Author: gigisimeone

A Blue Book means something very particular to me. No, not the Kelley Blue Book that tells you the value of the used car you are planning to buy. Or the Blue Book that listed the socially-prominent American blue bloods. Not even the all-purpose exam book of my college days. No, a blue book my … Continue reading 115. Blue Book

I am embarrassed to say that I don't really properly appreciate art. I breeze through museums at my normal walking speed, wondering what those people are seeing who sit on those benches in the middle of the gallery, staring at one picture endlessly. I've even audited several art history courses in the hopes of deepening … Continue reading 114. Christo, 1935-2020

Late May is always an especially evocative time for me. It was the time, thirty-three years ago, that we had our honeymoon in Italy. I had not been back since 1965, when I spent the summer in my father's hometown of Gaeta. We had a few set things that we wanted to do -- return … Continue reading 113. Honeymoon Memories

One of the great joys of spring for me is thinking about and planning my upcoming trip to Italy.It's not that I have a strict policy of going every year, but it just seems to miraculously work out that way. I have gone often enough that I have already been to all of the must-sees, … Continue reading 112. In the meantime

I never knew any of my maternal forebears before my mother. But I am lucky to have photographs of five generations of women in my family tree. Here's one of my great-grandmother, a few years after immigrating to Chicago from Trivigno, a hilltop village in Basilicata. My grandmother is on the left; she went on … Continue reading 111. Mother’s Day

As I wrote in a previous post, Ben and I ordered a box of frozen pizzas direct from Italy from Talia di Napoli, an outfit that had a little write-up in the Food section of the New York Times. As a treat for our kids, we also sent boxes to them, containing five pies each. … Continue reading 110. Talia Di Napoli pizzas selling like hotcakes, er, pies

I had the great good fortune of spending Easter 2019 in Rome. My daughter Maria was there on business, and invited me to tag along. It took me less than 15 seconds to think about it and say yes, even though at my advanced age, hopping on a plane to fly nine hours for a … Continue reading 109. What a difference a year makes

I'm a big believer in little treats. Nothing lifts my spirits like an impulse buy at the supermarket, a cute new pair of sparkly shoes, a midweek movie after work.  But little treats are harder to come by now that we're all isolated in our homes. Don't get me wrong; I know my life, even … Continue reading 108. Little Treats

It has always been a source of amusement in our household that my father grew up in two houses just a few blocks apart. The first was in the "downtown" area of Gaeta, where people lived in cramped quarters on narrow streets. In the summer, though, the family would move ten minutes away to the … Continue reading 107. If These Walls Could Talk

I've had two lovely surprises during these terrible times. I was showing my husband Ben something on my Facebook account, and he said, "Hey, you've got a lot of messages here!" "A message? What's that?" I replied, not being the swiftest with all this social media stuff. Well, it turns out that sitting there for … Continue reading 106. A Message from Italy