Prepare For Battle!

It's crunch time- less than a week before departure.  The goodbyes have been made (well, except one, AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE), and mentally I have to bring myself to the reality that I'm leaving this country to live in another.

As ready as I might be, I am not in any sense prepared for my trip.  My packing progress? Nonexistent. Seriously. I haven't packed anything. Heck, I haven't even bought all the the clothes I will probably need. Florence is sort of a fashion-forward locale, and if you've ever seen me wear anything that is mine, you know I will encounter problems.  Don't worry, those details will be shared on here for your amusement.

I need travelers checks. I need a new purse (one with lots of zippers to keep out those thieving thieves!).  I need some skirts and possibly dresses.  I need to learn some helpful Italian phrases, because all I'm getting out of rosetta stone are words like sandwich and dog. Not exactly "helpful".

Oh, I also need a good camera.  The one I have takes majorly awesome food shots, which in my opinion is the most important feature of the camera. But I have no idea what a good  camera is, and I don't want to take some crappy machine over to Italy to try and capture memories on it. Help please? Per favore?

All of this to accomplish in less than a week! Actually, realistically less than that. Between Reed's Super Sweet 16 coming up on Saturday, comforting my mother on the daily (yes mom, I AM coming back), and assuring my father I will inflict pain on every Italian man who even thinks about touching me, it's safe to say this week will be trying. Eyes on the prize! Updates to come!

Buon Appetito!
Rachael