Merry Christmas! Buon Natale!

Ciao tutti!

It's a beautiful time in Milano, and not just because I'm on a three week break from school. For those of you who started to hate me when you read that last sentence, don't. I may be on holidays, but we had one week of our new term before our Christmas break which is just enough time for them to pile on the homework. Due the first week back.

Anyway, none of that matters because it's Christmas in Milano! And that's serious business. There are lights everywhere. Even better, right outside my school, and along some of the other streets like Via Montenapoleone, they play Christmas music outside. Seriously. After we finished our final presentation earlier this month, we walked/skipped outside, where the sun was out and the Christmas music was playing. My heart grew three sizes. Right then and there. Then we celebrated with rooftop cocktails.

I don't have much else to say on the topic of Christmas in Milano, other than it's awesome. Music, lights, trees, Christmas markets, Pandoro, truffled everything. So I'll just share some photos! Oh and if you're lucky, I MIGHT blog about how I learned to cut Pandoro hearts. So cute!

Christmas Market at the Duomo - mostly just cheeses, meats, and desserts!

Christmas lights at home <3

Beautiful, even in the rain.

I'm going to Tenerife on Monday morning for 9 days, so my next post might be Spanish, but it definitely won't be until the new year. So, to cover all of my bases, Merry Christmas, Buon Natale, Happy Holidays, Tanti Auguri, and Happy New Year!

xoxo

That's What She Said.

As much as I love Milano, and just Italy in general, there are some things that I will always miss about home.

The other day in class, someone asked me to help plug in her laptop charger, and with the big adapter it was hard to tell if I had done it properly, so I asked her, "Is it charging? I can't tell if it's in all the way."

THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID.

I know you thought it. You probably even said it out loud.

The problem is that I looked around the room for anyone to enjoy this moment with me and there was no one. Just total silence.

If I was in Vancouver there would have been at least half a dozen people to say it first, and then burst in to laughter with me.

Something Like a Phenomenon

You're singing the song now, aren't you? You're welcome.

But in all seriousness, there's something happening in this country that I don't understand. It's an obsession with Abercrombie & Fitch. On any given weekend you can find this outside of the store:

There are no signs, so I'll forgive you if you don't understand the photo at first. This is a photo of the line up outside of A&F. EVERY WEEKEND. There are no signs, so the first couple of times we saw the line up we couldn't figure out why, until our teacher mentioned that the A&F store was so close to school, and we realized that was where the A&F smell was coming from and we put it all together.

One day I'll have to go in, just so that I can say I have. Also, our teachers seem obsessed with using it as an example in lectures, so I can probably get better grades on my finals if I use it as example somehow. Luckily I walk past daily on my way to and from school. I know, I feel like I just became the envy of EVERY Italian teenager.

One day a group of Italian teenagers stopped us in Piazza San Babila and asked us if we knew where Abercrombie was. I replied, "Of course. Just keep walking down that street there and you'll smell it before you see it. Look for the line up."

Il Pane di Luca

Have you ever eaten focaccia?

Yes?

From il Pane di Luca?

No?

Then forget everything you know about focaccia, get on a plane, come to Milano, and go immediately to this place. And for my friends in Milan, let's go tomorrow! I have to thank Lodovica for letting us know that the BEST focaccia in Milan (or the world) is right around the corner from where I live. I can't describe the amazingness of this focaccia, but I'll try.

You walk in and, depending on the time of day, there's a huge assortment of all different kinds of pizza, and your basic focaccia. I simply point and ask for a piece of focaccia, then they cut off a piece, throw it on the scale, I pay, and off I go. Ordering a piece of the pizza is just as easy, but I like to keep it simple and not mess with a good thing.* The focaccia practically melts in your mouth. It's so soft and oily, but then you get a piece in the same bite that's also a little bit crispy on the top, and you just want to stop and thank whoever invented focaccia in the first place. Luckily I don't walk down this street on the way home from school, so I've been able to limit myself to one trip a week.

But, I'm available all week to take you if you want to go. Every day.

Oh and friends in North America, even if you think you've had good focaccia back home, you don't even know focaccia. Trust me on this. Even if it's from an Italian baker who just arrived in Vancouver a day ago with all of his baking supplies and ingredients. No comparison.

*Last week I messed with a good thing. I went for my weekly piece of focaccia, but they were out so I asked for a piece with tomatoes and olives. The lovely lady behind the counter confirmed (or so I thought/heard) that it was olive asciughe. I thought that this must be a way of saying "dried olives" and pictured those really salty olives and thought it sounded just fine. Well, I got home and realized that what she really said was olive e acciughe, which is actually olives and anchovies! Translation fail.

