Category: travel

Life is Busy, Man

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Last y’all heard, I was in D.C. freezing my buns off and sightseeing. (I didn’t really freeze my buns off, don’t worry.) Things got really busy and I didn’t get another chance to blog. Oh well though, I’ve since uploaded some pictures I took in my photography section of my page, so check those out please! I really like them. 🙂 There’s a section for the Women’s March and a section for black and white detail shots I took. The details of architecture are honestly my favorite things to shoot.

Anyways, yeah D.C. was absolutely amazing except for the day it was like 12 degrees. That was rough. I’m totally fine with and in high 20s or 30 degree weather, but 12 was a bit much for me. My plans to really explore Alexandria were kind of put off by the weather, but I was okay with it. I was really tired by then and kind of ready to get back home.

Coming home wasn’t the relaxing relief that I hoped for though. Work has been absolutely chaotic–more so than ever before. Things will start to slow down again soon, but in the meantime, I barely have time to do anything non-work related. (Such a shame, I know!) Fridays are usually slow enough so that I can try to get caught up though, so that’s what I’m doing here.

Today, I started looking at my map of places I’ve been so I could add D.C.. Of course that made me want to take yet another vacation. I just can’t quit, I wanna go everywhere. I think next I’ll go somewhere tropical. I need a beach getaway.

Blog update though: I found a really cool article with “self-discovery journaling tips” so I’m going to start using some of those prompts for my blogs instead. Don’t know if they’ll be any good but OH WELL. I’m not one to make sure people like what I do anyways. 🙂 (There are some really cool prompts though–I want to do one this weekend.)

Stay tuned for those and more D.C. pictures coming very soon. My last group that I’m going to drop is different from the rest. I made sure to keep a consistent theme in each photoset and none are alike. I’m trying to push myself out of my comfort zone, creatively.

That’s all for now.

xx – A

Our Capitol City

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The State Capitol, obviously!

Last I checked in, I had let you guys know I was going to Washington, D.C. for a bit of a vacation (but also to visit one of my favorite people on this planet–hi Tessa!) I have been here for about 48 hours and am loving every minute of it so far! Good lord, it is beautiful! Everything is beautiful! There’s snow on the ground and beautiful buildings everywhere I turn!

Since I didn’t get in until 9:30ish on Thursday, we didn’t do much that night, but yesterday and today have been jam-packed with activities. I saw (and toured) both the State Capitol and the Library of Congress. I checked out the White House, which I sadly couldn’t tour since you have to set up a reservation like 4 months in advance. That’s okay though, next time. Originally I had planned to go to the Smithsonian museums since those are a huge attraction in the city, but because of the government shut-down, they are obviously closed. I was bummed about that at first but then got excited about the fact that I would have to be a little more creative about the sights that I chose to see. (Spoiler alert: I’ve been very pleased with what I’ve seen so far!)

  • Checked out the White House!
  • Enjoyed the Library of Congress

After we saw the government buildings I mentioned already, we walked over to the Georgetown area and spent a few hours walking around and checking it out over there. My friend correctly assumed I would enjoy seeing it and getting to do some shooting because the buildings/area are really pretty. I was very impressed. She knows me well. She’s also very tolerant and understanding of my constant stopping to take shots, so that’s a huge relief–makes me feel less guilty about taking 30 minutes to walk the length of one city block.

Check out my beanie, though. 😉

We stayed in the city last night (rather than in her apartment in Ashburn) which was really nice! (Marriotts are always a good choice!) Relaxing time, then dinner with some friends made for a nice Friday evening. Saturday was filled with one activity: the Women’s March. I’m not really one for marching (or politics in general), but as far as experiences go, that was a really cool one! I mean, if you’re going to march for the first time ever, might as well make it at a Women’s March in the heart of the United States? It was interesting and let me tell you, I took an absurd number of pictures. Actually, I took an absurd number of pictures almost everywhere we went. I’ll link to the photo albums I put up somewhere in this blog entry once I’m done with them.  

