VeneziA

Venice could never get old. Streets replaced by little canals and cars replaced by adorable boats...such a unique, romantic city. The colors are incredible. The tiny pathways lead you in and out of the most Italian streets lined with bakeries, tratorias and cafes. 

It was so much fun ditching the map and just getting lost for hours until we got hungry enough to find a little hidden restaurant on a side street. It felt as if we were eating in someone's kitchen, drinking some nice wine from the region.

Also, with Venice being the origin of 'Spritz', we enjoyed some of the local culture. 

ruffles galore

I've never really been too girly and frilly..but i LOVE all of these. obviously all three would be way too much in one house...which would make for an impossibly tough decision on which one to pick. 

coffe, tea or me

This idea for an amazing coffee table keeps coming to my mind and i cant make it go away. I was at the market a few days ago and i saw these old wooden crates-used for carrying fruits and veggies...and i was thinking, 4 of those assembled together with the open side facing outward would be an adorable coffee table...perfect storage for extra throws, books and other treasures.
I'm so ready for some hazelnut coffee and Regis and Kelly.

Go into the nearest TASCHEN store and fill the crates with some lovely coffe table books.

some treasures

A few things that i must have:

oragami hanging lamp. 

Magnolija dress.

meow.

Because i live in Milan and the rest of my family lives in the states (mostly Texas) i miss out on a LOT. Birthdays, Holidays, Vacations...but what's really sad is not getting to see my little niece grow up. She's the cutest little thing in the world & i've got to live through my sister's facebook photo albums to watch her grow. These new pictures from Halloween are adorable :)

Still hope

I took this picture in a really small, conservative town in Texas...I thought it was lovely and random. I'm sure it was also immediately removed...but I love that it looks like it was done by a 3rd grader.

A movie you should see..

A Perfect World directed by Clint Eastwood...quite old and highly underrated. I watched it on a rainy day in Paris over the weekend and I recommend it. "You know, Phillip, you have a goddamned red, white and blue American right to eat cotton candy and ride roller coasters." best quote of the movie.

my favorite artist

have you heard of Rachel Schwind yet?
so i might be a little biased when i say this...but she is absolutely my favorite artist in the world. her artwork is like a masterpiece...it's not just a painting or a sculpture..but a combination of the two. my favorite of her styles are the plaster pieces done on wood, then stained to perfection.
she works with her dad, jim, to make her own canvases for painting and she goes with her father to search for good wood to paint on. artbyrachelschwind
i was lucky enough to live with her for four years when we went to SFA..but i've known her for ages..we grew up playing soccer together. watching her grow as an artist during university was so inspiring. we spent our saturdays antiquing and driving through the texas countryside looking for treasures in random junk stores along the side of the highway. our apartment was filled with old chests, barn doors, and wooden window frames with paint chipping onto the carpet.
we spent our mornings (and any other free time) listening to pandora while reading decorating magazines and talking about what we wanted to do in our apartment :) i miss those days

The French Countryside

We had only an hour drive from Paris and the noise and traffic from the busy city disappeared..along with the honking horns, the lights, buzzing mopeds and [mostly] friendly strikers. I spent the weekend with my boyfriend and his family in their beautiful country home. There were pear, apple, walnut, coign and plum trees, and we planted some tulips in the back garden. I can't wait for the spring to see how they bloom :) The 100 year old stone house was covered in lovely vines filled with tons of old books and antiques (coffee grinders, sewing machines, stamps, chairs, chests, tables, records, radios...) I could have filled an entire train car with things that I would take home and decorate my own apartment with.

Chateau Versailles

a lovely visit to the Chateau Versailles was accompanied with a controversial exhibition by a Japanese artist, Murakami. His work was extremely bright, colorful and bizarre. It made for a wonderful visit mixed in with the extravagant chandeliers, ancient paintings and traditional gold decor. Mi e piaciuto un sacco.

Un Bel Weekend

Questo weekend i fell in love with Italy all over again. After almost 16 months of living in Italy i thought i'd seen almost everything above Roma. But this weekend my friend Simone picked me up from Milan and took me on a tour of Novara, before going to his house in Varallo. It's properly in the middle of the mountains in the north of Italy and it's beautiful. The small, cobblestone streets and buildings lining them were so cute and so Italian. The leaves are beginning to change and fall from the trees, painting the streets and sidewalks with the colors of autumn. Che bello.
Saturday we visited Lago di Maggiore (2nd biggest lake in Italy) and Lago D'Orta...which were stunning. Especially the town we visited on Lago D'Orta. Despite the rain, we were still amazed by the quaintness of the little Italian town.
Besides the scenery, the best part of the weekend was staying with Simone's family. His dad is from the south of Italy and makes his own Limoncello, which he so kindly gave me a bottle :). His mom is an amazing cook so we ate tons of good pasta, meat, cakes, bread and wine.