Scoppio del Carro (Explosion of the Cart) - Firenze, Italia - 2013

Hoping everyone had a nice Easter. Brandi & I went to Il Duomo for their annual Scoppio del Carro (Explosion of the Cart). We had no idea what to expect but sure are glad we went! If this is how they celebrate Easter, I can only imagine what Christmas and New Years will be like.

Our First 24 Hours in Firenze, Italia

Our first 24 hours in Firenze, Italia has been an absolute dream come true and a very surreal experience. Practically everything we do and every place we go is all for the first time.

Here is a quick tour of our house, a walk around Firenze, grocery shopping, visiting the local flower shop, making our first dinner at home and hitting the club!

Thank you to everyone who has believed in us, supported us and helped make this dream become our new reality.

My 30th Birthday Weekend

I'll preface this post by saying that I've never been one to make a big deal about my birthday regardless if it's considered a milestone birthday or not. Brandi on the other hand is the complete opposite and would never let me turn 30 without doing it right. Originally, we were supposed to be in Italy and knowing her, she had something already planned. Since our departure was delayed, we made the last minute decision to head to Las Vegas for the weekend to watch the NASCAR races. 

We headed out mid-afternoon on Friday to beat traffic and although it was my birthday weekend, work still had to be done. Luckily I'm accustomed to working on the road...literally. 

It's not a Vegas trip for us unless there is documentation of some bed jumping. Oddly enough, this is the same hotel we stayed at a few years ago when we went to the NASCAR race. 

 

As we were walking through the MGM, we found out that Tabu allowed guests to enter for free and girls drank for free from 10-11pm. That obviously meant that Brandi was getting drinks for the both of us. On top of all the beers we had already had, we got smashed. Let's just say we woke up the next day not having any idea how we got back. BLACK OUT. 

Saturday afternoon was spent at Las Vegas Motor Speedway courtesy of John Pangilinan for the NASCAR Nationwide Series race. As you can see below, we were in good company.

Something that caught my eye during the race was that #3 Austin Dillon was in the pit at the same time as one of my favorite drivers, #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Years back, I actually worked with Austin and his team since the company I worked for was his primary sponsor. Very happy to see him doing so well. Sometimes I get reminded of where I started and where I am now without even realizing it. Time sure has flown by!

   

I mean...I don't think I really need to explain this. It's so full of awesome.

She needs no introduction...she's my everything! #Blicious

After we got all cleaned up, we decided to go get married again. Getting married in Las Vegas has been on list of to-do's and since it would be the last time we'd be there for a long time, it was a must. Took a bootle of Veuve to the dome right before we left. 

        

I can honestly say that getting married in Las Vegas was a pretty exciting thing for us. The entire time we were there, we couldn't stop smiling, laughing and just being B'Squared. A Little White Chapel will always be a place we remember having so much fun. 

   

The drive home was anything but boring. I know that's hard to believe when it's typically spent being hung over, tired and stuck in traffic for one reason or another. We ended up getting stuck in some gnarly traffic because of an accident. Before we knew it, we made the decision to follow a bunch of other cars who had gotten off the freeway, drove over a bridge and into the desert. There was a service road about 10 miles long filled with hills, bumps, ditches etc. I'll be honest, there were some fairly sketchy times where the traction control light was going bonkers and a wheel or two were off the ground. Definitely the craziest drive home from Las Vegas that either of have had. 

On Monday, my actual birthday, before we went to dinner, Brandi got ultra creative and taped 30 balloons with 30 things she loves about me. Who knew there were so many??? Given our living situation at the time, I really have to hand it to her for pulling this off. Not to mention, a beer cake? I'm not a big cake lover but c'mon, what's not to love about that? After that, she took me out to our favorite sushi restaurant, Shiki Sushi. On order was this massive beer pitcher just for us...but mostly me. 

Although I am not big on the attention that birthdays bring, I just want to thank Brandi for making my 30th everything I could've wanted all in a single weekend. A Las Vegas getaway for the two of us, an awesome hotel room, 2 NASCAR races, great dinners, clubbing and getting married again all made for a birthday that I'll never forget! 

Officially Paying Rent....In Italy

Although things are moving at an extremely slow rate with our Italian Visa's, that doesn't mean progress can't be made in other areas of our transition over there.

Earlier today, Brandi and I finally signed the contract and wired the money to officially make this our new home.

