Easter is five days away which is good news for me because my dreams of chocolate are getting more vivid… I could smell it in the last one…
This year was definitely my toughest lent to date. I gave up all sugar, from not adding it to coffee in the morning to abstaining from all desserts (
gelato included!) in the evening.
I spent the last 40 days turning down all variety of sweets … or accepting them (usually chocolate) to stash them away in my freezer for safekeeping until after Easter. But with only five more days, I can make it.
However, while I am on the verge of succeeding in that one Lenten observance, I am failing in another.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPe-m_kqYFJ6WY7YQ56L1ATj7IodHv_i8GzIGm1ey716119GpjYOjP8MrI2xC6Md9-TSus7NGhFAGKv4ihZjRZkMIbs7U9QahcnVcV4mq-xz-8TDUc5paHuOfTbCS-raLBFBSN4MtvppU/s1600/Chocolate+Festival+(2).JPG) |
Chocolate shoes |
This lent, I also promised to write once a week.
Writing for me is like running. I don’t feel entirely healthy unless I do it regularly. Yet, though I have been good at running lately (I completed the Verona half marathon in February), I have not been good at writing, as you may or may not have noticed.
Part of it is that I am out of the habit, which is why I thought lent a good time to reintroduce it. Aside from the religious aspects of lent, I have also learned that 40 days is a pretty good amount of time to form a new habit or break a bad one. Lent would have been a good time to get back into the habit of writing…
This feeling of remorse for me is a bit reminiscent of last year. Some of you may recall that my Lenten resolution was to give up complaining about Rome (specifically the people and services
in Rome). I did so poorly thought that I then decided to give up chocolate for the 40 days after lent. It was a sort of self-imposed “talking-to”.
40 days of not commenting on late buses, rude people, broken services or chaotic everything would have been good for me. But the habit was too engrained.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwh9XvZVI-ndhI1qQbVLKdO0ASo-3BUeDwWCG0XJGoJ3Glk0sh0sxSzfylyhn4Xbsh26Z5vHTHQ-2PbhqpDHpqk4Nba7dIrXO8lH9F2OHfeW05i680fjROKcDEVrC3OJ5gFfTrWMDsLlk/s1600/Verona+(8).JPG) |
My brother in law also gets excited about chocolate |
But perhaps again this year, I will impose a post-lent promise/talking-to: To write once a week for 40 weeks. It could work. I already have a lot of new stories about wedding planning in Italy.
And that’s the other count down: the count down to my big fat Italian wedding! Yes, dealing with the legalities of three countries, having people fly in from probably ten and working with a mixed bag of traditions, it’s going to be a total zoo and completely legendary. So far, no talks of a roasting spit in the front yard though which is good.
As you can see, a lot has happened since
Mexico: visiting family in Toronto, getting engaged in Vancouver, searching for a venue in Umbria and Tuscany, finding a wedding dress in the weird underground wedding sub-culture of Rome… It's been a busy 4 months.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAD3MnbeIIoIFLM0iYDQdDZKtG9BlrdqxGrozbKG1cxScGIsgB-YU_4UEZiz2TXWObOsXVWMfxaageVTnqiggRxz1SMLjoTc6SXCdvkRKW5LWGP2L4pLn4Y07vXcq36u6hrnJ0767kOg0/s1600/castle+of+love.png) |
Castle of Love: the brochure of one of the venues we looked at... |
But with wedding planning comes a whole other cultural experience of Italy which I would be happy to share: Living like an (engaged) tourist. Get ready puffy dresses, shellacked wedding cakes, cheesy songs and outdated traditions: here I come, or more appropriately, here comes the bride.
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