Cheese Rape?

Best. Translation. Ever.

Some history... I think I only picked up on this in conversation because recently a friend and I saw some cheese graters labeled in French as "Rape A Fromage". We're 5 years old, so "cheese rape" was really funny and it stuck in my mind.

A few weeks ago, during dinner, a friend was talking about a recipe that involved grated cheese. She's Italian, but also speaks French and English (and probably other languages!). So when she was talking away and mentioned "raped cheese" I had to stop her and correct her. Especially because she was on her way to the US for vacation! You can't just wander around the US talking about raped cheese.

Even more entertaining was trying to explain what raping the cheese would be... violating the cheese? 

Anyway, hopefully the next time you rape grate some cheese, you'll have a good chuckle!

Ashish and Bacon

I've told Google this, and now I'll tell you all. I am NOT missing an "H" at the beginning of the title of this post.

Part of my education is getting to know every single brand that exists: names, styles, history, and price ranges.

A few weeks ago, some homework had me searching for price ranges of various brands showing at London Fashion week. One brand in particular is Ashish. My first attempt at trying to research this brand ended up with Google telling me that it thought I messed up, and that I meant to type "hashish". It was even so kind as to automatically correct my mistake.

Nope.

Sorry, Google.

You're wrong.

My second "facepalm" moment happened just a few hours ago, when I tried to find some pictures of the style of a brand called Bacon. I lost a solid 5 minutes of my life trying to figure out what other key words would bring up the brand I was looking for, and not bacon on t-shirts, or photos of people wearing bacon wedding dresses, or just the different brands of bacon available. These are the photos I was looking for:

Bacon for men.

Bacon for women.

I guess this is just all part of my education, right?

#fashionschoolproblems

It's Sunday, and it's raining in Milano. After such a beautiful Friday (see photographic evidence below), the rain is really, really depressing.

Sunny Friday above, rainy Sunday below.

I have a ton of homework to do, but I can't really complain because my homework is to:
1. Analyze how a haute couture, demi-couture, ready to wear, and fast fashion brand have each interpreted the trends for the upcoming season.
2. Research a very cool multibrand store (Excelsior, should you feel the need to check it out).
3. Finish my ongoing assignment of analyzing the SS 2013 trends, and also analyze how they're being worn right now in street style photos.

These are all for our final projects, for our first term that finishes in three weeks. Cue panic.

But it's raining outside, and I'd much rather be curled up on the couch watching a movie. Instead, I'm stuck browsing WGSN, Style.com, and other fashion sites all day. And if I'm brave enough, I might just wander down to the shops to research the collections and clients of Excelsior. Or I might just wait until tomorrow when the sun is supposed to reappear. These are #fashionschoolproblems.*

*Even more trivial than #firstworldproblems.

My Italian Love Affair... With a Building

This will never get old. No matter how many times I see it. The Duomo is one of the most impressive buildings I have ever seen. And in the afternoon when the square sits in the shade and the late sun hits the front of the Duomo? Well, you'll just have to come and visit me to see it in person. Oh, snap.

Venezia. YOLO!

FINALLY! I have been wanting to go to Venezia since I did a report on this magical city of canals and gondolas when I was just a little girl (I know, just a few years ago!).

True: I spent a whole year in Italy 10 years ago and never went to Venice. I was 18 and more focused on partying every weekend. Give a girl a break.

But the stars aligned this year, and one of my best friends (Chica!), was sent to Venice for work. Obviously, I had to go meet her, and we spent an awesome weekend riding crowded boats, eating amazing food, climbing many stairs, and getting lost in Venice. Her parents came with her, so I felt like I had a really important role and could play translator for the weekend. Totally unnecessary. EVERYONE speaks English in Venice. Even if you speak to them in Italian. And because I'm stubborn, I kept replying in Italian... and they kept replying in English. I'm nothing if not persistent.

I'm on a boat!

When I arrived on Saturday, I left the station for my first look at Venezia. Beaut. About 30 seconds after I took this photo, the skies opened and the square emptied out. Side bar - I'll admit that the weather here is much better than Vancouver in terms of how many days it rains, but on the other hand, the way it rains here is sometimes a bit of a shocker. One minute it's dry, and the next minute you're drenched if you're unlucky enough to be caught without cover. It only lasts for 10 minutes or so, but it happens all the time!

