italy

three summers ago i went backpacking through italy (with jane). we hopped from rome, to florence, to pizza, to vernazza, to venice. this week i pulled out all of my pictures with the intention of scrapbooking them. while that has not happened i have loved getting lost in the images.

i remember standing on the beach in vernazza recognizing what happiness really was. we had no cell phones, no facebook, no internet. just italy and each other. and some hunky italian men. 

it was a truly magnificent and magical time. if i could give any advice to anyone, it would be to travel. go with your friends. take out a loan if you have to! that is what i did and i have never regretted it. not for one second. 

xoxo.

har

*group shot photo cred goes to jenny pate.

How we became Harley and Jane {Part II}

I commence with {part second} of H&J -- how we specifically became Harley and Jane. See {part first} here.

As a reminder, this took place in Vienna.

Harley

It's simple. Someone asked her name. She told them, but they thought she said "Carly." The person repeated it back to her, and she heard "Harley."

Neither was correct, but a little spark was lit when "Harley" rolled off her tongue.

The possibilities, we thought.

Jane

Day after day we walked through the humid streets of Vienna -- to school, to H&M, to this museum, to that museum, to tai chi in the park -- and so often we passed by a poster for an exhibit called "Schlafende Schonnheit," or Sleeping Beauty.

This was the poster:

Painting by Lord Frederic Leighton.

Maybe someday we can use her as inspiration for a photoshoot?

She's breathtaking, no? She's Flaming June, but all summer we thought her name was Flaming Jane. She has fiery red hair, I have fiery red hair and that's the connection. It was Harley's idea to call me Jane.

Later we found out she's actually June, but oh well. Magical, nonetheless.

xoxo

Flaming Jane.

How we became Harley and Jane {Part I}

October 2009

Harley & I met 1.5 years ago in an info meeting about the Vienna study abroad. I was quiet and let everyone else ask the questions. Harley made it known she wanted to get to Austria; everyone better sign up so she could go or else. In other words, Harley is a little ball of fire when she wants something to happen.

{Photo is before we knew we would become H&J. Thus, the sad faces.}

January 2010
Apparently enough people signed up, because 17 of us found ourselves in an old classroom for two hours on Tuesday nights. We practiced the German alphabet, learned how not to look like tourists, and stole glances around the room and wondered who we would spend the summer with as roommates.

{On our way to a Viennese club.}

March 2010
Our professor brought the list of roommate arrangements, and Harley & I were paired. I think we both were slightly relieved at the seemingly normalcy of the other, but also wondering what the summer would be like with our contrasting personalities.

{Exhausted on the train back to Vienna.}

May 2010
We still hadn't really talked before we got on the plane and flew to Europe. We got to our host home, picked which room we each wanted and unpacked. From there, we fell into a routine and it wasn't long before our classmates knew us as an inseparable pair.

{If I remember right, this is outside our favorite gelato shop where we spent much of our time and pocket change.}

July 2010
We discovered in both of us a love for all things beautiful, quirky, colorful, sparkly, and unique, as well as a need to share all that love for beauty with the world. Thus, H&J were born.

{In the Austrian countryside wearing daisy crowns made by Harley. Photo by Mika.}

To be continued...