My New Year

Buon giorno!

Yes it's true...I am back. 

Did I know I was so missed for the last duration? I did not. But, my beautiful friend Tina (can I begin to tell you how much I adore her?) was chiding me in no uncertain terms last night over my birthday dinner at Il Toscano where our host Vittorio (another whom I adore) not only made the birthday girl un piatto speciale - pasta alla sea urchin - yum - but back to Tina...she has very much missed my blog.

So here I am, with a pending 4-course meal to prepare for Antoine's parents who are visiting from France ... and Roma and Inter are playing one of THE matches of the season. Ibra just scored. He is so sexy, in that Euro-big-nose kind of way and I especially love him because he's married to an older woman, and yum I just read that he is favored for the Ballon d'Or (Euro footballer of the year; that video shows a recent goal at the very end) but I digress, again. I do have a big dinner party coming up this evening and do I appear concerned about having all those 4 courses prepared well and on time, setting the table, etc? I do not. Did I mention Roma and Inter are playing live at the moment?

So it's my new year, yesterday was New Year's Day. This is usually when I set my resolutions but considering that this calendar year (as of January 2008) I hosted SportsBites radio for 28 consecutive weeks, started Melting Pot Tours with my sister Lisa (have I ever mentioned that I adore her?), have hosted house guests from both Italy and France more than once, started this blog and will soon be starting a new one for our Tours website, have cheffed on a yacht, and I'm sure I've done a host of other things that do not come to mind right this instant...I am sure that it's OK with the gods that I don't make a new to-do list at this hour, I think I'm good for resolutions.

I think I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and ramp up ways to have fun. And laugh. And how to do more of that with the people I love most in the world. Even take it to Italy and France again. Maybe Spain too.

And while we're talking of a perfect world, here are the plans for my special birthday next year. Party for lots of my favorite people and me at the Casa Del Mar Hotel in Santa Monica. Saturday night, 17 October 2009. Rooms and parking for everyone who wants to stay overnight and have brunch the next morning. Amazing tapas, paella, Sangria, birthday dessert, live music and dancing for the party. Spectacular party favors for everyone who comes. Individual (non-coupled) guests of all ages invited to bring a guest. Too much fun.

Before I break here - squash+apple+shallots+sweet potato for soup...then tomatoes, then garlic for antipasti, are waiting to be roasted - here's a quick update in case you were as concerned as Tina that the world was gypped for several months while I didn't blog:

The Soreal Cafe is no longer. It appears to have been replaced by a Botox Center. No further comment.

Sundays are still sacred and I now am even more annoyed when I'm asked to be somewhere since Doll and I usually work on Saturdays now; men, money, family (remember, not necessarily in that order) still being the only things I allow to interrupt my sacred time and space. Antoine's parents are considered family and, yesterday was a company holiday.

My sacred box of Cream of Wheat had to be thrown out because my pantry had a bad case of bugs this summer. I hate that. Rest assured, when we finally have some serious fall weather around her, Red Chef Cream of Wheat Man and I intend to get seriously re-acquainted.

Some friends who are on the same spiritual page as me at the moment have taken to wishing on stars after I shared a dream that I had last Sunday morning about Figaro, the kitten in Pinocchio. Come to think of it, that would make a great story to blog. Like me, if you have no problem with fairy tales, princesses, magic, and discovering a beautiful new voice, I hope you will enjoy one of my favorite new videos here.

Finally, just to assure you that not everything has changed since we last met, I leave you with this ... SportsBites radio may be on hiatus and I don't get to say this out loud as often as I used to, but I still think Alessandro Nesta gives whole new meaning to soccer being the World's Most Beautiful Game.

Inter has scored 3 more times (Ibra - 2 of the 4 goals) in this match which yet again gives credence that some things are destined to stay the same, for at least a while longer. 

Life for them, and me, is very very good and keeps getting better and better.