Anyways, tomorrow I’ll be on my own for most of the day and I am thrilled about the things I’m planning to see. It’ll be a long and busy day, that’s for sure. Stay tuned for more updates (and loads of pictures).

xx – A

Washington, D.C.

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Hey everyone! I don’t have much time but I wanted to squeeze in a quick life update / travel blog. Woo!

I’m about to leave to go visit one of my closest friends in D.C. and I am beyond excited. I haven’t been since I was essentially too young to be able to appreciate or remember anything, so this is a bit of a new one for me. I’ll only be there for the long weekend, but I have filled my itinerary as much as I possibly can. (Don’t hate on me for making an itinerary, I think we all know by now that I am insanely organized–borderline OCD.) Besides, I make really nice and efficient itineraries. Without them, I wouldn’t get to see nearly as much of the cities I go to. (I make one for every vacation.)

Anyways, the weather here in San Antonio is a comfortable 75 degrees and sunny. D.C., on the other hand, is 34 degrees right now with a chance of snow tonight. I’m weirdly excited–I love snow. I also love going on at least one “wintery” vacation each year. Last year was skiing, the year before was New York City, etc. etc. I just love winter vacations!

  • My friend sent me these photos from her balcony last weekend…
  • I made them b&w for ~aesthetic~ purposes
New new!

Despite the fact that I go on winter vacations pretty regularly, I realized that I do not own any decent snow / weather resistant boots. I didn’t realize that until Monday though, so I had to do quite a bit of research to figure out what I could actually get delivered to myself by the time I had to leave. (I wasn’t going to bother wasting my time shopping around in SA; I already knew there wouldn’t be many options.) I ended up settling on some, rather expensive, but overall really awesome boots by Sorel. The actual Sorel website couldn’t get them to be in time, but Amazon Prime came to my rescue! They were delivered last night and I am absolutely in love with them. I’m certain they will go a long way in keeping my feet warm and dry for the next few days.

So yeah–there’s my quick little update. I’ll probably get out at least one blog while I’m up there. I’m definitely going to want to talk about the things I’m doing! So many fun / cool activities planned! Also, photos will be happening so I’ll be adding another project to my photography page exclusively for D.C. shots, so stay tuned for both of those things!

xx – A

Never Forget

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I was going to write a Facebook post, but I figured I have a blog for a reason–to speak my mind. Those who want to read it may do so, and others can just continue on with their days without being bothered by the things I have to say.

This year, more than any other year, the events of 9/11 are hitting me more emotionally hard than they ever have. Maybe it’s because I just returned from New York a week ago? Maybe it’s because my favorite spot in the city is the One World Observatory, a building that obviously only exists because of what happened 16 years ago today? Maybe it’s because I visited the 9/11 Memorial 10 days ago? Regardless, I’m couldn’t tell you exactly why, but I just want to talk a bit about the most resilient, powerful, and awe-inspiring city I’ve ever been to–New York City.

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You can literally see the curve of the Earth from the One World Observatory.

I’ve been to New York quite a few times, and each and every time I go, I tell myself “Anna, you need to stop coming back here and see other parts of the world. NYC isn’t the only place to go, anyways.” But time and time again, I find myself in the city that never sleeps, and time and time again, I fall more and more in love with that place.

I just watched a video on Facebook that gave me absolute chills. I got misty eyed at my desk, and I can’t even fully put into words why (aside from the obvious bravery and tragedy exhibited in the video). I’ve never visited somewhere as frequently as I have New York City, and watching the footage from this day that, at the time of it happening, I was too young to understand, my heart aches both with pride and sorrow. I put myself in the position that thousands of Americans were put in on that day and realize that this remarkable city and the people there have recovered from this detrimental tragedy.

Now, I’m not one for country music, and those of you who know me, know this to be insanely true. I’ve officially made an exception for the song by Alan Jackson that played in that video.

