Morning Swim

Today at work I was sitting near a window, reading up on some of the animals that we have on exhibit at the aquarium. I looked up and just saw an otter leisurely swimming through the water. About 3 seconds later she was followed by a harbor seal swimming toward the shore. Best. Job. Ever.

image via monterey bay aquarium

Sea dragons, jelliyfish and lots of krill

Took some friends for a tour of the aquarium today. The leafy sea dragons definitely stole the show.

Image via monterey bay aquarium

Don't forget!

Saturday at 8:30 p. m.

Yes, please

Anthro's new bathroom collection is beeeaaauuuutiful! They definitely have the best shower curtains. No matter that they're insanely expensive. There's just something oh-so-wonderful about having tons of ruffles in one's bathroom! I'm loving this one bathroom with the dark floors, clawfoot tub and vintage-y curtain. We have a clawfoot tub! You've gotta start somewhere right? I'm starting back at Anthro this Sunday and am very excited to have lots of time to look over all their new and lovely things. The local store is just heavenly and I've already got my eyes on a few things. There goes the budget!

image via anthropologie

One Cubic Foot

My roomate showed me this article from National Geographic the other day and I was amazed! These photos are absolutely fantastic. Can you imagine flipping a rock over and seeing all of this? The National Geographic website is chock full of stunning pictures like this one, lots of good stuff.

image from national geographic

A Lovely Afternoon

Suki and I went to for a leisurely walk this afternoon. Thus far, Lover's Point is one of my favorite spots in Monterey. There's usually a wedding in the park and I always love to see how beautiful the brides look. Their happiness is contagious and it's always fun to see what the poor bridesmaids have been forced to wear. Afternoons like this are making me feel a bit more comfortable in my new home. I still miss my friends and family so very much! Anybody feel like taking a trip to the west coast?

March Madness

I won't be accomplishing too much in the next couple of weeks because March Madness is officially on! As a former Cameron Crazy (Duke students and fans), my eyes are glued to the TV while Duke is playing for the National Championship. We made it past the first round today (of course). I'm sad to say that Florida State didn't make it. There goes my bracket!

image via blue planet

Doggie 'tude

 We saw lots of ocean

 too many hills

 

tons of green

And plenty of attitude!

Here are a few more pictures from our road trip. These were taken when we finally reached California on Sunday. I jumped right into work on Monday, so I haven't really had a chance to truly unpack and settle in. I've been taking things out of boxes slooooowly and arranging everything in my room. Hopefully I'll have some pictures of my room soon but I don't want to show it in it's current condition. This last picture almost made me pee my pants. She kept those glasses on for a pretty long time while my sister went slap happy taking pictures. I need to put a thought bubble above her saying something fabulous.

Utterly exhausted

We made it to Monterey! I'll post more as soon as I've fully recovered. Driving 10 hours a day for 5 days can really catch up to you!

image of sunset in monterey

Thank you iPhone!

 On the road in New Mexico

Train in Arizona

We saw lots of these!

Still in Arizona

The most beautiful sight of all!

We made it! We finally crossed over into California today and are staying the night in San Bernardino. Tomorrow will be our last day of driving. For now, we're enjoying Practical Magic and a delicious meal delivered right to our room. I'll leave you with these photos from my very trusty iPhone. Enjoy!

Back in the car!

I just loved this photo! After a while in the car, everything does begin to blur. We've got a long day ahead of us today. We're tackling the rest of New Mexico, Arizona, and some of California. We haven't really had any time to sight-see, but the views from I-10 have been pretty stunning. Surprisingly, Texas was gorgeous and I have high hopes for Arizona and California. Enjoy your day!

image from omgitssyd

Borrowed photos

As promised, I'm having camera issues. I was EXTREMELY responsible and made sure to charge my camera and pack my charger before I left Miami. Unfortunately,  I can't seem to find where I actually packed the camera. We've looked in various boxes, bags, and corners of the car with no luck. Aaah! I'm terribly disappointed in myself but I luckily found some great photos of exactly the same things we've been seeing on the road! Today we finished crossing Texas and arrived for the night at Las Cruces, NM. Tomorrow we're driving aaaalllll the way to San Bernardino, Ca. I'll be excited to finally arrive in California!

images of texas by mpaulda

Tally ho!

We arrived in Tallahassee about 2 hours ago. As soon as I drove off the Florida State University exit onto Tennessee Street I immediately got a warm, fuzzy feeling. I just love coming back to Tallahassee. I'm always tempted to get another degree here!

image of live oak tree by readerwalker

All my bags are packed...

 

And the little VW is about ready to explode! My sister and I (and the pup) are taking off on Wednesday afternoon. Our first stop is Tallahassee a.k.a. my little slice of heaven. I will hopefully remember to charge and bring the camera along with me. I'm notorious for getting ready to snap a gorgeous photo at the exact moment when my camera lets out a shrill beep, flashes the words LOW BATTERY! and suddenly shuts off. Tragic.

image by Gabrielle Kai via oh, hello friend

Found it!

After weeks of scouring Craigslist ads, I finally found a place to live! I must admit that I lost hope for a few seconds after arriving at the first place. There were dingy shoes (spider webs inside and all) next to the front door and the house itself was located on a frighteningly steep cliff (there aren't too many of those in Miami). After a peek inside the house through some very dusty windows, I quickly turned around, looked mum straight in the eyes and mouthed the word RUN. We backed out of that steep cliff rather quickly, very possibly leaving tire marks on the driveway. Lesson learned-- on Craigslist photos really are worth a thousand words. The photo above was taken in the garden at my lovely new home. Phew!

We survived!

After some very turbulent flights, we made it home! I'll post some pics from my most recent trip to Monterey sometime tomorrow. This was a preliminary business only (almost) trip but mom and little sis came along for some fun! More details to come.

image: monterey bay sea nettles