washington dc

it had been about a month since i had been on an airplane so i figured why not go to washington dc for the weekend to visit the lovely jilli and jane. it was a short trip but such a perfect weekend. we saw the sights, laid out on the grass at the mall, went to the smithsonian (i was in heaven with all the french impressionism), ate a lot and spent time with jane's family. it was her grandma's eightieth birthday, so we threw her a little birthday dinner. its safe to say that i'm obsessed with her grandparents.

the place: washington dc

the peeps: #thecoltons

the dates: august 18 - 22, 2011

day trip

momma, poppy and i wanted to make the most of my last weekend at home so took a little day trip to la. we stopped in pasadena on our way up for lunch and then made our way to the getty villa in malibu. spectacular greek & roman art combined with beautiful gardens made for a wonderful afternoon.

the place: the getty villa, malibu

the peeps: artful subjects

the date: august 13, 2011

i made french macarons

or, i tried to make french macarons. for various reasons i failed miserably. but it's all good. at least my nails look great.

the place: the parents house

the peeps: me and failed macarons

the date: august 9, 2011

gm2011: india

oh my goodness, india was UNREAL. a whole different universe. a completely beautiful universe to be completely honest. the people were the nicest people i have ever met in my life. so humble, caring and willing to do anything to help you. and then the land itself is unbelievably pretty. i had no idea that india was so jungle like, but it totally is! monsoons and all! aside from the people and the land, all of the sites are incredible too. the taj mahal was ten times more magnificent than i expected, riding elephants and camels was a once in a life time experience, henna, shopping, bus rides, i could go on and on for days about the beauty of india. hopefully these pictures will suffice for the time being.

the place: delhi, agra & jaipur, india

the peeps: the crew

the dates: july 17 - 21

gm2011: beijing

china was my FAVORITE. i love china. i still can't put my finger on it exactly, but for whatever reason i just can't get enough of it. we were in beijing for a few days and were able to hit the silk market (stressful), t-square (you can't write the real name otherwise china will attack you), the forbidden palace (seriously sweaty), the great wall (seriously great, unrealistically sweaty), and the summer palace. china was awesome because it was so unique and so unlike anything else in the world; plus it helps that i was really able to connect with the lovely people of china.

the place: beijing, china

the peeps: the crew

the dates: july 11-16

gm2011: florence

each time i arrived in a city i thought to myself, omg this is my favorite. and florence was no exception. with gelato multiple times a day, churches right and left, the david, a trip to venice and italian men, what's not to love? for reals though florence was incredible. our hotel was right in the heart of florence so we spent our time wandering around the streets looking at art and eating gelato. and when i say that we ate it multiple times a day, i'm serious. i'd say that a highlight of florence was going out to the river each night to watch the sunset; i could get used to that.

the place: florence, italy

the peeps: the crew

the dates: july 7 - 11

gm2011: geneva

switzerland is without a doubt the most beautiful place i have ever seen in my entire life. i'm pretty sure it was all a dream. sadly though we were only in geneva for one day so didn't have a ton of time to get to know the city like we did in paris. we had a few business visits but were able to squeeze in a visit an INCREDIBLE castle on the lake and have a picnic and go swimming. ps, these pictures do not even come close to doing geneva justice.

the place: geneva, switzerland

the peeps: the crew

the date: july 4-july 7

gm2011: paris

oh my goodness, paris. the food is unreal. the people are fashionable. the sites are historic and picturesque. paris was nothing like i expected but still so incredible. we ate non stop, went to notre dame, picnic at the eiffel tower, the louvre, and so many other things. it really was a whirl wind but some of the best times were when we would lay around just trying to soak it in.

the place: paris, france

the peeps: the crew

the date: june 29- july 3

gm2011: new york city

destination 1 on our trip: new york city. like my previous trip to nyc, it was awesome. it was fun to do some of the more local things on this trip like trying polish food in little poland, eating at the chelsea market, shopping in soho, napping and picnic in central park, peurto rican festival at battery park, ground zero, all the works. the following include: killin it on the upper east side before our picnic, meeting an original new yorker named toni, and jane being attacked by the snake ambassadors of new york city.

the place: new york city

the peeps: the gm2011 crew

the date: june 26- 28, 2011

camping

to be completely honest, i don't enjoy camping. this was the first time and most likely the last. dirt really isnt my thing. but if i have to camp at least arches national park is really pretty and makes for some sweet pictures and ridiculous stories.

the peeps: jane, me and 500 other kids at massive moab trip 2011

the place: moab and arches national park, utah

the date: june 17 & 18, 2011

weekend getaway

jane, carson and i took a little weekend trip to park city and it was perfection. running, hiking, reading in the sunshine, eating, eating, movies, shopping and sleeping. and to finish it off we stopped by the rugby championship with some lovely friends. the ideal weekend if i've ever seen one.

the peeps: jane, carson and a crew

the place: park city and sandy, utah

the date: may 21, 2011

empire state of mind

i went to new york. it forever changed my life.

the peeps: fashionable people

the place: new york city

the date: may 1- 6

this is a sunset.

slightly different than the sunset that i would have seen had i gone home this weekend. but still quite pretty.

the peeps: mother nature

the place: the view from apt. 445

the date: january 17, 2011

this one time, on the surface of the moon

for reals though, we went to VEGASSS to celebrate the new year. in case you've never taken the drive from orange county to veags, it looks like the surface of the moon. no joke. sadly though, these pictures at a gas-station-on-the-surface-of-the-moon are pretty much the only pictures i took the whole mini-trip cause, well, we were in vegas and i was too occupied with other things to be taking pictures. happy new year, though!!

the peeps: briana&scott, katie and me

the place: somewhere between orange county and vegas

the date: december 31, 2010