salone del mobile

the inauguration of salone del mobile, which is probably the most important design fair in the world, was a few nights ago. the trade show is accompanied by fuorisalone, literally translates to outside the salon, all over milano, during which time showrooms, galleries, studios and stores and open until all hours of the night and the city teems with designers, industry people and enthusiasts from all over the globe. i've been looking forward to this week since i arrived in italy and thus far i have not been disappointed.

my school scheduled our class on management of design-based companies to coincide with design week, which was quite brilliant on its part. tuesday night, after an abysmal attempt to go out with some friends to check out opening cocktail events, i ran into anna, a friend whom i've been thinking about for some time. a friend from the mafed and i ended up hanging out with anna, her boyfriend and some fantastic friends of theirs until late. one of the best things about italy (or really the world outside of the united states) is that there are no open bottle laws here, so i went to the kebab shop, spent 3 euro on a large bottle of beck's, and enjoyed it outdoors in the company of about 500 other people. it was fantastic, really.



last night (thursday) after taking it easy wednesday, read: going-out-light, i went to an aperitivo at strafbar with a couple of friends from school and friends of friends. then we went to the kartell store, drank a couple glasses of free prosecco and then to g lounge, where i danced the night away surrounded by (mostly) gay men. i scored ten additional points when i spilled someone's drink straight into one of my favorite ankle boots - yes, my foot was in it at the time. another excellent night.

today really kicked ass.

woke up hung over, sleep deprived and shall we say, slightly disoriented. i managed to break through the hangover by the time i was in the shower and got myself out the door on time, dry hair, looking decent (save your applause please). after a few minor hiccups and a very crowded metro, i arrived at the rho fiera complex where the salone del mobile is held. words cannot describe how incredibly, unbelievably, amazingly ridiculous this show is. it is chock-full of the most important design companies in the entire world. i was awestruck.



you would've been too...i promise. this afternoon we went on a couple of tours of the showrooms of some pretty amazing companies: b&b italia and boffi which were utterly amazing. so, at the end of a long long LONG week, i'm happy - and lying in bed. here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.

i just watched a youtube clip of susan boyle singing on britain's got talent and i spontaneously burst into tears about two seconds after she started singing. i've never seen anything like it. every single person's face who was listening to her had the eyes of a child. it was one of the most amazing things i've ever seen.

i was talking to a friend the other night and she reminded me that i have a blog that - embarassingly enough - i had completely forgotten about. i'm sure i would have remembered eventually on my own, but the reminder certainly didn't hurt.

so. it's been about two and a half weeks since i wrote my last entry. i don't even remember what it was about. maybe i'll go back and read it. i actually somehow feel like a different person again. my state of mind has completely changed since before bill came, which is quite strange considering that it was less than two weeks ago. i am so so glad that we had a break from school. i was on the verge.

bill came on wednesday april 8th and it was really amazing to see him. when i first saw him at the airport, he looked kind of strange and unfamiliar to me. it took a little while before he just started looking like him again, about 45 minutes i'd say, so not that long really.

it was funny to be together after so much time. we, of course, know each other well but there was also something a bit foreign about him that was great. we didn't do a whole lot of sightseeing or running around really. i introduced him to my couple close friends here, which was lots of fun. otherwise we basically just talked and spent time together. it was really nice to catch up with him more than anything, and to have him in my space here. i was super-entertained by the fact that i had him in my apartment. funny.

we went down to reggio emilia which is a pretty small city in emilia romagna (a food famous italian region, the home of parmigiano, prosciutto, culatello and balsamico). we basically just hung around the mile wide downtown area of which our hotel was in the center. we got out saturday night to eat dinner at a fancy restaurant in parma. the food was good, but i don't know why we keep trying to do the fancy restaurant thing. we've been over it for a while - maybe nostalgia? so, it's time to cut it out. otherwise we just spent really good quality time together...surrounded by delicious food...in italy. not so bad really.

since he left on wed, i've mostly been hiding out in my apartment. i've left a couple of times to run errands and get together with friends, but for the most part...hibernation. it's been great actually. tomorrow more me-time and then maybe a drink with a friend.

i really have a major urge to start blog posting in italian, but seeing as how approximately 100% of the (i'm thinking five or so) readers of this blog don't speak italian...it wouldn't really make sense. it occurs to me that i could start another, but let's be honest; if i'm not keeping up with this one, do we really think that i'll write two? no we do not. so - english. for now.

on and on

ever since a friend told me about a completely amazing streaming tv site, i've been hooked. something about dark comedy has been deeply satisfying lately. i watched four seasons of weeds in two weeks. now i'm onto dexter. it's completely amazing in a totally sick way and i'm in love.

school's going fine. time is passing, and i'm managing to somehow pull good work out of my ass. i have no idea where it's coming from, but i'll take it. bill's coming in two and a half days. i can't wait to see him. i can'hardly believe that it's been three months already. time is flying by.

i started thinking about work today. i'm dreading the job search. i've actually been musing about california a lot lately. i don't really know why but it keeps jumping into my head. who knows? maybe we'll move back there. i certainly wouldn't say no to the land of no winter. after this past one (not really) in milan, i don't think i can go back to chicago for another freezing ass seven months of indoor sports. it's just too damn cold and too damn grey.