a blink of an eye...

I honestly cannot believe the semester has come to an end. Where has time gone? I have come to the realization that as you age time seem to pass much quicker. I can recall in grade school I though the end of the school year would never come, now I'm wondering where all the time has gone.

This has been one of the most successful semesters of my college years. The classes that I have taken are interesting, and each professor actually cares about what they are teaching.

I guess the old adage is right "time flies when you are having fun" (okay I wouldn't go right to fun). I my case "time passes quickly when you are actually interested".

I hope everyone has a wonderful summer break.
Cheers!

diet pills, drinks, and detox...

Since I've been home from my vacation, and my I have flushed the evil out of my intestines something has been brought to my attention. I now am the owner of a buffet butt. I'm not the complete human specimen of health, but I do lead a healthy lifestyle. I have fallen off the exercise wagon. Weeks leading up to my vacation I developed allergy induce asthma, so my usual running routine was out of the question. I started to form bad eating habits, and I was mostly in a horizontal position instead of working out in the guy. Reality has set in, and the bulge under my bra is about to suffocate me. I am due for a cleanse, a detox, or a wake up call... My shopping has come to a halt until this buffet but heads to the salad bar.
wish me luck.

a godsend...

As you may know from my flooded blog posts I have recently taken a trip to Mexico. The weather was amazing, the traveling was fair, and the hotel staff was supreme (Alán, our personal butler was no more than a text message away to stock our mini fridge with coronas, and to adjust the thermostat). It was in paradise, I was having the best of times enjoying the exquisite cuisine, until the unthinkable happened.

Food poisoning.  Really? Again? Not at this resort, WTF!

I had a similar experience this time last year at another resort, one that was sub par in comparison to this gem. Let's just say a significant portion of my trip no longer consisted of laying by the beach, but laying next to a porcelain throne. I had extreme symptoms, fevers that made me  hallucinate ( and yes I'm sure it wasn't the worm in the tequila bottle). 

Needless to say my vacation was rough until I fond TREDA. Thank you sweet baby Jesús for this Mexican medicine. Three short days later I was back in action. The trip came to an end and my stomach took a turn for the worst. One word has come to mind "relapse". 

Oh the joys of traveling, let's just say I'm bringing back one souvenir I wish customs would have seized. 

a well-packed suitcase...

As stated in my last post, I was the least bit excited about packing my suitcase for my trip to Cancun. I was so worried that I would forget something, not to mention be over the 50 lb. limit. Two attempts and a dose of my anxiety medicine, I found packing success.

On a recent trip to Italy my strategy was fit any, and all things in the suitcase. Toss it in, expand the zipper, and sit on it for leverage, and zip with all my might. I soon realized that when unpacking my suitcase the inside was disheveled, my clothes were a wrinkled mess, and sadly my Moroccan Oil (aka liquid gold for my hair) had shattered into a million tiny oily pieces.

In preparation for this trip I read an article that displayed and excellent visual of what "a well-packed suitcase" should in fact look like. The verdict?...you just have to roll with it. Roll everything, dresses, sweater, socks, you name it roll EVERYTHING!!! I thought I had discovered the Holy Grail. Everything fit, my clothes were neat and tidy, I was ecstatic! Now all that's left to do is to cross my fingers, and hope my duds don't exceed the unreasonable weight limit.
Wish me luck!

an anxiety-packed suitcase...

The art of packing is exactly that...an art. On paper you would think I would be a fantastic packer. I am well-organized, I know what to wear for any occasion, and I'm quite creative when it comes to sticking and shoving things in random places and compartments. So it sounds like I'm a good packer, guess again. I attempted laying out all of the things that I am considering to take to my destination in the sun. I soon realized that there are weight restrictions and two of my dress alone weigh at least 15 lbs. That's when the anxiety kicked in. I now am freaking out, second guessing all of my packing decisions. Do I have enough? Am I forgetting something? What will this weigh? Do I really need two pairs of nude wedges? Spanx! Where are my Spanx, for the love of God? Needless to say I had to up my dosage on the anti-anxiety meds. My nerves soon calmed, but I was still left with unanswered questions. That's when I turned to my mom for advice. She then proceeded to tell me that I am too high-strung and aggressive (as if I didn't already know), she said the only cure would be the practice of yoga. My mother informed me to pack the necessities and leave the rest (in my head I was thinking that everything is a necessity). I guess I could leave a few pairs of rubber flip flops behind. She also told me that if I couldn't part with anything else and I'm still over the required weight limit to just pay the damn fifty dollars and be done with it.What a relief. I am going to do a little research on packing the most perfect suitcase, and I'll be sure to share all of the insider's secrets. Photos will be sure to follow.
Wish me luck!

a shuffle with the UPS driver...

