Mosaics

Dress: Tolani/Nordstrom Rack

Cardigan: Rubbish/Nordstrom Rack

Boots: Abound/Nordstrom Rack

Tights: Hue/Macy's

Head band: H&M

Bracelets: Vintage, Target, Forever 21, and DIY

Earlier this year, Mr. CP spent two and a half months abroad in Italy doing research for his dissertation. I, unfortunately, couldn't join him the entire time, but I did manage to get over there for ten days. I had always wanted to visit Italy. In fact, I took several Italian classes in college in preparation for that far-off day when I would be able to visit. We had determined early on that we would much rather visit fewer places and explore them more thoroughly, and so we decided to spend 5 days in Rome and 5 in Venice. Below, I've listed my 4 favorite memories from our time in Italy. (Note: I know 4 is an arbitrary number. I was initially going to do 5, but this post is already super duper long.) 

1.) The food. May I just say that I will forever and always worship the culture that introduced both pasta and pizza into the world? I'm convinced that Italy possesses some sort of magical powers. I literally ate my body weight in pasta every day, and actually lost weight on the trip. Logic tells me that it was probably because I was hoofing it everywhere, but emotionally I believe otherwise. It was magic. Magic, I tell you!!!

2.) On one of our first days in Rome, we stumbled upon an amazing restaurant called Zeus. We decided to go back a couple times before we left, and ultimately befriended one of the waiters, and the crazy Sicilian chef. So desperate was the SC (Sicilian Chef) to converse with us that he brought out an Italian newspaper and started gesturing and pointing at it frantically. To this day, I have absolutely no idea what he was saying -- the waiter couldn't even understand what SC was saying, despite the fact that he was Italian -- but SC apparently liked us, because he sent out a special dessert he whipped up just for us as a going away present!

3.) Completely unintentionally, we arrived in Venice on the last day of Carnival. Our hotel was right off St. Mark's Square, but we had no idea at all how to get there. We headed in the vague direction of our hotel with our giant ass backpacks only to find that everyone else was trying to get into the Square. My solution: use my overstuffed backpack as a battering ram. It worked relatively well... until we got lost. Mr. CP had to dump me in an alley with our backpacks while he went off in pursuit of the hotel.

4.) I'm a huge art junkie. I haven't got any artistic abilities whatsoever -- even my stickmen look like shapeless blobs -- but I admire the artistic productions of others. The day we spent at the Vatican Art Museum was overwhelming and amazing. The mosaics, in particular, were astonishing. There are no words, and that's saying something for someone as long-winded and verbose as me.

Which brings me to the dress I'm wearing above. It was my love of those mosaics that inspired me to nab this dress when I saw it at Nordstrom Rack a while back. It reminded me vaguely of the beautiful, vibrantly colored mosaics I saw in the Vatican Art Museum, and brought back all the wonderful memories of my time in Italy. When I told Mr. CP this, he insisted that it doesn't look the faintest bit like a mosaic. I did the mature thing. I shrieked, "YES IT DOES, BUTT HEAD!" and dramatically sashayed out of the room. Because that's just how I roll.