Ann,
Wow! I’ve missed you! Seriously, it’s been so long. I loved your post from last week recounting all our events and trunk shows this year, remembering all the fabulous people we’ve met along the way. As you know, after our last trunk show in Atlanta, I traveled to Italy with my son’s 7th grade class for 10 days. As his teacher described it, it was the “back roads” trip to Italy, where we saw amazing sites and experienced incredible beauty and history — without all the fluff and stuff you get when visiting the big cities or say…Capri. I thought I’d share some photos of the places, but, more important, recount what I found along the way to bring home with me. As you might imagine, as I was accompanying 34 thirteen year old boys and girls everyday for ten days, the opportunity to shop at leisure never presented itself. So after a few photos of the sites, I’ll give you a quick look at what I found in 5 minutes each day.
During our bus trip through the hills of Italy, we saw the Greek ruins in Paestum, what was left of Pompeii, the top of Mount Vesuvius, the gorgeous abbey in Monte Cassino, beautiful Orvieto and Assisi, the Etruscan tombs in Tarquinia, and, of course, Pope Francis I, in Rome. A few shots I took are here:
And here’s what I was able to “curate” in five minutes or less each day:

Wrap Bracelets with prayers in Italian, a Papa Francesco Thumbs up Magnet, a St. Francis sandal key chain, and a little round painted dish for my bedside table
In retrospect, and now surrounded by my finds back here in DC, I’m pleased with what I grabbed during the 5 minute –“you all get gelato, I’m just going to run in this shop” break. And as you can see below, by the time I got to the Pantheon on the last day, I looked like I had hit ALL the little shops in the back roads of Italy.

In the Pantheon wearing Assisi Hat, Assisi wrap, Orvieto bag and yes, the M Street Skirt from the Julia Farr Collection
–Julie