brian is out of town, and my dad is out of town. and because of this, my mother and i were able to spend some good one on one. we have always been close, but because both our guys were out - there were no interruptions. just me and my mom. we made a delicious meal saturday night. it was an all out, down and dirty, women in the kitchen, chit chat-tin, wine sipping, italian meal. from start to finish. well, not really finish. we didn't make dessert, but i did see my mom eat a square of chocolate, and proclaim it was good for her heart, does that count? we started with calamari and banana peppers, followed with veal marsala, summer vegetables with olives and sun dried tomatoes, and roasted potatoes. awesome. if i could eat italian food every day of my life, i would be happy. very, very happy. so, here's to you italy!