Welcome to My Anything But Flat World

If you're like me, you don't do just one thing. You're versatile, creative and love living life to its fullest, without being confined to societal norms.

Yes, that's me on top of my roof. I was replacing the ridge vent and sealing a few roof tiles that came loose. It was the second time I had been on top of a roof and my neighbor, Carrie, saw me and yelled to me so she could take that pic. It was quite the experience and after my first experience, yes I fell off that roof, I made sure I had someone around, my parents actually came over, in case I did so again. In my defense, the first time, I didn't use the right ladder and forgot to bring my cell phone with me, so when I tried to climb down, I missed the ladder and hit my palm tree. Yes, I was a mess. I walked over to my then neighbor, Diane, who opened the door and with her mouth wide open at first then said, what the happened to you? After relaying the story, she brought me in and she and her significant other cleaned up my bloody wounds.

I tell you that story not to scare you, but for you to know safety comes first. I learned a valuable lesson that day and trust me would never repeat it. So, do NOT use an A frame ladder to get on or off a roof. (I'll teach you the difference between an A-frame and extension ladder.)

Not living inside the lines, I also love to cook and travel. My love of horses and animals is for a different post. I grew up in an Italian American family. Yes, my grandparents were straight off the boat from Italy, through Ellis Island. Both my parents came from hardworking families and although my mother couldn't even boil water before marrying my dad, she made up for it after they wed and learned quickly from my father's mother and his family. A little from her side as well. What always struck me as odd; my maternal grandfather, mom's dad, was a chef and her mother cooked as well.

Needless to say, I began cooking at a young age and with a friend at my side, actually made my first dinner from a recipe book when I was 12 years old. We made a roasted chicken and surprised my mom. Well, you can picture the story from there and that began my cooking journey. I don't like to follow recipes unless I'm baking and I will tell you upfront, I can cook you a gourmet 4 course meal, but ask me to bake and I'll cringe. I'll do it, but because baking is so confined to measurements, it's not my favorite thing to do-remember, paint out of the lines girl here. I do bake at Christmas and I make my own gluten free breads, but I'm not drawn to baking.

Talking gluten free, I realized about 12 years ago I was gluten intolerant. Did I mention I grew up with food allergies? Yes, the things I couldn't eat then I can eat now like rice, red grapes and grape flavored foods, milk, and so on. Fast forward 40 years, I was having intestinal issues then when out an about I overheard someone talking about becoming gluten free and how that has helped her digestion... I went home, researched it, and then thought, as long as I can eat corn, rice and other things, I'm good. I tried it for a month and felt so much better. My intestinal issues subsided. Test time, I tried regular pasta and of course, I had an immediate reaction. No bueno. Looks like I have a gluten issue. Off the gluten for another month. Test 2, same reaction; bloating and intestinal pain so I realized my old food allergies had turned into a new food intolerance to gluten..

After eating gluten free for years and running across my mom's old cookbook, the GF Italian was born. Now I take gluten filled recipes and turn them gluten free, without losing any of the delicious taste and quality. I hope you enjoy the recipes you find here. Many of the Italian ones are traditional recipes passed down from my grandparents. If you have a favorite recipe to share, let's share it and if there's a recipe you'd like me to turn GF, send it my way. My kitchen is a test kitchen now.

Then there's travel. I have loved traveling as long as I can remember. As a young girl I would read my dad's national geographic books on foreign countries and dream about traveling to them when I was older. Now I'm making that dream a reality and I hope you enjoy my travels and tips on everything from how to choose your first country or place to experience to best clothing to buy and take, how to pack and how to register for ease of entry back into the U.S. I also hope you'll contribute with finds and photos of your own journey.

All of this said, there comes a time in everyone's life, whether it's now or later, when no matter how versatile you are, no matter how accomplished, successful or otherwise, when you feel it's time for a change. That change may be small or it may be big, but either way, you know you want to redefine your life. You're in the right place and part of the reason I started this site is to help others in redefining their life, whether that means your home, your career or something else. It's a journey, so let's get started.

Next Step

Without further ado, please make yourself at home on my blog. Take a look around and feel free to check out my recipes, DIY videos, and articles.

I leave you with this question, how do you live versus how you want to live?

Stay in the know and up to date on our posts by letting them come to you. Click the sign-up on my homepage to leave your email.