And Boom Goes the Dynamite

Bang! And just like that, life can change. 

I apologize for my short commercial break. Things have been pretty crazy lately. I'm always amazed how easily our lives can transform. Every day appears to be utterly redundant, and we soon lose sight of things. We don't realize how different things can (or could) be until something makes us stop. And once something grabs out attention, we take a moment to look around. Suddenly, the scenery is different. Perhaps it's the same thing, but we're looking at it in a different way. It can be good thing, and sometimes it can be a bad thing. 

It's no surprise that change is hard for everyone. I should be a poster child for this common issue. I like things to go according to plan, and when they don't, life gets tricky. It would be nice if our lives went smoothly. If nothing ever exploded, there wouldn't be a mess, there would't be a ruckus. But if things didn't get raucous every once in a while, we wouldn't notice the potential in life. We wouldn't see the changes. 

Let's try to work on that. I'll do it too. Because sometimes when life explodes, it glows. 

{Florida}...Outtakes

Dad and me our first night on Lake Smyrna

You've seen the beach, you've seen the parks. Now it's time to see the family! There isn't much to say about these photos, as they are random pictures, outtakes, and family memories! You can probably tell from the pictures that we had a ton of fun! I wanted share some of the less orchestrated moments with you! Enjoy! 

p.s. I love my family.

Got luggage?

Airport rhymes.

Beautiful flowers in the beach house. 

Night palms.

My daily outfit.

Cool seafood joint right on the water. You don't park your car, you dock your boat!

Honeydukes

Nick and me for birthday dinner.

Jacob,  Matt & me for my birthday. At Pinstripes.

Birthday cheesecake.

The kids at Hogsmead.

Sisters on the beach.

The whole family. 

{Florida}...Park by Park

Six parks in six days. Yes, you read that correctly. After the beach, our family trekked to Orlando for a marathon of parks. We visited all four Disney parks and the two Universal parks. It was exhausting, but the memories from the nonstop rides, park food, and ponchos are hilarious and lovable. Right, ponchos...it rained. Hard. The first two and half days were not just overcast, it was pretty much a wash. The downpour didn't stop us, though. We pulled on our really attractive ponchos and enjoyed our days. It cleared up (yay!) midweek and we really had some fun. I never used to be a rides person, but on this trip I went crazy and did everything. Even the ones with your feet dangling! Yikes! 

RockIt Roller Coaster. Amazing!
Each person picks the music to which the listen for the duration of the ride! Sweet!

Cinderella's castle. Obviously.

The Tower of Terror. One of my favorites. 

Disney Hollywood Studios.

Honeydukes! Harry Potter Park at Universal.

Hogsmead.

Hogwarts. HP FTW.

Disney Animal Kingdom safari. We were this close to the giraffe! 

{Florida}...Beach Bums

Seaside sunset.

And, finally! The Florida pictures have arrived! Now, I understand. Florida is not necessarily the most exotic location in the world. But there are some really breathtaking sights there. It is so utterly different from Wisconsin and Minnesota that I just can't help sharing with you. We so enjoyed the beach. Can you believe I'd never been to the beach before? How did it take me this long to get there? I love it. We stayed at a beach house right on the water on New Smyrna Beach. A fantastic location and lovely house. It was spacious and light. We did have a few issues with things being a bit dirty, but we got things spick and span in no time. Next time you're yearning for the beach, go to New Smyrna. It is amazing. 

Sunrise

We were really overwhelmed by the gorgeous sunrise and sunset. I took about a million pictures of every one we saw. How can you not be amazed by this sight? And in case you were curious...yes, the water was already warm at sunrise. 

Me, Amanda. Boating, but not fishing.

We rented a pontoon for a day and went fishing and boating all day. So gorgeous. I didn't fish. It's not really my thing. However, I finished the book I had been reading. The Host by Stephanie Meyer. Surprisingly good! I highly recommend it. 

The women. Abby, Amanda, Mom, Cathy, Me, Becca. Last night on the beach.

Beach life, in general, was amazing. I swear I ate seafood everyday. Delicious and so rare for me. We relaxed, ate, swam, sunbathed, played cards every day. It was the life. 

Shrimp Off the Rock. The first beach dinner.

All photos are personal ones I took on the trip. Some are on Instagram. 

A New Venus

"Venus Rising" is a spectacular shoot. It definitely reminds me of Venus, but in a ver different, couture way. Of course, Venus would have have been supple, voluptuous; not skeletal. Perhaps Venus is rising from the old painting to a modern, sickly body. Nonetheless, the styling is gorgeous. It looks rich and worldly, elegant and envious. Wouldn't you love to wear these goddess worthy gowns? The slicked back hair is striking, with the dark make up equally jarring. But that's part of the fantasy.

Photos via Vogue-Greece

Seeing Double

Facing the conundrum of growing out my hair, I fell in love with this photo spread in Elle Korea. This messy pageboy is so chic and cool. I'm just so into this spread. Their makeup is fresh (great lip color) and the styling is great. I really love how they play up the twin element. I'm a twin, so naturally I love seeing twins featured. And how rad are those sunglasses? They remind me of these. Feeling inspired.