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I think there was wine involved here…

Let me first introduce myself properly. My name is Leah, I am Canadian, forty-seven years old and married to an Italian.

The relationship…

We met in 2002 on a cruise ship. He was a Navigational Officer and I, a midnight lounge singer. Sounds corny, I know, but I swear all true! He would sit in his dark blue uniform with gold stripes in the dark corners of the bar drinking alone. I thought nothing of it until he asked me for a date in Cozumel, Mexico.  And, as they say the rest is history.

Home is where the heart is…

After several years of on again - off again romance, vacations and contracts on ships we finally got married in the summer of 2008 in Canada. And now, I live in Genova, Italy with his mother while he still sails the blue seas across the Atlantic.

What do I do all day?

I am learning Italian and teach English at a private school in town. Thrilled to be somewhat independent with my own source of income, the language and cultural curves seem less daunting.

What I love…

I love reading, writing, hiking, nature, travelling, the arts, philosophy, meeting new people and photography. I sing in the shower and make jewellery as a hobby. I love and adore my cat almost as much as my husband.

What the heck have I been doing all these years?

When I read the book Eat, Love, Pray, it was like I wrote it myself! After my first marriage failed because of my  desperately wanting children I ran away to the Caribbean to make sense of my failed marriage and inexplicable infertility.

The career…

I had a flourishing career as an Advertising Executive in Toronto at a small agency called Blade. But broken hearted and broken down I left everything behind to regain my zest for life again.

Singing for my supper…

I’ve been singing since I was 15. A lifelong dream of one day becoming a professional vocalist landed in my lap on a cruise ship in 2002. I look back at this adventure with great fondness as it is what brought me into the arms of my loving Italian husband.

And so this is my story…

48 thoughts on “About Me…”

  1. You did not! Oh man I just randomly came across this writing italy photography in the wordpress blog search! hahahaha Good one Leah, I’m sure you’ll have a great group of followers :)

    Reply

  3. Those are olives my dearest Tony! How’s the funny business these days? For you, I will post a pic. Hugs, L.

    Reply

    • Hi Mike, thanks for the positive feedback. I have a lot of fun doing this! Would be happy to guest blog on your site…I was a bit curious about the 1000 fights, what does it mean exactly?

      Reply

  6. I was jumping from site to site and I found you! Funny how similar our story is… Singer for a cruise ship, met my Italian, now living in Sicily, Italy… We’re in Cogoleto, Genova for a few months, maybe we can catch up one day?

    Reply

    • Hi Jill!
      It IS a small world! I had to look up Cogoleto, you are on the opposite side of the city centre from me. I am in Quarto Alto, do you know where that is? It’s close to Nervi. How do you like Genova? It’s quite different to Sicily. I spent some time in Palermo and Napoli while on an RCL ship a few years back. Is your husband on board right now or working shore side at the terminal? Mine is in Texas on the Ecstasy : ( I just spent New Year’s with him on the Fas)

      We should definitely meet up for coffee soon! Have you got an email I can send you my mobile #?

      Reply

    • Well I don’t know exactly…my first MIL was great, but she was not Italian! This one well, she has good intentions, and she treats me okay, but being N.American it is hard for me to adjust to such intrusiveness.

      Reply

  10. I just came across your blog, I am also Canadian, met my boyfriend on cruise ships where we work together, he thinks I should make the move to Italy, and one of his arguments is he has is own house away from his mother. I didn’t realize how important this is until I read your blog.
    Thanks

    Reply

    • Lynn,
      The important question to ask your boyfriend is how far away does his mom live from his house and does she have a key? I know lots of guys that live in their own house/apartment and then you also find out that their mom lives in the house next door or apt above! My husband’s 45 year old friend lives in the apt below…we visited him once and I was amazed at how clean it was for a “bachelor pad”. My husband laughed and said his mom lives upstairs and has a key…who do you think cleans it Pierluigi? Good Luck!

      Reply

  11. hahaha, thanks for the advice. I know his mom lives about 5 mins away as does his brother and sister-in-law. Don’t know if mom has a key. I do know his brother has a key to water the lemon trees (well the sister-in-law does it). Thanks for the advice. I have really enjoyed readying your blog. Can’t wait to hear more about your adventures.

    Reply

  12. Dear Leah,
    Great to know there’s someone else out there who married a man from foreign parts and lives with her mother-in-law. Am doing the same in Greece and your bright outlook is inspiring for me. Thanks for sharing your story!

    Reply

  13. Your story is fascinating. What an interesting and wonderful life! If mine were to become any more boring I would be in a coma.

    Living with a mother in law though. Scary. I wish you well.

    Reply

  15. I just found your blog and I like it! I’m an Italian living in Canada and I write about my life here.
    Pass by and let me know, I’m sure you will find post you can enjoy!
    elenasc.wordpress.com

    Reply

    • Hi, thanks so much for sending me your link! I love your blog and your comments about Canada too. The cinnamon thing made me laugh, I love the stuff and put it in my banana bread : ) How very Canadian of me! haha
      Keep writing…I always wondered what the perspective was from someone who had immigrated to Canada.
      Bacio, Leah

      Reply

  17. Hi Leah,
    I’ve found your blog by chance looking for something else. I am French living in Milan, well … home country is not too far for me ;-) Just split up with my Italian after long nice story, still in touch with nice MIL and decided to stay here because of great friends. Hope life is nice in Genova.

