Unusual Florence

Finally, another blog post about my trip to Italy. After leaving Rome, we took the train, headed north and booked a few days in Florence. It was just as gorgeous as I imagined it to be. The food and wine was great, but most importantly I was finally able to shop for the first time in Italy. 

Florence, just like many other high touristy cities had the usual retail chain stores we are all familiar with, but luckily on our second day there, we met someone that gave us shopping and restaurant guide called "Unusual Florence". I was so excited because, I had been looking for speciality design stores. Me and Angel tried to stop by every place that was listed and here is what we found. 

One of our first stops was at Michele Chiocciolini's studio/boutique. I can't even begin to describe how talented he is. He is a notable Fashion Designer in Florence and also a painter amongst other things. Apart from his own collection of ready to wear line and his leather goods collection, he also carries vintage items, every thing from books to jewelry. I was so excited to have found him. His attention to detail is inspiring. I love his style, my husband bought me a beautiful dress from his last collection. I can't wait to wear it. I am saving it for a special occasion. 

Boutique Nadine was also a great shop. I loved their selection of vintage clothing and shoes. They also  carried beautiful necklaces that were made with recycled Chanel buttons. Can't go wrong with that. After shopping at Boutique Nadine we had lunch at Brac. This restaurant was very special and right up my alley. Imagine having the best lunch and drinks in a library. Well, Brac was definitely that place. The walls were covered with art books in English and in Italian. Some of their books were for sale while others remained in their permanent collection. I bought myself a great book titled 10 x 10 by an artist named Emiliano Ponzi.  

Oh my! Any one that knows me knows that I am paper hoarder. Well, lucky for me, I stumbled upon a charming store called Signum. Although they were not listed in the Unusual Florence guide, I wanted to include them in this post because it's worth stopping by if you are ever visiting the city. At Signum you can find everything from Commedia dell' Arte marionettes, theater boxes, hand binded journals to the most beautiful paper stationary sets you've ever seen. 

Looking for these hidden gems in Florence was one of the highlights of my trip. It was like a treasure hunt. We took our time, got lost for a while and made frequent stops at bars, geletarias, coffee shops. Some other vintage shops that you must check out are And Company and Ceri Vintage. I was in awe with the way they curated their store. Here you will find  very selective pieces of furniture and clothes that you will definitely not find anywhere else in this city.

Another restaurant/ gallery/ vintage shop/ bar that we stopped by was Amble. It was everything I love in one place. We had some the best Negronis and sandwiches there, before heading out to Magaza to buy more books. 

Towards the end of our trip in, I had a Sartorialist type of day. It was impossible not to take pictures of all the stylish locals, how could I resist? As always, I was so sad when we had to leave. I can't wait to go back soon. I was happy to have found the Unusual Florence guide. You can look at the complete map here. If you want to stray away from all the tourists at some point on your next trip to this city, I would highly recommend stopping by some of these stores. They are all unique in their special way and it's a great way to meet all the artsy locals that will show you another side of Florence you would not expect.

Vintage Circus Glamour

Barnum and Bailey Showgirl in a bunny costume. I love the pink giant bow.

Birthday girl. Circus show performer receives flowers.

Show Performer Lottie Burnn juggling. 

Circus couple.

Halloween is two days away and here I am trying to come up with a last minute costume. It seems like every year I have aspirations to dress in a vintage circus themed costume. I always find myself looking through Taschen's The Circus: 1870's - 1950's book over and over again. It is an incredibly beautiful book. Each page translates history with nostalgic images and art work, and makes me feel like I am there watching The Greatest Show on Earth. Check out this beautiful three and half minute documentary on The Circus produced by Taschen, click here.

Vintage Circus Flair. Shop these pieces here.

1. ETSY vintage showgirl costume, 2. ETSY 1950's vintage costume, 3. Bordello Sequin Shoes, 4. Vintage sequin top, 5. ETSY Metallic blue petticoat, 6. Feather Boa

Lately on Instagram

My pictures on Instagram. This pretty much sums up my life as of lately.

1. My dog Edison got a new hat, can't wait to try it on him.
2. Relaxing at The Hoxton in London. One of the best hotels I have ever stayed at.
3. All the bottles of Amaro that we brought back from Italy.
4. Edison's first trip to the dog beach in Huntington Beach.
5. The last time I went to the Rose Bowl Flea Market. I do regret not buying one of these French Dolls.
6. Another vintage treasure I found somewhere in my recent travels.

My Roman Holiday

It's hard to believe that I was in Rome four weeks ago. I am definitely having major withdrawals. I absolutely enjoyed my time there so much that I can picture living there one day. We traveled to a few places in Italy, but Rome was by far my favorite place, for various reasons. The food, the historical sites, the museums, the people, the music, and all the noise.

A friend of ours said to us, "Being in Rome is like being in a giant museum", and he is absolutely right. On our first day there, we decided it do the whole touristy thing, I mean, I had too. You can't go to Rome and not visit the Colosseum and The Roman Forum. They were breathtaking......

