for fun: Do/Would you still put on all your makeup and decent clothes if you are quarantined

[awhfy]

My new OOFOS just arrived!  $35 on sale (down from $139). Several sizes left. They weigh 4 oz total & are super, super comfy!!!!!  Melody

[slidergirl]

Melody - I LOVE those OOFOS!  Looked it up - none in my size 😢

 

I hit every possible store up here, looking for my trofie pasta - no luck.  Even World Market (which has some interesting Italian pastas and sauces).  I decided to drive down to the Valley to my Italian store.  I found my trofie AND the fregola pasta that I wanted for the other week (but used the mini cavatelli instead).  I'll just remake my shrimp and scallops with the brown butter and fregola another night.  

I also picked up a nice little bottle of basalmic - I was getting a little tired of my Trader Joe's one.  Hit the pastry shop next door and bought the last 4 lemon ricotta cookies they had - couldn't resist.  BUT, I did resist the urge to go 2 doors down to the hat shop!!   Did make a pass at TJs and got some flavored sparkling waters, some salad stuff, some frozen veggies and Bambas.  Didn't go overboard with it.  

 

The snow we got stuck to the ground - 3 days later I still have some around.  Ugh.  More coming Wed-Fri.  At least Halloween will be dry, but cold.  I'll just set up my portable campfire next to my rocking chair in the driveway to hand out the candy to the neighborhood.  

[cruisemom42]

Wow, I had a bumpy landing after this trip, wonderful as it was. I finally caught up with everyone's doings while I was gone.  Looks like Sherri and Lois are still enjoying their trips. 😍   Kat, cute Halloween decorations and your Italian treats are making my mouth water.

 

This trip made me realize that I may have to dial back just a little on my usual "go go go every minute" travel planning. The BTB cruises gave me about equal opportunity to revisit old favorites and see new ones but by the end I was finding it a matter of will to get up and get out the door (or gangway, rather) every morning. Of course, that could also been because unbeknownst to me my immune system was already fighting off whatever garbage it is that I've picked up. This was also my first chance to really assess how bad the knee has gotten since my last intensive trip -- and it's pretty bad. I think I'm going to have to press-gang my doc to get that knee replacement going for 2023.

 

That all said, I had a wonderful time. I've got to go through my photos before I can post any, but we had the most amazing weather. The only really foul day was when we ported in La Spezia and I had planned to do the Cinque Terre. It was bucketing down rain and continued all day, so I decided not to go. You know me, I'll be back in Italy and I will get there eventually.... 

 

I do have a new crush on Liguria in general though. The previous day we were anchored and we tendered into Portofino, from where I also got to Santa Margherita (by boat) and Rapallo (by bus). I was in mad love with them all but particularly Santa Margherita.  Like Goldilocks, I thought Portofino a bit too small and Rapallo a bit too large. SM was "just right".  I'm really looking forward to Stanley tomorrow night to get his take on the region.

 

I also decided to stay on the ship at Santorini. It was a circus with seven -- yes seven! -- ships at various points during the day. I've been twice before and enjoyed it (particularly Akrotiri) but had no desire to fight the crowds.  I thought I'd read that Santorini was limiting the number of cruise ship passengers on a given day? -- Nope!!!  Beware if you are headed there.

 

As mentioned, the weather was splendid and warmer than normal so I ended up wearing mostly short sleeves. Good thing I tossed in two additional short-sleeved tees at the last moment. Europeans were already wearing their quilted jackets, winter scarves and boots. I don't know how they pull it off.  I took two pairs of walking shoes and alternated between my Hokas and Ons. One pair of evening shoes and one pair of casual slip-ons for around the ship. Four pair seems to be my happy place.

 

I didn't do a lot of shopping but did pick up a cute navy cotton scarf with pom-pom trim in Mykonos and a lightweight unbleached cotton tote trimmed with seashells in Positano (as well as a couple bars of the locally-made lemon-mint soap that I love...)

 

I enjoyed my day as planned in Rome and was able to fit everything in despite being tired. Then basically slept on the plane and gradually realized I was in first stages of this cold....

 

Still just taking it very easy this weekend. I may swing by a local place later this afternoon that makes great soups -- kinda sounds good right now.  Tomorrow it's supposed to rain all day. 

 

This year, for the first time, I do not expect ANY trick-or-treaters. For the past 20 years we generally had 80-100 every year!

[MrToblerone]

Hello everyone!

Welcome back Cynthia ,like everyone else has said ,so sorry to read you picked up something while you were travelling .

Continue to enjoy your travels Lois and Sherri,love hearing about Italy.

