THE BEST POST EVERRRRRRRR

So where have I been? It has definitely been a few days since I last updated so I’m sure there exists that small lingering thought of, “hmmm I wonder what she’s up to…” Well let’s get into it.

The last time we chatted, I left you with a vision of the bliss I was experiencing in Milan. That moment has lasted, essentially, all week long. I’ll recap…

Tuesday 02/23: The first half of the day was incredibly uneventful. I spent the mass majority of the morning on my computer, trying to get work done, upload pictures, download music, etc, etc, etc. By the time it was an actual necessity to get out of my pajamas into real people clothing, it was something like 3 pm. Good one Wile.

I got myself ready to go and headed to class. It was a rather uninteresting lecture and I was beyond bored. I couldn’t wait to get the heck out of there and roam around the city. And that’s exactly what I did. I walked in and around a bunch of new areas and made sure to connect the metro lines with where I had been for future reference. When I got home, I was pretty tired from all the walking so I napped a bit. I then went out to do a little more roaming around and spotted a number of models going to a casting. That’s Milan for you.

I came back to the apartment and just kicked it, doing stuff on the computer, and making dinner. The girls and I all showered andhopped into bed but then before I knew it, the two of them were up and ready to go out and out the door to a club with some friends. I had no plans and was sitting at home. I opted for a good night’s sleep.

Wednesday 02/24: I overslept and had to get ready way too quickly. The sun was shining, though, so I didn’t have too much to complain about. School was school again but I had a good time chatting with my friends and catching up with people I hadn’t seen for a few days.

My friend, Antonio, invited me to join him and his friends to celebrate his roommate’s birthday but I never ended up hearing from him that night. Max, however, had talked to me about watching the big soccer game at a bar with him. So around 10:15 pm, I headed out to Palo Alto.

While I don’t follow soccer all that well, the game was impressive and I ended up having the best time with the boys. Max was there with his buddies, David, Lukas, Philipp, and Andy. All four of them came from the business university in Vienna and live within Austria, with the exception of Max who is from Munich. I was so impressed by how gentlemanly and downright kind they were. Thus, as you can imagaine, it was definitely a fun night.

After the game was over, we met up with some people outside and headed to Lukas and Philipp’s apartment, which was just nearby. Their place was sick and well located…not as amazing as our location but definitely note worthy. I ended up meeting a number of really cool people, including two girls from Portugal and a guy from Brazil. Andres, the Brazilian, had just been studying at La Universitá de Catolica for the last semester and was leaving in 2 days. He traveled to 14 different countries while he was here and so I was picking his brain about where to go, where he got his tickets and all that fun stuff. Super cool guy. The Portuguese girls, Carolina and Mercedes, are so sweet and down to earth. I hit it off with them right away and we spent a long period of the night just talking. They were so excited to have made a close friend and wanted to plan a bunch of stuff for the three of us to do. Obviously, I was down. The two of them are beautiful, fun, and super friendly. Couldn’t ask for much more, right?

The rest of the night was spent listening to music, drinking (minus me), and making conversation with all of my new acquaintances. Once 1:45 am rolled around, however, I was kind of tired so Max offered to walk me to the metro. European guys are really so incredibly generous and such gentleman. When we found the metro to be closed, Max insisted on walking me the entire distance home, which was decently far and out of his way. Not only that but every time I walked into a street and a car was coming, he’d put his arm out to protect me. And can’t forget that he always made sure to open the door for me or wait to let me go first with whatever we were doing. I was loving the chivalry.

When we got back to my apartment, he thanked me for joining and I, of course, thanked him for the invite! It was one of the best nights in Milan thus far (but just you wait for the rest of the week…) and I was thrilled to have spent it with such amazing people.

I came back up to find the girls still awake and just hanging in bed. They had decided to spend the night together, just lounging. Sounds like something I’d usually be doing.

Anyway, I came home, had a little snack, showered, and crawled into bed.

