Ciao amici :)
Today was an interesting kind of day. Most people from my program left today yet I still had the whole day here in Rome. I walked all over my favorite places, completing the near 15 items that were on my to-do list for today. It has been quite busy, but it's been a good day.
And I must say it ended wonderfully. I went to the delicious bakery right next to our apartment and I wanted to get a "ciambella," Italian for donut. I am so glad that I didn't discover these ciambelle before last week, because I would have been eating far too many of them. For just discovering them last week, I have already eaten three. I like donuts in the States, but there is something different about these Italian donuts!
They're larger than American-size donuts and they are just plain with sugar covering them. They are so simple and delicious, I really don't even know how to describe it. But fortunate for me, when I went to the bakery for the last time tonight, wanting to get a ciambella for tomorrow morning when I leave for the airport, I got scared because I didn't see them at first! Yet to my happiness, there was one single ciambella left for the day, and I told the barista how happy I was that I got the last one. "Che fortunata!" :) Such a great end to a bitter-sweet last day in Rome.
Too, I've been meaning to mention and was reminded today on my walk home, something interesting about Italy that I have found is that the Smurfs are incredibly popular here! They sell special jars of Nutella with Smurf characters on them and today walking home, I saw Smurf stickers and other merchandise for sale. Just about everywhere you go you can find something about the Smurfs and I think it's fascinating. :) However, here in Italy, they are not called the Smurfs, they are called "Puffi!" So everywhere you go, you see Puffi, and it still fascinates me to this day. :)
Off to Norway tomorrow!! I am so very excited, I cannot wait! I just want to leave right now; I don't want to wait until my flight tomorrow morning. :)
A presto!
Love and Style,
L.M.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
American food.
The more time goes on the more I find myself missing American food. Right now, I just had a flashback to Steak n' Shake and I literally almost ascended into food heaven. A steakburger, fries and a chocolate milkshake sounds sooooooo good right now, it is not even funny! :)
Then thinking about the milkshake got me thinking about American ice cream in general and goodness do I miss that! The other night I got gelato for the first time in over three weeks and honestly, I didn't even miss it that much. At first its allure was daunting, but now I find it to be too rich, to fancy and too thick. I long for delicious American ice cream, either from Baskin Robbins or even just Dreyer's at the grocery store. Some double-churned would be absolutely amazing right about now.
Hamburgers, good ole' American french fries and ice cream are all things that I miss so very much and it all collided in my memory banks just now. I cannot wait!! So glad there's a 24-hour Steak n' Shake near the airport...definitely going to ask if we can stop. :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
Then thinking about the milkshake got me thinking about American ice cream in general and goodness do I miss that! The other night I got gelato for the first time in over three weeks and honestly, I didn't even miss it that much. At first its allure was daunting, but now I find it to be too rich, to fancy and too thick. I long for delicious American ice cream, either from Baskin Robbins or even just Dreyer's at the grocery store. Some double-churned would be absolutely amazing right about now.
Hamburgers, good ole' American french fries and ice cream are all things that I miss so very much and it all collided in my memory banks just now. I cannot wait!! So glad there's a 24-hour Steak n' Shake near the airport...definitely going to ask if we can stop. :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
Friday, December 9, 2011
It looks like Christmas!!
It isn't just beginning to look a lot like Christmas here, it already does!! There are Christmas lights down so many streets (my favorites being the red, white and green Italian-flag Christmas lights spanning close to the entire width of the street and going all the way down Via del Corso, one of the main shopping streets in all of Rome).
Too, they have these things called Christmas markets, which I had never heard of before. I went to check out the one I kept hearing about, located in Piazza Navona, and it was almost like a taste of home! It was set up just like a small carnival or fair with stands lined up in rows and lit up by florescent lights. They had a carousel, food stands that sold Nutella crepes and these giant donut-looking things that seemed to be very popular, and then they also had games and vendors. The games were much like those of an American carnival (hit the balloon with the dart, etcetera) and then the vendor booths were very unique. You could buy jewelry or leather notebooks, big hanging lights or even nativities. That stand stood out to me the most - it was an entire stand devoted to the selling of Christmas nativities. In a phrase, it seemed to me to be an American-style carnival similar to those we have back home but with a definite Italian twist to it. :) It was so much fun!
What made it even better, too, was the fact that I got a Nutella crepe for my journey to check out the festival. A restaurant worker recommended a good crepe place and he was right! It was quite delicious and made the whole experience even better.
It's already December 10th! Where has the time gone?! I feel the Christmas spirit getting stronger and stronger and I couldn't love it more.
Love and Style,
L.M.
Too, they have these things called Christmas markets, which I had never heard of before. I went to check out the one I kept hearing about, located in Piazza Navona, and it was almost like a taste of home! It was set up just like a small carnival or fair with stands lined up in rows and lit up by florescent lights. They had a carousel, food stands that sold Nutella crepes and these giant donut-looking things that seemed to be very popular, and then they also had games and vendors. The games were much like those of an American carnival (hit the balloon with the dart, etcetera) and then the vendor booths were very unique. You could buy jewelry or leather notebooks, big hanging lights or even nativities. That stand stood out to me the most - it was an entire stand devoted to the selling of Christmas nativities. In a phrase, it seemed to me to be an American-style carnival similar to those we have back home but with a definite Italian twist to it. :) It was so much fun!
What made it even better, too, was the fact that I got a Nutella crepe for my journey to check out the festival. A restaurant worker recommended a good crepe place and he was right! It was quite delicious and made the whole experience even better.
It's already December 10th! Where has the time gone?! I feel the Christmas spirit getting stronger and stronger and I couldn't love it more.
Love and Style,
L.M.
Monday, December 5, 2011
I want to take a moment..
to re-emphasize the deliciousness of Italian yogurt. I know I've said this before but it just is so true. That's one of the things about the food that stood out to me last time I was here, as weird as that may seem and I was so excited to come and eat it again. It's truly been wonderful. Yogurt is such a healthy snack for you yet I'm so picky with my yogurt in America. For me, Yoplait is too sweet.
I have really gotten into the Greek yogurt craze, where the yogurt is thick and plain and kind of even sour, but then you mix in the fruit or what not in it and it's so delicious. However, this yogurt is just normal yogurt that I buy at our local supermarket for €0,22!
It's 1:36 in the morning and I'm studying for my art history final later this morning and I literally craved a yogurt. So odd. But so healthy, so I'm definitely not complaining. Well, only about having to leave Italian yogurt yet again in just 11 days now. Oh well. Maybe Italian yogurt will become the next new big yogurt craze. I would like that.
Love and Style (and yogurt yumminess),
L.M.
I have really gotten into the Greek yogurt craze, where the yogurt is thick and plain and kind of even sour, but then you mix in the fruit or what not in it and it's so delicious. However, this yogurt is just normal yogurt that I buy at our local supermarket for €0,22!
It's 1:36 in the morning and I'm studying for my art history final later this morning and I literally craved a yogurt. So odd. But so healthy, so I'm definitely not complaining. Well, only about having to leave Italian yogurt yet again in just 11 days now. Oh well. Maybe Italian yogurt will become the next new big yogurt craze. I would like that.
Love and Style (and yogurt yumminess),
L.M.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Schoooool.
This semester's school schedule while in Rome has been so fantastic for many reasons regarding schedule, yet one thing in particular that has been so nice for me is having no class on Fridays! I have not yet been able to successfully plan my schedule at my home university to have Fridays off (though it seems as if eeeveryone else is able to do that just fine), so having this semester without class on Friday has been a real treat.
However, now I'm spoiled.
I don't ever want to have class on Fridays again, and on the rare occasion that we do have to go to class on a Friday while here, for a field trip or makeup class, etcetera, it is a near dreaded event. Like tomorrow, for instance. This coming Thursday we have off of school because of a national holiday (Immaculate Conception), just like we had All Saints Day off of school because it, too, is a national holiday here in Italy. However, I'm guessing it is because our program is so short anyways, they cannot simply let us have the day totally off, rather, we have to go in on Friday (as we did for All Saints Day make-up) and have a make-up day for the day we are going to get off.
Thus, I don't want to go to class tomorrow! I've become so accustomed to having Thursday nights be the start of my weekend that having to go to class tomorrow is not something I'm loving. Honestly and truly, this is not a big deal. However, I've much enjoyed all of my Roman Fridays off, having time to catch up on all of the sleep I've not been getting during all of the excitement, as well as getting an extra day to go out and explore the city in ways that I normally may have deemed that I didn't have time for.
But as they say here in Italy: Basta! It's a saying that I have come to like a lot; it means "enough!" So enough with my ranting and off to bed. I actually have to get up for class tomorrow. Purtroppo! :)
Buona notte!
Love and Style,
L.M.
However, now I'm spoiled.
I don't ever want to have class on Fridays again, and on the rare occasion that we do have to go to class on a Friday while here, for a field trip or makeup class, etcetera, it is a near dreaded event. Like tomorrow, for instance. This coming Thursday we have off of school because of a national holiday (Immaculate Conception), just like we had All Saints Day off of school because it, too, is a national holiday here in Italy. However, I'm guessing it is because our program is so short anyways, they cannot simply let us have the day totally off, rather, we have to go in on Friday (as we did for All Saints Day make-up) and have a make-up day for the day we are going to get off.
Thus, I don't want to go to class tomorrow! I've become so accustomed to having Thursday nights be the start of my weekend that having to go to class tomorrow is not something I'm loving. Honestly and truly, this is not a big deal. However, I've much enjoyed all of my Roman Fridays off, having time to catch up on all of the sleep I've not been getting during all of the excitement, as well as getting an extra day to go out and explore the city in ways that I normally may have deemed that I didn't have time for.
But as they say here in Italy: Basta! It's a saying that I have come to like a lot; it means "enough!" So enough with my ranting and off to bed. I actually have to get up for class tomorrow. Purtroppo! :)
Buona notte!
Love and Style,
L.M.
Monday, November 28, 2011
An up and a down.
One thing I keep being thankful for every time I go to the grocery store is the price of food. Grant it, I've only recently started doing a lot of hard-core shopping at the grocery store, but I generally know the prices of things and food at the grocery store here in Italy is so much cheaper than in America! If I want to buy a box of Barilla pasta it will be about 50 cents, a single hamburger will be about 75 cents, a loaf of Italian bread also 75 cents. There are so many things you can get here for cheap! It's so wonderful and I could definitely get used to this!
