When in Nashville

Hey y’all!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous week so far. A few days ago, I got back from an amazing conference for Delight Ministries in one of my absolute favorite cities … Nashville!

I love Nashville, I’ve been there only twice yet I call it my happy place. I honestly could see myself living there someday! There’s much to do and there’s just good vibes all over town. Most of the locals are very down-to-earth (and have the sweetest Southern accents!), there’s so many authentic coffee shops with delicious coffee, and I love the mixture of city and country town style. But aside from the free time we had in the city, we were mainly there for the conference and was an absolute life-changing experience! It was pretty similar to last year’s conference, which was my first conference, but still worth sharing with y’all ☺️

Me and a few of the leaders from the Kent State chapter all rode down together in my friend Katie’s big truck. We left around 7:30 (don’t worry, we grabbed Starbucks on the way!) and arrived there around 5 pm thanks to the time change. We stayed in a super nice Airbnb in the Greenwood area with the leaders of the University of Akron Delight chapter. The first day of conference wasn’t till the next day, so the girls and I went out to Pinewood Social for a girls’ night. We ate good food and took some pictures with the Downtown Nashville skyline behind us, and then we headed to a mini gathering for the midwestern Delight chapters with our regional director Hope, who is the absolute sweetest and most beautiful soul I have ever met! Her welcoming and joyful energy lit up the room! We also met a bunch of other girls from other chapters, as well as reunited with a few girls we met at last year’s conference! It was a perfect first night, and a perfect way to start off the conference trip.

Dinner at Pinewood Social with the girls!

I won’t go into full detail like I did with last’s year post about the conference, so I’ll narrow the big points down in the best way I can. It was pretty much similar to last year, minus the fact that now me and a few girls are leading the new Kent State chapter this fall (woo-hoo!), so this was Kent State’s first Delight conference! The setup and schedule was very very like last year, and everybody there was so sweet. Mac and Kenz, the founders of Delight Ministries, and all the regional directors could not have been any more kind, and their love for Jesus is so inspiring! There were two inspiring speakers: Pastor Lyle Philips and Jane Ogg, as well as a sweet dinner performance by Jordy Searcy. The conference was sponsored by MISSIO Hair, DaySpring (whom I’ve collaborated with before!), and LifeWay Women. And, of course, there was a lot of worship, games, goodies, sermons, discussion groups, and much more. The conference was absolutely amazing. I absolutely could feel the presence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit the entire time!

As far as exploring Nashville goes, it was wonderful. We took pictures in front of murals (as you do when visiting Nashville), went to cute coffee shops, and even went up the Thompson Hotel to get a view of Downtown Nashville from the rooftop bar! Here’s something really cool … we met a celebrity! I don’t know if y’all are familiar with For King & Country, they’re a Christian band led by two Australian guys named Joel and Luke. They’ve been nominated and actually won a Grammy and have also performed on The Tonight Show, The Today Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Basically what happened was we walked into a coffee shop located in the Gulch on 24 South Avenue called Killebrew and we saw Joel (Luke wasn’t there unfortunately) chatting with the barista as he tried a few pastry samples. Recognizing him immediately, my friend Tara went up to him and introduced herself. Joel was so kind and shook all of our hands as we introduced ourselves. He then introduced us to his beautiful wife Moriah, who was so excited about as being a part of a women’s ministry and featured us on her Instagram story! They were also kind enough to take some pictures with us and were just an overall delight to talk to … see what I did there?

To sum up, my second Delight Ministries conference experience was absolutely incredible and I already can’t wait for next year! I’m even more excited to serve this fall for Kent State’s new chapter, I’m so fired up with the Holy Spirit within me and I’m ready to spread the good news of Jesus on our campus!

If you want to learn more about Delight, how to join and possibly how to start a chapter on your campus, be sure check out their website and follow them on Instagram!

Have you ever been to Nashville? Comment about your experience down below and also like this post! 

Conquering Heights at Cedar Point

This past Monday, me and a few friends from my trip to Italy spent the day at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. In case some people haven’t heard of it, it’s a amusement park that holds many record-breaking roller coasters including the Top Thrill Dragster (the second tallest in the world), Millennium Force (the first giga coaster ever), Valravn (the tallest dive coaster in the world), and many more. That’s why Sandusky is referred to as the Roller Coaster Capital of the World! It’s one of the most famous parks in America and most certainly one of the many hot spots in all of Ohio.

I visited Cedar Point once every summer while I was in high school with my friends, and they were some of my favorite memories during that time of my life. I haven’t been back since September of 2016, almost three years. I had been there visiting Cedar Point three times before then, so not going there for three years straight felt like a long time! When my friends reached out saying they wanted to plan a day there, I, of course, was the one of first ones to say yes!

