^ Instagram Life versus Real Life. In real life you have to carry stuff in a bigger bag than just a cross body haha ^

Photos by: MOM

Hey, Everybody! Welcome back to the blog and, if you're new here, I want to say Hello & introduce myself!

Hello newbies. I'm so glad you're here! I'm Holly :) I'm a 24 year old, regular girl, with a full time job in Denver, Colorado. My job takes me to awesome places about once a month. I wanted to tell you that up-front so that you know why and how I get to travel so often! It's a blessing because I know so many people do not get to travel like I do. I was inspired to start a blog last year about the places I go and what I do there for exactly that reason! 1. To capture the memories and 2. To show you some great new places!

The blog is a work in progress, so you'll see some travel posts and some life-around-Denver posts. I also like to throw in a little bit of fashion - like this dress from Chelsea Boulder that I took with me to Italy! It was perfect for all the colors in Venice :) I had no idea how great it would look in all the photos! So many Italian boys said "Caio Bella" when I walked by haha! All that flattery got them no where, though, because I have the BEST man who was waiting for me at home! I'm engaged to Jordan, the love of my life, and we are getting married in the Spring next year! Soooo, you'll also be seeing lots of wedding planning posts. So welcome welcome welcome to my blog! Let me know in the comments or via email what you like and want to see. I really want to be here to help you with whatever is coming up next in your life. Hopefully, I'm doing it first and can be the guinea pig for you! :)

Now, let's talk about Italy! Murano is where mom snapped these photos of me. (Mom's a pretty great photographer! I would just line up the shot, set the lighting, and she did the rest! She's got a good eye, you guys!) This island is known for its glass making history. It's a craft that has been handed down from generation to generation and is a beautiful, delicate art. It actually started as "state secret." A long time ago, the glass artists of Murano couldn't even leave the island. Glass making was so top secret, that Venice didn't want the people to even have the chance to tell other people how to do it! Now the people do it because they love it and because it's tradition.

We got to tour a glass factory and watch while artisans made replacement pieces for an antique chandelier. They had to create flowers that exactly matched the old chandelier. It was amazing to watch them mold the perfect flowers so quickly before the glass cooled! After we watched them for a while, we went upstairs to the beautiful gallery where all the "Masters" display and sell their work. Mom bought a piece in a style that only female glass Masters do at this point, which we thought made it extra special.

While we were wandering through the gallery, our tour guide took my mom and I into a side office where one Master artist was working. He explained his process for putting gold on the back of flat glass, etching art into the gold, and then firing it all so the glass and gold literally never separate. You can see the etched designs by looking through the front of the glass to the back where the gold is attached. It's amazing! And his son was sitting next to him practicing his artwork on a sketch notebook. We learned that the Master actually has two sons. They are twins. At the age of 5, he gave them each a small piece of glass and gold so they could try their hand at the art. One etched a portrait of a saint into the gold and glass, while his twin brother etched a picture of Spiderman. Both small pieces were framed in his office. You can guess which one was in the shop practicing that day... not Spiderman!

Afterward, we wandered the streets looking in shops and hunting for some jewelry for mom to take back to her friends. All the shops started to close around 5pm so, we got on a boat back to the main island of Venice, found some great pasta, and called it a night! This is definitely an island you should visit when you go to Venice!

Thanks for stopping by!

*Thank you Chelsea Boulder for sponsoring this post!