Photo Friday: Boracay, Philippines

Happy Friday, y'all! I'm joining Aryn again for another Photo Friday!

When we were living in the Philippines, we had the opportunity to meet up with some friends from the States in Boracay. Even though Boracay is super duper touristy, it was still a really great time. We even extended our holiday there a couple of days. You can read about our trip to Boracay here.

This photo is an amazing sunset picture I took with my little point-and-shoot digital camera. And this photo is unaltered- no filters, no edits-- nothing. It was breathtaking!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I've been tagged! {6 Things About Me}

The wonderful Diane at Vintage Zest has tagged me in "6 Things About Me." I thought it'd be good to participate as some of these questions are different than others I've had to answer before-- and you can learn a little more about me! (Thanks for the tag, Diane!)

1. What is your favorite animal and why?

    I really love dogs because they're awesome! Hence why we had 14 by the time we left Philippines (but that wasn't on purpose). My favorite breeds are French Bulldogs and Pugs. My family and I used to have a pug and I just loved her personality. And it's true what they say- pugs are so ugly that they're cute! And I've just fallen in love with French Bulldogs over the past few years. My husband posted this link on my Facebook wall the other day, and I just about died with happiness and from all the cuteness: 41 reasons why pugs are the most majestic creatures on earth. I don't know when we'll be able to have a dog (or dogs) again, but I hope it's soon!

I especially loved this photo because it has my two fave breeds in one picture! {via}

Besides dogs, I like elephants as they symbolize wisdom in many cultures. And they're just incredibly smart animals.

2. Would you prefer a city break or a sun, sea, and sand vacation?
   
    Definitely a sun, sea & sand vacation! I'm a California girl through and through. Being relocated to Tennessee has been a little tough because I miss the beach a lot. I especially love tropical beaches where the weather is as warm as the water. I want to be laying in soft sand, wading in clear blue water, sipping on coconut straight from the tree. *sigh*

Caramoan, Philippines

3. If you could travel to one place in the world, where would it be? 
   
   Most of you know that I have several places I want to travel to- not just one! But I suppose if I had to choose only one place, it'd probably be somewhere in Europe because I haven't been in several years. Amsterdam is high up on my list. So is Barcelona. Oh- and so is Italy. Geeze- you see! I can't pick just one!

4. How many countries have you traveled to?  How many of the 50 states? 
 
    Let's see- for countries, I've been to Canada, Mexico, Philippines, Japan, Costa Rica, Panama, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Gibraltar, Palau, Ecuador, Peru, Thailand, Malaysia, and South Korea. So 16 total-- not enough!
   For states- I've been to 19 of them.

5. What did you want to be when you grew up and what do you do now?

    Throughout my childhood, I wanted to be several different things- a teacher, a rapper (yes- a rapper), pediatrician, physical therapist, occupational therapist.... Now I am an ESL teacher AND Registered Dental Assistant who currently works at a daycare as an associate teacher (what a combo, right?). Not my dream job, but we're working on getting there.

6. What is the LAST concert you went to?

    Not counting local shows or anything- the last major concert I went to was back in 2011 to see Mayer Hawthorne, Janelle Monae and Bruno Mars.

{via}

The 6 bloggers I tag are:

- Lisa at Meanderings, Adventures and Crafty Inspirations

- Kari at This, too

- Aryn at Driftwood & Daydreams

- Selma at Crazy Little World of Mine

- Samantha at Life Style Love

- Kam at Anchors, Bows and a Doxie


Here are the questions (choose 6):

What is your favorite animal and why?
Would you prefer a city break or a sun, sea, and sand vacation?
If you could travel to one place in the world, where would it be?
How many countries have you traveled to?  How many of the 50 states?
What is your favorite thing about yourself (or quality you like in others if you don't wanna talk about yourself)?
What is the best advice someone has ever given you?
What did you want to be when you grew up and what do you do now?
What is a pet peeve of yours?
What is the LAST concert you went to?
What is something not a lot of people would know about you?


As always- even if I didn't directly tag you- please feel free to play along anyways!

Fall 2013 Bucketlist

The past few years, J and I have been out of the country and haven't been able to be here for the American experience of the Fall season. But this year, we have the opportunity. 

And thus, my bucketlist for autumn: 

1. Bike ride around town to see all the color-changing leaves!

2. Bake a pumpkin pie 

    (my very first time making a pie ever was last Thanksgiving and it was pumpkin and my husband LOVED it, so I need to make it again-- because 'tis the season!)

3. Drink / eat everything pumpkin/pumpkin spice flavored that I'm able to! Lattes, flavored coffee, cookies, muffins, bagels-- even Pumpkin Spiced Kisses! (Have you heard about these?! I'm probably on the hella late train, but I just heard about them the other day- now I have a legitimate reason to go to Target!)

