End of an Era

Well today is the day. 

It's the day I leave my apartment.

It's the last day of living with my brother.

It's the day I say goodbye to my junior year of college.

And it's the day I say hello to my senior year.

This year has been full of ups and downs; more ups than downs. Living with my brother has been incredible. If I had any doubts as to how close we were, they are now put away. I am so blessed to have him as not only a brother, but a best friend. Thanks for all the memories, Zeb! Love you!

New friends, new challenges, new experiences.

It's been a great year, Apartment 724.

so many memories

Tuscany-Hike and Homemade Meal

Welcome back to part two of my day in Tuscany.

Before we left for Italy, we had to pick the activities we wanted to do in Venice and Florence. For Florence, our options were either a hike through Tuscany or a cooking lesson. Either way, we got to eat the meal after it was made. I originally signed up for cooking because who doesn't want to learn how to cook from an Italian?!
Once we got to the site, however, I changed my mind. Fortunately Mila was excited to have another hiker (there were only five of us, including me). I am soooooo glad I made this decision because the views were absolutely incredible.

One of the first stops on the hike was a Catholic Cemetery. Standing in the entrance, you could see a white house on one of the neighboring hills. Einstein's cousin, Roberto, lived in this house with his wife and two children.  He married a Catholic woman so neither the Catholics nor the Jews would accept their children during WWII (Children are Jewish by their mother or Catholic by their father). Roberto hid in Mila's grandfather's house (which she happens to live in now) to escape from the Nazis. His wife decided to stay with the children in their home because she thought they were safe as Catholics. Someone planted weapons in their farm house in order to have a reason to kill them. Mila's grandfather had to tell Robeto that his family was dead, and Roberto committed suicide a year later. Roberto is the only Jewish man buried in the cemetery. Not only was he Jewish, he also committed suicide, which can kick even Catholic people out of cemeteries. He was buried in the cemetery beside his wife and there is a huge memorial for him. They also recently changed the cross on his tombstone to the Star of David. The rocks on the grave are a Jewish way of showing respect.

It was such a moving and incredible story. Mila got emotional while telling it to us; it was all so fresh to her. Her grandfather kept a war journal and wrote that telling Roberto about his family was the hardest thing he had ever done.

The rest of our hike took us over hills, through vineyards (yes...through vineyards), to a castle, to a count's house (now used as an exclusive bed and breakfast), and through people's backyards (Italians are just so friendly).
*cue the massive amount of pictures*

We had definitely worked up an appetite by the time we made it back to Mila's house. The rest of our group had been making pasta for our meal. Mila's husband also made appetizers and dessert. Italians sure know how to eat. I'm not sure how I managed it, but I ate every single bite. Along with over 10 cups of water (the hike made me thirsty).

The food was all so delicious, as usual. It was a perfect day exploring such a beautiful country. Fun fact: Mila actually lets people rent her house when they are traveling. Her home is quite large. Because there are so many rooms and hallways, it was a perfect spot for hiding Jews in World War II. Just being in a place so full of history was exciting all on its own. My goal is to go back one day and stay with Mila and her family. If any of you are traveling and want to check it out, email me and I will give you the details!

Dream Big

via

Saw this on Lauren Conrad's blog. I definitely needed this today.

I'm having to make some huge decisions this semester and it's not easy!

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend!

Tuscany-Olive Oil Press and Winery

The day I spent in Tuscany was my absolute favorite. I could have stayed there for the rest of my life. I would love to live there one day.

*Forewarning: These pictures are grainy. It was difficult to get a good picture in the cellar because there was dust everywhere.*

On Sunday of our Florence weekend, we drove up into the hills for an Accidental Tourist adventure. Mila and Alex picked us up and drove us to the olive oil press and winery for the tour. We started with a tour of the gardens. The estate is owned by a wealthy family. The family owns a successful clothing company in Milan. They only come to the house once a year for their staff Christmas party. The maple tree shown below is a sign of wealth. Families would plant a large tree in their garden to prove they had money.
{pretty sure they have money if they can afford to use this house only once a year}

We then went through the process of making olive oil. We were given so many specifics so I will just give you the shortened version as I'm sure most of you aren't looking to make your own olive oil. The process starts outside (obviously) when the olives are brought in from the fields and weighed. They go down a huge pipe to the cellar under the house. In the cellar, the olives are cleaned, pressed, and made into olive oil. Alex told us how to tell the difference between good and bad olive oil by what information is on the bottle. It was incredible to see all the machinery. Most of it was fairly new but the rooms were so old. That's one of the things I loved most about Italy; there was so much history.

The estate also makes wine. We walked through that process and made our way into the wine cellar. 

If anyone watches Duck Dynasty, does this remind you of one of the episodes where they tried to make wine?

After the tour, we went to the wine tasting. Mila rents one of the small buildings next to the estate for these tastings. There is one large room with a ginormous wooden table in the middle. Mila has had this table in her family for four generations. We tried three different wines along with some bread.

The bread was my favorite part. They make the bread without salt, but then they pour salt on it when they serve it. The salt goes on first then the bread is drizzled with olive oil. It was so.good. I ate four pieces shamelessly.