We got there at about 11 am, which was around the same time everyone else was coming in. We picked a good day to visit since a lot of people are working on Monday, so waiting in line for rides was fairly decent. Millennium Force was only a forty-five minute wait, which normally it would be a two or even three hour wait! We also rode the Raptor and Maverick (both hour long waits), as well as a fifteen to thirty minute wait for Magnum XL-200, which is currently celebrating it’s 30th anniversary. It’s funny because while I love roller coasters, I actually have my eyes closed most of the time while riding it. I have a slight fear of heights, so I always close them on my way way up because I hate looking down. They’re open for the most part for the rest of the ride, but sometimes I still close them and either because it’s still high or if it’s super windy. If you do the same thing, please let me know in the comment section!

The biggest moment for me that day and now one of the greatest milestones in my entire existence was riding the Top Thrill Dragster for the first time ever. If you don’t believe that I was terrified of riding it, you best be wrong! I would always tell myself that I would ride the Top Thrill Dragster just to say I've done it, but I’ve denied riding it every time I visited Cedar Point because it’s literally the scariest roller coaster there. Also, the line is usually three hours long and is only seventeen seconds because it’s so fast, so I was never sure if it was worth it. But finally, my friends convinced me to ride it to get it over with and that I would feel so confident afterwards. Hesitant at first, I finally and nervously agreed to finally ride it and get it out of the way!

It was an hour or less wait, but I was so nervous that I didn’t care how long it took. The anticipation is the worst part! Thankfully, my friend Jill had never rode it either, so I wasn’t the only nervous one. Our friends were good about distracting us from the anticipation and having random conversations with us while waiting, so that helped. My friend Chris actually joked that we had to fill out a waiver before we get on the ride 😂 Honestly, I wouldn’t have been surprised if that were the case, but thankfully it wasn’t! We finally got to hop in the coasters and strap ourselves in, which is when I start having a minor panic attack. One of the employees working the ride took the time to give me a positive pep talk before taking off, saying that it’s normal for people to panic before riding the Dragster and that I was going to be smiling afterwards. And guess what? … he was right! It was so quick, and I actually really enjoyed the adrenaline! Jill loved it too, and we were high-fiving each other as soon as it was over. Now I can finally say I rode it, and I’m gonna ride it again next time I go back because it was so much fun!

At around 7, we started getting a little tired. The weather went from warm and sunny to chilly and windy, which actually prevented us from riding some the rides. We also didn’t want to wait in line for two hours for some roller coasters as it would waste the rest of our time there. So after exploring Lake Erie Shores beach for a few minutes, we made our way to the parking lot and made our way back home (along with a quick dinner at McDonald’s).

The day flew by, but it was so well worth it! I love Cedar Point and spending the whole day there with my friends. I’m even more happy now that I can finally say that I’ve rode the Top Thrill Dragster! It took me a long time to finally actually do it, but better later than never! I hope this post encourages you to conquer your fears, no matter what you’re afraid of. I also want to say it’s absolutely okay to be scared, it’s a normal human thing. Even when it comes to roller coasters, it’s normal. Roller coasters can be scary, especially something like the Dragster! It’s actually kind of good to be afraid because it means you’re aware and just care about your own safety. But don’t let fear back from doing something because it doesn’t define you. Just remind the fear that it has no control over you, and then conquer it! Trust me, your confidence will boost when you get it done and over with, whether it’s riding a roller coaster or some other kind of fear. I already can’t wait to ride the Dragster again! And next time I’m actually going to open my eyes for the whole thing … or maybe keep them closer just so I don’t get too freaked out by the fact that I can see Canada from the top.

What’s your favorite ride at Cedar Point? Comment below and share! 🎢

Lo Goes Loco: Lauren's Bachelorette Party in Toronto

Hey, y’all! It’s been a while since I’ve posted a blog. I’ve been insanely busy lately ever since coming back from Italy with filling out part-time job applications, spending the 4th of July with my family and helping my sister plan her wedding in a month. I will say that this has definitely been the busiest summer for me by far! I also decided to take a break from social media for the last three days, and it gave me more time to focus on my draft posts. And for my first post, I wanted to write about my sister’s bachelorette weekend in Toronto!

Canada is kind of a random place to have a bachelorette party, but we figured it wouldn’t be as busy since they don’t celebrate the 4th of July up there. We left the day right after and stayed from Friday to Sunday in an Airbnb located in the Chinatown area of Downtown Toronto. It was me, my sister (obviously), my sister’s future sister-in-law and bridesmaid Ally, our two cousins and bridesmaids Jenna and Brittany, her two other bridesmaids and friends from college Kaitlyn and Leah, and finally two more friends from college Katie and Julie. The bridesmaids, who were extremely helpful with getting decorations for the weekend while I was studying abroad, started setting up at the Airbnb as soon as we arrived in Toronto, so I went with Lauren to a nearby Starbucks before the bridesmaids said it was ready for her to see it. The Airbnb was super nice and cozy, and all the decor for the bachelorette weekend looked absolutely cute inside of it! My sister loved it, which is good for me because my main job as the maid of honor is to make sure she’s happy ☺️

Prosecco pong and a Cardi B engagement banner!