One down I ran into (yet again) today that really stuck out in my mind is the pace of pedestrians on the sidewalks. The pace in Italy is certainly a lot slower than somewhere like New York, and this is quite evident whenever you walk on the sidewalks here. People often stroll, rather than briskly walk, which is wonderful but I must admit when you're trying to get somewhere on a time schedule, it can be a bit difficult to weave in and out of all the leisurely strollers. Today, I was booking it to class near the Colosseum and no one else seemed to be in near the hurry I was. That slower pace is certainly a good thing in the big scheme of things, but it definitely is something that I've had to get more used to.
Anyways, just some random thoughts for the day. Buona notte, tutti!
Love and Style,
L.M.
Friday, November 25, 2011
An Italian Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving yesterday was a lot of fun. It was incredibly sad being away from family for the first time on a major holiday, but it was really great to be amidst the company of friends. And while Thanksgiving isn't a big holiday here in Italy, our program took us to an exquisite restaurant where we had turkey dinner with an Italian twist and it was so posh and wonderful. A really great evening indeed.
Today, however, would normally be a monumental day for me, as it is Black Friday in the States!! Being that Thanksgiving isn't a big holiday here, definitely neither is Black Friday. This makes me sad, as it is a true experience and such a fun thing to go shopping on Black Friday, in my opinion.
But oh well, there is always next year! It's crazy to think that now it's past Thanksgiving and one step closer to Christmas. Time really does fly.
Love and Style,
L.M.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Gonna miss this.
It has become our "thing" to cook rice for dinner pretty much every night here lately. It's delicious, fast and it is so easy!! Our local grocery store sells these packets of rice, each packet has two servings, and there are about 10 flavors total. Each one is under €2.00 and all you do is add the packet's contents to two cups of water and boil for 15 minutes. It is so good!!! For something so cheap and so easy, it is absolutely delicious rice. It even has the classic Italian texture of being "al dente," meaning firmer and chewier than fully-cooked pasta.
Today they were on sale at the store so I got four packets for us to eat for dinner and I bought three packets just to bring home to the States. I am sure going to miss those things. I'm pretty sure they're in one of the sub-definitions for the word perfect. :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
Today they were on sale at the store so I got four packets for us to eat for dinner and I bought three packets just to bring home to the States. I am sure going to miss those things. I'm pretty sure they're in one of the sub-definitions for the word perfect. :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
Friday, November 18, 2011
In the midst of history.
It's so interesting being here in Italy during the economic and political change that is going on. I believe it was three days ago now that Burlusconi resigned and two days ago that Italy got a new government, which is absolutely monumental. Sometimes you don't even realize all that is going on because you get so wrapped up in school and your daily activities and seeing the city that you forget to envelop yourself in the true culture around you - the establishments of the country in which you are living.
Walking around Rome, you see political buildings with guards outside of them all the time, and we would always walk past Burlusconi's old palazzo when passing to a certain area. When you really stop to think of it, there is so much that goes on that you don't even realize and here in Rome we're fortunate enough to be right in the center of it.
One has to realize, however, that with political and economic change comes unrest and this is also something that I actually feel very fortunate to be witnessing here during my time abroad. As you may or may not know, the Euro currency is facing much difficulty right now - Greece being arguably the most affected and Italy being one of the next most.
This issue, along with all of the political issues taking place right now cause many riots and protests. We witnessed a demonstration on Thursday during our Italian class. We paused class to open the window and watch the protesters that were right on the street outside, along with police and many, many journalists. They were all university students our age, which made it all the more fascinating. Here in Italy there seem to be a lot more public demonstrations regarding social, economic and political issues and I, personally, think it's fascinating to see. Below are two pictures I took outside of our classroom window, overlooking the university-students' demonstration.
I don't know what the future holds for anything regarding politics or the economy, but I know that I truly feel lucky and privileged to be witnessing so much history in the making.
Walking around Rome, you see political buildings with guards outside of them all the time, and we would always walk past Burlusconi's old palazzo when passing to a certain area. When you really stop to think of it, there is so much that goes on that you don't even realize and here in Rome we're fortunate enough to be right in the center of it.
One has to realize, however, that with political and economic change comes unrest and this is also something that I actually feel very fortunate to be witnessing here during my time abroad. As you may or may not know, the Euro currency is facing much difficulty right now - Greece being arguably the most affected and Italy being one of the next most.
This issue, along with all of the political issues taking place right now cause many riots and protests. We witnessed a demonstration on Thursday during our Italian class. We paused class to open the window and watch the protesters that were right on the street outside, along with police and many, many journalists. They were all university students our age, which made it all the more fascinating. Here in Italy there seem to be a lot more public demonstrations regarding social, economic and political issues and I, personally, think it's fascinating to see. Below are two pictures I took outside of our classroom window, overlooking the university-students' demonstration.
I don't know what the future holds for anything regarding politics or the economy, but I know that I truly feel lucky and privileged to be witnessing so much history in the making.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
This past weekend.
It was amazing. I could go on and on about it but, in short, it was phenomenal. It was my second time going to both Verona and Milan and I felt basically the same way about both as I did last time. Verona melted my heart, yet again. There's just something about that town, it's so romantic and adorable. The way the street lights light up orange at night makes the setting so cute and makes it look like it's straight out of a love story. I don't fully know how to describe it but it is just fantastic.
Milan was awesome - so cool to be in such a renowned city, but I got the same vibe I did last time. It truly is a city and, in my opinion, it kinda makes New York look clean. There are beautiful sites like the Duomo and, of course, all of the shopping, but all in all the city was very dirty and I really didn't fall in love. But that's ok because Sunday made up for it!
Sunday I went to Cuggiono, and my article this Thursday will tell all about my trip there. It was, however, an experience that is impossible to ever forget. The family friends I met were so kind to me and basically adopted me into their family for the day and meeting my distant aunt was so much fun. Truly amazing indeed.
One funny experience was after we all had lunch and the mom of our family friends offered me Italian coffee, which is basically espresso. I said yes and then she asked if I wanted milk - I said no and she asked if I wanted sugar - I said no again, to which she said to the others "Che strano, che strano! Che le piace il caffe come questo," meaning how strange that she likes her coffee like this! I thought it was funny because that's how I always drink my coffee, yet to them who usually have either milk or sugar or both, I suppose it's a bit of an odd notion. :) It was really cute.
And Cuggiono is so adorable!!! Oh my gosh, such a cute, tiny Italian town!! Just like something straight out of a movie, both the city and the whole fantastic situation as a whole. It's such a rewarding feeling getting to know the town of your ancestors. They say you can't know where you're going until you know where you've been and now I know where my familial history began.
Love and Style,
L.M.
Milan was awesome - so cool to be in such a renowned city, but I got the same vibe I did last time. It truly is a city and, in my opinion, it kinda makes New York look clean. There are beautiful sites like the Duomo and, of course, all of the shopping, but all in all the city was very dirty and I really didn't fall in love. But that's ok because Sunday made up for it!
Sunday I went to Cuggiono, and my article this Thursday will tell all about my trip there. It was, however, an experience that is impossible to ever forget. The family friends I met were so kind to me and basically adopted me into their family for the day and meeting my distant aunt was so much fun. Truly amazing indeed.
One funny experience was after we all had lunch and the mom of our family friends offered me Italian coffee, which is basically espresso. I said yes and then she asked if I wanted milk - I said no and she asked if I wanted sugar - I said no again, to which she said to the others "Che strano, che strano! Che le piace il caffe come questo," meaning how strange that she likes her coffee like this! I thought it was funny because that's how I always drink my coffee, yet to them who usually have either milk or sugar or both, I suppose it's a bit of an odd notion. :) It was really cute.
And Cuggiono is so adorable!!! Oh my gosh, such a cute, tiny Italian town!! Just like something straight out of a movie, both the city and the whole fantastic situation as a whole. It's such a rewarding feeling getting to know the town of your ancestors. They say you can't know where you're going until you know where you've been and now I know where my familial history began.
Love and Style,
L.M.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
C'è il weekend!
I am sooo happy! Three out of four of my midterms are done (I'm just just going to be happy about that for now and not think about research papers that are due soon...) and tonight we leave for our weekend trip!
Two of my friends and I are taking an overnight train tonight to Verona and are going to spend tomorrow in Verona, then Saturday in Milan and Sunday the two of them are going to Torino while I venture off and go to Cuggiono!! If you're from the Southern Illinois area, maybe you know this town!
My ancestors on my mom's side immigrated from there and I'm so excited to go and see the town of my heritage! :) I associate completely with my mom's side of the family since my father left Mom and I when I was 10 and I've never met his side. I love my Italian heritage and I'm so excited to see the home town and maybe I'll even get to meet some distant relatives!!! :D
Love and Style,
L.M.
Two of my friends and I are taking an overnight train tonight to Verona and are going to spend tomorrow in Verona, then Saturday in Milan and Sunday the two of them are going to Torino while I venture off and go to Cuggiono!! If you're from the Southern Illinois area, maybe you know this town!
My ancestors on my mom's side immigrated from there and I'm so excited to go and see the town of my heritage! :) I associate completely with my mom's side of the family since my father left Mom and I when I was 10 and I've never met his side. I love my Italian heritage and I'm so excited to see the home town and maybe I'll even get to meet some distant relatives!!! :D
Love and Style,
L.M.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Caffè Americano.
One thing that I miss most about the food in America is the coffee. Here in Italy, if you order "un caffè" it's a shot of espresso. Which I must admit, is actually awesome because you can get them for around 80 Euro cents and they're the perfect start to a morning or pick-me-up in the afternoon.
On a side note, did you know that tiramisù is actually Italian for "pick-me-up?" The word tiramisù is the opposite of an Italian saying "sono proprio giu," meaning "I'm so down." :) Funny, huh?
But back to coffee. So you only get an espresso shot when you order a plain coffee here which is awesome in its own way and is a super popular thing to do. If you go into any little cafe or coffee bar at around 2 p.m. there will be somewhere around 20 espresso cups sitting near the sink needing to be washed from the rush hour.
