travel – AS FAR AS I KNOW IT

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Summer 2016

Hi loves!

I’m so happy to be back to blogging. I thought I would have a chance here and there to blog in Brazil but we were extremely busy and the wifi was very spotty. Either way I had the time of my life and I was so sad to leave. If you didn’t know, I had the opportunity to travel to Rio de Janeiro for 12 days as part of a seminar abroad for school. What a way to kick off my senior year! We went to 6 Olympic events, volunteered at one the the city’s largest favelas, staffed a high-profile event for the United States Truce Foundation, and of course did all of the fun touristy things in Rio!

I could write about this experience for ever and ever but we all know pictures are worth 1000 words. Here are some highlights from my trip.

Day One: We volunteered at Project Favela. Here we donated school supplies and brought candy to all of the kids in the neighborhood. We also installed mosquito nets.

Day 1: We volunteered in Rocinha, one of the largest favelas in Brazil.

Day 2: Sugarloaf Mountain and Escalaria Selaron

Day 3: Rowing, Corcovado, Copacabana

Day 4: United States Truce Foundation event

Day 5: Olympic Tennis and Churros

Day 6: Indoor Volleyball and International Broadcast Center

Day 7: Fencing

Day 8: Table Tennis and Copacabana

Day 9: Athletics and Japan House to preview the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Day 10: Petropolis & Brewery Tour

Day 11: Hike and Goodbyes

I had the most incredible time in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I definitely plan to return in the future. This experience however, my first Olympic Games, can never be topped! Thanks for bearing with me through this summer of travels. Like always, thank you for reading and talk to you soon!

xo Rickie

A day of shopping in Greece/One Year Blogaversary!

Guys, how crazy is this?! I went shopping in my dad’s hometown today, Larisa, Greece and came home to blog all about it. As I logged onto WordPress I realized I started my blog on this exact day last year!! Guess what my first post was…. yup, a Greece Haul! I didn’t even plan for it to fall today but everything happens for a reason! I’ve had such an amazing time blogging over the past year. I’ve met an amazing blog community and have developed so much as a writer. I want to thank all of you have been following since the beginning, and for those of who who have just recently followed. Blogging has been a way to get my creative juices flowing and escape from reality for a short while. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings!

Now let’s talk shopping. Larisa is a great city! In the center, there are stores, coffee shops, restaurants, etc. I love shopping here as there are a lot of stores that we don’t have back home. Also, during July and August there are the best sales! Here’s a quick peek at what I picked up.

I may have went a bit overboard but hey I come once a year what can I say? The sunglasses pictured in the middle were my first purchase of the day. They were only 4 Euros! I got them from a small boutique that I can’t remember the name of. I got the majority of my clothes from Zara, Bershka, and Stradivarius. I will link some of my favorite pieces below!

Zara

7901200644_6_1_1 — Bomber Jacket (Misguided Dupe???)

Bershka

Screen Shot 2016-07-26 at 3.00.40 PM.png — Jumpsuit

Screen Shot 2016-07-26 at 2.47.57 PM.png — Square Bag in Sand

Stradivarius

Screen Shot 2016-07-26 at 2.43.58 PM.png — White Bomber

Screen Shot 2016-07-26 at 2.09.49 PM — Mini Backpack

I love everything I got but these are some of my favorites! I also visited the Hondos Center which is known for all things beauty. I swatched lots of Mac lipsticks and purchased a Bourjois foundation! I’m so excited to try this foundation because we don’t carry this brand in the U.S. I plan on doing a review for sure.

In addition to shopping, I went to my favorite coffee shop, Mikel and ate some delicious tyropita.

I enjoyed myself so much and as always I’m happy to share it with you all. Again, I can’t thank you enough for being the best blogging community around! Here’s to another year!

xo Rickie

Snap Recap of the Week

I’m having a blast here in Greece with my family! I have so many pictures to share and I will try and share them all but I think SnapChat is a good place to start! I thought I’d share my snaps from the week and recap how it went!

Sunday 7/17

I’ve been spending a lot of time with my little cousin. She’s the cutest little girl ever. We of course played with Snap Filters and put on some lip gloss!

Did you even eat if you didn’t Snap it? These are a some of my favorite desserts here: crepes and waffles…both covered in chocolate 🙂

Monday 7/18

Monday I drove to Athens to pick up my sister and her friend from the airport. We woke up early enough to see the sunrise and were out late enough to see the Acropolis lit up at night. I wrote an entire post about our day in Athens that you can read here.

