New Orleans & Florida

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For the past two weeks I’ve been vacationing in the Southeast, visiting the beautiful cities of New Orleans and Destin, Florida. I loved being able to relax for a while without checking emails (apologies to those of you I’m just now responding to!) or writing new posts, and it made for some great memories with family and friends! I wish I’d taken more pictures, especially in Florida where I didn’t take my camera out once, but I guess that left more time for enjoying the beach!

New Orleans

My family spent the first two days of our trip in NOLA, which turned out to be the perfect amount of time to explore the city, try the local food, and check out the nightlife!

Florida

This was my first time in Florida, and gosh, the beaches were beautiful! I’d never seen sand so white or water so clear, and I would absolutely go back. Like I said, I didn’t take any pictures here outside of a few Instagram posts, so these are a couple that my dad took!

I miss it already, but I’m also excited to get back into blogging and prepare for move-ins coming up this month! I have a lot of college posts planned for the next few weeks, but I’m always open to suggestions, so if you’re an incoming freshman and want to see something covered, let me know in the comments!

My Beach Bag Essentials + Favorite Products

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I’m beyond excited for my Florida trip coming up this week, so I’ve been packing and shopping all day to get everything together. I haven’t been to the beach in years, and I’ve never been to Florida, so it should be a great vacation! I definitely took advantage of this trip and bought a few new bikinis, summer clothes, and a well-needed bag, so I thought I’d share a few of my favorites and everything I’m packing in my beach bag.


Beach Bag – I can’t tell you how much I love this bag. It’s a great size, not too huge to carry around but big enough to fit my towel and other bulky stuff. I found it at Target and it’s under $50, too!

Flash Tattoos – I found these on sale at Altar’d State for only $4!

iPhone + Case – When I bought my iPhone, I was set on getting gold, but I didn’t even think about how my case would hide it. Then, I realized clear cases exist, and I couldn’t resist.

Wristlet – Another great deal I found at my local Lilly store. I usually carry a wallet, but I wanted to have something that holds my phone as well for when I don’t have pockets or a bag with me.

GoPro – I don’t plan on taking my phone or camera anywhere near the water, so a lot of my pictures from this trip will be taken with my GoPro. I haven’t gotten much use out of it yet, so I’m excited to play around with it on this trip!

Swimsuit (similar) – I didn’t have much luck finding swimsuits until a few days ago, when my Target restocked with several new swimsuits that actually work for my body. They’re not always the cheapest though, so definitely wait to get them on sale if you can!


Makeup Bag – The one disadvantage of carrying a big bag is how hard it can be to find little things inside, so I got this cute makeup bag for beauty products, sun screen, and anything tiny.

Lush Tea Tree Toner – This product is meant to be a toner for your face, but honestly it has tons of uses. I like spraying a bit in my hair if I need to freshen it up, so it’s nice to carry around!

Nail Polish – This been my favorite summer color of the year. It’s all I’ve worn, so I’m constantly touching it up and carrying it around in case I chip some off.

There are a few things I didn’t get into the picture, like my not-so-photogenic charging cords and the camera I took these with, but you get the gist. If you have any favorite beach essentials or recommendations for things to do near Destin, let me know in the comments! I won’t be checking my blog very often, so I apologize in advance if I take a while to get back to you!

Starting The Week With A Grateful Heart

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It’s Monday, and that means a fresh start for the week! Usually Monday’s sound pretty drab, but I found this cute little link up through one of the lovely ladies at the Peony Project (which for those of you bloggers out there looking for a community to join, this is a great place to start!), and I thought I’d give it try to get my Monday going. Emily hosts the Grateful Heart linkup every Monday, and it sounds like a great way to connect with other bloggers while sparking some thoughts for the week! I’m also linking up with Charlie Jaymes, who just started a Monday linkup, and Jack Of All Trades. Y’all should definitely go check them out. :)
A few things I’m grateful for today:
Travelling. I’m absolutely loving this California vacation!
My friends back home that have kept in touch with me everyday.
Bobby pins. This weather is not loving me today.
Blogging friends and this amazing community; I love meeting y’all!
The HGTV channel. It always saves me when nothing else is on, like right now.
My Monday is actually turning out to be pretty productive; I got to visit Venice Beach this morning, which was a lot different than I had expected! Let’s just say, it’s not as appealing as I’d expected, but there are still some beautiful qualities about it. I actually stumbled upon an old man playing the piano along the boardwalk; he was amazing! Everyone was giving him tips, and I thought that was really neat! It’s interesting to see how creative people get when it comes to making money.
It’s been a cloudy day, but that didn’t stop me from taking a quick walk on the beach. At least it kept the crowds away!

Now for those of you that aren’t in the Peony Project or didn’t see my post, I came up with an idea last night for a project I want to start as I head out to college. It’s basically an Instagram challenge, and while I don’t have all the details worked out yet, I do know that it will be called The #FINDYOURPASSION Project. I’ll be making a post about it soon to get some suggestions from y’all, so keep an eye out for that! 
I hope y’all have a fantastic Monday, and be sure to spread around some positive energy to those struggling to get through theirs! 

Filed Under: life, old Tagged With: grateful heart, monday, , venice beach