Second Time's a Charm?

Earlier in July my sister, two friends and I attempted to go on an exciting shopping trip. Before we could go to even one store, however, we got into a car accident. Thankfully none of us were hurt, but my friend's car was totaled, and that was the end of our shopping trip. Yesterday I went with one of those friends, Erin, on a smaller but still fun shopping trip. I was honestly a little nervous about the driving after what had happened last time (and I don't have much experience driving in cities), but we made it okay! I even managed to make it through the rush-hour traffic because, of course, we would leave at about the worst possible time. 


I found a few good deals shopping, and possibly the most exciting part of the day was discovering the store Francesca's Collections. I had heard of it through this post on the blog Selective Potential. Thinking it looked very much like my style, I went on their website just to see where the nearest one was (although I didn't expect to find one too close since I'm not near any major cities). I was thrilled to see that there was one only forty minutes away and couldn't wait to check it out. It was amazing - I seriously liked just about everything in the store! I ended up finding a dress, belt and scarf all on sale, and the saleslady said that they frequently have good sales so I will definitely be visiting again soon :) 

Erin took these pictures of me when we were shopping downtown. My outfit was pretty simple, which is good when you have to try on a bunch of clothes! The jeans are from American Eagle, the tank is from Maurices and the cardi vest is from Forever 21. 

A closer look at my Keds - these are one of my absolute favorite pairs of shoes I've owned.  I love that they have lots of color without being too crazy-looking :)

Memories remain

 It's hard to believe that about a month ago I was still in Italy. If I close my eyes, I can picture beautiful Tuscany and see the buildings all around, some of them older than I can understand. 


In some ways, I feel as if it were another world, one to which I can only hope to return someday. But then again, it was so real, so close that it seems I should be able to get back with a simple car ride. If only. 


I still have countless memories, numerous photos, and many friends through which I can journey back on occasion :) And I have this shirt... 

This was the shirt that I wore the day I went shopping in Florence. I almost didn't buy anything for myself when I was there because I was so busy trying to buy presents for others. I am, however, very glad that I stopped in a little store and found this though! In Florence we passed some of the major fashion stores like Gucci, but there were places that were actually in my price range as well. 

I wore it with one of my favorite pairs of pants: black skinny pants from Maurices. I love all of the little lace details on the shirt :)
(And sorry about the rather uninspired background to these photos - it has cooled off a bit from the heat wave we've been having, but it's still rather warm for outdoor shots).

Summer Resort - New Lookbook from Ruche

Ruche is one of my very favorite online stores, and they just released their new lookbook yesterday! Its theme is "Summer Resort" and it has lots of beachy and exotic-looking outfits. Check it out!

Here's a peek from inside...

I think this is my favorite piece from the lookbook. I love the little bow details. You can buy it here.


Happy shopping :)

Italy Day Thirteen: Milan (the last day)

We spent our last day in Italy exploring Milan and began by going to the Milan Cathedral as a group. By this point in the trip we had seen many cathedrals (unfortunately almost to the point where we were starting to get used to their beauty). The cathedral in Milan, however, in addition having being magnificently Gothic in style, was unique in that we were able to take an elevator up and walk around on its roof.

One of my friends said the top of the cathedral made him think of Disney's Beauty and the Beast and the scene in which the Beast and Gaston are fighting :)

On top of the roof we had a splendid view of the surrounding city as well as of the magnificence of the cathedral. After seeing so many cathedrals, this one definitely stuck out to me, and it was definitely one of my favorites on the trip! 


After going into the cathedral, we had free time for the rest of the day, and I went with a group to go exploring. As I said in my last post, much of Milan seemed to have a very modern feel. We did, however, discover a wonderful historic site where we spend much of our afternoon looking around. We found the medieval Sforza Castle, which was originally built in 1360 but had to be rebuilt in 1450 when Francesco Sforza was duke of Milan. Now the castle houses a number of museums that display art and historical artifacts. We were able to look around a few of the museums, which we were excited to find out had free admission because we were under the age of twenty-five. 

Our last day ended with a farewell dinner at the wonderful Ristorante Torriani 25 where we enjoyed a feast of amazing food 


And so our trip ended although we still had the complicated process of getting home... let's just say it involved leaving our hotel at 5 am, finding out our flight was cancelled, not knowing what we were going to do, and having our group get split up on two different flights. But in the end we all made it back safely, and now we're left with ever so many memories. 

Italy Day Twelve: Verona and Milan

On day twelve we made our trip to the final city at which we would stay, Milan. As we traveled by train, however, we stopped part of the way and spent a few hours exploring Verona. 

