adventure took us to the Rhine Falls. It was beautiful, we did a bit of walking around, took a boat ride which included charging the falls….a wee bit scary, grabbed a sausage and then high tailed it back to the car to garner shelter from the imminent rain from the storm clouds rolling in over the falls. A good weekend and one of the first that didn’t include a trip to Ikea! In fact, we imposed a bit of a ban on the store as to not feed our addiction and keep our wallets in tact. I had joked to Mariano on several occasions that Sweden has a monopoly over us. They give us our paychecks and then we give it all back to them in Ikea and the only affordable clothing store in Switzerland is H&M which I believe is also a Swedish founded company---those Swedes are smart good looking people.

In May, I had another work trip to London scheduled. We decided to make a weekend out of it and Mariano flew up with me on a Friday to spend the weekend. Again, I quickly felt the comfort of the sounds of English and the bustling city with so much to offer…all of which I could understand! We met up with Mariano’s friend that works for EF (at one time in Lucerne and now in London) over some Tapas and wine, went to Portobello markets with Rachel on Saturday, stopping for a snack and my first Pimm’s drink while ending the day with some yummy Thai food paired perfectly with cold Thai beer. Mariano’s flight was early afternoon on Sunday so as we bid our farewells I set off to do a little shopping and to maybe find a hairdresser. I’ve been avoiding getting a hair cut in Lucerne for two reasons, the language barrier could lead to a tragic hairdo and the prices are ridiculous. I walked into the first decent place I found and asked if they had availability. Just my luck, there was a no show and they slid me into her slot. However, no prices were listed and I ignorantly failed to ask. I nearly lost it when I paid 70 pounds for the hair cut! While the cut was good I ended up spending more than I would have in Lucerne! Next time, I will be sure to ask for the entry level stylist not the top of the line! I ditched the shopping as I was now too poor from my haircut and headed north to catch up with Rachel in her new hood, first a coffee and carrot cake, then a depressing true story movie (the name escapes me) about a middle eastern woman stoned to death in modern day all because she wouldn’t divorce her husband so he could marry a young girl . He concocted a story that she was unfaithful and through corruption of officials and people in the town created witnesses to a crime punishable by stoning. A truly eye opening movie. We attempted to lift our spirits after the movie by checking out an Indian place down the street from her apartment. The place did not disappoint.

One weekend in June, Mariano went to Piedmont in Italy with a group of friends that started with him at EF. I spent one of the days with Diana, a friend from my sorority in college. She now lives in Zurich which is only an hour train ride from me. It was so great to see a familiar face as this was a time when work was insane. We spent the day in Zurich, having lunch and taking a boat ride around the lake. It was so great to catch up with Diana as I have not seen her since college. She told me the story of how she and her husband met in Chicago how their back and forth long distance relationship led to her moving to Zurich--their second date was in Paris! She moved to Zurich last fall so she is about 6 months ahead of me on the adjusting to this new lifestyle so it was also good to hear how her transition has been going. Next time we meet up we hope to bring the fellas along as well.

The last weekend in June, Mariano’s friend Lello and his girlfriend came to visit. It was the night of the Lucerne festival. There are a lot of festivals here! We walked downtown in time to see some great fireworks and then spent the rest of the night walking around enjoying live music throughout the city with beers, meat on a stick, sausages and pretzels. It was great to see the fireworks as we were flying to Boston the following weekend but leaving on the 4th to fly back to Lucerne so we weren’t going to see the amazing Boston celebration. As most of you know, Boston turned out to be quite the eventful weekend as Mariano asked me to marry him that weekend. I’ll blog about this in detail later.

Just after we had returned and I learned that my Grandma B had passed away in her sleep. I am happy to hear that it sounds as though she passed peacefully and I pray without pain. This is one of the hardest things of being so far away as I was unable to return to the states the following weekend to attend her services. My heart was there with her and giving my family a huge hug. Rest in peace Grandma B, you will be missed. I am happy that you were able to meet my future husband before you left us.

Mariano left for a 12-day EF teacher convention in Slovenia and Croatia that Friday. Saturday, a guy from work and his wife were having a party, 70’s themed. I was determined to make an appearance even though I wasn’t sure I’d really know anyone there. You have to put yourself out there to make friends darnit! Well, I do wish I would have contacted someone prior to setting off for the night to show up together.  Just as I left I was caught in a terrible downpour and even with my umbrella quickly became soaked. I wasn’t sure where I was going, and a 20 minute trip turned into about an hour. At one point I could hear the party, but was unable to find it, such a tease! Of course, as I turned up it was getting dark out so it was extremely difficult to make out any faces. Finally, I spotted a familiar face in Allison and relaxed a bit. Had some interesting conversations that evening with people in good costumes, not sure I’d recognize them on a normal day. I’m happy that I forced myself to make it out there solo.

And there you have it, we’re mostly caught up with the exception of my current trip which has included a bit of wedding venue shopping. We have made a decision, although you’ll have to wait for a later post to get all the details. A challenging time in the office but also a busy time outside of the office as I settle into my new life abroad. With each day it becomes easier and I know that I’ve made a great decision to move here and start my life with my new FIANCE J.

A place of our own

Happy Easter to all! Last weekend we began our move and while we still wait for our Ikea purchases and my stuff from the U.S. to arrive we are happy in our new home.

We hired some help last weekend to aid in the move. It was cheaper than renting a van but our help consisted of a 45-55 year old man and a 70-80 year old man. I felt as though we were going to lose one on the job! So while they and Mariano were away on the first load. I took as much as I could down stairs myself...the two dressers, the kitchen table and chairs, the coffee table, Mariano's desk, the TV table and a few side tables. When they returned Mariano thought perhaps one of his friends showed up. Nope! It was all me and I think I moved quicker than the two men combined haha! After that I began to pack up the kitchen and this is what I found in one of the kitchen drawers:

If you had any doubts I was dating an Italian I think this drawer should diminish those doubts. Count it, that is 5 full bags of Spaghetti plus a variety of others...and this is after we've empty some pasta since I've been here!

And now I have my first key! It is attached to a lovely key chain from my bestie Kate. The charms are a reminder of home and my new life. I also attached the teddy bear, a charm that came with a necklace Mariano bought me for my birthday a year and a half ago. So happy to have a happy home here in Lucerne!

Here is a brief view of our apartment. Our couch and coffee table arrived the day we moved in. We had no table until Friday (dinners were picnics on the floor or grabbing a bite to eat out). However, Mariano's family was en route for the Easter weekend and our "romantic picnics" on the floor would no longer suffice. Mariano called the store we had ordered it from and it wasn't going to be delivered in time so he canceled the shipment and assembly. Instead, he rented a van on Thursday to pick up the table and we had the joy of putting it together on Friday. There were far too many screws involved and we don't own a power drill. We were still building it as his family arrived but we can now say we have a beautiful table that maybe we will appreciate more as it required our hard labor!

I will begin the tour with something that is complete...our amazing view. This is a legit photo I took a couple of days ago although I know it looks like a painting!

And at night:

 Our entry way (with room for a bench eventually), a coat closet to the right and our broom/cleaning closet on the left.

 The Kitchen part 1

Kitchen part 2

 Small balcony off of kitchen...potential garden??

getting the other half of the balcony :)

 Our living/dining room. Those are our makeshift chairs for the weekend.

Our large balcony which will be home to many BBQs! (The weather has been absolutely gorgeous. I'm sure as soon as we get our balcony furniture and grill it will turn to crap). It has an entrance both from the living/dining room and also from our bedroom.

 The guest room. Don't worry that prison looking bed is not what you'll have to sleep on when you come! My comfy bed will be here soon!

 The office.

 Our bedroom

 The bathroom, complete with a bidet that I plan to cover with something like a little bench. For those of you that don't know what a bidet is, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet. I'm not sure I'll ever become that European.

The proper toilet. Notice the small light on the left. It turns red when the light is on. I guess if you're confused that someone is in there when the door is closed, the light aids in letting you know the facilities are occupied!

There you have it for now. I'm excited to get the rest of our furniture and send around another update. My back is ready for the furniture too! The futon/ikea couch was ok for a few nights but now I'm ready for our proper bed! I hope these pictures are starting to entice some visitors :). Stay tuned for another post about this weekend with the Italiano fam.

Much love from Lucerne!

Time to start getting settled

Wow! I can't believe how quickly time is passing. Since the last post we've been turning Saturdays into shopping for furniture days, had a work trip to London, joined the gym, opened a bank account, got a cell phone number, oh and got an APARTMENT!!

