Italian Days and Nights

Whenever I do something really fun and exciting I am bound to dream about it that night or even throughout the next week. Well, last night was Girls Night Out and consisted of good company, Italian food, and a quest. These elements were also in the dream I had.

My dream started off with me and most of the girls from girls night out, including Annie, at the airport preparing to leave on a choir trip. We were getting ready to board a small jet that was to take us to an undisclosed location. None of us were worried about where we were going. After all, the directors are in charge and wouldn't do anything too strange, right? Ha ha.

Our choir was decked out in our blue and maroon polo shirts with our logos and we were all sitting in the jet anxiously awaiting our departure. We were laughing, talking and speculating where we might be going. Major Bubbles bet it was Boise, Idaho.

We took off and starting flying over Southern Utah. We flew for ages gazing at the mixture of red sandstone and green sage and cacti. We got concerned when we realized we'd been in the air for many hours and still had no clue where we were. The pilot finally landed in this little, Podunk, one-horse town and we unloaded our jet.

To our surprise, we were in Italy! Immediately Italian opera music started playing and we found ourselves sitting in a beautiful, antiquated vineyard and being fed mounds and mounds of pasta and grilled chicken. We drank gelatos and laughed at our good fortune to be in such an amazing foreign country.

The next day we set out to see the sites. We found ourselves in a "Disneyized" version of all things Italiana. Every place we went was a gift shop! One of the gift shop owners suggested that we participate in a scavenger hunt. The winner of the hunt received a fabulous prize. He then gave us a clue to find our first object. I can't remember what objects we were seeking, but each was hidden in a different gift shop and we had to give a password to the owner to get the next clue.

We raced around frantically searching for the right shops and the hidden objects. Along the way we somehow got on a big green bus. To our delight the bus took us to all the famous Italian sites in under half and hour! Yes folks, Rome, the Colosseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and more were all seen in half and hour, from the big green bus. As we passed each site, I kept expressing my awe and pleasure in louder and louder forms. Like joyful screaming. I don't know why, I'm not generally a screamer, but in my dream I was!

We got off the tour bus and ran into our final shop. Our last object needed was an oval-shaped diamond. We had to get it specifically from the shop owner. Unfortunately, the old lady keeping the shop had heard of my screaming on the bus and had decided that there was no way I was ever getting that diamond. I was not worthy. She, not so nicely, explained this to us and refused to give us the diamond. She only relented when I convinced her that I was screaming to express my joy and after I promised to not disturb the beautiful Italian countryside in such an unrefined manner ever again.

At last we had the final clue and returned to our original shop to claim our much deserved prize. Of course we were the first team back. I don't think the other teams even really existed. Our grand prize was...CHEESECAKE!!!!

Before I could eat one bite, I woke up.

I laughed so hard when I realized what I had been dreaming. Apparently the Italian atmosphere of the Macaroni Grill had affected me more than I thought. Granted hanging out with some of my favorite people in the world also makes for a good time! (This explains the choir trip part. Most of my favorite people I know from choir.) Our quest ended with one thing that I have a strong affinity for: cheesecake. If you ever want to make me happy, cheesecake does it every time. Coincidentally, cheesecake was the free dessert we got from the chef. Sheesh, I'm making myself hungry! Anyone know how to say goodbye in Italian?