In celebration of my 30th birthday, I thought I would share with you 30 things you may or may not know about me.
Here it goes:
- My full name is Giuseppina. But for as long as I can remember, I've gone by Pina. Giuseppina is just way too hard to digest and pronounce! Yay to keeping it simple 🙂
- I don't have a middle name because my mom thought my first name was long enough to begin with (see a trend here?)
- I'm an only child. Although many people that have met me say they never would've thought I was an only child. I'll take that as a compliment?
- I was born and raised in the Lower Mainland (Vancouver). I'm one of the rare ones apparently 😛
- The first language I learned to speak was Italian. Even though I lived in Vancouver, I learned English when I started going to preschool.
- My parents are both Italian - both from Lazio. My mom is from Sperlonga, Latina and dad from Pofi, Frosinone.
- When I was younger, I traveled to Italy every summer to spend the summer with my grandparents. My fondest childhood memories are those that were made in Italy.
- My favorite city ever is Rome. I've traveled to most major European cities but Rome takes the cake.
- I lived in Milan for 6 months for a exchange semester and that's how I got to explore Europe.
- My favorite move is Johnny Stecchino (I've yet to visit Palermo though!)
- I've had the same group of friends since elementary school. None of us ever moved from Vancouver, so that made it a lot easier to stay close.
- In university I majored in Business and minored in French.
- I am engaged and getting married this summer!
- I met Ben, my fiancé 12 years ago in Whistler. We've been together for 7 🙂
- We're moving to the Mount Pleasant/Main Street area of Vancouver when we get married and I'm so excited for it!
- The first thing I ever cooked - I was about 13 years old and made oven roasted potatoes with olive oil and rosemary. I still make that dish to this day!
- The second thing I ever made was a simple pasta dish of penne with tomato sauce and fresh basil. One of my favorite dishes ever.
- I started this blog as a creative outlet. In my 9-5 marketing job, I was doing a lot of copywriting but experiencing writer's block quite often. I hoped that by starting this blog, I would become more uninhibited when it came to writing.
- The goal of the blog was to share all things Italian with you - recipes, travel, traditions etc. While this is still true, I find that I've made a shift towards sharing bits of my life with you. And since Italian culture is such a big part of who I am, this still comes through in the blog, but maybe not as directly as I had initially imagined 🙂
- While I still experience writer's block from time to time, this blog has also helped me uncover a passion for photography, specifically food photos and food styling. Check out my Instagram page to see what I mean 🙂
- My drink of choice is a glass of red. I prefer the bold, robust flavours of a cab sav or malbec.
- I only drink white wine and rosé in the summer time and will only drink white in the winter if I'm eating fish.
- I feel better and more organized if I have a to-do list written out. Something about crossing off items as you finish them is so satisfying (or is that just me?)
- I love Italian music - Vasco Rossi, Ligabue, Lucio Battisti, Negramaro, Jovanotti, 883, Alessandra Amoroso, Articolo 31...the list goes on
- Favorite pizza? Classic margherita - but it has to have fresh basil
- My home away from home is my mom's hometown of Sperlonga. There's just something so magical about this place that I need to go back once every few years (it would be more frequent if I could) or else something just doesn't feel right. Plus my grandparents live there and it's important to spend as much time with them as I can.
- My favorite gelato flavours are pistacchio and nocciola (please don't ask me to pick between the two)
- I have a secret appreciation for indie music. I used to be more in tune with the scene a few years ago, but I still listen to the likes of Local Natives and Lord Huron.
- My coffee of choice is espresso. Even though I drink a cup of drip everyday because I find it gives me the jolt I need.
- My 29th year has been one of the best yet - getting settled in my career, getting engaged, travelling to Italy...I'm excited to see what 30 has in store!
