Valentine’s Day Preparations
While I was home over Christmas, our one and only plant died.
I know what you’re saying (“surprise, surprise…”), but when I discovered the crunchy leaves, I was shocked. It seemed like such a hardy plant (afterall it lasted in the Crane/Badellino household for over a year). Luca is always the first to remember that it’s time to water the plants. Apparently he was so overwrought by my extended absence that he completely lost his mind.
Well, I planted a single giant zinnia today to try and make up for our loss (I’ve got garden fever this week). Then I decided to turn our dead plant into a Valentine’s Day Party 
centerpiece. Ding!
I must admit that I was a little worried at first because I only had watercolors on hand and I didn’t think they would cover the woody stem of my dead plant. But they worked like a charm! (And are way cheaper than those expensive acrylic paints out there). As you can see, I painted it pink and then cut coordinatingly-colored hearts out of construction paper. After poking the hearts with a needle and stringing them with red or pink thread, my dead tree is now a diva V-day tree! (I got a little carried away with the watercolors and planted the plate as well…).
I plan on doing a sexy/erotic theme at the Valentine’s day party this year. (Reminiscent of the Un-Valentine’s Day party of yester year). While I was in my creative mode, I whipped out a few invitations as well (most people will receive a verbal invite). I used Martha’s idea for folded heart-shaped Valentines and added my own little touch (pasted lips cut out of various magazines onto the outside of the envelopes instead of using expensive, hard-to-find double-sided paper). Her “close the envelope with a heart sticker” idea seems clever, but the sticker totally did not hold the cards closed, so I wrapped them in festive ribbon instead. The insides read something like, “You’re invited to the party of the year! An erotic celebration in honor of Saint Valentine. Dress sexy and prepare yourself for a night full of pleasure…”
Here are some snaps from Thanksgiving 2007. I made stuffing (that was way too salty, but still scrumpscious with plenty of crumbled sausage in it), smashed potatoes, an untraditional turkey (just two gigantic pieces of turkey bird) with bell peppers and olives, and apple crisp for dessert.
For Christmas, our old neighbors, The Bennetts, gave me Andrea Bocelli’s CD Vivere. It’s fantastic. My favorite CD of the moment. My parents liked it so much that they burned a copy of it before I left. There’s really something for everyone in this compilation of Bocelli’s best works–it’s opera-y but not too opera-ish, most of the songs are in Italian, but lots of them are duets with the woman singing in English (but these duets are well done. Often times when artists start mixing languages, it’s a big mess, but this is not the case here). Some of the songs are modern, some more romantic…if you like going to the theater, you’ll like this cd because it’s full of drama and passion: providing plenty of new material for your private operatic auditions. 
I went out by myself on Tuesday night. It was the first time in…2 1/2 years that I’ve gone to a discoteca without Luca! And the second time that I’ve gone out by myself–hello, Shira, can we say “Need to get out more”.