Good Morning everyone, today I’m sharing the post you’ve all been waiting for: the private 20-person villa we stayed in while visiting Tuscany. I can’t even tell you how many inquires I received about Villa Caprolo during our trip to Greve in Chianti, which sits beautifully among the hills of Tuscany. So today I’m spilling every detail!

The Road to Tuscany

I’m not going to lie…the 3.5 drive from Rome to Tuscany was no cake walk.  First of all, in most European countries, they don’t offer large SUVs so you either have to rent a 10 passenger van or settle for a compact SUV. Obviously, we chose the compact SUV, but with 3 people, five suitcases and five carry on bags, it was quite a tight squeeze. However, after working on what seemed like jigsaw puzzle, we managed to fit everything just perfectly. With that being said, if you’re traveling with more than a few people and lot of luggage, make sure to do your research on car rentals.

 Secondly, when it came to navigating through Italy, we had to use both written directions as well as the GPS. Speaking of the GPS, we made sure to choose an automatic car with a navigation system to make driving through Italy less stressful. Additionally, we rented pocket wifi for $15 per day so we could easily access internet on our phones. We were able to get all of the amenities from the airport car rental service in Rome where we first arrived. In case you missed my first travel post, you can view it here—> 5 Ways to Conquer Jet Lag, but basically we landed in Rome and stayed our first night at the airport hotel before driving to Tuscany the next day. I highly recommend doing this because it gives you a day/night to recover from travel.

Thirdly, when it comes to road trip meals, don’t expect to find any drive-thrus. Okay, okay… so we did spot one McDonald’s, but who wants fast food when you’re in Italy and can have fresh pasta. This is where that pocket wifi really comes in handy. I was able to pull up some reviews on nearby restaurants and I ended up finding an authentic Italian gem right off the interstate called Ristorante La Primare. This meal definitely sits among my list of top five faves.

Arriving to the villa was a dream! I swear the hills were singing and they were saying, “The hills are alive with the sound of music.” Okay maybe that was me! Haha! In all seriousness though, the view from our villa at the top of the hill didn’t even look real. We felt like we were in Italian heaven.

Our Private 20-Person Villa in Tuscany

Just to give you a little backstory, we actually planned this trip with my entire family for over a year before even booking our flights to Italy. My Stepdad researched for months until he discovered the perfect villa for our friends and family. Not only is it a quaint, non-touristy spot located about 40 minutes from both Florence and Sienna, but it also accommodates 20 people comfortably with eight bedrooms and bathrooms. On top of that, it comes with a large kitchen and dining room as well as multiple lounge areas indoors and outdoors. Additionally, the villa is equipped with a daily cleaning service, fitness room, outdoor dining area, an infinity pool that overlooks the mountains, a historical old chapel built in the 1800s and the most breathtaking lookout point of Tuscany on the cliff the above the pool. In fact, every evening we all gathered in that spot to drink wine and watch the sunset. I swear each day the sunset was even more stunning than the day before and it was actually in that very spot that Blake asked me to marry him, but I’ll be sharing that story separately!

The whole family plus Lainey (my friend & Photographer), Krystal (aka A Pinch of Lovely) and her husband Jordan

This lookout point on the cliff above the pool terrace was everything and more! I hope to visit this exact spot again one day!

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Tularosa Maxi Dress (also available here) — wearing sz XS | Ciao Bella Hat c/o White Elephant Designs

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Outfit: Printed Shorts — wearing sz Petite XS, Raffia Hoop Earrings, Metallic Slide Sandals, Straw Clutch c/o Ann Taylor | Nude Tank | Ray-Ban Round Sunglasses

See the full outfit post here—> My Top Summer Pieces from Ann Taylor

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Lemon Print One Piece | Ray-Ban Sunglasses | Ciao Bella Hat c/o White Elephant Designs

One night during our stay, we had local chefs come to our villa and cook us a traditional four course Tuscan meal for the whole family. This is one family dinner that we will never forget! Villa Caprolo offered the of luxury of personal cooks as an optional everyday service, but we opted to cook some meals ourselves and still managed to enjoy family dinners every night. We even went around the table and listed to everyones highs and lows of the trip each night. However, if we could do it all over again, I definitely would have hired the chefs for more nights and even a brunch or two.

Photos by: Lainey Reed Photography

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Hi everyone and Happy Friday! I’m finally getting around to sharing my 18-day trip to Italy and Greece and today I’m starting with 5 ways to conquer jet lag. Traveling to a faraway country and exploring new places is an incredible experience, but getting there isn’t always glamorous especially when it comes to jet lag. So I decided to use my personal experience to come up with 5 ways to help you beat jet lag and enjoy your whole travel experience.