Thursday 02/24: I had a double class of my Management of Fashion and Design course, which on Monday had been so interesting. Ugh not today! The class was way too long, the teacher kept going on and on and on, and then we had to learn all about this HUGE intensive field project due towards the end of the semester. I was semi-bored out of mind and counting down the minutes until class was over. I did, however, have good company. Max, Philipp, and David are all in my class. Brian and my friend Brittany are also in the class as well. Brittany is the girl I had met at Arco Boleno when I did my laundry that first round. She goes to UNC and is such a sweet, genuine girl. She has been dying to go to Venice and remembered that neither one of us were able to go for Carnivalé so she asked if I’d be interested in planning a trip together. We’re going to make a full weekend out of it and I can’t wait to go back to Venice…it’s been years and I remember how beautiful it was the first time I went, so I can only imagine how much more appreciative I will be of it now that I am older.

After class finished at a fun 6:00 pm, I walked over with Francesco to his apartment to pick up a suitcase that he was loaning me for my big trip next week. That’s right, I’m taking my first real travel experience since coming to Milan! My birthday is next Saturday (whoop, whoop!) and one of my oldest friends, Kirk, is going to be in Europe for his spring break. He arrives in Barcelona the 27th, then hops to London, and finishes in Amsterdam. The dates that overlapped with my birthday and my free time were the last few days of his vacation so we figured we’d meet up. I wanted someone who really knows and cares about me to share my birthday with so I figured what better way than to go meet Kirk in Amsterdam and spend my special day with a good friend and a bunch of new ones. It’s even better because Brian, Ryan and Eddie are all going to be there too. I honestly cannot wait! I’ve heard that Amsterdam is one of those cities you just have to visit and that it’s really very beautiful. I leave the evening of the 4th and come back the morning of the 7th. I’m ready for one heck of an adventure.

Back to the day…I was at Francesco’s for a bit and then took the tram home so I could get back to the apartment and make dinner…I was starving!!! My hours had been crazy from class so I hadn’t been able to eat much. I definitely made up for that when I had all the food I could want at my fingertips.

Later on that evening, I talked to my favorites, Chantal and Vincent. The two of them had one of their best friends, Alex, from USF coming to visit Milan for the weekend. Alex is studying abroad in Barcelona and had been with the two of them last weekend when they had flown out to celebrate her 21st birthday. Seeing that fashion week is this week, Alex decided it would be the perfect time to come visit Chantal and Vincent. I couldn’t have agreed more.

Anywho, they invited me to come out with them that night. I got ready and was so happy to find that it was raining. Fail Milan. I grabbed my umbrella and started to make my way through the streets at a fun 12:45 a.m. I had tried to get a ride with Gaetano, who was taking Ava out to the clubs, but he couldn’t seem to fit me in his car. Thus, I had to opt for walking. The metros and trams stop around 1 am and sometimes earlier. I didn’t see any coming soon so I just said, “screw it! I’m walking” Too bad it was a longer walk than I thought. That and it was cold and raining, and I kept ending up in creepy back alleys. Thank goodness I didn’t get raped and/or robbed. But hey, it was an adventure!

I finally found the bar I was meeting Vincent and the girls at and waited until the three of them got there. When they walked in, every head in the place turned. You have to understand that these three are all GORGEOUS. Chantal is so beautiful with long flowing locks and big lips. She’s just so full of life and truly an amazing girl. Vincent is always well dressed and looking fabulous. He never ceases to make me smile, either, so I kind of love him. And Alex, who I just had the pleasure of meeting, looks like a mix between Megan Fox and Angelina Jolie. As you can imagine, she is damn beautiful. The three of them together looked like they were walking out of a magazine. Perfectly dressed and shining faces. I was feeling a tad inadequate.

We sat around the table and they ordered drinks before we called a cab and made our way towards Hollywood, a club located near Corso Como. Well we arrive and because it’s fashion week, the doorkeeper tries to tell us that it’s going to cost us 25 Euro a person! WHAT THE HECK! Yeah, how about no. We turn around and walk away but one of the guys comes after us and asks if we want a table for the charge of 3 people. We said no and continued to walk away. A minute later he asks if we will pay for 2 and the other 2 can get in free. Still no. As we were finally about to catch a cab, he says. “Okay all free.” Thatta boy bud.

