I Woke Up In Venice...

Hey Guys! I know it has been a while since my last post but something tremendous has changed in my life and I am finally able to share it with you. I know it’s a long post, but I promise it is worth the read.

I woke up in Venice not knowing that my entire life was about to change. I was on one of my typical European trips with Cédric. First we would see his family in France, then we would explore a new country. It is an exciting ritual of ours because we both love to travel. He on one hand can physically handle the time changes and the vast variety of food. I on the other hand, always think I can handle traveling, but I'm asleep for half of the trip and nauseous for the other half. But that doesn’t stop me for our next voyage, it just slows me down a little. This time our travels took us to Venice, Italy. I have been to Italy many times before, but I have never went to Venice. It really was like a dream. Everything about the city told a story. Among the architecture, the canals, and the secret pathways, I felt the magic in the air, and it was just breathtaking.   

It was our second morning here and as I opened my eyes I see red fabric all around me. Oh yea, I forgot to mention, when we travel Cédric loves to choose hotels that makes him feel like we are part of the culture. In this case he felt the need to be in the baroque era. Waking up to red tapestry, red wallpaper and red blankets may have been a little too much. It actually felt more like a horror movie than anything else, but what do I know? Room service comes knocking on the door and Cédric jumps up to get the door. He put the tray right on the bed, giving me no chance to fall back to sleep. As we finish our breakfast of stale pastries and burnt coffee, he suggests we wear something special today since we are in the most romantic place on earth. Also, he thought this was a great day for me to blog. I love fashion and I love showing women how to wear inexpensive clothes. So it only made sense for me to blog about what I love the most. If I can even help one woman, I would be so very happy. Once he mentioned that, I immediately jumped up and started to think about the best outfit on a cold day of walking around a city of cobblestone. 

I layered a light blue button down collared long sleeve shirt from Zara with a dark blue Gap cable knit sweater on top. I had this great black suede front button skirt that would go perfectly. It was too cold for my legs to be bare so I put on black opaque tights. I just bought these 2 inch black leather Coach booties. They were so cute and easy to walk in. They also gave an edgy look to my preppy outfit so it were perfect. I waved my hair to add volume and femininity to my look.

We were off for our day of fun! Cédric loves to go sightseeing, but for some reason today he just kept walking us around in circles. I honestly didn’t think much about it so I just followed; thinking about our next stop, food. Plus, we had to be at the gondola ride at 3:45pm, so that was my main concern. After a lot of walking, we finally stopped for pizza at this adorable hidden nook in the middle of the city. I noticed Cédric was not eating, which was very strange for him, but again I thought nothing of it. After eating we headed to the gondola. As we were walking I spotted gondola rides everywhere but NO, we had to go to the place that he booked online. So once again, I followed.

When we arrived, he immediately noticed a woman and shouted her name, Linda! I looked at him in disbelief and asked him how he knew a random woman by the name of Linda?!?!? Apparently he booked the ride through her. okkkkkkk…….. so we go on our ride and of course it was beautiful, and crooked. Fyi, if you go on a gondola, you will be tilted the entire time, but I still loved it.

Anyway, at the end of the ride we pull into the garage version of the canal, and stopped at a building. I felt like I was in the movie, The Italian Job. As I stepped out of the gondola, guess who I see???? Yes, Linda! At this point I am completely confused, but knowing Cédric, it mean’t nothing. He Looks over and says, “I didn’t tell you? We are going to a fashion museum and Linda will be our tour guide”. As we walk into the building, Linda asked us to wait outside in the “Secret Garden” because they were really busy. Hahahaha!!! No one was in the building. By now I thought I was just going crazy but I went along with it. So, we go outside and there is this beautiful green garden overlooking the grand canal. I mean, there was really nothing better than this. And we had this whole place to ourselves. How lucky are we???

I start looking at the water. All of a sudden I hear music from a violin. I turn around and see a violinist walking towards me with a photographer. WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?! The entire world just stopped for a moment. I look at Cédric… he gets down on one knee and proposed!! It was truly the most amazing thing in the entire world. My best friend wants to spend the rest of his life with me! Oh, did I mention, he rented out the garden, brought my favorite pink champagne and food for me just in case I was hungry…. that is not very shocking. Rule #1 always feed me! By the way, Linda was the planner he hired. Oh Linda lol

So this is great right? I found the person I want to annoy for the rest of my life and he gave me a fairytale proposal. My life is perfect….. Then I look at him and say, “Now you get to meet my 65 first cousins”. Sorry, did I mention I’m Albanian? This is where the real fun begins.

Tip of The Day: Take a risk and go on a great adventure. You never know where it may lead you. And don't forget to wear a great outfit!

C'est la vie