Everything I bought in Italy
Pretty tops, diffusers, ceramics, and more bellissima things.
Hiiii, I’m finally back from two weeks in Italy! I realize it’s an immense privilege to take a two-week vacation—it’s been exactly 10 years since I’ve been able to do so—but if you can swing it, I highly recommend it. The first week was great, but by the second week, I was relaxed AF and fully immersed in living la dolce vita. The one downside was that the jet lag was intense coming back. Coupled with starting a new job last week (more on that soon!) which is always mentally exhausting, I was completely wiped out all week, so apologies for not sending a newsletter as promised. But back to my vacation, I got my job offer four days before I left, which was welcome news for many reasons, the most relevant here being that I could actually afford to do some shopping on this trip. I didn’t go totally crazy, but I definitely let it rip. Here’s what I bought in Italy.
I went hard on fragrance
You can now fairly easily shop Santa Maria Novella in the U.S., but I love that sweet sweet VAT refund, and the original location in Florence is one of the most gorgeous stores on the planet (it used to be a church, and dates to the 17th century). I always stock up on my favorite Rosa Gardenia body lotion and soap, and this time I bought a Rosa Novella candle as well.
I bought the Salentum Profumi diffuser on a tip from one of the other women in the group I was staying with our second week, in Puglia. The woman in the store spoke very little English although some French, so we conducted the entire transaction in Itafranglish. My one regret is having not bought the bigger size, but this one has pretty decent throw for being so small.
I discovered Matiere Premiere at Printemps in New York earlier last month; I went into Campomarzio70 fully intending to buy a Fornasetti candle but left with this customized three-piece discovery set instead. None of these are a holy grail scent for me, but I am having fun switching up my fragrance game.
Aqua Flor was hands down one of my favorite boutiques of the trip; it’s like a more bohemian, romantic version of Santa Maria Novella. Sean & I agreed on the Giardino di Boboli scent; we now have this diffuser in our living room in the very back of our apartment and I can smell it as soon as I walk through the front door, in a not-overpowering way. I love it.
I feathered my nest
Our amazingly gorgeous hotel room had the round tray on the coffee table; my mind was absolutely blown when Sean happened upon it in the Ortigia Sicilia store. So of course we bought one.
I always love to buy notebooks when I travel because I go through them very quickly; I found this one at this store in Venice.
The ceramic platter is from Nicola Fasano in Grottaglie, the ceramics capitol of Puglia. I also bought a shallow serving bowl that I loved even more at another shop in the town, but sadly I didn’t wrap it well enough and it didn’t survive the trip home. 😭
The tea towels are from Giaquinto in Otranto, also in Puglia. I haven’t used them yet because they’re so beautiful and I don’t want to mess them up! I really wanted a tablecloth from this store, but it would have taken up half of my luggage, alas.
On our week in Puglia, we took a pasta-making class at L’Astore Masseria, where they also make delicious wine, but I bought a canister of olive oil to go—they’ve been making it since the 13th century!
And I really was not planning on bringing any wine home, but everything at Cosimo Taurino was far too delicious (and affordable—this 10-year-old vintage was 15E!).
And of course I decked myself out
The blouse on the left is from Boutique Nadine, which was recommended by our hotel and was one of my other favorite shops in Florence.
I happened upon the blouse on the right when I wandered into Rinascente looking for a bathroom. It’s by Greek Archaic Kori, which is one of my favorite resort-wear brands; I think it’s from last year (it was on deep sale) but here’s something similar.
Finally, Florence tends to be known for two things: gold and leather goods. While I found both to be of very high quality, I was not prepared to spend what some of the vendors were asking (a very persistent salesperson had me try on a $1500 leather jacket!!!). That said, I am in love with the sailor ring I bought at Marina Calamai and the Gucci-esque belt I bought at Scuola di Cuoio.
Long story short, the shopping in Florence was so good, I’m going to devote an entire blog post to it, so stay tuned for next week’s content!
This week on the blog
Now that you’ve seen everything I bought in Italy, check out everything I wore and please enjoy all of Sean’s gorgeous photography (there’s even more of it on Instagram).