Photo of the Week

Time to get my creative juices flowing again!  Since our move I've been stuck in a bit of a creative rut. I haven't taken my camera out nearly often enough and that needs to change.  To kick my butt into gear I decided to join Jessica Rodgers' Photo of the Week challenge.  Jessica is a friend of mine from college and a brilliant photographer! Each week she publishes a feature on her blog called Photo of the Week. Anyone can enter - it is an exercise in staying creative - exactly what I need!

My submission this week was taken at Mission Trails Park in San Diego.  Les & I went on a four mile walk/hike last weekend and enjoyed the crisp winter weather, gorgeous scenery, and a bit of rain.

Bluebird

Here are a couple of other shots from that day:

I'm looking forward to having a reason to shoot each week. Thanks, Jessica!  Hopefully I can find the time and motivation to join more challenges, but for now I'll start with one and see where it goes.  If you'd like to join Jessica's Photo of the Week challenge check out the guidelines for participation.

A walk in the park

Last weekend a friend and I took her kids to Balboa Park.  We had a great time enjoying being out in the sunshine and watching the koi (and a turtle) in the reflecting pools near the botanical gardens. I brought my camera with me and captured a few great shots of the kiddos.

Love those kids!  Their mom is pretty awesome, too! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Two dozen roses from my hubbie - I'm a lucky girl!

World Nutella Day!!

Are you ready for some yummy goodness?  Pull out your Nutella and a spoon because today is World Nutella Day!!

My contribution to World Nutella Day this year is a Nutella Cookie - yes, you read that right Nutella yumminess in a cookie!!  I actually found the recipe a little while back from the blog Culinary Concoctions by Peabody and was planning to take it for a test run before the big day but life has gotten in the way so today I tried the recipe for the first time.  I think they are a hit!

Nutella Cookies
Adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup Nutella or other hazelnut chocolate spread
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream butter and sugars in a mixer on high speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Beat for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

With the mixer on low, add the egg and vanilla. Then add the Nutella and mix well.

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix on low speed until all the ingredients are incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and mix just until the dough is smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.

Using a small ice cream scoop (or a teaspoon) form the dough into balls and place on greased cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes. Let cookies cool about 5 minutes and transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Enjoy with a tall glass of cold milk!

If you'd like to participate in World Nutella Day visit their website for instructions.  A big thanks to Ms Adventures in Italy, Bleeding Espresso, and World Nutella Day for a great excuse to try a new recipe, and of course eat Nutella!

Date Night at Bleu Boheme

For date night this past Friday we decided to share our time with friends - a double date with another couple who we met while we lived in Sicily.  We had a great time reconnecting and eating fantastic food at a restaurant that has become one of my favorites - Bleu Boheme.

My friend and I stumbled across this charming little French restaurant last week and stopped in for lunch.  We were blown away by the fantastic food and decided we had to take our hubbies back.  We lucked out on Friday night to find out that the restaurant was doing "part deux" of Restaurant Week so there was pre-fixe menu where for $30 we got an hors d'oeuvre, entree, and dessert!

The Basil Martini - sounds strange, but it is fantastic!

 For my hors d'oeuvre I choose the mussels - local and very fresh!

During dinner we sipped the Noble Merlot

For my entree I chose the Steak Frites

An after dinner caffe

And, of course, chocolate mousse for dessert!

Our meal was spectacular! To top it off the chef/owner, Ken Irvine, even came out to say hello and make sure we enjoyed our meal.  I will definitely be going back again (and again).  If you'd like to visit Bleu Boheme you can find them at:

Bleu Boheme
4090 Adams Avenue
San Diego, CA 092116
619-255-4167

Oh, and if you decide to go on the weekend I'd recommend a reservation.  We were fortunate to get a table outside on Friday evening. They were booked indoors.  Luckily they had heaters on the patio, but if that isn't up your alley then you'll want a reservation.

Sunset Point Picnic

Sunset Point on Mission Bay

This was the view from my dinner table last night.  Not bad, eh? :) Hubs took me on a picnic for date night and we had a great time!

The hunt is on!