Pre-Rainstorm

Saturday was pretty rainy, but at least that meant fewer tourists. Sunday was a gorgeous day, but Piazza San Marco (please don't call it St. Mark's square) was PACKED. As was the Rialto bridge and market areas.

The Rialto bridge would be covered in graffiti...

The picture doesn't really capture the crowds, but they were there!

Oh, and it was high tide on Sunday! This helped us understand what we thought were runways all over the little alleys. In fact, they're elevated walkways for when the city really floods. I prefer to remember them as runways though. Here's the flooding that we saw, but the article shows it was much worse just a few days later!

Water, water, everywhere!

It was such a great weekend, but I'll definitely be trying to get back to Venice one weekend when the tourist crowds have died down a little bit. I fell in love with the little things, like narrow winding alleys, alleys that actually appear to get narrower at the top, and gems of buildings like the one on the middle left.

Word of the weekend: YOLO

Thanksgiving a Milano

I love Thanksgiving. What I don't love is that I have to read about the delicious turkey and pumpkin pie that all of you are eating back home, and how you get to sleep off your food comas the next day because of the holiday Monday.

In Italy, we don't get turkey. We don't get a holiday. We don't get pumpkin pie. (Although I have seen ads for the American Thanksgiving dinner put on by a local restaurant).

Luckily, I have an amazing roommate who isn't fazed by things such as cooking a 10 course meal, or what to do when she can't find the ingredients she needs. Thanks to her, we had Canadian Thanksgiving in Milano!!

Yep. See it, love it, drool, and be jealous. Two key substitutions were chicken instead of turkey (no huge deal), and grapes instead of cranberries (a pleasant surprise!).

Overall, I'm THANKFUL that I was able to post my own photo of Thanksgiving dinner, even if I did have to go to school the next day...

Trend Forecasting Homework

Well, life as a fashion student is really, really tough.

I have a HUGE homework assignment this week. I have to watch EVERY fashion show from the four major fashion weeks, pull a few signature items, and make a trends report.

It sounds like a blast, but that's a whole month's worth of fashion shows that I have to watch in a week, and then scrapbook together the top trends.

I repeat, life as a fashion student is really, really tough.

My First Week As A Fashion Student

The first week of classes is over, and it's only Thursday! I'm blessed with a really great schedule this term. I start classes at 5:30pm on Monday, and finish at 2pm on Thursday.

Wednesdays are the worst because we have class from 8:30am until 5:30pm. My roommate and I have discussed how we used to regularly work longer days without a problem, but for some reason, long days as a student are just really exhausting!

Classes are going well. I've officially switched to do the program in Italian, but we usually end up speaking English in class anyway just due to there being very few Italian speakers.

I'm sure I'll have further updates as the term progresses.

La Settimana Della Moda

It's FASHION WEEK in Milano! Well it was, until yesterday.

Super exciting.

Even more exciting is that I scored invites to four shows. All standing room, but beggars can't be choosers. And standing room isn't that bad when you're aggressive and make sure you're standing at the front of everyone else who is standing. ;)

Simonetta Ravizza
My first official fashion show in Milano. I wasn't familiar with the designer, but after hearing that she's known for her furs I was looking forward to seeing what she could do with furs for Spring.* Wrong. I guess she doesn't do a lot of fur for spring. Oops. The show was interesting though! Some great looking pieces (and some others that looked like something Wilma Flintstone would wear), a cool vibe, and a neat location.

* I'm not anti-fur.

Alberta Ferretti
I think this was my favourite show of the season. What came down the runway was beautiful, ethereal even. I only got a photo of the outside, where we stood around and people watched until we were allowed in. So you'll have to go here if you want to check out the runway shots. Again, cool location.

Frankie Morello
A much different scene than the first two shows, these designs are a lot younger and the show made me want to party (even though it was 10am on a Saturday morning!). Bright colours and funky shapes. Fun. As the week went on, my photo skills just went downhill and all I got was a photo of the outside of the castle. Yes, the show was in the castle courtyard. NBD.

And the pièce de résistance...

GIORGIO ARMANI

Correct. I actually attended this show. With Anna Wintour. Triple NBD. Ok, that's a small lie. She attended the 7pm show and my ticket was actually for the 8pm show. Let me tell you, that woman is all business. I was watching a video of one of the other shows, and at the end when the lights went down you could see the outline of someone in the front row getting up and leaving, way ahead of anyone else, actually bolting for the door. Watching the 7pm show exit, and seeing her come out about 3 minutes before anyone else, I realized that was her bolting from the other show I watched! Fascinating... at least, to me. I wouldn't believe me either, so I'm leaving you with two horrible photos (the quality, not the content). Oh and for the record, the Armani show was beautiful.

