Desperately Seeking Gina

November 2, 2006

…NaBloPoMo

Can you believe it’s November already??? I can’t. It’s the start of “Crazy Season.” Lots happenin’ in the next two months. Baby Dalani should make her appearance soon…Mom’s Birthday…Tyler’s Birthday…Thom’s appearance (hopefully). And, of course, Thanksgiving. Then on to December with Terry’s birthday…grandma’s birthday…My Birthday!! and Christmas. I’m not ready.

November also happens to be NaBloPoMo or National Blog Posting Month…a challenge to post something…anything, at least once a day. I’m totally up for it. In fact, a challenge is exactly what I need to get motivated to post more often, as was my intention when I started The Desperate Search….

Sooooo….I’m off…my first post for NaBloPoMo is under my belt…it can only get easier, right?

Hugs to all!
g ♥

August 9, 2006

…101 Things About Me

I read somewhere that you’re not officially a part of the blogosphere until you have the 101 Things About You section….so here are mine, in no particular order:

1. I was almost named MinniePearl.
2. I want a tattoo.
3. There’s only one person I’d consider changing my last name for.
4. I spend way too much time on the WWW.
5. Reading about other peoples’ lives interests me.
6. When I’m not surfing the Net…I’m reading.
7. I read a lot, but retain little.
8. My new favorite color is green, cuz geniuses choose green.
9. I had a bowl of cheerios for dinner tonight. I had the same thing last night.
10. I think way too much.
11. Sometimes I talk out loud to myself.
12. Sometimes I even make myself laugh.
13. I live alone.
14. I like that a lot.
15. But sometimes I get lonely.
16. It’s really nice to walk around without pants 🙂
17. I have only a few friends.
18. They’re the best friends a girl can have though.
19. I used to want to be a writer, a museum curator, and an actress. Not all at the same time.
20. Now I’d like to be a wife and mother.
21. And gorgeous, wealthy, healthy, safe, and sound.
22. I used to hate dogs….now I want one.
23. I used to hate boys…now I want one of those too.
24. It took me three different tries to graduate from college. I finally did in December.
25. I hate the field that I chose.
26. I’m bored with my job.
27. I’m wearing “Cherry on Top” lip gloss right now.
28. The other gloss that I love is called Candy Apple.
29. Lip gloss makes me feel girly.
30. I used to hate girly.
31. I have no secret talents.
32. Unless you count tying the stem of a maraschino cherry into a knot, with my tongue.
33. I only did that once.
34. I never made it to California. I owe some people some money.
35. I love the opera, the ballet, and the theater.
36. The last concert I was at was Michael Buble.
37. I wish I could sing.
38. I HATE Paris Hilton.
38. I used to want to be Madonna.
39. I spent one whole summer babysitting and spent all the money buying every cassette tape that she made.
40. I started my period that same summer….right before basketball practice.
41. I think my grandma told my coach.
42. I have my paternal grandma’s nose..and my maternal grandfather’s eyes.
43. It’s a button nose..and I have blue eyes.
44. I’m having a hard time thinking up stuff about me.
45. I wear a ring on my right hand ring finger.
46. Sometimes I wear earrings.
47. I hate toe rings.
48. When I was young…I wanted braces…but I didn’t ever need them.
49. My best friend in the fourth grade was Liz Ely.
50. I still wonder about a girl I sat next to in the third grade. Her name was Kendra Chudy.
51. Me and some of my friends had a funeral for a frog when we were in third grade.
52. In the sixth grade my friends and I used to make up dance routines to popular songs and perform them at recess.
53. We used to call each other by different “cooler” names. Mine was Buffi. Heather was Denise and Melly was Robin.
54. I am SO NOT A BUFFI.
55. My favorite girl names are Jenna, Emma, and Emily.
56. My fave boy name is Jacob.
57. My maternal grandfather’s name was Iver Axle…I used to think everyone was calling him Iver Asshole.
58. He used to take me to the bar with him and he gave me lots of quarters.
59. I don’t remember much else about him. I think he was funny.
60. I sucked my thumb until I was 11 or 12.
61. I didn’t know how to blow my nose until I was seven.
62. I hate blowing my nose in front of people.
63. I tend to snivel and wipe with my sleeve.
64. I think that’s really gross.
65. I hate when kids don’t pick up their feet when they walk.
66. I hate belly shirts, low-rise jeans, and those baggy pants that some guys wear.
67. If I were super thin, I’d probably wear belly shirts and low-rise jeans.
68. I don’t own a swim suit.
69. The Italian word for bathing suit is costume da bagno…that cracks me up.
70. I love turtleneck sweaters and scarves.
71. I used to be scared to death about driving in the winter.
72. I’m not so scared anymore.
74. I hate wearing socks.
75. I sleep with my feet outside the blankets.
76. I sleep on my stomach with my face buried in the pillow.
77. I once read that’s because I’m trying to shut out the world.
78. I’m less social than I used to be.
79. I have a hard time making conversation with people I don’t know…and with people I do know.
80. I hate that.
81. I like flowers, poetry, and romance.
82. I love the smell of lilacs, vanilla, and freshly baked bread.
83. My new favorite perfume is Bleu Riviera…I got a free sample in France.
84. I love to stay up late..and sleep til noon.
85. I wake up at 7 am without an alarm.
86. I have a six year old nephew and a niece on the way.
87. I have two younger brothers.
88. We used to have a band when we were kids. They played the metal tv trays and I sang.
89. Our stage was my bed…and we’d perform for our parents and neighbors.
90. I’m going to write something and get it published.
91. I tend to procrastinate.
92. My apartment is the cleanest when I have something really important that needs to be done.
93. I love Keanu Reeves.
94. He has no clue that I exist.
95. I used to love Kirk Cameron in the sixth grade.
96. I loved school.
97. I want to return to Italy.
98. I want people to think I’m a really great person.
99. I want to be a really good person.
100. I love having someone to say goodnight to every night right before bed.
101. I consider myself loyal, loving, and trustworthy.

