Under The Tuscan Sun: EuroThrifting Treasures

With Love. Photo Courtesy B. Shere.

Looking forward to trolling Firenze tomorrow again. Top 3 Musts:
1. Gelateria dei Neri yoghurt gelato
2. San Lorenzo & Piazza dei Ciompi Flea Markets 
3. more phregging Gelateria:)))

And be jealous--I scored the red little shirt in the middle for all of 0.50 Euros--the grey gorgeous dress in the right ran me all of 3 Euros.  KoKOFIFI Living in Europe babe--style does not cost a dime when you're born this way! lol, will post more on Italian's infatuation with all things design, including their love affair with my Accra-made hair...

Ciao Bellas
:)

An Education: The Americans Taking Europe. Those Purple skinnies are from A.N.G.E.L.O. Nice! Photo M. Makhene.

Jumping Brooms--Nigerian Style

Gorgeous Color Display in Nigerian Wedding Captured in Destination I Do. Photo Courtesy, Christopher Duggan.

You may never have heard of Ouagadougou or Burkina Faso and forget about the Upper Volta (who can blame you?) but surely, saving-facingly, absolutely, you can redeem yourself by promising you know who African revolutionary hero and bonifide heart-throb Thomas Sankara is? Well, from the legendary Sankara clan comes another young lion roaring in talent and a revolutionary (read untired) take on modern Africa. Jean-Baptiste Sankara runs Kauri Media along with creative mind Aurelien Tanguep of Cameroon.  Kauri Media is a video and photography outfit that does beautiful African weddings on the East Coast archival justice.  If you getting married or have a fashionista Nigerian cousin (feel we all do, even if you not Nigerian somehow you got one of these, lol) shacking up, don't say I aint given you the 411...

 

Shoppping Florence Like a Local

Martine Carol & Atelier Emilio Schuberth, Courtesy Angelo Frontoni

When Florence does vintage, it's old world glamour on speed. Living here is already a celebration of historic opulence and design in abundance. Living here with an eye for design is like dying and being remembered in heaven with a daily procession of golden light. 

Courtesy, Valdirose.

I visited A.N.G.E.L.O Vintage Clothing Firenze yesterday and was so inspired. And then to learn Firenze is hosting a beautiful photographic exhibition featuring vintage photographs at Aria Art Gallery? Heaven!  And as if that's not enough glut on good, discovered this little gem blog and b&b today--Valdirose--gush girl fantasies do come true:)

Vintage Reimagined. Photo Courtesy A.N.G.E.L.O Vintage Clothing

Talking Movies : Life Above All

Life Above All, starring Khomotso Manyaka (Chanda) and Lerato Mvelase (Lillian) ,picture courtesy web movies.info

Life Above All, wether it's the title of a movie or just a mantra to live by, Life really is Above All.

In this adaptation of Allan Stratton "Chanda's Secrets", director Oliver Stoltz attempts to de-mistify the ever present cloud that hangs over so many small towns like Elandsdoorn not so far outside of Johannesburg, South Africa.

When 12 year old Chanda's baby sister unexpectedly dies and her mother soon falls ill, her step father turns to alcohol for solace leaving little Chanda in charge of her two younger siblings and the once welcoming, doting neighbours soon become distant gossip mongers.

The film follows Chanda as she sets out on a journey to find answers and confront a deeply ingrained, unspoken taboo.

Chanda's Secret has recently been picked up by Sony Pictures Classic for international release, so check you local listings for screenings.

African Woman

Beautiful. Dying for African suns, African women and that i-will-kill-for-it gorgeous dress Becca rocks. LUV!

Mrs.O Romancing South Africa

With One Mrs. Zuma. Who Grabbed Who's BFF Hand First?

Michelle Obama. What's left to say that isn't better quoted in her own words? "It is a story that has unfolded across this country and across this continent, and also in my country — the story of young people ...who marched until their feet were raw, who endured beatings and bullets and decades behind bars, who risked, and sacrificed, everything they had for the freedom they deserved.

And it is because of them that we are able to gather here today. It is because of them that I stand before you as First Lady of the United States of America. That is the legacy of the independence generation, the freedom generation. And all of you are the heirs of that blood, sweat, sacrifice, and love.

So the question today is, what will you make of that inheritance? What legacy will you leave for your children and your grandchildren? What generation will you be?"

Excerpts from her keynote at Regina Mundi, Msowawa. Soweto--How Many Ways Do I LOVE Thee?

AP Images

Inked in Love

A Thinking Woman's Shoe. LOVELUVLOVE! Donna-Ballin Shoes.

Legatorio la Fenice. Photo: Eddy Buttarelli

Did i mention the little writer's heaven we dipped into in Venice? Gorgeous murano-glass stemmed fountain pens with jet black ink wells, thick cotton-woven paper with tattered ends, hand-bound journals infused with earthen craft scent of rich butter leather and of course, of course, a most charming (and beautiful) proprietress who joked about her birth city of "Fe-ne-cia" and pointed to a glistening perfectly cut diamond (still timeless) to indicate the time she moved to another island and the love she still carries for Venice. Legatoria la Fenice--you are the life-spring and joy of a writer's words. But what words can i offer these Donna-Ballin shoes? What words, why words? Only lust licking my lips in desperate longing, lust pant and la ultima....LUV!