A few of my favorite things

My office team.
The Sound of Music.
Christmas season.
Brown-paper packages tied up with string.

Like I said, just a few.

Also on my list, but not pertinent to this post:
new magazines
warm towels
cappuccino
soccer players
painting
shoes

Back to the subject at hand:

I went to Salzburg, Austria!!


My office team decided to take a retreat and thought why not have meetings on the train and then enjoy some Christmas market time in the land of the Von Trapps?!
Obviously, there were no objections.

It was so fun to be out of Italy and to really feel like tourists.
I never knew what I was ordering or what people were saying to me--it was fantastic!
We got to eat a ton of yummy food and some very yummy beverages.

Here's the team:

Meet Henry. He is my desk buddy.

David, aka Big Tuna, and the incomprehensable menu.

Here's Matt enjoying some spiked apple/pear concoction.

Melanie and I thawing out with some gluhwein.
The perfect winter market beverage.

I did realize that I have an incurable habit of saying "si" to everything. I couldn't stop. It's compulsive.
I confused a lot of Austrian people over the course of two days.
I somehow managed to order my lunch (a frankfurter- yum!) in Italian, English and German.
Oops.



Salzburg is known for it's Christmas market and now I know why.
So many shiny ornaments and holiday cheer.
It definitely got me in the Christmas spirit.



My roommates apparently caught the bug at the same time, because I came back to this:

Meet Charlie, the potted Christmas tree from Ikea.
He's very cheery.

This is my favorite season of the year.
Scarves, gloves, and hot chocolate.
Christmas music.
Squash casserole.
Rain drops on roses...



Buon Natale!

Quest' anno, sono grazie per...

Another Italian Thanksgiving.
With good friends.



The spread.
yum.


Kelly, Eni, and Blerta.


Elisa from Fiesole and Lea Anne.


Me, Nicole, Cec, Mistki, Paolo, and Stefano having too much fun.


Me and my sweet new friend, Luisa.

Our Festa del Ringraziamento came a little early this year, but it was so fun.
We had close to 40 students all crammed in Nicole's apartment to give thanks for blessings in our lives.
Great conversations were had and it was really beautiful to have all these people in the same place.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you out there!