So...I'm leaving for my belated birthday trip to Cancun (aye, aye, aye!!!), I leave in exactly 8 days, 39 minutes, and 40 seconds, but honestly I'm not counting or anything. I have done so many crunches I want to vomit, as many lunges and calf raises I've done, I'm sure I could squat the house. As previously mentioned in my post about online shopping, I've done just that. I have seriously shopped online for three solid months. I'm almost positive that I am the hardest person to fit. Simply going into any store and leaving with something is a long shot. Not to mention the overall shopping in Oklahoma is weak sauce, thus my only option is the world wide web. I have built relationships with these online client specialists. They know my sizes, my previous purchases, and low and behold all of my credit card information (how convenient?). My all-time favorite sales associate has to Chris at the Louis Vuitton Store located inside of Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, California. I will try to contain my ever-growing addiction to the luxurious label. After about 30 boxes that have arrived to my home, I kept the front-runners and sent back the rejects, feeling somewhat relieved and accomplished. Although my dad seems to have an opinion as to why I'm bringing 9 bikinis on a 7 day trip? Dad, a girl needs options! Duh. Now all that is left to do is to sort through these beauties and dust my suite case off.
Here is a glimpse of the ocean view from our hotel.

a glimpse of Prada...

I do have a strange fascination with the label Prada that I have yet to figure out where it stems from. It could be a number of things, my heritage, the lifestyle it represents, or it could just be the fabulous display of ads. Prada is a legacy, it is a trademark, and holds its own in the fashion world. here is an example of one great Prada ad that is representing their new fragrance Candy.
 Fantastico!

a few words from the self-proclaimed "Online Shopping Guru"...

For the past few months I have been frequenting any, and every online shopping website. From Neimans to Nordstrom to Bloomingdales's and Zappos, and everywhere in between. I will share with you the run-down of the best places to shop online. 

First off Nordstrom:

Nordstrom is your one stop shop for fabulous salon shoes, an abundance of fragrances, and great online personal shoppers that are there literally 24hrs. a day to answer any question. Nordstrom always offers free shipping and free returns (which is important, because some retailers offer free shipping, but deduct a return fee from you credit). Usually a package will take roughly 4 business to receive. Oh and the best part every item is Tax Free! 

Next Zappos:

Zappos has to be one of my all time favorite online retailers. They are division of Amazon. Zappos company motto is "powered by service". Seriously they will do anything to please their consumers.  Zappos offers a 365 day return policy (yes an entire year). They offer free shipping, and free returns, each purchase is tax free. If you spend more than $250.00 per one fiscal year your are automatically accepted into Zappos V.I. P program. The program is completely free, and offers FREE overnight shipping on all of your orders.

 

Bloomingdales:

This company has been on the radar forever. Bloomingdales is owned by the Macy's corporation, and offers exclusive items from designers that only Bloomingdales receives. Shipping is free when your purchase meets or exceeds $150.00 or more (trust me its super easy to meet that expectation). Bloomingdales website is clean, and easy to navigate. Overall, Bloomingdales is one of the top online shopping contenders. 

Last but not least Neiman Marcus:

If you are searching for luxe designer items Neimans is your place. With designers like Roberto Cavalli, Hervé Leger, Emilio Pucci, just to name a few, Neimans is home to fabulous designer finds. Neimans offers search filters to find, favorite, and locate hard to find items. Their search specialists are eger to help and are extremely efficient. 

As you can tell, one of my absolute favorite hobbies is online shopping. I feel as though I am a huntress, searching for my next find, I will not take "sorry this item is sold out" or "unfortunately this size/combination is no longer available". Actually, you could call online shopping my sport. 

Here is one item in particular I am literally foaming at the mouth for. Meet the Louis Vuitton Keepall 55 Duffle bag with a shoulder strap. It's simply love. Maybe this beauty will delight me for my birthday (hint, hint).  

What's in a name...

Some people have questions why I have chosen to use the designer Emilio Prada for my blog title. No, I'm not completely obsessed with the designer (although he does an excellent job of creating works of art with his eye ware, amongst other things) the title has a deeper meaning. Some people may know that I have family who live in Italy, my grandparents were Italian immigrants and traveled to America in 1942. Having my fair completion and my dad's "white-man" traits, I show little to no resemblance to my mother...nor being Italian at all.

This past summer I traveled to visit my family, trust me I had a world-wind of an experience (the details I will share later). My family primarily lives in Venice, Rome, and Milan, all in which are unique and beautiful. However, I did not fall in love in Rome I fell in love with fashion in Milan. My cousin Jessica, I know what you're thinking Jessica is not your average Italian name, especially since no one could pronounce "Robyn". I was referred to as Roberta for the duration of my trip.

Milan was Mecca of fashion, and I wanted to die and be buried right in front of the Giorgio Armani Hotel. Every time I think about Milan a spark ignites inside me and, and thoughts about fashion, and luxury encompasses my entire being. Those of you may know that Emilio Prada originated in Milan, if not then here's a little lesson on Fashion history. To sum it all up, my title represents my love of fashion, my lust for traveling around the world, a tribute to my Italian heritage, and most importantly a few recipes shared from my Zia Rina, and my 85 year old Nonna.

 I hope you enjoy.

A few thoughts from Dave Rhea...

After listening to Dave Rhea, a few things stuck with me. Dave talked about how he relates to blogging and how blogging now is a part of his life. One thing in particular, Dave stated that you have to remain creative. Use your blog as a creative outlet, thus nurturing your creative side.
Next, Dave said that blogging is used today to stay current with the ever-changing world of mass media. Lastly, Dave suggested that blogging is simply taking print ad and transforming it into the digital world. All in all, blogging is just another way to tell a story. Overall, Dave gave me many helpful hints to improve my abilities to blog.