A Canada visor, “Bride Tribe” cups, a ring piñata, a white “Bride to Be” sash, and of course, hangover kits 😂😜

Y’all, this weekend was one of the best weekends I’ve ever experienced! On Friday evening after setting up the Airbnb, we got ready, did a bit of pre-gaming and took some cute Polaroid pictures before heading to The Porch to hang out and have some drinks. One of the bridesmaids also came up with a scavenger hunt for the weekend with dares such as asking a stranger for love advice, take a picture with another bachelorette party, finding someone who was born on August 17th (my sister’s wedding day), find someone with the groom aka my sister’s fiancé’s name, and so on. We then had a later dinner reservation at an Italian restaurant for pizza and white wine before heading back to the Airbnb to chat till 1 AM about girl stuff, including loudly singing along to “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion (which later resulted in our neighbor coming by to tell us to be quiet 😂). It was a chill but super fun girls’ night, one of the best we’ve all ever had!

On Saturday, we had a table reservation at the very hip and popular Cabana Pool Bar. That, in my personal opinion, was definitely the highlight of the whole weekend. It looked like one of the pool bars that celebrities would attend. Speaking of celebrities, Fetty Wap actually performed there for a mini concert! The bar is known to have popular DJs come perform at least once a month, and we just happened to be there when Fetty Wap was the performer! It wasn’t a very long show, and he was probably going to come back out by the time we left the pool, but it was so cool and such a blast! It was probably a good thing my mom didn’t end up coming for the weekend because she would not enjoy his kind of music 😂

Aside from music by Mr. Wap, we spent the day drinking mixed drinks and taking tequila shots (don’t worry, we drank enough water in between!), ate some delicious appetizers, danced, cooled off in the pool and laid out on flamingo floaties and just had a chill, fun-filled day in the sun!

We didn’t have any big plans to go out afterwards. As of matter of fact, we were all actually pretty exhausted (we did get to the pool at an early time to have the whole day there). So instead of prettying up and hitting the bars like most bachelorette parties, we decided just to stay in the Airbnb, order Chipotle, watch The Incredibles 2, watch my sister open her lingerie gifts and told funny stories about her and Jordan. It turned out to be even more fun than if we decided to go out! Then within a blink of an eye, it was Sunday morning. Before heading our separate ways till the wedding day, we stopped by the infamous Tim Horton’s for some coffee and donuts and went back to America shortly after.

It was a quick but very well-spent and fabulous weekend. And what matters is that my sister had an amazing time, which means I fulfilled part of my duty as maid of honor until the big day! I can’t believe it’s almost in a month from now, and I couldn’t be more excited to watch her walk down the aisle in her beautiful dress and marry the love of her life! Last weekend will for sure go down in history. Not because it was chaotic, but because it was so fun to spend time celebrating my sister with her closest gal pals, including myself!

#LoGoesLoco 🍾

Where would you want to spend YOUR bachelorette party/weekend? Comment down below and share!

Studying Abroad in Italy: Week 4

Ciao, y’all!

It actually makes me sad because that’s the last time I can really say “ciao” for a while (till the next time I return to Italy). That’s right, my month long trip for studying abroad has officially come to an end 😭 It flew by so fast, it actually was a blur. I still feel like I’m spiritually there, even now I’m physically sitting outside of my house writing this final studying abroad post and drinking a Starbucks passion tea lemonade while my dogs roam around in the green grass.

June literally flew by so fast, it’s hard to believe I was even in Italy for that long. It’s like I was there for only a few seconds (okay, maybe more like a few days), and then I blinked and I was back in Ohio. Although I’m happy to be back home with my family, friends and have a normal routine again, I do really miss Italy and everything about it: the architecture, the accents, the authentic, vintage shops and, of course, the gelato. Studying abroad for a month is long enough for me, but I do kind of wish I had an extra week or two to explore more of Italy without spending time in classes, and even having the opportunity to explore other countries in Europe such as Austria, France, Spain, England, Ireland, etc. But either way, I’m EXTREMELY grateful for the opportunity to go abroad for a whole month and learn about a whole new culture. It has also helped me to mature more and become more wise and strong. I thank my parents for financially supporting me, I thank my friends and relatives for encouraging me to take this opportunity, and I thank God for giving me the strength and passion to follow this dream of mine. I’m so happy about every moment and experience during the trip, even the stressful ones.

Speaking of stressful, the the last weekend in Italy was kind of a shit show 😂 It was stressful at the time, but my friends and I laugh about it now. I spent at the Amalfi Coast with a few fashion majors and their guy friends who I’ve gotten to know throughout the study abroad trip. It was the trip I’ve been looking forward to the most because I’ve heard so many amazing things about all the islands. Y’all no joke, it was one of the most sketchiest experiences of my life …

Don’t get me wrong, it was so amazing to see the islands and see it in its truest beauty. I HIGHLY recommend seeing it before you kick the bucket! It was rather our experience with the Airbnb boat house and the two captains that we stayed with. What happened was we got on the boat and didn’t realize how small it was (there was ten of us and four bedrooms, just to give you the better picture). There were no showers, you couldn’t flush toilet paper in the toilet (you had to throw it away in a plastic bag tied near the sink counter 😖), and it was just a very tight space. But we all didn’t mind that, it was our captains that were the main issue. Not only did they speak poor English, but they were just weird to be around.

