snowflake leggings in the boboli gardens

Red Dress Boutique leggings | Longchamp bag | Corso Como boots | H&M coat | Free People shirt | Chanel sunglasses | J. Crew bracelet (similar)

Living in Italy, it is a little difficult to shop online at my favorite US boutiques due to international shipping. Don't get me wrong, the shopping here is amazing (but can get pretty expensive), though sometimes I enjoy looking at the styles from the stores back home. I got these adorable Christmas leggings from The Red Dress Boutique and shipped them to my parents' house, and then my dad brought them with when he visited for Christmas. I can finally wear them! Yay! I love the variety of snowflake prints and the bright colors. Since they're not in the typical red and green Christmas colors, I will definitely be wearing these throughout the rest of the winter season!

xo-ally

rugby stripes; at the vatican

Florence boutique sweater (similar) | Trouve leggings (similar) | Longchamp bag | Ray-Ban sunglasses | Tory Burch flats | Henri Bendel earrings

Merry Christmas EVE! I haven't posted an outfit in a while but I was out and about in Rome yesterday and decided to take a quick couple photos of this outfit. I wore my cozy new sweater and leggings, perfect for the train ride, complete with flats for walking around the huge city, in addition to sunglasses because of the sunny (!) weather. The Vatican is gorgeous, and while I've seen it before, it never disappoints. It is honestly the most elaborate, most gorgeous church I have ever been in. Photos of Rome to come soon!

Have a great day, can you believe it is almost Christmas?!

xo-ally

christmas sweater and leggings

Subdued sweater | Trouve leggings (similar) | H&M sneakers (non-high-top version here)

Super casual outfit today. Last week I stopped in at a boutique in Florence and got this adorable baggy winter sweater! It is perfect for the Christmas season with the reindeer and tree. The hearts are cute too :) the whole design is printed on the back as well! It's super cozy and nice to wear while running errands around the city.

xo-ally

insta-lately...

It's already December! Wow! I can't believe 2013 is almost over and a new year is on its way. My favorite thing about December is getting in the Christmas spirit (see my Christmas 2013 playlist here). Traveling around Europe these past couple weeks and seeing the festive decorations in all these beautiful cities makes me even more excited for my favorite winter holiday. Here are a few of my favorite recent Instagram uploads filled with winter happiness! (Can you believe my summer-loving self just used the term "winter happiness?" Me neither. I guess when Christmas is involved, winter can be happy. Haha.)

Prague is beautiful at night! And the Christmas markets make the city even more charming.

 A recent OOTD from Budapest and my new favorite hat and scarf combo! Loving emerald green and how it goes with pretty much anything. I know I haven't been doing many outfit posts lately but it's hard to find a good time to take the photos when we're out and about working! 

 Walking along the river in Interlaken, Switzerland. No filter on this one! The river is so serene and the beginning of winter meant snow on the top half of the mountains and colored leaves on the trees on the bottom half. 

 The John Lennon wall in Prague! Not Christmas-y, but I thought it was cool to see the colorful wall in the middle of a city that has pastel colored buildings and traditional architecture. 

I had some time to kill one day before heading into a meeting, so instead of going home and going all the way back out, I sat on a bench in Piazza Republica in Florence while I waited. I started reading The Alchemist for the fourth time. I highly recommend this book if you haven't already read it. It's incredibly inspiring and I always pull it back out if I need some direction in life or just a nice pick-me-up.

Follow me on Instagram here!

xo-ally

happy thanksgiving! "friendsgiving" and 80s night photos!

Happy Thanksgiving! We celebrated in Florence with a "friendsgiving" last night since we'll all be traveling tonight and going to different places. I'm definitely not blessed with culinary skills (maybe it's just being lazy about cooking, ha) so I helped with groceries...and that's about it. Oh, I helped eat it too. Does that count?

Sam and Mollie made the most delicious turkey:

We also had mashed potatoes (my favorite side dish), carrot souffle, green bean casserole, and apple pie.

There was also a store-bought cake that I jokingly told everyone I made from scratch. One of the guys believed me. The rest knew me too well. ;)

On Tuesday we hosted an 80s Rock party at one of the bars in Florence. It was a lot of fun to dress up and listen to the music.

I straightened Rory's massive curly hair! Cam drew on fake (and pretty funny) tattoos. The boys were wearing crazy printed leggings, a lot of denim, and wigs. So great.

