Under The Tuscan Sun, Part 2

day 4: A cheese Farm in Florence

Halfway through our trip, we bid arrivederci to Lucca and made our way to Villa Pisignano outside of Florence. This house was out of this world beautiful. I would seriously live there for the rest of my life. I choose a bedroom with a giant king-size bed and a view overlooking the rolling hills of the countryside. It was truly a dream. We drove to a nearby town for a tour and lunch at a family-owned cheese farm. We got to sample some amazing cheeses and my favorite was one that they told us was a yummy mistake! We relaxed at the villa for the rest of the day before heading into Florence for dinner. We had some amazing pastas at Ristorante il Latini, a classic old-school Italian restaurant, the perfect welcome to Firenze.

day 5: A Vineyard in Tuscany

Our bodies were starting to wear down, so Chanel set up a morning yoga class at the villa for us with her favorite yoga instructor from Austin who just happened to be in Tuscany at the same time we were! It was such a soothing way to start the morning. We worked on posture, stretching, and breathing. Once we were in a refreshed mindset, we headed to Castello di Gabbiano, a quintessential vineyard in Tuscany. Our tour guide showed us all around the castle, wine cellar, and property before leading us to the most amazing lunch at their on-site restaurant. We enjoyed a wine pairing with each course and ended up having a three hour lunch! Later, we had a cooking class at our villa that was the highlight of the trip for me. Giuseppina taught us how to make garlic and rosemary pork loin, roasted potatoes, handmade pasta, and strawberry panna cotta. Even though I’m not the greatest cook, I really felt like I could take her simple recipes home and try them myself!

day 6: Enjoying Our Villa

We had been so go, go, go for the past couple of days that we all needed a little break. We spent this day lounging around the villa and doing whatever we wanted. I painted in my watercolor book for a while, laid out by the pool, and took a much-needed nap. It was Camille and Adam’s wedding anniversary and they planned to go to dinner in Florence, so the rest of the girls and I were on our own and went out for a girls’ dinner. We found a quaint little restaurant close by and got all dressed up for a nice dinner.

day 7: Exploring Florence

We spent our last day in Italy exploring the city of Florence. We had spent the majority of our trip in the countryside so it was exciting to see the city center. We started with a terrifying bike tour of the city. I’m not the strongest bike rider, so I was especially nervous, but after a while I started to gain some confidence. We had lunch at the cutest garden cafe called Santarosa Bistrot that looked right out of an Anthropologie catalogue. After eating pasta for almost every meal, I was so excited to see a caesar salad on the menu! We all split after lunch to see different parts of the city. Camille and Adam walked around and saw some shops. Kristen and Caroline checked out the leather goods market. And Jenn, Chanel, and I decided to start aperitivo early with some aperol spritzes on the rooftop of Hotel Continentale. Eventually everyone met up with us for a few drinks before we headed to our last Italian dinner at il Santo Bevitore. I got one last scoop of gelato at Gelateria Santa Trinita before we headed home and back to the states.

Under The Tuscan Sun, Part 1

As of this week, our Tuscany travel site is LIVE! We’ve been working on this project for such a long time and it was truly a labor of love. About a month ago, all the girls at work and I traveled halfway across the world to Italy and spent a week exploring, learning, and eating our way through Tuscany. Below are a few of my favorite stories and photos from the trip. Check out tuscany.camillestyles.com to see even more!

xo Carm

Day 1: Arriving In Italy

It took us a full 24 hours to get from Austin to Lucca, and by the time we got there, we were all exhausted. But once we pulled up to a wrought iron gate and saw the gorgeous mustard-yellow Villa Cosimo sitting prettily behind it, our spirits were instantly lifted. Our hosts David and Barbara gave us a tour of the property and the house and then let us get ready for dinner. I chose the cutest room with two twin beds with yellow comforters that had windows looking out over the back gardens. After changing clothes and washing up, we all met in the garden for dinner under the most fragrant jasmine-covered gazebo. It was simply idyllic. Our villa came with a private chef so we enjoyed our first four-course Italian meal in style with prosciutto and melon, caprese salad, pasta with capers, pistachio crusted salmon, and blackberry panna cotta. It was the perfect start to our Italy adventures.

Day 2: Art Day

After a long night’s sleep to get rid of jet lag, we started the day with brunch under the gazebo. Chanel had this romantic idea of spending a day painting outside, and Jenn made our dreams come true by surprising us with these adorable portable watercolor paint sets and a linen covered sketchbook. We spent the morning sitting outside the villa painting and writing, before heading into town for a tour of a marble museum. We visited the Bozzetti Museum in Pietrasanta and learned about the process sculptor’s go through from idea to completion. We were all excited to experience Italian aperitivo so we made our way to a sidewalk-side cafe in a beach town not too far away. We sat outside, drank lots of white wine, and snacked on some interesting appetizers. Once we got home we walked down the street from our villa to a neighborhood restaurant called La Cecca for a big dinner. We ended up staying at the restaurant until midnight laughing, eating, and drinking.