There really is no real purpose to this blog other than just to express some heartfelt emotion. The more I visit this city that I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself living in one day, the more respect I find myself having for it. (I didn’t even know my respect could continue growing, but alas.) My heart aches for events of the past, but with each tragedy that befalls us makes us even stronger.

Thanks for reading.

xx – A

The Big Apple

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Alright, so if y’all read my last blog, you should know I went to New York City for the….I think it was the 6th or 7th time. I’ve lost count at this point. I had kept telling myself that I wasn’t going to keep going there and instead would vacation elsewhere, but when your dad buys you courtside tickets to the 50th Anniversary of the US Open, you go to the US Open. (More on that later, though.) I’m writing this blog to really just fill in my peeps (that’s you guys) on the things I did while I was up there. If anyone is going to NYC anytime soon, I highly recommend doing any of the same activities because they were all fantastic.

Fun fact: we did about 30 miles of walking from Friday to Tuesday. My feet have some lovely blisters to prove it.

We were staying at a hotel on the corner of Lexington and 48th, so on Friday, I planned for us to check out midtown. My dad hadn’t been to NYC in like 25 years, so things were much different for him. We walked to Central Park and spent quite a bit of time there before making our way down to Times Square and then to Rockefeller Center. Friday night was our night to go on a dinner cruise, so we dressed up nice and did that. Our dinner cruise gave us some breathtaking views of the city while feeding us amazing food at the same time. 10/10 experience.

 

Saturday, we spent the morning walking the Chelsea High Line then went to the Chelsea Market, both spectacular places to check out! Mars and some old family friends of mine met us at a restaurant nearby and we spent the remainder of the evening drinking local beer, chatting and catching up. It was a very wholesome day!

img_7554Sunday’s activities consisted of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, tooling around in Brooklyn, and walking to One World Observatory by way of the Brooklyn Bridge. (Loads of walking!) If you ever want to walk the Brooklyn Bridge, I recommend wearing comfortable shoes…although I have done it in freezing temperatures wearing heels before, so to each his own. I like to wear nice outfits for the photos, so I was okay with suffering through the foot pain. That evening after having spent some time at the top of the tallest building on this side of the world, we had an appointment at the Color Factory, and although I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect with this event, I booked us spots anyways. (The weekend was on the verge of selling out when I booked on the Wednesday before.) Turns out, it was a fantastic time filled with creativity and picture taking and playing in a giant ball pit. Spectacular.

(Head over to my Insta for more photos of my NYC adventures.)

img_7694Monday. Monday was spectacular. We had front row seats at the US Open in the Louis Armstrong stadium all day long. I watched Nishikori’s sweat drip off him as he beat Kohlschreiber as well as having the same intense view watching 2014 US Open winner, Cilic beat Goffin later that day. Of course, I watched some women’s tennis too and let me tell you, women’s tennis is much more intense when you’re basically sitting on the court. Some other big names you might recognize that we watched play on other courts: Nadal, Federer, Millman, Sharapova, Djokovic, and so many more. It was a spectacularly long 14 hour day, but it was the experience of a lifetime.

Now, I hadn’t ever really tried to tackle taking the subway to get around, but my dad insisted we give it a shot, so after some resistance, I gave in. One of my best friends, Mars, lives up there and recommended an app called City Mapper to help navigate the city subway system, and let me tell you, it was a lifesaver. I owe both Mars and that app for my learning the subway system. By the end of our trip, I would consider myself pretty adept at navigating the subway. I surprised myself. 🙂

I’m aware that this blog is longer than usual, and I apologize. I tried not to ramble too much, but sometimes I just lose track of how much I’m writing. Anyways, hope you enjoyed my little vacation update. This is my third big vacation this year, and I absolutely love it. I love traveling.

Have a great Thursday!

xx – A

P.S. Videos from the Color Factory included below. More to come on my social media. 🙂

 

 

Long Time No See

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Wow, okay I just took the longest break in posting a blog since I STARTED BLOGGING. I know, I know, I’m a slacker. In my defense though, work has been very very crazy, and that was my primary time to blog.