Back in October when we went to visit, one of the main reasons was to find a place to live...and we did just that. After a week of house hunting, we met with a real estate agent on our last night at 10pm to get about 5 minutes to walk through this place. It's literally 2 short blocks out of the center of Florence and maybe 5 minutes from Brandi's new office. Between the convenience of where it's located, the Americanized amenities (wifi, flat screen, washer/dryer) and the affordability, we couldn't have been luckier to find this place when we did. The owner and real estate agent have been a huge help throughout this process and extremely patient with how long it's taken.

The apartment is fully furnished which is a huge convenience for us. Aside from clothes and our cats, we aren't bringing anything else. That should help us get settled in much faster although I'm sure there are going to be plenty of visits to the farmers market and local shops for us to pick up some new Italian decor.

We're one big step closer so hopefully we get the go ahead to buy plane tickets next week! 

Until next time...

Valentine's Day | The Grove | Hollywood Hike

With our Italy departure being set back a few weeks, Brandi and I have been doing our best to keep busy and focusing on anything other than the fact that we are still here in California. Long story short, the paperwork that's required for us to be there long term and renting an apartment is a bit more strict in Florence than most places. That said, we're still here and hoping to receive the news we've been waiting for this week...the green light to buy our plane tickets to Italy! [Fingers, toes, arms, and legs are crossed] 

Anyhow, moving on...

This past Valentine's Day happened to be the 10th that Brandi and I have celebrated together. Valentine's Day is somewhat comical because on that very day, it's mind boggling to see and hear about how many people love the day, hate the day, don't see the purpose in the day, don't want to buy into the hype of the day etc. To me, it's all about what you make of the day with that special person. The day can have great meaning and be full of romance, without buying into the hype of spending a ridiculous amount of money on gifts or dining off a pre set dinner menu. Sure I get it, you're supposed to love that person year round and shouldn't need a day to remind them. I fully agree but at the same time, what's wrong with putting a little emphasis on the love you have for that person for an extra day? It doesn't need to cost and arm and a leg like people think it does. It just requires a little planning, creativity and knowing how to make that person happy. 

To start the day, Brandi and I visited Handsome Coffe Roasters in Downtown LA. She'd never been and with it being literally around the corner from my office, I figured it would be a nice treat before dropping her back off at work. 

Since I have yet to luck out with a delivery company who can actually drop the flowers off to Brandi on Valentine's Day between the hours of 8-5pm, she receives them directly from me. Let's just say there have been one too many instances where the flower company has failed me. As soon as I dropped her off at work, I made a quick dash to pick up some flowers and go right back to her office to deliver them. It's safe to say that she was surprised. 

For the past 5 or 6 years, we've made it a tradition to make sushi at home with each other and this year would be no different. 

Ever since we began packing for our move, I know it had been eating away at Brandi that we couldn't bring all of our pictures with us. I decided to make a mosaic picture using all of our wedding pictures to help solve that problem. The tears streaming down her face were a pretty good indication that she loved it. I can't wait to have this framed and on the wall of our new house in Italy! 

Saturday night we decided to get dinner at The Grove since they have a good selection of restaurants and so Brandi could check out the new Top Shop that just opened. 

We ended up eating at Marmalae Cafe and I ordered the Chicken Meatloaf [Homemade chicken meatloaf served on a bed of mashed potatoes with sun-dried tomato gravy and sautéed green beans with slivered almonds]. Maybe I was just craving meatloaf and mashed potatoes but this meal just hit the spot. According to Brandi, mashed potatoes are a stress cure and I'd have to fully agree with her. 

After a heavy meal like that, Sunday was spent trying to work it all off. We hiked up behind the Hollywood sign which is something we'd never done together. Apparently, this was the shorter but much steeper way up the mountain. Between warm temperatures and a steep ass hill, we were covered in sweat and I'm sure anyone behind me was asking themselves...did this guy eat chicken meatloaf for dinner? I'll let you figure out why. 

All and all, it was great weekend and although I'm going to miss the gorgeous weather we've been having in So. Cal, I really hope we're told to book our plane tickets this week. 

Until next time...

2013 Formula DRIFT Pro Championship & 2013 Pirelli Formula 1 Tire Range

Although Brandi and I will be calling Italy home within a matter of weeks, my work load with the ID Agency will remain the same as it has been since the day I started...NON-STOP. A good problem to have so I hope that doesn't sound like a complaint.

Two of the accounts I'll proudly work on will be Formula DRIFT and Pirelli Tire North America. 

Most of everything I do for Formula DRIFT before and after the event is done behind the scenes. During the events,  I'll be assisting with media relations, website/social media updates and anything else the team needs help with. 