Day 3: A Day On The Sea

We couldn’t travel all the way to Italy without dipping our toes in the Mediterranean Sea. This day was our coastal day and we spent all day on a sailboat riding around La Spezia. We docked at Portovenere to explore and have a glass of wine. This city is said to be the “sixth city” of Cinque Terre — think beautiful scenery without all the tourists. Once back on the boat, we anchored near Palmaria Island and our captain and his skipper made us a seaside lunch. Most of it was inedible to me, but the pesto pasta was delicious! The wind was making us all a little chilly, but I somehow convinced everyone to jump into the water at least once! How often would we ever get a chance like that?! Camille, Adam, Chanel, and I swam over to a rocky, deserted beach and collected bright green seagrass before heading back. We were starved once we got back to our villa and only one thing could quench our hunger — pizza! We found a cute place near our villa called A Bimbotto and devoured slice after slice after slice.

La La Land

Los Angeles will always hold a special place in my heart. It's where I wanted to live for the longest time, and Quinlan and I actually became such good friends after living and working out there during the same summer before senior year of college. We both had plans to move there after graduation (and she eventually did it, yay!) but I just fell deeper in love with Austin.

This most recent trip to LA was focused around hitting up all of the places I didn't get to during that summer, and revisiting my all-time favorite haunts. First up on the list was Pink's Hot Dogs. I used to live soooo close to Pink's and would drive by it almost every day, but never endured the long line by myself. Quinlan and I stopped in on my first afternoon in town (even though she picked up chipotle next door, lol) and I got a chili cheese dog, french fries, and pink lemonade - YUM.

Since we were heading to Palm Springs the next day, we wanted to get our nails done for the pool. Olive & June has been on my list for forever after swooning over their cute nail art designs on Instagram. The manicure itself was honestly one of the best I've ever gotten. My girl went over and over all the little details and hang nails to make sure my nails looked perfect, And THEY DID! Plus the decor was totally my style, I loved the leather chairs, kilim pillows, and hanging florals.

I was so obsessed with my eye ball design (remember I have a thing for eye balls?) so I tried really hard not to bite my nails afterward. I lasted about 2 weeks, woo hoo! After our manicures, we drove out to Santa Monica and met up with Kim and her sister for dinner and margaritas at Blue Plate Taco - one of my absolute favoriteee restaurants in LA, I don't care how touristy it may be.

Once we got back from our Palm Springs excursion, Quinlan actually had to go to work on Monday (ugh). so I explored the city on my own. Since LA is so large, I divided up my days by neighborhood. I spent Monday in Venice.

I rented a beach cruiser and biked a few miles to Santa Monica and then came back to Venice to shop along Abbott Kinney. There are soooo many cute stores along that one strip and I popped into almost every single one. By the end of my bike ride and my walk, I was STARVING. I was excited to try The Butcher's Daughter, but overheard that the wait for lunch was 45 minutes long - LUCKILY, I was flying solo so I got a spot at the bar immediately hehe. I (bravely) ordered a juice flight - very bold move for me - and avocado toast. Both were pretty delish and super filling.

After returning my bike, I headed out to the beach to get some color on my skin and some sand in my toes. The water was FREEZING cold but I made sure to go completely underwater at least one time. You have to! Afterwards, I headed back to West Hollywood and after Quinlan got off work we went to The Hudson for dinner. One of her roommates recommended it to us and it was right up my alley. We feasted on short rib mac n cheese (YUM!), burgers (duh), and friend chicken sliders (yes).

Tuesday was my last day in Cali *sigh* and I spent it exploring downtown, an area that I pretty much never ventured to a few summers ago. I started off the day with lunch at Honey Hi in Echo Park. I was nervous about what to order since I'm such a picky eater, but I got the miso bowl (and chocolate chip cookie) and it was AMAZING. I think I have a new obsession with daikon sauce.

I took an Uber further into downtown to visit The Broad Museum. Unbeknownst to me, there's always a super huge line... so I ended up waiting an hour before making it inside the doors. Thank God the weather was so nice. I have a thing for giant art so this museum was right up my alley. I saw this cool weaving created out of aluminum pieces - and then literally stumbled upon two giant KEITH HARING paintings. When I saw them, I swear my heart started beating so fast. They were unreal. There was also this super cool exhibit that was just a basic, black table and chair set but it was GIANT size. The museum itself was pretty small but it was worth the wait for the few pieces that absolutely took my breath away.

Afterwards I walked over to Grand Central Market and grabbed an ice cream cone. I swear I ate so much ice cream on this trip. I got WILD BERRY flavor (basically like a Poptart) and it was SO GOOD. I didn't even walk around with my cone. Instead I found a table, sat down, and savored every lick.

