Cinque Terre: 30x30 Outift 13A

 

Swimsuit, Cover-Up: J Crew final sale ($9.99 and $14 steals!) / Top: Consigned CK / Belt: Ruche / Shoes: Privo

Today we're backtracking to finish the posts on our European trip and my Europe 30x30 from last summer. So let's pretend it's July 2011, and get this show on the road, shall we?

........................................................................................................................

I switched my Outfit 13 dress for a swimsuit cover-up and threw my Keens, a towel, and sunscreen in my backpack for our trek through Cinque Terre, five old Italian villages set on cliffs along the Mediterranean shore, just north of Tuscany.  You can hike a rugged trail along the coast between them, but there's also a train that goes through the mountains just inland.  We headed first to Levanto where we took the train to Riomaggiore, the southernmost village, so we could hike our way back up north through the five villages.

Riomaggiore sprawls through a ravine along the coast, with colorfully classic Italian houses tumbling up the cliffs on either side. If we go again, we'd hike up the hill to get a view of the village from above. This is what it looks like, but the station left us just north of it (left in the linked photo) on the other side of the hill, with the village out of view.  We saw these terraced vineyards, which are plentiful in this region, and didn't realize how pretty the city on the other side was.

Check out that sparkling clear-blue H20. Sheer perfection.

From Riomaggiore, we took the Via dell'Amore trail for a 20 minute hike to Manarola, the next town north. The Via dell'Amore, or Walkway of Love, was the first path to connect any of these 5 villages, built in 1920. Lovers from the two towns met here, carved their names on the rocks and cacti along the route, and began the tradition of locking a padlock around a rail to signify their love. Very charming, indeed:

After a look about the town, we detoured to a rocky area north of Manarola, where you get spectacular views of the classic, colorful city against the cliffs for which Cinque Terre is so popular.

This area also features the best swimming, and of course that is what most excited the Husband. Deep swimming holes beneath breathtaking yet manageable cliffs, and he's higher than a kite on adrenaline and excitement.

I might've been a bit scared at first. But people above were watching.

This one was small enough that I could dive. From here, we have no photos because we had to leave the camera on the rocks to swim to the better cliffs. We swam around some rocky points till we found an ideal cliff, about 40 something feet, with easy climbing access. We each went twice, and people on the trail above cheered and clapped for us, which helped me not chicken out. And also kinda feel like a rock-star. I'm pretty sure that's my highest jump yet.

The water was perfection. Amazing temperature and clear as the sky, though it was saltier than the Pacific or Atlantic. We took goggles to look at the schools of fish, urchins, and anemones. 

Views of Manarola. Photo on the right is taken from Corniglia.

The trail to Corniglia, the next town, was blocked due to landslides, so we went back to Manarola and hopped the train, which dropped us off at the bottom of the the Lardarina-- 382 brick steps up the cliff leading to Corniglia. And I'm not at all ashamed to say that I did it in my swimsuit. It was hot.

Corniglia is the best town for getting away from all the tourists, probably because of all those stairs. Also, it's the only one of the villages that sits atop a large really high cliff and doesn't have direct sea access.  There were lots of pretty vineyards and flowers, though.

Next, we took the 90-minute trail to Vernazza, which offered spectacular views of both Corniglia and Manarola in the distance. 

Vernazza is the most exciting of the villages thanks to it's natural harbor, shops, pedestrian-only streets, and castle ruins. It juts out on a tiny peninsula with vineyards along the hillside above.

Here we grabbed some of the region's famous foccaccia sandwiches {foccaccia originiated here, and pesto also originated in this region}, a spinach torte, and of course, some fresh gelato. This time I got peach along with my usual chocolate and strawberry. 

This shop's resident cat kept a close eye on us. You never know when a human is about to swipe a scarf. Or drop some food.

The last hike, to Monterosso, is supposed to be the longest and most difficult, but also feature the best views. But it was getting late after exploring Vernazzo, so we hopped the train again instead. 

In Monterosso, the Husband swam again while I waded in the clearest water in the world.

 Then we enjoyed the sunset light from the pebbly beach.

That's Vernazza all lit up by the sunset in the valley to the right.

For dinner, we had to try the sardines, for which this place is renowned, but they were pretty dang salty. We also ordered my favorite apricot juice, another foccaccia sandwich, and the best bruschetta in the world. Best ever, I tell you. Five perfectly toasted pieces of a grainy bread, brushed with the perfect blend of fresh olive oil and garlic, and each piece topped with something different: homemade pesto, tomatoes with amazing seasonings, tomatoes and pesto together, garlic, and sardines. I was sure I'd gone straight to heaven.

Apricot juice doesn't last long around me. Why oh why can't this become a staple in the States?!

It was the perfect end to a perfect day. At the end, we caught the train back to Levanto and made our way back to our cozy room at the Cuccaro Club for the night. 

Color Blocked, Finally

Dress: Consigned at Periwinkle / Skirt underneath: Charlotte Russe ($5!) / Shoes, Jewelry: Gabes / Belt: Thrifted

Um, I missed this month's Everybody, Everywear. And it was...are you ready for it? Color blocking. Yes, color blocking. The very trend I've been nominating and voting for for over a year, to no avail. Then it's finally chosen the one month I'm not paying any attention because of vacation. And just before I left for vacation, I found this color blocked dress at a local consignment shop for just a few dollars, wore it to school, and photographed it. It would have been so perfect. 

So here it is, my color blocked dress. What I love about this dress is that it's a bit too short. In the past, that would've stopped me cold. But I didn't flinch when thinking about throwing on this black skirt underneath, and voilà, the length works, and I've added a third block of color. Smack. Down.

