Buongiorno, friends! Raise your hand you if had an amazing week, because I sure as heck did, too. I got a ton of work done, shot a beautiful Anniversary Session, got my film back from Jane’s ballerina session, and left for Italy in a state of pretty much no stress! I mean, there’s the usual stress over “I’m really going to miss my husband,” but I started packing early enough in the day that I managed to avoid the panic associated with last-minute suitcase jamming. AND get this: I have extra room in my suitcase. Yeeeah buddy!

My mom’s the one who holds on to everything, whereas my dad finds purging + a more minimalist approach to be more calming. So I’ve got a bit of both when it comes to packing- “but I *might* have a chance to wear that really cute dress!” warring with “CONSOLIDATE OR DIE.” It usually results in me bringing too many outfits, and then feeling real anxiety about it every time I open my suitcase. So for my last two overseas trips, I’ve made a real effort to bring the bare essentials- enough tops + bottoms to get me through each country, with the plan that I’ll wash everything before packing up to hit my next destination. It worked really well last time, I’ll keep you posted on how it goes over the next couple of weeks!

As always, lessons learned/events that transpired over the past week!

• If you can’t get a window seat booked on a large flight (the kind with two aisles and a row of seats in the middle), get the middle seat in the middle rows. That way if you want to go to sleep, no one’s having to ask you to get up to let them out!
• Bring your own ear buds for a long flight. The ones they provide are terrible and they stab your ear canals.
• I flew through Vienna, Austria on my way to Rome, and I just don’t get German-speakers. I mean, they were all really nice! But their clothing styles? I don’t get it.
• For example, there was a dude sitting across from me at the airport with a hair style like THIS, and Harry Potter glasses, a tan blazer, cerulean-blue denim pants, hiking boots, and wool socks, with the blue pants tucked into them. I don’t get it.
• Rome. is. AMAZING. So much more to come on this city once I have my film back, but Italy is winning me over with every new experience.

Alright, I’m going to jet for a day in Siena and an Anniversary Experience session with these two! I don’t have any previews of Italy because I’ve been shooting on my Contax, so you’ll have to make sure you’re following along on Instagram to catch all my #abbygraceineurope adventures as they’re happening! I WILL, however, leave you with a peek at what’s hitting the blog tomorrow :). AH! You’re going to love this one!

AH! You’re going to love this one! I was dying as I went through my film scans, Jane is absolutely divine!