About

My name is Elizabeth Petrosian and I'm a dual American-Italian citizen who called Florence home from 2000 to 2013. I grew up in the Detroit area but, being a rather restless and perennially curious soul, I have lived variously in East Lansing, Paris, Dublin, London, Boston, San Francisco, New York, Sonoma and Pittsburgh. I currently reside--most happily--in Portland, Oregon.

I have a B.A. in English and a M.A. in English Literature, which of course doesn't necessarily mean that this blog is littered with obscure literary references, or oozes grammatical perfection, or even entertains. Read it and judge for yourself.

Living in Italy is like wearing an exquisitely-tailored hair shirt

I write about my experience of Italy, I write about my experience of family. I try to make some sense of both, and I don't mince words. But don't make the mistake of assuming I don't love Italy just because I criticize and poke fun at it. With regards to family, go ahead and assume.

You own everything that happend to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better --Anne Lamott

I'm now trying to figure out how to turn my experiences into a memoir. Or I may give up that route and concentrate on filtering these experiences through the veil of fiction. Or perhaps do both. Time will tell.

Meantime, let me steer you on a tour of idiosyncratic Italy: read on!