We’re adding tons of stations, I’m covering for a co-worker on maternity leave, occasionally covering for others when they’re on vacation, etc., etc.. It’s been crazy and I have barely had time to keep up with my freelance blogs, much less these ones. BUT I’ve had quite a few people inquiring with me as to what the heck is happening? Where was I at? So for the sake of updating everyone on the ins and outs of my life, here I am.

LaunchSoptThumbnail

First things first, tomorrow I’m going on yet another vacation. (I love my life.) I’ll be leaving for New York City for the seventh time tomorrow and I won’t be back until next Tuesday. (At least I think it’s my seventh time, I kind of lost count honestly.) Even though I’ve been a lot, I still absolutely love the city. It’s lively and exciting. My dad is taking me and WE’RE GOING TO THE FREAKING US OPEN (for tennis). That’s his belated birthday present to me, and it’s honestly great. We’ll be courtside at the Louis Armstrong stadium on Labor Day so I’m pretty excited about that. I’ve also got plenty of awesome and fun activities planned for the other days.

I made an itinerary for our trip and I really think my dad is nervous about it. He’s one of those people that just “goes with it” on his vacations but I like having events planned out and whatnot. I still leave plenty of time for chilling out and nothing ever feels rushed, but I just like having tickets and things bought in advance. It makes for a stress free vacation. He’ll see that I’m not psycho.

ALSO, I get to visit some of my closest friends while I’m in NYC! (I’m lookin at you, Mars and Tessa!!!)

Anyways, another update, I’M MOVING. My mom and I are co-buying a beautiful townhome in the Alamo Heights area in San Antonio and I’ll be living there once my lease is up at my apartment in October. So that’s going to be amazing. I’ll have to adjust to life with roommates, but I think I’ll be able to handle it. I’m beyond excited.

In addition to NYC this weekend and moving in October, let me tell you about everything else I have going on during weekends for the next few months. (I’m warning you, it’s a lot.) First, I’m going to NYC, then it’s my best friend’s birthday weekend, then I’m going to Houston, then I’m going home to celebrate my mom’s bday. The last weekend of September is currently free…for now. The first weekend of October I’ll be going home to celebrate my dad’s birthday, weekend after that is ACL, the weekend after that I’ll be moving into my new place, then I have my cousin’s wedding the last weekend of October. The first weekend of November will be spent at Wurstfest for a bachelorette weekend, the following weekend is the same friend’s Bridal shower, and the third weekend is Thanksgiving weekend. I’m just feeling very overwhelmed with everything that’s booked, but like, in a good way! I love having a lot going on.

Anyways, enough rambling for today. Here’s some pictures from random things over the past few weeks since I’ve updated you last.

Fun, Fitness, Friday!

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Wow, it seems like lately Fridays have been the only days I have time to blog. That’s kind of a bummer since I was posting two a week for a while. The lack of blogs is a result of me taking on more responsibilities though–I wanted to keep myself busier. (It’s working…I’m slammed.)

So today feels like a great day to do a fitness blog since I haven’t done one in a while, but I want to do a little life update. Quite a few things have transpired over the past week, and I’m quite excited about the weeks to come!
Two weeks from today, myself and a few of my closest friends will be taking off on a ROAD TRIP! We’re going to Destin, Florida for a few days to celebrate my birthday and the Fourth of July, and I could not be more excited. I’m already trying to buy more bikinis so I’m fully prepared, LOL. If anyone has been to Destin before and has recommendations of activities to do or sights to see, let me know! I’m going to be spending the next few days doing some research to hopefully get some solid plans locked down ASAP. (Gotta utilize the free time I have at work while I can, amiright?)
Another update, the volleyball team  I talked about in my last blog is officially locked and loaded. And yes, our team name is the Clever Beaches. It won the vote!! (I also pushed for it, whoops!) So we’re going to have two more practices for the coming two Tuesdays and our first game in on July 10! I’m hoping to kick some booty and have some fun. 🙂 It’ll be great. (I also think this is a pretty great resume booster.)
So that’s pretty much everything significant that happened over the last week.
On to fitness!

