EVOLVE - PART 2 - Italian Floral Retreat
Come & Evolve with Us
Day 1: Welcome Dinner
We meet on the terrace with an afternoon aperitif overlooking stunning Lake Como & distant mountains, finally connecting in person after months of chatting in our WhatsApp group. Instant laughter, chatter, ‘it’s so lovely to meet you in person’ laughter & excitement for what’s to come with that ‘I can’t believe I’m here’ mantra repeated again & again.
Laura, 5th generation of Crotto del Misto then takes the ladies for their first surprise experience, a tour of the 16th century wine cellar below. Walking down the ancient steps into the cool darkness of the cellar past rows of hanging prosciutto. We listen to her childhood stories of when the family was producing their own wines, while wandering through the rooms cooled by a spring fed well. The time honoured process and life growing up with such history, something that seems so removed from us as Australians.
Cheers! With a glass of freshly popped champagne & we wander in to take our place for our welcome dinner, watching the sun set over the lake. The joy for me to hear the easy laughter of these women in constant chatter with new found friendships forming. Sharing the first of the most delicious home cooked meals from 100+ yr old family recipes - what Crotto is famous for & people travel across the lake far & wide to experience - and yes the dock is full of those iconic timber boats with aqua leather trim!
Day 2 - Soul mapping session
So much more than a business session, this full day of reconnecting to our souls’ desires, the blocks that hold us back, and ‘going within’ was co-facilitated by my beautiful & insightful friend, Maddy Gray, an Australian born Yoga & Meditation teacher who 20+ years ago fell in love with Enzo on a backpacking trip & never left. On a misty, cool day when the mountians are shrouded in clouds, the lake quiet, she welcomed us into her home on the top floor of the family residence. The fire lit & a view to die for, comfy clothes, journal & tarot of flowers cards was all that was required along with open hearts & minds, ready to go within to evolve the reality or the ‘out’. Given this session was so powerful and personal, I’m omitting the events of the day. Suffice to say the connection for these women was deeper, faster & more beautifully vulnerable than either I or Maddy expected. Truly magical to witness & be a part of. We cried, laughed, hugged & supported each other with a knowingness so precious when women feel safe & held to share.
After a homemade-with-love lunch by Maddy & I we concluded the day with a mind mapping session, setting the tone of intention for the next 4 days & a cleansing cold swim in the lake [it was freezing & oh so fun!].
Time to reflect before gathering for dinner in what would become ‘our table’.
Day 3 - Olga’s Flower Farm
Held by nature throughout the whole 5 days, we wake up to glorious sunshine, ready to begin our ‘over the mountain’ road trip to Olga’s Flower Farm just 40 min away. Think school excursion excitement, epic mountain views & lookouts, cameras pressed against windows, hidden azure lakes, fields of wildflowers & some very winding roads. Olga warmly greets us & proudly shows us the incredible variety of unusual beloved blooms during our farm tour - again the camera rolls fill with flowers, flowers, flowers.
We meet her in the igloo with the backdrop & scent of sweetpeas, ready to learn the art of plant dyeing silk ribbons with dried daffodils & dahlias. Gather for a delish picnic lunch under the giant ginko before donning our Le Sac toolbelts & Chikamasa cutters to go & free-pick flowers to design with. For the flower lovers out there, I know, dream come true right?
Guiding our ladies through the process of designing a free form bridal style bouquet, we took our time, often looking up pinching ourselves we were creating in the garden of dreams under clear skies, warm spring sunshine, buzzing bees & friendship. Bouquets made & wrapped in fluttering buttery coloured ribbons, we loaded buckets of blooms into the bus & headed back, cups filled, to our lake home & spritzes on the terrace.
Day 4 - Photography & Design Day:
Optional morning yoga by the lake with Maddy set the tone for a busy day ahead.
Time to learn how to capture the beauty our designers create in a way that’s professional, super easy & accessible using their phone under the expert guidance of Honey Atkinson. The ‘OMG, I never knew that! 🤯’, happened within the first 10 minutes.
Honey crammed so much helpful information into the session before they all headed outside to practice their new found skills, but more importantly, grow their confidence in showing up in front of the camera. Something so many of us as women shy away from, but that is so important we do - for ourselves, our businesses & our families. Of course we weren’t short of dreamy vistas, with character filled rustic doors & sprawling bougainvillea to set the scene.
A quick lunch by the lake before we begin our group floral installation co-facilitated by one of our attendees, Lara Rose Bos. An absolute floral queen when it comes to large scale design, I had invited her to share her knowledge with our ladies as we designed together.
Lara & I had scouted a plan for where our installation would be & the props / mechanics we would use. Given the soft, springy ingredients we opted for an Italian ruins meadow vibe using ancient wine bottles, terracotta foraged from the shoreline & old pots. The whole scene was divine & we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing beside our creation, enjoying the reaction from passers by and each other’s company until sunset.
Day 5: Business Session & Afternoon Surprise
Again a yoga session by the lake at sunrise was magical & a beautiful way to settle our minds back in, to circle back to day 1 & now come up with a plan so these souls’ desires become reality.
Imagine, a business coaching session lounging in a deck chair by the distracting view of Lake Como & the mountains - dreamy to say the least! I took our ladies through step 1 of my In-Sync Seasonal Plan - Alignment, where we focus on our values, boundary & goal setting that is a little different & focuses on our why & creating a map for the future that allows our business to fit into our life not consume it. Inspired motivation began to grow & excited ideas began forming. We all agreed we will catch up for a meeting in a few months time to see how these new aligned desires have become a reality.
Time to freshen up before a walk through the ‘stop every 5 min to take a photo’-worthy back alley streets & villages for my special surprise. A ferry ride over to Lenno where we had a private tour booked of the stunning Villa Balbianello [& the most famous gelato on the lake]. Again, the weather was perfect, we strolled the street markets, had said gelato & shared bruschetta before wandering to the gardens ready for our tour. As it happened there was a wedding on the villa terrace, flowers in abundance, a glamorous bride & dashing groom. Learned the colourful and dramatic history of this incredbily luxurious villa & gardens, before hightailing it down the hill to make the last ferry of the day. Phew, made it!
Freshen up for our final farewell dinner together, which was laughter filled & full of chatter [lucky for us Italians are equally as loud].
Day 6 - Closing Circle and Farewell
Our final day began with our last yoga by the lake session with a beautiful meditation by Maddy. Then sitting in a heartfelt circle to share the experience & what it had meant to each & every one of us. Tears again, happy ones of joy & thankful connection to have been able to share such a transformative, fun & deeper-than-expected experience together. Group hugs, more beautiful words of friendship & time to gently drift away to other adventures or home. All evolved into a renewed, refreshed version of themselves.
A huge thank you to Maddy & Honey for sharing this experience with me, to Lara for sharing her whole flower loving heart into the group installation, for Olga for the warm welcome in sharing her beloved flowers with us so generously, Crotto del Misto for the care & Italian family vibes from breakfast to dessert each & every day.
This really was a dream come true for me & feel so genuinely honoured that these 10 beautiful women trusted me to create this experience for them.
That’s it - a destination retreat every year please… that’s my souls desire!
For the full and very beautiful visual version of Evolve, watch the video created by Honey [NADINE I have embedded one of your YT videos below as this feature is available (select Embed from the list then add the video’s URL in the link section) - you can replace with the Evolvere video once it’s uploaded to YT]
With thanks also to our retreat partners & sponsors:
