Off Track Betting...

So the “Renaissance” people (see previous posts for definition) are already getting so bored we’re beginning to make bets on who Triscuit is going to hook up with each weekend…

…but that’s not the only bet that’s going on (oh snapppp more info coming soon!)

Right now our main contenders are those already introduced.

Tommy…our resident “bookie” has done research and the odds are as follows

Carrie 2-1

Clare 10-1

Chaley 25-1

chatting up Clare..

less than 5 minutes later..

(if you are interested in placing a bet you can reach our bookie bye clicking HERE) 

Italian 1001

I’m taking Italian Language with none other than Marco…swoon…what a dreamboat. (too bad I’m probably at least 3 inches taller than him…whatever) During the introduction to our class Dorothy and I sat in the back and proceeded to write notes to eachother…basically just discussing Marco and whether he’s gay or not.

“was that a wink or a twitch?”

“I’m still trying to figure out if he’s gay or not…either way I love him.”

“If he’s gay I’m dropping.”

“I’m going to cry myself to sleep every night if he’s gay..”

“can I include my number with my email?”

“just give him your room number”

During this highly intellectual conversation I proceeded to laugh extremely loud…it compares to the laughing fit I had in middle school…it was at an inappropriate time I guess (Natasha Biltucci’s fault) which ended up in me getting written up.

Anyways, Italian is already my favorite class…it could be the fact that he cut our class time in half…told you he’s amazing.

Marco...its the best picture I have so far...what a dreamboat.

Oh god I’m the only one in my drawing class that hasn’t taken a drawing class…this is going to be fun.

Alright so we just had this kind of open house/meet and greet for all of our classes yesterday…I was excited, I mean we have to start classes sometime soon…I mean shit we’re only here till April.

Ok so after struggling on how to find my classroom where we have introductions and stuff (I obviously didn’t pay attention to the tour that was given to us the day before...Marco was giving us to tour…and I couldn’t pay attention, I was too busy staring at him) I finally found the room, and as everyone poured into the room, we started talking about previous studio classes we’ve taken and I quickly realized that everyone has taken numerous Drawing classes….ok SLU has Drawing I and Drawing II…and I don’t even know if there’s anything else higher (I’m oblivious to everything). Sheer panic set in. I then realized I have to look at this class like a highly competitive tournament. Its better to play against highly skilled teams because it’ll help you get better…so I’m just telling myself this is going to make me a better artist…Then we started talking about class materials and I realized the mechanical pencils I brought weren’t going to cut it.

I mean I didn’t know there were different types of charcoal, and fixatives and friggin conte crayons…good lord.

The other studio class I’m taking is Metals/Jewelry making…I am SOOOO excited about this class..I guess we have 3 main projects this semester and for our final we make a set of rings…kewl.

The only thing I’m worried about is the fact that this class is supposed to be really frustrating and you have to be patient and calm…two things that I’m not 99.9% of the time…I’m what Jay (one of the Trainers back at SLU) calls “you…I just…oh god….ali high strung is an understatement” …that’s putting it nicely. Ok so anyways, I know that Bailey will be looking forward to waking up in the morning, opening her window, looking over the Tuscan landscape and hearing all types of profanity being screamed from the Kehoe center (where my metals/jewelry class is)…can’t wait.

He's got a rock hard bod...

I don’t know if its just the insane amount of girls and estrogen around, or the fact that we all flock to any male specimen that we see...I'm not kidding. We went to the museum where the infamous “David” is housed...and as soon as the lecture (we get lectured in the beginning of each museum we visit by Danielle, she’s our Art History prof) was finished, nearly 80% of us went straight to the statue(almost in an all out sprint)…sat behind it and stared at his ass wondering if all the guys back then had bodies like him...

oh hey david
(dear security...obviously you weren't doing a great job, because someone with my intellegence was able to take a pretty good pic...just trying to help. gratzie)

"do you think it really looked like that?"
"ya they did a lot of manual labor back then..they were in great shape"

Got lost in Florence for a few hours...awesome.

      First off, sorry Mom, I lied. When I was on the phone with you I was alone, I was lost and I didn’t tell you that because I knew you’d panic and start to worry. I didn’t want to worry…I LOVE YOU.

My mom and I after a tournament this fall.
mom I know you're going to see this...so send american candy for my roommates and I,  we're in need of a care package
THANK YOUUUUUU

       So after I bought my new fabulous ring, I went my separate ways with Alexis (she had something to do for her photo class) and headed to Zucchies (Art Supply Store). What was only supposed to be a 20 minute walk…at most..turned into me wandering around the city of Florence trying to look like I knew what I was doing and where I was going…this took a few hours.

      In this time frame I...

    -Proceeded to stop at 4 different gelato vendors experiencing flavors such as nutella (a favorite of mine), pistachio, bacio and stracchi-something (basically vanilla with chocolate chips).

