roma

Rome, Italy | 11/30/18 – 12/2/18

~ bellalightner ~ Leave a comment

Rome is by far my favorite city in Italy. I’m thankful to say that this was my 4th time visiting and I’m always ready to go back again for a 5th.

Santa Maria Maggiore
Santa Maria Maggiore
Santa Maria Maggiore
Santa Maria Maggiore

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Piazza Navona
Piazza Navona
Trevi Fountain
Trevi Fountain
Pantheon
Pantheon
Santa Scala (Holy Stairs)
Colosseum
San Giovanni

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If you are ever in Rome, you HAVE TO GO to Trattoria Luzzi for lunch. This place is so good and SO inexpensive. It is just a few blocks from the Colosseum and halfway to the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterno.

Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City

Unfortunately, we did not get to go inside the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine Chapel because it is closed on Sundays… important to know if you’re there on a Sunday :/. However, just standing in front of the church is incredible and being in this area feels like you are in a totally different place.

Florence, Italy – Study Abroad : Week 2

~ bellalightner ~ Leave a comment

Hello hello! I have been meaning to post this for a while now I’ve just been so busy keeping up with classes and enjoying Europe I didn’t want to get too caught up on the internet!

My second official week in Florence, Italy meant starting school! I am attending Accademia Italiana and studying fashion communications. My classes are absolutely amazing and all of my professors are industry professionals. I am taking window display and design, fashion photography, history of 20th century fashion, art history, and of course, Italian! The campus is gorgeous and I love going to school with not just study abroad students, but people from all around the world.

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outfit details : shirt : Levi’s | pants : Florenzia (similar) | belt : Vintage (similar)

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outfit details : top : Amuse Society (similar) | skirt : Florenzia (similar) | shoes : Converse x Comme Des Garcons PLAY 

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The green car in the background is from the shooting of Michael Bay’s new movie 6 Underground with Ryan Reynolds and Dave Franco. They’re shooting here in Florence and it has been so cool to watch them film the car chase scenes in real life!

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top : Target (similar)| pants : Aqua via Bloomingdales (similar)| shoes : IKRush

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Vintage shopping – wearing a vintage Just Cavalli fur floor length coat. (no, I did not purchase unfortunately)
Street Art
Leather Market
Uffizi Gallery
Gucci Garden
Gucci Garden

I don’t have classes on Friday which is so so nice! My school does this because there are so many study abroad students who want to use the weekends to travel. I spent my Friday exploring the city! I really just tooled around by myself to get familiar with how the city works. I also briefly popped in to the Gucci Gardens and had a great solo lunch!

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These are the two bags I purchased at the leather market! They are genuine and beautiful and the best part, were very inexpensive!

A lot of the pieces that are sold in this market are similar to high end designer goods.

It’s hard being a college student with minimal funds for designer items but buying similar things for a lot cheaper is definitely hopeful and exciting.

Simple Outfit with a Statement Jacket

~ bellalightner ~ Leave a comment

I feel as if many of my outfits are quite simple but I love to also stand out. A statement jacket can bring just about any look from 0 to 100. I went from a tank and jeans outfit to a full on military inspired look, just by adding this jacket that I bought at Chopin in Italy around seven years ago. If you want to stand out, it is important to have some statement pieces or jackets incorporated into your outfits.

Thank you Jason Atherton for shooting these photos for me so last minute. We shot these in the mall and I love the people walking in the background. It makes these images so real and alive and shows that you don’t always need the most beautiful background to create good content.

xx Bella

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jacket : Chopin Roma (similar) | top : Forever 21 (similar) | jeans : Free People | booties : Rebecca Minkoff (similar)

photographer :  Jason Atherton

VLOG 3 : EUROPE – IRELAND, ITALY – WINTER 2017/18

~ bellalightner ~ Leave a comment

Hello and thank you for clicking on this video! I recently got back from a trip to Europe with my family. We went to Dublin, Ireland, Milan, Florence, and Rome, Italy. I decided to keep music out of this video because I loved the sounds of the videos too much. I wanted to give a realistic vibe on what I heard when I was there. From church music to honking cars to my family yelling at each other.  I had the most amazing time touring around these places and I am so thankful for my family for taking me here on my Christmas vacation from college.

BLOG POSTS FROM THIS TRIP

DUBLIN, IRELAND

MILAN, ITALY

FLORENCE, ITALY

ROME, ITALY

ROME, ITALY 1/2/18 – 1/5/18

~ bellalightner ~ 1 Comment

Our final stop was Rome, Italy! This was my third time being in Rome and I could still go back more and more. This city is absolutely beautiful and there’s so much to do.

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jacket : Ralph Lauren (similar) | jeans : Lee Jeans | shoes : H&M (similar) | sunglasses : Diff Eyewear

We had an early morning train from Florence that arrived in Rome before noon. Our room wasn’t ready yet so we tooled around town a bit with no plans. First we went to San Giovanni in Laterno where we saw the Santa Scala, or the holy stairs, and walked through the market. We stopped and had lunch in that area as well at an amazing restaurant. Personally I think that Rome has the best food in Italy, as far as I know.

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After our room was ready we changed and headed out to Piazza di Spagna where the Spanish Steps are. This is my favorite Piazza in all of Rome. I love the atmosphere of the historic Roman square that is surrounded by designer shops. Via Condotti, a shopping street, is connected to this Piazza so we walked down there and headed to Via del Corso, again, another shopping street. Via Condotti has more high end names like Gucci, Bvlgari, Dolce and Gabbana, and more while Via Condotti has more affordable brands such as Zara and & Other Stories.

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Via Condotti is a way to arrive at Fontana di Trevi where all of your Lizzie McGuire dreams come true. No but really, this fountain is gorgeous. I could stare at it for hours. We then made our way to Piazza Navona which is also close by. This is a favorite of my moms. It has the very famous Fountain of the Four Rivers in the middle along with a beautiful church, Basilica of Santa Maria Novella.

Pantheon
Fontana di Trevi
Basicila of Santa Maria Novella
Fontana di Trevi

DAY 2

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jacket : Zara (similar) | blouse : Zara (similar) | jeans : Lee Jeans | boots : bought in Italy 6 years ago (similar) | sunglasses : Muse (similar)

On our second day we went to Saint Peter’s Square or Piazza di San Pietro, to see the basilica and to tour the Vatican Museum. This is another one of my favorites in Rome. If you ever go, this is a must see. The museum is great but what really takes the cake is the Sistine Chapel. The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo is my favorite work of art ever.

Piazza di San Piertro
Musei Vaticani
Musei Vaticani
Musei Vaticani
Piazza di San Pietro
Piazza di San Pietro

We then went to the Colosseum area! We didn’t go in because we’ve done it before and it honestly wasn’t spectacular. However, my whole family’s favorite restaurant in all of Italy is over there! The food here is by far the best Italian food I’ve ever had in my life. Everything is homemade and fresh and authentic Italian! After our late lunch we went to a church, also right by the Colosseum. The Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli is really cool to go and see. Even if you’re not religious in any way, I still would recommend seeing all of these churches and holy spots because of how beautiful the architecture is and the incredible and famous artwork inside. We went into a number of churches throughout this whole trip.

Colleseo
Colleseo
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We ended our second night in Roma with a casual dinner at a restaurant off of Nazionale.

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sweatshirt : Zara (similar) | purse : Chopin Roma (similar)

DAY 3

To start our day, we took the metro to Piazza di Spagna to go to our favorite coffee bar where we got our cappuccinos – something we did multiple times everyday. While we were in the area, we went to the Market at Campo Dei Fiori where you can buy anything from leather goods to fruit to flowers.

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shirt : Zara (similar) | pants : Zara (similar) | hat : Target | purse : Chopin (similar)

For the rest of the day we just went around town taking in the beauty and seeing sights. We saw Vittorio Emmanuel II in Piazza Venezia which is a very busy square. We also saw some Roman ruins in this area as well at the Imperial Forum.

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DAY 4

Our last day in Rome was a sad one. I really did not want to leave and go back to reality. We did have some time though to hang out for a while. My cousin came in for the day from Florence so we got to spend more time with him. We hung around Piazza di Spagna and Fontana di Trevi and had an incredible last Italian meal nearby.

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Finally it came time to head to the train station to go to the airport. This trip was so amazing and I’m so thankful my parents took us on it. I learned a lot and got so much inspiration when I needed it the most. Although I’m sad to head back home, I am excited to start changing the way I do things there. I have really high hopes for 2018 and now that this trip is officially over I’m ready to start the hustle. Thanks again so much for following along with me!

Xx Bella

Also! I filmed throughout this trip and there will be a vlog up on YouTube here shortly! So stay tuned.

 

Dear 2017

~ bellalightner ~ Leave a comment

Dear 2017,

Thank you for being so amazing and for giving me so many incredible opportunities and experiences.

This year has been THE absolute best year of my life so far. There were times when things got really hard and it was difficult to stay motivated but overall, I would not change anything that happened this year.

In 2017, I covered two seasons of Kansas City Fashion Week as official media and one of those seasons I worked as a stylist – pulling 18 looks for the runway and 2 looks for a window display at the Oak Park Mall in collaboration with the Kansas City Chiefs. I was invited on the first official KCFW cruise as media and a model. In February of this year, I covered a collaborative photoshoot for my blog and my article was published in Kansas City Fashion Collaboratives Magazine. Throughout the year I continued to work part time at Etiquette Boutique as a sales associate and started working part time at MOD On Trend. At Stephens College, I modeled in the 73rd annual fashion show. This Summer, Lee Jeans invited me to attend the music festival Boulevardia in KC as a blogger. Also this summer, I had an internship with Melanie Knopke, previous editor in chief of Simply KC Magazine, where I learned a lot about the industry and got a more up close look on how things really work. Throughout this year I collaborated with brands and designers such as Jord Watches, BootayBag, Rich Apparels, Lee Jeans, and L’Occitane. I also attended other various fashion shows and events such as Northwest Arkansas Fashion Week in Bentonville, AR, Flyover Fashion Fest in Iowa City, IA, Travis Kelce’s “Walk the Walk”, and the Kritiq in Kansas City.

Kansas City Fashion Collaboratives Magazine Shoot
NWA Fashion Week
JORD Watch
KCFW F/W’17 – Media
KCFW F/W’17 – Media
KCFW F/W’17 – Media
KCFW F/W’17 – Media
BootayBag
Stephens College Fashion Show
Flyover Fashion Fest
Flyover Fashion Fest
Rich Apparels Event
Rich Apparels Event
Etiquette Boutique x Walk the Walk
Lee Jeans
Lee Jeans x Boulevardia
Lee Jeans x Boulevardia
Summer internship
Summer internship
L’Occitane
Summer internship
Summer internship
Summer internship
KCFW Oak Park Mall Window – Stylist
KCFW S/S’18 – Stylist
KCFW S/S’18 – Media
KCFW S/S’18 – Media
KCFW S/S’18 – Media
KCFW S/S’18 – Stylist
L’Occitane
KCFW Cruise
KCFW Cruise
KCFW Cruise
KCFW Cruise

2017 has been incredible and I am so grateful for everything that I have done and every opportunity that I have received. In 2018, my goal is to increase the quality and quantity  of my content, rebrand my entire website and aesthetic, work and collaborate with more photographers and brands, attend more fashion related events, and much MUCH more.

Thank you so much to every single person and company I have worked with this year and to everyone who follows me and reads this blog. This has taken over my life and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Happy New Year and stay tuned!

xx Bella

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