Who By Fire

Beatriz over a Suitcase Contents recently did a book giveaway for “Who By Fire” by Diana Spechler and I won!!

Here are a few posts about the book on the blogopshere:

Bleeding Espresso
My Bella Vita
Musings of a Bookish Kitty

There have been some great reviews on this book and I’m looking forward to reading it myself.  Thanks Beatriz!!

Sono italiana!!

For those who aren’t familiar with my journey to dual citizenship you can check out these blog entries here, here, and here, to get caught up.

Okay, now that you are all caught up I can announce the good news…

I am officially an Italian citizen!!!

That’s right, after a year of filling out forms, waiting for documents, filling out more forms and even more waiting, I can say most proudly and happily that the wait is finally over…the citizenship has been processed and I now have my Italian citizenship.

I had called the consulate a week ago to check on the status of my citizenship and was told that they couldn’t give me that information over the phone and I had to go in person to find out.  They suggested that if I wanted to get my Italian passport (which I did) that I could do that when I came in. So this past Friday I got up early and made my way downtown to the Italian consulate.

Words will never do justice to the feelings I felt when the woman behind the counter said, “You are Italian”. At that moment, all the repetitive annoying forms and all the waiting just didn’t seem to matter anymore. I finally had it; it was all worth it!

I thanked her many times over as though she was the one responsible for making it all happen. I know so many people have had nightmares dealing with their respective consulates but for me it has been the most amazing experience. I know I can thank my dad for making this so smooth for me, I really do believe he has helped me on this journey. The woman behind the counter was extremely helpful after I told her that my intention for all of this was to eventually move to Italy. She handed me a blank piece of paper and a pencil and began listing off things to look into and places to contact for more information. I scribbled down as quickly as I could, trying to process everything. As the end of the page drew near she told me to begin with these things before anything else, or it will all become too overwhelming. I had to pinch myself. I’ve heard stories of people pulling teeth to get information and here this woman was sitting across from me filling me with knowledge and advice. Was this really happening? I have been so extremely blessed with all of this and I don’t for a second take it for granted.

So, what’s next? Well, I have applied for my passport and will be making the trek back into the city to pick it up in a couple weeks. I have also applied for my codice fiscale, which takes a bit longer to get. So, now I have to continue chipping away at and putting into motion the master plan to make the move to Italy. It’s incredibly exciting and equally scary but with a will and a dream I hope to make it happen!

I guess it’s time to hit the books even more and work on my Italian language skills!

Are you getting your dual citizenship?  What’s your story?

Italian Fashion: Never Without You

Never Without You was established in 2004 when a group of friends with a shared passion for fashion joined together to launch a new fashion label. Its founders, Candido Monacelli and Isabella Cozzi, together have over 40 years of experience in the fashion industry. The Never Without You image and brand caught the attention of Candido’s long-time friend and Roma soccer player Francesco Totti and his wife Ilary Blasi who loved the concept of the label and agreed to become “the face” of the label. You will find the beautiful couple modeling the latest fashions in all of the labels advertising campaigns.

Never Without You’s branding as a young, fresh, sporty, and fashionable label has grown exponentially since its inception. In it’s first year of production, Never Without You sold 3000 pieces and could be found in select stores in Rome. With each year the demand grew and it wasn’t long before it was found in stores all across Italy. Currently, it has around 25 stand-alone stores in Italy, Japan, Spain, Russia and China. It is already estimated that in 2009 more than 350,000 Never Without You branded pieces will be sold which is pretty remarkable for such a young label.

Visit Never Without You online @ http://www.neverwithoutyou.com

Check out these other “Italian Fashion”:

Italian Fashion: Hollywood Milano
Italian Fashion: Boccadamo
Italian Fashion: Baci & Abbracci
Italian Fashion: Guru
Italian Fashion: Carpisa
Italian Fashion: Sweet Years

Simu o no calabrisi?

I’m back!

I had to take a bit of a hiatus for my sister’s wedding but now that she is a Mrs. I can turn my focus back to my blog.  How I missed you blog!!

So, I’m a bit behind on this, but what kind of a blog would I be if I don’t post this tourism commercial with fellow Calabrese and one of my favourite Italian soccer players, Gennaro Gattuso.  I don’t think they could have picked a better person to show the heart and pride of the Calabrese!

It fills me with pride and gives me goosebumps every time I watch it!