There was really only one thing that I knew about in Verona that I wanted to see, which was "Juliet's Balcony." The house where the balcony is supposedly belonged to Capello (Capulet) family in Shakespeare's play. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is indeed based off a story from Italy, but I'm not sure if this was definitely her house (and apparently the balcony was added within the past hundred years). Nevertheless, as a big Shakespeare fan, I thought Juliet's House was quite charming and enjoyed going up to the balcony and looking around the museum within the house. It was fun to at least imagine that this was where Juliet stood. One could even write letters to Juliet (like in the movies Letters to Juliet). 

Statue of Juliet in the courtyard 

Later in the afternoon we continued on to Milan. The first thing that many of us noticed about Milan was how much more modern it seemed as compared to the other places we had visited. While places like Rome, Florence and Venice seemed very intent on displaying the aspects of their history, the buildings in  Milan were quite modern (although we did discover some of the historical places the next day). Milan is a very large and fashionable city, and it was even somewhat intimidating to walk around in the evening, looking for a place to eat and feeling a bit out of place. But my two friends and I did find a place to eat and managed to do alright even though it seemed none of the waiters knew English (unlike most of the places we had previously visited). We had quite a lovely dinner during which I enjoyed some delicious gnocchi :)

Waiting for our food to come -
(this photo was taken by my friend Tyler on his camera) 

Italy Days Ten and Eleven: Adventures in Venice

On our tenth day we rode by train to our next hotel, the Delfino Hotel, which was only a short bus ride away from Venice. We arrived in the afternoon and went into Venice for a walking tour. 

The Grand Canal

The next day we had the entire day to explore Venice as we pleased. I was with four of my friends, and we had a few little adventures during our day... 


We decided to get all-day passes for the boats that go throughout the city (the Venetian version of a bus system). This way of transportation was pretty handy so that we could travel without having to walk everywhere. Once, however, the five of us were trying to get onto a nearly-full boat, and three of us were not fast enough in getting on and they would not let any more people on. So we were separated (without any way to contact the other group), and we hadn't said exactly at which stop we were planning to get off. My group decided we should head to the clock tower that we had talked about visiting next and hope that the other two were thinking the same way. We waited there for a while and eventually the others made it there as well :) 


Later we had another little boat misadventure when we got on a boat that looked a little different on the inside than the others we had been on. There didn't seem to be any reason why boats couldn't be different so we just found seats and rode along until a man came around to check tickets. Even though we had tickets, none of the other boats had asked for them, and we were a little concerned that everyone else's ticket looked different than ours. We showed the man our ticket, and he told us that ours were for a different company. We told him we were very sorry - we had no idea that other boats came to those boat stops. Then we began to be a little concerned since we didn't actually know where we now headed. A lady on the boat told us that this boat was with a cruise company, and we started worrying that we wouldn't be able to get off before it got back to the cruise ship! Thankfully, however, the boat made another stop and we got off as fast as we could even though we didn't know where we would be. After a bit of panicking we realized that we were at the exact same place where we had eaten lunch earlier - so everything ended up alright. 

All over the streets of Venice you can find masks for sale, some simple and others extremely elaborate. Venice is known for their annual carnival during which people wear masks and so they are sold throughout the year. After seeing so many of them for sale all day I finally caved in and bought a pretty pink one! Hopefully I can find an occasion to wear it someday :) 

I did enjoy our time exploring Venice, but one thing I did not like about it so much was how many tourists are there, particularly in comparison to people who actually live there. It doesn't seem like someplace one could actually live since it is so much on display all of the time.

Italy Day Nine: The Cinque Terre (my favorite day!)

When anyone asks me what my favorite part about Italy was, I tell then without hesitation that it was the day that we went to the Cinque Terre, the villages on the Italian coast that we visited my boat. It seriously felt as if we had entered into some sort of magical land. I half expected to see Prince Caspian's Dawn Treader to pass us by or to see a mystical creature amid the lush mountains as we rode the boat, gazing at the scene around us. I took pictures, but there is no way that they can accurately portray how beautiful it was. 

One of the villages

The Cinque Terre was definitely the most gorgeous place that I have ever been, but then again, prior to Italy I had hardly done any traveling. Our trip guide (Andy), however, said that it is his favorite place, and he has traveled many, many places so I think it's safe to say that the area is pretty amazing. 


We spent the day traveling by boat to the different villages, staying at each one for about an hour. 

It was foggy that day - but I thought the fog actually added to the beauty

At one of the villages we stayed for a few hours and were able to go swimming in the sea! The water was very cold, and the beach was covered with stones that were quite hard on our feet, but I still had a great time swimming :) 

One of my favorite pictures from the trip (taken at the last village we stopped at)

At the last village, a few of my friends and I discovered the way to the remains of a medieval castle - an exciting way to top off an already great day! 

