Luxe Life | A Romantic Trip to Florence

I have just returned from a wonderful Birthday trip to Florence, Italy, where the weather was dry and mild, food was fabulous and the drinks flowed freely. Mr D and I flew out from London Heathrow and were treated to a spectacular view as we flew over the Alps... (now have a slight urge to go skiing!)

We had to fly into Pisa as there were no flights to Florence when we wanted but this was no hassle at all, hopped on the PisaMover bus to the train station and €20 for both of us and an hour later and we had arrived in Florence! It really was a lot simpler than we were expecting and pretty cheap to boot!

We arrived at the San Gallo Palace Hotel to drop off our bags and headed straight out. The hotel was just perfect for a city break, it was just 15mins walk from the centre (there was a bus service if you wanted to save your energy), the room was spacious, and clean, with an outside and inside seating area and a comfy bed...what more can you ask for? We walked in to town and found our bearings, with the help of a glass of prosecco and our first meal was pizza (I admit it, pizza is completely my favourite food, ever) washed down with some lovely prosecco (maybe there is a trend coming on for this holiday). Yum!

The next day we went and hit the shops, there is an amazing designer street in Florence called Via Tornabuoni where all the big names are, not to mention the flagship Gucci store and home to a cafe owned by Roberto Cavalli, called Cafe Giacosa, which has the perfect outside seating area to sit out and people watch...maybe with a glass of prosecco.

Duomo is hugely impressive and I just couldn't get enough pictures of it, we decided not to suffer the long queue to go inside as I had read that the inside was sparsely decorated and the big wow factor was the outside. From the square that Duomo sits on, there a other shopping streets which is where I stumbled across a Kiko Cosmetics store...WOW! I had a little splurge in there which I have posted separately about (click here).

For lunch on day two we had a meat platter (which was huge) and a glass of delicious red at a wine store called Obsequium which we stumbled across in the area South of the Ponte Vecchio (bridge). It was €10 each for a meat platter and a glass of wine, but the portions were so generous that it felt like a real bargain.

The high light of the day was going to Officina Profuma-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Nouvello, the oldest pharmacy in the world. The only way to describe this place was magical! It was like a dream world for anyone that loves their beauty products, we treated ourselves to a couple of colognes, but I really could have bought so much more! It was full of interesting lotions and potions that have been produced since they began production 400 years ago.

In the evening we were hoping to go to dinner at Obika, located on Via Tornabuoni, but it was super popular and they didn't have any tables so we had a wander and found a lovely little restaurant called xx which served mean ravioli and a spritz on the side. Of course before that we had treated ourselves to a wine stop in a little place called Panini Tartufati which was also located on the Via Tornabuoni.

Day 3 was Birthday Day! In the morning we went and soaked up some culture at the Uffizi Gallery (worth mentioning that many attractions aren't open on Mondays so plan your days well). The building of the gallery was stunning and it also offered some beautiful views of the surrounding landscape on the second floor. After working up an appetite walking around nearly 100 rooms of Uffizi, we managed to bag a table at Obika and we had a delicious sharing platter followed by (some more) pizza.

I have to admit to a little thing I have, it is widely known as a stationary obsession, usually found in children, and older children who haven't grown up yet! Florence has a number of beautiful and historic paper making stores so I spent the afternoon marching Mr D up and down the little streets of Florence seeking all these wondrous stores out.

It started to drizzle slightly so we went in search for (you guessed it) a little bar we could take shelter and we found this interesting bar called La Cite which was a cross of a bookstore/bar/cafe/music venue. We wiled away a couple of hours here chatting about the last couple of days and comparing to other cities we have been to.

Birthday dinner was a real treat, Mr D had booked a table at io Osteria Personale (which I have written in more detail here). This restaurant was located a little out of the way with a real understated frontage, you enter to a smart, trendy interior and you are treated to a taste sensation (I would definitely recommend the tasting menu!)

On the last day we only had the morning so we made a last minute dash back to one of the stores we had come across, called Alberto Cozzi, which is a 4th generation bookbinders also famous for their marbled paper, to buy a leather notebook with my name pressed on to the front...I am just a little bit in love with this notebook!

I had a fantastic time in Florence and I would say it is so worth a visit, a few things to take note of are; customer service isn't the best, maybe due to the fact that locals don't tip, but get used to service without a smile so that you aren't sat there bemused. Often in bars and cafes when ordering a drink there is food available to pick at for free or you are given some crostini with your drink. Lastly, if you are fit and able then walking is the best form of transport as much of the centre is restricted to vehicles and Florence is relatively easy to get around and places aren't too far away any way.

Anyone else with places you recommend in Florence or useful tips?

Luxe Beauty Life | Travelling Light

So, lucky old me is off to Florence tomorrow! I absolutely can't wait, but despite all this excitement, I have the feeling of dread when I hear those painful words 'luggage allowance'. I am only off for 4 days, but what always gets me in a spin is trying to skinny down the cosmetics, so I thought it would be useful to let you know how I attempt to be a bit frugal on how much I bring with me - means I can buy more at duty free then, right?

I took a deep breath and decided to bring together the majority of the products I would usually use over a 4 day period, there were a couple of bits that I missed, but I would say I got all the big hitters in there. This massive haul of products looked like this....

"This does not look shared-small-suitcase-for-a-long-weekend compatible" was the polite response from my husband when he walked in the room...and promptly walked back out! So I have managed to get my weekend cosmetics to a slightly more manageable amount which now looks like this...

