Archive for September, 2011

In previous posts I mentioned that my maternal grandparents were unable to make it to my wedding due to health reasons.  This was heartbreaking for all of us, as I am their only grandchild and they had always dreamed of being a part of my special day.  Before getting on the airplane, which would take me to Buenos Aires, they surprised me with the matching necklace to my unique engagement ring.  They had it personally designed and asked me to wear it during my wedding, so that at least they would be close to me in spirit.

Just moments before my ceremony, I decided that I needed to Skype my grandparents and let them know that they were in my thoughts.  I had no idea while I was speaking with them that Kyle, my wedding photographer, was filming me.  In fact, she herself had forgotten about the video and only shared it with me several weeks ago.  Every time I watch it I tear up.  I hate that they could not be there, however I know I am blessed to simply have them in my life, period.

While I was Skyping them, everyone else was anxiously getting ready for the ceremony.  And, of course, posing for more photos!

As I rode down the elevator with my Mom I swear I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest.

Had the moment really arrived?

Anything that is designed to not only make my travels easier, but to also help me look more chic is an instant winner in my world and that is exactly what the Borelli scarf is!  A couple of months ago I was sent one in black and it has come with me on all of my travels since then.  To be honest, it never leaves my purse and I am happy to admit it is now my best friend.

To celebrate the release of their new gorgeous colors, Borelli has decided to do a special giveaway via My Beautiful Adventures.  The winner, who will be chosen at random, will receive one scarf in their choice of color.

Here is a look at the new colors and the different ways the scarf can be worn, as well as more details regarding the scarf:

Do not just listen to me on how fabulous this scarf is, check out other fan opinions:

I promise this will be the best $30 you have ever spent.  To learn more about Borelli, you can find them on Twitter and Facebook.

PS I very much wanted to share a photo of me rocking my black scarf, however my Mom went away for the week and begged me to let her bring it with her, thus I was unable to get a photo beforehand.

Giveaway Information:

1. Leave me a comment telling me which color scarf you would want if you won.
2. For another extra entry like my new My Beautiful Adventure’s Facebook page.
3. For another extra entry tweet the following with a link to this post: Win a gorgeous @borellidesign scarf via @andiperullo!
4. For another extra entry subscribe to Borelli Design via e-mail.
5. For another extra entry visit Borelli Design’s Facebook page and post a comment telling how you would wear or use your Borelli scarf.

I will announce the winner on Thursday, September 22, 2011.

Istanbul is a city that continues to surprise me.  When wandering amongst the ancient Byzantine houses and past the Hagia Sophia, it is easy to forget that this city has much more to offer than the highlights of the skyline.  It is only when you flick through the back pages of the tourist guide that you will find such attractions as the Magic Ice Museum, the Florence Nightingale Museum, and the Istanbul UFO museum.  Thus, save the magnificent palaces and mosques for another time and take a trip with me to the hidden treasures of this fabulous city.

We shall begin outside the mainland of the city with the Princes’ Islands.  Although the ferry stops at four of the nine islands, Heybeliada is my haven of choice.  A favorite with the locals, the island offers an eclectic mix of beaches, shops, and family-run delicatessens; all to the soundtrack of bicycles and horse-drawn carriages.  It can be busy on weekends during the summer, so try a mid-week trip for the most authentic experience.

Next we shall stop by one of my most beloved eateries in Istanbul.  The Golden Horn Hilltop provides the most breathtaking views in the entire city and what better place to catch your breath afterwards than at the Pierre Loti Café?  Take a trip back in time and soak up the Istanbul weather with a cup of coffee and a view over the Sea of Marmara.

Staying with the rich culture of the city, next is the Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art.  With a vibrant blend of internationally and nationally renowned artists and a keen interest in upcoming Turkish artists, this gallery is enough to satisfy even the toughest art palette.

Istanbul hotels never disappoint, but my personal recommendations are the Sapphire and Maywood hotels.  These two sister hotels are centrally located, with prices ranging from €50-60/night and have raving reviews all around.  Both have the decor and facilities of far more expensive, boutique hotels and are proud to provide a friendly service.

To finish, the highlight of my trip was the Travel deals.  Dance of Colors combines the two beautifully and at a reasonable price. From €58/person it will be the most expensive attraction you see, however in all honesty it was the treat of the trip.  This delightful dinner cruise provided a three course menu, hotel transfer, any range of traditional and alcoholic drinks, and all to be enjoyed in the presence of dances from 10 different parts of Turkey.  A feast for the eyes and the mouth, it cannot be missed.