For instance, on Friday night, one of them let ten random locals of Postitano on the boat without our permission and let them drink our alcohol, smoked weed and break glass while the captain did all of the above and made out with several of the local women. The next day wasn’t as bad, although that night both our captains got drunk after their night out in Agropoli. They bought us a bottle of wine and thanked us for a “great weekend”, then proceeded to ask me and my girlfriends to take our shirts off and give them lap dances … that was my cue to go to my bedroom, go to bed and pretend that I didn’t hear what I just heard (my girlfriends obviously didn’t give them lap dances either). The next morning, our last day in Amalfi, the captains were supposed to drop us off in Salerno at 9 AM so that we could take a train back to Florence. However, by the time we all woke up, we were still in Agropoli. And our captains told us that we had ten minutes to get off the boat. We argued with them for straight ten minutes that they were supposed to drop us off in Solerna to get to the train station, but they kept refusing to listen to us. They left us no choice but to leave the boat and spend an hour in the dreadful heat trying to find a train station on an island we weren't familiar with at all. We couldn’t get any train tickets back to Florence till early in the morning, so we took a train to Naples for a beach day and to spend the night in a cheap hotel (I don’t recommend staying the night in Naples unless gun shots in the middle of the night don’t bother you).

Thankfully, we made it back to Florence the following morning without any issues! Despite that crazy and sketchy weekend, I am grateful that I not only got to see the majority of Amalfi (including Postitanto, Capri, and Agropoli) but spend time with this new group of friends who I am now very close with. We had a blast just laughing around, exploring the areas we went to, and learning about each other. Were still going to try to get a refund for the weekend after our captains screwed us over, but either way I’ll always never regret that weekend with my friends in one of the most beautiful places in all of Europe.

The final week in Florence wasn’t as thrilling, at least not as our weekend in Amalfi 😂 We were all busy with final projects and writing a five page paper for one class (boooooo), but we still managed to enjoy our last few moments in the beautiful city. I finished shopping for my relatives, friends and for myself, went to a few of my favorite local cafes and restaurants one last time, and hung out with all my friends before we all parted our ways till the upcoming fall semester. Before heading to the airport bright and early in the morning, the Kent State Florence staff hosted a special farewell dinner for students at the Palazzo Borghese Ricevimenti E Banchetti. I honestly felt spoiled having my dinner there, it was STUNNING! The ballroom we ate in looked like an art museum or a ballroom in a Disney movie such as Cinderella or Beauty and the Beast! They served us delicious zucchini rice, spinach cheese ravioli, beef and potatoes, and vanilla yogurt with fruit. It was a simple but fun way to celebrate the last few moments in Florence, with great people, a beautiful Italian ballroom and delicious food!

I will forever for this opportunity I had to study abroad in one of the most beautiful, unique countries in the world, and I look forward to revisiting it as well as exploring other beautiful, unique countries around the world. And for all of you who went on the journey with me and read all my posts about my trip, grazie!

What’s your favorite thing about Italy? If you’ve never been, what would you like to see if you ever go? Comment below and start a conversation!

Shop My Swimsuit: Yamamay

Studying Abroad in Italy: Week 3

Ciao, y’all!

Welp, week 3 of studying abroad here in Florence is officially history and now the final week is around the corner! I can’t believe it! It feels like just yesterday I flew in from Ohio (with two layovers in Boston and Amsterdam) and am still learning my way around the European city. Thankfully, it didn’t take me that long to navigate around and memorize specific locations, and I hardly feel homesick now! I’ve just been absolutely grateful for the opportunities God has given me during this trip and the experiences I’ve been having, both with myself and my friends.

Thursday was super intriguing because I went to my first ever fashion trade show! It’s called Pitti Uomo, and it takes place in Florence annually during this time of year. Like any fashion trade show, it showcases all different kinds of apparel, both menswear and womenswear, from different unique companies that are predicted to be big trends for the next year. I went with my European Fashion Study Tour class to get an better perspective of how these kinds of fashion trade shows run. I was definitely very impressed and mesmerized, along with all my fellow fashion classmates. There were countless amazing trends that are for sure going to kill the 2020 runway next year, and I’m so grateful I was one of the first ones to preview it!

One of the sessions at the trade show, specifically for shoes.

On Friday, we took a train and traveled to the one and only Rome during our day off of classes. I’ve been to Rome before during my trip with my family and neighbors when I was 17, but I was more than happy to go back and see it all again in person. Looking back now, I don’t regret it one bit. Rome is a amazing city with so many things to do. We did all the important staple locations while touring: the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Vatican City, and just walked around a little bit. No joke, we got in over 20,000 steps from the whole day! That meant we could treat ourselves to some good ol’ gelato. Speaking of which, we went to the famous Giolitti and had amazing gelato. It was so creamy and cold, perfect since we were exhausted and sweating our asses off! It was so good that two of my roommates literally went back for second cones 😂🙌🏻

Gelato at Giolitti!

