A Trip to the Gardens {A Reason to Get Dressed}

  Our days are pretty similar day in and day out. All our trips, like most, have been cancelled, camps also cancelled.  We're still mostly quarantined at home, hanging outdoors with only a few families a few times a week who are also limiting their exposure while keeping distance. So with this little variety, we took a day off work and headed on a little local adventure to break up the day and step away from the monotony.
Some how we'd never been to Powell Gardens. Only 45 minutes southeast of Kansas City, an expansive space with art sculptures, a pond with several islands that can be explored, a beautiful chapel, walking paths, and 7 themed gardens full of extraordinary landscaping. We ooo'd and awww'd our whole way through and could have spent more time there but the rain came. 
Powell Gardens is taking safety measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. You have to make a reservation for a time to come so they can limit crowds. They have arrows marked on the walking paths to keep traffic going the same direction, as well. We went on a week day, in the morning before a rainy afternoon, so we only saw maybe 4 other groups of people, so felt very safe the entire time.
I definitely want to go back!  And if for nothing else, but to get dressed again. It was nice to put on a summery dress and leave the house. I love any easy, breezy dresses, especially in white Swiss dot and lace fabric.
My first real outfit worn since quarantine:

Now I just need to find more family-fun outdoor adventures that are safe from crowds. Do you have any recommendations within driving range of the Kansas City area? 

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Two Days in Lisbon, Portugal

 
Lisbon, a must. We threw this city on to the end of our Italian adventure (a few days in Rome and another few days in southern Italy) on a whim - and because the Portugal (TAP) airline we were taking home had to stop there anyway and offered a stop over program.  With no expectations or major must-hits, we did a bit of research in order to maximize our two days, but otherwise, set out to just wander and explore. Overall, we were completely impressed!
Day One

We stayed in a simple, but very nice (clean!) apartment that was either walking distance or a short Uber ride to just about everywhere.  So once we arrived and dropped our bags, we set out to wonder. We actually followed along Rick Steve's (free) audio tour, "Lisbon City Walk" which was a great way to get acquainted with the city and see some hot spots right away.

Part of this walk led us along the Tagus River and to the most amazing yellow square (I love yellow!), where I was immediately smitten.  This square, called Praça do Comércio, but also referred to as Terreiro do Paço, and is where the statue of King José is (quite magnificent). 

There are some cute restaurants with patio seating, sidewalk vendors and food stands along the river in this area. As we walked, we stumbled upon a food tasting event and I got the most amazing mini-pot pie type snack (last picture above).  This was my first sign that I might have been underestimating the food of Lisbon.

Later on, we wondered around more looking for dinner. Mostly, I would recommend reservations - as a lot of good places were booked up, but we got lucky and were able to sit at the bar of a well-rated restaurant, Oficio, which was amazing. I'm not sure how they cooked their veggies, but it was the most amazing roasted veggies I've ever had.

Otherwise, other famous Lisbon items are cod and cheese! So we had more of that, too!

Day Two

The next morning we hit the ground running for the ultimate tourist day. First we went to Belém Tower, which did require an Uber as it's a bit further out of the city. We had breakfast and coffee at the cafe near by over looking the tower and then wondered up close to it. We went on a Monday, which is when the tour is closed to tours/inside visit, so we didn't get to go inside.

We decided to do the longer walk back to the downtown area, walking by the Lisbon Cathedral (which was also closed on the Monday we were there, but it was beautiful from the outside!).

We did a ton of walking this day - and after walking from the Cathedral, we headed to the area of Castelo de S. Jorge!  There was a fast moving line, but lots of little shops and restaurants around for a snack while in line.

Once inside the Castle, the views are amazing. So many different vantage points to get a real good look at colorful Lisbon.

 After all the exploring and walking... we sat down to eat cheese, and more cheese and drink some wine. The weather was perfect and views relaxing after the long day on foot. Lisbon loves their white cheese! :)

On our way back to our airbnb apartment, we hit up a DIY wine tasting style place back in the yellow square (Praça do Comércio), Wines of Portugal Tasting Room.  This place was cool because it was super laid back and you could drink what you wanted at your own pace. We tried a few before getting back for a quick rest before dinner.