So big news first, we've found a place to live!  The 'potential view and neighborhood' pictures in my last post is in fact our new neighborhood. Thank goodness as it's getting more and more difficult to keep my stuff tidy living out of a suitcase. (Mariano is much tidier than me so I feel a bit guilty...hehe not that guilty). We never took pics of the inside but we get the keys on Thursday so stay tuned! We will have much more space. It has 3 bedrooms. Enough to have a guest room, so start booking your visits! The third room will be an office but we'll put his futon/couch in there now if we have extra guest space if needed. It has two balconies, one small off the kitchen and one large overlooking the river and castle walls. I hope to try my hand at gardening on the small one off the kitchen....so domesticated of me. I'm not so confident in my green thumb but it could lead to some entertaining post later on. We placed our main furniture orders this weekend so hopefully the place won't be empty for long.

Work has been going crazy but well. The woman I was replacing left last Thursday so I'm really learning by doing now. When it's a tough day, I just look outside and the view is calming. Plus the other day legit Swiss horns were playing some where off in the distance. Is this real life? Riiiiiiccccccoooooolaaaaa. I really like my team. Mark, a Northern Irelander and Luca an Italian are my full time peeps and then we have two trainees in the office as well. We get along well although, the boys exchange looks when I answer the phone too loud or too cheery. I am loud on the phones I told them, even other Americans thought so! Ha! I'm coming from a sales floor that's loud and you have to compete. That's not really it. I blame my teachers from grade school who threw me in speech class because I didn't speak up loud enough. I was just a shy kid and now I overemphasize my volume to compensate. I am trying to keep an eye on the level though, but I think the boys will have to deal with me being pleasant on the phone :).

I had my first work trip up to London two weeks ago. I spent a Monday/Tuesday there and met my colleagues in the London office, checked out a couple of hotels and did a guided sightseeing to get a feel for how they operate as it's one of the components that fall under my responsibilities. It's crazy that I had only been in a non English speaking country for one week at the time and it was so relieving to be surrounded by English again. It's not that you can't get by with English in Lucerne, I just do so with a hinge of guilt for not understanding any German. Also, it was so nice to be in a CITY...things opened around the clock and just the general amazing vibe I get in a big city. I was able to meet up with my Aussie friend Rachel for dinner while I was there too. I hope to be seeing more of her and the City.

I will send out my contact details shortly. For now, it's time for bed. Buonanotte!

I will leave you with this...a picture of the 3 remaining flowers that Mariano gave me when I arrived in Lucerne, 3 weeks ago. I seriously have never had fresh flowers last so long!

A lovely walk around Lucerne

The weather has been beautiful in Lucerne. Tonight was a warm 55 so we spent a couple hours strolling the streets of Lucerne. We walked up to where we hope we may live and checked out the neighborhood and through the 'ghetto' part of Lucerne. I have to laugh at the use of that word when referring to Lucerne. It's the safest-feeling ghetto I've ever been through. Sure this may be the place to find hookers and drugs but overall, it's a really nice 'ghetto!' Everything on the walk was beautiful so I wanted to share the pictures with you. We did see one not-so-beautiful-man in a full...I kid you not...a full spandex suit. Part of me wishes I had a picture, but you can thank me for not exposing you to such a site.

Around Lucerne:

Maybe our new neighborhood. Our apartment is not as cute as these houses but it's like that guy who hated the Eiffel tower. He ate lunch there every day. Why? Because it was the only place in Paris where you couldn't see the tower!

Could this be our view?

Loved this advertisement for the zoo in Basel:

How the Swiss announce the births of their children. You see these all over the city. Not sure how long they leave them up for...seems as though this one has been up for 2 years. It shouldn't really be news any more should it?

And for my connection to Texas...and my love for Tex Mex I need to try this place!

Ciao for now,

Laura :)

Arrival to Lucerne. My first week.

What seemed like endless waiting for my visa documents to arrive quickly turned to warp speed when my passport arrived unexpectedly holding my visa.

You see, I had mistakenly sent the wrong documentation to the Swiss embassy in L.A. but they agreed to hang on to it until the correct paperwork arrived. However, I never received that documentation, instead the efficient Swiss took care of it on their own. I received my passport on Thursday and then was off on a plane last Saturday evening. Of course everything was left to the last minute, 6 suitcases and no time to officially clean my apartment, I made it to the airport with minutes to spare until they cut off accepting bags.