The club wasn’t too horrifically crowded so I was liking that. The group of people, however, was kind of random. We ended up finding a bartender or a bouncer who we made friends with and then asked us if we wanted a private table. Obviously we said yes. Best part about it was that we didn’t get charged. The four of us had a blast just dancing and being silly in our little private area. We didn’t stay too terribly long because everyone was a little tired plus…we had passes to fashion week the next day! That’s right get ready for the best story of your life coming up.

We all went back to Vincent and Chantal’s tiny little attic of an apartment to sleep. It was the 3 of them in a bed and me on a coach that was half the size of my body. I slept in the fetal position attempting to a) fit on the world’s smallest couch and b) stay warm. It was quite an image and an experience. Picture my 6 foot tall body curled up into a ball with one blanket over my head with just leggings and a that I bulled up around my waist.

Friday 02/25: I hardly slept, as you can imagine, and woke up “for real” around 7:20 am realizing that I needed to get the others up if we wanted to be ready to go to make the DSquared2 show by 09:00 am. It took some coaxing and back rubbing to get people up and moving, with the exception of Vincent who stayed in bed and slept, but we three girls pulled ourselves together and took off for the adventure of a lifetime. It was crazyness in the “attic” trying to get fashionable clothes and faces together in a matter of minutes, but hey we did it.

We walked out of the apartment into the cold and pretty much got glared at by every person on the street. I guess we deserved that when we’re in pretty hot outfits and colored lips, big glasses, and sexy hair in the early morning while everyone else is in puffy coats and hats. We obviously mixed in really well.

So before I get into the details of this wild day, here’s a little rundown on fashion week in Milan. The infamous Milan Women’s Fashion Week started Monday the 22nd and ends March the 2nd. The more exclusive shows are held in private warehouses around the city while some are hosted in the private fashion center. In order to get in, you have to be a) invited, b) be someone super special, c) be press, d) be a buyer, or e) have a pass. Chantal and Vincent are in a fashion class at Catolicá and managed to see a show with their class on Tuesday. Being the fashion-crazed amazing people they are, they found their way into a few more shows that day and made it a vow to see what they could during the week. Luckily, they managed to get passes to the RoccoBarocco show for Friday. Seeing that Alex and I were both in for the adventure, we figured out a way to make two more of those bad boys appear in our hands. That’s my little secret though. And this is where the adventure begins…

Alex, Chantal, and I are making our way through the streets of Milan to see if we can maneuver our way into the private DSquared2 showing. The girls were in heels, while I was in flats, and thus walking at my everyday speed of 60 mph. I knew exactly where we were going and had the girls follow me. Too bad we got turned around because some dingus on the street (NEVER ASK AN ITALIAN FOR DIRECTIONS EVER!!!) pointed us in the wrong way and I was totally twisted around. We are all freaking out because the tram is moving at a snail’s speed thanks to Milanese traffic, which rivals LA’s. The clock is ticking faster and faster and we think we aren’t going to make the show. Its 9:30 am and the show was supposed to start at 9. We get there and rush our way over to the doors. I speak to the bouncer in Italian who tells me that the show just started 5 minutes ago and that we cant go in anymore because we would disrupt the performance. Ugh! Are you kidding me?! We make it on time and are there to see the show but because we missed it by a few minutes we cant go in. So lame, so lame.

All things do happen for a reason though. As soon as we got into a cab, Chantal realized that she had forgotten her contacts at home and wouldn’t have been able to see anything. Guess it was a blessing in disguise we didn’t see DSquared2…that and it got crappy reviews the following day.

So we are in the cab, heading back to Chantal’s apartment to grab contacts and then head straight to the fashion center to make attempt #2 of sneaking into a show. We had passes to get into the center because RoccoBarocco was being held at 12 pm. Blumarine, however, started at 10 am and we were more than intrigued to get in to see the show.

