the *expat* reaction to trump.

happy new year's readers!

here's a post that's been sitting in draft form for a bit. if any of my italian readers find mistakes in my translations of the headlines, please let me know!

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i was happy to be alone.

i put my earbuds in and kept to myself.

i wanted to blend into the background.

if someone heard me speaking english, they might identify me as an american.

and i was embarrassed.

you see, it was the morning after the US election, and while it hadn't been determined officially, we woke up to see several important states swinging red.

trouble was on the horizon.

i felt sick the entire day.

there were some tears being fought back at lunch table among my coworkers.

i should probably tell you that the typical expat, one who packs up their whole life and moves to the opposite side of the world has a pretty open mind. they believe in diversity and acceptance and freedom and choice.

because it is these things that make our lives in a different country possible.

i was asked that day by an italian..."how did this happen?"

and now the most common question is "what do you think about trump?"

ugh.

here are some of the headlines from the italian papers after trump was declared president-elect.

"President for all"

"The fist of Trump"

"America turns a page: But what is behind the surprise triumph of the anarchic Trump?"

The delusion of New York
Hillary: The country is divided.

many of my coworkers lived in europe under the bush presidency and said the view of americans was different and that difference was clearly felt.

so we shall see what the future brings.

i hope for the best.

but i am worried.

how will trump's decision making affect the world? and how will that transfer to my daily life as an american abroad?

only time will tell.

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are you an expat? i'd love to hear about your experiences during and after the election!

viva versace!

i love fashion.

i love interesting outfits, crazy shoes, out of the box style.

while my favorite outfit may be yoga pants and a hoodie, i do enjoy seeing what's new in one of the fashion capitals of the world.

during this fall's spring/summer '17 women's fashion week i headed across town to hang around the versace fashion show.

i took my dslr and the lens with the biggest zoom i own, a tamron 18-200 mm, and joined the crowd of paparazzi and fashion groupies.

there were some fairly big names walking in the show and in town to watch...think supermodel legends like naomi campbell and adriana lima and tennis superstar serena williams. none of these ladies set foot out the front entrance with the rest of the crowd, but there was still plenty of eye catching outfits to capture.

here are some of my favorite shots.

this outfit, those glasses

loved the poufy sleeve, dark lip and graffiti behind her

Brazilian style blogger Helena Bordon

Chiara Ferragni, famous Italian fashion blogger and style icon

she didn't seem to have a ticket for the show, but she sure looked ready

Fashion stylist and blogger @faye_tsui

this girl...loved to pose.

models Impy and Kylie Vonnahme
Don't you love to see a model eat? 

Belgian model Hanne Gaby Odiele
modest much?

I think this is model Ondria Hardin, but it was so long ago I'm no longer sure!

American model Vanessa Moody
She stood around for quite awhile, waiting for a ride, so I had several chances to
get a good shot of her. She's got a strong Jennifer Garner thing going on.

Stalking an event is a bit weird, but truly it is so much fun trying to catch a good shot here or there! Looking forward to the next round of shows in February!

x factor italia

last week caitlin was given tickets to x factor italia, which films live here in milan.

despite loving all things tv, i have never seen a single episode of any version of x factor.

this is also true for caitlin.

so...we knew exactly what to expect.

#notatall

and it was all in italian, of course.

there were six singers remaining at the start of the night and there was a cheering section of sorts for each of them.

it was awesome to see the 'behind the scenes' stuff that you never see at home. like how just five feet from the host, live on camera, they're hauling in huge props for the next performance.

here's a short clip from the show opener, where each act was singing a portion of one song. each act then performed and the audience at home voted. then they sang again and there was more voting. the two lowest from each segment of voted had a sing off at the end and the judged had to vote to send one home.

the judges were fighting throughout the night and it was kind of amusing to try and follow exactly why they were fighting. i think we had the gist of it. by the end, i figured we understood about half of what was said. considering the pace of what was going on, i was pretty satisfied with that!

live taping of tv shows? #twothumbsup