The following weekend, my roommates and I did two trips to San Gimignano and Cinque Terre, both through a student travel program called Bus2Alps. It was absolutely one of the best wine tastings I’ve ever been on! Drinking wine in Tuscany … not many people can say they did that! The first winery we stopped at was Fattoria Poggio Alloro, located about ten minutes outside of San Gimignano. They had great wine, STUNNING sceneries of the countryside, and adorable white cows!

Shortly after, we drove over to explore San Gimignano before the next wine tasting. It was such a beautiful medieval town. I could honestly see myself living there near the Tuscany countryside, I would never get sick of it! Unless the WiFi is terrible ... but it would still cool! After getting some gelato and shopping at the outdoor market, we headed back down into the countryside for the second and final wine tasting at Tenuta Torciano, an absolutely gorgeous winery. They shared at least eight different types of wine with all of us and gave us food to different wine, including the owner’s grandma’s special lasagna recipe which tasted AMAZING! It’s safe to say we were a little exhausted (and tipsy) by the end of the day, but I don’t regret anything!

This view of the Tuscany countryside is absolutely breathtaking!

From left to right: me, Jackie, Haylee, and Marj

San Gimignano

My roommates and I spent the last day of the third weekend by spending our Sunday in Cinque Terre with Bus2Alps. Y’all, it was absolutely unreal. It was even better than I anticipated it to be. It looked even cooler in person than on Pinterest! 😂 My favorite part of the whole day trip was hiking up the Monterosso mountains over the the beach. It was extremely high up and I felt a bit nervous at some parts of the hike, but the gorgeous scenery made the sweat and nervousness all worth it.

And you wanna know what made even more worth it? Getting to layout on the beach and drink a frozen strawberry Corona margarita bucket! They legit put a Corona bottle in the bucket. I’m not a big fan of beer, but I enjoyed drinking it during my beach time! Safe to say, me and my friends got a little too tipsy two days in a row 😂 But we still made wise decisions and still had fun, that’s all that matters!

Margarita (and Corona) time! 🍹

This week for our European Fashion Study Tour class, we took two field trips. The first one was on Tuesday in Prato, where we explored the textile district. On Wednesday and Thursday was a big one for us fashion majors ... Milan! It’s the trip all of the fashion students, including myself, have been looking forward to all this month! I mean, it’s basically one of the top fashion capitals of the world, so who wouldn’t be excited?!

We stayed there for one night in a hostel and spent the two days with fashion museum tours for our class and exploring during our free time. Honestly, it didn’t feel like we had enough time to explore the city because we had to be back at certain times to meet with our two professors for the next tours. But there were two major staple locations I wanted to see, and that were the Milan Cathedral and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Thankfully, there was plenty of time to see those places and they were so beautiful to see in person, so I’m very grateful! It was definitely an awesome getaway with my fellow fashion major friends. Not bad for a class field trip!

Milan Cathedral

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

For the last week here in Italia (sigh), I’ll be spending the weekend with my friends at the Amalfi Coast and the following week in Florence exploring and living it up (and trying not to procrastinate on my final projects) before I head back to good ol’ America!

While I’m definitely excited to go back home and see my family/friends, cuddle with my dogs and not have to pay for water at every restaurant, I do feel very bittersweet about leaving Italy. Even though I think one month is a long time to be in another country, it has started to become more like home. I’ve met so many great people, learned a lot about the culture, ate whatever I wanted and not feel guilty about it (thanks to the amount of walking involved every day!), and of course, I’ve learned a lot about myself. I know that sounds cliche, but it’s true. I am more independent, confident, wise, and strong than before!

Any last recommendations you have for me before I head into my final week of studying abroad in Florence? Don’t be shy, comment down below and tell me so! 

Studying Abroad in Italy: Week 2

Another week in Italy gone, and now it’s halfway through the month! Only two weeks left in this beautiful country, which is bizarre to even think about!

Last Friday, every Kent student in the program, no matter what major, had to take a mandatory field trip to Siena, an hour and a half outside of Florence. To be honest, I’m not sure exactly why it was considered “mandatory”, especially because they waited to tell us till we got to the orientation the previous weekend. Despite that though, I’m really glad I went and experienced it in person. Siena is BEAUTIFUL! We didn’t have all day but we still made the best out of it. We went to the Siena Cathedral, walked around the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, climbed the Facciatone to a get a view of the whole city and Tuscan countryside (ABSOLUTELY worth it, despite the amount of steps!), explored the Palazzo Pubblico, and, of course, ate some gelato. I highly recommend visiting Siena if you have never been. It’s such a charming, vintage European town with so much history and wonder. It kind of reminded me of a village you would see in an old-fashioned movie or also the opening scene of Beauty and the Beast!

