A few favorite looks from 2016….
~ Rose Quartz was the 2016 color of the year! See this magical post here. ~
~ To see this beachy post (in collaboration with Island Company), click here ~
~ This dress has a huge BOW on the back and I love this colorful, pink post (in collaboration with Lauren James) here ~ 
~ This soft striped top is STILL a favorite, but love how it looked with these white pants in Palm Beach in this post (in collaboration with Southern Proper and Marley Lilly) here ~ 
~ This rain jacket giveaway with Carolina Dandy was SO much fun to host and these photos are just so happy! See the full post here. ~ 
~ The Vineyard will ALWAYS be one of my favorite places to shoot! See the full post (in collaboration with Hayden Reis) here. ~ 
~ Thanks to my friends over at Draper James for making this collaboration possible! I had so much fun promoting their #SouthernFlair giveaway and love this dress and tote! See the full post here. ~ 
~ Kisses from Rowayton! Loved this fun post here. ~ 
~ This was my LAST morning on the Vineyard and it was so sad! But I am so grateful for these special photos in this post here. ~ 
~ LOVE this post from visiting Lake Como with my mom, here!
~ This post (in collaboration with Island Company) was shot during one of my last weekends in CT! Click here for the full post. 
~ Burano is the most colorful and magical place ever! I am DEFINITELY going back this summer! See the full post here. ~ 
~ Forever one of my favorite shoots! Click here to see this post in collaboration with Devon Baer. ~
A Year in Review
~ Well, I’m not really big into resolutions, but I DO believe that if you DON’T set goals, you won’t accomplish them!
But first, 2016 needs to be addressed. Please just know how THANKFUL I am for the incredible opportunities this year has opened up and I’m even more thankful for supportive family and friends! But, if I’m being totally honest here (and I believe in complete honesty), 2016 was in many ways the hardest years of my life, yet one of the best years of my life. You might be thinking “You’re in Milan living the dream!”….I say that because that’s what I’ve been hearing a lot. I am SO GRATEFUL for where I am right now and it feels like it’s exactly where I am supposed to be, surrounded by exactly the wonderful people that I am supposed to be surrounded by…but what it took to get there really wasn’t easy. At 28, I moved out of the townhouse that I LOVED, got rid of more than half of my belongings (clothes, furniture, everything I couldn’t take or store), and left an incredible support system to head off to another country. Did I mention finding housing and getting my visa was a total mess (shout out to Italy for making me sell my soul to get into their country). During this unknown in-between crazy time of packing up everything that I own, saying goodbye to everyone that I love, and fighting to get my visa in time…I was such a mess! If I looked like I had it all together…I was completely faking it. I was scared and overwhelmed and I think those feelings totally stole my excitement from me. I think that anyone who has moved to another country can relate. It’s exciting but also really hard!
Phew, now that that’s out there (I feel better, now), there were SO MANY wonderful things that 2016 brought! I had wanted to teach skiing since I was little and am SO happy that I had the opportunity to do that during my last winter on the East Coast! My best friend Alison got engaged and asked me to be a bridesmaid! My best friend Lauren found out she was pregnant with a boy (can’t wait to meet you, baby Chase)! My mentor/ styling partner-in-crime, Jess, got married and I got to help her pick out her wedding dress right before I left for Italy! The hard journey to get to Milan also brought with it these beautiful moments with the ones I love where I got to say goodbye. I’ll never forget my special goodbye party at IHYC or the day I spent with my nieces and sister-in-law at the beach. Some of those really sweet memories were made because of my move! I also made many big advancements with this blog! I’ve worked with so many amazing brands and designers this year and have gotten to know the most wonderful and talented photographers (who have become close friends)! I also got into grad school, settled into life in Milan, and made the most INCREDIBLE friends! I am so blessed in so many areas of life right now, and I can’t wait to see what lies ahead.
17 Goals for 2017
1. Get into a daily routine. This is something that I have struggled with as I moved to Milan and began grad school. Sometimes I am up doing school and blog work until 2am and it’s not ok!