Istanbul has something to offer for every visitor.  Take full advantage of the wide range of attractions and do not be afraid to explore — who knows, you may discover something new to add to the tourist guide!

Matilda Lambert is an English university student who is lucky enough to travel the world with many unusual adventures.  Though often seen on long-haul flights, her true love is for Scandinavia and hopes to move there after her studies.

In the midst of doing my very best to enjoy some pink champagne and chocolate strawberries courtesy of Faena Hotel + Universe in my bridal suite, we were notified that the men had finally arrived.

The bubbly was simply not a strong enough match for the butterflies in my stomach and my nervousness was only exemplified with the news.  My Mom, not being able to resist, had to have a sneak peak at what they looked like.

She eventually returned and proclaimed in her wise wisdom,

My darling daughter, you have most handsome groom in the world eagerly awaiting to become your husband, so now it is time for you to finally relax.

Lucas spent the hour before the wedding practicing his vows over and over.

While I spent it preparing to put the dress on.

I love fashion — always have and always will.  However, having traveled to some of the most developing nations in the world I always think twice now before spending an exorbitant amount of money on it.  I honestly do not understand women who spend thousands and thousands of dollars on their wedding dress.  It makes no sense to me to spend that kind of money on something you only wear once.  Thus, before I went wedding dress shopping I set my budget quite low.  I thought it would take me months to find the dress of my dreams for the price I was willing to pay and was completely shocked when it turned out to be the second dress I tried on.

Seeing how handsome they looked completely took my breath away.

My Dad, upon seeing me, was speechless as well.  I cannot imagine the emotions he was feeling, as I am his only daughter (he has three sons).

Since the ceremony was soon about to begin, everyone left me except for Kyle, my wedding photographer.  I took a couple of deep breaths and posed for some more photos for the last time as as single woman.

Which is your favorite photo?

Yesterday on Twitter I happened to see a random tweet that said, “Love means giving someone the capability to destroy you and trusting this person will not do it.”  I was shocked!  At first, I disagreed and then after time I realized it is true.  Love can be dangerous and scary, but damn it, it is so incredible when it happens; so much so that we humans completely surrender to it like a child does to candy.

Everybody needs it.  And if someone claims they do not, well they might just be a psychopath.  Sometimes I believe that everything is all about love: whether we look desperately for it, or we want to get rid of it, or we do not know what to do because of it.  There it is — all the time — in one of its multiple shapes.

I am telling you this story today, because I have a new flatmate, a boy, and he told me a bittersweet story the same day I first met him.  He was living in one of the apartments in Florence before he arrived in Barcelona.  Two weeks before leaving, he met a girl, they fell in love, and then as scheduled he made his way to Barcelona leaving his brand new love there.

I asked him how he could abandon a story that had only just begun and in which he was certain was going to be the best thing that would ever happen to his life?  He responded that he had already decided to move and if this love was real, it would all work out in the end.

Of course, this is a very romantic vision of relationships; I personally do not believe that love works like this.  I think there are people we get along with better with than others, but I do not think there is one person that completes you — I think there are plenty — and if there is something that strongly connects us with a particular someone it is called chemistry due to hormonal substances we produce when having intimate and prolonged relations.  It attaches you psychologically, so that you think that person is the one and only.

Love is fun, yet painful; it is a roller coaster that can bring you from complete happiness to absolute desperation in a matter of seconds.  Love affairs are complicated, as it is difficult to fight between what you think and what you feel and contradictions appear frequently, like this one of my new flatmate that left his new girlfriend in these Florence apartments despite confessing being in love.  Will the day eventually arrive when one reaches an age, or shall we call it experience, when love stops driving you crazy?

Maria Climent is a 26-year-old Catalan lady.  After studying translation, she decided her life was odd enough to became a humor scriptwriter and by default, a blogger.  This is how she is now a mother of no one and a better person.  She also cooks her meals.

The room in the Faena Hotel + Universe, in which we used for the bridal suite, was affectionately named the Porteño Suite.  It was a level of grandeur that I had yet to ever encounter in all of my travels!  When I first began the hair and makeup process I gave Kyle Hepp, my wedding photographer, the key to the room and told her to have fun inside it with her camera.  Faena is one of the leading hotels in the world and it easy to see why with the following photos:

My paternal Grandmother passed away many years ago, but one of the things that she and I had in common was our love for butterflies.  She left me a pair of gorgeous champagne flutes and we decided to bring them with us to Buenos Aires, so that in a way she would be there in spirit.  Lucas and I would use them for our first toast as husband and wife.