My good friend, Anna, making a run for it.

My good friend, Giorgio, basking in our adoration.

I know, I have friends in high places.

Language Course

As a way to ease myself back in to life a student, the first month here is just a Fashion Italian language course.

We spend 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, talking about and studing fashion in Italian. No complaints.

We've studied the major designers like Valentino, Armani, and Versace. We've taken a field trip to La Rinascente (I'd compare it to a Holts... but bigger and better...) to wander around and discuss fabrics, styles, and embellishments in Italian. We've watched fashion movies in Italian. We've studied the history of Italian fashion through the decades, and the history of global fashion.

This has been a great refresher as life a student. It's refreshed my Italian, and overall just been very interesting!

Crocs

I know, I know, those of you who know me are probably surprised that I would post something with this title. But, I couldn't resist sharing this with you!

When I arrived, I searched high and low for some inexpensive flip flops to wear around the house as slippers. Every time I asked for them at a store, I would get a funny look and a comment that it's fall now (the first few days of September with 30 degree highs), so of course they aren't in stock.

In a moment of desperation, I went to the Crocs website to see if I could find a store in Italy. This is what I found:

You can find Crocs stores pretty much EVERYWHERE in Europe, except Italy. You have a choice of TWO stores in Paris even.

Just something amusing that I chose to share with you all. And the good news is that I finally found some flip flops in a home decor store. Because obviously I should have started there, and not a footwear store...?

Did you know...

That jeans originated in Genova?

Neither did I until recently.

The story is that jeans were made popular by the port workers in Genova because they needed a material that was tough enough to stand up to the work that they did every day.

This came up during one of our classes when we were discussing the materials used for clothes for young people and how durable it has to be. You certainly aren't going to make silk pants for a teenage boy.

Now you know.

Judas' Blood

One of the greatest things about Italy is being able to buy wine at the grocery store. Cheap, yet delicious wine.

Of course, my roommate and I aren't too familiar with all of the local wines here, so we've decided to work our way from one side of the shelves to the other.

Tonight I broke the rules a little bit and chose a bottle a bit farther down, mostly because of the name.

For those of you who don't speak Italian (or can't see because of my incredibly horrible photo skills), the wine is called "Judas' Blood."

How does one NOT pick up a bottle like that?? I guess I got so interested with the name that I failed to notice that this wasn't an ordinary red, but a fizzy sweet red. I wouldn't necessarily call it a bad wine, but I've certainly had my fill of Judas' Blood for now.

Week 1

Everyone has asked me to blog about my year (well, hopefully more than a year!) in Milano, so here's my attempt to keep you all happy!

It's only been a week since I arrived but it feels like I've been here for so much longer. Student-style, I've rented a room from a woman who lives about a 10 minute walk from the school, and it's even better because I live with another awesome Canadian girl (because obviously, all Canadians are awesome). Oh, and my roommate can cook. It blows my mind.

Today was day 3 of our Fashion Italian course. Basically, it's 5 hours per day of non-stop Italian, but the best part is that in the morning we chat about the history of Italian Fashion; the afternoon is dedicated to boring stuff like perfecting our grammar. Schools runs 2.5 hours later for the next three Wednesdays, but those evenings will be spent doing things like field trips to Via della Spiga and Rinascente, or watching movies like Valentino: The Last Emperor.

Seriously.

My homework one day was to go to the Armani store and observe the lighting and decor.

I can't make this stuff up.

But, it's not all glitz and glamour, I promise. The first few days I was here were spent hoofing it all over town to try to take care of things like my Stay Permit, Fiscal Code, bank account, and mobile phone. I heard a lot of the following phrases: "No, you have to go there." "You need to do this first." "You need to wait until tomorrow." "We're closing soon so you have to come back another time." "No, you need to go back to where you were earlier today." "Bring 3 photocopies of everything, but we won't actually look at them or use them." "Dance, monkey, dance." (Ok that last one may or may not be real...)

The past couple of days have been pretty productive though, so hopefully all of the paperwork will be taken care of soon and I can just settle down in to life as a fashion student in Milano.

Miss you all. Please come visit! :)

Oh, and please bring the Vancouver weather with you. This humidity is driving me (and my hair) crazy.