The last place on my list before heading to the airport was the art district. On my map it looked like a pretty short walk (1 mile) but it was a pretty sketchy area in between the museum and the art district... When I finally made it there, I checked out Poketo and wanted to buy every single thing in the store. If only I could fit it all into my carry-on... I stumbled upon another shop called Alchemy Works that was just as cool but with slightly different vibes.

I feel like I got to see so many different sides of LA on this trip which I loved. I've been pretty set on moving there eventually, but now I'm not so sure. The traffic was so crazy and I kinda love my little Austin bubble. So for now, I'll just rack up another to-do list before I head out to La La Land again.

xo Carm

Palm Springs For The Weekend

Ahhh, my first vacation of 2017. I flew out to LA to visit my friend Quinlan and we took a weekend trip to Palm Springs. This place has been on my travel list for everrrr, and we finally checked it off!! We hopped in the car on Saturday morning and two hours later, we arrived at our destination. In typical Carm fashion, I created an entire itinerary listing out every place we had to eat, drink, and hang out (with backups too).

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First up on our list was BREAKFAST. Luckily I scarfed a chocolate chip Poptart in the car on the ride in, but poor Quinlan was starving. We ended up waiting an hour for a table for two at Cheeky's... but seriously, we HAD to eat here, and it was totally worth the wait. I got eggs benedict (duh) and it came on a cheddar scone instead of a plain ol' biscuit YUM. Quinlan got huevos rancheros and we split a corn pancake. The corn pancake was exactly that - a pancake with corn in it. Isn't it picturesque??

We stayed at The Saguaro, aka the rainbow hotel. We were expecting a pretty chill scene since Coachella was over but nope, it was a straight up Vegas-style hotel pool party, complete with live DJ. 

We got into the spirit by ordering a pitcher of margaritas and going for a swim. I also got this drink called MERMAID BAIT (how cute) which was basically just watermelon juice. There were sooo many bachelor/ette parties, but we ended up making friends with these two other girls who thought the whole scene was just as absurd as we did. We spent all day by the pool and then went to Birba for dinner, where we split a bottle of wine, started with the highly recommended meatballs, and finished off the meal with a couple pizzas. It was divineeee.

Since Saturday was our pool day, Sunday was our day of activities. I had a list of places I wanted to go just to see them in person and grab a photo. first stop: The Parker. Ever since seeing Gray Marlin's Parker Palm Springs series, I've been dying to find the white brick wall and bright orange door IRL... and hoping a giraffe/camel would pop out with an Hermes gift for me.

Next up was #ThatPinkDoor !!! This door has become Insta-famous due to its millennial pink color and its midcentury modern vibes. It's actually somebody's house but I guess they don't mind everyone and their mom taking photos in front of it. While we were taking this photo, a neighbor was walking her dog by us and said that about 50 people a day stop by to take in the door and all its glory. *sigh* When can i move in?

I swear every hotel in Palm Spring is cool. I'd love to come back another time and just do one night at each one to experience them all. I took this star jump photo of Quinlan at the Ace Hotel. She's my sunshine!!!

Then we skaddadled over to Reservoir for brunch. This was definitely our most anticipated meal of the trip and it did not disappoint. For some reason I was craving a salad (that never happens) so I got the cobb salad topped with the absolute freshest shrimp I've ever eaten in my entire life. Quinlan got the burger, following along with one of my many life mottos, "You can never go wrong with the burger." 

Palm Springs is like a city stuck in the midcentury. Everything from the architecture to the people has an old-world vibe. We popped into two stores that are known for having great midcentury furniture finds. A La Mod had a cool (but slightly odd) collection of vintage furniture and home decor. Just Modern was a more updated store with contemporary items that looked like they were created in the 1960s.

The Amado was my dream place to stay but it was unavailable for the weekend that we were in town. I've been obsessed with this orange door and the boutique hotel's five rooms for years. Next time we go back, we're staying here. It'd be the perfect location to rent out for a bachelorette party.

Throughout my entire stay in California, I think my diet consisted of about 50% ice cream. On our way out of town we stopped into Ice Cream and Shop(pe) - yes, that's its real name - for a couple scoops! I got mint chocolate chip and licked away trying to finish it before the desert sun melted it all... the sun won.

I found out about this amazing collection of art installations throughout Palm Springs called Desert X pretty randomly via Instagram. The last day of the exhibit was the last day we were in town and I was so excited to have caught it! We hiked up a giant hill in the blazing sun (post-ice cream cones) to check out this mirrored house installation called 'Mirage' by Doug Aitkin. It reflects the sky, the mountains of Coachella Valley, and the city of Palm Springs. From certain angles, it seems to disappear into the scenery completely. It was AMAZING and the perfect way to end our artsy, foodie trip to Palm Springs.

xo Carm