An Episode

I had a bit of a scary episode today at the gym.

I have an issue sometimes where I believe my blood sugar gets too low and I get very hot and sweaty all of a sudden, but also clammy, shakey and I can tell if I don't get some sugar in my system that it's going to go bad very quickly.

I'm not sure what triggers it, but my guess is food. It alwyas happens a few hours after I eat and it's usually after I have something sweet like a cherry limeade or in today's case a bowl of frosted mini wheats.

It doesn't happen a lot, but when it does it's pretty scary.

Does anyone else ever have this happen to them?

Fashion Friday

With spring quickly approaching I thought there was no better time than the present to showcase a few spring fashions.



I LOVE this dress. It seems a bit unusual, but I think that's why I like it so much.



I think this coat is perfect for spring. Mainly because you don't want a heavy coat, but you still want something to go over your outfit.



I think this would be a cute shirt to pair with a skirt or nice pants for work or even a night out.



How cute is this? I can see this as a work/church/going out dressier top.



Perfect casual shirt for a spring afternoon filled with errands.



This is more summery, but I couldn't resist it. This is what I would consider the perfect swimsuit cover-up. Cute, summery and perfect for poolside!

All the above pieces came from Forever 21, except the last item, which came from Old Navy.

Melissa in Milano

On Tuesday I headed to Milano with a couple of friends to check out the city. In all honesty it was fun, but the only reason I want to go back to Milan is to see the Last Supper. Other than that, once was enough. It's just not that interesting to me.



The train station in Milan



The Duomo. The 4th largest church in Europe.



Pigeons everywhere! Men try to force birdseed on you to feed the birds, but I wasn't having that. Pigeons are diseased and nasty. So no thank you!



I thought the stained glass windows were the best thing about the Duomo. They are gorgeous and numerous.



Inside the shopping promenade.



Random Snails....no idea why they were here.



My friend Dana and I with the snails



Ok...the guy on the left was our guide for the day: Claudio. His parents own a restaurant in our town that my friend frequents. He's a carbineri(sort of a military policeman) in Milan and agreed to be our guide for the day. He was AWESOME! Not only did he show us around Milan, but he insisted on buying us things like Nutella crepes and hot chocolate. He also saved me from a very embarassing fall on a tram by grabbing me at the last second. So..for all you ladies who out there who are single come meet Claudio! He's available. :)



I'm not sure why this Geisha statue was there, but it made for a nice picture.



Italians on bumper cars are brutal!!! I'm talking they go all out trying to smash into you. Melissa's Tip of the Day: Never ride bumper cars in Italy

Collections

I'm currently in the process of editing pictures from my trip to Milan, look for those tomorrow. In the meantime, I wanted to do a post on collections.

I have a few collections that I've started over the years.

My favorite would probably be my postcard collection. I don't remember when I started collecting postcards, but I'm guessing I was around seven. Since then I've had to get postcards on pretty much every trip I've been on. Whether that was a day trip or something much longer. I have NO idea how many postcards I have now, but it's a lot. I also love buying vintage postcards from thrift shops. I have a really awesome black and white one from France right after WWII. It's even got a message on it to someone. Very cool!

I collect Barbie's too, even though I haven't really added to my collection much the past few years. I, of course, have all my Barbies from when I was little, but I don't really count those towards my collection. I have 2 Rubbermaid containers full of all my Barbies and that's not even counting all the Barbie ornaments I have. I have so many Barbie ornaments that I am going to do a tree with just them one of these days.

What do you collect?




I also collect vintage Nancy Drew books. I have a decent collection of them, most of them I received as gifts for birthdays and Christmas. Most of them are from the 1930s. I'm still on the lookout for them when I go to old book sales or antique shops in the States.

Question of the Day

I feel as if I'm in a blogging slump, so it's time for a Question of the Day!

Do you think celebs have a right to complain about paparazzi? Do you think it's part of the price of fame? Why or why not?



Let's hear your thoughts!

Scatterbrained Sunday

I'm a bit scatterbrained today and my mind is everywhere so I'm doing another sort of thoughts post.

1. I watched Time Traveler's Wife the other night. On a scale from 1-10 I'd give it a 5. Original type story, but didn't really hold my attention. I need to read the book I guess and compare the two.

2. It appears I'm going to Milan on Tuesday with a friend and her cousin who is visiting. I've only driven through Milan, so I'm excited to see it and it's beautiful Duomo.

3.I'm making this recipe off of Pioneer Woman Cooks/Tasty Kitchen. I LOVE Indian food and cannot wait to see how it turns out.

4. Call me unpatriotic, but the Winter Olympics bore me. I'd much rather watch the Summer Olympics. I'm hoping we can make it to London in 2012 to see the Olympics there.

5. I'm still plugging away on my college scrapbook. I made a list of pages I have left to make and I still have about 35 to go. This makes me reconsider doing future scrapbooks! I've thought about just doing photobooks on Snapfish, but there's just something about scrapbooks that I love so much!

Fun With Photoshop

So what's a girl to do when he husband is deployed and it's raining outside?

What's that you said? Housework? I think not.

I've spent part of this afternoon playing around with Photoshop.

