under the tuscan sun...

so if there is one thing that is good about my parents living abroad it is this... WE ARE GOING TO ITALY!!

We are going to see this...


and this...


and this...



all while carrying this and looking super cool and adventure-like...


In t-minus four week, ryan and I will fly from Houston to London to Rome to meet my parents for an Italian adventure through Tuscany, then back to Rome. Ryan has been traveling all over the world these past three years while I've been in graduate school, but most of the time, I have not been able to join. I'm super excited to get to travel together again, with the added bonus of getting to hang out with my Mom and Dad who are quite the adventurers themselves. My parents are actually totally showing us up because they are spending a week in Paris before we arrive to meet them in Rome. (I can feel the jealousy rising up... I miss my beloved Paris!) So until then, I'll be reading up on my Rick Steve's Europe through the Backdoor and Rome travel guides to wet my appetite for the things to come. If any of you have been to Italy and have any suggestions for "must-dos" or "must-see's" I'd love to hear them!

In other news, we had a whirlwind month in August with Mom being home for three weeks, baby showers, and work. We found out that Brian and Mary are having a little girl, to arrive in early December, and Ryan's sister Karla had a new baby boy named Charlie who we get to go meet in northern California this weekend! (he has red hair, and I'm already in love!) Both of these two new appearances plus a few friends with little ones of their own on the way, have given me a great excuse to attempt my first quilting projects. I'm starting slow, just small baby quilts with no piecing required, but I'm still completely intimidated by the whole process. Especially the binding of the edges. I'm now equipped with my very own self-healing OLFA cutting mat, rotary fabric cutter and ruler, but I'm not sure exactly how to use any of them. I've been completely inspired by Katie's go-to quilt featured on her blog KatieDid. Its simple, clean and looks comfy and worn in which I love. We'll see how my version turns out...

So, that's all for now, I've been bag about keeping up with blog land these past weeks, but until Italy I'll try my hardest to keep you posted. I think that soon I'll be combining this blog with my craft/sewing/knitting blog PurlGurl just to simplify life a bit. Love to you all, be back soon. AB