Thursday night at the Mancini's!

A few of the NOHO's started gathering at our apartment on Thursday evenings and these photos were from the last gathering. The idea is to get together for an end of the week celebration and we're been celebrating like crazy the past sevral weeks. It was especially crazy for game 7 of the NBA finals when our L.A. Lakers beat the Boston Celtics!!!!!!

June 20th Bar B Que at our cousin, Andrea's!

We were at my cousin Andrea's house today out in Hemet, California for a Bar B Que. She is my Aunt Veronica's daughter and we enjoyed seeing her, my Aunt and Uncle, and other cousins. Today was also Father's Day, so I spoke with my dad and my Aunt got to talk with her only living brother. It was a fun afternoon and we enjoyed ourselevs alot!

Dinner with friends on June 19th in Los Angeles

These photos and video were taken on June 19th in Los Angeles at our apartment. We hosted a dinner get together with friends Henry, Marie-Noelle, Cass, and Riley. It was a great evening as we had some wonderful wines and Linda's homemade pasta! We want to remind all of our frineds that we will be in Italy starting July 4th for 3 weeks, so check into the blog for our updates and adventures.

Ciao!

May 29th, My 58th Birthday!

Happy Birthday ... Buon compleanno David ... I love you!!! We had a wonderful afternoon at our friend Jenine's ... enjoying our friends, drinking wine, sharing delicious food. Thanks to Cass & Riley, Brad (himself a birthday boy), Sam & Marilyn, Pat & Richard, Jean-Batiste, we had a very special day and one that we'll long remember.

Linda's Birthday May 07th

Today is May 07th, my wife Linda's, birthday! Our dear friend, Jenine, gave her these roses today, so I wanted to post them on the blog for all to see! We're about to enjoy some Italian wine, a 2005 Chianti Classico, and I also opened a 2001 Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino.

We're letting the Brunello breathe, so we won't be tasting it for another hour or so. We leave for our trip to Italy on July 03rd and we're really looking forward to being in Italia!

Wine Tasting in Santa Barbara County

I just visited Santa Barbara wine country and here's a few videos from the wine tasting we did at Fess Parker, Demetria, Ken Brown, and Koehler. I was invited to join my friends, Bill and Dana Alexander, on a wine tasting tour of three wineries I had not been to before, so I jumped at the chance to go with them. I've enjoyed Demetria wines for a couple of years, but being at their beautiful vineyards and tasting room was very a treat! Koehler was the first tasting room we visited and it's amazing to start wine tasting before noon and what that can lead to, but I enjoyed the Cab blends and Syrahs as well as the Pinot Noir. Fess Parker's tasting room sits on a huge piece of property purchased by Fess many years ago and it's such a wonderful setting. I particularly liked his Clone 115 Pinot and James, working behind the bar, was very funny and gracious! Last was a visit to Ken Brown's tasting room. It's in an industrial section of Buellton and very convenient to the processing plant down the street. Ken's wines are fabulous and we even had a couple from out of town join us after talking with them at Fess Parker's, so a good time was had by all!

Dario Malevolti's Sacco Mobile

Our friend, Dario Malevolti, who lives near our home in Italy, has invented a moving boxing bag as his passion is boxing. He's involved in BOXE MUGELLO, a boxing club located in Borgo San Lorenzo, Italy.

His website is: www.dmsaccomobile.it

Check it out!




These videos were taken on July 19th, 2008 in Vicchio, Italy as Boxe Mugello boxing club went against another Italian boxing club in the Piazza Giotto in Vicchio.