An afternoon in McKinney

The only thing I can think of when I see these peaceful, tranquil photos of a lovely evening in McKinney Texas is "wow. Makeup is awesome." The day before I made the great mistake of going to the inlet and being in full sun for 8 hours...with no sunscreen.

And somehow we think I'm smart enough for college? Only time will tell.

Needless to say, It wasn't my best move. But wow. I'm glad I live in the 21st century where makeup exists because even though my nose was literally bright red and also burning hotter than the Texas sun, you'd never be able to tell. Praise the Lord for foundation and please pray that I don't wind up with skin cancer. 

WINTER PARK AT TWILIGHT

Mom and I have been making nearly weekly trips to Winter Park for almost a year now. It's easily my favorite day of the week, our sacred sabbath of a Thursday amidst the business and stress of life. No matter how bad things can get, the pressing matters at home don't seem quite so imperative in Winter Park. Probably because we distract ourselves with Trader Joe's and coffee shops, but you know!

Normally we always go around noon and it's so bright and hot that we end up heading home. Not this day! We were determined (and by we, I mostly mean me.) to stick it out until sunset and see Winter Park in all it's sun drenched glory. And it was worth it for sure. Winter Park is beautiful every day but it's even more peaceful and tranquil at twilight. 

CLASS OF 2017

I walked into the 2017 graduation feeling oddly like, I was graduating. I wasn't wearing a cap and gown. Instead of my whole family, it was just my mom and I. And I had just completed my first year of college...but still, I felt like a senior all over again?

This year was super weird, I'm sure you've figured it out. And I feel like I've graduated from a million things and people in hundreds of ways over this year. So it was a graduation for me of sorts. Except this year I didn't have to deal with any of the high school drama! That was by far the best part.

LAKE NONA

Last year, May was a crazy chaotic, emotional month for everyone (in our family at least. Hopefully you all didn't experience the same junk!!). Despite the craziness of it all, mom and I somehow managed to make it to Canvas for Mothers Day dinner and somehow it was as though time stood still. The light was golden, the food delicious and we decided that it should definitely become a thing.

One year later, our lives look very different but the sunset through the glass house was just as spectacular and the food just as delicious and we even got free champagne which was a definite win!

Canvas is in Lake Nona which is right outside of Orlando. For being such a touristy city, Canvas is very very peaceful and such a relaxing atmosphere. It sits right on the lake with this amazing glass house on the property. Both times we made our reservation for during golden hour (I'm sure you can see why!) The house was designed and crafted by a local artist and It's basically every fashion bloggers/instagrammers/homeschooled girl's dream come true.

Since last Mothers day, they've expanded the property to include a garden! There were tomatoes and peppers and herbs galore and it's what they use in their cooking. Basically it's the Florida equivalent of Farm-To-Table and I love it. Way to go Florida!

And in case you were wondering, yes we did eat and yes the food was amazing! This time we got scallops and that's a very lame way to put it because they were delicious and adored will all kinds of fancy things that I'm really not worthy of. 

If you're ever in Orlando and looking for a place to eat, Canvas should be first on your list. No Disney Tourists, No chicken fingers on the menu. Just a glass house, good food and the PERFECT place to watch the sun set!

M&M

Sorry to all my other cousins, but I think these two cuties are my new favorites

I'm the second youngest cousin on my mom's side. Karoline, my cousin, is just two years younger than me. We were "the little girls" for the longest time. But thankfully we grew up and we have some pretty great replacements. My aunt and uncle adopted Maris and Marion in the same year, with the girls being 1 year apart. It's crazy, chaotic and yet the sweetest thing ever. Adoption is amazing and I'm so thankful we have these cuties in our family forever.

I actually hadn't met the girls until just a couple months ago (December to be exact!) Which is crazy, considering how obsessed I am with them now. When we visited them over spring break, I new it was time for some photos (new camera? new cousins? perfect.)

Is your heart exploding because, same! I'm so thankful that the Lord brought them into our family. They're a handful, of course, but a constant reminder of God's love and grace. Redemption is such a beautiful thing...also a blurry thing because these two would not sit still for photos. Thankfully they're stuck with me for life, they'll get the hang of this modeling thing soon.

Maris Laura and Marion Carol, welcome to the family! 

(and all the photoshoots that being related to me entails...;))

Spring sunshine in Savannah

Maybe it's just me, but I hadn't really thought much about Savannah before. I went with Lisa a couple years ago and it was fun, but I didn't really think it was a destination. Like sure if you're driving through and need to stop for lunch, stop there! But a whole trip?

Well, I was wrong!

Turns out Savannah in the spring is extra beautiful...so pretty in fact that we stopped back by on our way home from ATL. The trees are AMAZING and huge and also make it shady enough that it doesn't feel like a million degrees. We stopped in a little park and took some photos. It was so peaceful and other than the students late to SCAD that were rushing through, it was very relaxing!

And did I mention not a million degrees? That was by far the best part.

HAPPY CHAUNNYAAA?

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion.

Hannanuk is an 8 day holiday and It's safe to say that even 8 days of celebrating I still couldn't figure out how to actually spell it.

So why Hanukkah? A lot of my friends were pretty curious. As Christians, we already know the true meaning of Christmas so why celebrate and take part in a religious tradition that is the Jewish alternative for celebrating the messiah?

Honestly, I don't have a deep theological reason. I just kind of wanted too (and the fried potatoes part didn't hurt) and we decided to order a 12 dollar menorah off amazon and go for it. And even though the inexpensive menorah turned out to be kind of a dud and an extreme fire hazard, our house made it through the eight days without burning down via menorah malfunction and our hearts were actually INCREDIBLY blessed from the celebration process.

MERRY, MERRY MEMORIES.

It seems that every year I only get around to writing about Christmas things....a month after Christmas. What can I say, I guess I just love to extend the celebration a bit further! So you can't really be mad at me for that, can you?

HAVE A HOLLY JOLLY JANUARY?

Something like that.

Here's to you, Hugh

The other day Creighton asked me if I still post on my blog. I said yes, of course(!) but casually left off the fact that I post about him.

Taking Creighton's senior photos was kind of surreal. I've know him since we were 5 years old and we used to play war together in the treehouse (I was always the nurse, I'll have you know.) Before we moved our families went on field trips to trader joes together, when we moved the came to visit us and every single year of high school 90% of our classes were taken together. And the best part is, we've been in the family zone since the day we met! No awkwardness, just brother and sister and chauffeur and fashion advisor.

Pretty proud of these images, pretty proud of my little brother and very very sad that High School is peacing out.

(First mention of brother hugh here...oh how the time flies!)

THE Venetian Experience.

It feels like it was many eons ago that we were wandering about Venice! Here's the thing about Venice, you can't drive anywhere, and, of course, we opted for the true Venetian experience which meant our hotel was in the heart of Venice! Which was fun and all, but walking  around for an hour carrying all our luggage was a little exhausting/not the Venice experience we had pictured.

The next morning we headed out (only after I'd climbed out the window of our room because, it's Venice!) and began wandering around the city FOR REAL. And when you don't have an overpacked suitcase to pull around, Venice is stunning. By far my favorite Italian city! We ate lunch along the Grand Canal and the view was positively magical.

Also I unintentionally dressed just like a gondolier, so yay!