Freshman Year? Check!

Wow, let me start by saying that I cannot believe that I'm done with my first, not semester, but YEAR of college. Honestly, I'm sad that the first year is over, I want the next 3 years to crawl by. It's all going by too fast! But I will say that it's been the best 8 months of my life and I'm the happiest I have ever been. My college BFFs and I fit in SO much during our first year of college and that's something I am so grateful for. One of the best pieces of advice I got before heading to school was from my fabulous Aunt Lynn who told me to just say YES to new experiences and opportunities (within reason of course). So when people would invite me to do things such as attend events, or to join new clubs, or to even just go for a walk, I just went for it without hesitation! This is a piece of advice I have begun to live by. By following this advice it opened the doors to so many opportunities. Such as St. Augustine Fashion Week, which then led to an internship! It's incredible what can happen when you step out of your comfort zone and just say yes. 

These are only a handful of the many photos I took this past year at school. It was an incredible first year filled with so many great new memories such as St. Augustine Fashion Week, an internship, being featured in the St. Augustine Old City Life magazine, a mini trip to Palm Coast, a weekend away at Seaworld, meeting a clown, camping at Anna Maria Island, lots & lots of beach days, two trips to Charleston (one of my new fav places!), attending the Little Big Town Concert, jumping in fountains, worshiping the Lord at Sub30, lots of dancing (duh), and so much more that I couldn't even fit into this one post. 

Words cannot describe how thankful I am for Flagler and for the unforgettable people I've met throughout this past year. 

A special shoutout to the best friends I made over the past year Avery, Lane, Chloe, and Stephanie. Y'all mean the world to me!

And a shoutout to my parents for everything they have done and continually do to help and support me to chase my dreams at Flagler. I love you guys.

I for one am counting down the days until my sophomore year begins this fall! 

Here's to the many new memories to come.

xo

California Trip 2015

Once we flew home from England and Paris, I was home for 10 days and then I was off to my next adventure! This time, I was headed to sunny Coronado, California. We take a trip every year to southern California to visit my moms side of the family. It's one of my favorite things to look forward to every year. Not only is it so great to see my Grandad and Aunt Beth, but I also view Coronado as a second home. I've grown up going to Coronado every year, it's impossible not to fall in love with this charming island. 

My family and I ended up staying for a whole month this summer, so instead of writing about our trip in several different posts, I thought I'd compile it all into one.

We made so many great memories on this trip! We went on a walking tour of Embarcadero (the harbor area in downtown San Diego), we sort of hiked in Torrey Pines, we ate at In-N-Out burger (!!), I got to dog-sit (the cutest) little one for our neighbor, we visited Old Town, I met the coolest Japanese exchange students, I got to have lunch at the Hotel Del, we went to Admiral Baker (our favorite brunch spot), we walked around Seaport Village, we went over to Pacific Beach, we went to the Little Italy farmers market, we walked down Orange Ave and went shopping., I biked to the Coronado beach, I got to see the "Kiss Me Kate" play at the Old Globe theater, we explored Oceanside, my brother and Grandad went to a Padres baseball game, we went to a few concert in the parks, and we all spent loads of times with friends and family!

The dream team!! I was so lucky to be able to work with these two incredible ladies, Vicki and Ashley, while I was in town. For the second year in a row I got to be an intern at L'Attitude Design! I ended up working with them for a whole month, and throughout that time, I got to experience at first hand the ins and outs of running a business. I so enjoyed my time with L'Attitude and hope I'll be able to work with them again in the future!

Here is some of their finished projects I got to see in person! Every one of their remodel, staging, and owner occupancy jobs always end up looking INCREDIBLE. What Vicki and Ashley create in these spaces is truly an art. They're both extremely talented. When I buy my first home, I'm planning on flying them out to the East Coast to design the interiors for me!

Ludlow, England

After we spent those incredible few days in Paris, we headed back to Burnham, spent a few more days with the British family, and then headed off to our next adventure destination, Ludlow, England! Every time we are in the UK we always try to stop by Ludlow so that we can visit two of our great friends, Dave and Jo. They live in the cutest cottage (It's named the Little Shortgrove cottage!), which is basically in the middle of nowhere. You have to drive down many bumpy, twisting, turning, dirt roads to reach their house. 

The remote countryside was such a nice change after being in such a busy city. Their house sits in the middle of several huge fields, most of which are filled with (the cutest) sheep. 

This is the Little Shortgrove cottage! Isn't it just about the cutest place you've ever seen?! I think I took about 30 pictures of this place alone. It has so much character inside and out, and its almost 600 years old!!

These two were even cuter than the cottage. Meet Hayward the horse and Bramble (aka Donk) the donkey! Did you notice Donk's smile? I think she rather fancied us by the end of our stay, at least I'd like to think so.

