zoo day

1. sleepy girl and her giraffe

2. family

3. first carousel ride

4. sophie meets her own kind

5. stripes

6. best friends for 15 years

a little beach trip with aunt karlie

1. breastfeeding on the beach

2. mama cuddles

3. my best friend of 15 years

4. cheeks

5. mama papa baby

6. toes in the sand for the first time

7. embracing my new body. terrifying and liberating.

baby shower

i'm off to nashville again for the weekend.

(and no, i am definitely not complaining)

tomorrow is my very first baby shower 

and i am so excited!

stephanie, ellen, and karlie have been working so hard to put this thing together

and i feel so fortunate to have such amazing friends.

nashville here i come!

images from a best friend beach weekend

this little vacation came at the perfect time.

i was feeling super stressed about school starting in a couple weeks

and i'd been feeling pretty lonely not having any friends here in tampa.

so when my best friend karlie and her drew were going to be just an hour away

at siesta key for the weekend

we knew what had to be done.

and let me tell ya something about karlie,

after 15 years our relationship just gets better and better

(we met in the 2nd grade!!)

i love this girl. so much.

it's crazy to think about everything we've been through growing up

and now she's a nurse

and i'm married

and she is hopefully going to be standing by my side

as i deliver this sweet baby into the world.

CRAZY.

life is crazy.

so our weekend consisted of sup boarding

a sandbar

so many sand dollars

naps

sunsets

ice cream and salt water taffy

and drinking games (for them of course. i stuck with orange juice : )

bff brag

my best friend in the whole entire world

graduates from nursing school in 2 months.

i have never been so proud of anyone.

seriously.

it almost makes me cry.

i love her so much...

plus, she's drop dead gorgeous

and has the sweetest boyfriend ever.

they make my heart happy.


**did i mention she makes amazing backpacks!?**

camping

camping was a blast.

we pitched our tent where we weren't allowed

and rock climbed

and peed in the woods

and made a fire

and told ghost stories

and ate hobos in the campfire

and s'mores (duh)

and then all 4 of us crammed into one tent

snuggled up real close

and went to sleep.

fall break

my fall break starts tomorrow

and i could not be more excited!

we are spending 2 days with karlie and her boyfriend drew!

friday night we'll be running around chattanooga

and saturday we're going camping at stone door

(the best part? all 4 of us will be cramming into one tent!)

after that

bennett and i are spending a couple days in a cabin at fall creek falls

where we're going to hike

and canoe

and sit by the fireplace

and listen to records

and drink wine.

i could not be more excited about spending the next few days

with some of my favorite friends

and my favorite husband

enjoying my favorite season.

photo of savage gulf by eric dempsey

funny photo

i came across this photo and had to laugh.

this is from a looong time ago

when bennett and i were just friends

but i liked him so much.

my best friend karlie came to visit

and snapped this photo of us...

look at how awkward we were!!

some things...

1. i just bought a huge box of clementines and i can't stop eating them. they're my new favorite thing.

2. yoga+project runway+drinks=tomorrow and i can't wait

3. karlie is coming to see me on friday!

4. i am addicted to solitaire. i have to play until i win in order to fall asleep at night

5. i am really starting to love my photo class. below are a couple of examples from my first project!

karlie

i'm off to chattanooga

to spend some time with my best friend!

have a wonderful weekend

chattanooga

the other day i drove down to chattanooga to see my best friend karlie who i hadn't seen in way too long. we've known each other since the 2nd grade, and we've been inseparable since the 8th grade. we have a friendship that is unlike any other. we can tell each other absolutely anything, knowing it's safe with the other person. it's the kind of relationship where, even if we hadn't seen each other in months, when we finally get back together it's like we had never been apart.

and did i mention that she is the funniest person i have ever known?