    -Bought a black sweater (obviously got it in black so I fit in over here…they wear a LOOOOT of black)

    -BOUGHT LEATHER BOOTS from this amazing place infront of the Duomo that had amazing sales and I just loved being in there…I stopped in this store everyday while I was in Florence…I just loved it! Made friends with an American couple…I met them in the boot store, they’re a couple that’s traveling around Europe, after Florence they’re headed to Paris and then London. The wife is from Oneonta, where my bestfriend goes to college! And then the woman and I shopped for shoes together..she was trying on this pair of black high boots with fur…they did nothing for her and didn’t fit her personality…I saved her. She helped me by telling me how much she loved the boots I was getting and suggested what I should wear them with (this all took place while I pranced around the store in nearly 15 different pairs of shoes.

the window of the amazing shoe store with the reflection of the Duomo...how cool is this pic

    -Finally after getting to the Art Supply store, curtosy of the lit teacher, I realized I had NO CLUE what to get for my drawing class. My god I’m a hot mess. I asked Triscuit for help and he’s was kind of helpful (he’s taking advanced drawing) but then I got into the store and realized I was screwed. So I made friends with one of the Italian men behind the corner (unfortunately he was older than the age limit that is socially acceptable for me to date…and he was shorter. But he was nice and he could speak a little English so we spend about half an hour wandering around the little store picking out things I’d need…aka I just followed him around and he told me what I should get.

Ponte Vecchio

there it is

Ahhh the Ponte Vecchio..I know it better as the Bridge where all your dreams come true…if you dream of gold…and I dream of gold…as well as chocolate, tall dark and handsome men, tanning beds and mixed drinks. Alright anyways, you walk onto this bridge and you’re like “oh shit”. This bridge is wall to wall, store to store full of GOLD. And I’m not talking gold plated or 14K, no no no, I’m talking about hand made, beautifully crafted 18K jewelry people. 

I could of never left this bridge and been happy.

Alexis and I went into the store that was giving 20% off (thanks for the heads up Victor!). We spent at least an hour with the people behind the counter; we laughed, we talked, got to know each other..talked about relationships and rings and hell, we talked about EVERYTHING. After becoming best friends with them, and me being extremely indecisive (in the end I made the right choice), we left with empty wallets, memories to last a lifetime, and two little blue bags with some AMAAAAZING RINGS in them. We both got the Flore medallion rings..Alexis got an all silver one with some detail and engraving on the sides. I got the medallion with the flore (the symbol of Florence, this medallion is the same design that was on the currency used in the Renaissance) in silver, framed in gold with a gold band-I KNOW...LOOOVE.

I BOUGHT MY RING IN THAT STORE!!

LETS SPEND SOME EUROSSSSSS!

      After lunch we decided to skip the optional visits to more museums and realized we were in Florence and needed to indulge ourselves in what else; LEATHER AND GOLD. There were so many markets, so many leather shops, so many options…I was in heaven. The first place we stopped…Bailey bought a leather jacket faster that I could of funneled a beer (and I’m not that bad…I’m not varsity like McCarthy or say Kreigs, but i’m def the captian of the J.V. team with Liz). We literally walked into the store..she saw this one amazing creamy leather jacket, tried it on, and bought it. No questions asked, no looking around. It was already 50% off and the guy took an extra 20 euros off…she paid like 220 euros for the jacket…originally 480…which is like over 650$ in the states…I say it was a win.

      Bailey is my girl over here. She isn’t super artsy, she’s an advertising major at UGA and one of the smallest people I’ve ever met. I say on a good day she’s pushing 4’11”. Her and I laugh until we cry about how we’re not going to keep up with these other kids. Its hilarious. We have a lot of the same views about things and just have fun together. We barely recognize any of the famous paintings here while others are going into cardiac arrest when they see a big old painting that must be important. I love art don’t get me wrong, but most of the people here are ONLY about art.

this is Bailey

      Tommy and I were talking (he’s not taking any studio classes, political science major, the kid is sick of museums and is ready for March Madness and to drink a beer) so we were talking and decided that he, Bailey and myself were the REAL RENAISSANCE PEOPLE…because we’re cultured and well rounded. It’s a great argument…and it makes me feel better.

      So as we were walking around we stumbled upon this amazing marketplace…vendors galore..you name it and it was there; bags, jackets, gloves, hats, sweaters, shoes, jewelry, tshirts, flags, journals, food, everythingggggg. I was mostly intrigued by everything and anything that was leather…so was Bailey. She bought a pair of gloves right…they fit her hands (epic for her because shes got wicked small hands) and they’re a rich purple color..i’m jealous and wish I got a pair. Ok so she got this pair of gloves, the guy gave him to her for 50% off…this sale all happened while Kate was getting peer pressured by this creepy bald, aggressive pushy guy to buy this leather jacket that we all knew she didn’t want…ugh hate that. Ok so Bailey buys these gloves, and literally for the next hour…every vendor she passed she’s whip out her gloves and ask them “HEY, FEEL THIS! IS THIS REAL LEATHER? HOW CAN YOU TELL?!”…soo funny. And then she bought a leather planner…which she exchanged for a different one I think 14 times…I’m not exaggerating.

      While Bailey made sure every vendor we saw knew her gloves were leather I bought this dark rich cross body leather bag…yum. I think I’m going to name it…its like my pet. I love it. (I understand I’m referring to this bag as a pet…but nothing is as special to me as Choicey..whom I miss) So this bag is great, it matches everything and its big enough to fit a bunch of stuff in it while not being a huge oversized mess of a bag.

      Other items I purchased included one of those Futbol flags that Liz and Brian have, a bunch of postcards, more gelato, and a tshirt.

everywhere you looked there was LEATHERRR

and then MORE LEATHERRRR

obviously one of my favorite purchases