"The Things You Learn About Yourself While Traveling..."

The new school year is about to start and I've been knee deep in preparation for it. A question I got today, and one I've been consistently getting since I've been back from my summer siesta, is "how did your travels go and what did you enjoy most about them." Well to be quite honest, my travels went okay this summer. However I think what I enjoyed most from this summer and what I continually enjoy every time I travel is learning about myself. 

Years ago when I first saw the movie The Nanny Diaries (yes I know what you're thinking, give me a second here...) I heard this great line, "you must immerse yourself in an unfamiliar world in order to truly understand your own" and I really think that traveling has helped me do this in so many ways. Spending about a month in Los Angeles taught me a lot about myself, for one that my love affair with living in a big city needs to end soon. Gasp, yes I know I proclaim my love for NYC, all the time and trust me I do love this place however the constant noise, commotion, barriers it puts on my daily life (grocery shopping, laundry, traffic, etc.) is getting tiresome. So being in LA really magnified all of that. Also driving everywhere in Los Angeles really made me hate driving! Towards the end of my stay in LA I would beg friends to pick me up or only make plans very locally so I wouldn't have to drive; and dear god the anxiety that driving in so much traffic for hours was not fun. at. all. Being in such a big city just made me crave simplicity and nature.

So as I was having this discussion with a colleague at my new school (which I L-O-V-E), he shared with me some things he learned about himself while traveling through Portland and SF,  I thought to myself gosh this is what education is all about, being able to adopt things you learn and make your life better. 

Well I wanted to round up some of the things I've learned and things I've about myself on some of my travels very quickly, and they are:

* Paris: Spend more time outside, I love creme brulee, talk with strangers, flaneur, love openly. 

* Rome: I need to know more about Italian/world history, guys and girls can be friends, I love gelato, I am fearless, everything can become new again, be open to love again. 

* San Francisco: The Castro must only be enjoyed with friends, don't be so judgmental, I love gardens, I hate dive bars. 

* St. Paul, Minnesota: I love Minnesotans, I love Minnesotan's accents, canoeing= soul soother=anxiety curber (that's not really a word I know)= heaven, I must live closer to nature.

*London: Learn to let go, embrace being a newbie, I love British fashion x10, I love fish n' chips, always have the courage to stand up for myself - always, things are better shared. 

*Mexico: Be nicer, note to self staying with grandma equals major anxiety, I need to learn more about my culture, I love french fries with sour cream, I love 6a.m. mornings with my grandpa, try to be more understanding, be silly. 

+ some pictures from my travels over the years...

Nope, no I don't like escargot. 

I want to live in the Versailles gardens, forget the mansion, I'll take the clubhouse! 

We can all take selfies together!

Singing Spice Girl's "2 Become 1" on the train is totalllly okay. 

This didn't hurt at all. 

My gals. 

Mexico has great grass to lay on. 

"Ohhh take a picture of me with the flowers!" I want to come back as a butterfly in my next life or a bee, a bee would be cool. 

Cielo.

I love family gatherings because my cousins and I do things like this. 

Just too funny (read the title of the book)

I hate carrots. 

Thank you lovely CA man for helping me down the pyramid as I sobbed, there are some good people out there, good people I tell you #FearOfHeights

My cousins and I at the top of the pyramid!

Yes, yes I feel the same way David. 

I mean what else do people do on a trip to the Roman baths...ohhh look at the Roman baths?!

Aimee!!!!!! 

(Vegan)Munchie Monday: Homemade Pizza!

Ciao! This past weekend I was having a lot of nostalgia for my time in Roma last summer so I decided to make a pizza from scratch! It's actually a lot easier than it might sound so roll up your sleeves and tap into your inner Italiano! Arrivederci. :)

Ingredients:

3.5 cups of (gluten free) flour
1.5 cups of water
1 tsp of sugar
1 packet of active dry yeast
1 tbsp of sea salt
1 can of pizza sauce
2 tbsp of minced garlic
1 cup of chopped mushrooms
handful of basil
3 tbsp of olive oil
2 cups of (vegan) mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
2. In a large bowl mix all of the dry ingredients
3. After ingredients are mixed, slowly add in water and continue to mix with whisk.
4. Ball up dough into a round ball, add some olive oil to help it move together easily and let it sit for 1 hour.
5. Sprinkle a generous amount of flour on a hard surface and roll out dough with rolling pin, then sprinkle olive oil to baking sheet.
6. Place rolled out dough on baking sheet, sprinkle olive oil on dough, spread pizza sauce, cheese and toppings.
7. Bake for 12-15min max, let sit for 10 minutes, and enjoy...preferably with a glass of wine of course!