Upon arrival to the fashion center, the three of us were getting snapped left and right, as if we were some famous group of fashionistas. Everywhere we went, someone would say, “Scusa, un foto! Un foto!” Once we got inside, we made our way to the room that the show was being held in. There was a mass mob of the attendees waiting behind the entrance to get in. Everyone had invitations to the show…except us. We acted like we were supposed to be there and ended up getting interviewed for Shanghai TV. The woman was asking us all questions about our style and who we were wearing and how we come up with our outfits. She was really great and ended up sticking around to talk with us for a bit. Mid conversation, Alex notices three girls make their way around a corner and then magically appear on the other side of the roped off area. Enter our route of sneaking in.

There was a bathroom that connected the waiting area to the show area and both ends of doors were open. Score. We walked into the bathroom as if we were touching up makeup and washing hands, only to then slyly slip our way into the showroom and up the stairs into the seats. We made our way up to the very front and had a pretty dang good view if you ask me.

Before we knew it the show was starting. We were all blown away when Anja Rubik opened the show then followed by models like Natasha Poly, Chanel Iman, Magdalena Frackowiak, and the list just keeps on coming. The show itself was beautifully done. The clothes were gorgeous and so wearable and the music amazing. We had the time of our lives. When the show finished, we walked onto the runway to take pictures of the backdrop sign. It was hilarious because all these random people kept asking to take pictures with us as if we were some special group of girls. Of course we said yes but it was hilarious! Amongst the chaos, I noticed that the backstage entrance wasn’t being guarded so I said something to Chantal who just waltzed back there. Alex and I followed. We find ourselves face to face with the designer and a huge blob of press interviewing her. We got to see the clothes on the racks, the Polaroid wall, the makeup room, and went into a little private champagne party. It was magical.

After our Blumarine extravaganza went down, we made our way upstairs to the convention area to see if we could scrounge some food. I had only snagged an apple earlier and the girls were dying of hunger due to no food. As we are walking around the floor, an adorable older gentleman (Enter Claudio) asks us if we’d like to have some food and drinks. Answer? Yes. I had a tummy ache so I just sipped on some water but the girls knew what was up and took advantage of the delicious goodies. As we sat and rested, Claudio came to make conversation. He used to be the owner of Blumarine but sold it to start working on new lines. He was currently featuring one line called Federico Sangalli and the show was to be on Monday, which he so kindly invited us to with private invites. I attempted to converse with him in Italian and practice what I know. He was rather impressed and I was quite proud. He then asked us what shows we were in and how long of a break we had before we were walking in the next. We all busted out laughing and explained we were not models but just students coming to see the shows. He was so sweet and chuckled to himself saying he didn’t believe us. This then sparked a conversation about the industry and how he wanted to introduce us to the “big” people. Chantal wants to do PR for fashion so he told her that he would help her find work in the Milan. Unfortunately Alex is studying in Barcelona but he insisted he help her out if she were to ever come back. When it came to me, I was so flattered when he told me that he planned to tell all the agencies about me because I am apparently “a star.” I’m not so sure about that one but I found it to be such a compliment. We chatted it up for a quite a while until we had to scoot and move onto the next show. He was so disappointed we were leaving and reminded us not to miss his show before taking my number and giving Chantal and myself his cards. What an amazing new friend!

We walked downstairs and outside to be bombarded by paparazzi again and to meet up with a guy named Yvan, who Chantal had met the first day she was at fashion week. Yvan is known as the FaceHunter and has a really famous blog. He attends all the fashion weeks, traveling the world, taking pictures of interesting faces and outfits and then blogging them for his fans and magazines, etc.. The gorgeous Chantal had been photographed upon meeting him and so deliciously made the cut for his blog. I wouldn’t expect anything less from that girl. So Yvan takes the three of us to shoot some pictures and document our outfits. He ended up taking some amazing shots of Alex up against this fence. I so hope she makes the blog as well.

When we finished shooting pictures, we rushed back into the center to make our way into RoccoBarocco. We sat right in the 2nd row up near the entrance of the runway. It was too cool. The show was good but I didn’t like it as much as Blumarine. Not to mention the models were soooo weird. One thing people need to understand is that the models look like death on a catwalk. They have the bodies of small children but are really tall with alien-like faces. Kind of creepy but I guess they wear the clothes well? No doubt that some are beautiful but the majority, not so much. I think the three of us were all in agreement.