So if you weren’t aware or hadn’t read about it in any of my previous blogs, I joined a workout group called Keep It Cleaner, or KIC. This program has been absolutely amazing, and I could not speak more highly of it. I’m not going to go into a big long explanation about it, so read the blog I wrote about it and come back here if you need to. (LOL.) It’s really a fun group and everyone is so supportive and empowering. (I figured it was time to update y’all on my progress now that it’s been going on for a while.)
I first started this program on April 16, so I’ve been doing it for about 2 months now, and holy crap, you guys. It’s been amazing. I do a KIC workout 4-5 times a week, and I’m usually pretty active the other days of the week. The workouts are fast and fun, and they really motivate you to push yourself.
Aside from my physical health being at such a great level right now, my mental health is probably the best it’s been in a long time. A long time. I’ve never felt more confident in myself mentally and physically. I do everything with so much more gusto than I ever have. I decide I want to do something, and I make it happen. I’ve taken more leadership roles, I’ve fostered new friendships, I’ve developed healthier eating habits just because.
And to think, I’ve only been doing this program for two months. I can’t even imagine where I’ll be in another two months! Like crap! I almost have a 6-pack already and I haven’t had one of those in years, and I’ve always been fit.

Peep the abs
Fresh haircut!
KIC’in it!

I want to say that this program has been my saving grace, but I also have to give some credit to myself. This program didn’t do the work for me; it gave me the tools to succeed, but I did that myself. I held myself accountable and I have been holding myself accountable. I’m proud of how far I’ve come, and I can’t wait to see where I go from here. 🙂

Also, I got an iPhone x, so my photos are officially going to be so much better. I’ve never loved a phone more than I have this one!!
(Thanks, momma for the early bday prezzie.)

Happy Friday!

xx – A

Poolside photoshoot from last Saturday
Bikini: Blackbough Swim
App: Huji
Feelin’ SO GOOD
Just wanted to share 🙂

Memorial Day

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Okay, who else has had a relatively chaotic week? The short week resulting from the long weekend is great, don’t get me wrong, but there’s just so much to cram into a smaller period of time. It’s sort of overwhelming at times. I feel like I’m literally behind on everything because I’m missing that whole extra day. (I know I can’t be the only one that feels this way.)

For Memorial Day weekend, I went home to the coast to spend some much needed time with friends and family. Pool day at a friends on Saturday, beach day on Sunday, then pool day at my house on Monday. It was busy. (That’s not even including activities in the evenings.) There were some ups and some downs, but altogether it was a great weekend. I even got to play tennis for the first time in 8 months!!! I missed it so much!!! Having the extra time to be home was really nice and it wasn’t such a stressful trip. Usually I have very little time to do anything so my time is like, blocked off, and maintaining that schedule gets exhausting.
Also, I didn’t really take many pictures this weekend–mostly videos. So here’s just 3 random pics because why not? xx

 

This week, everything has been chaotic. Oh, one update though: YA GIRL IS OFFICIALLY A PAID FREELANCE BLOGGER. Yep, you read that right. All this blogging is finally getting me somewhere. It’s not like a big deal, and I’m not going to be “raking in the dough” or whatever, but it’s still pretty dope. 🙂 I love writing (as I’m sure y’all know), so getting to do it for money? That’s like an actual dream come true.
But anyways, back to this week. Since the week is shorter and we’re trying to close out the month of May at work, things have been insane. On top of that, a member of my team is going out on maternity leave starting Monday, so I’m picking up a lot of her markets while she’s out. I know this makes very little sense, because let’s be real, no one’s jobs make sense to anyone but the person doing the job, but just know it’s chaos.

