• Passport? Check.
• Camera? Check.
• Italian phrase book? Check.
• Trusty travel guides? Check.
• Watched the best of Italian cinema, like Cinema Paradiso, Malena, Il Postino, La Meglio Gioventu, L’Ultimo Bacio, and Pane e Tulipani? Check.
• Read obligatory books about la dolce vita and il dolce far niente, like Vroom With a View, A Thousand Days in Venice, The City of Falling Angels, and Bella Tuscany (all of which were fabulous, by the way)? Check.
• Worked up an extra ravenous appetite for pasta and gelato? Check.
• Extra collapsible suitcase to transport hot Italian guy back home? Check.

And as if the prospect of spending the next two weeks in Italy wasn’t enough of a head rush already, I just found out yesterday that I ACTUALLY PASSED MY DENTAL BOARD EXAMS?!?

Holy shit. Too much excitement to handle here. Way too much excitement.  In fact, I’m still in a bit of a daze and am still having a hard time believing it, really (the part about passing my boards, not traveling to Italy — that I’ve been dreaming about since, oh, forever).

~*~

Currently Playing: Catch You by the uber glam Sophie Ellis-Bextor, whose super stunning, super vivid music video was filmed in none other than Venice. Can’t help but wonder if I’ll embarrass myself too badly if I try to reenact said video while I’m there? Something tells me that the answer to that question is a resounding HELL, YEAH.

Currently Reading: Villa Serena by Domenica de Rosa.