I am back from vacation and although I am still suffering from a little jet lag I could not wait to share my Umbria experience.  We were invited to Castello Di Reschio in Umbria to spend a very close friends 50th birthday who happens to be a wine connoisseur which made visiting all of the vineyards with him so much fun. Being a Pinot Grigio girl I never went outside my box especially red wine. There is a whole science about wine that I had never experienced from the moment they pick the grape to the aging process and then the smell, swirling and lets not forget the spitting that made wine tasting so enjoyable.

The pictures cannot even begin to describe the beauty of Umbria and at Castello Di Reschio estate where we stayed for a unforgettable, relaxing week.

Here are just a few of my favorite things that I loved about Italy.

What tops my list is how incredibly nice and hospitable they are. You never know what to expect in a country that doesn’t speak your native language but even at the Rome airport they were so helpful and the taxi driver was so happy to talk about the sights even at 6:30 in the morning.

I do not speak Italian but it never seemed to be a problem no matter where we traveled in Italy. I loved learning a new Italian word everyday and they were so happy to teach me. If I ever do learn to speak another language it would have to be Italian. No matter what they say including the word toilet paper it sounds beautiful.

CASTELLO DI RESCHIO, UMBRIA, ITALY

 THE LANDSCAPING

THE FOOD

THE ARCHITECTURE

THE WINE

THE OLIVE OIL

THE COFFEE

I tried to replicate the Italian experience at home but without the atmosphere it just wasn’t the same. Tomorrow I will share with you the unbelievable interior of the Palazzo estate.

Photos by Neatly Designed

I will soon be leaving on my first trip to Italy for a much needed vacation. While I am gone here are some of my favorite blogs that I thought you would enjoy.

If you are looking for make up tips and how-to videos make up artist Lisa Eldridge is one of the best.

Another one of my favorites is Savor Home. This blog gives you recipes, fashion, decorating and much more.

Are you looking to get in shape or start a new at home work out? Fit Sugar is the perfect daily read for healthy eating and and staying in shape.

I live at the beach so I love reading blogs about coastal living. The blog Coastal Style has a little bit of everything for the beach obsessed.

I stumbled upon Molly Sims the actress’s blog and now I read it everyday. It is an easy read blog with tips on health, beauty and life in general.

Follow me on Instagram @neatlydesigned for my journey through Italy.

I have to start this blog by saying I have purchased many items from Restoration Hardware and the quality and customer service are outstanding but with that said when I recieved not one but two of these stacks of plastic wrapped catalogues my first thought was whose ideas was this? I don’t think there is a person out there that does not own some device with internet access should they want to purchase something from Restoration Hardware.

My second thought was I am going to see these in so many of my client’s homes still wrapped and never read and they will become more clutter.

I then went out of town for the weekend and arrived at my friend’s home and ironically sitting on the counter in her kitchen wrapped in plastic was an unopened stack of Restoration Hardware Catalogues. Even the men found humor in this and a discussion started on alternative uses for this wrapped batch of catalogues.

Some of the creative ideas we came up with were you can use it as a step stool, an exercise weight, a door stop, a pedestal for your dogs bowl, a foot stool, a bed tray and child’s booster seat.

Eventually, whether you open them or not the only place I hope these end up is the recycling bin.