How in the hell ...

Good Saturday dear readers,

Today I'm not going to talk so much about fashion but about the above quotation I found through browsing the web today. Never like at this point in time have I felt this more relevant to my situation (and I imagine that of many others too).
This will be my last week at work and then I'm done. I told them I'm not re-newing my contract because above all I believe people should be respected, whether you're a manager or the cleaner. If you respect me, I'll respect you. Simple as that. Now I know that's utopic but at the same time I don't see why I should force myself to do exactly those things Bukowsky states, if I'm not appreciated and after being insulted and offended I should even be grateful for the "opportunity" given to me... So I'm leaving. But I'm aware that not many people can do that. Would have I taken the same decision, in this same economic/political situation had I had a family and kids to take care of? Probably not. I would have suffered and forced myself to get up every morning, unhappy, just because that's how I can get some money to look after my family.
People are valuable. When they work for your company, they're there for YOUR interest, because your interest is chained to theirs. You can tell someone off if they have made a mistake, if they're responsible they will take care of their own consequences, being the owner or manager doesn't give you any right to offend or insult people. At least that's what I think.

Have any of you ever had similar issues at work? Have you ever been disrespected and offended? I'm pretty sure at some point we all have, in one way or another, but up to what extent should we accept it? What are your thoughts? What I know is that if I have to do a job, knowing I will work for most of my life, I have to do something I enjoy and wake up happy everyday.

Liebster Award - 2nd Nomination!

 I was nominated by the lovely E-M from ZerxzaStyle!! Thank you so, so much for nominating me, it's the second time this week I receive this award, I feel so honoured!! Thank you guys!! You can find out more about the Liebster Award on my previous post here

Here are the answers to the new questions given to me :) Thank you dear E!


1. What is your first memory about fashion? (maybe you did something fashion-related when you were little etc)
I became involved in fashion a few years ago at uni when I was chosen as model for an asian fusion fashion show. After the experience on the runway, I started getting involved behind the scenes and that's where my interest in the fashion world came out!

2. Do you see your future related with fashion industry?
Yes! I've started working at Novemb3r here in Italy in September and the more I work here, attending trade shows, living the behind the scenes creation of a collection I definitely want to stay in the fashion industry! I love it

3. Who is your biggest inspiration?
I don't have a person who inspires me, I'm more inspired by life in general. Life is a form of art and so is fashion and I think once you see this everything becomes beautiful, interesting

4. What's your motto in life? 
"The greatest thing you'll learn is to love and be loved in return"

5. What are the 3 little things that always make you smile? 
Kids laughing; receaiving an unexpected nice message; seeing the people I love smile

6. Are you more of a winter-person or summer-person? Why?
Summer! No doubt! I love warm weather, summer colours, the days are longer and there's more light :)

7.  Do you prefer skirts or jeans? Heels or flats?
Jeans and heels, but I'd like to wear more skirts than what I actually do..

8. What's your biggest goal right now to achieve?
My career and one day to "build" my own family

9.  If you had 10 000 dollars to spend on fashion-related items, what would be the first one for you to buy? Why that item?
An Elie Saab dress. Although I wouldn't know where to wear it, unless I get on the red carpet... but I love Elie Saab and all is collection and just knowing I have one of his creations would be fabulous!

10. What is your favorite area in history? Why? (50s,60s,70s... etc)
50'/60s! I love the women fashion of those days, it was feminine, elegant and beautiful! Also I think values which existed then are today undervalued as the saying goes "Today we know the price of everything and the value of nothing"...

11. And of course the most important question of the season - What is the hottest thing to wear on The New Years Eve? 

Of course it depends where you are going! But I think simple with details is the best. A black dress with shiny/sparkling shoulders. A long dress and a beautiful up hair-do. Keep it simple with a little of sparkle and detail! And, don't forget! Red lingerie! ;)

LIEBSTER AWARD: Nominated!

First of all thank you so much to Christine from Petite Hues for nominating me for this award! The Liebster Award is given to new and upcoming bloggers with less than 200 followers for recognition of their work. This is also a way to help promote and support other new bloggers as well. Out of curiosity I went to look for the meaning of Liebster and turns out it comes from Lieb,which in German means kind, likeable.
Basically, when nominated for the Liebster Award, you are given a set of 11 questions to answer. Afterwards, you nominate another 11 blogs to answer the 11 questions. See how this works? You get to introduce yourself and set a platform for other blogs as well! 