Another touristy we did was visiting the Trevi Foundation on our third day in Rome. It was beautiful, but it was very hard to take pictures there because of the large crowds. It started to rain after leaving Trevi foundation, luckily we made it to our hotel before it started to really come down. It was so romantic to walk the streets of Rome in the light rain, I felt like I was in a scene from a Fellini film.

I was charmed with the all the street musicians at every Piazza. I posted a video of this musician on Instagram, you can watch it here. She was playing right in front of the Phantheon, which you must visit if you ever travel to this city. It is considered to be the most influential building in ancient Rome.

As usual, you can always count on me to take picture of my drinks. Here is a picture of the ultimate classic Italian cocktail. I can't even tell you how many Negronis we had in Italy, but these were by far, the one of the best ones. We really enjoyed these cocktails and food at Romeo, which was located in The Vatican City. We stopped by after visiting the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel.

Every other apartment/house had plants and pots hanging from their windows. Cute, right?

We stayed at two great B&Bs in Rome. My favorite one was Esedra Inn located in the center of town. Our place was a fifteen minute walk to the Roman Forum, which was perfect! The Esedra Inn was exactly what we wanted, the rooms were comfortable, the breakfast was good and the staff was very friendly. It is considered a luxury guest house, but it was more affordable than most places we looked at. I  would highly recommend staying here to any future travelers visiting this city. 

Romans look so stylish in their colorful vespas. I had urge to jump on one and take it for a ride around the city. They are easy to rent too! I guess that adventure will have to wait til the next time I visit again. 

For some reason it was very hard to find open restaurants on Sundays, especially for dinner. While researching for good restaurants that were not touristy, we tried to stay away from those, I stumbled upon Katie Parla's blog Parla Food and found a great restaurant called La Gatta Mangiona. We loved this place. Although they are known for their pizzas, we loved their pastas and crocchetta di palate.  

Our four glorious days in Rome ended too quickly, so quickly that I can't wait to book another trip really soon and experience the magic all over again. Time flies when you are having too much fun!

Here is my recommendations of places to stay, eat and drink.

Hotel:
Esedra Inn Rome


Restaurants: Food & Drink
La Gatta Mangiona
Romeo
Pizzarium (The owner is known as the "Michelangelo of Pizza")
Flavio al Velavevodetto
Trattoria Da Valentino
Cafe Greco

Charlotte Gainsbourg: Tomboy Style

One of my favorite things to do on rainy days is watching foreign films and drinking rose tea, which is exactly what I did the on the other day while it poured in Los Angeles. Somehow I found myself watching Charlotte Gainsbourg films. Not only do I love her as an actress, but who doesn't? I am also a fan of her music, she's a brilliant singer/songwriter. That's not all, she is a well respected style icon! Her tomboy style is flawless and by that I mean, this girl really knows how to mix the chic and tailored look. I am loving the button up shirts, classic stripe shirts, dark jeans and minimal jewelry. She is currently my source of style inspiration for fall.

Images: 1/ 2/ 3/ 4

Miami Week

This picture pretty much sums up my trip to Miami last month. Clear skies & beautiful palm trees.

I definitely spent more time at the beach this time around. I was just happy that I was able to soak up some sun and go the beach in my Marc Jacobs one piece floral swimsuit. I feel in love with it immediately and decided to live in it my whole stay there. 

There is something lovely about this lifeguard shack, it must of be the colors.

One of our last days at the beach. . . . . . . . . .

As I mentioned before on an older post, for some reason the color pink always reminds me of Miami, it must be all the Florida flamingos right? I love these hotel buildings. The color, the architecture and how they look like they are hovering on top of these palm trees. They feel nostalgic. 

The Viceroy Miami is my favorite hotel to stay at. The only drawback is that it is located in Downtown Miami, which is about a 25 minute taxi cab ride to the beach. On the other hand it is perfect if you just want to experience the night life.

This is the first picture I took after checking into my hotel. Isn't she lovely? She looks like sitting on the edge of the pool. The buildings in the back are the perfect backdrop to this picture too!

Here is a list of some really great places that I would recommend for future Miami visitors.

Hotels:

Viceroy Miami

Sagamore Hotel

Restaurants:

Mc Kitchen

Michaels Genuine Food and Drink

DOLORES but you can call me LOLITA

Bars:

The Hoxton

Blackbird Ordinary

Have a Fancy Weekend

What are you guys up to this weekend? I plan to relax and explore my city. Sometimes I spend half of my day daydreaming and wishing that I lived in New York, but then I realize that Los Angeles is such a great city. There is always so much going on and it's hard to keep up sometimes.

I hope you enjoy your weekend, here is a list of fun things to do.

Paradise Theatre, a STYX themed speakeasy is closing tonight. If you're a cocktail connoisseur like I am, you would really enjoy this place. Details and password info on the link above.

In the mood for a free outdoor flick tonight? Head over to Pershing Square. Tonight they are screening Yellow Submarine.

The Helmut Newton exhibition is still running at Annenberg Space for Photography.

Have you been to Lady M Confections? My husband brought me a slice of their famous crepe cake yesterday and it is to die for. This is definitely on my list to do this weekend.


Image via Ann Street Studio.