Pretty girl!

I love weddings for two reasons; first, witnessing the best day of someone's life; second, dressing up!

How about one of these for a guest get-up or a bridesmaid dress?

Monique Lhuillier Spring/Summer 2011 Ready-to-Wear

And for the beautiful bride....metallic fabrics are making it in bridal fashion these days. You may have noticed a preview of this trend here - on our trip to Italy.

Zuhair Murad

All images from WedLuxe~Canada's Luxury Wedding Magazine

Till next time,
Pink and Sparkles
xoxo

Chez Ares

Bonjour mes amis!  This post is dedicated to the Hotel Ares Eiffel a.k.a. a wicked-awesome hotel we stayed at while in Paris this last May.  For those you appreciate luxury, an exerprt from the website describing the amenities

"With a wonderful combination of baroque and contemporary decor, each of our 12 to 13 m² rooms provides a vast living space that is both elegant and comfortable. Each room is equipped with a Bang&Olufsen® TV, sumptuous furniture from the renowned Italian brand Poltrona Frau®, and spacious bathrooms with Versace® tile."

Now how's that for chic?




The entrance...

The reception area....

The Lounge...
 The Library...The Breakfast Area...

A Standard Room...

A Deluxe room...

A Junior Suite...

 The bathroom...

Le sigh....I want to go back immediately.

Till next time,
Pink and Sparkles

Siena - the great!

By far my favourite CITY in Italy. As you may have read here, my favourite province in Italy is Tuscany and within that is the medieval city of Siena.  I went to Siena in 2004 for the summer to study Art History with my university.

Siena was founded by the Etruscans between 900 - 400 BC and is considered by UNESCO as a world heritage site.  The city still maintains its medieval history by being divided into 17 wards, or contrade.  Each contrada has its own rich history and set of traditions.  Every year, the contrade compete in a horse race unique to Siena called Il Palio di Siena. The contrade race bareback and dressed in their appropriate contrade colours.  The race resides in the city's Campo (or main piazza) and they parade and party like I've never seen before.  The winner's contrada parties for WEEKS after the win. Its insane!

Source

I cannot say enough good things about this city - you need to go.  Here are some shots from our recent trip....

On the train ride to Siena!...

Il Campo...

One of many alleyways...

Can't believe this...we went for lunch near my old dormitory in our contrada - Snail (Ciocciola) and the drummers (for the Palio parade) were rehearsing!!!!....

View from my old dorm garden...

See the window at the top with the blue towel hanging...that was my dorm room with my best friend Ashley...

Another view from the dormitory garden...

Me....

Siena is HILLY as hell....this is me going up the hill outside of the dorm...

This was the street the dorm was on...

This sign says "Confines of the Snail Contrada"....every contrada had these signs on their walls - differing according to the appropriate contrada of course...

Church in Siena....Santa Maria Assunta (Most Holy Mary of the Assumption)... That is black and white marble...Siena's city colours...

Il Campo...

Bibo....Awesome bar we would get coffee in the morning, Piedine at lunch and the occasional late-night snack...

Bibo...

I know this looks like a pita with spinach and cheese but its NOT...Piedine are special sandwiches made of some flat focaccia bread, spinach and ricotta (well, this one) there are so many varieties...they make me happy and I can only find the good ones in Italy, Siena and Rimini in particular...

Now that I'm hungry........I gotta get outta here and try to recreate this!!!

Till next time,

Pink and Sparkles.

Some Firenze Forgots

Oops....Looks like I forgot some photos from Firenze.  We split our four-day stay with a day trip to Siena (posting soon), so I missed these pictures after our Siena rendezvous.  More of Firenze....

The bridal gown fashions were amazing in the shops we passed by.  A lot of lace and metallic threads built into dresses - big trend in Italy and France right now...

I DIE for these shoes!!! Look at the marabou feathers and crystal buckle...

Our last night in Firenze trying to grab a picture with our amazing waiter ... but he wasn't having any of it and tried to flee....

Till next time,

Pink and Sparkles

Fabulous Firenze

Tuscany is one of my favourite provinces in Italy. Deep in culture and art (like all of Italy) Tuscany has a certain warmth about it that I don't feel in any other part of the country.  The Italian dialect - or lack there of - is also quite extraordinary in these parts where the cadence on the "c" in words is very soft and almost pronounced as an "h" sound.  Marvelous. I also have a special connection to Tuscany because of my two months of Art History studied in Siena (with classes in Florence) in the summer of 2004. I have never forgotten it since, and consider Siena to be my second home (look out for Siena posting coming up a bit later).

The food in Tuscany is to DIE for (like all of Italy). Their specialty.... Florentine steak (picture below) and white beans in oil. Pizza and pasta is almost good anywhere but honestly I had to only pick two items as specialties here or I could go on for days.  We went to so many art galleries and museums in Florence and respected the "no pictures" rule so, there are fewer pictures here which don't really reflect the four wonderful days we spent here.  Enjoy Firenze!

Street leading to Il Duomo...

Il Duomo...

Il Duomo (coppola)...

Shannon Tweed...ya, thats right, we followed her for a bit...

Our hotel (albergo)...

Perseus With Head of Medusa by Cellini...

A replica of Michaelangelo's David...

BEST restaurant in Florence....Ciro and Sons...they brought us this to snack on with our Campari and Soda aperitivi (aperitifs)...If you are ever in Florence you HAVE to go here...

Do you see this steak??? Unlike anything I've ever tasted. Organic, and BARELY COOKED. It didn't taste bloody or "meaty" at all...I cant describe it. Drizzled with strawberry and a balsamic reduction...

And two Montenegro digestivi (digestives) to end a fabulous day and meal in Firenze.....

Sigh....how I wish I was back.

Till next time,
Pink and Sparkles
xoxo

Va Va Venezia!

Yes, the smell of fishy stuff and no, no lack of photo ops! This was my third time in Venezia (Venice) and first time with my husband.  Gondola ride was (obviously) our favourite part.

The City's symbol...

Gondolas...

I love my alleyways...

"Streets"...

Our lunch spot...

Beautiful Piazza San Marco...

View from our hotel balcony...

Until next time,

Pink and Sparkles

xoxo