Austin Trip | July 2024 (first friend group trip!)

Illinois | Aug. 3–Aug. 8

CA2019

HT getaway | Austin TX

museum adventures | Vincent van Gogh: His Life in Art

hey guys, it's been a while. i have been preoccupied w school & work & projects but it's finals week & i'm FREE. i had been DYING to go to the Vincent van Gogh: His Life in Art exhibit at the MFAH since i heard about it, but i decided to wait until after my classes were done, so that i could focus on them. but i'm done w them & i finally went to the exhibit!!!

i didn't really take many pictures of the exhibit itself, since it was pretty crowded when i went. i went w my friend daniel & we awkwardly shuffled around to look at Van Gogh's paintings & drawings while trying to not run into the crowds of senior citizens that were also there for the exhibit

real talk, the exhibit was okay i guess. there were some reproductions in the first room, a timeline of Van Gogh's works in the next few rooms but i had much more fun in the companion display: Van Gogh Up Close. it's like an interactive room for kids, families, etc. & there are set ups for photo-taking, for drawing, & more

daniel & i took some photos in the interactive spaces & drew some sunflowers in the art-making area

all in all, i had a blast. getting to see works of van Gogh that i had never seen before was great & inspiring & getting to go to Van Gogh up close was a terrific experience. going to the exhibit was a great way to kick-off my summer

downtown adventures ft. gfbfl

Austin + San Antonio Trip! ft. Marylanders

aqua s

my cousin, christy, came to visit me & we were looking at cute places we could go. i had been wanting to go to aqua s for a while now so we ended up heading to bellaire w paul one day to try it

aqua s rotates out its soft serve ice cream flavors so i was really worried that there would be flavors that i wouldn't like (since i'm so picky) but luckily for me, on the day i went, the flavors were pomegranate, signature sea salt, & matcha. i love pomegranate (not so much the other flavors) so i just stuck w the one flavor & added poprocks & fairy floss (cotton candy)

aqua s isn't big but there is a wall w angel wings for customers to take photos at 

by the entrance, there's also a speech bubble that says "g'day mate" (aqua s was originally from sydney, australia) 

my thoughts on aqua s? i think it's pretty cute & i got lucky that there was a flavor i liked but i actually was worried i'd go & there would be weird flavors that i wouldn't want. i got my soft serve in a cone bc it was black & looked cool but to me, the cone didn't go well w the pomegranate flavor so if i went again, i would get it in a cup. but other than that, i was glad i finally got to try aqua s!

townelake photoshoot w christy

i think by now, you guys know that i love having photoshoots at townelake. so when my cousin, christy, came to visit, i had to bring her there. i wanted her to try a thousand hills bc she loves coffee but i figured it would also be the perfect day to have a photoshoot too

christy went for a sporty look (i would have died wearing a jacket tho- it was too hot out!) & i attempted to take nice portraits & tried to be creative w the setting i was in

after some photos, we went into a thousand hills. christy got a cinnamon latte, brenda got a blueberry tea, & i got the caramel drizzle brownie (as i always do)

we took a second to cool down inside before continuing our photoshoot outside of a thousand hills, at the tables

we went home & snapped a couple of shots together in front of my garage. i figured we should get a couple of pictures together since i only see her once or twice a year, & we were both wearing black & white so it'd be cute

HT getaway | San Antonio

fusion 36 degrees

another day another adventure

after class today, i headed home to meet up w my friends- alli & kevin- to hang out. we hit up this place that we had never been before: fusion 36 degrees

when i walked in, the first thought that came to mind was "fancy." alli had said it looked nice but like the aesthetics tho. i was pretty impressed w all the cool stuff but there's just so much stuff that it looks a tiny bit cluttered/random. don't get me wrong- i liked all the stuff, just maybe not all of it goes together. however, when you take it in one part at a time, it's not so bad

 

tbh i didn't get anything to drink bc alli had already brought me a drink from starbucks then i had sweet tea from cane's but alli & kevin did get drinks & they were pretty good. after i walked around taking pictures, we took a couple of polaroids to capture this new "first time"

townelake photoshoot

guess who had (another) photoshoot at townelake? this girl! (2 photoshoots over spring break? crazy, i know) 

accompanied by blenda & paulskie, i practiced using manual mode on my camera & working on portraits

i was lucky enough to have 2 willing models & even though the photos weren't great, they were good practice

brenda also took some cute pictures for paul & i even though we're awkward & can't think of poses

overall, the photoshoot at townelake was a pretty nice time w "good times" & "great vibes"

coco's crepes & photoshoot | vintage park adventures

guess who had another photoventure w allison & anthony? this girl!

it's spring break & anthony & brenda had never been to coco's crepes before so we made some plans. anthony, alli, brenda, peter, & i went to coco's for brunch & had a photoshoot at vintage park

alli was dressed super cute & was an amazing model. i've been wanting to work on taking pictures & on portraits so this was good practice. i think some of the pictures turned out pretty great

we took some pictures in front of the fountain that vintage park is known for 

we walked around to find some cool places we could take pictures at

it was such a good day full of yummy crepes & cute pictures. gang gang

behind-the-scenes/photoshoot video: