the city that never sleeps

It's true. This city never goes to bed and I love it. I'm such a night owl, so the hustle and bustle that kept going till two in the morning was more exhilarating then one could even image. Yes, it's my first time to New York City. I knew I was going to fall in love. The city did not disappoint. When it comes to traveling, even in the states, I am your number one tourist, and proud of it. I crave history, architecture, food and especially fine arts. So when I am in a city that is filled to the brim with all of the above, I go hog wild, and I do not stop. I was lucky to have the Zoo with me, who has been to New York a handful of times, but understood that as a fist timer, you must go and see the cliche things that New York has to offer, namely : the statue of liberty (we took a ferry to Staten Island, rather than Ellis as it was free and less crowded.), the Metropolitan Museum which was by far my favorite day alongside riding bikes in Central Park. The Empire State Building, 9/11 Memorial, walk the Brooklyn Bridge, go see a show on Broadway - honestly, I can't even wrap my head around all that we did because we did so much and still had time left over within our last day there.

There is magic in that city, I tell ya. It's easy to say that I could live there, especially because I don't and I know things change once you'd place yourself in a city where you'd most likely not have a car and take the subway every where you go and it's loud and you know... all of the things that come with New York. But the thought of it is sure dreamy. I've been stalking numerous accounts on instagram of people who live in New York - it's true and I'm willing to admit that. I just live vicariously through them on a daily basis.

What a great short weekend trip it was to celebrate our one year anniversary. I can't wait for our next adventure in life which starts shortly in December, as we are making the move to Los Angeles! How long we will be there? It's hard to say, but I hope it leads us back home to the South someday... but for now, while we need an adventure with just the two of us, I think Los Angeles will be cake!

into the wild among the majesties.

Tucked into the Aspens & Pines and into the wild we slept this weekend. Into the canyon and beyond Tibble Fork Reservoir, the Zoo and I along with friends, camped among Utah's majesties. From time to time, though I am surrounded by the mountain range, I forget how beautiful Utah is until I emerge myself into the deep woods of the pines.

We found the most perfect camping spot right along a stream which the Zoo and I went in and explored for hours. During the day, the Zoo fished at the reservoir, though we caught nothing, he did teach me a thing or two. With a campfire, hotdogs, marshmallows and the smell of fresh sap we spent the night telling ghost stories and laughing. We could sense fall just right around the corner, and though summer is my favorite season, I will say when in Utah, it's fall I look forward to.

I've always loved camping. I grew up camping with my family and grandparents in the woods of West Virginia and Florida and it was always some of my favorite times spent with them. With that, I do have a liking for camping but I'm always reminded the next morning how just a weekend of camping is good enough for me. I feel like death warmed over, and I probably smell like it too. To end our camping trip we decided to take a detour and drive through the Alpine loop looking for moose and all sorts of wildlife. Unfortunately, my car decided to dish us some trouble and basically died up in the mountains so we coasted all the way down the mountain till we hit the Sundance Ski Resort and waited in the shade for a tow truck in major style. Sweat pants, hoodie and a nasty top knot having not showered in quite some time. It was awesome. Some guy named Shane saved our lives and we had to take Ryder my 4Runner to the shop.

Didn't see that one coming, but it also didn't put a damper onto our trip, just a little bit of excitement to our adventure. I'd say we had a blast overall. It was a great reminder that we need to spend more time in the mountains and take advantage of Utah's purple mountain majesties.

Tomorrow we leave for a week in California to celebrate the marriage of a good family friend of ours. We'll be taking a pit stop over night in Vegas staying at the Luxor Hotel which I'm pretty pumped for. Oh you know, it's just the Egyptian Pyramid along the freeway, you see. And you know I love all things Egyptian so let the wild rumpus begin!

honeymoon lovebirds circa 1981.

I know what you're thinking, a load of photos, but photos from film and photos from the Caribbean in 1981 of my parents honeymoon! A couple of weeks ago was my parents 32nd wedding anniversary and to celebrate, we dug up their honeymoon photos only to find that they were in the form of SLIDES. Talk about a major buzz kill... that is until we found the slide projector!

