11.24.2011

Thanksgiving

I wish you all the happiest of days today and everyday.
Although I didn't finish my days of thanks, I am thankful for a lot this year. Truthfully the list was hard for me. Especially the last couple of weeks when it felt like everything was going just a little bit wrong, it was hard to feel thankful. Then today I wake up next to my partner and we are able to smile and laugh and love and I am preparing to feed my family and friends and I can't help but be thankful for all that I have. I will put a smile on my face today and take the sad moments with the happy ones and be thankful for all that is before me.
Love you all and wishing you a super happy and thank filled day.

Ciao
S

11.18.2011

Thanks part 3

I am thankful (truly truly) for my hubby. Being married for 9 years, you really get to know your partner whether they think so or not.
  • I am constantly surprised that he can sense my vibe and try to counter it or make it better, or sometimes do nothing at all because he knows that I don’t even want to acknowledge it.
  • I am thankful that he is taking my car to get serviced because he knows that it is something that I HATE to do.
  • I am thankful that he is handy and can get stuff done around the house; even if it takes a little longer, it is nice that he does it. ;)
  • I am most thankful that he likes to debate with me. We are not on opposite ends politically, but we definitely have differing views and like to spend time defending them.
  • I am also thankful that pretty much he lets me do what I want. We’ve been together long enough that jealousy is a thing of the past and we don’t feel like we have to be together every minute of every day. But I miss him a lot too.
Ciao
S

11.15.2011

What's in a name?

My name is Stefania; I introduce myself that way and hope that you use it when addressing me. My sister named me. My name, although not conventional is really not all that hard to say, pronounce or read. My experience has been that if someone gets it wrong the first time no amount of correcting is gonna make it right.
There are also a whole group of people that insist on shortening it to Stef. What's up with that? I had someone ask me my name once and I replied "Stefania", he then asked, "What can I call you?"... and I replied, "Stefania." He didn't think that was funny and insisted that I had a nickname that he could use.
Growing up they called me Stefy. After high school I made a super conscious effort to make sure everyone called me by my full name and it generally worked, except of course for that really obnoxious group that decide to call me whatever they want.
When my nephew was old enough to start talking my name became Zia Fania. Can't blame the kid, Zia Stefania is a lot to say much less remember. So within my family and close friend I can sometimes be called Fania (Zia is the Italian word for Aunt).
My job has always included customers, clients, parents, students; basically lots of talking on the phone and other various forms of correspondence, and people misunderstanding my name. I think it grates me the most when I send an email signed Stefania and I get a response "Dear Stephanie," as if they realized that I spelled my own name wrong and they want me to realize it as well. Over the phone I've gotten Stephanie, Stefan, Zavania, Stefanya, Stefaneea (pronounced with a heavy -nee), and Tanya. Once a really truly long time ago (first job out of college, and I can't believe I'm telling this story) I was answering the phone for Matel Interactive as a customer service representative and the person on the other end of the phone heard my name as Lasagna.

Ciao
S

11.10.2011

30 days of thanks - in parts.

I am thankful for the amazing women in my life.
  • Mom- Thank you for being there for me day in and day out. You are my blueprint for life.
  • Sube- Thank you for letting me call you that even though neither of us could probably pinpoint why. You are a role model to me in every way; you’re an amazing mother, business woman, sister, wife and friend. I aspire to be like you everyday.
  • Family- In this past year you have risen up and shown me how lucky I am to be a part of this family. As women we take care of each other in good and bad and for that I am thankful.
  • Heather you get a category all your own. Never before have I had a friend like you. I can’t even begin to describe the magnitude of our friendship and what it means to me; thank you for being my bestie.
  • To the rest of my amazing, beautiful, courageous, intelligent, talented, loving, inspiring, awesome, awe-inspiring, caring, blogging, adventure seeking, smart, witty women in my life; Thank you for being a friend. 
Ciao
S

11.05.2011

30 days of Thanks

I've been seeing a lot of being thankful going on and I want to get on board. Because I can't always remember to post every day I hope to post weekly about the things that I am thankful for.
  • This week I was super thankful for not having lost power. It really brings perspective when you drive around and see huge trees that have fallen from one snowstorm, and you hear about people still not having power after a week. Whao.
  • I am thankful for my job. 1) that I have one 2) that the people I work with and 3) the opportunities that this job offers me.
  • I am thankful for my health. 
  • Also this past week I was thankful for the technology that kept in contact with my family and friends, knowing that everyone was ok.
  • I am thankful that the state of CT recognizes same sex marriage and allowed two very special people to have a really amazing ceremony to show their love.  
See ya,
S
xo

11.02.2011

Power

What a surreal couple of days.
Let's start with the gorgeous Friday we had last week. It was a beautiful day, especially because I left the office at noon to head over to carve pumpkins for my friends wedding the next day. It was around that time that they were predicting a terrible October storm. Yeah right. I surely didn't believe that we were going to be getting the 6-10 inches that they were predicting.
Saturday it started snowing at about noonish even though they predicted that it wouldn't start until 4 or 5 pm. Hubby and I were getting ready to head to the costume party/wedding of the century during the storm of the century. Nothing was gonna stop us from that wedding and nothing did. There were already branches down by the time we got there around 5:30pm, but still I didn't believe that it would get much worse. Boy was I wrong.
We didn't care much about the snow coming down outside because we were having a great time at the wedding. I couldn't get over the creative costumes; everyone from PeeWee Herman and Ms. Yvonne to Edward Scissorhands was there. There were pirates, evile clowns, cowboys, Kermit and Miss Piggy. Wow. Everyone had a great time and the wedding was so beautiful. There were blessings and songs and readings. Best part is that two of the most wonderful humans on earth are married and I was there to witness it. Makes me proud to be in state that recognizes same sex marriage.
Around 11:30 we decided to brave the weather and head home. We danced, we drank (not a lot considering the drive home) and now it was time to get going. We got to the car and headed right out into the night. It was still near white out conditions as we drove and there were lines and trees down everywhere. We go about 1/3 of the way home and hubby realized that he dropped his glasses in the parking lot and we had to head back. I was so glad that we were able to find them in the already 6 inches of slushy snow.
We made our way slowly home and were discouraged by the street after street of darkness. There were trees down, streets blocked and the snow was still coming down so hard. We got about 3/4 of a mile from home and could see the light at the corner of our street shining like a beacon in the night. We had power and could not believe our luck. We were howling with happiness. Once inside and still hyped up from the ride home we decided to switch on the boob tube and try to catch some weather or news. To our dismay the cable was out.
We spent all day Sunday clearing the drive and walk ways and being so happy that we never lost power. After listening to the radio we realized the extent of the power outages and literal devastation to the area. We hopped in the car and saw some of our neighboring streets and realized how lucky we really were.
We lived without cable/ internet and phone for the past 3 days and couldn't care less considering we had heat and hot water and power. The cable just came on and is allowing me to tell you all this.
Hubby has no school until Monday and I was closed til tomorrow. Whoa, what a storm.

Ciao
S