After RoccoBarocco ended, the three of us could NOT believe the day we just had. We knew it wasn’t over there and planned on making it the best one possible. Alex, Chantal, and I headed back to the “attic” to meet up with Vincent, who had just woken up. Total sleepy head! The three girls and I decided that we needed some rest before heading out to do some shopping and serious gelato eating…obviously. At this point it was about 1:45 pm and I headed back to my place for a serious feast of food because I was famished and slowly dying from malnutrition. We agreed to all nap and eat and then meet up at the Duomo for shopping!

Around 04:30 pm or so, we met up for more bonding. The day was absolutely beautiful and God was working in our favor. We went into La Rinascente, the giant Zara, Sephora, and then walked down Via Montenapoleone to go into YSL and Giuseppe Zanotti. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. By the time we finished goggling over the beautiful but expensive goods, I was in need of gelato. We found our way to a little café to sit and just chill before having to meet up with Joe and some friends for aperitivo an hour and some time later. The girls, however, wanted Grom so they held out while Vincent and I shared in some deliciousness and tea. I had strawberry and the yogurt flavor. Mmm. The strawberry tastes like a strawberry!!!

Around 7:30, we started to make our way towards the meeting grounds for seeing Joe. Luckily there is a Grom right there and Alex still hadn’t experienced its pure magnificence yet. As expected, she died with ecstasy from its greatness. Once heaven consumption was over, we spotted Joe and we all made our way down the street to a place called Shiu. I had never been and the three of them had never heard of it. Francesco and a ton of his Italian friends were going and so Joe invited us along.

Shiu was really cool and had a very hip vibe. Some of the walls had bullet holes in them, the roof was decorated with the microchips that go in computers, and there were these two giant golden hands that held up the sealing. The food was really good too! At first it looked super barren and I was thinking, “Woah, this is not a real aperitivo.” But before I knew it, there was food flourishing left and right and they just kept bringing out more and more dishes, including some of the best pasta I have had here in Milano. The place was crammed with people our age and the food would be gone within minutes so I got to try quite a number of different dishes.

Come 10:45 pm or so, we all wanted to head out. My three favorites were going back to the apartment to shower and get ready to go out, while I was totally pooped and in need of sleeping. We were supposed to see shows the next day and I figured I’d be very down for some rest rather than another night of clubbing like the one before. We “ciao-ed” goodbye and I made my way back to the apartment, into the shower, and into bed.

Saturday 02/27: I look at my alarm and go UH OH!!! It’s definitely 2 pm in the afternoon and I am convinced that I missed all shows we had planned on seeing. Funniest thing is that I could have slept longer but got woken up by the ding on my Blackberry from an incoming email. Not sad at all.

I sat up in bad and quickly called Vincent, Chantal, and Alex’s phones. Nada. I assumed they were in shows and couldn’t answer. How could I sleep in so late and miss everything?!

But then I got to thinking…I had no missed calls or texts from any of them so perhaps they are sleeping as well. I was right. About 25 minutes later, they call to tell me that they just woke up too. Phew! We all agreed to get ourselves up, eat, and then meet up for some shopping at this sick silver store we had seen earlier. Too bad we were all pretty slow and the restaurant that the three of them went to took longer than they thought. By the time we met up, it was something like 5:45 pm and we didn’t really have time to go to any stores before they closed.

This was no problem because Yvan (remember the Facehunter guy) had a book signing for his newly released book that features a great collection of his favorite photos taken. The four of us acted as his personal helpers, taking pictures, and just hanging around. The turnout of his fans was funny, too. There were these two girls that got all dolled up and kept making random conversation with him. Gotta love the fans!

An hour and a half passed by and we finally got our books and made plans with Yvan to meet up later that evening. Then the four of us headed to Grom for more gelato consumption. Yes, more gelato. It’s the best thing ever and when in Italy, do as the Italians do. It was more or less the perfect addition to our day, but that more or less goes without saying when it comes to Grom.