Tonight I'm off to Prague for the weekend. There's been a lot of weekend trips lately. I'm excited because I haven't been to the Czech Republic yet and I've heard Prague is a beautiful city.

Hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving with family and friends!

xo-ally

denim on denim

H&M shirt | Nordstrom tank | H&M jeans | Nike shoes | Chanel sunglasses | Michael Kors watch | J. Crew bracelet | Longchamp bag

Quick outfit post today, just wanted to share my casual outfit. It was in the high 60s so I was quite warm wearing this, but since it's the first day of November I would've felt a little silly wearing shorts! (Even though I really wanted to...) I like mixing the dark wash denim with lighter colored chambray. These H&M skinnies were only 10 euros - such a steal - and are really comfortable. I needed another pair of skinnies so I was happy to find a super inexpensive pair that doesn't look cheap or sloppy.

Thanks for stopping by :)

xo-ally

chambray in firenze

 H&M top | Nordstrom skirt (similar longer designer version) | J. Crew bracelets (similar here and here) | Tory Burch sandals | Swank necklace | Chanel sunglasses

I have a new camera! It turns out that my main lens was okay and just my camera body was broken. I upgraded from the Nikon D3100 to the D3200 (the new version of the same camera) and kept my lens. Now I'm back in business and hope to be doing more outfit posts! This one comes from Florence on the Arno River. It was a gorgeous day and even more beautiful at dusk, when we shot these photos. I love the way a casual chambray top goes with this black cupcake skirt, which I wore from day, then out to dinner, and then out at night.

Thanks for stopping by!

xo-ally

a florentine weekend

I stayed in Florence this weekend and took a trip up to Piazzale Michaelangelo, which has the best view of Florence. I hadn't been up there since I was a student two years ago, so it was nice to take in the magical view once again.

One thing not so magical, however, are the tiger mosquitoes in Florence. They are enormous compared to regular mosquitoes (see the photo below) and just seem to love leaving bites on my skin in particular. Can't wait for bug season to be over!

 Three guys and three girls in one apartment...recipe for a mess! A couple of us cleaned this weekend, however, when the boys get back...it might not be so clean anymore. Which is I why I documented the clean state of the apartment with a photo, because it may not look like this for a while...

xo-ally

first day

hello firenze

gelato (ciccolata e fragola, the usual) 

^I hope I spelled that right

walked past my old pensione from when I studied abroad 

 first trip to the grocery store

 yes. doner kebabs.

so yummy!

xo-ally

italy.

I can't believe I am actually writing this from my apartment in Italy. It feels so surreal to be back in Europe in a different country. It is beautiful here - just like I remember it. With such a long day of traveling, major jet lag, and doing some actual work, I am so ready to go to bed! I think it's in the afternoon on the west coast of the US right now, but it's 10pm here. With the time-change and the long flight, I basically pulled an all-nighter and I can feel it - I'm wiped! I will definitely update more and hopefully post some pics as soon as I can :)

xo-ally

ombre hair

The ombre hair trend has been going strong for quite some time now and I don't see it leaving anytime soon. It is a way to (in most cases) subtly add color and most of the time looks fantastic! It is low maintenance, so touch-ups aren't needed as often, especially if the color on top is your original hair color. I really like the ombre hair trend, and these fab ladies below look perfect!

Lately I've been looking through photos from when I studied abroad a couple summers ago. A few months before I went abroad I had a "trim" that turned out to be more like 5-6 inches off my hair. I love having long hair and was so sad to see my length hit just below the shoulder. So I got hair extensions. It looked great at first and it was nice to have more volume. However, during my time abroad, my extensions faded!!! The color changed to a lighter brown. A few people thought I just got highlights.....haha. My hair kind of looked ombre:

I actually like the look. If I weren't afraid of dying my hair (I've never colored it, ever) then maybe I would do this. I love my original color too much to color it, but ombre wouldn't change the roots.

HOWEVER, I saw this photo from my last night in Florence. My extensions look so fake. I just CRINGE when I see this photo!! Needless to say I took the extensions out when I got back to the US :(

There are times when I think I might put those extensions back in to get more volume and an "ombre hair" look but then remind myself of the photo above. Sometimes it just ain't pretty. Maybe I'll be able to find a way to make it look more real....hmm if you see any future photos of me with semi-lighter hair that's probably what I tried to do!!

Anyways, I am a big fan of the ombre hair trend and I have a feeling it will last longer than we think. What do you think of ombre hair?

xo-ally

I'm guest posting today!