    Reply

    • Hi Muriel! Welcome aboard! I can’t believe that you decided to stay in Italy and not go back to France! I love France, but then again I have never lived there. Genova is okay, but it is so full of old people that there is an energy I miss about other cities. It’s very “closed” as they say. But I too have made some beautiful friends here and feel lucky to have them : ) Are you still in Milan? That is not very far from Genova, do you ever come to the sea?

      Reply

      • Hi Leah! I am still in Milan, apart from my friends, my job is here ;-) and split-up is recent. I really appreciate living in this city even if it is hectic. I guess it is less “closed” than Genova. Often go to Liguria in spring and summer to escape from the heat of the city (like all milanesi…). Maybe we could meet there and talk about “italianities”? I wanted to send you a private message but couldn’t find the option :> I laughed a lot reading at some of your posts concerning crusches, GP and Italian culture: you’re totally right!!

  18. Hello -

    We hope that you are doing well. While surfing the web for nice travel websites we came across this site and want to congratulate you on the great webpage you got there!

    Currently we are putting the finishing touches to our new website which is called Tripsofa. The main purpose of Tripsofa will be to offer an exciting new platform where travelers can find the latest travel information and where they are able to share their travel experiences and ask travel questions.

    As we are all aware, there is a lot of travel information on the web. However, the problem is that many of the websites have not been updated, contain incorrect information or are plain and simply outdated. Hopefully this can change with Tripsofa as the site will be continuously updated by our members and staff so that travelers can easily find a wealth of travel-related information without getting annoyed by excessive advertising which – unfortunately – seems to be the norm with most travel websites nowadays.

    Tripsofa has been built on a system which integrates and fuses traditional forum elements with community aspects. Travelers can vote for the best answers which means that the best ones will show up first.

    Our biggest problem is that we need to spread the word about Tripsofa so that more travelers will know about our non-commercial travel information platform. We are hoping that by bringing in some industry experts such as you, we will be able to turn Tripsofa into a popular online hangout for travelers.

    So we really hope to hear back from you and if you have any feedback for us then please be sure to let us know. You can sign up on http://www.tripsofa.com and become one of the first beta testers. We definitely hope that you will give Tripsofa a try as you seem to be an avid travel enthusiast yourself.

    Have a great day!

    Regards,

    George

    Reply

    • Hi George,
      Your site sounds interesting. Thank you for taking the time to write to me. Perhaps you can share a bit more about what your forecast is when you plan to go live with your site? My blog is not a travel blog but I do occasionally write about places I’ve been to or experiences I’ve had with the Italian culture. So, I am not entirely sure if it’s a good fit for us to join forces…I would like to see some sample blogs that you are featuring first.
      Thanks, best regards, Leah

      Reply

  21. Hi,

    I came across your site while browsing some travel sites. I must say you are doing a commendable job. I have been following you for quite some time. I am impressed by the initiative you are taking.
    I am a blogger & maintain few travel blogs. e.g. OneTravelBloggers, Footloosetraveller.com. At present I am working with OneTravel. Our sites can be useful to one another. So, I offer you to do some partnership.
    I have some options for you.

    1. I could cover you on my blog and in return I would like a back link for my website from your blog within the content.
    2. If you allow guest blogging I would be glad to write a blog post as a guest blogger. Within the post there would be a single link to my website.
    3. I am also fine with guest blogging. I will generate an id for you on my blog where you can post as you like and in return you need to link myself from any of your post.
    4. We both can do guest blogging for each other where we can add links to our respective websites.
    5. On top of giving link from my blog, I can also give you some links from other websites that I am managing.

    You may visit our website http://www.onetravel.com. & blog http://onetravelbloggers.com/ http://www.footloosetraveller.com.

    Let me know your views soon.

    Regards

    Reply

    • Ciao Tiara,

      I would be happy to have some guest blogging. Have you got something in mind? I have never had a guest blogger before and would want to hear what you had to say first of course but it sounds like it could be a good idea. I have a nice little following but it would be great if I could also increase my hits too :)
      Let me know, cheers, Leah

      Reply

  22. I love reading your blog. I have lived in San Terenzo, Lerici, Bogliasco n Genoa for 3 years and completely love your perspective of the place.Rock on

    Reply

  23. Hi,My name is Angela and I love your blog and have been following your writings from the beginning. You were very brave to have taken the step to move to Itay, from the outside it looks so romantic but never easy. Fun and never boring as you know. We have an apartment in San Remo and I am an expat spouse, 50 years old, a new empty nester with my husband working overseas. I grew up in South Africa, have lived all over the world with my husband and two daughers and am a Sea Captains daughter. I am learning Italian and am going to try and make a life in this part of the world. Good luck with Portofino, as I said, never boring!

    Reply

  27. Hi Leah! Love your blog! I found your article on the expat-blog.com and would LOVE some advice. I was an au pair this summer in Milano, fell madly in love with Italy and everything about it. Decided to get my TEFL certification to become a teacher while learning Italian, well now I’m at a crossroads…I’m back home in Colorado for Christmas but looking into enrolling in language programs to get a student visa and return *ahem* legally this time. Any advice?? I really want to experience living in Florence, close to my Italian boyfriend as well. Feel free to email me, thanks! :) :) :) Angie

    Reply

  28. Why oh why have I never seen your blog before??? I love it! I’m married to a Sicilian-Canadian, just one generation away from being born in Sicily, and we have a house there that we currently use in summers and plan to retire to in a few years. I can so relate to what you write!

    Reply

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