Yesterday on the plane, I had a passenger that walked on with a piece of luggage that was too big for the aircraft so I pointed to the jetway for him to leave it there. When I began to tell him that he could pick it up when we got to our destination, he looked like he didn’t know what I was talking about. A brief interaction discovered that he was Italian and I was speaking too quickly.

TIP: I know from experience to learn hello, goodbye, thank you, where’s the…bathroom, food, museum, and “speak more slowly please”.

Immediately I was excited and determined to let he and his wife (?) know where to pick up their suitcase. Since my Italian is not that versed yet and I didn’t have use of my Google Translate, I got out my handy 4 language guide that I carry with me on the job at all times. (Comes in handy when you work NYC most of the time) I managed to write down: Buon gior no. Mi chiamo Christina. La valigia accanto la aero Detroit. Grazie!

If you don’t speak Italian either, it just says “Hello. My name is Christina. The suitcase next to plane Detroit. Thank you!” OK, not the best grammar but come on I wrote a brief not that they understood in less than two minutes using a tourist book and at least 4 different pages. Not bad, I think!

We were able to talk a little bit between my limited Italian and their English and they were so kind and gracious. I had time to show them some pictures of a trip that my husband and I took recently to Italy and they were so excited at the journey we took. They also asked if they could send me some pictures of their trip. Yeah! I love pictures.

Of course when they were getting off of the plane, I got a typical double kiss on the cheeks from the woman and a courteous handshake from the man. This is the same response that we got from everyone on our trip, which leads me to wonder if all Italians are this nice?

Today’s Cincinnati Women Blogger meeting was held at the Cincinnati Ballet.

First of all, let me thank Terry Honebrink, Group Relations Coordinator for the Cincinnati Ballet for hosting the meeting and allowing us the opportunity to tour the building.

After a great meeting where we were able to discuss the pro’s and con’s of a recently past blogging conference (BlogHer 2009) held this year in Chicago, Illinois, the attention was passed on to Mrs. Honebrink. Her enthusiasm, rightfully so, for the ballet and especially the Cincinnati Ballet, is inspiring. Terry also has a daughter that dances for the company and understands the dedication and passion that is required of this group of talented individuals.

Did you kn ow that Cincinnati is one of only 8 states in the entire country that has their own ballet company, opera and symphony. The ballet was founded in 1958 by Nancy Bauer, Virginia Garrett and Myrl Laurence and was originally called the Cincinnati Civic Ballet.

Please read more about the Cincinnati Ballet and check into the amazing schedule that they have for the upcoming season with opening day on September 10th!

Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I always say this.

 Today, I was supposed to fly to Houston, Texas to spend the night. When I got to the airport, I found out that the aircraft was downgraded from a 90 seat passenger jet to a 50 seater. This meant that I was going to sit in the back while the junior flight attendant worked on that flight. In the m iddle of eating my salad waiting for the flight, I was paged to say that I was now needed to go to Miami, Florida. Fine. Different city, same thing.

When we got to Miami, the first officer handed me a piece of paper with a name on it. Just airline stuff with notes but who’s name could it be. Out of all of the people in the whole world, it was my Twitter friend and co-blogger, Julie. I felt like I had a celebrity on my flight!

So nice to have you on board so that you could see what I do for a paycheck aside from my hobby as a health and travel blogger.

In Ft Lauderdale for the whole day with a 6 year old that wants nothing more than to go to the pool. It’s a beautiful pool. The perfect temperature, gorgeous shape with two step in shallow ends, areas covered with palm trees  so that it’s not too hot.

Why do I want nothing more than to lay in my bed in the air-conditioning and send my husband with the boy. It’s so cute to see a child having that much fun with no cost involved.

I do remember sitting outside at my Mom’s house in the sun with a coke when I had a headache years ago. Is there something with the caffeine that can help a headache? I never have liked coca cola so I can only think it’s the caffeine. I think that I’ll make a cup of coffee and go to the pool.

I love Goodwill, especially on a Saturday when things are 50% off. Today, I found some small coffee cups that are perfect. A little larger than an espresso cup (since my machine is not working) but smaller than a full size coffee cup. I had found 8 of them in light blue when I found a creamer cup in a pumpkin color. Then, I found two slightly larger pumpkin colored cups that are the same material, weight and inside color that matched the creamer cup. Yippy! I purchased four of the blue ones, the two orange ones and the creamer cup for the bargain price of $2.50!

I also found a perfect modern brushed stainless lamp for my room that has a dimmer built right in the on/off knob also for the bargain price of $2.50. Gotta love the half off days.

Oh yeah, and the brand new looking pair of uniform school shorts for my son for .99! These run around $10 at the “regular” store. All for a couple of months of wear. That’s a savings of $9 on something that won’t even fit next year.

Ha! I am just kidding. No, really!

When my husband and I recently went to Italy, we had the pleasure to visit the Lamborghini factory and museum. Actually, I only went into the museum. There was no need to spend the money on a tour of how they make them for someone who cares more about how they look than what’s inside. Of course, the husband had a job offer when he came out.

Oh yeah, it was pretty cool. Personally, I think that one of the models looked like an old Pinto. Whatever. I found one or two that even I could handle. What we were told is that there is not an actual test track there in Sant’Agata Bolognese (Italy) so they gave the police one of there own. Where this place is located they may scare a corn field or something but there’s not exactly a lot of traffic. I was hard pressed to even see any animals. Dogs galore in the bigger cities but I’m sure it’s OK around these parts. I am sure that the test drivers are professionals anyway.

One of the great things about these cars is that for the exhorbatant cost, you can get the paint and the leather to match anything you want. You want a periwinkle sports car? No problem, Lamborghini will get that made up right away. Perhaps not anytime soon but the quality will be unsurpassed. No camera’s were allowed in the factory for obvious reasons but I  was told that the workers were not in a big hurry. This could be only when the tours are coming through or it could be the Italian way of life. You won’t even find much going on between say 1pm and 4pm so don’t expect too much then. Some jobs are left to women, which has nothing to do with equality. It has to do with the smaller feminine touches that only a woman could bring to the table. I have to wonder though, what if the woman has really big hands or a man is more feminine with smaller hands? What then? I couldn’t tell you because I didn’t take that tour and I didn’t think to ask. I just think it’s pretty cool that they would care enough about the product to think or something like this.