You're listening to The Beautiful Mess Podcast, your cozy comfort listen. This week we're sharing all the details of our recent trip to Italy, specifically Florence and Venice. If you're planning to travel to one of those places, or if you're in the mood to just travel vicariously through our stories. It is going to be a big story time episode

today. We are also going to share our new book reports. So we're glad you're here. Thank you for

listening. Yeah. It totally. I know. So do you want to tell them a little bit about like the

origin of the trip and like, yes, yes. Okay. So long-time listeners, you've heard part of this, but basically,

I'm turning 40 in January. It's a big one. And Elsie gave me the advice that I should do something

big for my 40th because she didn't really do anything big for hers. Because let's be real. It's kind of hard to, like, plan parties for yourself or, like, buy yourself something

really big or epic.

Or, like, you know what I mean?

Like, it just feels kind of weird.

There is, like, an age in life, though, where it's like, if you don't do it for yourself,

probably no one else will do it for you either. And you kind of like have to take that control if you want the thing. Yeah. And like you always give me great gifts. I know you to give me something wonderful. My partner knows like, I want to go out to eat pasta. You know, like, I feel like everyone like, it's not that no one around me would celebrate

me. It's just I don't usually do anything big for my birthday. It's not my mode and I'm usually

happy with that. But anyway, pasta is big. I mean, I don't have any issue with that. But I also will

say I am at a place in my life and I feel like I have been for a long time in a way. I don't know. But where I think when someone gives you advice and you can tell it's good, don't overthink it, just take it. Yeah. So I could tell Elsie, like, had just gone through this and she was just getting, and this isn't, like, going to change your life. It's just just, you know, plan a party for yourself or whatever it is you want. Do something big. You're turning 40. Do something big. You won't regret it. You might regret not doing it. That's the advice. So I was like, I'm just going to take it. That's that. So the year I turned 40, we had just gone. Do you remember Clea's 40th birthday party? Yes. We had just got to Clea's 40th birthday party.

She did it. I turned 40. We had just gone, do you remember Clea's 40th birthday party? Yes. We had just

got to Clea's 40th birthday party. She did it right. Was like a princess ball. It was the best,

most amazing, just like amazing party. There was dinner. There was dancing. It was like a wedding.

It was like better than a wedding it was better than

many weddings i've been to so i think that i got a little bit overwhelmed by that was the only

40th birthday party i had in my head and i was like i just can't like i just can't like i definitely

can't live up to that like it was i couldn't but like at the But, like, at the same time, I wish that I would have, I wish I would have planned a trip or, you know, just like something. And then when my birthday came around, like, it was memorable. It wasn't that it was like a bad birthday in any way. But I just kind of like regretted it because I was like, well, that was like my big birthday for the decade. and now I'm not going to have another big birthday for, you know, 10 more years. So I was like, well, that was like my big birthday for the decade. And now I'm not going to have another big birthday for, you know, 10 more years. So I, yeah, for the rest of my life, all the big birthdays are going to be big, though. I do think, yeah, it's never, I'm never going to do a small one again. That's the lesson. Yeah. And, yeah. And so mine's coming up in January. So I was brainstorming with our friends and we were like, let's go on a big trip together.

These are our friends Sherry and Elise, who we travel with from time to time.

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