The Greatest Hotel on Earth

Il San Pietro, Positano

View of Positano at dusk from il San Pietro

There really are no words to describe the beauty and perfection of this hotel located just east of Positano.  It is situated (like a lot of places along the Amalfi Coast) up on a cliff high above the sea and is far enough away from everything that you feel secluded (in a good way).  Joe and I stayed here for five nights at the end of our honeymoon and I have to say it was the most relaxing and amazing five days ever.  Everything at this hotel is perfect! Our favorite two spots were the private beach  located in a natural cove at the foot of the hotel and the upstairs terrace outside the main dining room.  We sat out there almost every night overlooking that magical view of the coast enjoying any cocktail of our choice accompanied by delicious local olives and salty almonds.  Here are a few pics of our fav things about this hotel!

Joe going for a dip

Barb relaxing down by the beach

View from the balcony outside our room

Stairs leading down to the beach along the basil gardens

Lastly, the most magical part of this leg of our trip was a private concert from the one and only Billy Joel.  He played for us for two hours in the dining room of the hotel, you name it, he played it!

"A good friend is a connection to life ~ a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world"

Barb & Ashley 2008

I am in love with this quote! My best friend Ashley shared this with me the day before my wedding and it pretty much sums up the tie the bonds the two of us.  Friends are sanity, friends keep you grounded, lift you up when you are down and will stay up with you until 3 am just because you need someone to talk to.  I have the best friends in the entire world and I know I say this often, but is so true!

This can also be applied to my husband Joe.  He is the most grounded, real person I know and I am so blessed that I get to go home to him every night.

Barb & Joe after the after wedding party

Crazy for Peplum

The peplum craze is everywhere and I have to admit I am in love with this trend.  I haven't purchased anything just yet but, have had my eyes on these amazing pieces for fall:

Top Shop Peplum Top

Tory Burch Peplum Sweater

Asos Top

Alice & Olivia Side Peplum Dress @ Shopbop

Last three images from Pinterest!

SuMmEr PlaYLiSt

I love putting together a random mix of my latest favorite songs and driving in the car...especially if it's en route to one of the many beaches in Long Island! I am still trying to figure out how to share my ping playlists from iTunes on Blogger, in the meantime check out this beat from Darius and Finlay on sound cloud...it's a few years old but still AWESOME: Darius & Finlay feat Nico: Rock to the Beat.

GOOD ADVICE

BEACH DAY

Happy Saturday, we are off to the beach...it's too hot to do anything else!

Girl Crush; Women's Gymnastics

If any of you are like my fiance and I, the past few week nights have consisted of cooking dinner and then spending the the rest of the evening watching the olympics! I am obsessed. I love watching team USA and have found myself yelling at the TV during some of the especially close swim races.  Watching the girls gymnastics team take home the gold medal in team competition was the highlight for me UNTIL that is Gabby Douglas dominated in the individual all around! These girls are fierce and Gabby makes it look so easy!

No wonder they call her the 'flying squirrel'

Congrats Gabby!

The fab five celebrating with the gold medals

Balance Beam

Unbelievable how much air she gets on the uneven bars

This shot was on the cover of the NY Post!

Congrats to Gabby and USA Women's Gymnastics team!

PARTY TIME!

I am headed down to Ocean City, Maryland for my best friends bachelorette party! I cannot wait to party with her and her friends all weekend!!!

Etsy Love

Wedding Hair!

The countdown has been on for a while but now it's really ON; 50 days until the BIG DAY! I can't believe it.  I am finalizing my look, dress is in, Jimmy Choos are in, earrings are in the work but I haven't quite finalized my hair.  I know I want it up/back...out of my face but, I also want it soft around the front so it doesn't just look like I have my hair back in a bun for yoga class! I am having another hair trial on Tuesday and am loving these looks I found on Pinterest:

I have a lot of hair so thinking this will showcase it while also having it out of my face.  I am also toying with the idea putting a flower in there somewhere, going to be a game time decision but love these looks as well:

What I am most excited about it (aside from marrying Joe) is being able to spend the morning of my wedding with my mom, my five sisters (old and new) and my nine best friends!

Me and my girls in Newport for my bachelorette!

Cheers!

