Exactly one week ago I was up and about for a trip to Milan on my very own for the first time in what seems like ages. I had my camera with me because I was heading to a Lush blogger event, and it took me half a second to realize Spring was finally showing its precense for the first time this year and that this precious moment and those beautiful trees covered in blossoms would be worth to be photographed.

There’s something about Spring that makes everything special, even a pale city with a small amount of greenery involved. And there’s something in spotting trees covered in pink blossoms that fills my heart of joy and excitement for the new season, new plans, new opportunities and all the beautiful colours of flowers!

I thought it would be a good plan to seize the opportunity and, since I needed to be in Milan for a good half of the afternoon, head there a bit earlier to catch up with some well-deserved shopping, however I ended up staring and trying to take some nice shots of every beautiful tree I could spot for half of the time I was there. And the rest? Just casually sipping an extra sweet chai latte from 12oz, while contemplating if it was OK or not for me to purchase fresh flowers from the street if I had just bought a bunch of tulips the previous day. Oh, and also stocking on Muji pens – because that’s what I usually do in Milan.

I was happy I decided to not indulge in a too overpriced small brownie once I walked into Lush and spotted the cutest rapeseed-flowers-themed cupcakes & brownie bites instalment courtesy of Vanilla Bakery! The event, which also involved all kind of Easter themed bath goodies (think of bunny-shaped shower jellies, glittery golden eggs bath bombs, violet scented bath bubble baths, chick shaped bath bombs inside egg shaped bath bombs & more!), revolved around their #ForFukushima campaign to spread hope across Japan and raising money for the FunDing project.

It was amazing to discover how Lush is supporting Japan by buying rapeseed oil from there for their soaps and products, which is a plant full of hope for Fukushima since it’s been discovered it can actually absorb and eliminate radioisotopes from the soil without showing any trace of contaminants in the oil produced from its seeds, becoming also a big source of recovery for people living in that area. They’re also promoting their Rainbow Fun and all the products from the Fun line, to support and donate to communities working in the area to protect children’s health and happyness (totally worth checking out, they will also make your baths beautiful and colourful!).

This is such a good time to step into Lush, with so many awesome campaigns and pastel coloured products (I love my pastel baths!).

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I hope Spring can stay around as long as possible – it’s (not very) secretly my favourite season
to visit the city and just in general!

Not sure I’m ready to say goodbye to springtime and see it in a whole year (Spring is by far my favourite season, and I always feel a bit nostalgic when I see it go to leave place to summertime, with its hot long days and irritating mosquitoes!), but surely I’m ready to say bye to spring dresses, as the weather is becoming too hot to be even bothered with long sleeves. These pictures are probably the last that will see me in a spring dress this year, and come directly from a day spent in busy Milan, hunting down the perfect summer dress and discovering new favourite restaurants and cafés (which is what an average trip to the city usually means to us).

We spotted EATME&GO right after our morning shopping and right when our stomachs started rumbling. Their window filled with what looked like the most delicious toasts and salads, totally called our names and after a quick look that made us realize it wasn’t only a place for bread, but also ice cream, yogurts and coffee, we decided to step in (as if we needed an excuse to make all that goodness look even more delicious). After long deliberations, we ordered two vegetarian croque monsieur, filled with the creamiest softest melted cheese, a mix of courgettes, carrots and probably yellow peppers, covered in a big layer of melted smoked scamorza… can you even imagine?

I’M WEARING :: Dress ℅ Zaful ; Bag – Similar

I seem to always complain about if it’s too cold or too hot! These pictures are dated back to last month, when the sun was warmer for the first time this year and we went for a one day trip to Milan with only one thin layer on (a thin flowy dress for me actually!) and nothing else! I’ve been wanting to share these pictures as well as a pair of places where we love to eat when up and about in Milan since a month now, but other contents seemed to always come first and these pictures got lost in the archive of forgotten post drafts; today though, it’s a very sad rainy grey day, and I’m typing from a couch with way too many layers and blankets on than it’s supposed to at the end of April, and I can’t deny I’m one that get so conditioned from the weather – this is how I found myself thinking back of that time when we were in Milan and it was that hot that I’d wished I didn’t decide to wear tights that morning…

We’re finding ourselves wandering around Milan a bit more often than usual lately, for a reason or another, but that day we went only to explore and discover new places, but especially new food! I’ve written down a long list of pretty coffee places, bakeries, restaurants that we need to visit and test before the end of the year, and placed it in my handbag, so that everytime we find ourselves around one, we know where to go and eat!

First stop that day was The Bagel Factory, a place we haven’t stop visiting ever since and that I can’t not highly recommend! They have a tiny shop located in Piazza XXIV Maggio, not far from a nice walk towards the Duomo, and offer the biggest selection of fresh ingredients to compose your own perfect bagel beside from a few suggested ingredients combinations that all sounds amazingly tasty. That day we went for smoked Norwegian salmon, avocado and mayo in a delicious sesame bagel, and that’s still probably my favourite pick, even though their poached eggs and classic or eggplant hummus are something delicious to add and pair with a vast amount of ingredients!

May I suggest also to try their freshly squeezed orange juice, it’s something divine! Next on my list are their brownies and huge cookies, as well as that layered granola and berries yogurt glass they have, sounds delicious!

PIAZZA XXIV MAGGIO 1/8

We spent our afternoon enjoying the sun, walking towards the Duomo with all the calm that a chilled spring day deserves, and spotting other places that immediately made on top of our food-to-try list (we tried I Love Vegetarian‘s smoothies only a pair of weeks later and we are in love! You can’t beat their banana, strawberries and papaya smoothie, it’s super delicious and refreshing!). We walked that much without even realizing if not for our feet that started aching (especially mine!) and for the fact that at a certain point I felt my foot touching the ground only to discover later that my shoes broke and I needed to buy a new pair – I can’t even count the times I’ve bought random pair of shoes just because mine broke in the middle of a busy city! Anyone else?

We walked to China Town (and believe it or not, it was my first time there) and after spotting a few too many cute things, we got back with a huge bag full of the craziest food (like grape and peach oreo, seaweed pretzels and green tea snacks) with the only purpose to try something different!

Lastly we stopped by That’s Bakery for a cupcake or two just before heading home. Again this is a place we visited a few times again as their cupcakes are just perfection! The place itself is a little American bakery, with shabby chic homeware and cute little tables even outside and a lot of options in their menu, like american cakes, cookies, brownies, and obviously their delicious cupcakes which were our first choice after hearing so much about them. Even though it was only the end of March, the day was so lovely that we couldn’t say no to eating outside and went for a red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, chocolate and nutella cupcake (my fave!) and decided to try their cappuccino (which is delicious, for the record). We got lost in chats while sipping and eating and by the time we realized, the sun was setting and the air getting chillier.

VIA VIGEVANO 41

Here’s to more sunny days spent up and about exploring new places out there, especially if they involve food! Plus I can’t wait to share a few more places I’ve already discovered that offer pretty amazing food! x

I’M WEARING ::
Dress – Forever21 ; Bag – ASOS ; Shoes – H&M