This weekend will actually be relatively calm though, and I am grateful for that. At least, it should be calm. It’s only Friday….things could change in an instant. We have our iHeart Corporate Cup on Saturday morning–7 am call time–so that’s gonna be fun. (No sarcasm there; we get free beer and food all day.) I’m hoping all the dodgeball practicing we’ve done pays off and we do well. Who knows?!

Anyways, there’s the update on my life. There’s not really a theme on this blog, but I wasn’t really feeling any theme in particular. Next week I’m going to do a fitness-related blog though, so stay tuned for that. I’ll include some vids from this weekend below (one from each day of the weekend), so watch them if ya want!

xx – A

P.S. #NoFilter on my featured image, the weather/water was just that beautiful. (Also featuring one of my favorite puppers.)

 

 

 

 

 

Weekend Getaway

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I had been feeling down lately, and of course, my mom presented the perfect solution–a weekend vacation. Her and my aunt were planning on going to Richmond, Virginia for the weekend, and about a week and a half in advance, my mom bought me a plane ticket so I could join them.

So, “what’s in Richmond, Virginia” you might ask? Well, for starters, amazing food, beautiful buildings, American history, lush greenery, and so much more.

Of course, I wasn’t aware of that when I agreed to go, but I love traveling to new places, and this was just that–a new place. I had never really been to anywhere on the East Coast other than a few Floridian cities and NYC…both very different places. I have never gotten to experience the “Original 13 Colonies” areas, if ya know what I mean.

I was so pleasantly surprised by how fun Richmond was! I don’t think I’d ever like actively seek out going there again, but don’t get me wrong–it was amazing!

I left work a bit early on Friday and didn’t land in Richmond until around midnight that night. I ubered to the house my mom and aunt were already at and holy crap. It was SO CUTE! I’m guessing the balcony wasn’t finished when they took the pictures (below), but it was when we were there so we had that additional super cute place to lounge.

So Saturday, we woke up early, at breakfast at the cutest coffee shop around the corner called the Early Bird Biscuit Co. It was amazing. The coffee rocked, the food rocked, and the service rocked. Afterwards, we made our way to a Catholic seminar that was the primary reason for my mom and aunt going to Richmond. It was surprisingly cool, but we didn’t stay the whole time and were only there from 9:30-11am or so. (It started at 9 and ended at noon.)
Afterwards, we made our way to Carytown and ate at Sen Organic Small Plate…it was a 10/10 meal. Actually, let me just be upfront with you–every meal we had was 10/10 (if not 11/10). After filling our bellies, we shopped around the quirky shops on Cary street. Despite the rain (yes it was raining. all day.), we had a blast. The rain actually kept us from like, overheating, because I’m sure we would have had it not been raining.
Naptime was at 5 pm, and dinner was at The Boathouse at Rockett’s Landing. I tried my first East coast oysters, which was a big deal because I despise Gulf oysters. Turns out, I don’t hate all oysters, just ones from the Gulf that look like giant boogers. (Sorry not sorry.) Cocktails, mojitos, shrimp stuffed crab cakes, shrimp and grits, and bread budding were all had. All things had were amazing. That is all.

Y’all, if you’ve never gone on a segway tour of a city before, damnit, go on one next time you’re somewhere new! We went on one on Sunday morning from 10am-12pm and it was honestly one of the most fun things I’ve done in a long time. We got to see a ton of beautiful buildings and cover a ton of ground in such a short time. I highly recommend. It was beautiful and educational and the most fun ever.

Actually, that statement could be used to sum up the entirety of the weekend–beautiful, educational, and the most fun ever. Richmond did not disappoint, y’all.

I owe my mom and aunt so much for making this weekend such an amazing one–especially my mom. After all, she did drop the money randomly to pay for my flight and meals and ubers and whatnot to get there. I appreciate her and this trip so much. It was exactly what I needed. 🙂

P.S. Featured image is the view from our balcony.

xx – A

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