When in Rome... The saying is cliché, I know, but the past few weeks have just flown by with insurance paperwork coming out the wazoo and my daydreams about sitting in a quaint little cafe watching the raindrops on the windows overlooking cobblestone streets in Italy taking up more time than I'd like to admit. I can't believe I can count down the days before I jet set abroad on two hands... We've reached single digits, people! But there is still so much to prepare.

I sometimes think of myself as a wanderer, as I love the thrill of exploring the city without a plan. The saying it true -- not all who wander are lost (clichés once again). This past summer I took it upon myself to navigate my way through parts of the San Francisco by foot. I picked a certain destination, looked at the general direction towards which I should head, and crossed at whichever light turned green first, stopping to look into any stores that caught my attention and turning random corners to see what was hidden behind them. I discovered some of my favorite streets in the city this way, finding ways to revisit the store window display that changed every day and stumbling across that one coffee shop I bought a latte at a couple weeks back. I proclaimed myself a solo San Francisco adventurer, and it brought me closer to all of the mom-and-pop joints in the city that aren’t being flooded with just tourists. I felt myself becoming increasingly familiar with my surroundings; I became a local in a city I had never lived in before.

Now I have the opportunity to discover an entirely new city in a completely different country. Rome seems like a fantasy land where history meets modernism and culture seeps through the walkways leading up to the Pantheon and crumbling remains of the Coliseum, winding its was into the glamorous haute couture fashion houses and the most posh coffee bar in the heart of the city. While I cannot wait to feast my eyes upon the historical wonders of this ancient city and share my own experiences upon visiting them, I also want to do as I have done in many other major cities and stroll through the streets without a set agenda to see what new marvels of my own that I can discover. I plan on filling my blog with my favorite parts of pretending to be a local, and logging the parts of mundane life that seem most simplistic but actually foster the fondest of memories.

I have yet to pack my bags (or even come up with a succinct list of what I REALLY need to take and what I can actually leave at home -- those 10 nail polishes I've picked out can't all come with me, I suppose), but my mind is filled with all things Italian and the only thing left on my list is to watch Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday (for fashion inspiration of course, since everyone warns me of looking like a tourist). I've started a blog to kick off my adventures, so here's to months of European travels and finding time to blab about my experience!

Welcome to the blogged perspective of an artistic, coffee-obsessed, fashion conscious, solo adventuring 21-year-old California girl galavanting through Europe for the next 6 months.