View of Siena from Facciatone

Palazzo Pubblico

The following day, me and my friends Megan and Chelsey decided to spend the day exploring Pisa. It took less than an hour to get there by train (we didn’t take the faster train, we just took the normal one), and it was only around $8 euros per person. In my personal opinion, while the city is beautiful and iconic, it’s only worth a day to visit rather than a whole weekend. The only thing that most tourists really do there is take pictures with the Leaning Tower of Pisa 😂 But I still recommend going for a day and exploring. It’s totally worth it and you’'ll learn so much more about the city than you did before!

Baby got back!

From right to left: Chelsea, me, and Megan

On Sunday, to end the weekend, me and two of my roommates, Marj and Haylee, took a day trip to Viareggio to hang out at the beach. It was 90 FREAKING DEGREES in Florence, and we felt that we would probably die if we decided to stay there for the day. So that’s when we looked up some train tickets and booked them for a beach day! We left in the morning to take a train there and we arrived there within an hour and a half. By the time we were on the train and at Viareggio, it was PACKED. There were a lot of students who, just like us, were on their weekend break going to the beach for some fun in the sun. We met two really nice Italian girls, Francesca and Demet, who were heading to the beach as well and they spoke clear English, so they let us hang out with them! We chatted with them on the train and went to a grocery store to get some snacks and drinks, then we headed towards the beach. Thank goodness that we met them because Francesca spoke Italian to all the employees there and helped us get chairs by the water to layout on! It was such a nice day. We went for a few dips in the ocean, ate, drank, took some fun pics, and just chilled in the sun. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

From right to left: Marj, me, and Haylee

Selfie at the beach with our new friends Francesca (top right) and Demet (bottom right)!

Week 2 of classes started off with another field trip to the Palazzo Vecchio for my Italian Fashion & Culture course. I’ve only seen the outside of the museum, so I was definitely excited to see the inside of it. It was absolutely stunning, just so purely authentic and historical! Later that day, I went to a food tasting with a bunch of other students hosted by Pozzo Divino. The owner was so sweet and intelligent, he gave us so many insightful information as he served us cheese, bread (with no salt!), olive oil, balsamic vinegar, prosciutto, and salami. He also said that the restaurant hosts special wine tasting events every week, and that Kent State students get a 20% discount on wine bottles … I’m certainly going to one those for sure for good wine with good discounts!

On Tuesday, my first class met for our next field trip at the Pitti Palace, home of the famous Boboli Gardens. It was so beautiful and majestic! Except I didn’t have time to use the bathroom beforehand, so I had to hold it in for at least over an hour which was a little uncomfortable, especially in a big ass museum 🙃 Afterwards, me and a few friends in my fashion classes decided to get lunch at La Milkeria (of course after I was finally able to pee). Y’all, I HIGHLY recommend going there if you ever come to Florence! It’s soooo good. They serve Nutella crepes, pancakes, and waffles that are unreal. They also have delicious iced vanilla lattes. It’s now officially one of my new favorite restaurants in Firenze that I’m definitely going back to at least ten more times this month! Later that night, me, my roommates and a few of our gal pals decided to hit up a sports bar called Reserve, which a lot of Kent State students go to for Tuesday night discounts on drinks. Despite not being a big partner, that was one of the best nights of my life! We drank, we danced, we drank, we danced … thankfully, I drank plenty of water afterwards to avoid having a hangover. Still, I enjoyed that night with my friends and all the other students (at least the ones I know). It was much needed break for all of us!

On Wednesday, for our European Fashion Study Tour class, we went to the Salvatore Ferragamo to learn about how sustainability plays a major role in the fashion industry. They showed off a bunch of displays featuring outfits made out of reused material that are environmental friendly and help decrease pollution (the fashion industry actually ranks in the top of most polluted industries). It was seriously one of the most intriguing museums I’ve ever visited. I love that sustainability is becoming more of an awareness in the fashion world, we need it now more than ever! And the sustainable outfits that were on display at the museum were CHIC AF. I’d definitely wear them!

Another successful and amazing week in Italia, if I do say so myself. This weekend I will be spending Friday in Rome, Saturday in Chianti and San Gimignano for a wine tasting tour as well as spending Sunday in Cinque Terre. I also have field trips to Prato and Milan for my European Fashion Study Tour class, so stay tuned to hear about them all in next week’s post! 

I’m here in Florence for another two weeks and I’m still open for any recommendations, so comment below if you have any for me!

Studying Abroad in Italy: Week 1

Soooooo y’all know that I’m currently in Florence, Italy taking a few summer courses for my major. It’s been a BLAST! It’s still so unreal that I’m living here right now, like it still hasn't hit me yet. I walk around the city exploring every day (eating gelato of course) and even just chilling in my apartment and I’ll think to myself, “I’m literally in Europe right now. How did this happen?” 😂 But here I am starting out my summer in the best way possible and I’m just absolutely grateful that God blessed me with this incredible opportunity. And now I get to share my so-far amazing experience with ya!

