3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage... all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ....into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films..... {completely crushworthy}

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

yep, I think I'm in love....

Fellini Friday!

Last night I went and saw Fellini's Amarcord a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale from Fellini's hometown of Rimini in 1930s Fascist Italy. {Amarcord is Romagnolo for "I remember"}

It's not the first time I've seen the film, but I enjoy the little opportunities I get in Southern California to practice my Italian. E 'la piaceri semplici- da vero, no?

{a little snippet}

{photo credit}

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 2:2-4

It's interesting for me to see how God has worked in my life over the past year. This week I was fully prepared to have an emotionally challenging week. A week of second guessing, filled with confusion, more or a less a dark cloud that I, in all honesty, just didn't want to deal with. The past months, this has been my prayer request, whenever people would ask me what I needed prayer for- the strength and grace to deal with the next round of obstacles- was often my response.  I share this because a year ago, I was at the darkest place I'd ever been in my life. I didn't know what to do, what to say, who I was, what was going on. For lack of a better word, I was lost.  

A year later (and yes dad's are always right) I'm in the exact opposite place that I was less than a year ago. God has completely changed everything about my life. I've been so blessed and filled with so much hope this week. In many ways I feel like a little child on Christmas morning, so excited to see how God continues to work in my life, so excited about not only the overly amazing people he's blessed me with, but moreover the excitement of where he's taking me. The excitement of getting to know people deeper, their challenges, their struggles, their hopes and dreams.  This week I learned that there good people, {and good men} who have been in my same situation. We can't choose what others do to us, but we can choose how we handle a trial, we can choose who we turn to in the midst of that trial. I chose to turn back to God and I've never felt my heart changed more than it has felt this week.

Ironically, this week of all weeks.

Scenes

{*from the not so recent weekend}

Not having a computer that I can call my own is making it a little difficult to blog in a timely manner, but I finally have some photos from our trip to San Francisco.

There was food, lots of it and there was wine- copious amounts as scheduled, and there were friends, best friends, in abunance.

 I believe I have the worlds most amazing friends (and sister and sister's boyfriend). People who have been there for me through life's greatest moments and equally life's more challenging times.

They've been there to cry with me, celebrate with me, laugh with me, keep me accountable so what better way to turn 30 than with some of the people that I love most in this world?

*the rest of the photos are here

   {part of my birthday goodie bag waiting for me at the hotel- and yes, the champagne made it home in one piece}

   I {love} these women

Foreign Cinema is amazing. Equally amazing is Jenn trying to get them to play Breakfast at Tiffany's {a week early} Isn't that what best friends are for!?

   New York Times Food section eat your heart out {pun intended}

{nom}

{love}

weekend escape

{photo credit}

I'm off to San Fransico for a belated birthday getaway for the weekend with this lady (to see this lady and hopefully this lady).

We're going to ride trolley cars, cross big red bridges, eat clam chowder from oversized sour dough bowls and drink copious amounts of California wine.

Here's to new memories!

Good friends + sisters = happiness at it's finest. 

ciao

A little quick rogue blog post!

Shortly I'm heading out of my dear New York and back to life out on the West Coast before heading up to San Fran for a little post-birthday getaway with some of my favorite people {to visit some of my favorite people!} 

This week has been such a blessing spending quality time with old friends, hitting up new foodie spots, meeting new editors and being back in the city that has both stolen and broken my heart {full recap still to come}.  But life goes on, and as I head back west, I feel so thankful that I get the opportunity to come back to my first love, in all her glory.

yes, God has an amazing sense of humor with me.

photography by steven chee

 I can only hope and pray that one day I'll have a kid as amazing as this! In the meantime, I'm taking her words of wisdom to live by:

 

The thing about a long California commute is that it allows you a lot of time for reflection and thoughts. The past few weeks I've had a lot of wonderful, new people appear in my life. With that comes opening the Italian door, what my experiences were like, the food, the people, life in general and the dreaded question ...of what brought you to Italy.

Maybe it's the long week I've had, a happily full plate of projects at work but tonight on my drive home I wanted to escape work-mode reflecting back on all the conversations I've been having lately about Italy, and my experience there. It reminded me of how much I miss zia- among so many other things. In between pacific coast highway and the five freeway,  tears began to roll down my cheeks as I remembered this woman. A lady unlike any I've ever met and with a heart bigger than the world. I was immediately family, it didn't matter that when we met I didn't speak Italian, I was family. Tonight I missed her like I would miss my own grandmother, with so much else from that bitter-sweet experience.

{me-pre brunette- and zia}

home.

Today I had one of those moments where I'm reminded that I'm back home in California.

I've been home for months, but it was today where a simple trip to Bonzai waiting and viewing the constant surf movies playing with the warm January breeze hitting my back. Where health-conscious beach-goers and overly laid-back surfers were also waiting for lunch on this extremely warm Southern California January afternoon, provoking every stereotype I secretly love about being from here when it hit me.

 Like a ton of bricks, it hit me.
I'm home.

And I couldn't be happier in this moment.

{this video is appropriate on so many levels...}

Weekend

In true never-make-plans for life moments, my trip to Canada got postponed due to an unnatural force of nature, but luckily I'll should be heading back with warmer weather in May... the silver lining...everything's already set up for round two.

So I decided to spend the weekend in Orange County with this beauty and begin to challenge myself more physically which included a 4 mile hike through Peter Canyon {yes Tiara, first hike down...500 more to go} and then off-set it with homemade fondue, macaroons from Layer Cake Bakery, and some real Vietnamese Pho at Pho Bac {where your first sign that its going to be good- a menu in Vietnamese and pictures for all us English speaking folk}. All the while, soaking up that amazingly warm California sunshine.