However, as awesome as espresso is, I really miss American coffee; an actual cup of coffee. This is something that us coffee lovers on the trip have been talking about and my roommate and I have finally found a solution. There's this little cafe near our apartment and it's absolutely adorable. The decorations are red and black and super trendy and eclectic and they even play awesome music. Last time we were there they played "Hey Jude" by the Beatles and then today they played Nirvana's "Teen Spirit."
But why we have gone back twice now: caffè Americano. It's one Euro and fifty cents and you get an actual cup of coffee! Plus they even give you a little chocolate biscuit on the side. It's so wonderful and it's actually very delicious coffee. So now we have found the solution: just order caffè Americano. And this coffee shop we found is so adorable. It's the perfect place to sit on a Sunday afternoon with friends, chill on the couch with a cup of coffee and talk. Life is good.
Love and Style,
L.M.
On a side note, did you know that tiramisù is actually Italian for "pick-me-up?" The word tiramisù is the opposite of an Italian saying "sono proprio giu," meaning "I'm so down." :) Funny, huh?
But back to coffee. So you only get an espresso shot when you order a plain coffee here which is awesome in its own way and is a super popular thing to do. If you go into any little cafe or coffee bar at around 2 p.m. there will be somewhere around 20 espresso cups sitting near the sink needing to be washed from the rush hour.
However, as awesome as espresso is, I really miss American coffee; an actual cup of coffee. This is something that us coffee lovers on the trip have been talking about and my roommate and I have finally found a solution. There's this little cafe near our apartment and it's absolutely adorable. The decorations are red and black and super trendy and eclectic and they even play awesome music. Last time we were there they played "Hey Jude" by the Beatles and then today they played Nirvana's "Teen Spirit."
But why we have gone back twice now: caffè Americano. It's one Euro and fifty cents and you get an actual cup of coffee! Plus they even give you a little chocolate biscuit on the side. It's so wonderful and it's actually very delicious coffee. So now we have found the solution: just order caffè Americano. And this coffee shop we found is so adorable. It's the perfect place to sit on a Sunday afternoon with friends, chill on the couch with a cup of coffee and talk. Life is good.
Love and Style,
L.M.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Red carpets and wonderful films.
Buona sera!
Oooh my gosh we had such a fun time last night at the Rome Film Festival. I've never been to a film festival before, but the atmosphere was so cool and the film we saw was phenomenal. It's coming to the States eventually, so keep an eye out! It's called Too Big to Fail and it was absolutely fantastic!
The festival was on the other side of the city, a side I hadn't been to yet, so we got to venture out to a new area, which was awesome, and then when we got there it was such an amazing experience. Everywhere you looked there were all kinds of trendy people and it was night-time so the big lights were shining on the red carpet.
Rai, one of the largest broadcasting companies in Italy who is in charge of holdings in both radio and TV, had a stand up where they were broadcasting live from the festival and the musicians were performing on the stage right there in front of us. The radio-show host was interviewing them from a chair to their left and they would perform live songs. The one guy even played the electric cello! They were so phenomenal - both groups we saw. It was good, chill Italian music and it was made all the better by the ambiance surrounding us.
There were heat lamps with the flames setting the mood and there was a resting/seating/relaxing area set up by one of the sponsors, a coffee company, and they were giving out free espresso shots in adorable little disposable cups.
Then, the red carpet. When we first went in we had to just walk on the side of the carpet because the main carpet was blocked off, however, after the show they opened up the main, center carpet and we got to walk on it! I'm posting a picture below.
All in all, it was one of the most exciting nights yet. We got to see a movie, something we haven't had a real opportunity to do since we've been here, we got to see an American movie at that, so it was extra fun to see an American film, all in English with Italian subtitles (I tried to follow along during the movie by hearing the English and then reading the Italian) and we got to attend the Rome Film Festival. That's not something you get to do everyday! Che fantastico! :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
Oooh my gosh we had such a fun time last night at the Rome Film Festival. I've never been to a film festival before, but the atmosphere was so cool and the film we saw was phenomenal. It's coming to the States eventually, so keep an eye out! It's called Too Big to Fail and it was absolutely fantastic!
The festival was on the other side of the city, a side I hadn't been to yet, so we got to venture out to a new area, which was awesome, and then when we got there it was such an amazing experience. Everywhere you looked there were all kinds of trendy people and it was night-time so the big lights were shining on the red carpet.
Rai, one of the largest broadcasting companies in Italy who is in charge of holdings in both radio and TV, had a stand up where they were broadcasting live from the festival and the musicians were performing on the stage right there in front of us. The radio-show host was interviewing them from a chair to their left and they would perform live songs. The one guy even played the electric cello! They were so phenomenal - both groups we saw. It was good, chill Italian music and it was made all the better by the ambiance surrounding us.
There were heat lamps with the flames setting the mood and there was a resting/seating/relaxing area set up by one of the sponsors, a coffee company, and they were giving out free espresso shots in adorable little disposable cups.
Then, the red carpet. When we first went in we had to just walk on the side of the carpet because the main carpet was blocked off, however, after the show they opened up the main, center carpet and we got to walk on it! I'm posting a picture below.
All in all, it was one of the most exciting nights yet. We got to see a movie, something we haven't had a real opportunity to do since we've been here, we got to see an American movie at that, so it was extra fun to see an American film, all in English with Italian subtitles (I tried to follow along during the movie by hearing the English and then reading the Italian) and we got to attend the Rome Film Festival. That's not something you get to do everyday! Che fantastico! :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Film Festival!
Tonight is going to be quite a fun experience! The Rome Film Festival is going on for two more days and for my cinema class we get to go for free! Tonight we're going to see a film at the main festival center with red carpet and everything! Celebrities have come for their films, so it would be awesomeeee if we could see someone tonight! Though there's no guarantee, so we'll just have to see.
It's quite a trek to get there, but it's going to be so worth it!! Ciao!
Love and Style,
L.M.
It's quite a trek to get there, but it's going to be so worth it!! Ciao!
Love and Style,
L.M.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Two picture-perfect afternoons.
I don't quite know what it is, but something about when the weekend rolls around things go from fantastic to stellar. Our weeks are always amazing and, because I'm nerdy like that, I actually really enjoy going to class, but there's just something about our weekends - they always bring really exciting adventures.
For the past few weekends in particular, it has just been awesome. I've been going into the weekends with just a few plans and not too many expectations and they have just been turning out like a dream.
On Friday night we did something that we hadn't yet done, and that's to go out at night in our particular area of Rome. It's a really hip, young area with lots of bars and hot-spots that stay open late at night/early morning yet my roommate and I hadn't yet been out. So Friday night we went out to this bar with a group of our friends and it was sooo amazing!! It was super small and crowded upstairs but then we discovered that there was a whole downstairs with tons of seating, cool tables and awesome patterns and prints on the furniture and walls. They had TVs playing music videos of popular songs but then the DJ from upstairs was blasting all downstairs too. It was so amazing and we had such a blast.
Then, the next day, we slept in and when we woke up we decided to get some lunch and explore our area a bit more, being that going to that bar opened our knowledge up to a whole different part of our area. So we went over there and what did we find? A little hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant!!! Now, while this may not seem all that exciting, you have to realize that here in Italy like 98% of the food is pizza, pasta or panini so when we saw a Chinese restaurant it was so amazing!
We went in and it was far from a hole-in-the-wall, by the way. It was very large, so nice and the food was soooo good!! It was only $4.50 for my chicken with cashew entree and they even took the meal vouchers we get through our program that pays for some of our food and groceries! Score!!
Then today we went back to that same piazza and ate pizza for lunch while sitting on the steps of the fountain in the middle and then went to this adorable coffee shop down one of the adjoining streets. It was so peaceful and truly was an "I'm in Rome" moment.
Such a lovely day, and might I add, one of the best study environments I could ever ask for! Ahhh [contented sigh] :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
For the past few weekends in particular, it has just been awesome. I've been going into the weekends with just a few plans and not too many expectations and they have just been turning out like a dream.
On Friday night we did something that we hadn't yet done, and that's to go out at night in our particular area of Rome. It's a really hip, young area with lots of bars and hot-spots that stay open late at night/early morning yet my roommate and I hadn't yet been out. So Friday night we went out to this bar with a group of our friends and it was sooo amazing!! It was super small and crowded upstairs but then we discovered that there was a whole downstairs with tons of seating, cool tables and awesome patterns and prints on the furniture and walls. They had TVs playing music videos of popular songs but then the DJ from upstairs was blasting all downstairs too. It was so amazing and we had such a blast.
Then, the next day, we slept in and when we woke up we decided to get some lunch and explore our area a bit more, being that going to that bar opened our knowledge up to a whole different part of our area. So we went over there and what did we find? A little hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant!!! Now, while this may not seem all that exciting, you have to realize that here in Italy like 98% of the food is pizza, pasta or panini so when we saw a Chinese restaurant it was so amazing!
We went in and it was far from a hole-in-the-wall, by the way. It was very large, so nice and the food was soooo good!! It was only $4.50 for my chicken with cashew entree and they even took the meal vouchers we get through our program that pays for some of our food and groceries! Score!!
Then today we went back to that same piazza and ate pizza for lunch while sitting on the steps of the fountain in the middle and then went to this adorable coffee shop down one of the adjoining streets. It was so peaceful and truly was an "I'm in Rome" moment.
Such a lovely day, and might I add, one of the best study environments I could ever ask for! Ahhh [contented sigh] :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
My roommate and I at the adorable bar!
The awesome Chinese place! A total gem of a discovery. :)
Monday, October 24, 2011
Viva Roma!
Anyone who might know me would know that I, of all people, am not a sports person. I'm much, much more on the side of music and arts rather than sports. I've been to a few sporting events in my life, but it's never been something I get really excited about.
However, coming to Italy, I definitely wanted to see a soccer game, since soccer is so, so popular here, and yesterday was my chance! My school put on an outing to a soccer game at the Olympic Stadium here in Rome and tickets for us were only 10 Euro!
The game was Roma versus Palermo and I was, I can't believe I'm going to say this, extremely excited to go! My roommate and I got Roma shirts with the team colors on it and wore them proudly yesterday! Of course, I had to keep it stylish, so I also rocked my new brown suede Italian boots and Louis Vuitton tote bag, but that's beside the point. :p
There was just such an energy about it all. The fans were so supportive of their home team - much more than I have ever seen in my (be it little) sports experience. They were so passionate and so involved, it was wonderful.