First off I tried out a few new banners for my photo blog. I'm ok with what I made, but it's nowhere near what I've seen others make. *cough* Allison and Becca *cough*





Then I played around with editing some photos from my National Parks trip a few years ago and some textures I found on Flickr. (Sidenote: Textures are addictive)




My first attempt: A vintage type feel to this bison caboose



Attempt Number Two: Make Old Faithful look like it did 'back in the day.




I think this might be my favorite. I really tried to make it look like a 1950s picture or postcard.

Handmade Goodies

Since beginning this blog I've had the pleasure of "meeting" a lot of you talented ladies out there. Not so much meet in the sense of face to face, but establishing more of an online friendship.

From blogging I have found two incredibly talented ladies, one who quilts and one who knits.

After seeing J's quilts on her blog, I knew I had to have one. A couple of weeks ago my finshed quilt arrived in the mail and I was blown away! It is simply perfect and I love this quilt that was made especially for me.



Even Boomer loves the quilt!



Since I'm not a knitter I was willing to shell out a pretty penny for a cute knit hat, but no need! M, over at Full of Heart, knitted me two adorable and perfect knit hats that were an amazing deal and she's actually knitting me two more because I loved the first two so much.



You've seen me in one of them before, I posted this pic last month sometime.



So..if you're not the craftiest person around it pays to have friends who are. :)

Thursday Thoughts

1. How do people read while on the treadmill/elliptical.
-I would feel as if I wasn't getting that great of a workout
-I'd fall off whatever machine I was on if I read
2. I hate when people act like they aren't bragging when they really are.
3. I firmly believe in karma. I got the news today that my former boss (who I couldn't stand and was the reason why I quit the USO) got fired. Sweet redemption!
4. I've really, really tried to like The Office and I admit it has funny moments, but overall I just don't get it.
5.I mentioned this on my Facebook, but I'll mention it here too. I just found out that about half of the photos I entered in the Army Photography Contest went to the next level. I'll find out the first week of March if any of mine placed. (I promise this thought does NOT go along with number 2) :)
6.I rented Time Traveler's Wife last night. I hope it's good. Thoughts?
7.I really enjoy the Rachel Ray magazine, even though I'm not a huge fan of her show.
8.I had risotto with truffle shavings the other night. Ah-mazing.

Thoughts brought to you by the letter M for Melissa and Moscato

It's Been One of Those Days

It's only 1pm and my day is already craptastic! I hate days like this.

Basically the issue is my car. I love my car, I do, but I've had so many problems with it and it's only 3 years old.

In case some of you don't know Chevy Cobalts (which is what I have) have a defective power steering in the 2005-2007 models. It goes out without warning. It is currently being investigated, but no sign of a recall yet. So, since mine has this problem I get to pay for a new steering column, roughly 700 bucks, and hope they recall it so I can be reimbursed. It wouldn't be such an issue if I were in the States, but the fact I'm in Italy where Cobalts are not sold is difficult. Somehow I have to order the part I need from the States, but I haven't been successful with that so far.

Today I go to get my car inspected and I failed the inspection. Why? Because I have a crack in my windshield that is more than 6 inches long. I pointed out the fact to them that the crack was there last year and I still passed the inspection, but he said the regulations are different this year. Crap! He acted like I could just breeze down somewhere and get if fixed. Um..yeah maybe if I was Italian! I'm just so frustrated with the car right now.

On top of all that I woke up this morning and my left eye looked bloodshot. Evidently I'm having issues with my eye and my contacts again.

I'm ready for this day to be OVER!

Favorite Food Finds

Today I just wanted to share some of my favorite foods (most of them healthy) with all of you.

First up: MorningStar Asian Veggie Patties



I love to heat these up in the oven and sometimes I'll put a little bit of Hoison sauce on them, but honestly they don't need anything. The are awesome and have a spicy little kick to them.

Next: Bertolli Vodka Sauce



Some of you may question why living in Italy I'd be buying sauce in a jar, but I just have to say I can't eat out ALL the time, so when I do eat pasta at home I like to use this sauce. I'm going to admit something....this sauce is so good I eat it out of the jar with a spoon. You HAVE to try it!

Lastly: Weight Watchers Cookie and Cream Bars



These are only two WW points and although I am not currently following WW, I think it's still a nice guilt free snack.

Any awesome food favorites that you've found lately?

Venice and Carnevale

Yesterday my Italian friend Roberta and I went to Venice for Carnevale. We had a great time, but it was the most crowded I've ever seen Venice. Of course, I took tons of pics and thought I'd share some with you.

First glimpse of Venice



These are a typical Carnevale treat. There are several different things they put in them. Mine had ricotta, raisins and some other things. They are AMAZING!



I loved the various costumes that we saw. Here are Snow White, the 7 Dwarfs and the Evil Queen



Some of the lavish costumes we saw while in San Marco Square



Yours truly with some of the characters



A more unusual headpiece




This is my favorite pic I took yesterday



Twilight in Venice



Carnevale is exhausting...especially for little flamingos



Ducks on parade



My friend Roberta and I. She told Italian guys on the way back we were cousins, they believed her. That may have been more believable because they were intoxicated.