Ever since my visit to Napoli I've been obsessed with Margherita Pizza. Not just a plain ol' cheese pizza, but one with delightfully simple sauce, scrumptious crust, and mozzarella di buffala. A few leaves of fresh basil don't hurt, either. Pizza in Sicily was always delicious, but the pizza in Naples blew my mind!

Now that we are back in the States good pizza, or rather good Italian pizza, is hard to come by.  I decided to make it my personal goal to find the best Italian pizza in San Diego, and started today with Pizzeria Bruno - highly recommended by my hair stylist.

Yummies @ Pizzeria Bruno

In Italy pizza is probably the most economical meal you can buy.  I don't think I ever paid more than 10 euro for a pizza and that was in the city center of Rome where everything is overpriced.  In Sicily pizza usually cost us around 6 euro per pie, and in Naples the best Margherita pizza I had cost me a whopping 3 euro!  I was in for another dose of culture shock when I looked at the menu in Pizzeria Bruno - a Margherita pizza with mozzarella di buffala cost $17!!  I guess I shouldn't have been suprised - mozzarella di buffala is expensive here, but wow...

Anyhow, enough about the prices, because it was totally worth it!  My pizza was outstanding!  The sauce, made with San Marzano tomatoes was perfectly simple and delicious, the crust had just the right combination crisp and soft that can only come from a wood oven, and the mozzarella was to die for!  Pizzeria Bruno is definitely a repeat!

After pizza I had to try a cannolo.  I had high hopes after my fantastic pizza. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite what I expected. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't authentic either. On one end of the cannolo there were chocolate chips, the other pistachios - salted pistachios.  Strange.  The ricotta tasted more like lightly sweetened whipped cream, but it did have the texture of ricotta, except more fluffy. It wasn't the dense, sweet treat that I became accustomed to in Sicily. Still, it was tasty - just not as expected.

Overall Pizzeria Bruno exceeded my expectations.  I went hoping for a Napoletano style Pizza Margharita and that is exactly what I found. It isn't Naples, but Pizzeria Bruno will keep me satisfied until I can visit Italy again.

Visit Pizzeria Bruno at:

4207 Park Blvd
San Diego, CA 92103
619-260-1311

 Buon appetito!

San Luis Obispo Art Museum - Art About Town

I've been a participant in the San Luis Obispo Art Museum's Art About Town program for nearly a year.  Every four months the artwork of participating artists rotates through local businesses.  I was honored to be asked to participate and blessed to have a mom who was willing to manage my artwork while I was overseas.  Now that I'm back and getting into the swing of things I decided to come up to SLO for a few days and start managing my own artwork (with mom's help).

For the past four months my photography has been on display at Creekside Brewing Company in downtown San Luis Obispo. This week is transition week - today I took my photos down at Creekside Brewing and tomorrow they go up in City Hall!!  My photos will be on display near the City Attorney's office for four months if you feel like stopping by to see them.

My photography on the walls of Creekside Brewing Company

 Support businesses that support local artists! Visit Creekside Brewing Company at:

1040 Broad Street
San Luis Obispo, CA
(805) 542-9804

Balboa Park, HDR at night

As promised here are a couple of my HDR shots from Balboa Park the other night.

Botanical Building and Lily Pond

Spreckels Organ Pavilion

I had so much fun setting up my tripod, playing with my camera settings, and capturing moments that would be impossible without a tripod.

A Winter Night in Balboa Park

One of my favorite places in San Diego is Balboa Park.  I had intended to go walk & shoot earlier in the day but time got away from me so Les & I set out at dusk, tripod in hand to see what we could come up with.  I took a lot of photos and had a great time!  Several are bracketed shots for HDR that will require some time in post processing, but for now I wanted to share at least one photo with you.

Balboa Park @ Night

I hope you like it!  More photos, coming soon!

World Nutella Day - February 5, 2011

World Nutella Day is almost here!!  Mark your calendars for February 5, 2011! Are you going to participate? I know I am!  Check out the World Nutella Day website for details on how to participate.

To get you started, I found a recipe on the web that I'm going to have to try: Nutella Cookies by Culinary Concoctions by Peabody.  If you make these let me know how they are.  I need to add Nutella to my grocery list and then I'll be able to let you know if they are any good (uh, yeah, how could they not be!?).