{via}

4. Go to the pumpkin patch, pick out a cute little pumpkin & paint it! (because I suck at that carving crap). And I have never been to a pumpkin patch!

5. Get lost (or dominate!) in a corn maze. (I've never done this, either).

6. Go to the Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival.

What's on YOUR list?

Tuesday Tunes: Neon Hitch

The other morning, as I was getting ready for work, J started to play this song on his computer and I really liked it. It was something he had found on Buzzfeed- a singer from the UK called Neon Hitch. The song sounded familiar.. and a couple of minutes in- I realized it was a cover. But her version is ONE HUNDRED MILLION TIMES BETTER than the original. Trust. Me.


This is Neon Hitch and her cover of Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop." And like I said- it's so, so , so much better than Miley's version! This cover has a reggae, feel-good, chill vibe to it. It's really great- and so is the video! Reminds me of summertime. Check it out:




I searched for her on Youtube because I wanted more. You can check out her Youtube channel for more of music here. She does some covers, but she does have original music. I have enjoyed listening to her. I really like her voice. And her style, too. She is cute! I wish I could pull of styles like her!

Join Tuesday Tunes with us- started by my friend Lisa at Meandering, Adventures & Crafty Inspirations! We love discovering new music!

You can see my other Tuesday Tunes post here.

What do you think of Neon Hitch?

Summer Highlights

Ahhhh yes... today is officially the first day a fall. And I am pretty happy about it. I can't wait for cooler weather. I am really over this hot humidity Tennessee has hit me with. I mean, sure- I've lived in the Philippines, been to many countries where it's hot and humid-- but this stuff here in Nashville is a different breed.

But, enough of that. Here are just a few of my favorite things that we did this summer:

1. Camping at the Grand Canyon

2. Our whole roadtrip across America

3. Spending July 4th with family

4. Celebrating our 2-year wedding anniversary (here & here)

5. Bouncing back from the flood.

6. Labor Day Weekend

7. Taste of Tennessee Craft Brewers Festival

What were the fun things you did this summer? Are you glad it's fall, too?

Photo Friday: Batu Caves, Malaysia

Aryn over at Driftwood & Daydreams has started doing Photo Friday in which every Friday is dedicated to a single photo from her travels from around the world. I think it's a great idea, so I've decided to join the fun! (Hope you don't mind, Aryn!) =)

Here's my first Photo Friday photo:

Batu Caves, Malaysia

Beautiful statues. Monkeys everywhere. The smell of incense burning. People from all over the world. The feeling of accomplishment after making the trek up all the stairs. The view from the top. Batu Caves were a really great site to see.

Read about our Malaysia trip here.

The Boy Behind the Blog III

You know what- "The Boy Behind the Blog" is my favorite time of the month in blogland. I love that my husband supports me and my blogging hobby and is willing to answer these questions. I love reading his answers.

This time, he didn't give me a hard time at all about having to answer these questions. I guess he's getting used to it.

1. If you were an animal, what animal would you be?
A duckbill platypus.

2. What is your favorite meal?
Anything with lots of fat and salt.  Bonus points for including animal flesh and being breaded and deep fried.

3. Do you use any forms of Social Media? What is your favorite?
I use facebook.

4. Beer, wine, liquor, other, or none of the above?
Red, red wine.

5. Complete the sentence: "Never have I ever..."
began a sentence in such a grammatically awkward way, and I'm not going to start now.


Boy Behind the Blog {July}
Boy Behind the Blog {August}

Tuesday Tunes: Janelle Monáe

I'm joining my friend Lisa over at Meanderings, Adventures, and Crafty Inspirations again for some Tuesday Tunes!

Today I want to talk a little about one of my faves- Janelle Monáe! I just love her style, her voice, and she is an AMAZING performer. J and I saw her live when she opened for Bruno Mars a few years ago and she was just incredible! If you haven't heard of her or have but haven't listened to her, definitely look into it. Her music is R&B/Soul/Funk. I just love her originality. I also enjoy all her 'girl-powerness' especially in a lot of her music videos.

This one is from her debut studio album The ArchAndroid and it's one of my favorite songs of hers- "Tightrope". I used to workout to it a lot. Also, I need to learn some of her smooth dance moves she does in this video! Ooooweee!





Are you a fellow Janelle Monáe fan? What's your favorite song of hers?

35 Gift Ideas for the World Traveler

If you've got some globetrotting friends and looking for something to give them as a gift, it could get a bit tough. They probably already have a ton of cool souvenirs and keepsakes from the various countries they've been to. They've probably got all the gadgets and tools they need (plus, some of that stuff can be expensive!).

Or maybe you're a jetsetter yourself and you want some cute stuff to either make your traveling a little bit 'cuter', maybe even a little easier. Or you're like me and just want some cute stuff to use/wear on the daily to represent the fact that yeah- I love to travel.

