Four friends. Ten days. Rome, Venice, Paris, Amsterdam, London.

I had been to some of these cities (and a few others) in Europe as a kid. I remembered very little, so I had conjured up these fantastical images of what these places and this trip would be like. To be honest, I was a little scared that it wouldn’t be as beautiful and awe-inspiring and romantic and breathtaking (and delicious) as I had painted in my mind.

But oh, I was so so wrong.

We begin in Italy…

A bit belated, but some peeks into our trip to New York {to shoot this lovely wedding}!

We got the perfect non-touristy tour of the most awesome places, thanks to friends who have spent the past few years in the city. Wandering through Central Park, hunting down delicious gyros carts, visiting the coolest top secret speakeasy, experiences breathtaking city views from a stunning rooftop bar & friend’s apartment building, and food food FOOD… more of our adventures below!

I love this view from the top of the MET and how Central Park looks like a wide jungle in the middle of the city…

One of the things on the tippy top of my must-see list was Highline Park. It’s a park built on a former elevated railway, covered with greenery & providing a cool spot to sit and relax. I LOVE the concept & so wish we had one here, I’d go hang out there all the time with the perfect cup of tea…

Throughout our trip we got quite a few spectacular views of the city, but one of the best was probably from this apartment rooftop. There was such a relaxing setup and the views were crazy awesome – I already have a random affinity for rooftops, but would especially love to have one like this that I could just run up to anytime!

Got to meet up with the super sweet Punam Bean for lunch at Maison. Lots of delish food & great conversation!

On one of the evenings we visited Momofuku Milk Bar (just the name alone sounds scrumptious)! They have the most unique ice cream flavors – I got Cereal Milk which literally tastes exactly like the milk that remains after you gobble up all your cornflakes. The taste was so spot on, I kept expecting to crunch on a cornflake any second! Scott tried the zucchini bread and said it was so authentic it was practically buttery!

Thanks for reading, until next time! Even though I feel like we packed in lots of sights & sounds, I still feel like there was so much more I wanted to explore. Any NYC suggestions for the next time we go? :)

Where to begin? It felt so good to be back to visit and the trip unfolded beautifully! Being in Japan during the cherry blossom season is really an amazing thing. You go the whole year walking under and passing by trees that you don’t even realize are cherry trees, until spring comes and every tree around you suddenly becomes a bursting spectacle of light pink blooms. They only last a week, and we managed to fly in just as they were reaching their peak and the blossoms were starting to fall (which is the truly magical part!) In addition to soaking in the cherry blossom splendor, we experienced Tokyo’s luminous nightlife, inhaled the most amazing foods (ramen, katsu, okonomiyaki galore!), shopped til we dropped (Japan is definitely the land of colorful scarves – I somehow limited myself to three new additions), saw family and friends, and enjoyed the perfect weather. The humid summers can be brutal and we already know how I feel about cold winters, but the spring weather was juuuust right.

Although I was SO ready to come home 3 years ago after my year of living there, this past week reminded me that I could definitely fall in love with Japan all over again. Can’t wait to go back!

Peeking outside our hotel room, at the fabulous Hotel Pacific Tokyo. Highly recommended if you’re ever in the Tokyo area!

My little sis:

Crepes in Harajuku:

Businessman + Rob + sister on the train:

The flower shops in Japan are amazing! So many cute little plants and the most adorable and whimsical flowers! I SO wished I could pack them ALL in my suitcase and bring them home.

Asakusa:

With my sis & my mom – any resemblance? :)

A part of my heart was definitely left at LOFT – an amazing 6-story home goods store that had everything you could ever need in life:

Ueno Park – we rented a row boat!

In Kamakura we had a scrumptious meal of maguro over rice, cold udon, and mochi tempura. That’s right my friends, MOCHI!!

We landed back in LA on Sunday, took a quick nap, and then jetted off to an engagement session. I’m SO excited to share the images from the session with you – the location was breathtaking and the couple is just the sweetest! Stay tuned!