The Most Beautiful Summer of My Life

Hi guys,

How are you? How has July treated you?

As it tends to happen, I crack the riddle of the newsletter when I least expect it, usually towards the end of the month, when I feel the pressure of publication. This one was no different.

Last week, at the end of my workout with Tracy Anderson, Tracy explained how showing her own struggle during the performance, the struggle of learning a new weekly routine or the struggle of perfecting a move, is part of her journey. Sharing her difficulties and her learning curve  — she said — saved her life over and over again.

This happened the day before a show, when I wasn’t sure whether to experiment something completely new for dessert, or find shelter in the comfort of an Italian classic made before.

“Sharing my struggle saved my life too,”

I thought.

And by struggle, I meant the process, I meant learning with you rather than by myself, showing the victories and the set backs, the brilliant creations in the kitchen and also those that, maybe good to eat, needed some work.

That’s what my show and our community has always been about.

I had never thought of my work from this perspective (another thing I love about Tracy Anderson is how it tones my thinking, together with my muscles).

After having that realization, I felt relieved: I don’t have to be perfect for you. I don’t have to be perfect for me. I don’t have to be anything other than who I am.

The idea and the strive to “perfection” is something that gets triggered every time I visit my family.

During the last show we talked about the freeing act of being honest about who we are, so that we don’t have to constantly lie, cheat, filter our beings and our bodies for others to have a certain image and idea of us.

How beautiful is this?

Do you feel this new way of life taking over, since we began to gather on Instagram 2 years ago? I do. I am not entirely free, but I have tasted freedom, and now I know I want more of it. 

It did’t use to be this way for me.

I had to show perfection, or who knew what people would think of me?

Conceal you cellulite, or hide every part of your body that has it (plenty, by the way), straighten your hair, work nonstop so nobody can say you are just lucky because you married into wealth, don’t gain a pound, and if you do, disappear until you have lost it, only publish photos that show the best of you, and so on, ad infinitum. 

Today I am slowly but steadily walking away from that way of life. And with my 40th birthday approaching (also the date of publication of my book, Eating Again) this is the present I want to give myself.  

Last week, we went to Barolo, and through circumstances that I can only define as magical, I met Giada, a friend of my friend (and amazing chef) Marie. I haven’t seen Marie since she moved back to Burgundy, and I miss her very much. Giada owns and runs an exquisite restaurant and Bed &  Breakfast in Barolo, EasyCosí and meeting her made me feel close to Marie.

We had a beautiful day with my parents, Ben, and Catherine.

On the way to another small town in Piemonte’s wine country, La Morra, we saw colored Vespas on a small narrow street that I wasn’t afraid of driving. We have all watched the new Pixar movie, Luca, and Catherine is now obsessed with them!

Francesco DeGregori played on the radio. It was hot and humid. We just had a beautiful lunch at Giada’s followed by a long walk, and I thought:

“This is the most beautiful summer of my life!”

I don’t know why. We are having a beautiful time, but nothing extraordinary has happened.

Can it be that, because of the long lockdown and separation from others, everything we do now feels magical and unique? Can our perception of extraordinary have become more reachable and visible to our ever-demanding eye?

I want to live this way, from now on. I wan to rethink what extraordinary can be, what magic is, and what perfection really means.

***

A few updates:

– I saw the book and I can tell you it is the most beautiful book I have ever seen. Happy doesn’t do justice to the way I feel. I can’t wait to share the cover with you.

– Creativity is flowing, and I am creating new dishes every day.

– I spent time with my old friend Barbara and seeing our daughters play together has been beautiful.

– Being with family is triggering so many old patterns and behaviors I don’t want to repeat in my own family, but I am grateful I have tools to deal with them, and that allow me, at the same time, to have a loving relationship with my parents.

– I am meditating almost every day.

– After some hair misfortune here in Italy, I am back to my natural brown color and I love it.

– I don’t like humidity, that’s a fact!

– I am not homesick yet, but I realized how grateful I am for the people who are in my life in Los Angeles, my friends, my neighbors, the people I work with…I have never, never, never been more thankful for every aspect of my life, for what I have and for what I don’t have.

– I have cellulite and I am starting not to care.

– Italian food is the best.

Love you guys,

See you next month.