July 25, 2006

…Roma, Parte Due

Okay…the eagerly awaited reminiscence of my Final Night in Roma is here. I know you’re on the edge of your seats awaiting details. How do I know this?…..cuz the only people reading this thing are my friends and family..and I keep getting emails from you guys 🙂 (hey..I love getting email so I may just make up stuff after this point).

Day two in Roma began with a morning journey to the Colosseum and since it was only a block away from the hotel, we walked. The tour began with getting head gear so we could hear the tour guide and Michelle’s insistence that I have my picture taken with the gladiators outside the Colosseum (Michelle has all the good pics and I’ll post em when I get them but here is one that my friend Karyn sent to me…Michelle has pics of this guy kissing me…and me stabbing him with his sword…btw..these guys charge for having their pics taken).

After the Colosseum we headed over to St. Peter’s Square where we were blessed by the Pope. My boss and I are still debating whether or not I was actually blessed since I’m not Catholic but I’m positive Pope B wouldn’t turn me away 🙁 After the blessing, we had free time. Heather and I had lunch (prosciutto with cantaloupe) and did some shopping.

It was more free time after we returned to the hotel. I was totally exhausted so Heather and I napped for four hours (I know, I know…how could I when I was in Roma…the city I’ve wanted to go to for forever…but I was SO TIRED).

After dinner we were once again turned loose on the streets of Roma. Heather and I were joined by Tom and Phillip (Michelle and Rosemary came for awhile but then headed back to the hotel). The gang wanted to do some shopping, but I had run out of money (!!!) so I waited for them on the street. I was happy to people watch.

This guy passed me twice. Very cute. Very Italian. Smiled and kept walking. Being the shy, demure girl that I am…I didn’t act..just thought how funny it was to see the guy twice in 20 minutes.

The gang and I continued on down the street and it was dark by then so I wanted to get pics of the Colosseum at night. So we get there…take pictures..hang out for about an hour and then we start walking back toward the hotel. Well….I pass this same guy…AGAIN…and after we’d passed…we both turn around and smile at each other. At this point my shyness is just SO IRRITATING. Of course I don’t stop and say anything. ARRRGHHH.

So the gang decides to go pack and go to bed early. I totally didn’t wanna sleep the last night so I tell them I’m going to hang out by the hotel for awhile and see what’s going on (okay…i really wanted to see if I’d run into Cute Italian Boy again). There were some of our group next door at a trattoria, and they invited me over. Great people: Victor, Shelly, Amber, and Karyn. They invite me over, force me to drink wine and then introduce me to their waiter, Gorg. (george, but with a very soft “g” sound).

