Feeling Blue?

I cannot believe I am saying this but.. the semester is over! I thought this day would never come!
After a full immersion in school books I can finally breathe and dedicate some well deserved attention to myself. And what better way is there to relax than to dive in to a pool of blue sparkles at the Renato Balestra Alta Moda fashion show in Rome?

Yup, Sunday January 26th 2013 is a date I will celebrate from now on.
It is the day of my first fashion show! And the day I broke my iPhone... Again..
Let's avoid that subject.

I will start out by saying everything turned out exactly the way I had imagined. Minus the part where I shatter my phone, but we can pretend to forget about that for now.
As I flip through my still vivid memories I am literally overwhelmed.
The people, the clothes, the jewelry, everything was simply amazing. And I would post photographs, if my phone were alive! OK no more bringing that up I promise.
Anyways, as I was saying, the clothes, the clothes, the clothes!

From the glamorous and fashionable show-goers to the overly lucky models, I could not stop looking around with sparkling dreamy eyes. And thanks to my non stop scrutinizing I was able to hold a two-second-at-maximum eye contact with Silvia Venturini Fendi (a.k.a. Head of Accessories of Fendi and one of my most revered icons)!!
But back to the clothes.

The color blue was definitely the outright star of the collection. A blue that was at times regal and dramatic, and others rendered more delicate with the appearance of white elements.
The music, the flowers, the jewelry, it was like a slice of sky had fallen on earth.

And what would a sky be without it's beloved sparkling stars?
I caught myself quite a few times staring in adoration at the unbelievable jewelry and the blue and white gems that twinkled on the flirty cocktail and evening dresses.

Of course I was sharing all this magic with the best company.
With only two available tickets I could only take one of my inseparable halves. Fortunately L. had family plans so my decision was made with no hair pulling or face scratching! JK. One of the many things I can say about my friends and our relationship is that the love we share is stronger even than a fashion show.
But enough with all this sentimentalism.
My companion for the day was A.
Now there is one thing you must know about A., and it is that her hair is what will get her killed some day. Gosh that sounds so intense! But seriously, her thick, spaghetti-straight, dark brown main is literally to-die-for.

So as she waved her Pocahontas hair and I rocked a bird-nest-bun, we most certainly felt like a bazillion dollars.

Here's to the best day in quite a while!

Spot on!

After a week of being glued to my desk studying for exams, the signs of my stress-related-snacking ha d become undeniable. Not to mention the suffering I had inflicted on my social life with all my negative RSVP responses. 

So for my first free Saturday in over a week, I decided to hit two birds with one stone. I called my partner-in-everything, L., and planned an afternoon of shopping on Via del Corso. 

For all of those who don't live in Rome, shopping on Via del Corso equals to walking like you never have in your life, with shopping bags, equals to more exercise than I would ever get on any regular day, equals to minus ten pounds (I wish, but let's pretend), equals to a loud and echoing YES! 

And the fun doesn't stop here. Not only is this Holy Mecca fabulously adorned with the uncountable number of shops along its course, it is also right in the historical heart of one of my favorite cities in the world. 

Get a full immersion of culture, shopping and stretching, in company of the best shopping companion ever, and one of the top five in my "people-I-will-miss-the-most-when-I-leave" list, and forget the two birds, you can be sure you've hit a whole flock! 

Oh, and did I forget to mention it's Sales season? Yeah talk about the Perfect Day Ever huh?!

Well this perfect day turned out to be a major fail. 

Ok maybe I'm exaggerating a little. Catching up on life with L. was enthralling, as always, and the illusion of some much-longed-for exercise quite gratifying. But returning home empty handed none of the above. Again, I have to surpass my tendency to magnify everything, for better or for worse, and let my rational self pitch in. I did end up with one of the best purchases, if not of my life, then almost. 

I am talking about the Estee Lauder Double Wear concealer.

I have been aching for a good concealer for so long I want to cry when I think about it. The fact is that my Mac Studio Finish concealer was both King and Queen of my makeup bag, but as soon as my college-application-process-stress started manifesting itself on my face, it failed me miserably. 

