Wow, it’s been a crazy week. Things were going great: on Saturday I went to a really fun blogger event in the Tuscan countryside hosted by Tuscany Now (which I’ll finally be writing about early next week). Monday was super productive. Then, Tuesday hit.

Casa Hash was hit hard by a no-good, very bad stomach bug. Holy cow. Four days later and I’m only starting to recover. My poor dad got it, too. Thankfully, Rob and Livia managed to avoid it. Needless the say, however, that things have been slow going around these parts!

As a result of the four days offline I never got to post about an amazing blog we worked on and recently launched for a wonderful gal named Amy, The Bittersweet Gourmet. Seriously folks, can we talk about how delicious these recipes look/are? Pasta in artichoke, anchovy and saffron sauce? Sign me up!

Amy was a delight to work with and her passion for food is inspiring. I highly suggest swinging by her blog to check it out and subscribe. The blog looks best in Chrome, Safari and Firefox. Boo on IE!

I love working on blogs, so if you’re looking for a little revamp/redesign send an email my way!

If there is one big cultural difference that has jumped out at me lately it’s the idea of space. As in, what constitutes having enough space for your lifestyle. It never fails that when we have friends or family visiting from the U.S. that we discuss how we will eventually grow out of this apartment. Having more kids? Apartment too small. Livia turns three? Apartment too small. Business grows? Apartment too small. You would think that we live here.

This is culturally hilarious because when our European friends are over it’s the exact opposite reaction. Quite often the conversation turns to how great our apartment is because we’ll be able to grow into it. More kids? Bunk beds. More space to lounge? Buy some outdoor furniture. I won’t generalize too much because it’s also about individual preference, but you do realize how differently cultures interpret something as simple as space.

Back when we lived in Louisville we heard a lot of the same comments about our adorable shotgun house — as soon as we started a family we would just have to move. This always baffled me because the thought of taking on more spacial responsibility with a young family seemed totally bananas.

I realize now that I’ve had a European outlook on space for quite some time. I grew up in a normal sized home and any time I’d visit “big” houses, I’d be really weirded out by unused rooms. I mean they, like, really bothered (and still bother) me. Why on earth would you want a dining room that you don’t use? Why do you have a den and a living room? As you get older you realize that different things make different people happy, but I’ve known for a while that a bigger house does not equal happiness for me.

File this post under random musings if you will, but I’ve found conversations about space particularly fascinating lately. What about my fellow North American expats here in Europe…what are your thoughts? Europeans, does the American obsession with 4,500 square foot homes drive you crazy?