By the end of it, I was even humming the Roma chant song in my head, though I couldn't really make out the words with the -what seemed like- thousands of people singing it all together.
And soccer is a good sport for me I'm realizing. If I had to choose one to watch, I think it would be soccer. Games are only 90 minutes without stopping the clock, plus some added time at the end, and then that's it! I can totally handle that. :)
My roommate and I both said we would love to go to another game while we're here, so we are now on the lookout for a guest team we would like to see Roma play.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really loved that soccer game yesterday! It was so much fun and the atmosphere was out of this world. I can't wait to go again!!
Love and Style,
L.M.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Speaking of fashion and travel...
Check out this article I saw today! For me, and I'm sure it's the case for many of you too, it's always such a challenge to figure out what you're going to wear when traveling. You need something comfy, something to fit the weather in the plane and outside and you need something without a ton of metal to take off when going through security. And we mustn't forget you need something with style!
This article comes at a perfect time! I love their looks for travel and, even though they're still out of my budget for now, maybe I can create something similar with what I already have!
Check it out here!
Love and Style,
L.M.
This article comes at a perfect time! I love their looks for travel and, even though they're still out of my budget for now, maybe I can create something similar with what I already have!
Check it out here!
Love and Style,
L.M.
An awesome day.
Today my friends and I went out shopping on one of the main streets for shopping in Rome! It's called Via del Corso, and we had some serious good times today!
We started the day off by sleeping in (something we hadn't done in a long time) and then got up, got ready and went to our friend's apartment for what was a totally awesome lunch! We had manicotti, green beans, fruit salad and periferols for dessert!
Then we headed out for a day of shopping! I had many things on my list and I found most of them, the thing I'm most excited about being real Italian boots!! There are boot stores everywhere here. Boots are so popular and you see people wearing them everywhere you turn and just as much you see boot and shoe stores everywhere you turn as well. And we're talking nice boots here.
They're usually anywhere from 135 Euro to 160 Euro and upwards, bearing in mind that it's even more when you convert it to U.S. dollars, since one Euro is equal to about $1.40, roughly. However, I am suuuuuuuch a boot fanatic. I could literally wear boots every day, no other shoes, and be completely fine. They just make me feel like I'm so set to go anywhere and they go with so many things! So, with that said, I knew that I would really like and appreciate getting a pair of Italian boots.
However, they needed to be within my price range. I decided that, rather than buying 20 small things, I would rather buy 10 nice things while I'm here in Italy. Things that will last me for a long time and things that are truly special. And alas! I found boots today! They're such nice boots - brown, distressed suede with wooden soles that are going to be so great for walking around on all of the uneven, unfilled in cobblestone that is literally everywhere in Rome. It's so difficult to walk on because it's so uneven, it hurts your feet and scuffs up your cheap shoes something awful! But these are so sturdy and just walking home I could even tell that it was so much nicer walking with the thick, wooden bottom. Italian items are so well made. I've noticed that with clothes, shoes and handbags alike. Everything is leather and everything is real, classy, so nice and truly well made. You indeed may have to pay more, but the quality of the items is guaranteed to be nicer.
My new boots are so well made, real suede and they're made in Italy, bought in an authentic Italian shoe store (not some chain store; they are an actual Italian leather and such shoe store) and I only paid 110 Euro. Grant it, that is a lot more than I think I have ever spent on boots, but I am soooo happy and so excited to wear them. I got something that is truly special and that I can cherish for years to come.
I love shopping and I love Italian boots!!!!
Love and Style,
L.M.
We started the day off by sleeping in (something we hadn't done in a long time) and then got up, got ready and went to our friend's apartment for what was a totally awesome lunch! We had manicotti, green beans, fruit salad and periferols for dessert!
Then we headed out for a day of shopping! I had many things on my list and I found most of them, the thing I'm most excited about being real Italian boots!! There are boot stores everywhere here. Boots are so popular and you see people wearing them everywhere you turn and just as much you see boot and shoe stores everywhere you turn as well. And we're talking nice boots here.
They're usually anywhere from 135 Euro to 160 Euro and upwards, bearing in mind that it's even more when you convert it to U.S. dollars, since one Euro is equal to about $1.40, roughly. However, I am suuuuuuuch a boot fanatic. I could literally wear boots every day, no other shoes, and be completely fine. They just make me feel like I'm so set to go anywhere and they go with so many things! So, with that said, I knew that I would really like and appreciate getting a pair of Italian boots.
However, they needed to be within my price range. I decided that, rather than buying 20 small things, I would rather buy 10 nice things while I'm here in Italy. Things that will last me for a long time and things that are truly special. And alas! I found boots today! They're such nice boots - brown, distressed suede with wooden soles that are going to be so great for walking around on all of the uneven, unfilled in cobblestone that is literally everywhere in Rome. It's so difficult to walk on because it's so uneven, it hurts your feet and scuffs up your cheap shoes something awful! But these are so sturdy and just walking home I could even tell that it was so much nicer walking with the thick, wooden bottom. Italian items are so well made. I've noticed that with clothes, shoes and handbags alike. Everything is leather and everything is real, classy, so nice and truly well made. You indeed may have to pay more, but the quality of the items is guaranteed to be nicer.
My new boots are so well made, real suede and they're made in Italy, bought in an authentic Italian shoe store (not some chain store; they are an actual Italian leather and such shoe store) and I only paid 110 Euro. Grant it, that is a lot more than I think I have ever spent on boots, but I am soooo happy and so excited to wear them. I got something that is truly special and that I can cherish for years to come.
I love shopping and I love Italian boots!!!!
Love and Style,
L.M.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Blogging on the highway.
I officially think that this is really cool. At the moment, I am riding in the inner lane of a highway going to Rome on our group bus. Since our apartments in Rome don't come with internet, we all got the internet sticks and I just found out that you can connect almost anywhere, including the freeway!
I love the internet.
I just checked my emails, tweeted and checked Facebook, all while stuck in traffic going back to Rome. Which leads me to my observation of the moment - traffic going into Rome (we're coming back from Pompeii) is very heavy. I don't know for sure, but I wonder if it has anything to do with the riots.
We have officially been on the bus for three hours and 15 minutes on a trip that Google maps tells me should take two hours and 30 minutes. I'm kinda ready to get off the bus, but, then again, now that I know I can get internet... I 'm actually enjoying it more than usual, even if it has been a looooong time and we aren't even off the freeway yet.
Anyway, that's all for now!
Ciao tutti!
Love and Style,
L.M.
I love the internet.
I just checked my emails, tweeted and checked Facebook, all while stuck in traffic going back to Rome. Which leads me to my observation of the moment - traffic going into Rome (we're coming back from Pompeii) is very heavy. I don't know for sure, but I wonder if it has anything to do with the riots.
We have officially been on the bus for three hours and 15 minutes on a trip that Google maps tells me should take two hours and 30 minutes. I'm kinda ready to get off the bus, but, then again, now that I know I can get internet... I 'm actually enjoying it more than usual, even if it has been a looooong time and we aren't even off the freeway yet.
Anyway, that's all for now!
Ciao tutti!
Love and Style,
L.M.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Witnessing history.
Ciao tutti,
It's with a different tone that I write you tonight, as much has been going on today in beautiful Roma. We are on a trip to Pompeii, Naples and Capri this weekend and, thus, are not in Rome at the moment, but we learned this evening that riots have been taking place in Rome near the Colosseum since earlier today.
The riots are due to economic unrest going on and these riots are not only being seen in Rome, but in many, many countries, including the U.S.
See this article for a brief overview of the happenings.
Then see this for more details and history.
Tomorrow we head back to Rome after our weekend away, and I'm so interested to see what's going on. Tomorrow is also a very large soccer game which is sure to bring even more uproar, plus if these riots continue - it is sure to be an interesting time. Adding more turbulence to the situation is the fact that the happenings with Berlusconi just occurred yesterday.
While I'm excited to witness history in the making, I really hope and pray that things can settle without too much destruction to property and human life.
Love, Style and Thoughts for Peace,
L.M.
It's with a different tone that I write you tonight, as much has been going on today in beautiful Roma. We are on a trip to Pompeii, Naples and Capri this weekend and, thus, are not in Rome at the moment, but we learned this evening that riots have been taking place in Rome near the Colosseum since earlier today.
The riots are due to economic unrest going on and these riots are not only being seen in Rome, but in many, many countries, including the U.S.
See this article for a brief overview of the happenings.
Then see this for more details and history.
Tomorrow we head back to Rome after our weekend away, and I'm so interested to see what's going on. Tomorrow is also a very large soccer game which is sure to bring even more uproar, plus if these riots continue - it is sure to be an interesting time. Adding more turbulence to the situation is the fact that the happenings with Berlusconi just occurred yesterday.
While I'm excited to witness history in the making, I really hope and pray that things can settle without too much destruction to property and human life.
Love, Style and Thoughts for Peace,
L.M.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Art history, undergrounds and Orvieto.
I am absolutely loving my art history class here in Rome. It's called Intro to Renaissance and Baroque Art, and quite frankly, I was very nervous going into it. It sounded interesting, but I don't know the slightest thing about art history. Yet, it has proven (so far...knock on wood...) to be so amazing.
So far, each time we have gone on a field trip/site visit, which is almost every class being that only four of our classes this whole semester are in the classroom, we have seen what we're actually there to see and then gone beyond and seen the other interesting things about the location that maybe aren't what we're actually studying but yet are fascinating pieces of culture, art, etc.
For example, on our first field trip to a church named San Clemente, we saw the frescoes we were studying but then, as a cool, cultural side note, she also took us down to the underground excavations that had been done there. Thus, we got to see the 12th century church that is currently standing on ground level, the 5th century church upon which the current one was built, and then the 1st century house believed to be Saint Clement's upon which both the 5th century, old church and the 12th century, current church was built. Thus, we saw three levels/layers of history, two of which were deep underground, all in addition to seeing the frescoes we were actually there to see.
Our teacher is awesome.
Our last field trip was just as amazing. We took a day trip to a Medieval town called Orvieto, about an hour and a half to two hours from Rome by bus. As was characteristic of Medieval towns, it is up high on a mountain and we even had to take a cable-car tram to get up there. Once there, we were greeted by the cutest town, filled with cobblestone streets, quaint cafes and boutiques, magnificent views and an atmosphere that was truly a community.