Change

I'm not sure the exact wording of the saying, but it goes something like "the only thing that is certain is change".

Whether or not I like it or am ready things have changed.  This blog, formerly titled California to Sicily followed my adventures while I lived overseas.  Now that I'm back in the States that title doesn't seem quite appropriate anymore.  So, for now I've updated my blog title to California to Sicily (and back) complete with a new blog header! The URL will stay the same (http://anglouise.blogspot.com).

Eventually this blog will have a brand new title, something probably related to photography and travel (go figure...).  Until then, bear with me while I figure a few things out.  Angela Andrieux Photography isn't going anywhere, the venue has just changed and the next chapter is here, ready or not.  Stay tuned...

Culture Shock

An afternoon caffe - Italian Lavazza coffee in my espresso cup from Caltagirone

Moving back to the States after four years in Sicily has taken a bit of adjustment.  Culture shock was to be expected, but the thing about culture shock is that if you know it is coming it isn't terribly shocking.  So, needless to say the differences in culture that caught my attention were completely unexpected.

Overwhelmed by options
The first difference - one not so shocking - is the number of ways Americans have to part with their hard-earned cash.  The number of stores and restaurants blow my mind, not to mention walking into a store like World Market or Petsmart and being completely overwhelmed.  Sure, in Sicily we had Auchan and other supermercati but nothing like these massive stores dedicated to a narrow purpose such as housewares or pets.

The Pasta Aisle
My first trip to an American grocery store after moving home was to pick up a few things for dinner.  I was making a quick pasta dish and needed some pasta.  In Italian grocery stores entire aisles are dedicated to pasta and I spent several minutes going from one end of Vons to the other looking for the pasta aisle.  Certainly I didn't expect an an entire aisle to be dedicated to pasta, but surely it would be a rather large, obvious section, right? Wrong!  It was just a tiny section of one aisle.  No wonder I had a hard time finding it!

Everyone (well, mostly) speaks English!
While living in Sicily I had the comfort of knowing that while out in public I could speak English to my husband or friends and know that most people around me didn't have a clue what I was saying.  Needless to say the filter between my brain and mouth became a bit disused. I could blurt out random observations, some of which should have probably gone unsaid, or at least said in a whisper.  Now that I'm back in the States I've had to remind myself more than once that people around me understand what I'm saying!  Yep, I'm having to dust off that filter and be careful what I'm saying out in public or else I'm likely to embarrass myself or offend someone else.


Ordering a cappuccino
In Italy cappuccini are exclusively ordered in the morning.  If you order one after noon (some say even 10AM) it is obvious you are a foreigner, most likely a tourist.  In an attempt to try and fit in I rarely, if ever, ordered a cappuccino in the afternoon.  However, since I've been back I've truly enjoyed the fact that I can order a cappuccino any time of the day without anyone caring.  It is really rather nice!

No riposo?
Speaking of doing things in the afternoon - being in a land without riposo is awesome!  I can actually run errands and get things done in the afternoon!  What a concept.  In Italy, and especially in Sicily most everything shuts down between noon and 4pm.  It is also common that many shops and restaurants will be closed Sunday and/or Monday and/or Tuesday. Getting anything done in a timely manner was usually a joke, so it is certainly a welcome relief to be back in a country where most things are taken care of in a timely manner.

A simple hello
One thing about Italy that I truly miss is the simple greeting - when you pass someone on the street, enter a shop, etc. it is customary to greet people with "salve" (a formal hello), "buon giorno" (good day) or "buona serra" (good evening).  In the States people often avert their eyes when passing and I've discovered that I really don't like that. It feels so cold and impersonal even just walking though the grocery store. If you say hello or even just smile at people they don't know how to react.  Often after the initial surprise you get a smile and hello in return, but it just isn't expected in Southern California culture. I'll be doing my part to change that, even if it does surprise people!

These are just a few of the observations I've made over the past month during our transition.  Moving back to the States has been bittersweet.  I'm glad to be back in the land of convenience, but I miss Sicily, it was my home for four years and is now part of who I am and always will be.

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.

Wow, I did it!!

