A quick flight from Barcelona at 7am and 50 minutes later we arrived in Ibiza. Ibiza is known for its mega clubs (Pacha, Amnesia, Space) but we chose to experience the history, culture, food and beaches. We stayed in the old city named Dalt Vila at Hotel Mirador. Set atop the cliffs. After many wrong turns and circling the city for an hour we finally came upon this magical place. Below is a list of must do’s in Ibiza:

1)   Rent a car and really embrace the island. This was a disaster at first but once I became familiar with the street names and functions of the roundabouts, I was cruising.

2)   A map is a must. Forget your iPhone and grab an old fashioned map.

3)   The hippie market named Las Dalia’s is a tourist and local’s favorite. The items ranged from jewelry, to house music CD’s, handmade clothing and shoes. We met an interesting Italian hippie who gave us a plethora of knowledge on patchwork bags!

4)   After walking through the old town of Ibiza and checking out the walls that used to protect the coastal city, we settled into a restaurant named La Olivia Or Tentazione (both were fantastic). We sat outside and watched the street performers and listened to the guitarist. We dined of course on “pata negra y pan con tomate”. My favorite snack of choice fresh Iberian ham and tomato topped crispy bread. Yummy!

5)   For a chill, relaxing night out we dined at KM5, which was about 20 minutes from our hotel. It had a DJ spinning cool tunes while people drank and ate either from their dinner tables or couches surrounding the space.

6)   Finally, we spent a well-deserved day at the beach club named Blue Marlin. We rented 2 beach chairs, popped a bottle of rose and began designing the Spring Summer 14 collection.

Looking forward to debuting our new collection in September! -MRA

As my plane touched down late Wednesday evening, the rain was pouring and I was tired from traveling. I tried to gather my bag but my bag had missed the connection. I found this out via a text message from British Airways which I thought was an amazing use of technology therefore allowing me to leave the airport instead of staring at the baggage carousel to find out 30 minutes later my bag had not made it. I arrived to the Hotel Arts by the sea. I grabbed a quick dinner with Kelsie at a quaint tapas place named L’Ostia and hit the bed to get rested for our first day of sightseeing. We met for breakfast in the hotel and reviewed the SS14 concept, styles and fabrics. We then headed out into the city. We descended upon the old city and visited the Santa Maria Church which was built by the people. We walked the streets of Born and found the most adorable children’s store named Sugarfreaks. The owner was a young women with an adorable little baby girl who was a fashion photographer turned store owner. I bought my son an elephant graphic tee. Super cute! We wandered the streets and came across another Spanish store carrying both men’s and women’s named Miriam Ponsa, who recently won best new Spanish designer. I bought the most amazing chambrey drop crotch pants. I cannot wait to wear them. Then we went into the Picasso Museum in which we saw his life from the early 1900′s to mid 1900′s. It began with his pencil sketches, thru to his blue period and ended with his interpretation of Las Meninas. We then lunched at Tapio which is headed by a one Michelin star chef. We ate a large plate of Iberian ham which I am a fan of and some tomato bread and washed it down with a yummy glass of wine. Finally, we ended the day at the Parc Guell, where Antonio Gaudi lived in the mid 1900′s while he was finalizing the park. We walked through the streets post park and stumbled upon interesting shops. Needless to say, we covered a major part of the city on our first day. Excited to see how we translate everything into our SS14 collection. -MRA