Challenge: Pigeon Pose

Ever since I started practicing yoga my biggest challenge has always been those poses where you have to be still for a while.  Still in the asana, stretching, breathing and quieting your mind.  Before I became a 'yogi' I was an avid runner.  I have done two NYC marathons and one half marathon which I graduated to after playing lacrosse in college.  I have had knee surgery and naturally have 'bad knees'.  Discovering yoga has literally changed my life.  Not only in the practice of asana (the physical practice) but the mental practice.  The other day I tried a new class in Long Island when I was staying with my parents and the teacher brought us into pigeon pose...this pose is my nemesis.  I can never get my leg parallel with the end of the mat because of my knees and I can never get my hip to touch the mat.  This pose is a what the yogi's call a 'hip-opener' and even if you don't have the perfect alignment you can still work to open up that hip.  Lastly, this is one of those poses where you have to get set and sit alone with your breath working the body, opening up.

Pictures below from the Lululemon Blog:

 

Setting up

If you are like me - tight or uneven hips you can place a blanket under the  hip of your bent leg

Adding the forward bend to the pose can help you relax

One of the things that my teacher Mindy always brings up during this pose is the idea of creating space.  Obviously in this pose you are working to create space in your hips, because once settled in the pose, breathing into your hip you are working towards opening up that part of your body.  But, what if you creating space in your hips (which is naturally the most closed off part of women's bodies) can create more space in your life.  It is interesting to think that creating space and opening up part of your physical body can open up your mind and affect your everyday life.  This idea of creating space is so broad.  It can mean creating more time in a day to do what your need or opening up your actual mind to new ideas.  The hips are a place where you store 'stuff';  thoughts, feelings, even ideas or goals so getting into pigeon and opening up those hips can allow you a release that you never even thought possible.  This is what yoga is all about, opening up the physical body and the mind.  The idea of opening up is such a great one, I can't even begin to touch on all it encompasses.  

Namaste!

Freedom Night

July 4th is Independence Day and July 3rd (tonight) is FREEDOM NIGHT.  I actually have no idea if this is even a recognized holiday but, ever since I was little we always called the eve of the 4th Freedom Night.

Tonight Joe and I are playing in a Twilight nine hole golf mixer with our two best friends Maggie & Dave.  Hopefully we will see some red white & blue fireworks!

Images borrowed from Pinterest!

What are you guys doing for Freedom Night?

CHEVRON

I am obsessed with all things chevron these days! My wedding is 80 days away (who's counting) and I am secretly stalking all my favorite wedding blogs for the perfect table setting with a little chevron love! Here is some inspiration:

Borrowed from Style Me Pretty

I also saw some adorable chevron bath suits at the beach over the weekend and this adorable denim dress!

Asos Denim Shift Dress

What is your favorite way to sport the chevron trend?

Words to live by!

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Homemade Baby Blankets!!

My first ever baby blanket for my nephew Connor Thomas

One of the benefits of working in the fashion industry (aside from the discounts) is working alongside some seriously talented and creative designers.  I recently discovered that some of the designers in my office held a 'knitting circle' and was immediately intrigued.  After firing off hundreds of questions to the girls they finally invited me in and offered their assistance! Six months and three baby blankets later I am proud to say I am now a knitter! I am am completely obsessed with my new hobby and it has started at the perfect time, right when many of my friends are expecting to be new mama's!  My first blanket was very special, it was for my baby nephew Connor and is seen in the picture above.  This was made with a baby friendly wool yarn that is washable and was very thick to help me learn the basic knit stitch.  My sister in law was floored when I gifted the blanket to her and I hope it will keep baby Connor nice and warm for years to come!

My second and third blankets were for my best friends twin girls Flossie & Eliza and are seen above.  I went with the same uneven stripe theme but this time in girly pink colors! This yarn is a cashmere blend and is SUPER soft.  Not as thick as the first yarn so these took a bit longer but, well worth it.  The blankets are so beautiful and colorful themselves that you don't even need to wrap them.  What I did was took some of the leftover yarn and used it to tie a bow around the blankets.  The bow serves two purposes; it looks pretty and it can fix and snags in the blanket as the years pass.

Use leftover yarn to tie a bow around the blankets and you don't even need to wrap them!

Now for the kicker, the little munchkins snuggling with their homemade baby blankets from aunt Barb!!

Baby Eliza 

Baby Flossie