By the time we looked at our clocks, we realized that we had a limited amount of time to get ready before meeting up with Yvan and a group of Turkish friends that Alex, Chantal, and Vincent had met in Barcelona the weekend before. We parted ways and headed to our apartments to get fancied up and ready for a serious night out on the town.

I was running a little behind because I had to take a shower and then make sure my hair wasn’t wet before entering into the rainy night. I also decided that tonight was a night for heels so I stuck a pair of studded boots on my feet and headed out the door around 11:00 pm. My choice of 4-inch heels certainly caused a scene. NOT ONE person didn’t stare at me while I walked down the street. The people on the metro were even worse. One guy tripped and another guy bumped into an old woman. Haha I guess they’ve never seen a 6-foot girl wear heels before! I wad dying inside because the scene was just too funny and I had no one to share in it with.

I finally made it to Corso Como 10 to meet up with the crew. Yvan was there and seemed to love my outfit so he just started snapping his camera away…maybe I will make the blog too! Haha Just playing. But yes, we were having a great time before realizing that we needed to make our way to Nobu, a very nice sushi restaurant in the city, in order to meet the group of Turks. It’s now raining and poor Chantal and Alex are certainly not dressed for the chilly weather. Luckily we found a cab pretty quick and hopped in. What was supposed to be a 10-minute ride, however, ended up being 30 because of the awful traffic. Ahhh Milan traffic!

We finally get to the restaurant and make our way inside to meet Mehmet and his friends. The restaurant was rather trendy and filled with socialites and important people. It was also the first restaurant I’ve been to in the city that permitted smoking inside. I will most certainly not be eating there anytime soon.

We mingled for a while until making our way around the corner to Armani Privé, Armani’s club. Mehmet had a private table and had invited us to join. The line to get in was absolutely absurd and people were pushing left and right. Italians really don’t understand the concept of forming a line and make giant mobs of bodies instead. Yeah, how about they don’t do that anymore. After enough pushing and shoving and trying to shoe people off of us, we made our way inside.

The club was amazing!!! The ambiance was great and I LOVED that you couldn’t smoke inside! The DJ was playing incredible music and our table was ideal because we had private bouncers surrounding the area and we could leave our bags and coats on the chairs without having to a) worry about them getting stolen or b) paying to check them at the door.

We danced and danced and mingled with new people including a little fireball named Carolina. I also had the pleasure of meeting a guy named Simone, who also goes to Bocconi. Mehmet brought him over and introduced us. Simone was incredibly kind and gentlemanly and was telling me all about the wonderful places to go, eat, and see in the city. I was excited to have met someone so cultural especially because he said he was taking me to the best sushi restaurant in all of Milan. We all know how much I love my sushi.

Come 02:15 am, Mehmet and the whole group start to pack up their things. Armani Privé closes at 02:30 am so we were heading over to The CLUB instead. I had never been before but they insisted it was really fun and that I should go. So Alex and I hopped into Simone’s car (which was gorgeous by the way) because Chantal went with Mehmet.

When we got there, they let us right in without a problem. The second we stepped inside, however, I knew I wasn’t going to like this place. There were people every which way you turned and EVERY single person in the club was smoking cigarettes. I was dying and my head was throbbing from the copious billows of smoke that were engulfing my body. I made my way to our VIP section and lasted about 35 minutes before peacing out and catching a cab home. I felt bad for ditching everyone but I wasn’t about to stand another minute in that pigpen of a club. No thank you.

I made my way home at about 3:50 am and was so excited to finally have my first Skype experience. Too bad my BRAND NEW Internet key wasn’t working. I was about ready to chuck my computer out the window. On top of being technologically debilitated, my clothes reeked of smoke and so did my skin. I immediately hopped in the shower before spraying the crap out of my outfit and then climbing into bed.

What oh what a crazy adventure and an amazing night!

Sunday 03/01: If you all thought I was done with amazing stories, you are so very wrong. I was just getting started.

