GiNa roma

The last day we were in Rome we had lunch at a restaurant named GiNa's.  A friend of mine highly recommended it and since I share a name with the place, I figured it was a must stop.

GiNa's is located very near to the Spanish Steps but is not a touristy location at all.  It is down a side street and has a small blue and white sign hanging outside.

While in Rome we mostly at at traditional "cafe" style places.  We always attempted to find a place outside of the touristy streets and most places we found {with the exception of one} were really good. The style of GiNa's is totally different than your average Roman restaurant.  The menu is a little different too and it was a nice change.

The restaurant is just SO cute.  If I owned a restaurant {or even my own house and could design the kitchen}, the clean, simple, and inviting look of GiNa's is just what I would strive to create.

If you ever find yourself in Rome, eat at GiNa's!  It is located down a tiny little side street just to the left of the Spanish Steps.

irish horse fair

The other morning we went to a horse fair.  It was part of Puck Fair, which is a festival that takes place in my husband's hometown every August 10th, 11th, and 12th.  The horse fair was mostly horses {duh} but there were also chickens, goats, and donkeys for sale.  One man even had a few puppies.  He said they were jack russells but I have never seen a black and white jack russell....so who knows?

I was hoping to see pigs and sheep but apparently the tags to transport them are pricey so the farmers don't bother bringing them to these sorts of fairs.

The ponies were so inexpensive at just 200 euro each.  And so friendly...sniffing our hands for treats.  I loved this gray one.  

This guy was a little skeptical of me and my camera. 

I nearly took this little guy home but I am pretty sure my father-in-law does not want to take over my souvenir once we head back to the states....

These two were a couple of characters.  They were friendly and gently took treats from all the kids....and me ;).

And no Irish festival is complete without a greasy bag of hot chips covered in ketchup.  YUM.

Animals are a lot of work but I would love a farm.  By "farm" I mean a lot of land with a lot of animals and some hired help to take care of all the dirty work.  I am pretty much just interested in petting the animals.

hi from rome

Rome has been amazing and I kind of don't want to leave!  I wish we were here just a few more days so we could take some day trips outside of the city.  I think a week or two in Italy would have been ideal...oh well, what can you do?

I don't have the time or the energy to upload my "real" camera pics but here are a few good ones from my iPhone.

The Colosseum - amazing and a few blocks from our hotel

The food! Cream filled croissants, nutella filled doughnuts {yep}, beef carpaccio, and olives that are like butter.  DEAD.

Ancient ruins every place you look...so cool.

St. Peter's in Vatican City - so gorgeous.

Today we are off to Ireland.  The 60 degree temps there will be a nice change to the sweltering 97 degrees that is happening today in Rome.  Also, we will be seeing lots of family and friends and sheep {my favorite thing}, so that will be fun :).

I hope you all are enjoying your August so far!

All these photos are from my Instagram account.  Follow along with @AcuteDesigns for more from Rome and photos of the next stop in Ireland.

grilled tomato and avocado salad

While I am enjoying myself in Rome and Ireland, I scheduled several posts for you all to enjoy.  By "several" I mean two, so don't get too excited ;).  I will probably pop in to blog here and there when I have WiFi and time.

I love fried green tomatoes. Fried vegetables are just so.good.  But they probably aren't the healthiest.  I wanted to do a pan "fried" green tomato to "health it up" but decided to be really good  and go with grilled green tomatoes.  That MyFitnessPal app will keep you on your toes and prevent the slippery slope of fried vegetables....

Anyways, grilling the tomatoes was a really good idea.  Or "brilliant" as my husband might say. {Except he wouldn't say "brilliant" to this salad because he prefers meat in all meals.} I also had an avocado that was waiting to be devoured, so I grilled that up too and had such a good lunch.

I really like warm things on salads.  Typing it out makes it sound kind of gross, but it's not. Kind of like the word moist.  It sounds really gross but a moist cake is delicious.

Ok, sorry - salad recipe...here you go.  

grilled tomato and avocado salad {makes one large salad}
-1 large green tomato - cut into thick slices
-1/2 a large avocado - cut into thick slices
-salad greens {whatever you have is fine}
-a little {like half an ounce} of shredded cheese.  I used danish havarti {OBSESSED!} but fresh parm or ricotta would both be good
-lemon juice from a few wedges of lemon
-a tiny drizzle of olive oil
-a tiny drizzle of honey 
-salt and pepper

1. Salt and pepper the tomato and avocado slices and grill. The tomatoes will take a little longer than the avocados so you might want to start with those.
2. Top a plate with salad greens, the warm tomato and avocado slices, and sprinkle on the cheese.  It will melt and be extra amazing.  Top the salad off with the lemon juice, olive oil, and a tiny drizzle of honey.  Yeah, I like to put sugar on my salads...but just a little and it makes such a difference - enjoy!