Wednesday 7/20

Wednesday we went out for some delicious calamari. We sat on a balcony with the most amazing view.

Friday 7/22

Friday we went out to a beach bar for a drink. Afterwards we decided to bring the party to the beach and we played cars until the morning.

Saturday 7/23

Saturday my uncle played some live music while all of our family and friends came over! Afterwards I went out with my cousins.

Sunday 7/24

Today was a much needed relaxing beach day!

I’ve never done a post like this so if you have any feedback feel free to leave it down below! Like I said I’m enjoying every minute I have with my family over here as I only see them once a year. Be on the lookout for more posts like this, I enjoyed putting the snaps together.

Until next time,

xo Rickie

The GR∑∑K Life | A Day in Athens

As I mentioned in a previous post, I will be doing a few posts on things I do while in Greece. I has most of the posts planned but because this was a last minute decision, I’m squeezing it in. My sister’s flight got cancelled last minute so we had to reroute her. This meant she’d be flying into Athens, about 5 hours South of where my family is from. So Monday morning, my parents and I woke up at 6am and drove down to the airport to pick her and her friend up!

Athens is a beautiful city filled with lots of history. To see everything in a day is nearly impossible, but we made the best of the time we had. Luckily, my uncle lives in Athens so when we found out my sisters luggage wouldn’t make it until the next morning, we had a place to stay. My aunt and uncle took us around the city showing us political buildings, the Prime Minister’s home, and much much more. Our first stop was the Parliament Building. I love seeing the soldiers in the traditional uniforms. They are amazing to watch. They do not move, smile, etc. no matter what! We took some pictures with the soldiers and were on to our next stop.

Our next stop was definitely my favorite, especially under the circumstances. We visited the Olympic Stadium from the the first Games of the modern era in 1896. The stadium was spectacular. It gave me butterflies, especially knowing that in about 2 weeks I’ll be in Rio de Janeiro at the 2016 Games!

I had asked my aunt what this building was on top of the mountain so she did the very Greek thing to do and brought us up the mountain to show us. We drove up as far as we could and then walked the rest of the way. I felt like I was on top of the world. At the top of the mountain is a little restaurant, a church, and the most beautiful view I’ve ever seen. In the distance I could see the Acropolis which was just as beautiful far away as it was up close.

I’ve seen the Acropolis a few times but never at night. If you ever get the chance to do so do not pass it up. After we climbed down the mountain we went to dinner with the most incredible view of the Acropolis. It looked surreal, like something you would see on a post card. Dinner was delicious as expected and then shortly after we heading hoe to my family’s house. I was so thankful for them taking us around the city in such a short amount of time. Athens is so rich with history and incredible landmarks. If you have not been I would definitely add it to your travel bucket list!

Until next time,

xo Rickie

Travel Diaries: First International Flight Alone!

Greetings from Greece!

Monday night I headed off to Boston to fly to Greece by myself for the first time ever! I’ve been traveling to Greece my whole life but never alone so this was bound to be an experience. My aunt, sister, and boyfriend brought me to the airport and stayed with me until I reached TSA. We said our goodbyes and then it was just me and Larry from there on out (Larry is my teddy bear whom I speak about as a living person).

Everything in Boston went smooth. I had a few hours to kill so I decided to sit at a wine bar close to my gate for a bit. I sampled some delicious wines and had truffle popcorn which was amazing to say the least!

The flight from Boston to Turkey, which is where I stopped before Greece, was 9 hours long. I’m pretty used to that and I got a window seat so I was cool. I fell asleep before takeoff only to wake up three hours later to screaming children… I would seriously pay hundreds of dollars to ensure there would be no crying kids on my plane. Every time I fell asleep they would start screaming again.. so miserable.

I slept on and off most of the trip and when morning came we were served “breakfast”. I do not like plane food. You’d think they’d be tasty by 2016 but nope, still disgusting. I do love the warm bread but that’s about it. Luckily I brought my own snack so I was good to go.

For the last few hours I binged watched The Big Bang Theory which I actually really enjoyed. Before I knew it we were about to land. The view of Turkey was so beautiful I wish I could have captured it better.

