As I was sitting at my desk working this evening, I looked out the window and noticed that someone put lights on a large tree. Because I haven't bought an albero di natale (Christmas tree), I was happy to see this one across the Arno river shining brightly.

After a rainy and gloomy Sunday, today started out foggy. It was so dense this morning that I could barely see the buildings across the Arno river. I looked out at the muddy green water that was swirling around and was mesmerized. The sun occasionally peeked through the clouds as they quickly passed overhead.

Ever since I've moved to Florence, the Mercato di Natale (Christmas Market) that comes to Piazza Santa Croce each year always makes me feel that Christmas is right around the corner. For many of my American friends, it was the day after Thanksgiving that signaled the beginning of the Christmas season. But since I've lived out of the US for a while, I don't get into a festive mood until I see other things, like decorated shop windows and lights strung across the streets.

Yesterday as I walked to the Ponte alle Grazie to wait for my suocero (father-in-law) to come and pick me up, I couldn't help but notice the reflection of San Niccolò on the Arno. I always carry my macchina fotografica (camera) with me wherever I go, so I pulled it out of my purse and took a few shots.

I enjoy calcio (soccer) a lot, and am always excited about going to a partita (game). Yesterday evening it started to rain and all I could think of was being in an open stadio (stadium) where we would get fradici (soaked). When I woke up this morning, the sky was grey, but by lunchtime the sun appeared and I couldn't wait to go to the stadio.

For months I have been wanting to run past the Duomo in the morning. I have imagined it a few times and the thought of it was what pushed me out of bed today. When we got up this morning to go running, I thought I probably couldn't do our normal 5 mile run because we went out for sushi last night and stayed out late.

After lunch today at Zoe's with my friend Shannon, I walked up to Piazzale Michelangiolo to take a few pictures. I hadn't gone up there since last summer and when I looked up at San Miniato yesterday when I went running, I thought about the view of Florence from up there and how I hadn't seen it in a while. Lately, the weather has been a bit chilly, but not rainy, so I thought it would be a good day to go up.

At 5:30 this morning I suddenly woke up. Alessandro and I had planned on going running this morning because we hadn't been out together since this summer. We laid out all of our running gear last night so that we could get dressed and just go. I immediately went to the living room to peek out the windows to see if it was foggy like it was most of the day yesterday, but it wasn't. I could see across the Arno quite clearly.

Today was one of those special days that I hope will be repeated. I'm sure for some people it wasn't so great, but it was domenica ecologica (ecological Sunday) in Tuscany and in many of the cities, like Florence, no cars or even motorini (scooters) could circulate from 8:30AM to 6PM. Only city transportation like buses (which were kept to a minimum in the morning due to the marathon), police cars, taxis, and ambulances were able to drive in the city streets.

I love my life. That's what came to my mind as I was riding my bici (bike) along the Arno after leaving San Niccolò this afternoon. It has been a gray day with intermittent rain, and still I am just so happy. Those four little words, which arrived at the same speed as the cool wind against my face, filled me with so much giddiness that I thought I'd lose balance and fall off of my bici.

For the first time in a long time, I wanted to pick up the telephone and call my mom. Even though she has passed away over six years ago, I still get these inklings to call her. And as usual, it took me a few moments before I realize that I couldn't.

I know some people don't like Mondays because they are the beginning of the week. And after a nice weekend, it can sometimes be difficult to start up on Monday. Unfortunately (or fortunately) with my work, everyday is a workday, so Monday is no different from any other day. I absolutely love Mondays in Florence though. Most mornings during the week are wonderful if you walk around downtown or go shopping, but Monday mornings are the best. The downside is that all the museums are closed and many of the shops don't open until the afternoon on Mondays, but the upside is that the streets are quieter and there are fewer people milling around downtown.

In our quest to getting our certificato di matrimonio (marriage certificate) trascritto (transcribed) at the comune (town hall) here in Florence, we have to file the certificato di matrimonio with an Apostille at the Italian Consulate. Besides the certificato di matrimonio, we had to also give them a photocopy of Alessandro's passport and a modulo (form), which we picked up at the Italian Consulate when we were in California last month. The man at the front desk explained everything and was kind enough to help me out when I had questions about the modulo while I was waiting for my traduzioni (translations) to be verified.

I can't believe that I've been living in Florence for the last three years. I was looking back at the beginning of my blog and was surprised that it was November 16th. I read a few entries and was surprised at how much my life has changed and how much I too have changed.

Tonight I went to an "Art Crawl," which is FITC's creative alternative to the pub crawl. I have only heard about pub crawls and have seen many students stumbling from bar to bar, consuming large amounts of alcohol. When I heard about the Art Crawl, I thought it would be fun to take part in it even though I'm not a student. The Florentine photographer Cosimo Bargellini, who also teaches at FUA - Florence University of the Arts, came to talk about taking photos of Florence at night.