I started my day off with a beautiful breakfast before getting ready to take care of some things (i.e. internet and cell phone). I decided that I was in the mood for feeling pretty so I did my hair and tried to make my makeup look really natural and glowing haha. As I walked up and down Via Torino, I had a huge smile on my face. I was just in the best mood and realized how lucky and blessed I am to be here and to be experiencing so many amazing things. The sun was shining, I felt good, and I couldn’t think of one bad thing.

I wandered in and out of stores and found my way into MAC, where I decided to buy myself a new lipstick to perk my face up a bit. Worthwhile purchase most definitely. I then made my way to Vodaphone to see if my Internet key could be taken care of. Too bad they were closed. Eff my life. I decided I would at least try to take care of one technology thing and go to WIND to see if they could take care of this issue with my phone.

Background about the phone situation…a couple days ago I woke up and was looking through my Italian cell phone to notice that my outbox had 21 blank messages sent to the same number within a 2 minute period of time. What the heck? I surely didn’t sent those, especially seeing that I only get 100 outgoing texts per month and I would NEVER waste a 5th of them on a random number sending blank messages. I wasn’t pleased.

So I went into Wind and did my best to explain the situation in Italian. I was doing alright but the language barrier when dealing with important issues is about the world’s biggest pain in the butt, let me tell you. The gentleman helping me was named Francesco and he made a call to customer service. Apparently they needed 24 hours to look through my account to see if they could reactivate the credit on my phone. He told me I had to come back the following day to find out what we could do. This was all fine and dandy until he deleted all my messages!!! Dude, that was my proof! I was so frustrated and kept trying to explain to him that he needed to value my word because I no longer had visual evidence that my phone had in fact sent the messages. He couldn’t understand a word of what I was trying to say and just kept telling me that I had to come back tomorrow. Thank goodness there were a really nice English speaking Filipino couple that helped to speak to him in Italian. We didn’t really get too far but I was over the situation and opted for coming back the next day.

I decided that I deserved to do a little shopping because I hadn’t been out lately and wanted to see what I could find. My birthday is coming up in a few days and I didn’t see any shame in treating myself to something! Lol. I’m not going to be with family for the usual homemade dinner and presents so I’ll make my own party! I wandered into La Rinascente and found some amazing perfumes that I really wanted to get. The only icky part is that they cost so much more here than in the states due to the exchange rate. I’m debating what to do.

I spent the majority of the morning just roaming in and out of stores to see what I could find. When I looked at the clock, I realized that I needed to bust home in order to grab a bite to eat before heading to the Missoni show to meet my beloved Chantal, Alex, and Vincent.

Missoni decided to open their show to the public. Correction. They were pretty much letting people see the models walk from the real show outside through a long corridor. The show was being held in this beautiful old building with a giant courtyard in the center. The models would walk from the true fashion show through a tiny door into one of the corridors that surrounded the courtyard. While fun to see, I was determined to get inside to see the real show. I wasn’t about to sit outside in the cold, when it was raining (granted we were protected) when I could potentially see the show up live and personal inside with the rest of the infamous fashion world.

I showed up to the Missoni House around 03:40 pm because the show started at 04 pm, which in the fashion world means 04:30 pm. I stood in line waiting for the others only to realize that I had forgotten my phone at home. Good one Katie. Thank goodness they showed up soon and I managed to grab their attention and pull them in line with us. Alex, and Chantal, however, were dressed in gorgeous but freezing outfits. Poor Alex was so frigid she was almost about to give up on the show. Vincent and I said that we would stand in line while the two of them went into a coffee shop to thaw. Five minutes after they left, however, the line starts moving and Vincent and I were in. We called but no answer.

Vincent and I were waiting in the area designated for the public, trying to get a hold of the two girls. He and I were over this outside viewing especially because we had friends with tickets that would let us in. In other words, I was going to figure things out and make sure we saw the show. Then Vincent spotted his two friends, Serenay and Ekin, whom he met with the girls when he was in Barcelona the other weekend. The two of them are both Turkish and know Mehmet. They were with their friend, Yigit, who was this incredibly cool stylist and Fashionista. We were all talking and agreed that we needed to get in…none of this public crap. Finally we got a hold of Chantal to find out that she and Alex are with Mehmet inside. Okay that was it; I was making things come to fruition!