I arrived at the airport in Istanbul and did the one thing that always calms my nerves…shopping 🙂 Duty Free is so wonderful. I bought a MAC lipliner in the shade spice and some RayBans that I fell in love with (will share these on Insta). I’m not really a big spender when it comes to sunglasses, usually because of my weird face shape, but these were a must. From there I flew right into Thessaloniki, Greece where my parents picked me up! I was lucky enough to have the row to myself so I actually could stretch out for this flight.

The first thing I did was grab a Frappe followed by a tyropita (cheese pie). Finally I had a two hour drive to my house and I was home. I’m so happy to be here with my family safe and sound. I think I’m going to name my travel blog series “The Greek Life” while I’m here so be on the look out for those. I’ll be here for three weeks with plenty to share! Talk to you soon!

xo Rickie

June Goals & Giveaway Winner!

Happy June!

Like always, the beginning of each month marks a new chapter therefore I like to set new goals. In addition to goals each month I’m thinking of writing up a Summer 2016 Bucket List! Can you tell I like lists?! Anyways, here’s the part where I blab on about how I can’t believe it’s already a new month but in all reality I can’t believe how fast 2016 is flying by! The year is halfway over already, can you believe it? With that being said, here are my goals for the month of June.

1. Read at least 3 books

If you’ve been following my blog you would know I’m nothing but a bookworm at heart. For some reason, in the summer more than any other season, reading is my go-to hobby. I find it so relaxing. I’m about 3/4 through Sophia Amoruso’s Girl Boss and I’d like to finish that and at least two more books before July!

2. Start my book review for my summer class within the first two weeks of the month

For my summer class, we have to write 2 book reviews. The first one was due Monday (hence my absence) and the second is due July 1st. I really struggled getting this one done so I’m hoping to start the second one sooner rather than later.

3. Start using my new camera for blog pictures

I bought a new camera!!!! I’ve been wanting the Sony a5100 for over a year now and I finally decided to purchase it. I just ordered the camera and it should be here early next week! In my 2016 goals I wrote about wanting to vlog and this camera will be great for that! I’ve always had a passion for photography and I’m really excited to try this out!

4. Begin gathering things for my trip to Rio

So the plus side of my summer class is that in August we get to travel to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympic Games! I’m so excited but also extremely anxious at the same time. I’ve never traveled with anyone but family or my boyfriend so this is a big deal for me. I’ve also started a separate blog for the trip so be sure to follow along here!

Anyways, my actually goal here is to have everything gathered and put aside this month because I’ll be in Greece for most of July. I only have one day home between trips so I want to make this as stress free as possible!

5. Learn at least 10 words or phrases in Portuguese

In addition to preparing for my trip, I want to learn some conversational phrases in Portuguese. I can understand Spanish pretty fluently so I’m hoping that helps. I want to learn things like hello, thank you, how are you, etc. I think knowing a few phrases would really enhance the trip for me. If any of you know Portuguese let me know some words in the comments!!

Giveaway Winner:

Now for the part you’ve been waiting for! I recently hosted a giveaway for reaching 100 followers. The winner of the giveaway is Lucia! Thanks for always reading and commenting on my blog! I really appreciate all of the support!

So for the giveaway I did not realize how much of my blog family was from Canada! As this giveaway was U.S. only I just wanted to say thank you so much for following and I will be sure to include international giveaways in the future! Again, thank you all for following and here’s to the next 100!

Tenham todos um bom dia!

xo Rickie

Follow me on Instagram: @asfarasiknowit

My First Youtube Video?!

Hey everyone!

One of my New Years Resolutions was to upload at least one video to Youtube, and I did it!!! It’s nothing special, but I went on my first cruise at the beginning of the year and put a video together from it! It’s not really a vlog because I didn’t talk throughout but it just shows some highlights from the trip. I said I would write a post on it but I’ve been planning the video for a while. Every time I tried to put it up it wasn’t good enough but finally I just decided to go for it! I’m not sure if more videos are in the near future but it’s definitely not out of the question. So without further adieu I give you, my first Travel Diary: Video Edition! Enjoy!

Thanks for watching! It is my first video so I would appreciate any feedback that you have!

xo Rickie

Travel Diaries | Atlantic City 2016

Hi everyone!

For many college students this week is Spring Break and Bryan and I headed off to Atlantic City! I’ve never visited New Jersey before so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. While it was rainy for the most part, we still made the best of it! Here are some pictures from the trip.

For those of you who don’t know, NYC is our favorite place to visit so on our way to Jersey we made a pit stop! We went right to The Nugget Spot for lunch. This place is one of my favorites. They make fresh chicken nuggets everyday of many flavors with corresponding sauces.

Next we were off to Atlantic City. It’s no Florida but I really wanted to see the beach so that’s exactly what we did. The first day the water was so calm and gorgeous. Even though it is still winter, being at the beach was still so relaxing.

Atlantic City is the home of many casinos. We went to a couple but didn’t gamble much.

We stayed at a really nice hotel casino and our room had a beautiful view of the beach.

Of course, we enjoyed various restaurants and what not. There were many holiday specials with St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner. Johnny Rockets is always a favorite of mine though!

The hotel had an amazing indoor pool with seven hot tubs! This was one of my favorite activities as it was so relaxing. I even got some reading in!

While the weather was once again not in our favor, we were still able to make the best of our trip. It was really nice to get away for a few days!

On our way home we found ourselves back in the city of New York. This time we went to see a famous mural in the Bronx of Big Pun. Then we headed to my favorite part of New York, Astoria, Queens. Astoria has the highest Greek population in the U.S.. There is great authentic Greek food and stores. We stopped at the grocery store with all the Greek products and got a few of my favorite things!

This had me missing Greece so much! The food was phenomenal! It got me excited for Greek Easter coming up and over course summer in Greece. Overall the trip was really fun and I can’t wait for our next adventure. Where should we go next?

Xo Rickie

Tips to Liven Up Spring Break at Home!

Woo! Spring Break is right around the corner! To some that means you’re off to Cancun or some other tropical place. To others, its a full week of Netflix and Chill…by yourself. No big plans? No problem! Spring Break can be so hard to plan and of course afford. While some are fortunate enough to travel, others are left spending Spring Break at home. Just because you’re home for break doesn’t mean you have to be miserable. Here are some tips for enjoying Spring Break right at home!

Visit a tourist attraction near you or in your home town

This is my favorite! It is overlooked by many and can be so enjoyable. Most people have some type of tourist attraction near them and often times they’ve never been. For example, I live close to Yankee Candle and the Basketball Hall of Fame and most people from the area have never been to either. They make a great adventure for a date, family day, or hang out spot with friends! Don’t overlook your own town, there’s probably more to do than you think.

Work work work work work work (Rihanna voice)

Ok so this may not seem like the most fun option but hear me out. When everyone comes home from their spring break vaca, you’ll be rolling in the dough, and that is a great feeling.

Read a book

Nothing reminds me of summer more than reading a book by the pool. For some reason, I read so much more over vacation than throughout the school year. Leisure reading is really enjoyable and so relaxing. I have a couple books lined up for spring break this year.

Redecorate your room

Spring cleaning anyone? I love rearranging my room every few months just to spice it up a little. It just gives off good vibes and a fresh start. You can also make it a project and decorate with a bunch of DIYs.

Do away with your routine

Too often, we go home from school and it’s like we never got away. Take this week to do something different. Sleep in one day. The next day wake up early and go for a walk. Try to not stay in bed all day everyday and get out and do something different. While you should stay away from a normal routine, still plan activities ahead of time, and stick to them. Do something you said you always would. Most importantly, enjoy your time off.

I hope everyone enjoys their break however they spend it! Be sure to share any fun activities in the comments below 🙂

xo Rickie

My 21st Birthday!

If you read my latest post you saw that I was born on Christmas Eve and that this year I turned the big 21! Today I just wanted to share some pictures from my birthday celebration.

To celebrate, my family, friends and I went to the casino! We got a suite for the night where all of my cousins and I slept. Before that though, we had a little birthday party for me in the suite. Finally at midnight we headed down to the casino for drinks and some gambling!

My outfit of the night was a simple black dress with a high neckline from Charlotte Russe. I paired it with two necklaces both from Charlotte Russe as well. I also had a cardigan with me for the night from Forever 21. For those of you curious, my lipstick color here is Grunge by ColourPop.

When I say I had a blast I truly mean it. Even getting ready in the room we couldn’t stop cracking jokes and taking a ridiculous amount of selfies.

My cousins all decorated the suite for my birthday! We celebrated together until it was officially the 24th.

Then I went a bit crazy with my selfie stick.

But the real fun started at midnight!

The night ended at Johnny Rockets, a burger joint. I won some money, had some fun, and ate some delicious food! The next morning we had a family breakfast. The whole experience was so memorable and I’m so thankful for everyone who came! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and thanks for reading!

xo Rickie

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