It was so great to see Dave and Jo during our Europe trip! My Dad and Dave have been best friends for over 40 years, how cute is that. They met in primary school (aka elementary school) and have been friends ever since. 

Peek-a-boo :-)

This looks more like typical English weather. When we got home from dinner, all of the clouds had rolled in.

Fun fact: It didn't get dark until 10 pm.

Donk was so sweet and gentle, especially with Connor, who had no fear whatsoever going up and scratching Donk on the nose. I fell in love with her, I want a donkey now (and a horse too, of course!). They really are one of the quirkiest and sassiest animals you'll ever come across. Donkeys have so much personality; you never really know what to expect from them. 

Connor was a little hesitant at first, but he successfully fed both Hayward and Donk. :)

How stunning is Dave and Jo's property! Hayward and Donk are livin' the life.

I couldn't get enough of this cutie patootie. 

Dave tries to act like he doesn't care for the donkey much, but this picture tells a different story...

While my dad was photographing Dave and Jo's cottage, Donk was up to no good. She went to investigate what he was up to, gave him a little nibble, and then got what she came for: a little scratch on the head. ;)

We had dinner over looking this gorgeous stream.

The town of Ludlow was the view from our table! Talk about picturesque.

Walking around the town of Ludlow with Dave and the family, was seriously a huge highlight of the trip! I absolutely LOVE Ludlow. It's so quaint, but rustic at the same time. All the streets look like they're straight from a movie.

Little tight, there?

Hmmm, maybe I should forget Flagler and transfer to here instead. ;)

After touring the streets of Ludlow, we headed to the Ludlow Castle. It was actually way cooler than I thought it would be. In fact, I probably enjoyed it more than Connor did! You actually get to walk into the different rooms of the castle, and climb up the old staircases. It was fun to imagine what the different parts of the castle were used for hundreds of years ago. 

Dave was the best tour guide! We couldn't of found our way around without him.

After our fun trip to the little village of Ludlow, it was time for us to leave. :(

We gave Donk & Hayward some final hugs and kisses and then we set off on our way home.

On our way back to Burnham we drove through the Cotswolds! The Cotswolds is an area in central England that consists of many villages lined with cobbelstone streets, and filled with the cutest cottages (like the one pictured above). 

I feel like the Cotswolds would be the perfect place to retire one day. A girl can dream, right?

Before we jumped back into the car to continue on our way, we stopped at a great pub in the Cotswolds. I can't remember the name of it, but you can't go wrong with the pubs in the UK (at least in my experience!)

Thanks for having us Dave, Jo, Hayward, and Donk! We loved seeing you all!!

Burnham, England

To say my summer got off to a great start would be a HUGE understatement. My family and I spent the past 2 and 1/2 weeks traveling all over Europe!! We flew out of Orlando in early June, and landed in London 8 hours later. We spent the first few days of our trip in Burnham, England which is where our family lives! In case you didn't know, my dad is British (and yes, he has an accent, my friends think it's the coolest thing ever). All of my dads side of the family still lives in England, so it's a great excuse for us to travel to the UK to visit them! Our trip included lots fun of mini trips. We started in Burnham, then traveled to Paris (!!!!!!), then went back to Burnham, spent a night in Ludlow, then went back and spent the remainder of our trip in Burnham. So, the first pictures i'm sharing with you today, are of the beginning of our trip!

How adorable is my Aunt and Uncles house! We were lucky enough to be able to stay here for the majority of our trip, which was so nice because we got to spend loads of time with our family.

A glimpse of my Aunt's beautiful graden! The whole backyard was stunning, she's done such an amazing job with it. It makes me want to have a garden of my own! 

The second we landed in England we were blown away by how gorgeous and sunny the weather was! During our whole trip we had phenomenal weather, and it only sprinkled once or twice throughout the whole two weeks (which is unheard of for England).

Look at that gorgeous sunshine! We spent a lot of time in the back garden, enjoying the beautiful England weather.

How pretty are these roses that my Aunt Rachel grew in her garden!! I love how she displayed them in these vintage glass jars.

Perfect blue skies!

We spent the second day of our trip with my Aunt Sally and her adorable dog Merlin (who is totally posing in this picture!)

We all took Merlin for a nice long walk around Burnham.

There's no one I love to explore with more than with this little guy! 

Wrong way Merlin!

Family selfie!!! :-)

How incredible is that view!

We came across a few exercise stations during our walk. I think mom completed this one with flying colors, Connors reaction to her skills is the best of all. He could not stop laughing!

Poor Merlin was so pooped after our long walk.

England, you are so beautiful! 

Super Connor completed the long walk!