Marianna Napoli - A Lovely Customer from Italy

Marianna Napoli - A Lovely Customer from Italy

Meet Marianna Napoli, a beautiful young lady who was kind enough to be our first customer to let us do a blog post about her. She purchased our Small Victorian Traveler Handbag in the Bella Donna fabric.

I live in Cammarata, a small town in the center of Sicily (one of the two biggest islands in Italy but some don’t even know it exists!) where I basically spent my childhood and formative years. At the age of 19 I moved to Rome to get my undergraduate degree and three years later I became an interpreter and translator of English and Spanish into Italian. I moved back to my home town, never interrupting my studies by completing online courses in audiovisual translation and localization. After one year I decided I wanted to fulfill my dream of living in London, but I moved mainly because I wanted to take the postgraduate degree in translation at the University College of London.

Now I work as a freelance translator in the medical, technical and scientific fields and my typical day involves a lot of typing, stressing, water boiling and exercising. I translate all day, I stop only to have some snacks or to make tea and then to have a quick lunch with my parents. Then I get back to my work until late afternoon when I finally get some exercise on my trusted elliptical running machine while listening to great motivating music. That’s my time to relax, when I have the chance to free myself from all the accumulated negative vibes. I also like watching TV series after dinner and that’s another favorite moment of my looong day. Sometimes I work too much and the opportunity to chill out a little bit just vanishes. Not to mention when I work non-stop during the night.

Life of a translator…pretty hard I must say 🙂 Luckily, when Salvatore’s in town I let myself have some more free time to spend with him and all the bad feelings or tiredness I accumulate during the day just disappear.

Here’s some questions we asked Marianna to get a further peek into her life:

1. What do you want to be when you grow up?
When do we really grow up in the first place? 🙂

2. What’s your favorite food and dessert?
I like everything fresh and tasty, I simply adore all kinds of fruits and vegetables. But I also have a soft spot for nuts. Could never say “no” to a nice almond brittle or a spoon of peanut butter 🙂 (yes, exactly. Brad Pitt and his Joe Black ruined me.)

3. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?
When I was younger I had an obsession for London, the answer to this question would surely have been London back then. But now, after spending years away from home, I realized I don’t really care where I am in the world, I just wanna be with the people I love and care about.

4. Who do you most admire or look up to?
I admire all the men and women who really commit themselves and fight for a cleaner environment, for animal welfare and for a better future for us human beings. I’m very committed as well, at least I try. I have an obsession for recycling and for everything “green” but I feel like it’s never enough, that’s why I look up to those people, to find inspiration to do more.

6. Where are you going on your next vacation?
I still don’t know and my vacations are almost over 😉 I’m spending my free time with my loved ones in Sicily at home.

7. What would you call your style?
I would define my style to be bohemian chic at the moment. I love wearing long dresses and boots, and flower prints. I’m kind of an hippie who loves spending time among nature. By the way, I’m a rock girl, basically, and I never go out without putting some leather on (faux, preferably!) or wearing my sunglasses (obsessed with them).

8. What are five things you can’t live without?
– Water (I really drink a lot of it!)
– My family
– My fiancé
– Internet connection
– Music
(not in this particular order)

9. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Living with my future husband in a quiet country house, not so far from a big city, possibly with one or two dogs that run around, working as per usual but staying among nature and relaxing at the same time. Idyllic, isn’t it?

10. What’s your favorite genre of music?
Definitely rock music, especially rock ’n’ roll, hard rock, indie rock. One of my absolute favorites are Bon Jovi, while recently I’ve had a big crush for Paolo Nutini’s latest work.

11. What are your hobbies?
When I have some free time during summer, I like going around taking pictures and catching beautiful moments, landscapes etc. or doing some outdoor activities (trekking, mountain biking) usually with my boyfriend. I like going around with him on that beautiful vintage motorbike of his you can see in the pictures. Also, I love watching TV series and movies quietly having my cup of tea or coffee laying on the bed.

12. Who’s the most influential person in your life?
All the people that I met in my life have had an influence on me, on my behavior, personality and way of thinking, in both positive and negative ways. I couldn’t choose one of them.

13. Favorite movie?
This is a hard one. I would probably say “Beauty and the Beast”, the Disney movie. But I watch loads of movies, and I have a preference for thrillers.

14. Favorite holiday?
Spending a few days in the wilderness, among nature, practicing outdoor activities and taking pictures of our beautiful planet and creatures. However, a tour of the USA, if only I could do it, would easily become my favorite holiday EVER.

15. Top three t.v. shows, if you like to watch t.v.?
This is another hard one. Being a series addict, this question is not easy at all! I’ll try:

• 1. The Vampire Diaries, the show that got me addicted to tv series, I watched it all more than once, learned all the lines in the meantime.
• 2. Game of Thrones, absolutely mind-blowing.
• 3. Breaking Bad, a must see.

16. What’s your number one goal to attain by the end of 2015?
Be healthy and do not stress myself too much (maybe there are two :))