SCOTLAND

Tartan. Castle. Haggis. Heather. Loch Ness. Celtic Knot. Green. Highlands. Clans. Gaelic. Bagpipes. Isles. Thistle. Superstitious. 

When I went to Europe last summer, I did have the opportunity to go to Scotland with a small group of friends but because we only had a weekend and so much we wanted to see, I was there for less than 24 hours.

 This weeks Travel Thursday is for my beloved Scotland.

Edinburgh, Holyrood 

The city that we visited was Edinburgh. The moment I got off the train and walked up the step that would lead to the visitor center at the heart of the city,
I was already in love.  

Everything looked like a castle. It was so incredible. 

And the accents?... Mmm, yummy!

 While we were there, my friends and I went on a bus tour of the city where we went all over the city and they showed us over 30 sites and things to do in the city of Edinburgh alone. I could really get lost in Edinburgh for a while.

The Royal Mile

 Capital City, Edinburgh

Salisbury Crags

The Highlands

There are so many amazing things to see in the Highlands of Scotland. There are beautiful mountains and waterfalls, lakes and rivers, and so much green. There are hundreds of Castles, museums, gardens, ancient monuments… basically everything that a traveler would love to see.

Urquhart Castle

 Loch Ness,Urquhart Bay

 Ardvreck Castle

 Highlands

Isle of Skye

Part of the Highlands, The Isle of Skye is number one on my bucket list for Scotland. I absolutely love the history of Scotland and the history of Skye has to be my favorite. I love the story of the Fairy Flag,
and the history of the McLeod’s or the MacLeod’s

Skye is beautiful.

 Dunvegan Castle

The Outer Hebrides

 

Like the Isle of Skye, the Outer Hebrides boast some of the most amazing and beautiful islands in all of Scotland such as the Isle of Lewis and the Isle of Harris. Beaches. Whale Watching. Standing Stones at Callanais. Arnol Blackhouse. Moors and Lochans.

Lewis

Harris

Moors

Standing Stones at Callanais

If you ever get a chance to visit this amazing country, just make sure that you have plenty of time. Even if you only go to the capital city, Edinburgh, you are going to need at least a week to a week and a half to see everything. The Highlands themselves would take a long while to explore too. Scotland has to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, 

and I look forward to seeing so much more.

Stay tuned for next weeks Travel Thursday, to learn a little more about another fabulous place I would love to see.

CMT Music Awards

Besides the fact that Kid Rock hosted them, (what the hell? He isn’t country!), this years CMT Music Awards were pretty great. Carrie Underwood won the video of the year award with “Cowboy Casanova”, and the CMT performance of the year video for the live version of “Temporary Home”. Congrats Carrie.

Photo Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Some of my other favorites, like Miranda Lambert, Lady Antebellum won too.

The music performances were really great. “Timmy” McGraw’s Southern Voice, and Leann Rimes were my favorite for sure.

Come on ya’ll after seeing ‘em is it any wonder why LOVE country music.

places to see, things to do…

I guess its time for a theme day… lets call it “Travel Thursdays”, shall we?

Sort of like a bucket list of all the places I would like to see.

Recently I decided that I am going to travel and see the world for a living. Don’t misunderstand me, I still plan on having a career in Interior Design but I decided that like Vincent Wolfe, for inspiration I’m going to travel the world and experience new cultures.. Let’s face it. There are so many incredible things to do in this world. We have list all over the place, such as the 7 wonders, and each country has a “(random number here) things you must see/do in (random country/city here)” on their websites or in their guide books, so…. Why not? 

If you have ready any of my previous blogs, you may have seen that I have had the opportunity to travel to Europe and because of this I am addicted to in love with travel. There are so many countries that I would love to visit and things I want to see.

Bucharest, Romania

No, this isn’t because I want to be a vampire, or see a werewolf, but because if any of you have seen the movie Blood and Chocolate, you may have noticed that Bucharest has amazing architecture. Bucharest has its own Triumphal Arch. Much like its sister in Paris, I think that the Arcul de Triumf is absolutely beautiful and I would love to see it.

 

Architecture

Medieval, Neoclassical, Art Nouveau, Byzantine, Gothic

Because if its history Bucharest has very eclectic architecture

Looking at some of the buildings it’s easy to see why Bram Stoker chose Romania as his setting for the Novel Dracula. Some of the buildings do look like a place where a vampire, werewolf, or some other supernatural being would reside. Even thought this may be the case each building is hauntingly beautiful.  The palaces and churches are all equally amazing and I would feel very privileged to see them one day.