I love the way that Kyle used the room to showcase my bridal accessories.  To me it was the perfect backdrop!

The bathroom was so luxurious, that a new word should be created to describe it.  Not pictured was a gigantic antique bathtub, as well as a shower built for two.

The bedroom itself was definitely inspired by the city of Buenos Aires, as it oozed a unique sexiness that the city is so famed for.  While the decor felt as though it came from the Belle Époque-era it definitely had a modern touch to it as well.

And if you had any doubt whatsoever that Kyle is not the best in her profession, let me prove it to you with the next two photos.  These have to be the world’s greatest dress shots!

Then the moment finally arrived — after the longest year of my life — to finally put my dress on.  Which is your favorite photo?

I often find myself traveling from country to country with two totally opposing climates.  I like to pack light, however I am then forced to bring two pairs of shoes (one for the warm climate and one for the cool climate), which then take up a lot of space in my carry-on.  Well, my dilemma was recently solved when I discovered Footzyrolls — a female traveler’s dream shoe!

Footzyrolls were created by two sisters who shared my frustration for how much room shoes take up whether they are in a carry-on, briefcase, or designer purse, thus they developed the first “rollable shoe.”  Their website has countless chic footzyrolls to choose from and you will not have a problem finding one, or several, that will work with any outfit in your closet.

I chose a black pair from The Sparkle Bow collection.  Since black goes with everything, I decided that for my first pair that was my wisest choice.  It arrived in an adorable pink and black box, which I will keep to store my shoes when I am not wearing them.

My footzyrolls were ballerina flats embellished with a glittery sequin bow.  The website describes them as, “simple, yet stylish.”  I could not agree more!  However, they did forget to include, “incredibly, I never want to take these off, comfortable.”

I decided to test the shoes out by wearing them for an entire day.  I wore them to run errands, to work, and to the gym.  It did not matter where I was, I received a compliment.

My final test was to see just how much room they took up in my carry-on.  I put them in the footzypouch that they came with (they also came with a larger footzybag as well).

I think you can tell from the following photo that they passed the test for not taking up much room?

I am unequivocally a fan now!  I cannot wait to use them on my next trip and I am already thinking about which pair to buy next.  If you are interested in purchasing a pair, visit here.  Make sure to check them out on Facebook and Twitter as well.

I normally pride myself in being able to handle stress exceptionally well.  While most people fall apart, I remain calm.  In fact, I would say that I am at my absolute best when the pressure is on.  This is why I was totally caught off guard when I almost had my first panic attack ever just hours before my wedding.

I had spent a year meticulously planning the wedding of my dreams with Julie, my Matron of Honor, and it seemed like whatever could go wrong, was going wrong.  Thankfully, my support group kept reminding me that it was the marriage — not the wedding — that truly mattered.  Of course, they were right, but for a perfectionist like myself, well, I wanted the wedding to go as planned.  On top of everything, I also was quite sick with a head cold.

Faena Hotel + Universe, the wedding venue, had given us ladies their business center to get ready in.  My Mom, Julie, Lucas’ Mom, and Grandmother were with me, as well as one of my dearest friend’s/international wedding photographer Kyle Hepp.  I talked about what she means to me and how she came into my life in this post.

Finally, Julie put a glass of champagne (my drug of choice) in my hands and I relaxed as much as I possibly could.

Lucas’ Grandmother, who happens to be 90 years old (though does not look a day over 70), shared some heartwarming words with me, while both Moms sneaked away.

It was not until after the wedding did I discover that they had decided, since neither could speak each others language, to bond over cigarettes!  Where they found the cigarettes since they do not smoke, I will never know.  I suppose they needed a little stress relief too?

Julie was then summoned by Faena’s event coordinator and left me to handle even more problems.  Several minutes later, I was delivered my bouquet.  I almost could not believe what was in front of my eyes.   The bouquet was nothing like the one that I had requested and paid for.  This is when I could feel the panic attack coming on.

Kyle was my angel in that moment and soon with her words of wisdom was able to get me smiling and my stylist was able to put the final touches on my hair.