Without a second though, I walked up to the bouncer and explained that my friend was inside with my ticket but that seeing the show was about to start in 5 minutes (and it was) that they were not answering their phone. I may or may not have stretched the truth a little. I explained that I wasn’t about to miss a show that I had a private invite to. (Didn’t exactly have a private invite…those are for the “big” people. Oops!) The gentleman was very nice and told me to wait one moment. He then brought me around the ropes and had me speak to a number of different people about the situation. Finally, I kindly said, “We’ve come from California and Turkey and we are here to see Missoni. If we need to stand and lose our seats, so be it, but the show will begin momentarily and we do not intend on missing it. Please let us in.” With that, we were in. They escorted us into the show and 2 minutes later the lights were down and the music started.

I was standing head to head with ALL the paparazzi and cameramen at the end of the runway. I was so close to them that one guy accidentally hit me with his super long lense camera. Regardless, I had the dopest view I could have ever asked for. Being as tall as I am, I had an advantage and could see everything. Lets just say I managed to capture some incredible photos.

When the show was over, I felt like I was in dreamland. Had I really just talked my way into Missoni?! The likes of Anna dello Russo, Margherita Missoni, Anna Wintour, and Rachel Zoe were all there. It was insane. I felt like a million dollars. The feeling was only to be topped off when I was asked to have pictures taken for an article in Grazia Magazine, which equates to America’s US Weekly more or less. The woman kept snapping pictures and then asked me about each piece I was wearing and what I thought of the show. So exciting! That little photo moment sparked a number of others and before I knew it, I was turning left and right to be photographed by 8 different photographers including a newspaper. It was so crazy and I couldn’t believe it! Who did these people think I was?! Haha This one guy kept following me around the entire building just taking pictures left and right. He even proceeded to follow me to a coffee shop, taking pictures of me from outside the window. It was serious paparazzi status!

I couldn’t believe the day and we were all living in a dream. Chantal, Alex, Vincent, and I all decided to take a little detour to the Duomo for some food. I was along for the company but no dining because I was about to have an aperitivo for Usman’s birthday. I most certainly didn’t want to spoil my appetite! The four of us made our way to La Rinascente for early dinner at the very tip top of the building, which overlooks the Duomo. It’s amazing. I had to run a quick errand to H&M to see if I could find this amazing jacket I had spotted in another store earlier but that lacked my size. Luckily I found it!

By the time I got back to the restaurant, my three amazing friends were sitting there waiting for food. Five minutes passed and deliciousness was served. The dishes were beautifully prepared and mmm did they taste good. I especially liked that Vincent ordered a Salmon Club Sandwich, something I had never seen before. It was delish!

We walked around the store a bit, admiring what an incredible department store it really is. I then had to depart and head back to my apartment to meet the roommates. We “ciao-ed” goodbye and I made my way back home. I was in the apartment for 10 minutes before I stepped right back outside and off to the next fun thing.

Usman’s birthday is on the 29th of February so he’s a leap year baby! He has only celebrated 5 real birthdays and even though it wasn’t a leap year, we were going to make this birthday an amazing one. We met him and a huge gang of friends at 20, my favorite aperitivo place. Everyone came to celebrate: Anna, Stefano, Renato, Francesco, Ada, other Francesco, Daniele, Matteo, Brian, and the list just keeps on going. It was such a fun night filled with great company, an amazing birthday boy, and some delicious food! I had 4 plates!!! No shame here.

I opted to leave a little early because I was exhausted and in need of sleep. I headed home for a shower and some yogurt (yes I ate again when I got home) and a little reading before climbing in bed to prepare for a wake up at a bright and early 7:00 am. Mondays are my early mornings so I needed my sleep.

Well I will leave you with this. I have another incredible story all about Monday but I will keep you waiting in anticipation for the pure amazingness that I’m about to share. If you thought that my weekend was great, the news I got on Monday topped it! I was pretty much stunned.

I miss you and love you all!
Ciao!
Me