I set a goal for myself to blog each day for 30 days.  I wasn't sure if I could do it.  Some days were harder than others.  Some days I had a hard time thinking of what to say, other days I was out so late that I barely squeaked by and got my post up in time, but I DID IT!!  I'm so glad I participated in NaBloPoMo and Thirty Days of Thanksgiving.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving has really helped me focus on how blessed I am, even though I've faced a lot of challenges in the past month.  In addition several of my friends joined in the challenge and I got to connect with them in a new and fun way and get to know them a bit better. I also made new online friends through NaBloPoMo and TDOT. I even had non-blogging friends participating in the TDOT challenge via Facebook!

I'd like to send a special thanks out to my blogging friends and family who participated in Thirty Days of Thanksgiving at:

• Dandelion Days
• Creative Disaster
• My Captivating Images
• Steph Abbott Says
• The Thomas Mother Load
• Thru Catz Eyes

We'll do it again next year.  Mark your calendars for November 2011!!

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving - Day 30

An old, beat up scooter in Castelmola

Today I am thankful for:

1. A bit of rest and not having a whole lot to do.  After the rush of packing and moving out doing nothing is bliss.
2. My husband's efforts at getting us checked out of the base.  While I am relaxing he is still running around taking care of things.
3. A trip into Catania this evening.  It hasn't happened yet, but Kebab is on the menu for dinner and I can't wait!
4. Being disciplined enough to blog each day for 30 days!! I did it!

What are you thankful for today?

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving - Day 29

The view from Castelmola (Single Image HDR)

Today we moved out of the house that has been our home for four years. After everything was packed in the car and the last bit of cleaning done it still felt like my house, like us. Even though our house was a cookie cutter copy like many others, this one was ours.  We made many memories there. I vacillate between feeling wistful at moving on and anxious anticipation for the new adventures to come. I will miss Sicily and it will now and forever be a part of who I am.

Today I am thankful for:

1. Finally being finished with the cleaning and packing
2. Passing our housing inspection with no issues
3. A comfortable room in the Navy Lodge

What are you thankful for today?

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving - Day 28

In Castelmola (3 shot, handheld HDR)

Today I am thankful for:

1. Good friends who helped us out in a pinch
2. A delicious panino for lunch at Bar Fortuna in Niscemi (always a treat)
3. All of the work my hubbie is doing to help get our house ready for the move

What are you thankful for?

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving - Day 27

I'm getting a slightly earlier start on my post today.  Last night I got home and logged into my computer at 11:58PM and clicked "publish post" just as the clock turned to midnight.  The time stamp on my post said 11:59PM so I slipped by on the very edge!  I would have been so disappointed if I had messed up my daily blogging for a month 26 days in!  Luckily I made it, and I really can't complain about why I was so late - I was out having fun with people I love!  I'm really going to miss the friends I have here in Sicily.

Yesterday was a great day - I spent the day in Santo Stefano with a great friend enjoying the quaint town and the lovely ceramics they make.  I honestly wanted to buy one of everything to take back to the States with me but I settled for a few small pieces that I can easily ship back.

It really hit me as we were walking through the various shops that I won't have the chance to go back, at least not anytime soon. I've been in Sicily for four years and I'm used to knowing that I can go back to the places I love, but it finally sunk in that our time here is nearly up.  We only have a few more days.  No time for repeats! It made me wistful but also grateful that I have had so many wonderful experiences and to make the most of the time that I have left.

Some of the beautiful ceramics available in Santo Stefano

 My hubbie and I spent the evening with another group of friends for Thanksgiving (the sequel).  My friend cooked a delicious turkey and everyone brought side dishes and their leftovers from Thanksgiving.  It was a fantastic meal with great company!

Today has been another exciting, fun filled day!  After running a few errands Les & I headed up to Castelmola and Taormina to say our goodbyes to these lovely towns and do a bit more shopping.  We finished the day up with a stop at a going away party for another friend.

So, with all that in mind, today I am thankful for:

1. The time I've spent in Sicily, the beautiful places I've seen, and the wonderful people I've met
2. A fantastic day out with my hubbie
3. The AWESOME Gabs bag that my hubbie encouraged me to buy :)

What are you thankful for?