This guy stops in his tracks and announces to the restaurant- “My Sweet”. He goes on to hug me…kiss my cheek…tell me how beautiful I am…so on …so on. After a little of wine…I wasn’t so shy. Karyn starts telling him that I speak Italian..and the group urges me to use my pick up line on Gorg. “Andiamo a letto!” lets go to bed(this is totally funny since my mom was absolutely sure that my only agenda in Italy was to have as much sex with Italian men as possible).

The group was cracking up at this..and Gorg was pretty willing to take me up on my offer. So…he brings us more food…and more wine. I’m having a great time with these new friends and then later an accordian player comes over to serenade our table…Shelly pays him more money to play for me…the guy kisses me too…and just as he’s doing that…this other Italian guy that’s walking down the street blows me a kiss. Hmmmm….. Either I must look like an easy American girl or my pheromones are sky high and shooting at every Italian guy in sight.

So…it’s 11:30 and we’re settling the bill and tips and Gorg pulls me aside and says he really wants to see me again…and asks when I’m leaving. I tell him at 8 am the next morning. “Jesus Christ” was his reply which totally cracked my friends up again. So then he asks me to meet him after he gets out of work…at 12:30. Alright…so it’s my last night in Rome..and I have a date with a totally cute, dark haired, dark eyed waiter.

I spend an hour walking around with Victor, Amber, Shelly, and Karyn and then we say goodnight as the hour approaches 12:30. (later, I was told that the group had decided that Victor would wait up for me and make sure I’d gotten back to the hotel safe and sound…but I think he fell asleep 🙂 …and I did promise them that I wouldn’t take off with this guy…okay, mom?)

Anyway….I wait for Gorg across the street on this beautiful set of stone steps and he waves and the smile on his face was just so sincere and beautiful..and I can tell he’s smitten. This doesn’t normally happen to me, so I was a little hesitant about his intentions. We sit and talk for what seems like hours. I learn he’s from Egypt and that he’s lived in Rome for 10 years and that he lived in Amsterdam before that. He has a lot of brothers and sisters and he hasn’t seen them in a long time. He speaks five languages and studies computers but it’s his dream to have his own restaurant. He wants a wife and a lot of kids…and he just thinks I’m wonderful. Seriously…he starts talking about love at first sight…how he can just tell that I’m a great person…over and over he tells me that I’m beautiful (!!). He holds my hand….and pulls me close to him. I had such butterflies…looking back…I don’t think I was breathing this whole time.

I haven’t been kissed in a LONG time…not like this and I’m melting. Seriously. I think I became one with the stone steps. And, then, in typical Gina fashion, in the middle of the kiss…I open my eyes and HE”S LOOKING AT ME!! I was a little freaked out by it, frankly…I think I read somewhere, sometime, about Europeans kissing with their eyes open??? Someone made a good point the other day when I was telling them about it…what was I doing with my eyes open? uhhh…I dunno. I guess I just wanted to be sure I wasn’t dreaming…or kissing my fist or something.

We talk for awhile…kiss some more..and then he buys me roses from a vendor that’s walking down the street. Did you know there are rose vendors walking down the streets of Rome at 2:30 in the morning?? I was anticipating the Candid Camera crew or movie cameras to jump out at me at any moment. I seriously could not believe this was happening to me.

So the kissing gets pretty intense..and I start joking about the polizia coming to arrest us for lewd behavior (I’m exaggerating here, mom…it seriously wasn’t lewd) and he retorts…”oh, no…not in Roma!…hmmm…he was being pretty serious.

At this point it’s after 3am..and I’m really, really sleepy so we walk to the Colosseum hand in hand. It’s really the most romantic thing that’s ever happened in my entire life. Gorg kisses me again…and I’m somewhere outside my body..watching us next to the beautifully lit Roman Colosseum and thinking how in the world can I go back home?? But…I do have to go…so we walk back to the hotel and with one final, lingering kiss and a promise that I will return to Italia, we say goodnight. You know in the movies when the girl walks away..and the guy watches her, and you just know they’re never gonna see each other again?? That’s exactly how I felt at that moment. I walked away…roses in hand with the sensation of Gorg’s lips still haunting mine…He waved from across the street just as the elevator doors closed and I ascended into his memory.