2. Every night, write down one thing I am grateful for that happened that day. I have a friend from school that does something similar and puts everything good into a mason jar. I love that idea and I want to start it too! I also think there’s something to be said for going to sleep with the best thought of the day on your mind.
3. Work on my concentration. I have always struggled with this, but I really want to make efforts in 2017 to improve upon this in a more holistic way. I want to be mindful of distractions (like being on my phone too much at home), and do more research on what vitamins are helpful for brain health and strength.
4. Meditation and yoga. I usually do yoga every day, and my practice has definitely improved so much this year! I sleep better, am more flexible, and less anxious when I do yoga everyday. I miss my yoga classes at Equinox Darien, but my Down Dog app has been such a lifesaver! It lets you choose your level and time span and has incredibly guidance and music! I want to also get back into the habit of meditating every morning. I really love the app Headspace and have been using it off and on for over a year. Headspace is a guided meditation app and it’s genius. It’s just 10 minutes a day and it helped me start the day in the best way possible when I was doing it.
5. Set monthly goals. The first Sunday of the month every month, I want to set monthly goals for myself in the areas of health and wellness, relationships, blog & career (which right now, will include school!).
6. Read every night before bed and set aside time to do so.
7. Learn to wake up to my alarm. This is SO hard for me. If anyone has any tips, I would SO appreciate them. I can’t keep snoozing as much as I do. I need to get into a morning routine and it seems like it never happens because I can’t wake up early enough.
8. Get back on track with being early. I used to be early for everything. Probably too early? But now, I think that the Italian mindset has rubbed off on me and I am either just in the nick of time or a little bit late (which ends up being on time in Italy! haha). However, I don’t want this to become habitual.
9. Learn Italian EVERY DAY. I want to set aside time to practice my Italian every day, whether I am listening to the news, on my Duolingo app (which is amazing if you are trying to learn any language), or listening to my Rosetta Stone CDs.
10. Touch-Base Tuesday. I came up with this idea this semester but never implemented it. I feel like I am falling out of touch with so many friends that I don’t want to fall out of touch with! It’s no one’s fault…life happens and we all get busy. But every Tuesday, I want to take the time to reach out to friends back in the states (via WhatsApp or Facebook) and each Tuesday, make a Skype date with someone different!
11. Stay organized and clean my studio on a daily basis and research tips for doing so. I love my studio apartment in Milan, but it is very small. Meaning that if I am going out with friends and can’t figure out what to wear (and wait until the last minute to get ready…see goal 8), the next morning it looks like there was an explosion from my closet! I want to stay on top of cleaning up my apartment every day and make it my first priority when I walk in the door. Sometimes in grad school you just get really tired and the last thing you want to do is clean.
12. Grow in my photography knowledge & skills and learn how to utilize my camera in the absolute BEST ways. Before launching the blog, I did a lot of research and asked a lot of photographer friends about what lenses to get. My “good” lens was a huge investment for me, but I love the photos it takes. I just need to learn how to take them on my own!
13. Get involved and volunteer in Milan. I really miss being involved with others who care about their communities and have a heart for serving others! I especially miss Wednesday morning meetings with my FOCUS middle schoolers. That one hour filled me up with so much joy! I feel like something is missing without this piece of the puzzle.
14. Skype with my nieces and my Grammy every single week.
15. Join a gym in Milan. I genuinely LOVE working out and I miss it. I miss my gym in CT (shout out to Equinox Darien!) and have loved the temporary gym I joined here in PA for the break. I NEED cardio in my life and I also am craving that good sore feeling that I’m used to!
16. Carve out time in my monthly calendar to pull inspiration. I have SO MANY inspiration binders here in the states. I’m an old school stylist – I like to pull out the magazine pages and categorize them. I used to be better at doing this daily, but with school and with the blog, this joyful task has fallen to the wayside. I want to make sure I continue to do this every single week.
17. See every museum and exhibit in Milan and make a list of places I want to travel to (perhaps a future post?!)!
Here’s to 2017 being the best year yet!
Gratefully with love,
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Rhiana
“Think Big And Don’t Listen To People Who Tell You It Can’t Be Done. Life’s Too Short To Think Small.”- Tim Ferriss
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