I've stopped over planning our weekends. Lately, we need to decompress on Saturdays and Sundays, save our pennies and get stuff done around the house. My man has been working non-stop overtime for the past 10 months, and sometimes I feel guilty making plans and forcing him to take me around, when I can tell he just needs to relax.
But this weekend, when we woke up and he asked me "cosa abbiamo in programma oggi?" - "what do we have planned today", I said nothing! Then he told me he needed to work in the morning and go visit some of his collaborators, so I didn't think he felt up for doing anything. So imagine how happy I was when he asked if I wanted to go to Comacchio!
Ummm....yes!
I've never been to Comacchio, actually I hadn't even heard of Comacchio before last year! A friend that works for the Province where I live told me to go because there is a massive natural reserve with one of the largest population of pink flamingos in Italy, and the historic city centre is filled with canals, similar to Venice.
It is also famous for its eels, cooked in a variety of recipes. Eels that are are very particular because of the water around Comacchio that is 50% fresh and 50% salty, giving the eels a more delicate flavor.
We arrived shortly after lunch and got to explore the city and I was absolutely taken aback. It was very beautiful, small and quaint. The city has 13 natural islands (unlike Venice's man-made islands), that are connected by a series of bridges and gateways that were built during the Renaissance. The whole city is a little jewel and if you are in the area I highly recommend you visit and take the free boat tour on the "Batana" boats, steered by Volunteers that tell the story of the city as you glide along the canals and duck under the bridges.
What I Wore - The BB Dakota Manda Dress
I'm not sure if you've heard about the rain we've been getting in Europe lately. It has been raining every single day for what seems like three weeks straight. This weekend called for rain, but for some reason on Saturday the sun was shining and it was HOT! In a totally unexpected turn of events the sky was blue, the clouds were fluffy and the temperature was what I would expect June in Italy to feel like - perfect.
I've been waiting for the right occasion to wear this BB Dakota off the shoulder "Manda" Dress in white. It is currently on sale at Shopbop for $61 (regularly priced at $88) and all sizes (S,M and L) are still in-stock.
When this dress arrived I was so impressed by the quality. The cotton upper layer is beautifully embroidered with flowers in a soft-white tone on tone thread and it is lined so it is not see-through and there's no need to wear a slip underneath.
Off The Shoulder Trend for Summer
Have you noticed how popular the off the shoulder trend is this year? There are lots of beautifully ruffled tops and dresses that layer large bands of fabric off the shoulders to show off those ever so feminine collar bones and shoulders.
I really liked the style of the Manda dress because it is a little different from the double-layer off the should dresses, plus I can easily wear it on my shoulders if I get sick of the trend or need to be covered up in a church (aka, visiting any church or religious site in Italy).
I wasn't too sure about how voluminous the dress is because lately I've decided to embrace my figure instead of hiding it, but it is actually very feminine and I think it would look super cute belted as well.
Go Bold Or Go Home
If you know me, you know that I almost never wear lipstick. Sure I may wear some gloss at times, a bit of liner with chapstick or even, on the rare occasion a simple nude tone - but red? Never Red!
The last time I wore red lipstick (out of the house) I was doing a language exchange in Quebec, and on costume night I was dressed as little red riding hood, so the lips completed the look. That was some odd 15 YEARS ago! What is wrong with me?
The other day, I was chatting with my dentist about getting my teeth whitened. He said that I should be very careful with my enamel and that my teeth are perfectly white. He proceeded to tell me that my problem wasn't my teeth being white enough, it was my lips not being red enough (lol), and that I should be more like an "Italian woman" and wear red lipstick!
Well. If my dentist is telling me so, maybe the time has come.
I've always thought that you had to have Angelina Jolie-esque lips to pull off red lipstick, but for the last few years I've noticed almost anyone can get away with it, so what's my problem? A few things came to light, on this, my second time wearing red lipstick out of the house. Namely: I'm finally ready, I loved the attention I got with red lips, I felt so put together and red lipstick automatically turns any woman into a confidence oozing, lollypop wielding vixen. Sold.
Turns out my Mother in Law, dentist and friend Mary from Canada were right all along, I should wear (red) lipstick more often. I still need to figure out how to make it through a meal without obsessing over the fact that it is being wiped off and/or smudging and then there is kissing. Do girls with red lipstick abstain from kissing...all day long?
but I digress......
My shoes are by the Spanish brand Zinda, I bought them last year as part of a massive shoe haul, that you can read about in this post along with where to find them.
My bag is one of the very first prototypes from the collection I'm working on with my husband. This was one of his first bag designs, and I have some good news about the new collection!! So far we've registered a new brand - " MALLOT", and you can visit a new site that I'm still in the process of finishing (feel free to give me your feedback!) We were moving forward nicely, however, we've hit a bump in the road, but it's ok because it is a positive bump! A big luxury brand saw the bag designs and is now producing a huge collection of them so my man has been busy around the clock managing this new collaboration. We're still moving forward with our collection and I'm going to Milan in a few weeks to finish our fundraising video, but it is on the back burner while my man works for this new designer (they actually pay and value our craftsmanship, so it is a great new relationship!)
All in all, I loved our afternoon in Comacchio, even through the visit was short-lived. We headed home before dinner so I didn't have the chance to taste the famous roasted eel....oh well, a perfect excuse to go back!
#REASONSTODRESS DRESS TO IMPRESS FASHION BLOGGER LINKUP
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