Photo Diary | Seattle

Preston & I have caught a bit of the wanderlust bug. It might have been spurred on by a quarter-life crisis, but I am excited to see the places it will take us. Our goal is to have one domestic and one international trip a year-though we wouldn't mind surpassing that. And considering we were in Seattle over Valentine's, and in April, we are headed to Taiwan-we just might. So here is to more photo diary posts!

We spent a total of about 3 full days, taking a couple of red eye flights to make the most of our time. The jet lag got to us a bit, but that Seattle coffee perked us right up. Plus, it helped to wake up earlier to make the most of our days. We were grateful to our friend's for picking us up late at night at the airport and letting us crash with their kitties. From there, we took the bus to downtown and began our weekend of long walks and delicious food. My kind of weekend.

Of course, we started out at Pike Place market. It was such a lively atmosphere. I loved all the colours of the fresh produce and the views of the sound. We walked up a little tucked away staircase in search of coffee and breakfast foods to Storyville. I could have sat there all day, viewing the market from a cozy chair with a warm latte. They even had a 'Sorry' style board game which-being the board game junkies we are-we had to test out. After being sufficiently fueled up, we continued our exploration of downtown.

Original Starbs ^^

It was an amazingly blue day, uncharacteristic for Seattle. We walked through the sculpture park and by the Space Needle. We had a few hours before our Airbnb check-in and decided to go to the Experience Music Project Museum. The exhibits were scarily perfect for us-indie games, Hello Kitty, fantasy, and sci-fi.

The next day began with-you guessed it- more coffee. We went to the cutest cafe in our temporary neighborhood, Queen Bee, for crumpets. Delicious. Then, we walked up past all the Northwestern homes to Volunteer Park. We are a little obsessed with Olmsted's life and work after reading The Devil in the White City. It was cool to expand our list of 'Olmsted parks visited' with the Olmsted Brother's work. Our only disappointment was the water tower was closed (and unable to bypass like we did at Watkins Glen).

Valentine's themed house ^^

For lunch, we dived into a ginormous noodle bowl at In the Bowl. Mmm, perfect for the drizzly, gray weather. The true Seattle experience.

Looking back we did so much this day. We stopped by Twice Sold Tales, a quirky used bookstore with free-roaming fluffy cats. We then took a Lyft up to Fremont. Whenever we are traveling a city we like to get out the center a bit to explore different neighborhoods.

We stopped by the bustling Fremont Brewing and visited the troll. It was quite the popular attraction. We ended the day at Kerry Park to check out the city views.

For our last day, we wandered around Washington Park Arboretum. We made the mistake of diverging from the path into sinking mud puddles. The perpetual moisture is definitely not something we are used to on the east coast.

Before we headed to the airport we made a final run downtown, walking around Pioneer Square. I loved the older architecture in this part of the city. Our 9pm flight had us arriving in New York at 6 am. I was feeling quite a bit off the first few days back, but now we are back to our normal routine. And ready for our next adventure. 

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Florida Photo Diary

I just arrived back in Brooklyn after a nice summer vacation in Florida. As a 'grown-up', it can be difficult to find that time to relax. As a kid, I thought summer break was way too long, but of course now, I kind of miss it. Luckily for me, my hometown is in sunny, beachy Florida. It's great to be able to visit my family and have the quintessential summer holiday. I shared many pictures along the way on Instagram, but I also wanted to diary-style a few new ones and highlight some of my favourite moments.

Preston's family has so many different animals. It's funny to see how our [now] city cats take in the outdoors. They love exploring and go right up to the mini horses, goats, and anything else. 

Braids & bold lips were my thang this vacation. I loved this summer look. This packing list was super helpful and made planning outfits easy.

We had a blast at Universal Studios. When we lived in Florida, we would go to the theme parks all the time, so we try to make a trip to Orlando whenever we are in town. We really wanted to see the newest addition to the Harry Potter World. It was indeed magical.

Another 'tourist' spot I love to visit is historic St. Augustine. It's so beautiful to walk around. This time, my mom, sister, and I visited San Sebastian Winery. I have to say the wines were a bit on the sweet side for me, but it was a fun experience listening to live music on the rooftop.

I probably had a little too much fun with the inflatable donut (and the flash tats). I secretly had it shipped to my mom's house just in time for pool fun. I am not a huge summer person, but I do miss the lack of swimming access I have in New York. Nothing beats having a pool in your own backyard.

Boating. Another water activity I miss. I am so grateful that we were able to do so much this trip. It was a blast speeding down the intracoastal. We had so many sunny days (excluding the 3pm showers).

Preston & I are high school sweethearts. It's seems silly saying it that way, but it's true. We also went to college together. It's crazy to think that we graduated four years ago. With that in mind, we decided to drive out to the swamp to visit our alma mater. It was so uncanny walking around, seeing where we used to live, where we used to get lunch, have class. So many routines that were daily, turned into something we hadn't done for years. We also got to see another side of Gainesville with the guide of a friend that still lives there.

Not going to lie, Preston & I do tend to revert to our youth with trips back home. I think that's normal right? We played in the pool for hours (I have the sunburns to prove it) and had regular board game nights. Grown-up board games, though. It's fun to have more people around for games as two-player games are hard to come by. A new favourite was Coup. The above zombie game is a nightmare. I don't think it's been beaten yet.

The food theme of this trip was tacos. Which is fine by me, I love tacos. We met up with friends in Jax Beach on one of the last nights and finished the evening off by a stroll along the ocean.

Preston was able to sneak some mountain biking in, along with extreme go carting. We also had to take Rococo to the vet for a dental cleaning. I was so worried, but she is all better and has clean teeth. We are settling back into our routines, though tomorrow is going to feel like a long one. Now that I had my summer vacation, I am eager for fall. Plus, I start a new job in a couple of weeks, so there is a lot to look forward to. It's always hard to leave our families, but Christmas will be here before you know it, and we love our life together in Brooklyn. Why can't there be teleportation machines already?!

What did you do this summer?

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Photo Diary | Florida Holiday

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My hometown is in Florida, so every year Preston & I (& the cats) fly down to spend time with our families. We are lucky that it doesn't have to be a choice since our parents live so close to each other (though 45 minutes in high school felt like forever). My 'hood is definitely more suburban beach town (and old rich peoples...golf) while Preston's house is almost a petting zoo in the woods. I love it. 

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