Arrivederci Italia! Ci vediamo presto!!

So I'm heading back home to states tomorrow after 5 wonderful months in Italy.  I have a lot of mixed emotions and continue to go back and forth between being really excited to go home and see my family and friends and then being sad that I'm leaving so many wonderful new friends.  This trip definitely wasn't what I was expecting.  There were things I came here wanting to do and didn't and vice versa.  What I do know is that I met some really wonderful people that I am going to be friends with long after after I leave and had experiences of a lifetime.  

The original 3

Kate, Jess and me in the Lion's Fountain...literally 

Giada and Mel, my Northern Italian friends :o)

I came to Italy for the sole purpose of trying to "find" myself, whatever that means.  I felt like life was moving too fast and I wasn't going the direction I wanted to and I was scared that I was going to turn around and time would have passed me by.  While I'm not leaving with having a true "a-ha" moment, I do feel like I learned a lot about myself and what I want out of life through my experience here.  I also proved to myself that I can do whatever I want to do if I put my mind to it: this trip was a case in point.  I'm nervous about coming home and jumping into the real world again, but I'm also excited to start off fresh with a new life and a clearer idea of what I want!  

I wouldn't take back this experience for anything and am so happy I came.  I made such wonderful friends and am even planning on meeting Giada and Mel in Dublin in September!  

It's going to be a long trip back tomorrow, but seeing my family is going to be the best thing I could ask for when I get home.  Grazie mille for following my blog and hopefully sometime in the future I can take another trip like this...I'm thinking Australia??  We'll see what the family thinks about that one :)

Oh and my first meal when I get back?  THAI!!  So excited! :D

Ciao amori xoxo