My month-long adventure in Florence officially started last Thursday. I flew from Cleveland to Boston for a two hour layover, then we flew over to Amsterdam and got there around 6 am European time (I think I only got 30 minutes of sleep and spent most of the time watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Grease), and then we flew over to Florence shortly after. Needless to say, I was completely jet-lagged. I honestly spent my first day in Florence drifting off and taking a bunch of naps. I was also the only person in my apartment (my roommates moved in a day after me) and was feeling super homesick. It hit me then that I was going to be living in Europe far away from home for a whole freaking month. Honestly, I’m still homesick, but thankfully I’ve adjusted a lot more to the Italian city lifestyle.

My first night was spent out on the town with my friend Jill, whom I met on the group flight. We played it simple by going to a small restaurant near her apartment (no joke, it’s literally called The Small!), where we had glasses of Chardonnay and DELICIOUS gnocco alla sorrentina. Afterwards, we got some gelato and rode the carousal in Piazza Della Signora (it was only 2 euros per adult!). and went back to our apartments to get a good night’s sleep. It was a simple yet perfect first night!

Due to still being jet-lagged, I slept till 10:30 am. It was so nice, especially from being jet-lagged for so long! One of my roommates/friends, Marj, arrived at that same time and spent most of her day napping (from being jet-lagged of course). I was very hungry and still exhausted from the plane rides, so I went for a Nutella croissant and iced cappuccino at a cafe called the Habitat. After sitting in the sun enjoying my late breakfast (and trying to not let the pigeons take it), I decided to take a stroll around the city for a while to get a feel of Florence. I walked around Piazza Della Signora, the Duomo, the shopping districts, and much more. I was amazed by all the architecture and the diversity of people. It started to make some of my homesickness fade away. I just felt so grateful to be in Europe traveling around independently and learning about another culture. I felt so empowered during just one stroll! My other roommates finally arrived later in the day and we went out together for a pasta dinner, red wine and gelato for dessert. Another perfect night well spent!

The next two days of the weekend were orientation for the KSU summer institute program. It held basic lectures about how to adjust to life in Florence and details about the summer program. It wasn’t the most exciting thing in the world obviously, but I’m still glad I went. There were also two tours per day around the city, which wasn’t much sightseeing but still super intriguing. The best part about the weekend was hanging out with my roommates and the new friends I’ve made. The highlight was on Saturday night when a group of us walked over the river (and took pictures at golden hour of course) to get dinner at Regine Pizzeria. It was a little hard because all the waiters only spoke Italian, but it was such a fun night. We ate margherita pizza and calzones, drank red wine, and just had an overall great time laughing and smiling. The waiters also surprised us with a Nutella pizza dessert, which we didn’t even ask for since we didn’t speak their language! It was so delicious, and it kinda made me relieved that we didn’t go out for gelato sooner. We later went to a night club called Space to have a few drinks and dance around till midnight. I’m not a big party girl, but I just had so much fun with all my gal pals. It helped me start adjusting to life in Florence even more!

Classes officially started on Monday. I’m taking Italian Fashion & Culture and Field Experience: European Fashion Study Tour. They are super intriguing, not very hard and I love the professors (especially their Italian accents!), and they both involve field trips which I absolutely love. For the first class so far, we visited the Verrocchio exhibition at the Palazzo Strozzi and the Aquaflor (which I highly recommend checking out if you’re a perfume junkie like me!). For the Study Tour class, we took a day trip to Carpi (two hours north of Florence) to visit the Liu-Jo headquarters. There we got a perspective of what it’s like to look for a fashion company. It was really good to learn more about the fashion industry and just made me appreciate my major even more. I’m so blessed for this opportunity to study abroad in the Italian fashion culture and for the opportunities to come!

There’s more updates to come in the next three weeks of the trip. This weekend I’ll be visiting Siena on Friday and then just chilling Florence for the rest of the weekend and upcoming week, so you’ll definitely hear all about those trips!

If you’ve been to Italy before and loved it, what were your favorite things about it? Give me some recommendations while I’m here for the remaining time!

(Sorta) Sleepless in Seattle

Happy first week of April, y’all! I can’t believe it’s already April, which means were almost halfway through 2019! Wow, I feel so old 😂 Anyway, I just got back from my spring break vacation and I’m so eager to finally tell you guys all about it!

Both my mom and I had the same week off for spring break, so we went to Seattle for four days. We was super excited to go, both of us have never been before! It’s on my bucket list to visit every state at least once, so I was very happy to finally check Washington off my list. I’ve also always wanted to see Seattle in person, so that was a bonus! I would totally visit again more often, it’s one of the coolest and most unique cities I’ve ever been to. There’s so much to do, you can never be bored!

One of my favorite spots in all of Seattle was Pike’s Place Market. It’s a very iconic part of the city, so my mom and I had to see what the hype was all about. Luckily, we were very impressed. That was our first stop on our first day of the trip; where we ate breakfast at Lowell’s and walked around the farmers market, as well as bought a beautiful bouquet of flowers. We went back again to walk around the two other days we spent in Seattle. It’s also the perfect place to take cute, authentic pictures for your Instagram! I should warn you though, it gets super crowded with people and cars. Plus, everyone wants a picture. That’s why it’s the most Instagrammable spot in the city!

