Oh August, where did you go?! We wait so long for the summer months to arrive, and when they do, they are gone like the wind.
For those of you that follow me on Facebook and/or instagram, you may have seen that my family and I spent this summer in Greece. One of the reasons I am so late on posting my blog. #sorrynotsorry
As our girls continue to grow like weeds, we make an effort to visit Greece as much as we can. Both my husband and I are very fortunate and blessed to have family homes and relatives there.
My family home is in the city Corinth. It is a bustling place, with many restaurants, shops, and markets. It is also home of the tourist attraction Corinth Canal, and only a 45 minute drive to Athens, a city filled with so much history and culture. Beautiful Loutraki is also minutes away. This is where we go to experience the European nightlife, one that doesn't get going until 1-2 AM. Thank god for siestas!
It is hard to pinpoint what I love most about this place. The turquoise blue ocean is unforgettable, and the sunsets are breathtaking. Early mornings were soooo therapeutic for me, as I sat with my coffee and breakfast, overlooking the vast ocean, catching up on some reading. Exactly what the doctor ordered. Heavenly I must say. Aaaaaah
My husband's family is from a small village called Kato Vasiliki. It sits right across the water from Patra, the third largest city in Greece. My first visit here was in 2009. It was the first time that I was meeting his family from Greece and visiting a place where he had created so many memories as a young boy. A place that my girls and I would now call our second home. I remember that I was nervous as hell! "Will I like it there? will his family like me? will I fit in? will our girls make friends?" these were thoughts that played in my mind that day...thoughts that were REALLY unnecessary. It truly is the most adorable little village where everyone knows your name. The restaurants are owned and operated by locals, where food is freshly made and fish caught from the waters surrounding the village. Nowhere have I enjoyed the freshness of a tomato or calamari the way I do here. The people are all so lovely and "my" family, well they are all absolutely amazing and I have never felt so welcomed. My girls have made friends and my eldest daughter even played pick up soccer with the boys almost everyday! She showed them how it's done:) The hardest part is leaving our family and friends. We all love the quaintness of this village, the peace..along with the roosters and church bells in the morning, and the stories that are told here about the past. There is something intriguing and very special about this place, and I feel very lucky to be able to come and live here as often as we do. Lucky that we get to experience 2 different life styles that our children will appreciate one day as much as Billy and I do.
Leaving Greece is always bittersweet. I love being there, as it is our second home, but there is something special about coming home. Halifax is our home, and I wouldn't change it for the world.
Enough of Greece, I could go on forever. Lets cover some fashion. Let me just tell you that the biggest trend that I saw in Greece this summer were the platform slides/sandals. Women of every age were rockin' these shoes. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see too much of the fall fashion in Greece because it was just starting to come out as we were leaving. But, what I did see in clothing were a lot of grey's, soft pink, and burgundy. In the shoe department, patterned crushed velvet styles were displayed. It seems that here in Canada we're having some of the same trend. Years ago Europe's trends were always ahead of us. I remember going to Greece when I was young and I would be so excited to come back home with my new clothes and shoes that no one would have here :) Now we seem to be on par which is awesome!
I was very excited to come back and visit the new https://www.zara.com/ca/ and http://www2.hm.com/en_ca/index.html in the http://halifaxshoppingcentre.com . These are both fantastic addition's to have with great style's, selection, and price's. Wooohooo!
Stay tuned for my upcoming blog posts and follow me on instagram for new fall fashion and trends. I am very much looking forward to seeing all the new collections and sharing them with you. Now back to business..as they say!
In the meantime, fall hasn't arrived yet, so spend as much time as you can outside and embrace the last bit of summer that we have. Don't put away your summer white's just yet, and hold on to your summer dresses a little while longer. You can easily throw on a cardigan or sweater for those chillier days/nights or wear a t-shirt with your white pants/jeans and wrap a scarf around. Easy peasy!
I had an amazing time off with my family and enjoyed every minute of it. I hope that you all enjoyed your summer and created many more happy memories for the books.
Stella
