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27 Sep 2016 Travel

Folegandros Travel Diary | Greece

If you keep up with my travels, you know that I was super blessed to visit Greece twice this season — in April for our wedding anniversary and again earlier this month for work! I was especially excited to find Folegandros on my work-itinerary since its not only a place I’ve never visited, but also a place I’ve never even heard of; it seems to be a hidden gem of the Cyclades. Even after being featured in Condé Nast Traveler as Greece’s Most Beautiful Undiscovered Island and seeing a huge increase in tourism afterwards, it remains so quiet, private, and peaceful. The island’s entire population is only 765 but it felt like it’d be a tiny fraction of that! We hardly saw anyone, but we were nearing the end of the Summer season.

Folegandros has three main villages, Karavostasi, Chora, & Ano Meria. We stayed in Karavostasi literally right across from the port, at Anemi Hotel. I liked staying away from the “city center”, Chora, even though the whole island is super quiet. I really enjoyed the additional privacy and seclusion, it felt good to just relax and check out. We did have a rental car so it was very easy for us to visit Chora and explore the whole island. The drive from the hotel to Chora was seriously less than 10 minutes & parking was unbelievably simple. The centre is closed off to motor traffic so after parking we explored on foot and you’ll see from the photos below that the streets are so charming. I wasn’t sure what to expect as my only frame of reference was Santorini; which of course is stunningly beautiful but Santorini comes with hoards of tourists and commercialization. Folegandros maintains its authentic traditional charm and Chora is actually one of the oldest medieval villages in all of the cyclades. Chora sits on the edge of a 200 meter cliff & its said that the views are second to Santorini! Just a 45 minute ferry ride from Santorini, I think adding Folegandros to your itinerary is well worth it! Just take a look at the photos below to believe it!

Thanks again Anemi Hotel for taking care of us & of course Seajets for getting us to Folegandros!

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21 Sep 2016 Travel

Anemi Hotel | Folegandros, Greece

During my first visit to Folegandros, I was blessed to have Anemi Hotel host us & what a beautiful stay it was! Much like the rest of the island, the ambiance of this boutique hotel is calm, quiet, and laid back. Folegandros is unspoiled in that it hasn’t been overrun by tourists or commercialized over-development like some of the other Cycladic Islands (ie Santorini). To maintain the natural beauty of the village of Karavostasis, Anemi hotel is limited to two stories throughout the property to stylishly blend into its surroundings. Anemi is a member of Design Hotels which has 250 hotels all over the world; they’re known for their service, care, and gorgeous aesthetic quality. Traditional architecture meets modern Greek lines at Anemi hotel with its whitewashed Cycladic style walls and rounded corners that we all think of when we imagine the Greek islands. I really loved the way the designers married traditional and contemporary; we enjoyed our breakfast every morning by Anemi’s infinity pool and if you have even an ounce of photography interest in you – you’ll be obsessed with the lines all over the property! Even our room was perfect, I can’t even imagine the bigger suites! Our room was pristine all white. It was so hard to not be in an incredible mood all the time when everything is sparkling and bright.

Anemi is truly self-sufficient if you’re looking to just check-out and relax at the hotel throughout your stay. Their restaurant is known as one of the best on the Island and there is more than enough for children and families to do together: open air cinema for a movie night, tennis courts, playground, yoga, fitness centre, pilates, etc. If you do plan to explore the island a bit and rent a car like we did, there is free on-site parking as well! Anemi is just a minute from the port and the staff was extremely helpful with pickup/dropoff. I was being over-responsible about getting to the port on time on our last day but they assured me that they’d take us when the ferry was near as they kept an eye on its ETA for us!

The staff and service were absolutely fantastic, the hotel manager regularly stopped to chat with us and make sure we were doing well. Any time we needed anything, the front desk was just a phone call away.

Thank you Anemi Hotel for the unbelievably lovely stay & to SeaJets for getting us there! Enjoy the photos (such eye candy!!!), all my outfit details are at the bottom!

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06 Sep 2016 Style

Seeing Stripes | Santorini OOTD

Hello from Santorini Secret Suites & Spa!

After spending a few days in Athens, & then Folegandros, I am finishing my Greece tour at my namesake Island of Santorini (named for Saint Irene). I wanted to do style post on the blog daily.. but what might sound great in theory doesn’t always work in execution lol! I have a ton of content on the way but I do have a couple photos of my outfit from today ready for you!! The photo above is probably my favorite photo I’ve ever taken of myself, yay! I cannot take all of the credit though, the most flattering lighting in the world exists in Santorini in my opinion. I wish I could bottle it up and take it with me!

Jumpsuit: HERE | Shoes: Stuart Weitzman | Bag: Saint Laurent | Glasses: HERE

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04 Sep 2016 Style

Paisley Maxi Dress | Folegandros, Greece

Happy Sunday!

I’m really going to miss the beautiful light in Greece, not only is the environment so picture perfect.. I feel like everyone’s so photogenic in it too! I absolutely love this set of photos I took of myself this morning after breakfast @ Anemi Hotel in Folegandros. I finally put a little bit of effort into my hair and makeup so I got to take it easy in this breezy maxi dress. The blue & white paisley print is so perfect for a Greek holiday! This dress (& everything sitewide @ boohoo) is 50% off for another 12 hours!

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02 Sep 2016 Style

Embroidered Dress | Greek Island Style

Good evening from Folegandros!

I am so sorry for being so MIA on the blog! This summer has been so busy with travels and projects on my other platforms (like YT & IG!), I’ve totally been ignoring my blog-fam – wah! I can’t, or rather shouldn’t, complain about being busy but I can honestly say that I’m pooped! I’m laying in my stark-white room at Anemi Hotel getting ready to turn in for the night but I wanted to share with you my outfit from today. I’m currently on a press-trip in Greece. After a couple days in Athens, today was our first day in Folegandros – a little island in the Cyclades. It’s my first time on the island and its so gorgeous! I can’t wait to share my travels with you, but in the meantime.. my outfits will have to do, 🙂

I love that off the shoulder has been back in full force all summer, & I’ve been rocking it all season. When I saw this little embroidered dress I thought it was so perfect for this trip and just had to have it! I’ve been loving the trending wicker basket bags as well!! Mine isn’t quite a basket but its beautifully woven; I bought it in Bali earlier this summer. If I wasn’t so sick leading up to my trip I could have taken my time putting outfits together a little better – I think a brown belt would compliment this entire look so well but I am totally accessory-less! I literally just threw all of my new clothes into a suitcase a few hours before my flight lol! Luckily, I think this is still a perfect look for this laid-back traditional island.

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