Buon Natale - Merry Christmas!

I hope your Christmas is filled with joy and love.

Merry Christmas - Buon Natale!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Mom's Collection of Glass Christmas Trees

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I am blessed to be surrounded by family.  Although my hubbie's absence is never far from my mind and heart my parents, cousins, grandparents, aunts & uncles are doing a great job of keeping me entertained.  Cheers to you all! I'm off to help my mom in the kitchen.  :)

Send a little holiday cheer!

A couple of days ago I added two new products to my Etsy Shop - Artist-signed Original Artwork Holiday Cards! Choose from a classic Holly Berry design:

Holly Berry Note Cards

OR a fun, Quirky Santa design!

Quirky Santa Note Cards

Both designs feature an original 4x6 photograph and artist signature on high quality card stock and include a coordinating envelope. Cards are available in sets of four for $15. For more information or to purchase a set visit http://www.etsy.com/shop/angelaandrieuxphoto.

Happy New Year!

Is it 2011 already? Where did December go? My apologies for the lack of posts in December - moving and the holidays got the better of me, not to mention my only internet connection being my iPhone or the rare trip with my laptop to Starbucks.  Not that trips to Starbucks were rare, I just rarely had time to take my laptop and sit awhile.

We are finally starting to get settled into our new place in the Normal Heights neighborhood of San Diego.  We found a cute little cottage to rent and have been busy putting in our personal touches.  Once we are finished I'll take a few photos to share.  Still too much clutter for that at the moment.

We also enjoyed a fantastic Christmas with family and a New Year's Eve with friends and much laughter.  We've had a blast reconnecting with family and friends - many of whom we hadn't seen in four years!

Transitioning back to Stateside life has had its challenges, to be sure.  I don't think I was prepared for the culture shock.  I knew it would be there, but it keeps sneaking up on me when I least expect it!  I have many observations to share, but I'll save those for a post of their own.

For now I need to get back to a few things around the house.  I'll leave you with a photo that I took before Christmas at my Grandmother's house.  I had the best intentions of blogging it sooner, but well...   :)

Home Sweet Home

My time in Sicily is officially over. We arrived in San Diego late last night and were met by my parents who were as ecstatic to see us as we were to see them!  The flights weren't too bad and Pumpkin did great! Now we are just taking a bit of time with family and recovering from jet lag. Some time in the next day or two the house hunting will commence.

I don't think it will fully sink in that we aren't going back to Sicily (at least not any time soon) until we have a place of our own. Still, as of right now it feels so good to be "home."

Captured during our last visit to Taormina

Now that I'm home and with family I think I will finally start to get into the Christmas spirit.  Our last weeks in Sicily were spent in a nearly empty neighborhood (military housing that is closing) with loaner furniture and very few of our worldly possessions, certainly no Christmas decorations.  It didn't  feel like Christmas was coming.  However, today, as we walked into my Grandma's house, adorned with holiday decor I feel a bit of the Christmas spirit coming on.  I'm so glad that we came back in time to spend Christmas with family.