As my plane descended into the Zurich airport, the Swiss weather welcomed my arrival with sunny skies highlighting the beautiful rolling green hills and snow capped Alps. Customs was a breeze, gathering my 6 bags...not so much. I had to use two carts that I ended up linking together. It was a pretty sight of me leaning over, pushing one lever with my hips and the others with my hands. This was working quite well until I had to make the turn to exit the baggage area. Thankfully, an Angel fell upon me in the form of a fellow traveler who helped me push one of my carts out of the final door. There, Mariano was anxiously awaiting my arrival with a bunch of pink roses :). Very strategically he fit all my bags in his small Euro car and we set off for home.

The pretty flowers and our cool makeshift vase, plus the bags that overtook Mariano's apartment!

No time was wasted. I began work the following day. A weird, surreal feeling is all I can say. Familiar faces fill the hall but there are just as many that I do not know. My new UK team welcomed me with a British flag draped over my computer. I quickly feel as though it's my first day at EF, 6 years ago. There's a new system to learn and suppliers to get to know. I feel as though I know nothing. I know (at least I hope!) this will quickly subside with practice and getting my hands dirty in the role. The rest of the week was filled with trainings but I still have so much to learn!

We are apartment hunting at the moment. It's a very aggressive process. It doesn't seem to be a first come, first serve basis. If you are Swiss you immediately have the upper hand. We've looked at 3 places since I've been here. Mariano was hoping I'd love the first. It was a brand new development but I wasn't much impressed. I think he was ready for the search to be over as he has been looking forever. The 2nd one had a gorgeous wrap around balcony. We were there at sunset and the views were breathtaking. Unfortunately, we were the 5th people to see it and after follow up, we believe they have 15 applications. We don't feel our chances are very good here. On Friday though, we saw another place that is almost perfect, a reasonable price, decent sized rooms and two balconies. We have a good feeling about this one! We hope we can work this one out, if not our search will continue while we remain cozy in his current apartment.

 On Tuesday, I applied for my residency. This was an interesting experience. I feel guilty for not speaking German. I hope to find a class that works within my schedule to at minimum get some basics down. I had to give an address so I gave Mariano's and as she looked it up his name was attached to the address and the conversation goes like this, her-"Vitiello, you live with this man? (in a thick German accent), me "Yes." her- "You live with this man? (again as though I didn't answer the first time). me-"Yes. I just arrived Sunday, we are looking for a place to live." I wonder if this was an honest misunderstanding or if she was judging me for living in sin (Lucerne is very Catholic).

There was a music festival in town on Friday night. I was tired and not feeling well but I pushed through it to go out and enjoy some of the night. Many hotel and bars around town were hosting local musicians. First stop, was the hotel where the EF office is located for a funky pop jazz band. We moved on to some Funk at a hotel nearby but the body heat was a bit much being so sober! The music was great but we decided to move on. Mistakenly, we thought there was a band playing at Bar 59, instead it was just a DJ playing oldies rock music. I shouldn't underplay this place so much. It was an AMAZING dive bar. And that DJ was playing actual records. Visitors, I have a feeling we will be having a stop here. I sadly didn't take pictures, but here is their website: http://www.bar59.ch/

My first work trip to London is Monday/Tuesday. I should be seeing a lot of that city in my new role. I also look forward to trips to northern England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland.

A few random thoughts...
-Cougars exist even in Lucerne. One 40 or 50 something woman spotted rocking out to the Funk band Friday night in a black mini skirt barely covering her ass and a red laced see-through shirt. A bit much lady! Legs or Chest...pick one! And at your age, even though you had nice legs, the skirt should be slightly longer, period.

-I love Ikea and spending 3 hours there and didn't buy a thing.

-Church bells are loud, very loud. Love the 5 minute walk to work but will not complain too much to exchange a longer commute for a more peaceful Sunday morning.

-McDonald's Ketchup sold at the grocery store??

No phone yet. Will let you know when I get around to this. Most likely when I return from London. It's been nice to be phone free after having the BB attached to my hip for so long. If you have a SKYPE account, let me know your name. You can find me on there with my work email address.

Ciao for now,

Laura

Oh, and this is the view from my office!