new york fashion week 2016: spring/summer rtw 2017

These were my favorite moments and looks from the spring/summer collections at New York Fashion Week 2016, from left to right:

1-3: ATM Anthony Thomas Melillo athleisure dreams. Reminds me of a certain brand collaboration I stayed up until midnight to shop... // 4-6: Jason Wu neon and florals all perfect Easter outfits // 7-10: Alexander Wang cropped sweatshirts, little lace shorts and LBD // 11-12: Victoria Beckham looking perf at her show and slouchy crushed velvet done right // 13: Oscar de la Renta sparkly trousers // 14-16: Proenza Schouler geometry and one of my favorite shows in New York // 17-19: Carolina Herrera metallic ball gown, collared could-be wedding gown and the dress I wish I could've gotten married in // 20-21: Pretty pastels at Prabal Gurung and the most perfect peachy flowy dress // 22-23: Blue lips and Betty Draper in Palm Springs at Thom Browne // 24-27: J.Crew using real people (not models) for the presentation and a pink silk pajama shirt I need in my closet ASAP, satin bow pumps, khaki graphic tee and khaki ruffled dreams // 30: Beach umbrella inspired sequin Rosie Assoulin rugby dress // 31-32: Vera Wang pom pom neutrals // 33-36: Rodarte magic dream garden and this dainty dress that has Elle Fanning written all over it and general ruffled brilliance at another absolute favorite // 37: I cannot for the life of me remember who made this feathered suede moto jacket // 38-39: Big hair skirts and sleeves at Reem Acra // 40-41: American classics at Michael Kors and that pink trench you could only wear twice a year but need // 42-43: Statement earrings at Delpozo with modern Jackie O. coats and suits // 43-44: Beaded fringe beauties at Naeem Khan // 45: This track jacket at Marc Jacobs

roma e firenze

We ended our European vacation in Rome. Here is us the night we arrived in front of the Colosseum. We stayed with Jadyn and Sean McGrath, dear friends of mine from school. 

Our first full day in Rome was spent touring the incredible Vatican City. Despite being surrounded by gorgeous art and religious relics, the most shocking thing to me was the number of people who apparently don't have access to the internet and waited in line for hours!!! Honestly, it takes one Google search to get the suggestion to book tickets ahead of time, but we still found ourselves walking ahead of hundreds of people waiting in the morning heat for tickets. I don't get it. 

We did a guided tour through the Vatican and had a great guide. Here is a not so sneaky and poor quality picture of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Wow! I still can't believe this work of art. It might have been the most amazing thing I saw during our trip.

We also climbed to the top of St. Peter's Basilica. 

We took a train and spent a night and day in Florence. Here we are in the Accademia Gallery marveling at the David. And sadly, there were hundreds of people waiting in line for this and the Uffizi, which we went to after the Accademia.

I am embarrassed I didn't know about the Gucci Museum! It was a small little collection close to Il Duomo, but worth all 7 euros. Fashion is my favorite art form so I was in heaven seeing pieces from the early start of the Gucci brand to gowns worn by Jessica Chastain and Blake Lively at awards shows a few years ago.

This was the evening gown room where my eyes watered over how beautiful the dresses were.

Another fantastic museum I stumbled upon was the Salvatore Ferragamo museum. I thought like the Gucci Museum it would be a history of the Ferragamo house and memorable pieces which defined the brand. There was a lovely Ferragamo display (including a collection of shoe molds and one of them was Audrey Hepburn's!!!) but also an "Across Art and Fashion" exhibit which featured work by Rei Kawakubo, Alexander McQueen, Martin Margiela and Miuccia Prada just to name a few. 

Florence was such a gorgeous city and I wish we were able to spend more time. Probably my biggest regret was not getting tickets to tour Il Duomo, so we took as many opportunities as possible to experience its grandeur from the outside.

Here's a few from Piazzale Michelangelo after sunset.

