Nashville - January 2014

Nashville. I don't exactly know what it is that made me fall in love with this city. Ever since my first visit when I was 17 I've continued to come back. Each year I love it a little more, and each year I tell myself that someday I will live there.
I got to visit for about a week at the end of January. It was such a wonderful trip, and I am constantly reminded of how blessed I am to have such wonderful people in my life, and to be able to go on trips like this to visit them.

I suppose I'll start with sharing a little bit about the people in this city I love. Nashville would still be a great place without these lovelies inhabiting it, but it would definitely be lacking.


Sarah is the reason why I even came to Nashville in the first place. She's been like a big sister to me, and is by far one of my favorite people. When I was sixteen she took me out the country with a group of wonderful people and we spent a week in Guatemala. It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship, one that I treasure dearly.


I met Lori at Cornerstone Festival a few years ago, and lucky me, she lives in Nashville with her husband Chris so I get to see them generally once a year. We went out for brunch at Boscos - it's pretty fantastic and I definitely would recommend it! They had live jazz, and the woman singing had a voice as smooth as butter. So good!


I met Natalie when I was 18. I got to share one of the craziest/best experiences of my life with her - India.
This girl is wonderful at telling stories, and she never ceases to make me laugh.


Erin and Sarah lived together for a time, and that's how I met her. One of my favorite memories from the visit that we met was all of us girls, done up all pretty in our sundresses, preparing for a 4th of July party they were hosting. It came time to get the grill going, and we realized that the only charcoal we had was a bag that had been rained on. Not exactly the best thing for trying to get a fire started. In the end, we squirted pretty much an entire bottle of lighter fluid on the charcoal - and PRESTO! - we were able to grill out. I had never lit a grill, so I felt pretty badass for making it work with what we had, and all whilst wearing a dress. Ha!


Parker and Erin moved from NYC to Nashville this past year. I met Parker when I was 18 and on my way to India. He is a fantastic photographer (www.parkeryoung.net) and a big inspiration to me. This was the first time I'd met his wife. She has a style that I adore, and from what I hear/see she is a pretty stellar hair stylist. Despite just meeting her and spending only a short time with her, I could see that she just r a d i a t e s enthusiasm for life. I think vibrant is a perfect word to describe her.


James I met on my previous trip to Nashville through my friend Valarie. I got to enjoy some live music, ice skating, and an awful game of darts with him and some other cool cats during my visit. We also went down to the farmers market and did a bit of swing dancing. Such fun! It was also sunny with a high of 63 that day - pretty perfect.




I have a tradition of getting my picture taken with Mr. Dragon each time I visit. This is #4.




Due to my friends' work schedules, I had some me-time. On my first day I made chocolate chip cookies and added just a bit of white chocolate and some pecan pieces. Mmmmhmmmmm!


I love to walk and explore on my own. I spent an afternoon doing so in East Nashville on my second day. I enjoyed some coffee at Bongo Java, wrote some letters, popped into a few cute shops, and just enjoyed the fresh air, sunshine, and pretty little homes in the area.


























I can't wait to go back. <3

California 2013

I've had the following photos sitting around, waiting to be edited and posted for the last month and a half, and I haven't been very good about shooting and blogging on a regular basis. I love it, and I miss it, but each year that passes seems to go by a little faster than the last. I remember how in my teens it felt like I had all the time in the world, and now most days I don't feel like I have enough. I think in order for me to continue shooting regularly I need to just mount that darn camera of mine to my hand and take it with me everywhere I go. I don't have the time that I used to, doing a shoot on a whim when I've got a streak of inspiration. Days are too full now.
I've booked a trip to New York City for August 1st through the 6th. I'm going to be visiting a friend, as well as making it into a photographing adventure. My plan is to shoot as much as possible and sink back into the pool of love for taking pictures that I've managed to dry up, simply by not making my photography a priority in my life. I also just plain and simple need an adventure in a far away place to fulfill my wanderlust wishes. ;)

Back in May I flew to California for my cousin's wedding. I've visited the Santa Maria/Santa Barbara area a few times in the last few years, but this was the first time I'd been to a more northern part of the state in a long time. I spent most of my days in Sacramento, seeing as that's where my family was, but I took a short trip to San Francisco for Mother's Day with my mamma, aunt, and her grandson.