Okay…so I’m getting a little carried away with this description…but that’s exactly what happened.

But just as all good stories must come to an end…so must this one. I left the next morning. Just before the bus departed, Karyn brought a CHA tag to me and had me write a little note to Gorg and she tied it to a tree on the patio of the trattoria where he works. I thanked him for a wonderful evening.

We left Rome…I seriously think I could have gotten home without a plane. I was floating the entire time.

Anyway…we arrived back to the states..and the pheromones must still have been floating around cuz the guy at the agricultural customs booth was such a flirt as he welcomed me home. (I have to make it a point to travel more often).

So….that’s it. It was the most amazing experience I think I’ve ever had. And, I’m talking the whole trip here, not just the last night. I truly feel differently. Like I’ve seen something phenomenal…important things that will stay etched in my mind forever.

Thanks for traveling with me. While I can’t wait to go back, I love being home and being with my family and my friends…but…as I’ve said all year: I’m going to do something bold this year…I’m not sure what but I’ll keep you posted.

July 24, 2006

…Roma, Parte Una

Firstly…I don’t have many pictures from Rome because I was just too tired by the time I got there…and the pics I did take are all of the Colleseum and every single picture looks the same. Turns out I don’t have a gift for photography. **Edit** I found some pics to post…I was just lazy earlier and didn’t wanna upload.

Secondly, I just wanna say up front that I’m not posting pictures of Gorg cuz I’m in every picture, and I hate the pictures. But…I will give you all the details 🙂

Rome wasn’t what I expected. We arrived on Saturday, June 17th and were taken to the Vatican Museum right away. The line was L O N G. We waited in the blazing sun for an hour and a half to get in and then it was R U S H,
R U S H, RUSH to the Sistine Chapel. No time for stopping to look at all the amazing artifacts, beautiful artwork, or awesome statues. We did stop to see some of the rooms painted by Rapheal before entering the Sistine Chapel.

Vatican Museum Entrance

The Sistine Chapel was so much bigger than what I expected. And…it was more awesome than I could have ever imagine. There are guards inside whose job it is to shush people. No talking allowed. Something about the humidity produced by breath or something like that. Anyway…there were tons of college age kids talking it up and having a good ole time. I don’t think they were even looking at the artwork. kids. And then there were the picture takers…No pictures allowed either. Why can’t people just follow the rules?

Anyway…Rome was very old looking….being the eternal city and all…I should have guessed it would be, but I was surprised. Not pretty like Paris. Later, after we’d left the Vatican we drove to the hotel and dropped off the people not going on the excursion to the Catocombs. I went… It was pretty interesting. We went underground to the tombs of Saints and Popes whose remains had been removed to keep them safe from touchy-feely tourist fingers.

The return to the Hotel Grand Palatino was uneventful for the most part, except when I left my bag unattended and turned to find it missing. Luckily the elevator attendant (cute, btw, with a great smile) moved the bag to a locked closet while I was trying to get my room key.

Dinner was followed by a night time tour of the city. I know I use this word way more than a thirty-one year old woman should…but the tour was
A W E S O M E. Rome at night is absolutely beautiful. We stopped a couple of blocks away from the Trevi Fountain and walked through the cobbled streets to get to it. The via was packed with people in bars, restaurants, and gelatorias. The Italian Soccer Team was playing the US team that night and all the bars were showing the game. Italy scored as we passed this little fruit stand and the two very nice looking Fruit Guys were so excited…they threw their arms around eachother and hugged and high-fived. Italian men have no problem with PDA..(more on this later). I might mention that I’m now obsessed with soccer…and with the Italian Azzuri in particular. I’m positive Gianluigi Buffon is going to dump his model girlfriend very soon and realize that I’m the girl for him. Hey…a girl has a right to dream, right?

The Fountain was packed. Heather, Michelle, and I made our way, coins in hand, to make our wishes and take pictures. Four wishes: A wish for the Italian Govt, a wish to find an Italian Love, a wish to return to Roma, and a wish of your own. Being the romantic and idealist that I am…I had every confidence that all would come true. One of four isn’t bad, I’d say….(wait for night two).