Here's me perched by the Ponte Vecchio which was not as impressive as Trip Advisor/Instagram/the internet made it out to be... but still lovely in its own way.

We returned to Rome where I took a cooking class! When we first started planning our trip, a cooking class was high on my must-do list. I ended up going by myself to this class (Cook With Us in Rome is the name of the company). I took the class with an Australian family of five and another couple from South Carolina. It was one of my favorite experiences in Italy and I'm so excited to try the recipes we learned.

Here is me with the instructor Gianni. He was a great teacher and incredibly patient (I got lost and was a little late to the market). If you enjoy cooking, I highly recommend taking a class! Especially one that includes a portion where you actually buy your ingredients. 

Here's us with the best hosts in Rome. I didn't take enough pictures of it but the best pasta and gelato I had was in Rome. Jadyn shared her specific gelato requirements with us and they took us to their favorite places, which were all fantastic. Spaghetti carbonara is my favorite pasta dish and I ordered it everywhere we went and I never had one that was less than excellent. My favorite gelato was Come Il Latte. We had such a great time spending a week with friends, especially after two weeks of hanging out with only each other and strangers :-P Rome was a great end to an even better trip. I will never forget our summer 2016 of unemployment and world travels.

naples and the amalfi coast

We flew from Santorini to Naples and spent a day and a half eating as much Neapolitan pizza as possible. I also wanted to spend a day in Naples because I recently finished Elena Ferrante's My Briliant Friend series which takes place in the countryside of Naples. This series is fantastic and I highly recommend it!!

In the above picture we are getting pizza to go from a place close our Airbnb. This was our second time and I think I looked so thrilled while watching them make the pizza that the employees invited us to take a picture in front of the oven.

(Fun fact: One time I worked at The Awful Waffle in Provo during my senior year at BYU. The Awful Waffle tried to serve every type of food imaginable including Neapolitan pizzas so I learned how to make them and use those fancy ovens. I don't think I'll ever be able to eat an American version of a Neapolitan pizza ever again).

Here's a picture from probably the most incredible Airbnb we've ever stayed at. This was right in the heart of Naples at the Palazzo dello Spagnolo. Our host was an amazing artist and a lot of the work throughout the apartment was hers. She also had an incredible book and musical instrument collection. Besides eating pizza, we did a lot of street watching. The traffic and driving are crazy in Naples but everyone manages to survive and I didn't see a single accident or fender bender.

After Naples we went to Agerola for a few days and beach hopped. This photo was taken our first day on the Amalfi Coast.

After one of the days we spent at the beach, we went to Villa Cimbrone in Ravello and toured the gardens. 

One day we hiked from Agerola to Amalfi via the Path of the Gods. The hike had gorgeous views like the one above and halfway there was a fresh juice stand which I think more hikes should incorporate.

One of the many little beaches sprinkled throughout the Amalfi coast. This is Spiaggia Duoglie. This beach you could get to by walking but a lot of them are only accessible via boat. We rented an umbrella, chairs and ate caprese sandwiches in between swimming.

We spent the other half of our time on the Amalfi Coast staying in Positano in the most darling bed and breakfast that was 13 stories above the street so I didn't feel too bad about not working out during those days. Above is me before dinner in Positano wearing the dress I bought specifically for Positano :-P 

We did two boat trips in Amalfi- one just along different beaches on the coast and one to Capri. I highly recommend booking a boat tour when you're in the area. It's so much fun sailing to the little islands and jumping off the boat to swim in the water. And no sand! It's like all the best parts of going to the beach without the worst part.

Our boat trip to the ultra glam island of Capri.

Little swim break in between sailing.

Capri was gorgeous and totally felt like a Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue ad. We spent a day on the island and took a chair lift to the top of Monte Solaro.

The Amalfi Coast was gorgeous and perfect for us beach babies. I couldn't get enough of the colorful buildings and gelato on the beach.