I also love that it has pockets. Pockets on a skirt or dress are like whipped cream on hot berry pie. It just makes sense.

Back Logged

Skirt: Consigned at Periwinkle / Top: Banana Republic clearance / Shoes: Baretraps, Elder Beerman clearance / Belt: J Crew Factory / Jewelry: Second Hand Brighton

I've taken a lot of outfit photos since I began this blog, some in some pretty neat places. Europe (twice), a tulip field, the coast (too many times to remember), famous waterfalls, and a giant pumpkin fest, to name a few. However, most of them haven't been posted. And thus you have the story of my life.

I've always felt this pressure to journal, but when I first began to keep more than a trite diary as a kid, I pretty quickly felt like I couldn't keep up with writing about all the events I wanted to include. I ended up with a list of events to write about instead. And instead of crossing off all of the items on the list, I added to them. Until I no longer remembered most of the events well enough to record what I'd wanted. Then I got angry at my journals and tossed them all, along with my embarrassing diaries. Pathetic, I know. This was middle school / early high school.

Then I moved to photo journalism. I was going to make scrapbooks. 4-H camp, girls camp, cross-country and track, senior year, prom, graduation, Myrtle Beach for senior week. That was for high school. Then for university there was Debate team, RA days, my first study abroad, graduation again, moving to Florida and working at Disney, etc., etc. And it was all going to go into my fabulous scrapbooks. I built up quite the arsenal of supplies. When I worked for Disney I even used my discount at its holiday max to stock up. These supplies and pictures and empty scrapbooks are now sitting in plastic tubs, constantly staring at me across from my computer. Taunting me.

And then, ladies and gents, I began a style blog. How convenient, I thought. Documenting outfits on ordinary days as well as extraordinary events will help my new "journal" be more well-rounded. And the outfit part and style challenges would make it fun, so I would actually get it done. And what've I got? About 100 outfits over the past year that I've photographed but never posted because I never found time.

My goal for this summer was to catch up on the photo journalism and style blog. I want to finally be free of these weights. So here I am, with less than a month left in my very busy summer, and I'm just beginning. It's a daunting task, but I'm not ready to give up just yet. One day I'm going to be wrinkled and probably lonesome, and I want memories to relive, thank you very much. So I think I'll begin by finishing last year's Europe trip 30x30. Then I'll cover this years Europe trip, and we'll see where we go from there.

Meanwhile, above you have a fun outfit that's one of my favs. I've worn it several times, including last week, but the pics are from last August. I have no idea what happened on that day.

Shame on me.

Neon Summer

Top: Ross / Skirt: ModCloth / Necklace: BlueFly / Belt: J Crew final sale / Shoes: J Crew via DownEast

I spent quite a bit of time today with my sister and cousin surrounded by the 80s comeback neon clothing that have taken over shopping malls across America. Glittery, glowing-green bustiers, anyone? I also spent the past week wearing a pair of neon-tipped shoes I got for $1 at Old Navy, along with a citrine tank I scored on clearance at Ross, and a lemon-striped scarf I found at Target. I even photographed the neon pink and orange dress I recently thrifted, but didn't post it before leaving such evidence behind, on my desktop at home.

Yet despite all this neon glow I've recently added to my life, I'm traveling at the moment and found myself with nothing to show for it when Everybody, Everywear announced Neon Day at the last minute. I decided, nonetheless, to participate by grittifying a photo from this old post from several months ago when neon was just making its comeback. That's right, I was wearing neon in the winter. Sometimes I even wore open-toed shoes with tights. It's a lawless world, my little bubble.

I thought the grit effect from PicMonkey quite suited the 80s flashbacks I've been experiencing all day, and it also provided a nice remedy to the wicked bout of boredom I'm currently fighting at 2a.m., which will quickly be replaced with jetlag come morning. It seems no matter how tired I make myself on my first day, I can never adjust back to Eastern time. Kind of like how I can never adjust to the lack of being sandwiched between the Husband and the Hound in this lonesome bed. I wish one of my pillows would steal my covers or snort in my ear.

In other news, I've got a whole week of visiting family and friends ahead of me. Then, the Hound-sitter will take over at the S domicile, the Husband will join me, and we'll be, ahem, you could say, getting our Francy-pants on. 

That's right. I said that.

So this is adieu for the next little bit. I'll not be attempting much blogging this time. Instead, I intend to fully enjoy my holiday, and then to return with an artillery of fun travel posts AND to finally finish my European 30x30 that I did last year. Also, expect a moustachioed-cupcake filled post from the last days of school. I never got around to posting that in the wild mess of trying to prepare to leave less than 12 hours after finishing up the school year.

Have a lovely summer, all!

A bientot! { I can't figure out how to make the accents on my netbook, and it's killing me!}

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*A bientot = See you soon!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I Moustache You a Question....

Skirt: H&M / Tee: Red Bubble / Cardi: Maurices / Shoes: Gabes / Sunnies: Urban / Earrings: DC Street Market / Necklace: Grandmother's

Have you ever...

...worn a shirt with both French and a moustache on it?
...while making cupcakes, also with moustaches on them?
...and totally disgracing your old art teacher by trying to mix in yellow with red to make purple { hello, gray icing...}?
...and then handing out said moustachio-ed cupcakes to seniors on their last day of class?
...and afterwards dancing to no music, like a fool, behind them whilst they participate in a fake interview, in a total, shameless copy-cat attempt to recreate this?

I have.

And it was fun.

I must say, I do quite the mean Macarena. It drew a few whoops and whistles at Senior night :)