Cactus Makes Perfect

This week I took a short trip to Lamberton Conservatory (a.k.a. my new winter reading nook!) in Rochester’s Highland Park. I’ve passed by the conservatory dozens of times in the past four years, but someone finally posted a picture of the inside of it. All you had to do was tell me there were cactus in there, people! If I’d known, I’d have gone in years ago! I’m a sucker for cacti. After all, you can take the girl out of Texas, but she’ll always love cacti, tacos, and Blue Bell.

This is the perfect place to spend a few hours during the bitter winter months because it’s toasty warm and dry in there, which is really the only thing Rochesterians crave in January (and soup). At $3 for a single visit or $10 for an annual pass, the price is right too. Also, there are dozens of lazy turtles and sweet little quail who live in the conservatory to keep you company. While I was there, I saw an older gentleman reading his book on a bench by the Spanish moss, and I realized he was a genius. I intend to plant myself on the oversized chair in the Southwest room, surrounded by cactus, with the next book on my reading list, ASAP.

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On the topic of cactus, these two adorable pieces, the Medium Format Memory Tunic in Cacti and the Cacti and Time Again Watch, both from Modcloth have totally had my attention lately. I think my wardrobe needs them!

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Do you have a favorite reading nook in your city?

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Christmas in Tuscany

When you’ve neglected your dear blog for six long months, the only way to come crawling back to your loyal readership is with the sincerest of apologies and a darn good post to make up for it. And so, I present “Christmas in Tuscany: A slideshow”. Obviously, it was terrible. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it. Especially not the olives. Or pastries. Or cheese. Or wine. Or wild boar salami. Or gelato. Or the Tuscan countryside. Or the art. Or the architecture. Nope, nothing magical here. I’m sure you’ll agree, but I’ll let you draw your own conclusions. Just in case. Anyway, turn on your speakers, hit play, and expand to full screen view using the button on the bottom right of the video frame to check out all the reasons why you should absolutely never visit Italy, ever:

For real though, while I could probably do without the adventure of driving on the world’s most narrow, sharp, and winding roads (in pitch darkness, while coated in a persistent blanket of thick fog, with an overlay of terror and nausea, and a Renault Twizy going 3x the speed limit 2 feet behind you before finally deciding to pass illegally on the narrowest of one-lane roads with a steep cliff just inches to the right), those hairpin curves snaking up and down the hills and valleys of central Tuscany did lead to some pretty stunning sights.

Our villa was in Strada in Chianti (see it here), and we visited Florence, Lucca, Pisa, Arezzo, Monteriggioni, Siena, Greve in Chianti, and Milan.

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