Whatever your case may be, I took some time and went through pages and pages of cute stuff on Etsy. Most of the stuff I found is way affordable. A few items are pricey. But I thought everything in the list below was really cute!

So here are 35 gift ideas for the world traveler in your life (or for yourself! I know I'm going to get some of these things just for myself!).

Airplane + Globe necklace         //   iPhone case           //   photobook        //    luggage necklace     //   typography print

Painted sign // Bicycle Bracelet // World travel watercolor decal // Travel Journal + pencil set //  necklace

Travel Diary    //      Painting //          Airplane necklace //            Journey travel journal //   Travel quote art print

Typography Travel Decal //  Journey journal //Travel jeweler y case // Travel art print  //  Travel charm necklace

Custom world map // Custom world Toms // Bucketlist journal // Airplane + airport code necklace // Custom luggage tag

Sports travel bag // Travel quote ring // Leather passport cover // Camper's (portable) soap // Travel deco stickers

Canvas backpack // Passport stamped Toms // t-shirt // 'Travel. Fall in Love. Repeat' t-shirt // Passport cover

What are some things you'd want as a traveler? Have you ever given something cool/cute/useful/awesome etc. to a world traveler in your life? Have any more ideas for this list?

Taste of TN Craft Brewers Festival

We had a great Friday evening at the inaugural Taste of Tennessee Craft Brewers Festival. It was located at the state fairground on the infield of the speedway. It was a festival showcasing beer from 25 Tennessean breweries. The entrance fee included unlimited brew all night (which totaled to over 55 different beers!). There are three different tickets you can get: VIP ($75), regular admission ($40) and the designated driver ($15) which I think is really cool that they offered that.

When I first saw this event, I wanted to take Jason as an early birthday present. But then the flood happened and we didn't have the extra money to spend, so I got bummed out. But then I saw that Yelp was giving away a pair of tickets, so I took my chances and entered-- and I WON! It was really awesome.

So right after work, we got ready and headed out. We just walked there because it's only a mile and a half from our house- plus we knew parking would be crazy. We entered the speedway and were handed small little tasting glasses that were mini mason jars.

We headed towards the tents and started making the rounds. There was plenty of beer, but also some non-alcoholic drinks for those who weren't drinking-- for the designated drivers.

 That night was also my very first time playing cornhole. For my first time, I was actually pretty good. J was telling me how good I was and I explained how I used to be a pitcher for slowpitch softball, so that probably gave me an upperhand. When J first told me about cornhole several years ago, I just laughed at the idea-- I mean, throwing beanbags in a hole-- seems like child's play! But, you know what- it's actually really fun!

Along with a plethora of beer being served, there were a few food trucks as well. The Grilled Cheeserie, Wrapper's Delight, Hoss' Loaded Burgers, and Biscuit Love Truck were all there dishing out some good eats. After several minutes trying to decide what we wanted, we finally decided to split up and get something from different trucks.

J went to the Biscuit Love Truck because he saw a guy walk by with some and it looked good. He got The Princess: Hot Chicken, honey, homemade pickles and mustard on top of biscuits (of course). It was actually really good!

I was craving something more fatty, more juicy... so I went to the Hoss' Burgers truck. I ordered the Red, White and Blue: a burger stuffed with blue cheese, topped with wing sauce and ranch. Oh my-- it was awesome, especially all the melty blue cheesiness! I also got some parmesan fries-- also really good.

It was a really fun night and J enjoyed himself- which I'm glad because it was for his birthday afterall!

Some of the favorite brews from the night (J made a list):
- English Pub Ale (Black Abbey Brewery)
- Pumpkin Ale (Blackstone Brewery)
- Berliner Wiesse (Cool Springs Brewery)
- Raspberry Wheat (Smoky Mountain Brewery)
- Lovebird (strawberry raspberry Hefeweizen) (Jackalope Brewery)

Great times. Good drinks. Good foods. We'd definitely go to the Taste of TN Craft Brewers Festival again!

To my Mr.

We've been friends for almost a decade, together for 7 of those years, and married for 2. And throughout my time knowing you, being with you- I find myself falling in love with you all over again every single day.

You've taught me so many things-- about life, love and about myself. I am so grateful. Without you I don't know where I would be, what I would be doing (probably something really boring). Thanks for always keeping me on my toes.

I just want to thank you for being my support system. For being my best friend. For putting up with me when I'm a brat (and we know that's most of the time). For loving me unconditionally. For the little (and big!) things you do to make me happy. For always pushing me and wanting the best for me. For always making me laugh. And making me good food, of course.

From our very first trip together to Costa Rica to our big move across the country and everything in between with all the ups and downs, there's no one else I would want to experience it all than with you.

You're the best thing ever in this world. You're such a huge blessing in my life. Words can't even describe how much I love you.

September 9 is one of my favorite days. Happy birthday, my love. Mahal kita.

Love,
Your turtle shell