The 2013 Pro Championship Season also happen to be the 10th Anniversary of the series. Many years before I had the opportunity to join their team, I was a fan. The same fan that is currently buying VIP tickets, all of the merchandise, getting autographs, taking countless amounts of photos and of course dragging their girlfriend along, used to be me. I've been a big fan of the sport, the series, the cars, the drivers and the scene since day 1. Years later, I'm blessed to travel the country visiting tracks and cities with one of the best and hardest working motorsports companies I've ever encountered.

For those that've never been to a drifting event before, it's a must. I've brought friends and family (male and female) from various age groups and no matter what, they all have an amazing time. Honestly, you'd have to try really hard NOT to have a blast.

To kick off the 2013 season, Round 1: Streets of Long Beach will be happening April 12-13. CLICK HERE for more information and to purchase tickets.

With Pirelli being a global company involved in so many types of motorsports, departments are broken down by the type of racing. Fortunately for me, my main focus and involvement is in Formula 1.

During the course of a race weekend, I'll track and report every TV, print and/or online mention for Pirelli. Being the sole tire supplier for the series and providing different types of tires for each race, the amount of mentions is very high. Not to mention, I track each mention for the USA, Mexico and Canada. Pirelli spends millions of dollars to be involved with Formula 1 so our goal is to help show what type of ad value they're getting and how many people they're reaching with those mentions.

The new tire compounds for this season were debuted earlier this week. It's a wide range of rubber compounds denoted by different color logos on the sidewall. Depending on the track layout, amount of corners and ambient conditions, two compounds are selected for each race by Pirelli. This adds to the strategy that each driver and team will prepare prior to the race. It was an action packed season last year so I'm really looking forward to this season.

I'm also keeping my fingers crossed to actually attend a race this year since we'll be much closer to all of the European stops.

The start of another racing season is now upon us. Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!

Until next time...

Italy Preparations Continue & A Weekend Full Of Dates

The weeks continue to countdown as Brandi and I prepare for the big day. It's crazy that we have been living through this process, preparing, selling stuff, giving stuff away and moving in with the in-laws over the past 1 year. For many months, we kept our mouths shut about moving so to a lot of people, this may seem like recent news. I won't lie, as awesome, memorable and amazing of an opportunity this is, it's taxing. Practically every morning before work and every night after work, it's been all about Italy.  There's been no such thing as down time or a time when we've been wondering what to do that day. It's a constant grind to make sure this move is done as perfect, safe and organized as possible. To my knowledge, there's no 'Moving To Italy 101' crash course out there for us to follow. 

One thing is for sure, when the dust settles and we're moved into our new place, every second that went into this will be more than worth it. 

Aside from a full work week, it was a quite productive as well. 

The Civic got a new transmission and more needed prep work to be stored.

I was also fortunate enough to sell the Scion xB within a few days of posting it for sale. That was such a great car that came in handy so many times. That was definitely the most practical, functional and fun cars I've owned. The 'Silver Bullet' now has a new home.

Friday I spent the day running around and working from a few different places. One of which was SMI Merchandising. If you ever need any apparel, promotional products, corporate gifts, etc., you've found the right place. They're on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram so be sure to follow/like them for various ideas and promotions. We use them for all sorts of different client projects and they come through for us every single time. 

Later that night we headed out to Harvard and Stone in Hollywood for Tracy's birthday. At the door I was told that no pictures were allowed during the burlesque show...therefore, you're left with this being the only picture I took that night. Hipster bar deserves a hipster light picture. 

Most of Saturday was spent gathering more goodies for the Civic, selling a bed on Craigslist, tinkering with the ShifterKart, detailing Brandi's car and a nap. Brandi was out celebrating the BBC's birthday at the spa. By the time she got home, we were both starving and in need of a date night. Something's Fishy is an oldie but goodie type restaurant and definitely hit the spot that night. 

After showing the townhouse to potential renter, Derek, Aly, Brandi and myself headed to Malibu Wines to use a GroupOn that Aly had. A slight hiccup in our plans took us from Malibu Wines to Malibu Beach Wines - which turned out to be closed so we went back to Malibu Wines. Confusing...I know...but we made it work. 

Southern California got a nice dose of warm weather this weekend so there were quite a few people there also enjoying the live music while sipping their wine of choice. After a few bottles and devouring 2 bags of snacks from Trader Joe's, we headed to Calamigo's Ranch for dinner. 

We did our traditional walk of the property to check out all of the wedding venues before having dinner at M Cafe. It's always such a treat to visit the place we got married.  

The past month has been quite the adjustment for us with so much going on but this was definitely the weekend we needed. 

Until next time...