Love Letters from Ladybug Farm (9 page)

SUBJECT:
RE: Photographs from Home

 

 

Hi Sergio—

 

 

loved your last e-mail. You paint such beautiful pictures with your words I hardly needed the photographs. I can’t wait until I can see the stars in your sky, either!

Your mother is gorgeous! I guess that’s how her son got to be so cute. :) I can’t imagine living in a house that was built when Leonardo da Vinci was alive. But I know what you mean about stones crumbling and cellars flooding. The house my mother bought with her friends is only a hundred years old, but it has ‘pieces falling off of it,’ as you put it, too! Here are some pictures took when I was home last month. The tall one with her arm around me is my mom, Cici (I made Aunt Lindsay take it so I could send it to you but I told her it was for my Facebook page. So I had to put it up in case she checked). You can see the grape vines in the background. Our vigneron (is that what you call it in Italian?), Dominic, says we can start harvesting the first grapes this fall if nothing disastrous happens. That means we can toast my graduation with our very first Beaujolais!

But long before then (fingers crossed and IF I get the internship) I’ll be on my way to Italy. I don’t know how I can hold out for six more weeks!

My roommate says I spend too much time on e-mail and not enough time studying (she’s SUCH an egghead; don’t you hate that?) and she’s probably right. How was your philosophy exam? I’ll have to cram all night if I’m going to squeak by on Business Admin in the morning.

I live for your e-mails. I really do.

 

 

Ciao—

Lori

 

 

P.S. Is that really your house? Is that really your mother? Is that really your picture? JUST KIDDING!

 

 

 

SUBJECT:
Menu

 

 

Bridget,

 

 

Yes, I think we are on the same page—heavy hors d’oeuvres and finger foods, or what some might call a “grazing” menu.:) (Sheep, farm, grazing, get it?) I’m picturing “stations” set up all over that gorgeous lawn of yours, maybe with little canopies over each table, and filmy curtains tied back with big bows ... very
Lawrence of Arabia,
can you see it? I think we should have a protein from each group—fowl, beef, fish. You can get free-range turkeys, can’t you? And I really don’t understand the issue with shrimp. After all, Virginia does have the Chesapeake Bay! That’s local, isn’t it?

But I’m sure whatever you come up with will be fine.

 

 

XO

Catherine

SUBJECT:
No Shrimp!

 

 

Bridget,

 

 

told you, I am a vegetarian and that means NO shrimp. Besides, they are tacky and COMPLETELY overdone. Why can’t we have lobster?

 

 

Traci

 

 

 

SUBJECT:
RE: Menu #3

 

 

Bridget,

 

 

Another thought—Mediterranean is terribly in right now. Maybe we could do something Mediterranean with a farmhouse flair?

Shrimp are very Mediterranean. And I checked with the Department of Agriculture—shrimp are definitely a local product.

 

 

XO

Catherine

 

 

P.S. Bringing the whole crew out Saturday for a tasting; I know you’ll come up with a fabulous array of dishes!

FROM: [email protected]

SUBJECT: Menu

 

 

Bridget—

 

 

Yes, I can eat eggs. I CAN eat anything I want. I just don’t CARE for shrimp. So take them off the menu, OKAY?

 

 

Traci

 

 

 

SUBJECT:
Menu #5

 

 

How about this?

Crispy asparagus with pecorino

Mini beef Wellington

Caramelized onion and black olive tart

Local-caught Cajun catfish with remoulade dipping sauce

Of course we’ll have a fruit and cheese station and a selection of fresh-baked breads and muffins, along with a dessert bar, as we agreed. Let me know your thoughts.

 

 

Bridget

SUBJECT:
RE: Menu # 5

 

 

don’t know, dear. Catfish? Seems a bit pedestrian, don’t you think? And the entire menu looks somewhat lean to me. Could we have more variety? And what about the vegetarians?

 

 

XOXOXO

Cat

 

 

 

SUBJECT:
RE: Menu #5

 

 

I want an ice cream bar.

 

 

 

SUBJECT:
Ice Cream

 

In June? Outdoors?

SUBJECT:
RE: RE: Photographs from Home

 

 

Dearest Lori,

 

 

Your photographs make my day wonderfully! How beautiful you are! Every time I look at a picture of you I think, This woman, how can she be so perfect? Your hair is like painted by Titian, your face a Raphael masterpiece. But this you know already. And your mama, clearly she is an angel to have given you to the world.

Lori, you will come to my village and you will see the sun that rises over the hills and how it spills its gold over the ground so thick you think you can pick it up in your hands. We will lie on the ground together, you and I, and we will lose ourselves in the stars that cover my sky You will know why poets and artists for centuries have found their muse in Italia, because here is where love lives.

It required me some time to determine what is “egghead” and so I asked my American friend in history of literature class who tells me I should know because I am one. This is because am perfect in the philosophy exam. I hope this will not make you love me less? I am very happy to be perfect! Being perfect means I will acquire my degree in only six months and then I well leave Milano and return to the hills I love. You will know this feeling, Lori, this aching of the heart, this sickness of the spirit, this longing to be home. Being perfect is also wearing.

I will tell my mama to find the number of your telephone in the States, and ring up you to say I am her son and this is our home and I am yes, as you say, very cute. I also have four aunts and a grandmother and fourteen cousins, although three of them are too young to write, should you require further references.

I, also, spend too much time on the e-mail since I have come to know you.

 

 

Un bacion, mi amore—

Sergio

 

 

 

SUBJECT:
RE: RE: Photographs from Home

 

 

Dear Sergio,

 

 

You make my day wonderfully, too. I’ve read your e-mail like twenty times. I still can’t believe you’re real.

 

 

Love,

Lori

 

 

 

TO
: [email protected]

SUBJECT
: Contract

 

 

Cici,

 

 

Darling, just one more little change to the contract and I think we’ll be fine. Instead of “not to exceed” 50 guests I wrote in “a minimum of”—just in case someone brings a date and takes us over the number. I know it’s just a technicality, but better safe than sorry. Also, that part about “no material changes to real property,” I just replaced the “no” with “Client agrees to reimburse provider for,” which is much more fair to you. Faxing it off right now, if you’ll just initial and get it back to me I’ll put copies in the mail for you tomorrow.

Sorry for all the fuss, especially when we have so much to do! Don’t you just hate lawyers? And my husband is one!

 

XO

Catherine

 

 

SMarcello319:
Lori, do you Skype?

LadiLori27:
Skype!!!

 

 

 

SUBJECT:
webcam

 

 

Hi Daddy—

 

 

Is it ok if I use the Am-Ex for a webcam for my laptop? The one I have is WAY too low-res for international transmission. Mom said No Major Purchases without prior approval but it’s only $249.95 online plus S&H.

I promise I won’t use it to upload porn.:) :)

 

 

XOXOXO

Lori

SUBJECT:
RE: vvebcam

 

 

LadiLori27 wrote: