Are you tired of hearing about Rick Steves? Sorry. This post is about how we got to see Rick Steves speak for 2 hours at the L.A. Times Travel Show.
Here’s what I love about Rick Steves:

He’s smart.
He’s opinionated.
He’s not afraid to say what he REALLY thinks (even if it offends potential customers) {which actually makes good business sense}

Love it.
I’ve listened to a couple years of archives of his weekly podcasts (until tragedy struck), so I’m familiar with a lot of his talking points.
But that sure doesn’t compare to seeing him …

You turn the corner, and walk into the hallway where you know he is.
Your expectations are high, but you try to temper your excitement so you’re not too let down. Just in case.
You try to avoid looking up to save the moment as long as possible but it’s too hard.
You know that the place is packed all because of him. You’re elbow to elbow with other camera-toting-but-not-allowed-to-take-pictures tourists all facing and moving toward one end of the room.
Finally, unable to postpone the moment you look up. Past all the heads. …

Um – in case I didn’t make it clear – the ENTIRE reason we were able to go to Italy last October was because a certain special best-friend-of-mine got MARRIED and wanted me to be there.
Ok, wanted me to photograph. Only a slight difference.
The amazing thing for me about shooting this wedding (you know, besides the fact that the bride was someone I have been friends with for something ridiculous like over a decade) was that we were all staying in the same bed and breakfast.
That means breakfast together, that …

One of my absolutely FAVORITE parts of our whole Italy trip was this lunch – arranged by Accidental Tourist as part of our day-long Tuscany excursion.
Homemade lunch. In a Tuscan private home. In the kitchen/dining area where this sweet woman entertains her own friends and family.
It was magical ….
A couple shots below of the home ….. the steps lead up to the main floor (I think the floor below is where the same company hosts cooking classes)

I couldn’t even tell you all the different dishes we were served ….
But we …

(I know it seems like a long time ago, but when we left off on our Italy trip, it was the middle of Tuesday, we were at Villa Gondi learning how they make olive oil and now wine) ….
Yes, in addition to learning about how they make olive oil, we toured the facilities of how/where they make wine. In Tuscany. Italy.
*swoon*
After learning about the olive oil equipment and steps … we ended up on the ground floor, and Steve opened this (big) door to lead us back to where the …

Last weekend when we were … in that part of the state …. We stopped in San Luis Obispo to visit the California mission there.
Based on the amount of change that we had, we were in town for only about an hour. $1.25.
I want to be able to say that I’ve been to all the California missions. I’ve been to San Fernando (4th grade), Santa Barbara (4th grade) and now San Luis Obispo.
I love the California Missions.
I love the whitewashed walls against the red tile roofs against the gorgeous California …

California’s oldest and largest state park

Yesterday I revealed my One Little Word for 2010: RISK.
This year, in addition to thinking about putting myself out there a little more, I’m going to articulate some definite goals and plans to try to accomplish.
Not resolutions. That’s too hard.
But an ambitious to-do list I’m OK with.
I am not differentiating between things that I’m sure will happen and things that will only happen if I put my mind to it. I am choosing NOT to acknowledge which are realistic and which are wildly unrealistic. Just go with it …
Some are …

Thursday: Christmas Eve with NO PLANS!!
It was heavenly.
Neither Andrew nor I had any plans that day (with the exception of stopping by Andrew’s work very very briefly to feed a fish), and I gave myself the day off from at-home work.
Did I mention it was heavenly ….  mmmm …..

‘

Heather and Edmund got a new dog -> Lucy LuLu the Maltipoo
Yes, that is her real name.
And she wears pink sweaters.
oh my goodness …. ridiculously cute with her little ewok face and fluffy whiteness….

There was ALL kinds of cooking and cookie-making and …

The Tuesday of our week in Italy was for pre-wedding festivities with Angela, Devo and the rest of their guests.
The bride and groom booked us a full day excursion into Tuscany!
We got picked up about 930a in Florence by 2 guys/vans from Accidental Tourist. Steve (an American ex-patriot) and his born-in-Italy 20-something year old son Alessandro.
We all piled in and drove about 45 minutes out into the Tuscan countryside. Andrew and I rode with Alessandro, and he was so good about answering any questions we had about where we were, …

Monday morning – continuing our tour with Angel Tours
The Roman Forum was a bit overwhelming …and we didn’t even see all of it.
The amount of history and ruins and stories and scandals in the space basically the size of a city block …. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it justice …
No, really … . the history:

Slightly aerial view of the Roman Forum
From Rick Steves:
The Forum was the political, religious, and commercial center of the city. Rome’s most important temples and halls of justice were here. This …

As you may have noticed, our 4th anniversary was Nov 6 (a Friday) – and we both worked that day … we did, however, both have Sunday off together …which we spent doing our favorite things….
lie around the house drinking coffee and watching a movie … then bed-shopping …. then Malibu at sunset … then dinner with the Schuberts for Joe’s bday (which also happens to be Nov 6)…
The weekend before, Andrew had gone to this same beach around the same time of day with Michael and Christina … and …

***THIS IS A LONG ONE***

After our rough version of Rick Steves’ Trastevere Walk, we were still at only about noon on our first day in town (on only a tiny tiny bit of sleep in 24+ hours). We crossed the Tiber (image above) and headed into Rome proper …
I mostly knew where we were going, and we kind of didn’t care which streets we used to get there … Heading into the heart of Rome to the Pantheon.

We walked into the piazza where the Pantheon is located … and, wow. …

Just want to say a short Happy Anniversary to my best friend Andrew Justin Schubert.

Team Schubert at Disneyland – Sept 2009

Team Schubert in Tuscany – Oct 2009

Beat Up Trucks and Homemade Skateboards
(by Andrew Schubert and Mat Weddle)
California Fall spread her leaves all on the ground
All of my longings painted yellow, red and brown
Learning how to surf, building stuff with Legos
Cowboy hats and smiles, apple cider and green burritos
Taking the train to Burbank, driving on the shore
Loving California, beat up trucks and homemade skateboards
Oh, time moves on…
We’d spend all day together …

We were able to drop off our luggage at the bed and breakfast around 9a or so, and started a walk through the neighborhood …keep in mind, this is just after 9a on a Sunday morning ….
So, our bed and breakfast was at 60 Viale di Trastevere, in the Trastevere neighborhood (just over the Tiber river from Rome proper). When you leave the front gate (not door, because it blocks a driveway too), turn left and you’ll be walking north-ish into Rome (image below looks up that direction).
Trastevere has a …