I spent a semester at University College London when I was in my third year of law school. It was a TOTAL boondoggle.  We transfer students had classes only two days a week in subjects like air law, and all of them were Pass/NC (which officially stood for “No Credit,” but unofficially for “No Clue” … because that’s what it took not to pass).  With this kind of schedule, we could use the bulk of the semester traveling all over Europe, visiting a city or two every week for something like £1 (plus £50 in fees, thanks to the fine print) on RyanAir or EasyJet.

But I never made it to Venice!  I went to Rome and Florence, and people convinced me to spend more time in those cities instead of trying to fit Venice in as well.  So I took a rain check on Venice and didn’t cash it in until 17 years later.

What a mistake.  Venice is like no other city in the world, and no matter how much time you spend in the Canal Shoppes at The Venetian in Las Vegas, it’s obviously not the same. ‎ I was totally enchanted with St. Mark’s Square, the canals, the architecture, the gondolas, the water taxis, the Murano glass, the gelato … and I wanted some vacation looks that fit right in.

Venice is a city built for walking, and when I know I’m going to be walking around a lot, I tend to build my outfits around a really good pair of walking shoes. These closed-toe espadrilles by Andre Assous ‎that I got from Nordstrom (http://www.nordstrom.com) were such an amazing find.  They’re so comfortable with a perfect amount of height to help navigate in crowds, and the elastic ankle strap adds style and support without chafing the way leather can.  The first day I wore them with a navy blue linen dress and matching cardigan from Altuzarra that I got from Neiman Marcus (http://www.neimanmarcus.com), and the next day I wore them with a sundress that I got off of Shopbop (http://www.shopbop.com).  I think Shopbop is great for vacation clothes … lots of easy dresses and separates that are stylish but reasonably priced (so if you drip a bunch of pizza sauce on your dress like I did, it’s not the end of the world):

And then for dinner at Cip’s Club at the Hotel Cipriani, I wore the above red lace dress from Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, which I paired with black, ankle-strap stilettos from Christian Louboutin, both of which ‎I got from Net-a-Porter (http://www.net-a-porter.com).  This is a great dinner dress, but the lace makes it terrific for packing because it doesn’t wrinkle.

BUT let’s get back to the real point of this post, which is that you should NEVER wait this long to collect on a rain check!  I can’t remember how many times I’ve asked someone to drinks or tried to schedule something fun and been told “rain check” because people are busy and there are never enough hours in the day.  But then we both forget to reschedule. This Venice trip proves that I’m missing out on something great if I don’t follow up.  So those of you who have rain checks out there (and you know who you are), just a heads-up to clear your schedules …