Bok Tower

There is this AMAZING place here in FL called the Bok Tower Gardens that was built by a man named Edward Bok in the 1920's. He built the tower and gardens to be a place where beauty and peace could be witnessed in even the smallest of places. From the sunsets atop the largest hill I have ever seen in Florida, to the smallest little ponds where tiny tadpoles swim beauty can be seen.

 I have been coming here since I was younger and no matter how many times I come, this place never ceases to amaze me. It may literally be the most quiet, peaceful and beautiful places I have ever been too. I could literally spend hours just photographing the natural beauty of the Bok Tower gardens. 

The Tower itself is spectacular and is very Art Deco inspired as was much of the architecture of the times. I love the colorful stone and marble carvings that make up the tower. You can really tell that so much detail was put in to this work of architecture. 

There is a saying above the entry way when you first walk in that reads "Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it." As someone who enjoys finding and capturing the beauty in the world through photography and art, I find this to be truly inspirational. 

~M~

The Golden Hour

Today my sister and I took a drive down to Lakes Park, a beautiful park that has a ton of things to do from just walking around and seeing all of the natural beauty, to renting boats and kayaks or even bikes. It's a really fun place. We were there during the golden hour-just as the sun was about to set and everything was illuminated in a gorgeous warm, golden glow.  

There was a cool breeze and a fall festival was going on with pumpkin patches which made it feel a little more like October.

There were so many adorable bunnies hopping around...

I loved that it felt so much like Fall even though I live in Florida...the trees seemed to be changing colors here too...

I had so much fun today with my sister...she's very talented and we always have a blast when were together. We can make anything 10x funnier than what it really is and I love the times we get to hang out together when were not both super busy.

Daycation: Venice Beach

Some friends and I took a little "daycation" (as we like to call it) to Venice Beach a.k.a the "Shark Tooth" beach on Sunday. I love this beach because you really can find the most interesting shark teeth of all different shapes and sizes if you know how to look. It was a beautiful day and so relaxing. I just love the beach and I would go everyday if I could.

Hello August

August is here and it's been one awesome summer that has gone by far too fast. It's crazy to think how everyone is going back to school next week here in Florida. I am so excited that August is here though, because in 12 days (I cant believe it!) I will be officially done with my two math courses I have been taking since late June. I do not enjoy math in the least and it will be so relieving to have gotten my math courses done and over with. I think a little celebration needs to be in order (haha). I always have enjoyed this time of the year in Florida though because although it's hurricane season all of the rain and thunderstorms every afternoon make for some very beautiful deep blue skies that I can never quite seem to capture perfectly on camera. Also walking outside in my lanaii I found a little interesting spider (they also come around this time of year) I usually don't like spiders but these ones are really quite unique.

Tennessee Trip

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be able to go on an awesome (somewhat surprise, considering I had found out only three days before) trip to Tennessee with my family. We were only there for four days but we got to do some incredible things like ride horses up the side of a mountain without any guides, go river tubing and also climb the third highest mountain in the Smokies to see Rainbow Falls. Well, even though we got completely rained out when we reached the top, it was an awesome memory I will never forget and I already miss it there like crazy. I don't think I could live for long in a place without mountains and the beauty that Tennessee has.