Tag: vacation

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

General Life Stuff

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I’ve been a really bad blogger lately. I’m not sure what to say, really. Life has gotten busier and I’ve found that I don’t need to vent to the online universe or talk about whatever nearly as frequently. For the sake of trying to get back into some sort of routine to keep my website alive, I am back. Since I haven’t been updating you guys on anything lately, I think I’ll just start with that. Hopefully it’s interesting enough to follow along–quite a lot of interesting things have happened since I last blogged!

The biggest life change that’s happened since September is my new living status. I co-bought a house with my mom and moved out of my tiny little apartment. The house is an absolutely stunning, 4-story townhome in Alamo Heights. Before moving, I really struggled with depression and anxiety, but oddly enough, things have improved dramatically since my move. I now live a short walk away from my closest friends and that alone makes me so much happier. Also, not living in a cave-like apartment is very beneficial. The house is stunning and I absolutely love it with my whole heart.

I know I talked for a while about how I wanted to move to Florida after a while, but those plans have since changed. Or, more accurately, they’ve re-adjusted. My best friend (who will be making the move with me) has since gotten me to consider a different destination–Colorado. At first, I honestly wasn’t too keen for the idea, but I’m growing to like the idea more and more every day. A change of scenery would honestly be awesome. I mean, why move to Florida to get more beaches–something I’ve had an abundance of for 20+ years. Why not just change it up completely? So as of now, that’s the plan. (And yes, I have been saving up and preparing.)

Last but not least, you already know I have my obsession with traveling. Of course I would have my next vacation all planned out. I’m going to be visiting my friend in D.C. in less than a month. I haven’t been to D.C. since I was really young, so I’m excited to get to see everything while I’m old enough to understand. I’m going in mid-January so I’m sure it’ll be nice and cold and snowy and I am beyond excited.

Anyways, yeah. That’s what’s happening in my life. Not my best blog, I’m sure, but a blog nonetheless.

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. 🙂

 

 

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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