Summer Vacation

The Olympos Beach in Turkey

Rather it be a weekend at the lake or a week on the Mediterranean, I hope everyone gets a chance to relax, read a book, and soak up the vitamin D that we've so desperately missed.  To support the summer festivities we have in store caftans,  hats, woven straw beach bags, colorful beach towels and of course linen.  All of these are my essentials for summer and our yearly trip to Turkey.  I love to pack for trips, rather it be a weekend or a month.   Everything has to go together so I can mix and match for several outfits. My goal is to fit everything into a 22 inch bag.  The first essential is shoes.  If your shoes are uncomfortable the trip will be miserable.  I always take two pairs for good measure, one that doesn't have to be particularly cute but good for walking. The other comfortable but stylish, something I can wear to a nice dinner or an occasion.  I take a pair of our OTBT or Nicole shoes every trip.  They are stylish with supportive soles.  

OTBT Fairfield

Nicole Ackard

After I've decided on shoes I can start planning my clothing.  

I personally love to travel in Linen for summer; it is cool, naturally wrinkled and dries very quickly.  Also, linen is popular around the world so I feel I stand out less when wearing it. 

Bryn Walker White Linen Dress and Chalet Jumper

Echo Design Kaftan

For summer,I travel in White, Black and whatever color I fancy for the season.  I usually have a couple of dresses or Caftans,  a couple pairs of pants and 3-4 tops.  For maximum room I roll them and put them in our Eagle Creek packing cubes.  These are great for compressing and organizing.  

Packing Cubes for the packing system

Large Quick Dry Travel Towel 

I then do the same in a smaller cube for undergarments, swim suit and towel.  If I’m not traveling by air a big bright beach towel is wonderful.  If traveling overseas nothing is worse than lugging around a partially dry beach towel.  I take our Eagle Creek quick dry towels. They dry in an hour and take up little room in your bag. 

Lastly I choose my hat and bag.  A sun hat is very important and extremely stylish.  We have two brands in store.  One is Wallaroo Hats, and the other a company out of Madagascar  Onigo.  Both brands are UPF approved and packable   

Wallaroo Sun Hat

Onigo Sun Hat

For my bags, if it’s a weekend trip I like to take a bright gigantic beach bag.  If I’m traveling by air I have to be more practical.  I always travel with a Baggallini bag for my carry on that can also act as a beach bag.  Then I have a smaller Baggallini bag inside that I can use for walking around the city.  

Baggallini Madrid Bag

Baggallini Globetrotter

Baggallini 2 inch Rolling Tote

For domestic trips we use our Baggallini rolling tote and for international we have Eagle Creek Luggage that has plenty of extra room for rugs, clothing and jewelry that we can bring back to share with you.  

Eagle Creek 25 inch Road Warrior

Peru Part 2

Suleyman outside of TiTi's house

We were recently in Peru where we attended  the Peru Moda show in Lima.  The event hosts manufactures and designers from all over Peru.  There are runway shows to feature the top designers and booths for the attendees to admire, look and feel the garments. 

 The aesthetics of Peruvian designers are like none other, with everything woven, dresses, jackets, pants, and swimsuits.  Of course with a culture so rich in indigenous handicrafts there is plenty of Amazonian and Andean designs to choose from.

Runway Show at Peru Moda

After attending the show and meeting with our manufactures to discuss styles for future seasons, we had some time to play.   It’s amazing the treasures we found this time around, people, places, restaurants and museums.  We are very excited to introduce TiTi Guiulfo as one of our new designers and manufactures.  TiTi specializes in working with the Andean communities to bring the quality and techniques of the people in that region to modern designs.  

Weaver at TiTi's house

We spent time at TiTi’s house and studio working and had the chance to meet her friend and jewelry designer Ester Ventura.  Ester incorporates textiles, seashells, gauzes and feathers into her jewelry making them sculptural pieces and wearable artwork.  We hope to work with Ester in the future to bring some of her designs to the Midwest.  

Ester Ventura's jewelry collection

We also had the chance to meet TiTi’s sister, famous Peruvian chef, Marisa Guiulfo.  Marisa owns several restaurants in Lima, La Bonbonniere.  French inspired with traditional Peruvian dishes, it is the best food we’ve had in Lima, with pastries to dream about.

Pastries at La Bonbonniere

This was our third time to Lima so we wanted to find some new tourist destinations within the city.  The three worth mentioning were very unique and unlike anything I've seen.  First is El Circuito Magico del Aqua, a park which has numerous and enormous fountains.  At night the fountains light up with different colors making a light show. 

Me at El Circuito Magico del Aqua under one of the fountains

The second is the Larco Museum, a privately owned museum of Pre-Colombian Art.  The museum is housed in an 18^th century vice-royal building built on top of a 7^th century pyramid.  Inside is an amazing collection of Pre-Colombian artifacts and a famous erotic archaeological collection.  

Erotic Art from the Larco Museum

Thirdly is the Convent of San Francisco home to a library consisting of 25,000 antique texts and the catacombs which holds an estimated 70,000 peoples remains.  Under the Monastery are the catacombs with narrow hallways that contain large deep holes filled with bones and skulls often arranged in a circular pattern.  It is a very eerie but fascinating experience.  

Catacombs at San Francisco Monastery