After a long day of walking and seeing all the major things, we had another GREAT dinner at Versiculo. I stuck to the tried and true of Lisbon veggies, since they were so amazing the night before, and got the grill veggies on a skewer (also came with toasted almond rice) - and they were wonderful!

 Day Three 

Our last day of vacation with a few hours left in Lisbon before our flight, we spent the morning walking around, riding the trolly to see the rest of the city and grabbing breakfast. 

We left Lisbon super impressed and ready to come back again on another stop over if it ever made sense.  And after a full 10 days, we were ready to get home.

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Simple Jewelry with a Big Impact

  Time to revisit your jewelry drawer (or dish, or stand). What are you actually wearing these days?  For me, I have a drawer full of costume jewelry that I rarely use and a small dish of fine (but affordable) jewelry that I wear everyday. I've been obsessed with simple gold jewelry now for years, and my love for ear huggies has sky rocketed.
I think these simple jewelry pieces can add up to make a sophisticated impact. I like to layer necklaces of different lengths to dress up or add interest to a basic or solid color top.  And my newest obsession is the ear cuff.  I love that you don't have to add another piercing to your lobes to add a piece of jewelry.
And actually, it's been a long time since I've worn earrings in my second piercing, but I wanted to layer multiple ear huggies, so I had to re-pierce the hole a tiny bit and now I'm back!  Truth be told, I pierced these second holes myself back in high school in the first place (and that's why they aren't in the best placement - so I don't recommend that route).
Finally, I also wear thin gold rings, and stack them to add more impact when I want to punch it up. I don't even take my rings off since they're so light and thing - and they don't tarnish at all. 
What ways do you give simple jewelry a wow?
You can see how I styled my gold ear huggies with a bright pink blazer here.
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This post is in collaboration with Nakturnal, but all opinions are my own.

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Four Nights on the Amalfi Coast of Italy

  I'm back after a long break over the holidays and start into the new year. But I just planned this year's European vacation and was re-inspired me to get the rest of my Italy adventure posted (I still dream of this trip!).  Here is part two of our Italian getaway last September 2019! 
Reminder on the first post and part of our trip: a few days in Rome.  

1/2 Day in Pompeii
Before we got to our second spot, we took a pit spot on the way to see Pompeii...

From Rome, we took the high speed train to Naples. We learned that you do NOT have to get to the train station in Rome much earlier than your train departure time at all. You don't even know what terminal you are at until 10-20 minutes before it is set to depart. And only then when you know your terminal (they show it on the big screen), it take a few minutes to get to the assigned terminal.  

If you get to the train station 30 minutes before your scheduled departure, you'll have plenty of time. Getting to the train and boarding was also super simple. We had assigned seats, and all the seats around us were open, so it was quite relaxing.  

Once we got to Naples, we transferred to the local Circumvesuviana (felt like the NYC metro) and that takes you straight to the main Pompeii entrance (vs. just the general town like the high speed train does).  You buy your ticket at the station, and the Circumvesuviana comes every so often (like 5-15 minutes). 

The experience is not super great. But it gets the job done and drops you off right where you need to be (literally, across the street) - so it was worth it. But basically, it's just like riding a crowded metro car. And if you have luggage, like we did, it's even more annoying. But after 20-30 minutes, you are there!

And you can check your luggage at the Pompeii ticket entrance for free (DO NOT check the luggage at the Circumvesuviana stop station, as that costs money, and literally across the street at the Pompeii entrance is a free one).  We learned this the hard way.

We bought regular Pompeii entrance tickets after waiting in a short line. There was a separate line that after people got tickets they waited in a much longer line for an audio guide/tour info. We use the free Rick Steve's app to listen to a guided tour through our phones (just like we did throughout Rome), and it was great, free and no extra lines.

Pompeii was way bigger than I expected - wear comfy shoes because it's dusty and there are uneven walking paths all over the expansive space. It was very neat, and definitely recommend visiting!  After our few hours in Pompeii, we grabbed a slice of pizza and went back to the Circumvesuviana station to continue south to Sorrento to begin our second part of our Italian trip.