To me, the day was nearly perfect. The only bad thing that happened when it started to rain toward the end of the afternoon. We were on the boat, and the water started being choppy (which made me feel a little queasy - yuck). Plus we were sitting on the area on top of the boat and got a little wet. That was the only major difficulty, and overall, the day was simply magical <3

Italy Days Seven and Eight: Pisa and Florence

During our next two days, we went to Florence for a day and then Pisa for the next morning with the option of going back to Florence in the afternoon. Our first time in Florence included a walking tour and a tour in the Uffizi Gallery. 

One of my favorite cathedrals we saw: the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore 

 As the birthplace of the Renaissance, Florence had some amazing things to see in terms of art. At the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is Brunelleschi's Dome (the largest dome in the world until modern times), and at its baptistry is Ghiberti's Doors of Paradise. At the Uffizi Gallery  we saw Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera. I loved seeing the originals, especially Primavera - when you see it up close you can notice all the little details that can't be seen otherwise, such as how perfectly detailed even the grass is. 


The next day we went to Pisa for the morning. I can't really say what I think of Pisa as a city because we weren't there for more than a couple of hours, and we were only in the section that everyone goes to when in Pisa - the Leaning Tower. We saw the basilica there and the tower and a row of booths selling more Leaning Tower of Pisa souvenirs than one could ever want. 

The typical photo pose that all the tourists do
 - I was going to be cooler than that, but then I decided that since I was there, I might as well indulge in the silliness. 

In the early afternoon we were able to go back to Florence (by train, our means of transportation both of these days). Some people went back for an afternoon of relaxing at the hotel, which did sound very tempting since I was tired. I had really been looking forward to Florence, however, and the day before I felt that I really hadn't been able to do all that I had hoped. Mostly I wanted to do some shopping and buy presents for people. While there are many expensive stores in Florence, there are also markets that sell things more cheaply. In the markets you can also haggle, which was an interesting experience. My friend Devin and I tried our luck at haggling (well, mostly Devin - I, being the shy one, mostly just watched although one of the guys apparently liked me enough to give us free little bracelets). One of the men tried to sell me another pair of earrings after I had bought some, and he lowered the price down to half what he originally said. I just kept saying "no" though, not because I was trying to haggle but just because I really wasn't interested! I also found a few less expensive stores in which I bought shirts for my sister and me. Since I love shopping, I had a very fun afternoon, and I'm thankful to Devin for going shopping with me all around Florence even though he's a guy :) 

Italy Day Six: Siena and Montecatini Terme

On this day we left our hotel in Chianciano and rode to Siena for part of the day. Highlights there included the main square, called the Piazza del Campo, and the Cathedral of Siena.

Later in the afternoon, we left Siena and continued to Montecatini Terme, another small city in Tuscany. We stayed at our hotel, the Ercolini & Savi Hotel, for four nights, which I believe was the longest that we stayed at any of our hotels. Staying there for a few days was nice because I felt more settled than when we stayed places for only two nights.


We did not do too much in the city itself, but mainly used it as a base for our day trips for the next few days. Nevertheless, we did walk around some when we first arrived, and I bought a couple of scarves at one of the markets. Also after dinners at that hotel (which were some of my favorite meals), many of us often went to an outdoor gelateria only a few minutes away to take advantage of the free wifi since it was not free at our hotel. Only a few people had brought their laptops with them so we had to take turns. During those nights at the gelateria, I was usually pretty tired from our long day and almost ready to go to bed (by the time dinner was finished it was after 9 o'clock). Looking back though, the gelateria really was an enjoyable little place to spend time at night with my friends :) Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it, but you can find them on Facebook - and should check them out if you're ever in Montecatini.

italy day five: assisi and cortona

On day five we took a day trip to the towns of Assisi and Cortona.


Assisi was the birthplace of Saint Francis who lived from 1181 to 1226, and in his honor the Basilica of Saint Francis was built. The basilica houses his remains in a crypt.

Truthfully, I did not have much knowledge of Saint Francis before visiting Assisi, and in the future I am interested in learning more about him. The type of Christianity that he believed in is so much different than the typical Christianity we so often have today. Saint Francis really believed in living like Jesus, in not caring about material possessions.


After touring the basilica, we had a little time to explore the Medieval streets of the town of Assisi.

Later in the afternoon we traveled to the town of Cortona. Cortona was the setting for the film Under the Tuscan Sun. I confess that I still haven't seen that film yet (I really must now), but from what I know it's about an American woman who goes to Tuscany and buys a villa there. After visiting Cortona, I completely understand why someone would do that - the view from there was one of my favorites in Italy!

Isn't it gorgeous?