Hello, hello! Happy Wednesday. Today I am posting on Giraffes Garlic Glamour, my friend Aryn's blog, about the essential steps for cold winter layering! Check it out here.

What's cool about this guest post is that Aryn and I actually know each other in real life. We studied in Florence at the same time and go to the same school! We were even pensione roomies in Italiaaaa :)

Now if you stumbled upon my blog by coming from Giraffes Garlic Glamour, I want to say welcome! Thank you for stopping by. If this were a party and I were the hostess, I'd invite you to sit down, have a drink, and enjoy yourself! And may I take your coat? If only more regular day happenings were parties... Haha :)

xo-ally

firenze clothes

Tank, bandeau: Brandy Melville Scarf: Subdued (Firenze) Jeans: DL 1961 Cardigan: Nordstrom Watch: Michael Kors Ring: Kate Spade Bracelets: F21 Ankle boots: me Too

Since I'm a GIF ambassador, I am answering questions at a meeting tonight for next year's students studying abroad. What is more appropriate than wearing a few pieces I got while I was in Italy?! The tank, bandeau, and scarf I'm wearing are from shops in Florence. :)

To go with the neutrals of the tank and scarf, I wore chocolate-colored skinny jeans with brown ankle boots, and a hot pink cardigan for some color. 

I miss Italy (and the shopping) so much...

xo

dreaming of rome

This semester I am taking a Roman archaeology class, and today's lecture only had me dreaming of my days in Rome (I studied abroad in Florence last summer with a four-day opening tour in Rome.) I miss it so much! When the professor showed a photo of the Stadium of Domitian on the PowerPoint, I could almost taste the nutella and strawberry gelato I had near Piazza Navona.

The first gelato I ever had

One of the three fountains at Piazza Navona

We discussed The Colosseum earlier this week...

I met an Italian who said "I live that way, near the Colosseum" like it was no big deal

We talked about The Pantheon too!

The oculus inside The Pantheon

The Vatican is gorgeous! It was cool to see some of the art in the book that I saw in the museum.

I took this photo of The Vatican from far away at this other castle! What wonders a zoom lense can do

I am so nostalgic right now. I miss Italy so much! I so, totally, completely, hope I am fortunate enough to go back and visit.

But for now, my Roman archaeology class will just have to suffice!

xo

falling in love quote

When I was in Florence for GIF this summer we had these short church services every Tuesday. There was always a positive vibe in the small chapel and the church leaders would talk about God and life and play songs on an acoustic guitar. The services were so charming and always put me in a good mood. Every week they would give us a piece of paper with an inspirational quote relating to the service. This one stood out to me, and I have it hanging up on my desk:

"Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than

Falling in Love

in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything."

-Pedro Arrupe, S.J.

Whenever I read this quote, I imagine it to be narrated by James Garner (the guy who played the older Noah in The Notebook). Wouldn't that make sense? Right?! Ah, The Notebook is such a good movie.

Anyways, this quote inspires me every day.

Realize your dreams and make them a reality.

xo

Italian Fashion Post #1

Photo Source

I am loving all the fashion here I'm seeing in Italy. While I've finally started shopping when I got to Florence, my bank account has taken a small hit. (Euros have much more value than American dollars!)

What I've been loving is how all the European people seem to dress - a little more put-together, a little more classy, a little more...everything. And I love it. I've seen plenty of fedoras, summer scarves, cross-body bags, men in awesome suits and ladies wearing heels on their vespas.

What I've been seeing all over the stores lately are summer brights. Super-bright color-blocking, like seen on the Gucci runway, were a hit in the Italian H&M and Zara stores. Color-blocked heels in neons were everywhere. I kept seeing "Gucci orange" and "Gucci green" all over the place - especially paired together, like at the Gucci Spring 2011 RTW show, below:

Photo Source

Loved this "Gucci orange" dress from Zara:

I also got a really cute white, sheer cropped-ish top from a boutique called Subdued. I'm excited to layer it with different tanks underneath - my plan tomorrow is to wear it with a white tank underneath tucked into high-waisted white shorts, a thick brown belt, gladiator sandals, and a straw hat.

The shirt looks a little like this one from Forever 21:

Here's a photo from the H&M Italy lookbook - that's the hat I got today!

Tomorrow I am going to Elba Island for the weekend (off the coast of Tuscany, no big deal...) and am super excited to wear some more tropical-feeling summer ensembles. I'll keep you posted when I get back from the beach!

ciao bellas,

xo