+

* The Best Pizza Places in NYC.
* Wine and Pizza pairings guide.

+ 

Some of my favorite pictures from my time living in Rome.

On my 25th Birthday at Piazza Navona

Crashing a beautiful wedding by the Palatino

Moseying around the Colosseum

Trying on and obsessing over this coat at an Italian boutique #Bananas

Via Cavor, I took this picture with my iphone! Amaze right??

Moseying around the catacombs

Do You Like Spending Time Alone?

Traveling alone in Rome

Growing up in southern California, I had a great adolescence constantly surrounded by friends, family, and just being a social butterfly. However, when I went away to college and even more so when I moved to the east coast, I began to crave alone time. Living in the city I'm constantly surrounded by people: taking the train to work, all day at work, on the way home, out in the street, etc. I began really seeking out things I could do on my own and work on the relationship I had with well, myself.

Traveling alone means taking a lot of selfies but this prince statue doesn't mind and neither do I

The head of my favorite fashion haus DVF, Diane Von Furstenburg, once said "The most important relationship in your life is the relationship you have with yourself. Because no matter what happens, you will always be with yourself." So for the last few years I've been actively spending time to nurture this relationship. I now love going for runs on my own, cooking fantastic meals for myself, going to the movies by myself, bars, restaurants, mass, long walks, and traveling have become such a big part of my life. However whenever I run into people while out moseying around I always get the comment "wow you're here by yourself? That's brave!" and I always follow-up with a confused look.

Fontana di Trevi

 I've learned (through my experiences) that as a whole Americans aren't that comfortable with the idea of doing things alone. In a world where Girl's creator Lena Dunham proudly boasts “I am busy trying to become who I am" and many inspirational songs praise independence, why then do so many fear or are uncomfortable doing things on their own? So I wanted to hear your response, do you like spending time alone or do you prefer to be constantly amongst the company of others? 

I say this all the time 

* Six Reasons You Should Spend More Time Alone.

* 5 Ways to Spend Time Alone (and 14 Inspirational Quotes About Solitude). 

* A Great NY Times piece on the perils and freedoms of living alone. 

* I read Eat, Pray, Love and it completely changed my life. Would you ever travel alone to find your more  authentic self? 

Redecorating Sneak Peek- The Kitchen!

After mulling over colors for a bit, my roommate and I decided to paint the kitchen a light lilac. Since the color is very soft I wanted to continue to add soft decorations to the space to make it feel cozy and inviting. Take a peek below!

Here's the newly painted and decorated kitchen!

I love this key holder dish from Anthropologie. Would you believe I spent 2 hours going store to store one day to find the perfect one? Well good because I didn't...did...didn't...okay okay I did! #InteriorDesignerInTheMaking? #Perfectionist #NoShame

Knife set, utensils set, and Gwyneth Paltrow = yes all the must have essentials for a well maintained kitchen. :)

The last night I was in Rome I had dinner at this great place called Propoganda with my friend Giorgio and now the menu I saved is in our kitchen, love!

This mini island took 2 hours to construct by my neighbor, not me, my lovely neighbor. Ya I gave up after 10 minutes, opened up a bottle of wine, and watched "What To Expect While You're Expecting." Blarg the times I wish my dad lived close by.

I love wicker! I have it throughout my bedroom and I thought the baskets would be great to organize our goodies on top of the fridge as well as stay in sync with the soft and cozy theme.

 I hope you love it as much as we do! Next week, I'll show you our updated bathroom. Have a great and relaxing weekend everyone!