Two Worlds

(l. to r.) Francesca, Alex, Rosaria, and Mamma Regina are soaked from a wet and wild ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom. © Photo courtesy of Di Meglio family

My mom Regina, my friend Alex, and I spent last weekend at my sister’s place in Florida livin’ it up. (To view photos from the weekend, click on the “Girls Weekend 2010” photo album.) We did the girlie girl thing with pedicures, soaked up sun in the baby pool (yes, a baby pool), went on rides at Disney World, did some shopping, and ate anything we wanted. The weekend, which was a much-needed distraction and lots of fun did include two men – my brother John and my sister’s dog Shilo, both of whom provided ample entertainment (from brother John giving his three-month-old daughter a bath to Shilo jumping onto the table to eat a zucchini pancake). There was girl’s night out with all of us, my sister-in-law Jaci, and baby Maria for dinner at Kouzzina. And there was many a World Cup disappointment. Let’s not even talk about that. Besides, delicious clams and pretzel bread made everything all better. Love and miss you all now!

Pasquale Di Meglio's presepio in 2009 made it to the papers. © Photo by Francesca Di Meglio

Christmas Eve is always a crazy day for Italians. Everyone is cooking fish for the evening’s celebrations and relatives are stopping by with gifts and more food. It gets crazier every year. One of the reasons everyone stops by to see us is because of my father’s elaborate nativity scene, which is known as “presepio” in Italian. In fact, this year, the famous presepio even appeared in a newspaper all the way in Ohio. Check out the Ohio newspaper story by clicking here. (See pictures of my family’s Christmas Eve celebration at the “Christmas Eve 2009” photo album.) You can also see the video of my father’s presepio on YouTube –