Staying in Sorrento
We decided to stay in Sorrento for the next 4 nights, since this city has the most options to travel in and out to other cities for day trips.  Plus, Sorrento was super pretty and a bit bigger than other southern Italian cities, so there were more options and better costs for finding a place to stay!  
We stayed in the heart of Sorrento in a great apartment that had updated bathroom appliances, was completely clean and a comfy bed! We could walk everywhere - including to the dock to catch the ferries to travel for our day trips to Capri and Positano!

Our first night in Sorrento, we walked all around and ate at a cute little restaurant, sitting outside to enjoy the bustling city square!  You probably know that southern Italy is known for its lemoncello. So we started our southern Italy portion of the trip with a lemoncello cocktail.  
We soon found out that you get a shot of straight up lemoncello after every meal though, so we became super fond of this lemony-tart liquor. I also got my fill of cannoli (my favorite).

By the time we got to Sorrento, for our second part of our trip, I also needed to find a laundromat. I worked really hard to pack light(ish), with a carry on sized bag (expanded to its biggest size) and a backpack.  We found and walked to a laundromat for a quick load of washing, and then air-dried the times back at our apartment and had fresh clothes for the back part of our trip. 
My FAVORITE meal (of maybe the whole trip... but that's really hard to narrow down) was at an "off the beaten path" restaurant my husband read about and found. La Cantinarria del Popolo had meat hanging from the ceilings and a huge outdoor patio. The first night we tried to go, there was an hour and half long line - and we were too hungry to wait it out. So we went for lunch on our day we stayed in Sorrento and it was so good.

1 Day in Capri

We took a morning ferry out of Sorrento to Capri for our first day trip away and spent the day on this adorable, quintessential and famous island. We started with a private boat tour around the island. Vittorio was our guide on his lovely boat with beautiful music and a comfy bow. We relaxed and took in all the beautiful views while Vittorio gave us some awesome history (he's lived there all his life!).

And while we were at it... we took a little detour on our boat ride to enter the blue grotto. I was super nervous because I don't like small spaces, and especially no control of getting out of said small spaces.  But we had to do it. 
A small boat came to get us off our bigger boat. You get real close to the ones you are with and the guide takes you into the Blue Grotto. The worst part (for me) was going in and out of the entrance. They go with the waves through this small opening and you have to lay back so you don't smack your head. It all happens fast and is a bit stressful, but once inside - it really is pretty! Very... blue!

All in all, if you are looking to do a boat ride tour of any sort around Capri, pay just a little bit more to do the private (relaxing) way vs. shoved on a boat crammed with a bunch of other tourists, a la...

After our morning adventure on the water (and during a quick rain), we ate lunch before we took by foot to explore the Island. We hiked and rode the chairlift to the very highest part of Capri, Monte Solaro. Here you can get a 360 look all around the island.

{his beer came in a fancy glass and side bucket of ice to keep it cool!}

We walked the small, winding streets lined with shops to get back down to the ocean level. We ended the day relaxing at a beach bar with a drink, and gazing at the beautiful ocean before taking our ferry back to Sorrento.

1 Day in Positano

After a day spent in Sorrento, and our last full day in Italy, our grand finale was in Positano. Another easy and lovely ferry ride from Sorrento to this colorful dotted getaway town for a day exploring. 
Positano might have been my favorite Italian town, with colorful and vibrant views at every turn. Our plan of attack for seeing this town was to spend the morning walking around the town - all the way up to the top! We started with breakfast at the beach level and watched as ferries came and went.

By afternoon, we hit up a local grocery store to got sandwiches, drinks and snacks for a beach picnic. 
We had brought out swimsuits to spend the afternoon lazily on the beach.  This was one of my very favorite parts of the trip. It wasn't just any beach day - the views were extraordinary, we had adorable beach chairs and an umbrella, great people watching, and Greg actually relaxed which was amazing in and of itself.  We ate our lunch, read, talked and took a few dips in the ocean to round out our day.

Positano was a great way to go out! We ferried back to Sorrento and ended the day and our Italian adventure with dinner and packing.
Leaving Italy
The next day, we ferried to Naples to fly out, fondly waving goodbye to Italy! Because we flew TAP, we elected for a free 2-night stop over in Lisbon, Portugal on our way home... so while our Italian trip was over, we still had 2 more days of our vacation to explore a new city.
More on Lisbon to come!

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