Unfortunately, as cool as the slide projector was, we realized the bulb was burnt out and ancient, and to find a new one we'd have to dig real deep all over the internet, so we quit our crying and bucked up and took the slides to Costco and waited a couple of weeks for them to develop.

The wait was worth it! Are these photographs amazing or what? I love the scenery that my parents captured, and I love these shots of them when they were just babes deep in love and all mushy gooshy. These photos just make me so happy. It's crazy to think that I am currently the age that they are in these photos. They look the exact same to me, with slight different hairstyles and wardrobe.

Good gosh am I ever so giddy over these photos! I can't get over how beautiful they are. As an artist, you know I'm always viewing things in an artistic way, shoot me. But for real, esthetically, these are over the top pleasing! You know how I gush over my favorite photographer from the 50's -70's, Slim Aarons? Well, I must admit, some of these photos remind me of some of his work!

I cannot wait to print these out and frame them for all of the world to see. These are new keepsakes of mine and I love having photos of my parents when they were alone and in love. Photos are so important to me. I know I can be a bit over the top and take a few too many in not so important events or occasions but every moment matters to me. My brain can only remember so much that I have to capture the moment and keep it still, forever. I know sometimes I can drive the Zoo insane with the camera, and I don't blame him, but when I dig up treasures like these and see the fun times my parents had together when they were kids, I am really grateful to have these photos for myself.  Thank goodness for these! I just hope the same goes for my future kids that they'll want to share and look at photos of Zeke and I - see how we've had our fun, our adventures, how we've aged. Photos are precious and one of the most valuable things we keep throughout our lives.

Happy 32nd Anniversary to my parents, who've shown me how to love and love the right way. To forget your head, and listen to you heart. To love with humility. I'm so thankful you've chosen each other and have fallen in love. 1981 is a special year, one for the records. I'm thinking we take your 50th anniversary back to the islands of the Caribbean, what-a ya say? I love you two so much. I couldn't think of a more perfect pair.

california dream boats.

It's true, my girl Marissa Hicken has now exchanged her last name for Benson and she lives with a boy.  We are all fist pumping in the air.

 I'm a few weeks behind if you can't tell. I've been flying all over the place and I am just now managing to jot down the past couple of weeks. Im currently home in Georgia for another week hanging with my parents and visiting my sisters and their families. We just got back from our annual family vacation yesterday marking our 18th year stepping foot on our second home - Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The poor Zoo had to fly back to Utah tonight and has to move all our crap outta of the bungalow and into our new townhouse, which I have yet to give it a name. I'm feeling pretty guilty that I am not there to help.

Any hoo. Back to the Bensons. Marissa & Dan tied the knot Friday, June 7 and boy was it a special day and one that goes down into the books of partying. This wedding turned out to be a girls trip with my best friends, as all of our husbands and fiance's couldn't make it to the wedding. Oh, and our favorite, Chadwick, came along which was a bonus!  So we took advantage since we all no longer live in the same state anymore and it was more fun than I could ever imagine. I miss my girls. They are some of my favorite people on the planet.

Marissa looked stunning and Dan was just flat out love struck. The ceremony was touching, the reception was perfect with it's little touches of Marissa and the dancing was freaking off the chain! Don't get me wrong, I danced at my wedding... but I didn't get as down as I normally do seeing as how I had a whoppin' wedding dress on. But this night, it was nothing but a yellow wool pencil skirt, bare feet and not a care in the world. Beads of sweat were dripping, music was roaring, it was the Great freaking Gatsby I tell ya!

Us girls were so worn out that night, but I couldn't manage to go to bed too early as of course I had to top the night off with telling the slumber party some ghost stories which led to 4 am before we knew it. I felt like I was in collage again (well technically, and sadly, I still am) but you know, living the collage life. It's a life that I am okay without right now, but at times a little dosage of it here and there really keeps you feeling young. I just adore my girlfriends. We could not be happier for Dan and Marissa. It was a special weekend. I can't wait to greet the Bensen's as my neighbors when I get back to Utah. It's about freaking time they are married! Congrats to the two California dream boats! We love you!