SMACK Family Crest

This is the crest of the five girls living in the Rome Center apartment, otherwise known as “SMACK,” an acronym for our names. As with all crests, this one too is filled with symbols of our family.

The Smack family came to fame as food connoisseurs, each having a special appreciation and skill for selecting delicacies from around the world. The girls soon became so well known that they opened a restaurant – the TuttiGusti – which features a selection of their favorites. In the morning, a breakfast buffet is offered with Italian pastries and creamy yogurts. Afternoon lunch dishes include a variety of pastas, meats, and salads served in large portions. Dinner offers a romantic menu of traditional Italian wines with similar dishes and fancy deserts – tiramisu, cookies, gelati, and a wide selection of Nutella products. The restaurant has a warm, homely ambiance – quaint and cozy, lit with glowing candles, decorated in blue and red flowers. Pilgrims from all over Italy come to taste the Smack family cuisine, and many have stayed in order to share their own specialty dishes. Thus the kitchen holds a melting pot of cooks from around the world.

The basic shield is composed of four quarters with each quarter representing one of the girls living in the apartment (except Susie). On the top right is a bottle of Fanta. After our long treks through the city, there is nothing more refreshing to Kelsea than an ice-cold bottle of Fanta. Below that is a cappuccino representing Mindy, who, despite our reprimanding words, has continued to average three cups of coffee a day. On the top left, is a cornetto. This cornetto symbolizes all pastries in Rome and specifically the ones from the Forno in the Campo, one of Anyie’s favorite places in Rome. Similar to Mindy’s addiction to caffeine, Anyie is addicted to pastries and averages about three visits a day. Finally, on the bottom right is a cute high-heeled shoe. I think we would all agree that Christina wins the cute card for our apartment and she always is wearing heeled shoes. We admire her skill at gracefully recovering when she trips while walking through the tricky cobblestoned streets of Rome.

In the center of the shield is a circle containing five five-pointed stars. The repetition of these five-pointed stars throughout the crest is to represent the five girls living in the apartment. In addition, the red background with gold stars is modeled after the Chinese flag representing our heritage as all the girls in the apartment are Chinese.

Along the bottom are flowers because we live near the Campo de’Fiori.

In addition, notice the coloring of the crest. The main colors are blue and red because Christina, Susie and Mindy share the love of the color blue while Kelsea and Anyie prefer red.

Finally, let me explain the octopus. The octopus represents Susie. For those of you who have heard Susie tell this story, you have heard one of the greatest stories of all time. If you haven’t, though, please ask Susie about it as soon as possible because it will trump all other stories that you have ever heard. Our apartment has bonded through this story and thus it is wearing a crown and holding the shield as though it is the glue that holds us together. Susie’s cooking has also brought us together through our love of food.