1) Prepare yourself! Before you even step foot into the airport, you must make sure that you have all of the necessary equipment to help you beat jet lag including comfortable attire.  When it comes to travel outfits, I suggest wearing your most comfortable jeans or yoga pants, a soft, loose tee, cushiony walking shoes (with socks) and plenty of deodorant.

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Jenn’s Outfit: Cold Shoulder Top | AG Jeans (also available here) — wearing sz 25 & I normally wear a sz 26 | Somers Slip-on Sneakers c/o Soft Shoes (also available here) | Camo Jacket |  Checked Spinner & Carry-on Spinner c/o Mark & Graham | Jenni Saddle Bag (Designed by Haute Off The Rack in collaboration with Gigi New York)

Blake’s Outfit: V-neck Tee | Twill Pants | Similar Oxford Shoes | Checked Spinner, Carry-on Spinner & Daily Leather Overnighter c/o Mark & Graham

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Survival equipment:

A) The first thing I recommend buying is a neck pillow. Let me tell you that I travel by plane at least four times a month and I have never owned a neck pillow. However, when it comes to nine hours of your head falling side to side and waking you up every five minutes, neck pillows are a game changer.

B) Speaking of protecting your neck, I highly recommend investing in a backpack and 360 spinner rolling carry on bag. These two travel bags will help you avoid putting to pressure and strain on your neck, back and shoulders. I especially love my MZ Wallace Metro Backpack and Mark & Graham Terminal 1 Spinner.

C) Don’t forget the essentials like snacks, an eye mask, ear plugs, head phones and a blanket. Most international airlines will provide you with those items, but if you’re picky like me, then make sure to pack your own!Also, make sure you purchase a couple extra bottles of water once you get through security, which brings me to my next point….

2) Stay hydrated! I know this is kind of a “duh” piece of advice, but for real… 24 hours of travel can really take a toll on your body so staying hydrated will help your body work and function at its maximum capacity.

3) If your flight is set to land in the evening, you must stay away during the majority of the flight so you can sleep once you arrive. If your flight lands in the early morning hours, you must go to sleep right away! Don’t wait and watch a movie a first! I made this mistake and the consequences were detrimental to my sanity. We ended up having three screaming toddlers on our flight and when it came to sharing how they felt about nine hour flights, they didn’t hold back. And that, my friends is why I didn’t get a wink of sleep. Blake on the other hand did things the smart way and popped some Advil PM then minute he boarded the plane. He was out for the majority of the flight while the rest of suffered from the terror of toddlers.

4) Get yourself acclimated to the time zone of your destination before the flight begins! First, start by setting your phones and watches for your destination a couple days before and then try to follow a routine. If you have the luxury of attempting to begin a day before the flight, you will have a much easier time acclimating upon arrival. If you can’t set your phone watch manually the day before, set alarms for things you should be doing in your “new” time zone. Things like eating breakfast, sleeping, or just taking a nap for slow acclimation.

5) If you arrive in the morning, get moving! Before your trip, create an itinerary or map of all the places you want to hit to help you fight through the first day so that the rest of your trip is enjoyable and productive. The key is to stay in motion so you stay awake, which means NO naps! With that being said, I suggest lots of walking. Fresh air and sunshine makes it easier to stay awake. I’ll warn you though…walking outside doesn’t mean all rainbows and butterflies. I literally felt like I was dying the first day while we were exploring the city of Rome. We left New Orleans at 11 am on Thursday and arrived to Rome at 8 am on Friday with a seven hour time difference. So I just felt so confused and exhausted. I even felt a little light-headed and sick until I finally at something more substantial than plane food, but I had to push through it so that I would go to sleep at the correct time that night. I don’t think I would have felt as terrible had I slept on the plane, which is why I said that you must go to sleep immediately after boarding the plane.

The good news is that I managed to keep moving all day so I was able to go sleep at the correct time that night and didn’t have any other problems the rest of the trip. Unfortunately, some of my family members didn’t have the same experience because they went to sleep in the hotel room after they landed instead of pushing through that first day. So their sleep pattern was a little of whack for the first few days until their bodies finally adjusted.

When in Rome:

Visit the Colosseum!

Toss a coin in the Trevi Fountain and make a wish!

Walk down every little alleyway until you spot a cute outdoor spot for lunch!

Treat yourself to some gelato and don’t be lame…go with the waffle cone option!

Stop by the Pantheon!

See Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel!

Last, but not least…indulge in plenty of delicious Italian food and then eat more gelato after! Because you never have enough gelato! Am I right?

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