Pike’s Place Market

We did about pretty much everything you could imagine in Seattle for three days. We saw the Great Gum Wall (gross but worth it!), went to the top of the Space Needle, toured the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum, went up for some drinks at the Sky View Observatory at the Columbia Center, saw the original Starbucks location, and explored both Queen Anne (I don’t recommend walking there, the hills are STEEP AF!) and Capitol Hill. We hardly missed anything, which I’m very satisfied with! There are a few restaurants that I want to recommend, but I don’t want to explain every single one. Here’s a list of some of my favs:

• Assaggio Ristorante

• Bacco Cafe

• HeartBeet Organic Superfoods Cafe (Their PB & J smoothies are the BOMB!)

• Outlier

• The Seattle Roastery | Starbucks Reserve

• La Cocina Oaxaquena

One day, we decided to escape the city for some nature and hiking. My cousin Karly is a traveling scientist who’s currently working in Seattle, so she met us on the Bremerton island to take us to the Olympic National Park. Y’all, it was beautiful. One of my favorite things about the West Coast is the amazing scenery, especially the mountains. They were everywhere we drove and hiked. They were big and majestic, it was absolutely unreal! I was overwhelmed with joy just looking at the scenery. It was like jumping into a photo on Pinterest!

Karly took us to Lake Cresent and then to Cape Flattery, the Northwestern-Most Point in the Contiguous U.S. Those two places were what I would consider the most beautiful places I’ve have ever seen in my life so far. I could see God’s creation in every single detail: the clear blue water, the ginormous rocks in the coves, the radiant sunshine, and the insane view we had of Canada from afar! I could go on and on. Everything about the scenery was so incredible, and I’m so grateful we got to experience it in person.

Plus, we saw a bald eagle flying over the bay at Cape Flattery! It was the most patriotic thing I’ve ever seen in my life, it was so cool! My mom was so happy, she’s always wanted to see a bald eagle in person. I wanted to sing the National Anthem as it happened! It was a perfect day to be an proud American, just like every day 🇺🇸

Lake Cresent, Washington

Karly and I ❤️

Cape Flattery, where we saw the bald eagle!

Seattle definitely now ranks in the top of my best spring break trips yet to date! The only thing that would have made the trip better would have been hanging out with Tom Hanks, which is why the title only says “(Sorta) Sleepless in Seattle … maybe next time perhaps!

Did you go anywhere or do anything fun for spring break? Comment below and share!

Chicago Getaway

Hey, y’all! I hope everyone had a fabulous and well-rested weekend. I certainly did, I went to Chicago with my cousin and mom to hang out with my sister Lauren! Her fiancé Jordan was out of town to watch the Cleveland Indians play a few pre-season games in Arizona, so the three of us ladies decided to fly over to the Windy City to keep her - and her adorable dog Marvel - company for the few days. It was absolutely a much-needed girls’ weekend!

Normally, I have a bunch of pictures from my trips featured on my travel blog posts, usually more than enough 😂 But I honestly didn’t take that many pictures during this trip to Chicago. Mainly because I’ve been there so many times that I didn’t feel the need to take more pictures. I was also too focused on staying in the present moment and enjoying my time with my mom, sister, and cousin. Even bloggers need a social media detox every once in a while! Although I still managed to post a good amount of stuff on my Instagram stories … mostly food. But I don’t regret that even one bit, Chicago food is AMAZING!

Jenna, my cousin, hadn’t been to Chicago since we were at an appropriate age to shop at the American Girl Doll store. Ironically, that was the one thing she remembered from her first trip! So we had to show her all (or at least most) of our favorite spots in the city. We took her to the Water Tower, the Magnificent Mile, Macy’s (originally Marshall Field’s), and Lincoln Park. We also introduced her to a few of our favorite restaurants: Cafe Ba Ba Reeba, BomboBar, Foodlife, and Yolk. Something new that none of us have done before is take the Untouchable bus tour, which consists of history about Chicago gangsters (Al Capone, John Dillinger, Bugs Moran, etc.) and tour guides acting as 1920’s gangsters. They showed us the sites of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, the Biograph Theatre, and Holy Name Cathedral. It was a very intriguing tour. It was something I never thought we would ever do but I’m glad we did!

It was overall a perfect girls’ trip! What are your favorite things to do in Chicago? Comment down below and share!

I also want to say that I LOVE my outfit in the picture above! These striped wide-legged pants from Altar’d State are my current obsession. They’re so chic and so cozy, double bonus! The grey sweater I’m wearing from Jones New York used to be owned by my late grandmother, so I’m wearing it in honor of her ❤️ The two pieces, along with the military boots, gold layered necklace and silver cat eye sunglasses, match perfectly together. It was perfect to wear on the plane ride and all around Chicago, especially in the chilly weather. It’s my new go-to outfit for anything! Unfortunately, I don’t have all the available links to these fashion pieces, but you can shop a similar look down below!

SHOP MY OUTFIT