When the World Seems to Shine, Like You've Had Too Much Wine, That's Amore

Wedding trip, down!  It was a lovely celebration filled with old friends and lots of laughs.  The rain stopped as my date and I walked to the venue, and we arrived just in time to see the couple's first dance.  They covered all of the traditional wedding activities; Father-Daughter dance, bouquet-garter toss, cake slicing, and our old Zeta dance song.  It was immediately followed by our cheerleader Roh-Rahh chant, and some pictures of the group.

When the festivities ended, our little group packed up and walked to our favorite bar, Finnegan's, and took over a whole section of tables.  We reminisced about old college times, discussed a wide range of movies, and laughed at everything.  My date and I finished out the evening at his place and decided the night was a great success.  The best part was seeing all my old friends together and having a great time helping Hannah celebrate love and marriage.  That's amore!

(photos by someone's date)

Climb On to Your Seahorse, This Ride is Right On Course

It's wedding weekend!  Yay!  I drove down yesterday through the picturesque, partly cloudy Ozarks,

And today it is rainy and gross.  Oh well, it's supposed to clear up this evening, and I'm hanging out at The Mudhouse for the better part of the day, which is a good spot to weather the rain.  I got my old favorite, made with soy milk though, and it was better than I remember!

(photos by e.hunt)

Meet Laddie

Remember when I got my first real-life car?  And decided that cutting all my hair off was a good idea?

Well, the lease on that car was going to expire next month so on Monday we went down to the dealership.  I had decided that the little Cruze had been a good car for the past three years and that I would just re-lease another one for the next three years.  I did a little research and picked out the Metallic Midnight Blue color, which they had!  And it only had five miles on it when we left the lot, which turned into eleven by the time we got home!

(photos by r.hunt, and e.hunt)

The Order of Light Progression

A few weeks ago Taylor and I were walking home from dinner at Dewey's when he spotted this perfect background opportunity at the back of a parking lot.  I handed over my phone and he started snapping away.  There was some really neat pre-sunset glow going on in between cloudy takeovers, so there's a large variety of lighting, and I really love how my bright blue shorts contrast with the yellow scooter and white wall.

(photos by t.hunt)

If We Were Meant to Stay in One Place, We'd Have Roots Instead of Feet

Well, there's only seven days until I go to Springfield for a wedding,

Thirty days until Taylor and I go down to Nashville,

Fourty-one days until we go to the beach,

And only one hundred seventy-nine days until I meet up with Taylor for Christmas in Europe!!

(photos by e.hunt)

Snow Cone Season Has Arrived

Let me tell you a story of a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.  Wait, wrong story.  It was a long time ago, though.  

Back before Andrew, Taylor, or I could drive and we would ride our bikes around good old Kirkwood.  At the Farmer's Market, there was this new little shack, probably no bigger than ten feet wide, with little walk-up ordering windows along the front.  Naturally, we were curious.  And then the early Summer day came when the sign went up and the little shack opened for business.  It was a snow cone shack!  We started going pretty regularly in that first summer, and then the next summer, we started having to wait in line.  It became the place to go, and you could barely find a spot to sit no matter what time of day it was!  Time went on and it became more and more busy, and we went less and less.

And then last week, Taylor and I went for a walk after dinner and decided to swing by the old little shack, and I realized I hadn't been in at least five or six years.  We both got our old favorites, mine being Georgia Sunshine and Pacific Sunrise, and they were just as delicious as they used to be.  It was the perfect summer treat, as it always was.

(photo by e.hunt)

Little Palm Trees

The palm tree print is pretty big this season, which is a problem for me because I love anything that has to do with the beach.  Dresses, shirts, crop tops, swimsuits, and more dresses, and I want to wear them all!  I've been good though and only purchased these high-waisted shorts with little turquoise versions of the tree scattered throughout.

(photo by e.hunt)

Stylin' In Santa Fe

Of course, there were just so many opportunities of good personal style blog backgrounds everywhere you looked in Santa Fe.  I kept thinking how awesome of a location it would be for a magazine spread.  Most shots Mom and I did were on Day Two, and consist of only one outfit, so I'll just post them all together.

First there were these super colorful columns outside the modern art museum.  They matched the wonderful colors that were everywhere in this city; flowers, clothes, fabric prints, in the sky, on the buildings, everywhere.

And I knew from the beginning that I wanted some in front of an adobe wall.  We found the perfect one with a little ledge for standing on and this understated green and red window.

And this door was just too good to pass up.  I love how the painting continues onto the wall around the door.  And again, the colors!

(photos by r.hunt)

The Turquoise Trail: Santa Fe Day Three

The next day was our last, so Nana, Mom, and I walked to a few last-minute little shops while Grandma packed up at the hotel.  We stopped by another splendid little coffeeshop for a pick-me-up coffee and snack before heading back to the hotel.

After packing up the car and checking out at the hotel, but before starting the drive back to Albuquerque to catch our flight, we took another drive, with Mom and Grandma trying to recreate their historical tour guide stories.  We ended up going up to the top of this mountain and got the best views of the trip!

So much character!  At that point it was time to head to the airport.  We didn't have that much travel excitement until we landed in Dallas though.  We had about twenty minutes from landing to deboard the plane, get from Gate A to Gate C, which is quite a distance in the Dallas airport, and board the next flight before takeoff, so we were a little stressed.  Luckily, we had some very helpful airport employees help us make it!  And we got to ride in one of the cool little airport cars with the driver calling out in his Spanish accent, "Excuse the car, please!"  Very exciting.

Once we were up in the air, the sights just kept coming!  We watched a beautiful sunset with expressive clouds, and then, there was this awesome lightning storm that we witnessed from afar.  It was very cool to see lighting from a more parallel level rather than seeing it from the ground.  It also made the flight go by faster, and then we saw nighttime St. Louis from above.  Flying at night is always the best, and it was a wonderful way to end a great trip.

(photos by e.hunt, and r.hunt)

That Adobe Color: Santa Fe Day Two

The next morning we took off to Canyon Road, which was filled with high-end boutiques and galleries.  It was a beautiful day for walking and taking in the southwest vibes.  There were vibrant flowers sprawling about and large sculptures strewn throughout.

After a bit, I set out on my own to head further up the street.  I stopped by this neat little coffeeshop for a mocha and was delighted to find these fantastic signs on the walls.

I continued on up the road where Mom and the Grandmas picked me up and we went on a sightseeing drive around the area back to the hotel.

That afternoon the group split up for a while: Nana and I walked back up to the square and surrounding areas while Mom and Grandma went on a historical bus tour.  For the rest of the trip they were filling us in with little facts and stories about the town.  Nana and I went to another one of her favorites, a French Coffeeshop!  I was not opposed.

We had a great time checking out the shops and galleries, and she got to show off her bartering skills; I got some new jewelry for a great deal!

Later that evening, Nana went back to the hotel and I met up with Mom by the Loretto Chapel where the famous floating staircase is housed.  Sadly, they were not allowing visitors to enter on account of a wedding.  Oh well, guess that means I have to go back sometime!

That night we went to a lovely restaurant for dinner.  I tried a locally brewed brown ale, which was quite tasty, and enjoyed my chicken concoction of a meal.  The winner was Grandma's crab cakes though, which she was gracious enough to let us all try.

(photos by e.hunt, and r.hunt)