I just booked a cruise for next July ,it seems they are already getting full,

Im guessing lots of people are using up credits from Covid cancelations.

I am going with my Mum from Barcelona to Rome,very exciting.

Im at hospital at the moment having my third chemo ,half way there,yippee!

[awhfy]

12 hours ago, MrToblerone said:

Hello everyone!

Welcome back Cynthia ,like everyone else has said ,so sorry to read you picked up something while you were travelling .

Continue to enjoy your travels Lois and Sherri,love hearing about Italy.

I just booked a cruise for next July ,it seems they are already getting full,

Im guessing lots of people are using up credits from Covid cancelations.

I am going with my Mum from Barcelona to Rome,very exciting.

Im at hospital at the moment having my third chemo ,half way there,yippee!

Melissa I hooe your treatment goes well with few side effects. Melody

[cruisemom42]

18 hours ago, MrToblerone said:

Hello everyone!

Welcome back Cynthia ,like everyone else has said ,so sorry to read you picked up something while you were travelling .

Continue to enjoy your travels Lois and Sherri,love hearing about Italy.

I just booked a cruise for next July ,it seems they are already getting full,

Im guessing lots of people are using up credits from Covid cancelations.

I am going with my Mum from Barcelona to Rome,very exciting.

Im at hospital at the moment having my third chemo ,half way there,yippee!

 

It's great that you've got the cruise to look forward to!  Good luck with the second half of your chemo. 

[slidergirl]

Melissa - hope your chemo went off with little after effects!  

 

Cynthia - would Santa Margherita be a good place to just relax on the beach for 2 days?  Yes, I'm already thinking of another trip!  I may offer to take my GF who has never been to Italy and give her the "tourist special" with me as tour guide.  then, I'd stay a little longer myself and do a little more exploring, If she can't do it, I may do it myself and maybe a little cruise involved.  I was looking at flights from SLC last night to CDG and AMS (nonstops and I'd connect) and they were already getting filled up!

 

Sounded like last night's Searching for Italy was all for the season 😢  It did bring back some memories of those hillsides.  The walnut sauce the son in the family from the hills sounded really good (and healthy) - I may have to look this up to make.  A focaccia store reminded me of the one in Vernazza, across from the apartment I stayed in with my 2 friends.  We'd go there and get some foccacia, then next door from some tomatoes & lettuce, then next door for some meat & cheese for at least 1 meal a day.  Ah, memories. 

 

I'm posting some photos of my dinners I made for my Dinner with Stanley. The first one is my own recipe of Ribollita.  It's Tuscan, but it was the first cold night so I wanted to make it.  Second is the mini cavatelli with scallops & shrimp I made for Puglia night (didn't have the fregole pasta then).  Third is my meal from last night for Liguria - trofie with ligurian pesto, foccacia with olive oil & rosemary, and a nice glass of Aperol Spritz.  I might have to make one of my days off in the Winter "Italian Night" so I can keep cooking. Doing this every Sunday has been fun, trying to figure what to make.  Oh, the dish is one of my new ones from My Place.

 

OOTD:  jeans & long sleeve Tshirt until later this afternoon, then my big Natural Life multi-color hooded kimono and my Mickey Mouse Wizard Hat so I can pass out the Halloween candy to the kiddos. 

Edited October 31, 2022 by slidergirl

[cruisemom42]

Any thoughts on last night's "Searching for Italy"?  (Or as my son says, hasn't he found it yet, he's been searching for two years....)

 

I was just in Portofino, so it was wonderful to see the segment there. I have to say that I gave the Brown Castle a miss with all those steps and my knee -- not a good mix. Wish I'd known about the restaurant featured, Cracco Portofino:  Cracco Portofino:the newest restaurant of a great Italian chef - Gambero Rosso International

 

I did eat lunch in Portofino, in one of the places right around the harbor. Had a delicious seafood salad and enjoyed watching the beautiful people and beautiful yachts.

 

BTW, I also enjoyed finding and munching some foccacia in Santa Margherita.

[cruisemom42]

13 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

Cynthia - would Santa Margherita be a good place to just relax on the beach for 2 days?  Yes, I'm already thinking of another trip!  I may offer to take my GF who has never been to Italy and give her the "tourist special" with me as tour guide.

 

Santa Margherita itself has a rocky beach in its center that is also its harbor but to my amusement I saw a group of locals in the water and doing some serious swimming. They had some kind of net with floats that divided off a space around the breakwater for them to use.

