the church

This weekend I had the honor of assisting my friend’s wedding in Andorra. Well, I should probably say semi-assisting.

It was one of those weddings where the quaint atmosphere combined with stunning scenery made everything just perfect.

The reason I say semi-assisting is because something rather embarrassing happened to me that day. Mind you I had been diligently prepping for this wedding a week in advance. Shoes-check. Headpiece-check. Dress-check. Matching clutch-check. Emerald green earrings-check and so forth.

The day of, I decide to come down for breakfast at around 10am and take the invitation with me to the front desk. Why? Cause it was in Catalan, the official language of Andorra, that only they understand. So I ask the woman to confirm the time of the church ceremony and she said 2:30pm. Perfect. It’s 10, I can enjoy breakfast, shower and go….Not quite actually.

We got there. Wedding was over. Everyone was gathered outside the church having champagne, toasting and happily celebrating the couple had tied the knot. So we drove past it and at this point I’m super lost. Then it occurred to me, Hey! maybe they’re all gathered waiting for the bride to arrive….that’s it!

So I happily and convincingly stepped off the car and headed downhill towards the church. Made my grand entrance, all eyes on me, but not because I was rocking my grandmother’s vintage headpiece made in France, but because we were ONE HOUR LATE…and who greets me? An absolutely ravishing bride! I wanted to dig a hole and stick my head in it, but after the first drink I was fine. I’m kinda used to these things happening to me…anyone share a similar story?

Ok more showing less talking!

The gorgeous bride and me

Chitchatting with the bride

The bride's beautiful embroidered bolero

My wedding outfit

vintage pastis water jugs

I’m still daydreaming about my weekend in Antibes. It seems I’m in a perpetual summery-Cote d’Azur-mood even though I’ve been back in Milan since Sunday night and have been quite busy preping for my soon-to-come 4 day weekend in Andorra where I’ll be attending a wonderful wedding (will post pics next week)- even so I don’t manage to get my mind off of la plage.

I’m not a huge fan of pastis, the famous anise-flavoured liquor typical from the South of France, but in this case the pastis I’m referring to on the title of this post is the Hotel Pastis in St. Tropez.

Baroque mirrors, iconic pastis water jugs, Louis XVI stone fireplace, bistrot chairs and tables, white washed wood, black Grand piano, Sex Pistols, Corbusier sofas, Tolix chairs, Moroccan style lanterns…is the eclectic melange of French Mediterranean and British décor Pauline and John Larkin adopted for their shabby chic 9-room boutique hotel in the South of France.

Here have a look for yourselves.

outside façade

bistrot chairs and tables

customized coffee bar

stunning pieces of art + design furniture

la confiture du matin

terrace and pool

rooms

another one of the many poolside ambiances

yeah!!

It’s homey, it’s cozy, it’s quaint, it’s cool. It’s the perfect casual Provençal lifestyle-meets-posh&witty British vibe summer getaway.

It’s located on the main route into downtown St. Tropez on 61 Avenue du General Leclerc- very hard to miss!

www.pastis-st-tropez.com

View of Cap d'Antibes

Finally! This past weekend was my first weekend at the beach since last summer. I couldn’t wait! I know I said I had been back home for some weeks, but trust me, weather was anything but beachy.

So we left Milan Friday afternoon and drove three and a half hours to Antibes. Unfortunately, we failed booking ahead of time at our usual pied-a-terre boutique hotel so we settled for something less cozy, but still very well-located, a mere block from the sandy beach. Weather was amazing, non-stop sunshine Saturday and Sunday. The water was a bit too chilly for my taste, my body was numb 2 seconds after diving in, but I loved the crispiness and freshness of it. I think you can tell what I’m talking about by the picture.

A little info about myself…I’m a bit of a sucker for espadrilles. But you probably already knew this from one of my previous posts. Throughout my life I think I’ve owned over 20 pairs of the exact same ones in different colors. I think I’ve touched just about every color of the rainbow, except for yellow, I hate yellow. I always get them at this little shop behind the Le Suquet area in downtown Cannes.

Anyways, they’re super ‘in’ this summer and you can see more and more designers come up with their own unique version of the traditional espadrilles in funky colors, patterns, different heel types and fabrics. But I always like to stick to the authentic, genuine, prototypal, hand-made version of the traditional French espadrille. Speaking of fabrics, I found an awesome pair of leather espadrilles downtown Juan-les-Pins by 1789 Cala, (available for sale on the website).

Handmade leather espadrilles by 1789 Cala

They have this great copperish-brass-golden hue which makes them super chic! I already know these won’t be coming off my feet anytime soon.

My dress code this summer? Definitely no sarongs. Yes to cut-off denim shorts/skirts (really short), cropped tops, flowy tunics or stolen button up blue shirts from my bf, maybe throw in a light, oversize knit sweater for chilly afternoons and lots of hippie bracelets…simple and comfy stuff-always.

So what’s your absolute favorite summer shoe?

Exactly a year ago today I was pulling out my favorite gray bandana and laying it nice and flat on my bed so that I could take a picture of it and upload it as background for my new blog.

I think I did pretty well, I haven’t gotten tired of the bandana…or the blog.

Anyways, today is ESF’s Bday! YAY! I remember I was about to leave for the South of France last summer when I decided to put this blog up. I had just enrolled in French school and knew I would have a lot of time in my hands in the coming months to cook up some entertaining material about my whereabouts, experiences, photos and funky outfit compositions that I could then share with friends and well, non-friends or blog buddies.

So here I am a year later, still enjoying writing on my blog, sharing my stories and feeling the luuuv from my readers, including those who don’t say much but keep coming back!

Hope I’ve been of some inspiration to you and thanks for sticking around!! <3

Oh, à propos inspiration, here today’s…

10 yr. old Manu

31 yr. old Manu

Some things just never change, huh? I’ve been color discordinated for as long as I can remember (my sis has always made me fully aware of it, thanks sis!) but hey, that hasn’t stopped me from expressing myself!

HAPPY BDAY ESF!!!