By the time I got to Houston yesterday for my 11 a.m. meeting with Tony, Tracie P had already called to let me know that pepaw was beginning to fade.
When I arrived at the restaurant and we sat down at our usual table, Tony knew something was wrong.
“One is given and one is taken,” he said after I shared the news.
“Tracie’s grandfather will live on in your new baby. It’s the circle of life.”
There’s nothing like that “new car smell” (is that a wine descriptor?).
We bought a minivan! Tracie P employed her Neapolitan-honed negotiating skills and got us a great deal (NICE WORK, mommy!).
As the Parzen family expands (in theaters July 2013!), we needed some extra room for our precious cargo.
Isn’t Georgia P sweet? That’s her on her fourteen-month birthday (Feb. 12). It’s such a special time in our lives and she is our joy.
Buon weekend, yall!
Georgia P turned fourteen months old today. She is such a sweet girl and such a big eater!
The Parmigiano Reggiano is what makes all the difference in the eggs.
We love her so much…
We can finally share our joyous news that the Parzen family is expanding…
Yesterday, we had our first-trimester sonogram and we are thrilled to report that Baby P 2013 is doing great (expected due date is mid-July).
Tracie P has been very tired but otherwise feeling good. The morning sickness has been much easier this time around and it’s true about the pickles: I’ve only ever seen her eat a pickle when pregnant (guacamole’s been another craving this time as well).
Of course, we have plenty of anxiety about the pregnancy, like all parents-to-be.
But now that we’re no longer first-time parents and we know a lot more about what to expect, we’ve really been enjoying our Parzen family expansion…
Little Georgia P is so sweet and such a joy to be with. We can’t wait for her to have a little sister or brother.
Thanks for letting us share this momentous news.
It’s just too much joy to keep to ourselves….
Looking back on the best meals of 2012 (a mnemonic indulgence to which I treat myself every year between the Christmas holiday and New Year’s Eve), I can’t help but think about how the standouts were marked as much by the people with whom I shared them as much as the foods we ate and the wines we drank. Isn’t that what it’s all about?
That’s Georgia P, above, eating her first pizza (homemade, by Tracie P, of course), a few nights before Christmas. Whether Parisi eggs and birth-year Barolo or mushroom and peperoni pizza, 2012 delivered some of the most memorable meals of my lifetime. Buona lettura e buon appetito!
Best Meals 2012: Osteria Le Logge (Siena, March).
Alfonso and I met up in Siena yesterday afternoon and joined good friends Laura and Francesco at Laura’s restaurant Osteria Le Logge for dinner.
As I prepare to head up to Friuli today, there’s not enough time to post properly on the brilliant meal and stunning flight of wines. But here’s a “taste” of the “intellectual provocation”… THANK YOU, again, dear friends, Laura and Francesco, for opening your hearts to two weary Americans traveling along the wine trail in Italy…
Atlantic croaker sausage with mineral-water-macerated lettuces sous-vide
veal tongue Carpaccio in salsa verde
vitello tonnato with seaweed and ポン酢醤油 (ponzu jōyu)
Parisi egg with potato foam and marzolino truffles
fusilli with chicken livers and eggplant
Marcarini 1967 Barolo Brunate
Tracie P and I are keeping the families of Newtown in our hearts, thoughts, and prayer today.
As President Obama told them yesterday, “whatever portion of sadness that we can share with you to ease this heavy load, we will gladly bear it. Newtown — you are not alone.”
My darling Georgia P, today is your first birthday!
Happy, happy birthday to you, my love!
Mommy and I have lots of special presents for you and this weekend nanna and pawpaw and grandma Judy will be coming to Austin to celebrate this special occasion with us.
We’ll be giving you many special gifts. But none of them can rival the gifts that you given me.
Every laugh, every hug, every kiss… every one of them is a miracle… and every day with you brings so much joy into our lives…
But you have also given me something as unexpected as it is wonderful: since you came into our lives a year ago, you have given your father a capacity to love that he never knew before.
I love mommy, of course. I love her more than I ever loved anyone in my life (and I loved her even more for giving you to us).
But you, my precious Georgia P, you have taught me that my heart is bigger than I ever thought it could be. There are days when it swells up with so much love for you that I think it’s going to burst!
But it never does: it only grows bigger and bigger as you teach me that love — unconditional love — has no limits.
There are so many things I want to tell you and so much of the world that I want to share with you.
But today on your first birthday, I just want to thank you for the miraculous gift that you’ve given me.
I love you, precious child. I love you so very much…
Remember this song that we wrote together on the plane back from Italy? It will always remind me of our trip… Happy birthday, sweet baby!
I’ll take you with me everywhere I go.
I’ll put you in my pocket. Who will know?
Right next to my heart at every show.
I’ll take you with me everywhere I go.
