I was born the grand daughter of a gardener named Italia, an Italian-Brazilian immigrant.

She spent her days in her garden eating home grown fruit, going on daily walks, and caring for her family. I am her namesake. I inherited her love of plants, food, daily walks and nourishing my family and friends. There is no other way I'd rather spend my days than in the garden or kitchen, surrounded by friends and family.

Like many American women, I was conditioned to associate high-performance work with "success", and "leisure" with laziness. Grinding in the corporate world and proving my worthiness through accomplishments trapped me in cycles of perfectionism, people pleasing, workaholic tendencies, and burn out. I was disregulated, depleted, and disenchanted with life. What I thought would make me happy left me empty and starving for more.

Ten years later, as a Master Gardener and self-taught wildcrafter, I have perfected my craft of growing, harvesting, creating simple garden to table recipes for my family and recalibrating the practicalities of life to honor what nourishes me most. I love nothing more than sharing the joy and ease of this lifestyle with my students so they can give themselves and their families a better life. I have supported many women in their efforts to cultivate more nourishing lifestyles and I'm here to instill the same skills in you so you can cultivate la dolce vita, on home soil, too