Cuisine

 

Like its architecture, Romanian food is a fusion of many different cultures. Once again because of their history there is a little bit of everything, from Germany, to Greece, the Turks, Bulgarians, etc. Soups with a sour taste are common, meats, veggies, pies. They have it all. Some of the dishes are quite interesting but it could be fun to try. Dessert seems to be a universal language because they have pretty much everything an American girl could want. Baklava, sponge cakes, cream tarts, crepes. Mmm. So good.

 

Amandine: Chocolate/Almond filled sponge cake

 

 Crema de zahar ars : creme caramel

 Cozonac : sweet bread

Yes I definitely think Bucharest, Romania would be an awesome place to visit. 

See you next week for my second Travel Thursday. Laterz

 

I LOVE

Travel 

Last summer I got the incredible opportunity to go to Europe. Culture, cuisine, and architecture were what made my experience so amazing. Italy, France, England, and Scotland. What can I say, I fell in LOVE instantly.

Carnival Mask                Eiffle Tower, Paris

Scotland by far was my favorite

Isle of Skye, Scotland

I’m addicted to travel now. I love to see the world and experience new cultures.

I LOVE TRAVEL

Design & Architecture

Design is: beauty, imagination, creativity, adventure, infinate.

“The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes. If you foolishly ignore beauty, you will soon find yourself without it. Your life will be impoverished. But if you invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life.”

-Frank Lloyd Wright

 

  

 

 

 and so much more...

MOVIES

Period Movies like Becoming Jane, Pride and Prejudice, The Young Victoria, etc… are my absolute favorite. The costumes, the palaces, chateaus, manors, and mansions are increadible.

The Love stories. I love LOVE.

Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy

What girl isn't in love with Mr. Darcy. Honestly?
 The love story between Elizabeth and Darcy is one that will easily last through time.

Victoria and Albert

This movie was so amazing. Emily Blunt played Queen Victoria beautifully. In the movie it is easy to see how much Victoria and Albert loved each other. Like the movies tagline says…

Love Rules All

FRIENDS FRIENDS FRIENDS 

Laughter, Ice Cream, Road trips, Snow College, Sharing,

Utah State Univerity, Bonfires, chocolate, sleepovers, weddings,

Movies, Joy, Tears, Dance Parties, Pasta Sundays, Swimming, Camping,

True Aggie, Basketball, Bowling, Cooking, Partys, Boys...

I love my friends. I honestly dont know what I would do with out them.

Barbie Jean

Brittani, Rachael, and Me

Most of All I love LOVE...

 

I SURVIVED

Well as you can clearly see by the date... it has been a very long time since I last "blogged". Fall and Spring semesters kept me very busy. With a few big projects, sophomore review, family, and so much more, there really wasn't a lot of time for anything else. Spring semester held a lot of different meanings for me. Exhaustion from late-nighters, all-nighters, super early mornings after, trying to get every project done on time but still looking good. Heartache from not getting the results I was hoping for from sophomore review, which was quickly followed by anger (why wasn't I good enough?), and then peace after talking to Steve (my awesome teacher) who helped me realize that sales and marketing is exactly what I wanted.

Frustration also played a key role. I love my major. I cant imagine doing anything else, but I so desperately wanted to be with my friends and having fun at the same time. It was hard hearing the fun things that they were doing, because I was constantly stuck in the studio. I was also frustrated with myself because even thought my projects were good, I knew I could do better and I just didn't or there wasn't enough time. I learned (and am still learning) the importance of time management.

But the most important emotion that I experienced in my sophomore year was elation. After every project was done I felt accomplished and elated to be finished with that assignment. Once the semester was completely finished and I had everything turned in... I was ready to cry. Tears of joy, exhaustion, and a little bit of sadness because it was done. But mostly tears of JOY because I had survived the Year of HELL!

When all is said and done I can truly say that I am so grateful for every experience I had this year. To my teachers, especially Steve, thank you so much for everything you did for me. Thank you for being patient, and supportive. Thank you for being available to us. If there is one thing that I love about the Interior Design major at USU, it is that the teachers truly care about their students and they make time to help us when we need it. I don't think there are may majors and schools who can honestly say that. To my friend in the major. Thank you for all you great advice, and help. To my studio late night friends, we had some good times, and thanks for all the laughs. To my other friends, thank you for being so understanding of when I had to bail. This year was hard and at times I wanted nothing more than to be with all of you, just chilling. To my family, especially my mommy... thank you for listening to all my crying and whining when times were really hard. I am so lucky to have such a great support system from ALL of you. This year would have been nearly impossible without all the help I received.

SUMMER
Its a good month into summer break now and mostly I have been lazy. This post should have been here a lot sooner. Living in Logan has been fun. I am desperately looking for a job and hopefully something comes along soon. I love my new roommates already and I love all the adventures that we have already had, and I look forward to more.

Stay tuned to read about my summer nights and awesome adventures in Logan, UT