Adieu, 25

When it comes to a new year I have my own little philosophy...

I never go calender year to calender year, my new year starts on my birthday! 

In my head it goes a little something like this, 

"24 suuuuucked, 

25 started out a bit rocky but overall was a pretty awesome year, 

let's see how 26 pans out"

Call me superstitious, but even numbered years tend to be a little more on the crappy side than my odd numbered years. 

I don't know why this is, but I am hoping my little theory is wrong, 

because I would like for this year to not suck!

I have a lot of big plans coming up for this year...

... but before we get into that let's have a little recap of 25.

In January my new year (i.e. my birthday) began with a spa day and dancing with my girlfriends. 

I also started a new job which has affected me drastically.

In February I ended things for good with my boyfriend of 5 years. 

For the first time in my adult life I was truly single. 

So, I dyed my hair and went out to celebrate!

 (There is a difference in the hair color between the first picture and the second, I swear)

In March one of my closest friends, Giuditta, graduated...and we celebrated...Italian style! 

I also spent a great deal of time hanging out with my friends Keith and Anita.

In April my friend Anita and I went to Amsterdam. 

We saw canals, tulips as big as our hands, windmills and ate amazing food. 

We also got stuck there for a few extra days because all air travel was suspended due to a volcano in Iceland.

 In the end, we ended up having to endure an 18+ hr train ride home.

 In May I helped organize a training weekend for work and I met Andrea, Letizia and Mina, three people who have become very dear friends (though, of course, I couldn't have known that at the time.)

In June one of my closest friends got engaged and another one graduated from his M.B.A.,

 my little town of Trento had its yearly summer celebration,

 and my roommate and I spent some time getting some sun out on our balcony.

In July I house-sat for my friends Keith and Anita, where I got a bit too much sun.

I also volunteered as in interpreter at a camp for kids with serious pathologies in Ireland.

It was a life-changing experience, to say the least, and I made some amazing friends.

In August I found this beautiful video, 

went to Munich to visit a friend, 

went to Salzburg, 

had more fun nights out with my roomie 

and capped off a summer of constantly hanging out with Andrea.

In September my friend Letizia came to visit and we celebrated a mutual friend's birthday...in a castle.

I made a life-changing decision, which I have yet to make public.

In October I cut my hair, 

got a nasty virus, 

and went to Parma to visit the ever-so-lovely Lety (and thoroughly enjoyed her mom's cooking)!

Oh, almost forgot...Andrea and I went to a halloween party at my roommates castle (a.k.a. her house).

In November I got one of the nicest compliments from my roommate.

Celebrated Thanksgiving with a fun group of Americans.

Joined the gym and went 4x/week.

I went to visit Andrea in his hometown of VENICE and saw it from a true venetian's point of view

In December had one of the best days ever.

I went home for a month!!!

I also spent Christmas with my family for the first time in years.

Spent some much needed time with the loves of my life!

I got to hang out with my friends...

...aaaaand I found the PERFECT red lipstick!

In January (up until the 15th that is)

I celebrated New Years Eve with my best friend,

was actually around to celebrate my nephew's birthday (5!)

and I went to the beach, saw some calm waves, took off my shoes and dug my feet into the sand...

it was pure bliss!

My family also celebrated my birthday early before I left for Italy.

Like I said, 25 was pretty good....

Let's hope 26 is just as good, if not better!

A very blessed woman

That's what I am, folks! 

I am a very blessed woman (note: when I first typed the title it was 'A very blessed girl', I still think of myself as a girl sometimes, but I think at 26 I should start to think about myself as a woman!). 

I have so much to catch up on... so many posts coming up... my trip to California, the beginning of a new year, the actual beginning of a new year (26) in my life, etc...

Each one of these categories probably has a ton of sub-categories, which will probably make January a month of exceptional blogging, or will make me feel like a total slacker when I realize that I am not blogging as much as I should be.

 We'll see!

Yesterday was my birthday.

It was very different from my 25th birthday celebration, but just as important to me!

All I can say at this moment (mainly because I have dishes to wash and stuff to clean) is that I have amazing friends!

They are not just good friends, but they are strong women who I am honored to have in my life!

Sitting on the dock of the bay

***I wrote this post over a month ago before my trip out to California. I saved it but forgot to post it, which is why it is barely up now***

I am in Venice today because tomorrow I am flying home.

I am flying from Venice to New York, where I will have a 4 hour layover, and then from JFK to LAX.

I don't know if I have ever mentioned it, I probably have, but I hate flying. 

As in, I freak out on planes and every little noise and bump scares the crap out of me. 

I never used to be this way. 

I used to love flying and then a couple of years ago I had a mini-panic attack on a plane and ever since then I have a very hard time flying. 

I often use some xanax to calm me down during the flight, but I ran out and have none for this time around.

Close to 24 hours of traveling (including layovers and stuff) with no xanax doesn't sound like fun.

I guess it's just time to face my fears. 

Anyway, this post really had nothing to do with my fear of flying!

My dear friend, Andrea, was kind enough to let me stay with him tonight so that I would have an easier time tomorrow. 

We had no plans, which was very nice.

The weather was gorgeous- sunny, not too cold, no wind...perfection.

When I arrived he helped me with my two huge bags. We took them to his place, dropped them off and were on our way.

We walked around for a bit looking for a place to eat, I had not eaten anything and was starving.

We found a nice pizzeria and had a fantastic 2 hour lunch.

Afterwards we walked around and ended up by the docks and I had my first glimpse into what heaven must be like.

We walked all the way out onto a dock, put our stuff down, and I sat with my feet hanging over the edge.

All I could feel was the dock moving with the water.

All I could hear was the water lapping.

I leaned back on my hands and just felt the warmth of the sun on my face....

I ask you friends, what on this earth could be better?

We sat there like that for about an hour probably...

It was one of those moments when you think to yourself

  I am going to want to remember this moment for the rest of my life. 

We then walked around Venice singing random James Brown songs, or rather he would sing and I would pretend to be the instruments.

He had an appointment, so I sat along the water at a cafe and drank a cappuccino and read for a while.

It was without a doubt an amazing day!

Thank you, Andy-roo! 

(haha, I rhymed without meaning to)