 

If you want a delightful looking sandy beach, there's one between Portofino and Santa Margherita called Paraggi. There's also a separate bathing area nearer to SM that is supposed to be popular in season called Bagna Rosa. If you stayed in SM it would be an easy matter to get to either one. When I was there a lot of the beach accoutrements were already put away for the season but pics show both beaches generally have plenty of loungers, umbrellas etc. in true Italian style.

 

 

[awhfy]

Well, we didn’t get a single trick or treater last night. I’ll just take the candy on our cruise next month & give it out to the crew as a little extra

[cruisemom42]

17 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

If you want a delightful looking sandy beach, there's one between Portofino and Santa Margherita called Paraggi. There's also a separate bathing area nearer to SM that is supposed to be popular in season called Bagna Rosa. If you stayed in SM it would be an easy matter to get to either one.

 

I meant to add that there's a bus that goes along the coast road among all of these little towns (at least as far as Rapallo) frequently. It wasn't crowded in October. Not sure what it would be like in high season...

[Lois R]

Hi girls, last day on the ship. I fly home tomorrow and next cruise is in January out of Ft. Lauderdale to the Carribean.

I have enjoyed this sailing but have been chilly almost the entire time (and yes, I wore layers). The NE in Oct is colder than I used to........

[slidergirl]

I had a lot of 'treaters last night - more than what I remember.  My block had everyone out on the driveways to give out candy,  some of us dressed up, some not.  I thought I bought enough candy and I ended up with about 10 pieces left.  My candy survey this year showed Tootsie Pops in first place with plain Hershey bars second.  Usually Tootsie Pops are on the bottom so I have a couple left for me - not last night!  I dressed up as a hippie wizardess - my tiedye onsie, my tiedye hiking boots, my Natural Life long hoodie kinono, my mongolian goat scarf and my Disneyland wizard hat.  I put black around my eyes so I looked really spooky.  Lots of the neighborhood women asked me where I got my boots!  LOTS of the adults with the kiddos were toting their own adult beverages.  It was a good 90 minutes for all.   By 7pm, it was down in the upper 30s, so it was nice to pack up the table & chair and go in and warm up.
 

[cruisemom42]

4 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi girls, last day on the ship. I fly home tomorrow and next cruise is in January out of Ft. Lauderdale to the Carribean.

I have enjoyed this sailing but have been chilly almost the entire time (and yes, I wore layers). The NE in Oct is colder than I used to........

 

Safe travels home, Lois!

[slidergirl]

Lois - safe and hiccup-free travels back home!!  With another cruise so close, you just have to wash the laundry and put it back in your bag!! 😸

 

Cynthia - I'm not sure what to think about Stanley.  Something on that last one was lacking to me, don't know what.  It seemed like they were trying to cover more area than they usually do and things were cut short.  He needs to get back to the same energy of the first season.  Not to say I didn't like to watch, it just seemed different.

 

It's a dark and snowy day today, one of those days where you can't keep your eyes open because you feel like napping.  Not going anywhere today, so it'll be some laundry and more kitchen clearing of not-used stuff.  

 

OOTD:  black Vuori joggers and my old Hobie Surfboards Tshirt.  

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, slidergirl said:

Cynthia - I'm not sure what to think about Stanley.  Something on that last one was lacking to me, don't know what.  It seemed like they were trying to cover more area than they usually do and things were cut short.  He needs to get back to the same energy of the first season.  Not to say I didn't like to watch, it just seemed different.

 

Yeah -- I kind of agree that something seemed off. Surely he hasn't covered every region of Italy already?  I wonder if there are behind-scenes negotiations with CNN....

 

Because I was gone, I missed the first couple of episodes. I saw that the Calabria one was going to be repeated a couple hours after Liguria, so I stayed up to watch it. That one seemed a lot more authentic -- maybe because he had his parents along and they started and ended with the family connection. I enjoyed that one.

 

[slidergirl]

35 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Yeah -- I kind of agree that something seemed off. Surely he hasn't covered every region of Italy already?  I wonder if there are behind-scenes negotiations with CNN....

 

Because I was gone, I missed the first couple of episodes. I saw that the Calabria one was going to be repeated a couple hours after Liguria, so I stayed up to watch it. That one seemed a lot more authentic -- maybe because he had his parents along and they started and ended with the family connection. I enjoyed that one.

 

Apparently, with the changes at the top of CNN and the Discovery merger (or whatever it was), CNN is thinking about ditching the series that it gets from other production companies, i.e, Stanley and also United Shades of America (one of my faves).  If Anthony Bourdain was still alive, they'd be thinking of ditching No Reservations also since it was another production company.  CNN is doing a lot of shuffling people around and firing people lately, so who knows what is going to happen. 

