7 Things About Me

I recently received a Stylish Blogger Award from the ever so stylish and inspirational LittleRus of Fashioned by Love!  Here's what you need to do if you are tagged:

• Link back to the person who awarded you
• Share 7 things about yourself
• Award 10 great bloggers
• Contact those bloggers and tell them about the award

I'm going to be honest, it was really difficult to pick my 7 things to share with you guys because I feel like you already know everything there is to know about me!  Between what I share on here, on my YouTube videos, my Formspring, Twitter, Facebook...I just feel like I'm going to bore you all with information you already know!  Oh well...hopefully you'll enjoy the pictures in any case, hahaha!  And maybe some of you will learn something new?  

1. I have a really, really sweet tooth (see, already this is a dumb fact...you can't not know this about me!!).  I pretty much have to eat dessert everyday otherwise I feel so depressed!  It's like there's something missing in my life if I don't eat anything sweet for a day.  This is another reason why diets never worked for me!  I don't do well with any kind of food restriction, in fact if you tell me I'm not allowed to have something, I'll develop some kind of monstrous craving and end up eating everything in sight...yup!  So now you understand why it's so important for me to indulge in ONE small sweet thing everyday :)

2. When I was 5 I lived and went to school in Florence, Italy for one year.  I was actually born and raised for the first half of my childhood in Baltimore, Maryland and moved to Ireland when I was seven.  But in between that, I went to live in Italy for a year because of my dad's work.  This photo was taken in the gardens of the Villa Spelman, which was our home for the year (it was owned by Johns Hopkins University where my dad worked).  I attended l'asilo (Italian preschool) and learned about how to tell left from right and collected Beauty and the Beast stickers.  To this day I still have trouble knowing my left from right...maybe because I learned it in Italian?!  

3. I met my hubby-to-be when he casted me in a music video he was directing!  I was only 19 and it was the first time I had ever done anything like this...I was soooo excited!  I also did all the styling for the shoot.  It was just a small production for a local band but at the time I felt like we were shooting a big budget Hollywood movie, hahaha!  I got a little bit carried away I think :)  

4. I've done quite a bit of modelling, nothing too serious but it was an experience nonetheless!  I believe in trying everything once... I'm only 5'5" and I'm not super skinny so I've only ever done commercial modelling (runway models have to be 5'8" and over) and although it was a fun experience, I much prefer doing what I do now because modelling can be a bit of an "empty" job :(  Now I only ever model if I'm representing my work or achievements and that's so much more fulfilling!  I've actually been asked to be do another photoshoot in March which I'm really looking forward to! 

5. I interned at Polo Ralph Lauren in Munich, Germany in the summer of 2008.  This was an absolutely amazing experience although somewhat bittersweet as leaving my dad was one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do.  (He was really sick when I left).  As much as I loved the job, city, people, culture a part of me felt like my heart was being ripped apart and I cried myself to sleep every night that I spent away from my dad, sick with worry that he would pass away when I wasn't there (he didn't).  Thank goodness Jonathan was there to help me through it, because he was an absolute saint!  I would love to visit Munich again and experience it in a happier state.  It really is a beautiful city and the people I worked with at Ralph Lauren were so lovely.

6. I am a certified fashion stylist, and graduated with my diploma in '09.  This picture is clearly NOT from my graduation (it's actually Jonathan's!) although it was around the same time that I got my diploma.  He graduated with a BA which is why he got the whole cap and gown and I didn't, hahaha!  I included this fact only because SOOOOO many people are confused about this!  Basically I started off in college in Ireland after I finished secondary school, studying Language and Cultural Studies.  After my first year I decided it wasn't for me at all, and changed paths completely.  This was when I made the move to fashion and completed my internship at Ralph Lauren, then went onto study Fashion in Bournemouth, UK.  In December of that year my dad died and I was constantly flying over and back to Ireland so I missed a ton of class.  When I came back to the UK I started fresh in a different course (Fashion Styling) and got my diploma the following summer!  

7.  My daddy is my hero!  He was an amazingly talented literary critic and is one of the most inspirational people I know.  He did not come from a rich family, and was the first of them to be university educated.  When he was 17 he was actually picked out of the nine people every year to attend the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, a highly acclaimed university in Italy.  In 2005 he was awarded "Commendatore" which is the Italian equivalent of the British knighthood.  You can read more about his work and contribution to Italian studies and literature here.  

Gosh guys, I hope these 7 facts weren't too boring!  I was just writing from the heart and kind of went with it!  I also tried to keep the timeline somewhat accurate.  (That's my obsession with organisation creeping in, hehehe!)  I would like to pass on this award to these 10 stylish beauties whose blogs I adore:

Sarah from All About S

Rebecca from See You in Sweden

Roz from Dutchess Roz

Vicky from Bikinis & Passports

Sarah from Bella Decor

Jennie from sailboat.

Liesl from Fabulous Fashions for Sensible Style

Mara from M loves M

Sammi from Beauty Crush

Tiffany from Will Work for Makeup

Stay Stylish!

xoxo