Organic in Monti

I guess the craze for organic food has hit also the Rione Monti.
The other day Mr R and I were walking around the posh neighborhood, looking for a furniture shop when we passed a former sushi/ interior design shop now turned into radical-chic-organic mini market- bistro (anything else??).
The place is called Mia Market, it's a mix between a living room and a market, with crates and vegetables everywhere, and still cool furniture and good looking people.

Mr R and I walked in, curious about the space and the offerings, but also intrigued by the possibility of finding some decent tasting veggies. What we found was good but slightly overpriced (like many organic places in Rome). The prepared food (some quiches, tarts and small cakes) and the cheeses looked great but we didn't have any.

Look how pretty it is! I just found out they also organize informal cooking classes and events.
I just missed a frying frappe event! I better put their blog on my RSS feed:-)

Running.

Just one week to go before the half marathon. My body is starting to ache a bit but I have the last bit of training to do. Today it's long run day.
After this it will just be short runs, yoga and possibly some swimming before the big day!

The Half Marathon goes from Rome to the beach, in Ostia. The race is called Roma -Ostia

Weird things in Philadelphia

As I was walking Pico today, I was reminded of something very strange I saw in Philly.
Just a few blocks from the office is this door, with a fake leopard chained to it.
First question: who would do that?
Second Question: how do they open the door?
I thought it looked particularly coo/weird with the snow..

Hot chocolate in a cold sunny day

walking around Rome is on of my favorite activities especially when the sun is out.
Yesterday and today have been exceptionally beautiful, with a great light and a strong cold wind cleaning up the air. The air felt crisp and made walking particularly pleasant (in a strange masochistic way).

After a stressful day and after witnessing a robbery in front of my office, I took off for a brisk walk in the direction of the Spanish Steps. Mr. R and I were on a mission to go check on a friend's apartment in that part of town. We walked and talked, discussed ideas and projects, propositions and suggestions, until we got to Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina. This piazza is by far one of my favorites in the city, it's a little pocket of peace and style in the sea of chaos that is Via del Corso.
Here we meet our clients for the Orientation Walk, and here I bought my first Luis Vitton item. The Bottega Veneta Rome boutique in on this piazza as well as Pomellato and the famous Profumeria Materozzoli, all dear destinations to style seekers.

Among all these boutiques sits a cafe of equal relevance: Ciampini.

Ciampini has the best of everything, best location, best ice cream, best cornetti and cornetti salati, best iced tea (along with La Caffettiera) and I recently discovered best hot chocolate.
Not only the consistency was perfect, but the flavor was full and round just like what it should be.
To top it all, my favorite barista added a spoon of panna (cream) feshly whipped. No words can describe the warm feeling I got inside when I sipped on the dark drink...

Perfect meal in Rome

There is nothing like coming back home, especially when home is sunny and beautiful like Rome.
This time the welcome back has been even more pleasant than usual.

My dad invited A., Mr. R and I out for dinner at I Sardi Due. Mr R and I had been blabbering about this restaurant for quite a while, so papa' Nicola decided to take us there now that mamma Anna is out of town (and he hasn't had a decent meal for a while).

We agreed on an early dinner due to my jet lagged status, so the restaurant was empty when we got there. Our favorite waiter, Jimmy was there and he took care of our party. Mr. R, A and papa Nicola ordered linguine al cartoccio. I went for a gluten free dish: fish in spicy tomato sauce.

Everything was so delicious and flavorful! We cleaned our plates and continued with a portion of semifreddo al torroncino: a small bite of heaven... mr. R already decided he wants to go back for his birthday week, he wants to try a different dish every day!

traveling

heading back to Europe..will be on a plane for a while. Updates when I am on the other side:-)

NY Dog Show

I don't really like traveling in the winter, but there is one thing I love about being in NY at this time of the year: the Westminster Kennel Club dog show.
This great event takes place every year around this time of the year, the show is at Medison Square Garden, just a couple of blocks from my friends apartment.
I never attended the show itself, but I always managed to get a peek of some of the contestants, sometimes even the winners.
This time I was on my way to do some shopping when I saw a small crowd gathering in front of the MSG. I crossed the street and wiggled my way to the front of the crowd just to see this wonderful and enormous mastiff . He was so docile that everyone got close to him, even little kids. He almost looked fake, in fact at first I thought it was not a real dog but some kind of crazy toy. His eyes were a bit sad, but overall he seemed like a happy dog.