I managed this miracle using the following tricks:

1) Samples. This is when sample size products come in to their own, if you happen to get a sample of a product that you quite like, but not enough to veer away from your usual favourite, save it. When you are going away, using sample sizes is so much easier, and you don't mind that it isn't your favourite product...your on holiday, who cares?

2) Containers. For the when your favourite products are essential, (mine is flash beauty balm) then buy some empty containers from a supermarket or pharmacy and squeeze a bit from the full size product to save on room/weight.

3) Multi tasking products. Products that can do more than one thing are your friend when it comes to travelling light, so get packing those lip and cheek tints, multi use oils and anything else that can work its magic more than once.

4) Eye shadow palettes. In my first pic I only showed a tiny proportion of the various eye shadows and creams that I own, and I never know what look or eye colour I will want to try from one day to the next. So I find eye shadow palettes are a good use of space as packing all the different eye shadow pots is a little infeasible, but with a palettes you still get plenty of choice and it slips right in between your knock out dress and skinny jeans without barely making a difference space wise. The one I have shown is a palette I picked up from Sephora last year, and I have heard on the blogvine that they are now shipping to the UK! Woohoo!

Now I am all packed, and ready to go without sacrificing my beauty regime. It is worth noting that the second pic doesn't show a bottle of perfume because obviously I will be making use of duty free ;-) 

Have a great Sunday and I will be blogging all about Florence, home of the oldest beauty shop I. The world, when I get back!

Life | New York, New York!

It is New York Fashion Week so I thought this would be a good chance to reflect highlights from my recent trip to the big apple for the fantabulous 30th Birthday of the Other Half (OH).

It was early December so the Christmas extravaganza was in full flow and the window displays were shining, it was snowing (in a nice romantic way, not the life threatening polar vortex way) and thankfully not too windy. We stayed at the Hilton Times Square and we had a brilliant city view overlooking Times Square although mostly we just saw snow. 

Starting with hotel then, it was exactly what you would want for a 4 night stay in a city you have never been to before. The location was perfect for getting around with the majority of shops you would be looking for within a 15minute walking radius. The room was clean and modern, with a comfortable bed (essential if you walk as much as we did) and quiet for a good nights sleep. The staff in the hotel were very friendly with a good knowledge of the city to help us find our way to where we wanted to go. We didn't book breakfast at the hotel as we wanted to get out in the morning and find new places when possible but we did indulge in room service one morning which was delicious and huge (I like pancakes big time but even I need help from OH to finish my portion).

The first day we headed over to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) as I had forever obsessed over Van Gogh's Starry Night painting and there wasn't a chance in hell I was missing our on seeing it. As we worked our way through the various galleries being shocked and in awe in equal measures we finally got to the painting I had been waiting for...and it was worth the wait! It was genuinely breathtaking and, unlike the Mona Lisa in Paris, you could get right up close without dozens of people elbowing you out of the way. There was also an interesting Magritte exhibition on which I found surprisingly interesting despite some of the more out there pieces which weren't really to my taste.

After having my mind blown by modern art we headed back down 5th Avenue to have a look at all of the window displays and sought out the big names like Barney's, Bloomingdales and Bergdorf Goodman, it was every shopaholics dream! I had the best day and then to top it off we managed to get to Macy's on their 25% off everything day - the 2 hours in there is a bit of a blur, but I came out of there with a LOT of bags! 

I thought the day wouldn't get any better but then we found the TKT booth in the middle of Times Square, this is definitely somewhere I would recommend a visit to if want to catch a show. Each day at 3pm they start selling the tickets for shows that haven't sold for that night. We bagged two tickets for Chicago half price for that evening...the day got better! The show was brilliant at the Ambassador Theatre, my face hurt from smiling by the end of it, and to finish the night off we rolled out of the theatre straight across the road to an Italian restaurant called Da Marino. What a find! There was live music and a great atmosphere topped with tasty food, I am sure you can find somewhere cheaper or better food but it was great and not too pricey so just what you need when you fall out of the theatre at 10pm in need of food!

The next day it was OH's 30th Birthday, so we had booked lunch at a 3 Michelin starred restaurant called Le Bernadin. Wow! From the cocktails to the dessert it was a taste sensation! Unlike other Michelin starred restaurants we have visited in th UK it was reasonably relaxed, and not overly pretentious so it was an enjoyable experience with amazing food. 

Later that day we headed for a change of scenery so we headed south towards Greenwich Village and wandered around the shops eventually finding ourselves needing dinner and we stumbled across a restaurant called Bleecker Kitchen & Co. which most certainly deserves a mention. At the time they had only been open a couple of weeks, the food was very tasty, I had a pulled pork slider with fries, delicious! The bartender rustled us up some cocktails on request and we also were given free dessert as it was a special birthday. The lemon meringue pie was amazing!!

The biggest discovery for me in NYC was Sephora. For those who don't know what Sephora is then it is a shop of dreams, scented, blushed and glossy dreams. It is a cosmetics store that beats any other cosmetic store, it was the most wonderful moment finding Sephora! I had to reign in the spending at this point as OH was getting a little stressed at the spend rate, but I managed to grab a couple of great buys which I will review on my blog soon. 

While we were in NYC we went to see the New York Nicks at Madison Square Gardens play the Chicago Bulls. I would recommend anyone to catch a game even if they aren't a huge fan as the atmosphere is electric and the entertainment was non-stop. I really got into the game and was cheering on the Nicks at full volume within 5 minutes!

Other highlights were the top of the rock at the Rockefella Centre and the 30% off the whole store at J Crew (needless to say we had to buy another suitcase to check in on the way home)...I had the time of my life in New York.