 

Ugh,  it hasn't stopped snowing yet.  It's that thick "cement" snow and it's sticking to my driveway.  Shoveling may be coming my way...☹️

[awhfy]

On 11/1/2022 at 1:57 PM, Lois R said:

Hi girls, last day on the ship. I fly home tomorrow and next cruise is in January out of Ft. Lauderdale to the Carribean.

I have enjoyed this sailing but have been chilly almost the entire time (and yes, I wore layers). The NE in Oct is colder than I used to........

It’s been a pretty chilly into downright cold fall in NE

[awhfy]

19 hours ago, slidergirl said:

Apparently, with the changes at the top of CNN and the Discovery merger (or whatever it was), CNN is thinking about ditching the series that it gets from other production companies, i.e, Stanley and also United Shades of America (one of my faves).  If Anthony Bourdain was still alive, they'd be thinking of ditching No Reservations also since it was another production company.  CNN is doing a lot of shuffling people around and firing people lately, so who knows what is going to happen. 

 

Ugh,  it hasn't stopped snowing yet.  It's that thick "cement" snow and it's sticking to my driveway.  Shoveling may be coming my way...☹️

Your storm is coming here this afternoon into the weekend. Sprayed our shovels with silicone this morning (supposed to keep it from sticking, we’ll see). Melody

[Lois R]

Good morning, got home last night about 7.   I went to vote early today and then stopped by the Florida Blue Office near my place.  I found out some information about that bill I got for the procedure from last year. Seems the person I spoke with on the phone gave me DIS information.........that 6 month time period is for the time the provider has to bill the insurance company.......not the time to bill the customer (me).  So, the money is due......I was told that the statute for the 6 month time period is specifically for provider/insurance.......and the provider has no time frame in place for billing the patient..............😮 why am I not too surprised?

 

Kat, I never watched any of Stanley this season!........I might have to go back and watch it on demand.

 

Had a good cruise🙂 and hope all of you are doing well.  Is Sherri still on her river cruise?

 

[awhfy]

5 hours ago, Lois R said:

Good morning, got home last night about 7.   I went to vote early today and then stopped by the Florida Blue Office near my place.  I found out some information about that bill I got for the procedure from last year. Seems the person I spoke with on the phone gave me DIS information.........that 6 month time period is for the time the provider has to bill the insurance company.......not the time to bill the customer (me).  So, the money is due......I was told that the statute for the 6 month time period is specifically for provider/insurance.......and the provider has no time frame in place for billing the patient..............😮 why am I not too surprised?

 

Kat, I never watched any of Stanley this season!........I might have to go back and watch it on demand.

 

Had a good cruise🙂 and hope all of you are doing well.  Is Sherri still on her river cruise?

 

I’d question that Lois. I know here in CO there is a statute on limitations for billing. If they don’t bill you in a reasonable time, laid out here as 1 year maximum you are not responsible for paying it.  I would think FL would/should be the same. Melody

[slidergirl]

7 hours ago, awhfy said:

Your storm is coming here this afternoon into the weekend. Sprayed our shovels with silicone this morning (supposed to keep it from sticking, we’ll see). Melody

Never heard of silicone on shovels.  What brand did you use, if it worked???

 

I guess I have to get serious about buying those new winter tires now...

[Lois R]

2 hours ago, awhfy said:

I’d question that Lois. I know here in CO there is a statute on limitations for billing. If they don’t bill you in a reasonable time, laid out here as 1 year maximum you are not responsible for paying it.  I would think FL would/should be the same. Melody

Hi Melody, I did question it. I was in the FL Blue offices this morning. We discussed the entire thing. Florida is VERY different than Colorado (in more ways than one).😮

[awhfy]

13 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi Melody, I did question it. I was in the FL Blue offices this morning. We discussed the entire thing. Florida is VERY different than Colorado (in more ways than one).😮

That’s too bad, you’d think there’d be a statue of limitations

[slidergirl]

Went and ordered my winter tires yesterday.  I have to leave my car at the place all day tomorrow - good thing I can walk the mile home.  I could have paid for a flight to Europe or a week's cruise for the price.  At least I only have to buy them once every few years.  Bad thing is that I have to buy new "rest of the year" tires this Spring.  

 

Question for all y'all:  has anyone done a ship's stop in Kotor?  There is a cruise on Celebrity that does roundtrip from Rome to Kotor, Dubrovnik, Corfu, Zakynthos, and Naples.  It's on the Beyond.  Looks like that ship is going to alternate between that cruise and one that does Turkey and a few more stops in Greece, but that one is $1000 more.   The solo rooms they have on the ship look interesting - has the floor-to-ceiling window to a little veranda, way better than the little inside things others have.