And the fact that it was the first day of real fall weather didn't hurt the day's ambiance either! It was such a magnificent day, and it's all because of my art history class that I was able to go. I've already experienced so many fascinating things with this class; I can't wait to see what else we see and do as the semester continues! :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
So far, each time we have gone on a field trip/site visit, which is almost every class being that only four of our classes this whole semester are in the classroom, we have seen what we're actually there to see and then gone beyond and seen the other interesting things about the location that maybe aren't what we're actually studying but yet are fascinating pieces of culture, art, etc.
For example, on our first field trip to a church named San Clemente, we saw the frescoes we were studying but then, as a cool, cultural side note, she also took us down to the underground excavations that had been done there. Thus, we got to see the 12th century church that is currently standing on ground level, the 5th century church upon which the current one was built, and then the 1st century house believed to be Saint Clement's upon which both the 5th century, old church and the 12th century, current church was built. Thus, we saw three levels/layers of history, two of which were deep underground, all in addition to seeing the frescoes we were actually there to see.
Our teacher is awesome.
Our last field trip was just as amazing. We took a day trip to a Medieval town called Orvieto, about an hour and a half to two hours from Rome by bus. As was characteristic of Medieval towns, it is up high on a mountain and we even had to take a cable-car tram to get up there. Once there, we were greeted by the cutest town, filled with cobblestone streets, quaint cafes and boutiques, magnificent views and an atmosphere that was truly a community.
And the fact that it was the first day of real fall weather didn't hurt the day's ambiance either! It was such a magnificent day, and it's all because of my art history class that I was able to go. I've already experienced so many fascinating things with this class; I can't wait to see what else we see and do as the semester continues! :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Oatmeal and apparently looking Italian.
Ciao amici!
I'm writing today with two completely unrelated topics on my mind. The first is one that is now stuck in my mind and it's frustrating because I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it.
I have a craving for oatmeal.
This started back last week when my roommate and I were in the supermarket down the street and a fellow American from another study abroad program came up to me and asked if I knew the Italian word for oatmeal. I didn't but wished him luck and that was that. However, the thought of oatmeal stuck with me.
This has only been intensified by the fact that, for the past few days now, my boyfriend has been eating oatmeal during our Skype conversations. The way the time difference works out, we usually talk during my night/his morning. He has just woken up and is eating breakfast, and his breakfast for a while now has been oatmeal.
It sounds so good!!! But I don't know if they have it here! I was looking for a little bit in the store yesterday and didn't see anything and I definitely haven't seen it out and about anywhere else but I'm going to look up the word and actually go talk with someone next time. We'll see what happens there, but I sure do hope they have it somewhere in Rome! :)
Then the second experience on my mind is the fact that my roommate and I have now been confused for Italians and been asked directions three times. One time we were going for a run and two ladies on a Vespa asked us where something was, another time a guy walking down the street asked us how to get somewhere and another time this couple asked us where something was. The couple was the most interesting, because, as was also the case with the ladies on the Vespa, we're new here and don't know where too many things are. Thus, we didn't know where the place they were looking for was. The ladies on the Vespa were totally fine and said o.k., no problem, but the couple had a different reaction. The lady of the couple got so frustrated that we didn't know where the place was and even made this frustrated gesture. Not quite knowing what the crazy problem was, we simply said "mi dispiace" and continued walking.
So that was funny, but the cool thing was that we have definitely been mistaken for Italians that know where they're going and know where things are three times now! There's a certain type of awesome feeling that comes with experiences like that. :) It feels rewarding and makes you feel like you maybe do actually fit in a little bit.
Love and Style,
L.M.
I'm writing today with two completely unrelated topics on my mind. The first is one that is now stuck in my mind and it's frustrating because I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it.
I have a craving for oatmeal.
This started back last week when my roommate and I were in the supermarket down the street and a fellow American from another study abroad program came up to me and asked if I knew the Italian word for oatmeal. I didn't but wished him luck and that was that. However, the thought of oatmeal stuck with me.
This has only been intensified by the fact that, for the past few days now, my boyfriend has been eating oatmeal during our Skype conversations. The way the time difference works out, we usually talk during my night/his morning. He has just woken up and is eating breakfast, and his breakfast for a while now has been oatmeal.
It sounds so good!!! But I don't know if they have it here! I was looking for a little bit in the store yesterday and didn't see anything and I definitely haven't seen it out and about anywhere else but I'm going to look up the word and actually go talk with someone next time. We'll see what happens there, but I sure do hope they have it somewhere in Rome! :)
Then the second experience on my mind is the fact that my roommate and I have now been confused for Italians and been asked directions three times. One time we were going for a run and two ladies on a Vespa asked us where something was, another time a guy walking down the street asked us how to get somewhere and another time this couple asked us where something was. The couple was the most interesting, because, as was also the case with the ladies on the Vespa, we're new here and don't know where too many things are. Thus, we didn't know where the place they were looking for was. The ladies on the Vespa were totally fine and said o.k., no problem, but the couple had a different reaction. The lady of the couple got so frustrated that we didn't know where the place was and even made this frustrated gesture. Not quite knowing what the crazy problem was, we simply said "mi dispiace" and continued walking.
So that was funny, but the cool thing was that we have definitely been mistaken for Italians that know where they're going and know where things are three times now! There's a certain type of awesome feeling that comes with experiences like that. :) It feels rewarding and makes you feel like you maybe do actually fit in a little bit.
Love and Style,
L.M.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Oh me, oh my, oh time.
I just had a funny experience. Time zone-wise, Italy is seven hours ahead of Southern Illinois and nine hours ahead of my school in Los Angeles. However, sometimes these numbers get jumbled in my head and very often I don't feel as if I'm very far away from the States at all. I feel like that's a really good thing, actually, because it doesn't make home feel like such a long distance. It does, however, sometimes mess with your brain.
I got an e-mail on my school e-mail account saying that I needed to renew my parking permit, otherwise I would receive a ticket. Thus, wanting to avoid a ticket at all costs, I thought to myself, "oh, well they're closed now for sure, but they probably have some sort of answering machine so I'll leave a message!" I dial the number, fully not prepared to talk with a person, and after two rings I hear "welcome center, this is ___." I probably sounded so silly because I had to take a five second pause to figure out what was going on! Did they extend their hours to have someone there during the night? Ohhhhh... then I realized. While it may be 1:50 a.m. here in Italy, it's not even 5:00 p.m. in California.
Time differences are so bizzare to me. It's so crazy to think that at pretty much any given moment, some people are waking up while others are going to bed; to think about how we, as humans, can overcome jet lag and adapt to a whole different time schedule. And really, the whole concept of time zones fascinates me in general - how they exist and where the dividers are. They sure can be confusing though! It makes things a bit challenging when you want to talk to family and friends, but it's so, so interesting.
It's late though, so now I'm off to bed. :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
I got an e-mail on my school e-mail account saying that I needed to renew my parking permit, otherwise I would receive a ticket. Thus, wanting to avoid a ticket at all costs, I thought to myself, "oh, well they're closed now for sure, but they probably have some sort of answering machine so I'll leave a message!" I dial the number, fully not prepared to talk with a person, and after two rings I hear "welcome center, this is ___." I probably sounded so silly because I had to take a five second pause to figure out what was going on! Did they extend their hours to have someone there during the night? Ohhhhh... then I realized. While it may be 1:50 a.m. here in Italy, it's not even 5:00 p.m. in California.
Time differences are so bizzare to me. It's so crazy to think that at pretty much any given moment, some people are waking up while others are going to bed; to think about how we, as humans, can overcome jet lag and adapt to a whole different time schedule. And really, the whole concept of time zones fascinates me in general - how they exist and where the dividers are. They sure can be confusing though! It makes things a bit challenging when you want to talk to family and friends, but it's so, so interesting.
It's late though, so now I'm off to bed. :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Roman McDonalds.
Ciao tutti!!
Words cannot express how amazing Rome has been thus far. We arrived on Saturday and it is now Tuesday, but it already feels as if we have settled in a lot. Classes started yesterday and have been absolutely wonderful so far! My Rome Through the Ages and Intro to Renaissance and Baroque Art classes seem like they are going to be so fascinating and I find myself feeling more intersted than usual in class. I always enjoy classes and learning, so much so that sometimes I think I'm a bit odd... However, there's something about learning about subjects while being in the city in which it all happened that is fascinating and I truly cannot wait to learn more.
I knew I would love Rome because I remembered how I fell in love with it last time I was here, however, the moment that feeling hit me again was so fantastic. We were in the cab going from our drop-off spot to our individual apartments and just driving down the street it all came back to me. Seeing the city, how it bustles with modernity yet is surrounded by antiquity and history, it's so amazing. There's just something about this city that I can't put my finger on now to describe it...maybe I'll eventually be able to pinpoint it, but it's just fantastic.
However, no matter how amazing a place is, sometimes you just long for what you're used to - a taste of home. And my roommate and I found that on our first night in Rome. We got to our apartment, unpacked a little bit and then headed out to explore. When it came time for dinner, we both agreed that we were actually kind of tired of eating paninis, pizza and pasta for all of our meals. We wanted something different, and we wanted something like home. What did we find? A sign saying that McDonalds was five minutes away.
Thus, we went on an adventure. We walked for close to an hour trying to find the McDonalds that was somewhere five minutes away. Grant it, if we would have had access to our smart phones, with their Google maps and other apps, we probably could have found it in a matter of seconds. However, that's another interesting aspect of being abroad. It's a total change from what your used to, even down to the detail of cell phones. Being without my iPhone for uses such as a camera and iPod has been interesting, and, in cases such as this one, where it would have been so helpful to be able to Google where the McDonalds was, it certainly makes you appreciate it while you have it and realize how dependent we truly are on technology.
None the less, the hour-long adventure to McDonalds was soooooo worth it. We eventually found it and it was one of the nicest McDonalds I have ever been to. (Second on the list would have to be the Rock n' Roll McDonalds in Chicago!) The menù had some different additions to it...such as a sandwich called "toast" and fried olives... not sure how I feel about that last one. However, I stuck to my usual when I head to Micky-Dee's: chicken McNuggets, fries and a coke. A six-piece meal cost about six Euro, and then each container of katsup cost 20 Euro cents. Yes...they charge for katsup. It's really rare here, so I suppose maybe that's why. :)
It was so nice to have a taste of something familiar. Even though I don't go to McDonalds all that much back home, it was just the same as in the States. I can easily say that I have never appreciated or enjoyed McDonalds as much as I did that night. It was wonderful. :) And it's good to know that it's there waiting for me if I ever need a reminder of home again.