This completed only half of our day. Next week, I'll be sharing about our hike and homemade meal. Make sure you come back! There's an incredible story from our hike that has to do with Einstein...

Mexico Beach

view from the porch

my life at the beach

Mom and Wyatt

with my cousins Allie and Jen

Cal and his girlfriend

Another beach trip has come and gone. Two weeks at the beach just isn't enough time! I need a year...maybe more. I love the beach. 

Just in case you didn't pick up on that.

This year was crazy crowded. Not only did we have my family of six, we also had two girlfriends and a best friend. Packed house people. That's the only way to do it. Cal and Zeb both brought their girlfriends and Will came (as usual). He is like another member of the Burton clan and has been coming on vacation with us for the past few years.

Most of these pictures were taken when Cal, his girlfriend, and I stayed with Allie's family. We try to overlap our vacations every year.

We always stay in my aunt's beach house and they are currently remodeling the place. It is looking fantastic! The kitchen is now part of the 21st century (hello dishwasher!) and the bedrooms are almost done (hello carpet and non-sandy feet!). That house is going to be amazing when it's finished.

My goal is to make it down to the beach during the fall. I've heard that's the best time to go. So...girl trip, Allie????

Happy Fourth of July!

via

I'm currently at the beach soaking up the sunshine.

There's a lot of this type of food being served here with my family.

Hope y'all are having a wonderful holiday!

School Functions

In Italian schools, each grade focuses on one thing for the year. My class, for example, focused on fruits and vegetables. This does not mean they relate everything to this topic. It is just a way for them to have a year-long theme. One way they used this theme was for a field trip.

My class, along with the other two second grade classes, took a field trip to the grandfather's gardens. The Italian name is "Gli orti degli anziani." They call it grandfather's gardens because it is run by a bunch of old men. Haha no lie.

our guide

We walked to the gardens from the school. It was about a 20 minute walk on one of the hottest days of our trip. One little girl in my class brought an umbrella to shield her from the sun. We laughed at her before we left but by the end of the day, we were all wishing we were that smart.

The gardens were beautiful. There were rows of fruits, vegetables, and herbs, each plot belonging to a different person. People would ride their bikes to the gardens and pick the food they wanted. There was a playground on one end for children. There was also a large building where they sold snacks or hosted parties.

Martina e Riccardo

One of the men took us on a tour of the gardens, stopping to name all the plants. The children were able to pick a few things to taste. At one point, we came across a plot with long-stemmed lilies. The man who owned the plot stopped our group, picked two of the flowers, and ran to give them to Giovanna and me. So sweet!

After our tour, we went inside the large building to eat lunch. They made gnocco fritto for us and man was it good. It is basically a fried ham sandwich. The bread is fried and the ham is cold. Mmmmm I'm drooling just thinking about it. So simple, yet so delicious.

The thing I love about Italian schools is that they are very in-tune with the outside world. They try to get their students out in the world as much as possible. This field trip was just a small example of this philosophy.

Another way my class used the theme of fruits and vegetables was for the school festival. Each class has to make things to sell and must also put on some sort of performance. My class made a cookbook as well as little trinkets, such as the pencils shown below.

For their performance, they sang songs about fruits and veggies. They each wore a costume of a different food and had dances for each song. At the end, each student walked to the front and introduced themselves in English. They said the food, what color they were, and their name. Unfortunately, I was not able to go to the festival because I was in Firenze. But I did get to see them practice. I have videos but they aren't working for some reason. As soon as I figure it out, I'll post them for you to see. The kids are so cute!

One Direction Infection

We all know I had it before this concert. But I just love them even more after seeing them live.

The concert was so much fun! I had a blast acting like a preteen with my cousin.

On the way!

Let me give you a picture of the audience. There were thousands of middle and high school girls, their moms (and a few dads), and then a few college-aged kids. I was definitely in the minority. So I was surrounded by tons of little girls who were screaming their heads off.

Y'all my ears were still ringing the next night. It was soooo loud. I can't even describe it. When the boys came out, they said that we were the loudest concert they've played. Every performer says that at each show so I didn't really take them seriously. But as the night went on, I totally believed them. I have never heard so much screaming. Every time a new boy would start singing, the girls would start screaming all over again. I've been around music/performing my whole life so I know all the signs performers give to the sound guys. The boys were telling them to turn up their in-ears because they couldn't hear themselves. Suffice it to say, it was loud.

Allie and I had such a great time. The boys were great live and were just as great personality-wise as they are in their interviews.

The opening acts were great, too! Well, I was not a fan of Manika. She dressed like Nicki Minaj but sounded like Hannah Montana. Olly Murs, on the other hand, was incredible! It would have been worth it to just see him. He had such a great stage presence; he was born to be a performer. He was on The X Factor in 2009. He has a jazzy pop sound and I just loved him. "Heart Skips a Beat" is his latest single out in the US. Check him out!

One of the things I realized on this adventure is that I really want a nice camera. My digital one just doesn't cut it sometimes. Can you say graduation present??? Mom?? Dad??

I digress. I would definitely go to another one of their concerts. Great night all around!