When I felt like my hair and makeup were complete the last thing left was to get my Mom’s final opinion.

She loved what she saw, thus it was time to head to the bridal suite!  Which is your favorite photo?

I have never been too fond of flying.  This is, of course, quite an odd position to be in as I adore traveling and experiencing new cultures.  Luckily, I have managed to survive as long as I have by simply taking other modes of transportation.  All of this changed though recently when a friend proposed we visited an island chain off the coast of Africa; forcing me to confront an uncomfortable fear.  Setting my sights on my destination, Cape Verde, I took my mind off the journey by thinking about the many interesting things I could do when I finally got there.

Any tension I had went away immediately after touching down in the city of Espargos on the island of Sal.  Getting off the airplane quicker than you could imagine, I got a glimpse at the tropical sights of the island and my jaw literally dropped.  I knew that my friend was right about the location and we immediately wanted to find a place to stay in Cape Verde.

We looked through the phone registry and called a quaint little place named Hotel Pontao in Santa Maria.  Known for being thrifty, for $47 a night, it was the cheapest place on the island.

It was night time before we finally made it out and we headed straight to the Blue Bar.  Legendary for its exceptional service; when we got there everyone looked like they were having a great time.  With cocktails priced at only a few pounds, they had an open mic that evening and after a few gin and tonics I was told the next day that I was quite the singer!

In the morning, we decided to explore more of the islands and we made it to the city of Cidade Velha in Santiago.  Famous for the Fortaleza Real de San Felipe, a fort built in 1585, we decided to explore it.  It contained a small museum and a visitor center within it and my friend and I were both satisfied with the things we were able to see.

We then wanted to relax a little and decided to search for a beach.  We stumbled upon the Praia Mar in Praia.  By mid-afternoon this place was livelier than ever, with tons of locals and tourists about.  Grabbing an ice cream, we both took in the rays and enjoyed our stay.

Cape Verde may be a long way from the comforts of home, but it was an amazing place to visit.  My fear of flying almost stopped me from initially considering it, however I am glad I went as I made new friends and memories that will last me a lifetime.  Add Cape Verde to your dream destination list — I am certain you will not be disappointed.

Michal Kniec, after completing a History degree in Canada, decided that a little change of scenery would do him some good and moved across the world to Manchester.  Now studying law, he loves to write, cook, and travel as much as possible on this pale blue dot.

It was dawn and the sun was beginning to rise in Buenos Aires.  The air felt soft, the trees were full of chattering finches, and freshly brewed coffee wafted from the open door of a nearby café.  I tried to savor the moment as I prepared to leave the apartment for Faena Hotel + Universe, my wedding venue, but there was no way I could hear the finches or see the autumn foliage that camouflaged them.  Because, it was my wedding day and nothing else existed in the world.

My fiance, Lucas, and I, despite not being traditional, decided to spend the last night of our engagement apart from each other.  Thus, I departed for Faena with my my Mom and Julie (my Dad and brother remained), as he made his way back to the apartment with his two brothers and Dad.  His Mom and Grandmother would meet us ladies later on in the day.

Seba, from the best wedding photography duo in the world, Kyle Hepp Photography, shot the men.  Here is a look at how they spent the hours leading up to the wedding:

My brother supplied the PlayStation.

While Lucas supplied the Fernet.

The men were so engrossed in their FIFA soccer game that you would have never guessed that they had a wedding to attend.  I suppose this why they say that soccer is the great world uniter?

Thankfully, my brother reminded everyone that they needed to get ready.  He had promised me that since he was my Man of Honor he would make certain that they made it to Faena on time.

In case anyone was unaware, I truly have the best brother in the world!  He knew that I was going to be quite nervous the night before the wedding, so he spent months thinking of a way to calm me down.  His brilliant solution: microwavable popcorn and the DVD Zoolander.

Since I would not show Lucas my dress before the wedding, he felt it only fair to not show me his tux as well.  I tried to explain to him that it did not work that way, however there was no convincing him otherwise.

I love the fact that my brother and Lucas had only met a couple of times over the last 6 years and yet still feel so close to each other.

The same with my Dad.  The first time he met Lucas he told him that he truly hoped to one day call him, “son.”  Now his wish was coming true.

The following is my favorite photo of the group.  Both Lucas and his father make the exact same hand sign when signaling for a taxi.  They had no idea that they did this until they later saw the photo.  Like father like son, si?

Which is your favorite photo?