Love and Style,
L.M.
Words cannot express how amazing Rome has been thus far. We arrived on Saturday and it is now Tuesday, but it already feels as if we have settled in a lot. Classes started yesterday and have been absolutely wonderful so far! My Rome Through the Ages and Intro to Renaissance and Baroque Art classes seem like they are going to be so fascinating and I find myself feeling more intersted than usual in class. I always enjoy classes and learning, so much so that sometimes I think I'm a bit odd... However, there's something about learning about subjects while being in the city in which it all happened that is fascinating and I truly cannot wait to learn more.
I knew I would love Rome because I remembered how I fell in love with it last time I was here, however, the moment that feeling hit me again was so fantastic. We were in the cab going from our drop-off spot to our individual apartments and just driving down the street it all came back to me. Seeing the city, how it bustles with modernity yet is surrounded by antiquity and history, it's so amazing. There's just something about this city that I can't put my finger on now to describe it...maybe I'll eventually be able to pinpoint it, but it's just fantastic.
However, no matter how amazing a place is, sometimes you just long for what you're used to - a taste of home. And my roommate and I found that on our first night in Rome. We got to our apartment, unpacked a little bit and then headed out to explore. When it came time for dinner, we both agreed that we were actually kind of tired of eating paninis, pizza and pasta for all of our meals. We wanted something different, and we wanted something like home. What did we find? A sign saying that McDonalds was five minutes away.
Thus, we went on an adventure. We walked for close to an hour trying to find the McDonalds that was somewhere five minutes away. Grant it, if we would have had access to our smart phones, with their Google maps and other apps, we probably could have found it in a matter of seconds. However, that's another interesting aspect of being abroad. It's a total change from what your used to, even down to the detail of cell phones. Being without my iPhone for uses such as a camera and iPod has been interesting, and, in cases such as this one, where it would have been so helpful to be able to Google where the McDonalds was, it certainly makes you appreciate it while you have it and realize how dependent we truly are on technology.
None the less, the hour-long adventure to McDonalds was soooooo worth it. We eventually found it and it was one of the nicest McDonalds I have ever been to. (Second on the list would have to be the Rock n' Roll McDonalds in Chicago!) The menù had some different additions to it...such as a sandwich called "toast" and fried olives... not sure how I feel about that last one. However, I stuck to my usual when I head to Micky-Dee's: chicken McNuggets, fries and a coke. A six-piece meal cost about six Euro, and then each container of katsup cost 20 Euro cents. Yes...they charge for katsup. It's really rare here, so I suppose maybe that's why. :)
It was so nice to have a taste of something familiar. Even though I don't go to McDonalds all that much back home, it was just the same as in the States. I can easily say that I have never appreciated or enjoyed McDonalds as much as I did that night. It was wonderful. :) And it's good to know that it's there waiting for me if I ever need a reminder of home again.
Love and Style,
L.M.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Contrary to pop culture belief...
One more thing about Venice while I'm thinking of it...you always hear that Venice smells bad and I just want to say, we were there for three days and we walked all over the island in the course of those three days and it definitely doesn't smell like it's rumored to smell.
Every city has it's few feet of bad smelling area due to trash or things like that, but overall, Venice totally doesn't smell bad! I think it's actually quite refreshing. :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
Every city has it's few feet of bad smelling area due to trash or things like that, but overall, Venice totally doesn't smell bad! I think it's actually quite refreshing. :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
One of the best compliments ever.
This past weekend while in Venice, I had an extremely cool experience and received one of the best compliments ever. I was standing in the doorway of a shop while my friend was inside looking around. An Italian girl who looked to be just a few years older than me came up to me and asked if she could take my picture.
At first, I had what I assume would be a typical reaction, and asked why she wanted to take my picture. After all, it's a bit of a strange request from a stranger. She said she really liked my hair (my big, poufy hair) and that she would like to take a picture. At that point I figured it was pretty harmless so I said it was o.k. and she took the picture.
After she took it, though, she then told me she studied fashion and was out looking for cool things and inspirations. I thought about that for a second and realized how much of an awesome thing that was! I think it's so cool an Italian fashion student liked my hair and wanted to use it as an inspirational piece. Such an amazing compliment and I felt truly honored. :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
At first, I had what I assume would be a typical reaction, and asked why she wanted to take my picture. After all, it's a bit of a strange request from a stranger. She said she really liked my hair (my big, poufy hair) and that she would like to take a picture. At that point I figured it was pretty harmless so I said it was o.k. and she took the picture.
After she took it, though, she then told me she studied fashion and was out looking for cool things and inspirations. I thought about that for a second and realized how much of an awesome thing that was! I think it's so cool an Italian fashion student liked my hair and wanted to use it as an inspirational piece. Such an amazing compliment and I felt truly honored. :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Italian yogurt.
I just wanted to say that Italian yogurt is amazing. And European yogurt in general for that matter. I don't know why it tastes so much better, to me at least, than yogurt from the States, but it's so much thicker and it's just so perfectly sweet. It makes yogurt eating even more desirable than it already is.
Off to Venice tomorrow! I can't wait to see what fun this weekend will bring. :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
Off to Venice tomorrow! I can't wait to see what fun this weekend will bring. :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
Monday, September 12, 2011
London is amazing.
Well, the title basically gets to the point. My study abroad journey has officially started; today was the first day of our orientation classes in Florence. However, as of last week, we were in London!
We were only in London for two days, and both days we were catching up on jet lag and getting to know the 58 other students we were going to be living and studying with for the next few months. Thus, the two days felt oddly disoriented. Yet those were the most amazing two days!
Knowing we were coming to London, I was excited to be able to see it, yet I didn't really have any expectations about what it would be like. Yet, when I got there, I was absolutely amazed about how fantastic it is.
The first day we just explored on our own, in small groups we happened to meet on our journey from the airport to the hotel/when checking in to the hotel, but then the second day we went on a bus tour throughout the city and saw everything from residential areas to Big Ben to Buckingham Palace to an actual guard change at Buckingham Palace! That was so cool, to see the classically-ensembled soldiers dressed in red uniforms and tall, black bearskin hats marching from the Palace to their barracks, some playing their instruments and others marching with rifles, and the new soldiers coming the opposite way, from their barracks to the Palace to switch.
London just has this aura about it that I still can't fully put into words. It has so much elegance and it has history, such as Westminster Abbey, juxtaposed right alongside modern pieces, such as the London Eye Ferris wheel. And to think about how old the city is, about 2,000 years, is incredible as well. History books are filled with knowledge about London's past - things such as the industrial revolution and history of the royalty. All of that took place there and yet the city is in fantastic condition. They even have the absolute cleanest mass public transportation system I have ever been on: their subway, or, the Tube as they call it. :)
Not to mention the amazing pubs and shopping! Everyone in London has this look about them - effortlessly chic and the style is impeccable. I especially like the style because I'm a boots and jacket person (I love trench coats!) and the weather there allows for that attire even now during the late summer. London clouds hovered thickly over our heads both days we were there, making it all the more intriguing - like it is a world of its own. Most definitely going back there sometime soon!
Love and Style,
L.M.
We were only in London for two days, and both days we were catching up on jet lag and getting to know the 58 other students we were going to be living and studying with for the next few months. Thus, the two days felt oddly disoriented. Yet those were the most amazing two days!
Knowing we were coming to London, I was excited to be able to see it, yet I didn't really have any expectations about what it would be like. Yet, when I got there, I was absolutely amazed about how fantastic it is.
The first day we just explored on our own, in small groups we happened to meet on our journey from the airport to the hotel/when checking in to the hotel, but then the second day we went on a bus tour throughout the city and saw everything from residential areas to Big Ben to Buckingham Palace to an actual guard change at Buckingham Palace! That was so cool, to see the classically-ensembled soldiers dressed in red uniforms and tall, black bearskin hats marching from the Palace to their barracks, some playing their instruments and others marching with rifles, and the new soldiers coming the opposite way, from their barracks to the Palace to switch.
London just has this aura about it that I still can't fully put into words. It has so much elegance and it has history, such as Westminster Abbey, juxtaposed right alongside modern pieces, such as the London Eye Ferris wheel. And to think about how old the city is, about 2,000 years, is incredible as well. History books are filled with knowledge about London's past - things such as the industrial revolution and history of the royalty. All of that took place there and yet the city is in fantastic condition. They even have the absolute cleanest mass public transportation system I have ever been on: their subway, or, the Tube as they call it. :)
Not to mention the amazing pubs and shopping! Everyone in London has this look about them - effortlessly chic and the style is impeccable. I especially like the style because I'm a boots and jacket person (I love trench coats!) and the weather there allows for that attire even now during the late summer. London clouds hovered thickly over our heads both days we were there, making it all the more intriguing - like it is a world of its own. Most definitely going back there sometime soon!
Love and Style,
L.M.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Success.
Just wanted to post an update regarding my last post/rant regarding suitcases and weight limits - my suitcase at the airport yesterday was exactly 49 pounds of the 50 pound weight limit. Success indeed!
I am now in London! [Excited scream!] I didn't fully know what to expect when I got here, but it is simply unbelievable and so incredible! Everything has a special touch to it making it cuter than the normal, everyday find. We mosied on out to find somewhere to eat lunch today and it turned out to be the cutest place I have been to in a while! It looked like the clothing store Anthropologie, only in restaurant form!
And the accents?! Superb! I love it. I could completely live here. Then again, that's not the first time I've said something like that. But it's true!
Now to cure the jet lag as much as I can tonight and then the big sightseeing day starts tomorrow! More to come!
Love and Style,
L.M.
I am now in London! [Excited scream!] I didn't fully know what to expect when I got here, but it is simply unbelievable and so incredible! Everything has a special touch to it making it cuter than the normal, everyday find. We mosied on out to find somewhere to eat lunch today and it turned out to be the cutest place I have been to in a while! It looked like the clothing store Anthropologie, only in restaurant form!
And the accents?! Superb! I love it. I could completely live here. Then again, that's not the first time I've said something like that. But it's true!