Here are the 11 questions I was given. Thank you Christine!

 1. What/Whom motivated you to begin fashion blogging? 

I started blogging for the first time a long time ago, to keep a personal diary more than anything. I didn't keep it very well, to be completely honest. Then one day, a dear friend of mine after listening to me talking about the organization of Sitara (an asian fusion fashion show I helped with at the Univeristy of St Andrews, where I got my degree) he said: "Why don't you write a blog about this? You love fashion, you have this show you're helping organize which you love, write about it, write about the show and then write about what inspires you" - and that's when it started. At first this blog was called The Spicy Italian, recently I changed it to this new name because I feel it makes more sense to what I blog about, fashion and travel, so it's more structured.

2. Describe your style in three words?

Simple, feminine, elegant

3. What do you hope that people will get out of reading your blog?

 I want my readers to be inspired, like me, by the things I decide to post about, the images I choose, the topics I discuss. "Globetrotter à la mode" is for people who want to be inspired by fashion and travel.

4. Who/what is your style inspiration?

 Icons like Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn, of course, are two women I greatly admire. They had an elegance, a softness and femininity which I fear women have lost a bit today. Women today, are afraid of being vulnerable, and I don't mean vulnerable in the sense of weakness, but in the sense that women feel emotions on a different depth and sometimes it's considered our weakness but that vulnerability, is beautiful. Today to be heard as a woman you have to be strong, toughen your skin, but I think it's important women never lose their vulnerability whilst showing their independence. Because that's our beauty, we just need to find the right balance. This is they style I'm in search for, the balance between strength and vulnerability.

5. What is your favorite staple piece?
Nice lingerie. For me lingerie defines the rest of your outfit. If you feel great in your lingerie you will look great no matter what you wear because your attitude will be different. If you're wearing beautiful lingerie under a sweatshirt and sweatpants, even if you're the only one to know, it will still make you feel confident. 
And of course a black top is a must have for any season and any style. 

6. Name one accessory you can't live without?
 In the winter, scarfs, mainly Pashminas. I have lots of them, some of my favourite ones were a gift from my dad when he came back from Afghanistan, soft and colourful.

7. Which celebrity's closet would you love to raid?
 Can I travel back in time and say Grace Kelly?!  
Jokes aside, rather than a calebrity, I would want to raid Elie Saab's collections... even if I'm just going to sit at home and stare at them in admiration because I can't really go to the supermarket with those can I... or maybe... I could?!

8. What is the ultimate goal you wish to achieve out of being a blogger?
Well, like most bloggers, I hope for my blog to get noticed, for people to enjoy what I do and be inspired. And if one day I could make this into my job like some of the most influential bloggers out there, it would be great :)

9. Name 3 of your strengths and weaknesses?
a) Concentration: I have the ability to close myself in a bubble if I have to get something done
b) Perseverance: I don't give up even when things get tough
c) Honesty: I just can't tell a lie, you'll see it to easily if I do (this can be both a weakness and strength, but I prefer honesty to be a strength)

a) Emotional
b) Possesive: you know Friends, when Joey says "Joey doesn't share food!!" yeah... along those lines :p
c) Chocolate, cakes and biscuits are a big weakness of mine :p

10. What is your favorite beauty product?
I never go out without black mascara, waterproof, I'm still searching for the perfect one though. And perfume. I have three at the moment I like to alternate between depending on my mood: Dior Poison, Lancome Trésor, Chanel N°5 
 

11. What is your greatest fear?
 Spiders and insects in general... brrr -  
On another level I'm afraid of losing myself, of letting situations and people affect me too much, forgetting who I really am, it comes with being emotional, but I'm working on this ;)

Here are the results for my nominees for the Liebster Award:

Made with stars
Untangle your spangle
Nikychic
Inches to Style
Positively Jewels
Your average Jo
Supercalafashionistic
The Art of L!fe
Mercury Moonshine Dutchess
The Pink Psyche
Fashion and Life through my eyes

Here are the questions to answer if you choose to participate :) 

 1. What/Whom motivated you to begin fashion blogging?

2. Describe your style in three words?

3. What do you hope that people will get out of reading your blog?

4. Who/what is your style inspiration?

5. What is your favorite staple piece?

6. Name one accessory you can't live without?

7. Which celebrity's closet would you love to raid?

8. What is the ultimate goal you wish to achieve out of being a blogger?

9. Name 3 of of your strengths and weaknesses?

10. What is your favorite beauty product?

11. What is your greatest fear?

Have a lovely day every one! :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

So here it is. The night of creepy monsters, witches, ghosts and all things scary! The other day I carved a pumpkin for the first time, being inspired by Jack Swellington from the Nightmare Before Christmas. Very happy of the result, I wasn't expecting my first carving to be so successful... but more turning out like a deformed "wanna-be" Jack O'Lantern... Afterwards I cooked the insides and tomorrow I am planning on using it to make a pumpkin cake or something along those lines! I also roasted the seeds with some oil and salt and it turned out to be a very tasty snack!
Tomorrow is national Holiday here for the Day of the Dead, and I get the day off work, I am looking very much to a loooong lie in :D Here some pictures of my pumpkin, my cat (yes, black cat, perfect innit?) and the roasted seeds...

Hi, my name is Kiki , you are? 

Ok, fine you can take a picture of my beautiful profile

Is that pumpkin for me?!

Yummy roasted pumpkin seeds! Very easy to make, with a little olive oil, salt and then in the oven for a while, depending on the type of oven you have... 

TRANOI SS13 WOMAN SHOW

Dear follower, once again I apologize for the lack of posts, I am much better on my other blogs (tumblr/pinterest/stylesays) than here... I guess because it's easier and quicker to post on those sites than here... Anyway... Thank you for your patience, I always come back here sooner or later ;) So here I am today ready to set off to PARIS tomorrow for the TRANOI!  I am going there for work with Novemb3r, and I can't wait, my outfits are all ready for the 5 days I will be there. I will be definitely post more about it and take lots of photographs! :) If any of you are there come meet me at La Bourse! 

Photos from TRANOI

New Job, new life!

Dear followers and visitors,

I'm sorry for my lack of posts lately, summer has been very busy and now I've started a new job for the Italian fashion brand Novemb3r, which I'm currently loving! Today I've been told I will be going to a fashion exhibition in PARIS with my boss at the end of the month, which I am absolutely thrilled about!

Hope you are all well and have had a fantastic summer!

Ely xx

My Graduation Week

Here is why I've been posting little lately. I'm officially MA (Hons) in Management and Spanish! These are a few photographs from my graduation week in beautiful Scotland. I definitely left a piece of my heart in that place... University has given me so much more than just a degree, it's given me the four best years of my life where I've had amazing experiences and met wonderful people, some who are like family to me now. I left home when I was 17 to go to Scotland for my education, now I'm 21, and I would do it all over again in a heart beat. In these four years away from home I've grown so much more than I would have if I had stayed home. I'm grateful to my little Scottish bubble for everything it has given me in this time but mostly grateful to my family who have supported me and given me this amazing opportunity. I hope I have made you proud, mum and dad, and that I will continue in doing so in the future.

This below is Edinburgh, all ready to celebrate the Oympics soon!

My very delicious graduation lunch!

Edinburgh Castle, after 4 years I have finally been!

Scone Castle, home to beautiful peacocks!

Isle of May, home to millions of birds, including Puffins which are the cutest little things I've seen!

My graduation ceremony!

 Looks like I graduated from Hogwarts... ;) 

Blue, Red and White

I had posted about this place back in December, Hotel Roma, where I went for my Christmas present Spa treatment. Now my Granny is staying there because she just had knee surgery, so last night we went there with the whole family to keep her company and have dinner with her. Of course I sneaked out to take a few photographs pretending to be on holiday somewhere fancy :p And I'm totally loving very colourful bags this season <3 

A day of Polo

So back in May I went with my dear friend Giulia, from Love at First Bite, to watch a Polo tournament in St Andrews organized by the University's Polo club. It would have been even better if it wasn't freezing and windy, reason for which we had to run home and have a hot, or rather, boiling tea... But here's some photographs from the day whilst we survived the cold

Back in Bella Italia ;)

Well, I have finished my degree and I'm now back home in Italy for the time being. I will be going back to Scotland in June just for the graduation ceremony and then it will officially be over! Today I went to visit my grandma who is staying at a Spa Hotel near by because she had knee surgery so she's going through the whole rehabilitation process. I had a lovely 4 meal course, including my dear gelato, in fact I'm still so full I doubt I will have dinner! It's been a lovely warm sunny day, here's a few pics I took before going out, Penny wanted to be in them too, she's such a little star ;)

All good things come to an end

Sorry for not having kept this blog very much up to date, but I'll try and get back on to it especially now that I have finished all my exams. In fact, I have completed my university degree!!!! *Celebratory dance*
Now I just have to wait for June for the Graduation Ceremony. It's quite surreal... you spend four years working, revising, studying, (procrastinating...), and the end never seems to come and then suddenly, you're there. It's over. You've done it. And all the years you've been waiting seem to have gone by in the blink of an eye...
 What's crazy is that I feel this is what happens for all of our lives. We're always waiting for something. Graduating, marrying, going for a trip, going for a meal, seeing someone... all we do is wait for things to happen, then they happen and we are then waiting for something else... Maybe we should really stop "waiting" for the future to happen and just really live the moment, the "here and now", but why is it so hard?
Anyway, after this philosophical moment of mine, here's a few photographs of me getting soaked by my wonderful friends at the end of my last exam! It looks really warm I know, but, trust me, it's Scotland, the blue sky and sun is just a trick to make you think it's warm. It was VERY cold ;)

Stranger on the Shore

Last night I got bored, so whilst listening to the amazing Acker Bilk (hence the title of this post) I suddenly got inspired to draw a little again, so I sketched this from a photograph I saw on tumblr yesterday :) I have missed drawing! What inspires you? Is it music? Is it a feeling of the moment? Is it a place? Where do you find your inspiration?

A view from above

I'm in London waiting for my next flight... This is the stunning view there was on the Dolomites this morning :)

New Hair cut!

New year, new me! I have finally given a cut to my long, long hair and changed it all! I'm very happy with it even though I've always been a long-hair fan I have to say I'm very happy with this length, I'm tempted to go shorter but for now I'll wait and get used to this :)

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Anno Nuovo, Ely nuova! Finalmente mi sono decisa a darci un taglio ai miei lunghissimi capelli e cambiare completamente! Sono sempre stata una convinta per i capelli lunghi, ma questa volta devo ricredermi, sono molto contenta di questo taglio, sono adirittura tentata di tagliarli di più, ma per ora aspetto di abituarmi a questi ;)

Secret of the Desert

A while back I went on holiday to Egypt with my family, coming across through some of those photos now I thought I would share with you my beautiful adventure in this beautiful country. The landscape is just outstanding. Although on the first day there I had a very high temperature and spent the day in bed in my room, I soon recovered and was ready to try EVERYTHING! While there I went snorkeling through some amazing reefs, I swam with dolphins, road a quad in the desert, had tea in the desert made by the people who live there, I rode a camel, went water skiing and visited the "Doors of Allah" and many more beautiful places. Enough to say it was AMAZING. Here are some photographs for you to have a peek at :)
Oh, also, I bought a perfume there from a little artisan shop called "Secret of the Desert", which has become my favourite scent, probably also for its beautiful name!

 Click the read more to see the rest of my adventure! :) There's a camel drinking a bottle of 7up...

A man's best friend

I think the video speaks for itself. Nothing is greater than the unconditional love a dog is able to give.

Renato Balestra

Over Christmas I got some new shoes. Well, I got money for Christmas from my grandma, so I bought myself some gorgeous, magnificent shoes :) I love them, they're unbelievably comfortable and oh! so fashionable. If I had to pick between these and a man... I'd probably pick the... shoes, I'd got to bed with them on. (Sorry, what?!) Shh, don't tell anyone! I'm a woman after all, I can't help it... you know what I mean ;)
(...'cause you do right?)

A Roman Holiday... December 2010

Fountain of Trevi - photo by me

I found these tonight while I was looking through some of my photos, and I thought I'd share. They were taken in 2012 in Rome, one of my favourite cities! If you've not been, you should definitely go and I can promise you will fall in love, it has that "je ne sais quoi" as the French would say. You can also see my love for horses. Me and this little fellow here had an immediate connection, we were friends in less than a second ;) 

Colosseum - photo by me

Can't remember the exact place of this - photo by me

Good old times and dresses!

This is not the most recent but back in November I went to celebrate my birthday in Edinburgh with my closest friends and we had a great time, these are two dresses I tried on and absolutely fell in love with! And I thought I'd share 

Edinburgh at Christmas is beautiful...

We had lovely cocktails in a little pub just before taking the bus back