Now, I don't want to grief on my disappointment any longer than I have for the past week, but let me just tell you I was in desperate need for a miracle. And little did I know, miracles come in liquid skin-color form. And they have SPF. Not a lovely packaging though, if I must be honest.

Anyways, since I live by the "Never judge a book by its cover" rule, I decided to give it a try. 

Since my sixth sense was in favor and I was feeling quite bold, I skipped the practice and went for the final performance by wearing it on my skin that night. The final verdict?

As I looked at my tired reflection in my bathroom mirror, at 3am, the only thing stopping me from snagging that makeup remover and rushing to bed was my capital-F flawless looking skin. 

So I guess, at the end of the day, it is true that quality is way more important than quantity.

Spring blossoms

I am absolutely, utterly and irrevocably in love with Badgley Mischka's Spring/Summer 2013 collection. 

With a color palette ranging from delicate peaches and bubbly champagne golds to deeper gray and mulberry hues, textures juxtapose as long romantic chiffon gowns are followed by short over the knee cocktail dresses, flowy satin tops are paired with leather pants, tweed jackets and structured skirts. And then we have the gorgeous, gorgeous shoes. Every item sparkles, alluring the audience in a sensuous and sophisticated game of lights and textures.  

Now I just can't wait for spring!

Good morning sunSHINE

I have never been a huge fan of shimmery makeup. 

For some reason, I always tend to stick to mat. Mat lips, mat skin, mat lids, mat everything. But after waking up at the crack of dawn, yet again thanks to my dear friend Jet Lag, I decided to add some shine to my dull and tired complexion. 
I instinctively pounced on the nearly un-used richly shimmery impulse purchases stuffed in the corners of my makeup collection, and took out my Origins 'Halo Effect' face illuminator Just a few taps along my cheekbones, nose bridge and cupid's bow and I was game, swept off my feet. I cannot believe for how long I have been stubbornly ignoring this makeup holy Graal! Not only is the golden glimmer (what initially scared me about the product!) oh so beautifully sparkly, but it completely transformed my Marilyn Manson-esc look in to a Marilyn Monroe worthy dewy complexion. Honestly I could not stop checking myself out in the mirror all morning! Not to mention how good of a mood I am in despite my cumulative lack of sleep!
Time to move over Hypnose Drama, someone is squeezing in to the favorites row! 

I spy something RED

OK ok, I will admit it. I am a lipstick addict. 

My inspiration? My mother. I have never, ever seen her wear any makeup besides her big bold look-at-me red lip. This is probably why, although my makeup collection keeps growing and growing (ugh..I know, I know) I always revert to the same simple statement makeup: long luscious lashes , "it's-so-hot-in-here" flushed cheeks and blood stained pout. 

So you can only imagine how thrilled I was to see my celeb co-trender Gwen Stefani on the cover of this month's Vogue!

Well, with all this red flowing through my mind you will not be surprised to hear that my first purchase of 2013 is a deep orange big fluffy sweater. 

And with the theme already going I decided to take it even further and indulged in a full blown candy cane-red mani-pedi.

OK, so maybe it's all this talk about vampires or maybe it's my over studying for my driver's license test, but I am officially on the red wagon!

Why, hello!

Jet lag is great.
Can you sense the irony there too?
It is 3:00am now in Rome and I am as awake as a child on Christmas morning!
As I was in the middle of raiding my chocolate stash I had a brilliant idea: since I always complain about how 24 hours is just NOT enough for a day, I can take this opportunity to check a few things off my To Do list! If exercising was already in last place it sounds even less appealing after finding my fresh, unopened Nutella jar. Unpacking? Ugh.. next task please? Yes, got it! I am going to write my very own blog.
I cannot tell you for how long I have been wanting to do this, and now, the fresh start of 2013 seems like the perfect time. The next five months will probably be the busiest of my life so far. I will have to CRAM for finals while getting ready to move to the U.S. and, last but NOT least, enjoy my last 7 months in Rome.
Wow, I guess 24 hours in a day REALLY is not enough!
I will admit, I am a little nervous about writing for the public. But hey, keeping a diary has been on my To Do list since I was 7 so no excuses this time! 

Time to begin this journey, enjoy the ride!

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