Now to cure the jet lag as much as I can tonight and then the big sightseeing day starts tomorrow! More to come!
Love and Style,
L.M.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Suitcases and airport trips.
Hi friends,
Apologies for my vacancy in the past couple of weeks. I feel like life is spinning on turbo speed, which is not a bad thing at all, but it certainly makes for some fast-passing days.
I can hardly believe that I leave for Italy tomorrow. I've spent the past week and a half after my fantastic Boyfriend left getting all of the details together and making all of my stuff fit into one, not two, but one suitcase that must be 50 pounds or less.
Needless to say, this has proved to be quite the difficult feat.
All of my fellow style mavens will understand when I say that packing is always one of the most fun, yet most difficult and frustrating parts of traveling. :/ It's always so fun to think of where you're going, what outfits would best fit there, etcetera, etcetera. However, when you're so limited, it's so difficult!!
For instance, right now as I write this I'm sitting in the terminal on my way back from Las Vegas for a three-day weekend trip. Packing for this trip was easier than a sinch! I simply picked out five outfits, even though I only need three, in case I didn't feel like wearing one on a certain day, got my toiletries together and voila! Even with the extra outfits, I had to put a pillow in my suitcase so that it wouldn't cave in from being so empty! Now that's awesome.
Yet, fast forward to my trip on tomorrow? No. At an average of $60 for a second bag to fly with you over seas, there is no way I'm spending my precious travel money on a suitcase. I'm determined to make it work, no matter how hard that might be.
So far it's working out well - I weighed my bag the first time and it was 40 pounds, but that was without shoes, toiletries and jewelry. Thus, I had to take out my precious long, brown winter trench for the sake of removing at least three pounds and I added in the rest of my belongings. My scale at home said 50 pounds...I'm hoping the airport scales agree. :/
At any rate though, the point is, I have successfully fit all of my stuff for the next four months of my life in one 50-pound suitcase and a large backpack carryon. I have never done that kind of an efficient packing job in my life! I'm pretty proud. It's a whole other story once I buy anything at all abroad, however, but I'll worry about that later. :D
Love and Style,
L.M.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Big hair and the subway.
So I just wanted to say that I would have thought NY had seen it all. However, apparently they have not seen hair as big as mine, until now. If I got a dime, or even a nickel, for every time someone commented on my big hair I would have quite the hefty allowance by now. It's funny!
The subway is the best, because, see, when you're just sitting there riding to your stop, with the seats awkwardly facing each other you really don't have many options of where to stare. And if other people are anything like me, you sometimes find yourself actually concentrating on where you can stare without being awkward. Then again, there are other times when I get so involved in my own thoughts that I end up zoning out and staring basically at someone which is really awkward when you un-zone and realize what you've been doing....anyway...that's not my point.
On the subway, while you're looking for a place to look, you often look around at the people on the subway with you and while I'm trying to find a place to not awkwardly stare I tend to notice people looking at me. And I know that it's for no other reason than my big hair.
Today, this one girl who was probably about 14 kept looking over at me!! She was sitting in a not convenient place to do so too, since she was sitting directly to the right of where I was standing next to her seat so it was totally obvious what she was doing every time she would turn in her chair and look up! She must have turned to look at least 5 times in the course of three stops.
I take it as a compliment though. I like my big hair and have no intention of changing it, no matter how many awkward stares it may bring me on my subway commute. :)
Guess which one's me? :p
Love and Style,
L.M.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Kate, the Dutchess of Cambridge's, dress.
Though overall Queen Elizabeth might not be too happy about it, Kate Middleton's gorgeous wedding gown is now on display at Buckingham Palace! :) The dress, designed by Sarah Burton, creative designer for Alexander McQueen, is now an exhibit entitled "The Royal Wedding Dress: A Story of Great British Design," and can be seen, as well as many other rooms, another exhibit and a garden for a total tour cost of $28.50.
Check out the Queen's reactions to Kate's dress' exhibit here!
Check out the Queen's reactions to Kate's dress' exhibit here!
Alexander McQueen and the Met.
I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to see a true legend's work on display at the Met recently. My floormates and I took a trip down to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the Upper East Side and had the chance to experience the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibit. Now, I'm not a very big "museum person," in that I usually get bored and want to move on after about an hour, however, we spent an hour and a half looking at the exhibit alone, not including the additional hour we waited in line just to get in.
This was one of the most breathtaking experiences I have ever had. There's something about this legend's work that inspires such awe and deep thought about what's behind it. His pieces show such emotion and each one truly tells a story. Never have I had such a profound respect for a designer. Not only did he create beautiful masterpiece works of art in the form of clothing, he translated the emotions and even political statements through his craft.
I have always been a Coco Chanel fan at my core, but I have to say, she now shares that place with Alexander McQueen. I would wear any dress or headpiece at that exhibit and there was just something about his works that I felt so instantly connected to. I truly admire him.
And aesthetically, the exhibit itself was so beautifully laid out. On the ledge of each section were plaques that had quotes from McQueen about his thought process behind his creations or just about life in general. Then there was a description of each item placed in front of it on the ledge while the whole time haunting and beautifully eerie music played in surround sound.
What was more, is that it wasn't even just walking through and looking at all the dresses (some of which were worn by the likes of Lady Gaga, etc.). Rather, it was interactive. There were video screens everywhere playing scenes from the spectacular McQueen fashion shows of the past, there was a section where you watched three-dimensional prisms and light beams take shape into an actual human adorned in a white McQueen gown and there was a true political statement made when you went up to one wall in the exhibit and saw the dresses on display, only to see the lights inside the huge glass box dim to show a movie on the back wall. In the movie, the steel walls surrounding a model slowly fell to the floor, cuing the glass box to then change lighting once again and become a mirror that reflects your own self-image. The description explained how McQueen wanted to express his desire for one to look at one's own reflection and image in the mirror, and what better way for the exhibit to do that than to lure us in with a video and then switch what we're watching to be ourselves. So artistic, so brilliant and so frankly clever.
I could have spent another two hours in that exhibit and would wait in line all over again to go back. If you're in NYC I would more than highly recommend taking a trip to the Met to see it before it leaves on August 7th.
If you can't make it to see it in person, check out the official blog and while you're at it, check out this awesome article from Vogue on the Three Must-See Fashion Exhibitions of the summer!
Love and Style,
L.M.
This was one of the most breathtaking experiences I have ever had. There's something about this legend's work that inspires such awe and deep thought about what's behind it. His pieces show such emotion and each one truly tells a story. Never have I had such a profound respect for a designer. Not only did he create beautiful masterpiece works of art in the form of clothing, he translated the emotions and even political statements through his craft.
I have always been a Coco Chanel fan at my core, but I have to say, she now shares that place with Alexander McQueen. I would wear any dress or headpiece at that exhibit and there was just something about his works that I felt so instantly connected to. I truly admire him.
And aesthetically, the exhibit itself was so beautifully laid out. On the ledge of each section were plaques that had quotes from McQueen about his thought process behind his creations or just about life in general. Then there was a description of each item placed in front of it on the ledge while the whole time haunting and beautifully eerie music played in surround sound.
What was more, is that it wasn't even just walking through and looking at all the dresses (some of which were worn by the likes of Lady Gaga, etc.). Rather, it was interactive. There were video screens everywhere playing scenes from the spectacular McQueen fashion shows of the past, there was a section where you watched three-dimensional prisms and light beams take shape into an actual human adorned in a white McQueen gown and there was a true political statement made when you went up to one wall in the exhibit and saw the dresses on display, only to see the lights inside the huge glass box dim to show a movie on the back wall. In the movie, the steel walls surrounding a model slowly fell to the floor, cuing the glass box to then change lighting once again and become a mirror that reflects your own self-image. The description explained how McQueen wanted to express his desire for one to look at one's own reflection and image in the mirror, and what better way for the exhibit to do that than to lure us in with a video and then switch what we're watching to be ourselves. So artistic, so brilliant and so frankly clever.
I could have spent another two hours in that exhibit and would wait in line all over again to go back. If you're in NYC I would more than highly recommend taking a trip to the Met to see it before it leaves on August 7th.
If you can't make it to see it in person, check out the official blog and while you're at it, check out this awesome article from Vogue on the Three Must-See Fashion Exhibitions of the summer!
Love and Style,
L.M.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Changing Styles, From LA to NY.
I love the phases we all go through throughout our lives in regards to fashion. All of my friends laugh every time I tell them about my punker phase during 6th and 7th grade. And as much as I'd like to think I've gotten over that sort of flip-flopping between styles and actually picked what's most me, I'm realizing more and more that I'm kinda still that way. Maybe I always will be. :)
I adapt my style to whatever mood I'm in. If I'm going through a period of listening to Muse all of the time I might dress differently than if I'm in, say, a Bon Iver music phase. Right now I'm really into the classy, elegant type of look - long flowy skirts in nude colors, black with stunning and simple gold jewelry - all with a touch of young, trendiness still there though.
I love my cute new Oxford shoes and my straw hat with a black ribbon. It looks like it came straight from France (actually from the Upper East Side). I'm just really into trying to channel the look and feeling of elegant chicness, without having the designer brand budget to go get a lot of new things.
I feel like chic elegance is very fundamental in New York style. LA's style is so different than NY's. LA is much more about expressing your individuality boldly and about the whole "I just woke up from a crazy night yesterday and have bed hair and a worn-in T-shirt on" kind of bohemian, already broken-in type of look. (Odd description, I know, but I couldn't think of a better way to depict that thought. :D) Not all of LA's style is like that of course, but that's what I feel the general trend of Cali style is.
New York is much more chic and put together. It's bohemian too, but with a cleaner, girlier edge - less rockish and wild. And a lot of it I feel is based around simplicity. A cute girly dress with statement shoes and a bracelet looks well put together and ready to take on the big city. Now, of course, there are tonsssss of different styles, not all of them like that at all, but just in general I've noticed that NY is much more about the chicness and bold simplicity, even in casual looks like you'd find in Urban Outfitters.
So now I'm on to that phase. And in a way I kinda change a little every day. My closet is a hodgepodge of pieces that reflect a pretty wide range of styles. I'm definitely not one of those people that always buys clothing items that fit into the same general style. I'm all over the place.
