I don’t like to say resolutions as much as the journey and where it will take me.  A journey is to go from one place to another and in the event world we are always in constant motion.  It’s not just from the destinations we get the honor of traveling to plan and design events, but throughout the planning.  I love that each of my couples is different, each wedding is different, with a different journey of their own.

This year in 2019 I look forward to where my own journey will take me personally and professionally.  I do believe the ups and downs through your own journey brings you to just where you are meant to be.  It teaches us lessons in life, if you learn from them it can only push you forward.  I try to look at each experience and opportunity as a way to learn.  I don’t always succeed in this, but I try, and I will continue to try to do this in this year’s journey ahead.

A conference I once attended I learned from London wedding planner, Sarah Haywood, that if you want to plan and design a wedding in a location you have to put yourself there.  So this past September I took myself (and my hubby) back to Europe to Italy’s Amalfi Coast.  This was the 2nd time I was able to travel to Italy specifically, I was there 20 years ago, and there is something about traveling to Europe to makes me come alive!  I feel it’s somewhat in my blood as I am Italian myself.  My great-grandparents where born in Southern Italy and we still carry on the family traditions after many generations.  We traveled this time to a town called Vico Equense, the island of Capri, and Rome.

Let’s just say the journey with my hubby on this trip started off with a HILARIOUS bang!!! So we took our flight direct from NYC to Rome and when we got off the plane I knew we had to catch the train to the main station to then get on another train to reach Naples.  I was feeling all confident and all because I figured out how to purchase our tickets out of a machine that was mostly in Italian (while I am Italian I only know a few words).  So as we made our was to the train platform, I asked one of the train attendants “This is the train to Roma Termini?”, she replied, “Yes” and pointed to the train.  So as my husband and I went to board I went to step on first with my bag and turned to help him with the other 2 bags we had (WAY to much luggage!), well let’s just say the door immediately closed behind me!  Yep, that’s right closed, locked, and no way to open the doors and less than 30 seconds later the train was moving leaving my husband (who might I add has never been to Europe) behind!!!  Plus, on top of that I had the Euro’s (money) and he had our passports, yikes!  Lucky for cell phones that work overseas but it wasn’t easy to help him get to where he needed to go because he really had no clue.  It was a story that we will forever talk about but we found our way back to each other and got on our way.  I would highly suggest if you’re traveling to multiple cities in Europe to back a carry-on and backpack only per person.  The less luggage the better, you will thank me for this later.  If you could only see us sitting in the second train with our luggage in between the seats, our feet on top, legs tucked to our chins for 2 hours.  All while we are not tall people, it was very tight.

The hotel we stayed in Vico Equense called Capo La Gala Hotel was absolutely beautiful, the food was so delicious, but more importantly the service was out of this world AMAZING!  The entire staff there was so warm, friendly, and always wanting you to have the very best time.  They even remember your favorite items during your stay.  As a fitness fanatic, they even had a gym that overlooked the water!  We tried 2 different style rooms and they were both wonderful!  Our 2nd room had it’s one private pool looking over the water with a glass of champagne, can you imagine it?  With 22 rooms at the hotel, it’s a perfect spot to reserve for your entire wedding guest list.  They have multiple restaurants, including Michelin star, Maxi, and it’s very own wine cellar there is nothing they don’t have.  Their breakfast was one of my favorites of all time!!  I dream of that breakfast!

When I traveled to Italy with family at 17 one of my favorite places was the island of Capri.  I was mesmerized by the island.  A place where cars couldn’t even get through the entire island, you had to take the funicular train, or walk through the winding cliffs.  The views and the special grottos were out of this world.  I have never seen water glow as I have there.  This time I wanted to see the island from the water so we rented a private boat with Gianni’s Boat Tours and they were wonderful!  While not cheap, it was worth every penny!!  “The Wolf” was our captain and he is the best!!  Would be perfect to have for your bridal party the day before the big day, family, or for the bride and groom.

Check out the famous Faraglioni rocks, we also went through the rock formation on our tour.

Rome has so much history and hidden gems.  Did you know that the Trevi Fountain which begin construction in 1732 took 30 years to build?  This beautiful and historic fountain is hidden in between buildings within the city where you turn one corner and BAM there it is! A site I am blessed to have seen twice.  I am not sure which is better daytime or night.  I think I lean towards the night as it just glows. The architecture of Rome inspires me in so many ways, the angles, color, the material, the flowers, it’s endless.  Then you add in the food, can you say GELATO!

We also stopped in a few other towns as we traveled.  We took planes, trains, automobiles and event ferries.  Feeling comfortable while you travel is important when you want to book an event in another country.  It’s a big part of helping assisting couples into finding the right destination for them and their guests. I can now say that I feel pretty good traveling within and all over Italy as well as within Paris and London.  I have had the opportunity to plan events all over the US, Caribbean and I hope to add Europe to the mix this year.  Europe is getting more and more reasonable to travel to from the US and this girl right here is pretty darn happy about it!

There are few things I want to explore on my journey in 2019 too….

1. I want to read more, yes Mom, I said read more.  I am not a reader by heart, never was, but I would like to start.  Maybe it’s just a chapter at a time, or taking 20 minutes in the morning or before bed.  What are your reading?
2. I want to be more open with you all hear writing from my heart, so I hope you follow my journey.  I will again say, I am not a great writer, but I will give you my thoughts straight from my heart.
3. To continue my fitness journey in investing in my mind, body, and soul.  I love teaching and training bootcamp, building my strength and motivating others to do so.  More importantly for me this year it’s also taking some time for my mind and body to slow it down and I love yoga for that.  I say it’s the hardest for me because I need to slow down sometimes in life and yoga teaches you this.
4. Even though people that know me would never think I am an introvert, I say I am an introvert/extrovert.  When I don’t know you or I am in a room with strangers, I am so shy.  Yet, once you know me, I can talk for hours.  So am going to work on walking up to people I don’t know and introduce myself little by little.
5. I want to plan and design a wedding in Europe. THIS IS THE ONE!
6. I want to continue to travel, as it is something that continues to inspire me in life and in my work.  Some places I would love to travel in 2019…California coast, Colorado, Boston, Seattle, and Rosemary Beach in Florida, and would love to go back to London or anywhere and everywhere in Europe.  I always love to travel back to my hometown of Chicago and to my hubby’s in Pittsburgh.  I know I may not hit them all but we will see what journey 2019 takes me on.

These are just some of my want-to pieces I want to work on this year.  I look forward to the amazing clients we get to work with this year and to where my journey will take me.  Sometimes it helps to just write them down or share, what are some of your want-to list items?