The show happened and the winner was announced, I completely missed it as I was back in Philly and getting ready for the next trip up to Boston, until my good friend J showed me this:
The golden Briard.
The author of the blog is a friend of J's and is a fantastic illustrator with a true love for dogs.

Check it out, she has all the results of the show in an illustrated version:-)

My friends in hats

A few nights ago I was out with a group of friends here in NY.We went out for dinner and then dessert at Chickalicious.
We had a molten choc cake with vanilla ice cream and an affogato al caffe. Both were divine and in a perfect size. Unfortunately I don't have a pic of the food, but I have a picture of us, devouring it.
Notice we are all wearing furry hats. We thought the scene looked straight out of a Russian women convention!

NYT Travel Show

So we started. We are at the booth 474 in the Europe section.
Today was the first day, and it was great! Lots of people came by, including American Express agents, Sean from Bootsanall, and other friendly people!
If you are reading this, and you are in NY, come by in the next days. Here is our schedule:

Saturday, February 6 all day - we'll be in booth 474 in the Europe section

Saturday, February 6 @ 1pm - Context docent and culinary historian Cathy Kaufman will discuss "Tasting the Immigrant Experience," her walk of Manhattan's ethnic food, U.S. stage

Sunday, February 7 all day - we'll be in booth 474 in the Europe section

Sunday, February 7 @ 11 am - Context co-founder Paul Bennett will discuss sustainable tourism and stewardship on a panel of travel professionals and journalists, seminar room 2

Sunday, February 7 @ 12:30 pm - Context docent Katie Parla and Jarnac head chef Maryann Terillo will discuss our 8-day trip to Rome and Naples, "A Taste of Two Cities," with a tasting of Roman and Neapolitan specialties at the Context booth to follow, Europe stage.

We are also running walking seminars throughout the weekend. Check out the schedule here

looking at you in the cold

NY today was freezing, sunny,beautiful and incredibly cold. It was so cold that I went against all my rules and bought a pair of Hugg Boots, just to keep my feet warm. I also purchased a fun hat, some makeup and moisturizer..even though it might seem strange, the makeup and moisturizer purchases are directly connected to the outside temperature. It was so cold I had to duck into Bloomingdale's and try some Bobby Brown stuff.
I was really happy with the job that the woman and the counter did, so I decided to purchase.

The overall effect was luminous, natural and yet very effective. Here is a peek, and you can see the bottom of my hat.

Just like Rocky

Finally the temperature in Philly has gone up a bit, we went from -3C to 6C today. The sun is shining and the world is beautiful. With all these elements put together and making today the perfect day, I could not avoid my weekly long run.
I have been training for the half marathon for quite a while, and I only have 1 short month to go, so long runs are a MUST!
I got ready and headed out running towards the river path, starting at Locust and 25th. There were plenty of people out running, so I had extra motivation. I ran all the way to the Philadelphia Art Museum and followed the path till I got to the bottom of the stairs of the imposing building. The museum was partially designed by Julian Abele at it is beautiful example of neoclassical architecture. I was so inspired by the majesty of the building that I opted for some extra exercise, going up and down the stairs leading up to the entrance.
Suddenly, once I reached the top, I had a deja vu..didn't this look and feel familiar??? I ran down, then up again and when I finally got back down to the bottom of the stairs where I found the answer to my question: a golden statue to ROCKY!!! How funny, right next to the plaque celebrating Julian Abele, a brilliant member of the local intelligentia, was the statue of the symbol of non- cultured Philadelphia...interesting.

Anyway, I ran home and immediately googled Julian Abele, to find out more about this fascinatig architect, and of course googled the Rocky workout too. Here it is, just for you!