I love the NY influence I'm getting and who knows what's next? We'll have to see what influences Europe brings to me. Oh boy! :p My ultimate goal is to end up having a world-rounded style, with little flares and accents coming out that reflect all the places I've lived and experienced.
For more on the differences between LA and NY style, check out this photo article from TeenVogue!
Love and Style,
L.M.
I adapt my style to whatever mood I'm in. If I'm going through a period of listening to Muse all of the time I might dress differently than if I'm in, say, a Bon Iver music phase. Right now I'm really into the classy, elegant type of look - long flowy skirts in nude colors, black with stunning and simple gold jewelry - all with a touch of young, trendiness still there though.
I love my cute new Oxford shoes and my straw hat with a black ribbon. It looks like it came straight from France (actually from the Upper East Side). I'm just really into trying to channel the look and feeling of elegant chicness, without having the designer brand budget to go get a lot of new things.
I feel like chic elegance is very fundamental in New York style. LA's style is so different than NY's. LA is much more about expressing your individuality boldly and about the whole "I just woke up from a crazy night yesterday and have bed hair and a worn-in T-shirt on" kind of bohemian, already broken-in type of look. (Odd description, I know, but I couldn't think of a better way to depict that thought. :D) Not all of LA's style is like that of course, but that's what I feel the general trend of Cali style is.
New York is much more chic and put together. It's bohemian too, but with a cleaner, girlier edge - less rockish and wild. And a lot of it I feel is based around simplicity. A cute girly dress with statement shoes and a bracelet looks well put together and ready to take on the big city. Now, of course, there are tonsssss of different styles, not all of them like that at all, but just in general I've noticed that NY is much more about the chicness and bold simplicity, even in casual looks like you'd find in Urban Outfitters.
So now I'm on to that phase. And in a way I kinda change a little every day. My closet is a hodgepodge of pieces that reflect a pretty wide range of styles. I'm definitely not one of those people that always buys clothing items that fit into the same general style. I'm all over the place.
I love the NY influence I'm getting and who knows what's next? We'll have to see what influences Europe brings to me. Oh boy! :p My ultimate goal is to end up having a world-rounded style, with little flares and accents coming out that reflect all the places I've lived and experienced.
For more on the differences between LA and NY style, check out this photo article from TeenVogue!
L.M.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Picture from the fashion shoot.
I found a picture from the Nordstrom photo shoot in SoHo the weekend of the 4th! So cool. :) My friend Nicole and I may have been in the background during some shots as we were crossing the street. haha :)
Rant of the day: the price of shoes.
So I have this pair of shoes that I absolutely adore. I wear them all the time because they just seem to make any outfit look cuter! They're Oxfords with this small, multi-colored flower print everywhere and they lace up with ivory laces. Adorable!!
I have worn these shoes so much that I can no longer wear them anymore. I was in Rite Aid the other day and was looking at which hairspray to get, as this particular store didn't cary my usual kind. I was mindlessly shifting my foot on the floor while deciding which brand to get and I felt an unusual feeling.
This Rite Aid store has carpet as their flooring, and while I was dragging my foot back and forth on the floor while trying to make my hairspray decision, I realized that I was feeling the carpet against my skin. Confused, I lifted up my foot to see the sole of my beloved shoe and made a sad discovery. I have worn these shoes so much that I now had a huge hole underneath my right foot big toe. Thus, everywhere I went, my big toe was actually stepping on the ground. This is NYC -- that's gross.
So, with much sadness, I realized that I needed to replace my Oxfords. :( It's understandable, since I only paid $20 for them at Forever 21 at the beginning of Spring, but my heart still fell when I placed them in the trash can.
On the bright side though? This gives me a perfectly legitimate reason to shop! :D
I've been keeping a look out wherever I go, checking all the shoe departments in the stores I pass by and what not but I just wasn't finding anything. So I decided to go back down to my beloved SoHo to this one shoe store I fell in love with before. Low and beholdddd I found a lovely pair that would be more perfect than any others I had seen throughout my course of looking.
The price: $85.00!! >:[
Now, grant it, these are nice shoes by a designer I like a lot, Jeffrey Campbell. But $85.00?!
Looking around at the other shoes and boots too, everything was at least $50, and things in that price range seemed to be the sandals! For shoe-shoes and, heaven forbid, a pair of boots, we're talking anywhere from $65.00 to upwards of $100! [Sigh.]
Shoes are expensive. This is a realization that I had. This is also a bummer, because I really like shoes. :) Then again, I like everything having to do with style, so what's new. :p
Love and Style,
L.M.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Random objects make great hair accessories.
Happy 4th of July! Well, now it's the 5th of July but oh well!
My first 4th in New York was phenomenal. The floormates and I headed down to the incredibly amazing and uuber hip Meatpacking District on the Lower West Side and watched the fireworks shoot above the Hudson.
It's always interesting to see what people wear for the 4th of July. Many times you would never be able to tell that it was even a holiday, however, I always dress for the occasion. I sported denim jeans and a denim shirt with red and white tanks, though my favorite piece for today was my hair accessory.
My train of thought recently has been, "who says that an object not originally intended to be worn can't become an awesome accessory?" And so far, my answer to this question is no one!
Today for the 4th I sported a mini top hat that's blue glitter all over with a tiny red ribbon around the base. I got it at Hobby Lobby for .99 cents and it was technically supposed to be an adornment for a present, or something to stick in a plant. I, however, stuck it in my pouffy hair.
I love how Lady Gaga always puts the most random and awesome things in her hair (i.e. a teacup). I've started venturing down this road in a slightly more wearable way, now having a collection of my top hat, a couple bumble bees and a bird to perch in my hair. I have to thank my Mum for giving me the idea. She's always so creative like that. :) I without a doubt get all of my creativity from her.
Now when I go into stores I look for random objects that I can stick in my pouf. It makes life a little more exciting and a little more spontaneous - both of which are never a bad thing to create. :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
My first 4th in New York was phenomenal. The floormates and I headed down to the incredibly amazing and uuber hip Meatpacking District on the Lower West Side and watched the fireworks shoot above the Hudson.
It's always interesting to see what people wear for the 4th of July. Many times you would never be able to tell that it was even a holiday, however, I always dress for the occasion. I sported denim jeans and a denim shirt with red and white tanks, though my favorite piece for today was my hair accessory.
My train of thought recently has been, "who says that an object not originally intended to be worn can't become an awesome accessory?" And so far, my answer to this question is no one!
Today for the 4th I sported a mini top hat that's blue glitter all over with a tiny red ribbon around the base. I got it at Hobby Lobby for .99 cents and it was technically supposed to be an adornment for a present, or something to stick in a plant. I, however, stuck it in my pouffy hair.
I love how Lady Gaga always puts the most random and awesome things in her hair (i.e. a teacup). I've started venturing down this road in a slightly more wearable way, now having a collection of my top hat, a couple bumble bees and a bird to perch in my hair. I have to thank my Mum for giving me the idea. She's always so creative like that. :) I without a doubt get all of my creativity from her.
Now when I go into stores I look for random objects that I can stick in my pouf. It makes life a little more exciting and a little more spontaneous - both of which are never a bad thing to create. :)
Love and Style,
L.M.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
I heart NY.
Hi!
I'm Lacie. Thanks for reading my blog. :)
If you didn't know already, I have the amazing opportunity of spending this summer in the fabulous New York City. Ever since I came to this city to go on college tours my senior year of high school I knew that I loved it. It was then that I made up my mind that I'm going to live here after college.
This feeling has been nothing but confirmed during my stay here so far. It's been almost a month and I'm madly in love.
This evening was especially phenomenal. My friend and I ventured down to do some shopping (of course :p) in SoHo but we headed out a bit later than planned and the stores closed after only an hour and a half or so of shopping. However, this did not dampen our night. Being the adventuresome duo that we are, we decided to explore the area while we were there with nothing else better to do.
Conclusion: I am living in SoHo when I move to New York. There's nothing else to it.
I love how an area can just emit this energy of style and chicness. And it's New York, so anything can happen. Just in the course of our walking around about a mile radius, we ran into a fashion shoot for a Nordstrom ad (the clothes were FABulous...a silver sequin dress, a jumper with a jacket and a classic all-black ensemble for the guy), we came across an adorable Italian coffee shop, restaurants to die for, a cupcake shop with the best rocky road brownie I have ever tasted and of course, boutiques you wouldn't be able to find anywhere else in the world. One had the most amazing men's shoes - lace up dress shoes in all different colors, from pink to baby blue.
I got so excited about my future in SoHo I could barely stand it. I began referring to things in me and Nicole's conversation as "my future _____," be it church, coffee house, apartment, anything! SoHo is one amazing place and I can guarantee that I WILL be making every imaginable excuse to go down there as much as possible for the rest of the summer. <3
Love and Style,
L.M.
I'm Lacie. Thanks for reading my blog. :)
If you didn't know already, I have the amazing opportunity of spending this summer in the fabulous New York City. Ever since I came to this city to go on college tours my senior year of high school I knew that I loved it. It was then that I made up my mind that I'm going to live here after college.
This feeling has been nothing but confirmed during my stay here so far. It's been almost a month and I'm madly in love.
This evening was especially phenomenal. My friend and I ventured down to do some shopping (of course :p) in SoHo but we headed out a bit later than planned and the stores closed after only an hour and a half or so of shopping. However, this did not dampen our night. Being the adventuresome duo that we are, we decided to explore the area while we were there with nothing else better to do.
Conclusion: I am living in SoHo when I move to New York. There's nothing else to it.
I love how an area can just emit this energy of style and chicness. And it's New York, so anything can happen. Just in the course of our walking around about a mile radius, we ran into a fashion shoot for a Nordstrom ad (the clothes were FABulous...a silver sequin dress, a jumper with a jacket and a classic all-black ensemble for the guy), we came across an adorable Italian coffee shop, restaurants to die for, a cupcake shop with the best rocky road brownie I have ever tasted and of course, boutiques you wouldn't be able to find anywhere else in the world. One had the most amazing men's shoes - lace up dress shoes in all different colors, from pink to baby blue.
I got so excited about my future in SoHo I could barely stand it. I began referring to things in me and Nicole's conversation as "my future _____," be it church, coffee house, apartment, anything! SoHo is one amazing place and I can guarantee that I WILL be making every imaginable excuse to go down there as much as possible for the rest of the summer. <3
Love and Style,
L.M.
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