The most perfect unplanned random weekend with the people I love most.

This is life's simplest pleasures at it finest

{photos by me and señor jefe} 

 {photo credit}

This last week was an emotionally difficult week for me, but it made me stop and think about all the wonderful things {and people} that are a part of my life right now...

This week I'm thankful and happy for:

* The warm weather!  There's no reason to be sad when it's almost 80 degrees out in the middle of January!

* My dad because along with his honesty, love and support, he also sends me photos of new record players for me to purchase and helps me dream up new dreams for Emily.

* Shower curtains {see below!}

* Baking brownies with Grandma

* Spending some quality quiet time with God 

* Challenging myself with new experiences...even if they're only two minutes away

* Friday morning coffee dates with ladies who challenge me to think outside of my own understanding

* Quality time with Emily- seeing my growth, challenging myself, learning to a better me. There's nothing quite better than that.

Weekend

 

I'm not one for new years resolutions, in fact to be honest- I hate them, but this year I'm getting back into the groove of things. I may not be able to travel the way that I used to, but there are so many wonderful things right here, so this weekend I decided to not forget pick up my camera and wander around my own backyard.

1. Pannikin Coffee & Tea, Encinitas. I think I go there more now than I ever did in High School but it's a little bit of Brooklyn mixed in with some So Cal sun. 2. Moonlight Beach for a little stroll 3. Meeting up with papa p for a lunch date at Cessy's for some real mexican food 4. Carintas taco! 5. Walk around the farmers market in Carlsbad 6&7 Afternoon stop at the Mission San Luis Rey {can you believe I live right next to it!} I haven't been there since our mandatory fourth grade field trip to the California Missions, but I also appreciate better now than when I was 9.

Re-exploring my own backyard is, for me, taking time to enjoy what I have here, in this moment {and being better about blogging about it!}

The other weekend I learned how to play poker...

I learned about beginners luck

and how to bet big

I learned that it's better not to know how to play

and about finding my poker face

I learned that even my newbie buddy next to me learned the very same lessons

she won...big

I learned how to lose gracefully, and that I'm ready for more

So long, farewell 2010!

To a new chapter, new friends, new challenges, new adventures, peace, love and joy.

Have a fun and safe new year!

{photo credit}

Holiday parties are great...and they're even better when you remember to take photos of everything you cooked. Needless to say, everyone left drunk on sauce, spritz's and affogato's and my counter part and I are already mapping out our next great dinner party, this time hiring a photographer instead of relying on each other for photos.  

For a complete run down, click over here! 

the chefs

My life in cookie dough 

(credit-Christoph Niemann& New York Times blog)

nom nom nom

Getting back into the Italian swing of things, I've been starting to cook like I did back in Italy. Slowly but surely, the recipes are coming back to me, and I'm trying to make everything (food-wise) just like I had back in Italy.  This last weekend I made the traditional Bolognese ragu for the family.

While you're supposed to eat with tagliatelle, I cheated and just used pasta on hand (bad non-italian)

Buon appetito!

Ingredients:
150 g of onions (half an onion)
70 g of carrots (one full carrot)
50 g of celery  (one full stalk of celery)
50 g of lard (I used olive oil- enough to cover the bottom of the pot and it worked beautifully.)
600 g of beef (1-2 packages)
1 or 2 glasses of red wine (2 in the sauce and 3 for me! the more the merrier)
1 bottle of tomato puree or tomato paste
salt as needed
pepper as needed

Mince all the vegetables and add to the lard (or olive oil) into a single mix. Brown the vegetables on a medium heat until they change their color ( a light hazel color) The rule for an authentice "Bolognese" sauce is "it must be prepared to the way it smells." Yep, no timers here- just your nose. The next step is ready when the you smell the carrot, the celery and the onions in one perfume.

Add in the meat to the vegetables and brown on a high heat. Once the meat is browned add in salt and pepper (to taste) and 1-2 glasses of red wine and keep stirring. Blend until you can't smell the wine and meat separately but together (it works) at that point add in one bottle of tomato puree, stir and let simmer for 2 hours- stirring occasionally.

I made this on a Sunday morning for lunch with the family. The house smelled...well, unbelievable and having the family around the table, wine flowing and spending that quality time with everyone...life couldn't have gotten much better.

L'ho trovato!

I found it! 

We can look at this as part of the love is patient (ok it's a stretch...) but finding Pandoro here in California of all places, for me is like finding gold. I can't giveaway where I found it, it just wouldn't be fair- plus I don't think you'd believe me if I told you but it's worth the hunt.

Pandoro is a traditional Italian sweet bread that makes it's appearance around the holidays and has been my guilty holiday pleasure for the past few years.

 {photo from last Pandoro season}

If willing to spend a little extra money for this holiday treat, you can go to Bauli otherwise...

Good hunting!

Merry Train Rides

There are many reasons to love New York (and even more reasons to love California) but MTA's Nostalglia Train Rides are a few of my favorite things this holiday season.

Enjoy!

ringraziamento

I have so much to be thankful for this year, and while I'm not celebrating like last years thanksgiving, I have one better- getting to be with my family this year. 

{photo credit}

As someone once wrote:

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who won't survive the week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 20 million people around the world. If you attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than almost three billion people in the world. If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75 percent of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8 percent of the world's wealthy.

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
— Psalm 107:1

** and if you happen to be traveling to Bologna this Thanksgiving, you can stop by ristorante Farina- my Bolognese insiders have informed me that they're making our Thanksgiving dinner celebration their new yearly tradition for local Bolognese. I guess I did leave my mark in Bologna after all. **