The Queen's Birthday Weekend

On a Saturday a week or two ago, my fellow texas lady & i walked down to the harbour to celebrate the Queen's birthday. So, instead of a 3 day Memorial day weekend- we had a 3 day Queen weekend! :)

The first thing we found were bagpipes... lots of amazing bagpipes- and kilts! I love it. So much fanfare & we hadn't even gotten inside to the venue yet! We found a female sherlock holmes, lots of cute british cars, dancing, and oh... lots of posters with cut-out faces...

Our favorite one was of Will & Kate & baby. Not sure why they picked the picture of them on the first day out of the hospital, but we went with it.

All in all, it was a perfectly British morning. We had to finish it off with a selfie in front of England's flag. Of course.

xoxo

HOBBITTON [Pt 2]

I still cannot believe I got to see the shire. I definitely want to come back out here if possible because it went by too fast! Everything from the architecture to the gardening was so detailed and immaculate. Below, you'll find the fence that bilbo hops over in the trailer, the party tree where bilbo disappears in the fellowship of the ring, bag end, me drinking some ginger beer in the green dragon, the shire, and moreeee! I love it.

"The world is not in your maps or your books, it's out there!"

"It's a dangerous business, walking out one's front door."

"Home is now behind you, the world is ahead!"

Weeeeeeee! So appropriate to my own life adventures. K. Enough lovebugging about the hobbit. Regular scheduled activities ahead. :)

PS keep up with my adventures via instagram/tumblr/youtube >> links are in sidebar :)

NEW ZEALAND [Hobbitton PT 1]

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who believed in hobbits. She didn’t believe in Santa Clause, or the Easter bunny, but she did believe in scary trolls and goblins. Elves, magical kingdoms, special rings, and holes in the ground. Her dad was a connoisseur of hobbits, and ingrained a special love of the hairy-footed creatures in her heart at a young age. Watching the hobbit cartoon over and over again, the little girl may have prayed to God to send her to a special land called Middle Earth. (The real world is not much fun without magic, anyways.) God sent that little girl a gift, and his name was Peter Jackson.

Heehee!

The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings trilogy have a very special place in my heart for many reasons. I’ve had the cartoon version of the hobbit for as long as I can remember, and my family would go every Christmas to see Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies when they finally came out in theatres. I love those movies & books so so much.

 So, you can imagine when I got the chance to go to New Zealand for film school that I would be doing some hobbit-like things.

An incredible experience. I drank ginger beer in the green dragon, and stood beneath Bilbo’s party tree where he disappears in the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring. I can’t wait to watch the movies again & pay closer attention to the backgrounds of the Shire. Because I was there! The tour was very fun and informative- I loved all of the little anecdotes our tour guide mentioned! So much detail was put into the shire set, so everyone should go and appreciate it. Truly incredible.

 Can you tell that I am in love?

Part 2 Coming soon! So many photos...

PS keep up with my adventures via instagram/tumblr/youtube >> links are in sidebar :)

NEW ZEALAND [Day 3]

Day three of my New Zealand adventure was a crazy one! We woke up at 6:00 am to get to a bus station for a day-long tour.

Our first stop was the Waitomo Glowworm Caves. This is one of those things you have to do if you’re in New Zealand. The tour guide’s grandfather was one of men who originally explored the area, so we had a little inside scoop! It was crazy beautiful, you guys. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside, but man… so pretty. We did take a photo in front of the green screen, so its like it really happened! ;)

After taking a boat ride underneath the glowworms (yes, a BOAT RIDE), we hopped back on the bus and ate a boxed lunch. Side Note: Really interesting food here in New Zealand. We have had our ups and downs, and I have not made up my mind yet. I am starting to really crave torchys tacos, and this is not good for anyone.

We made our way down to Rotorua, and hopped on another bus to go toooooo HOBBITTON. This may be one of the best things I will ever do in my life. HA. But, really, I am a huge lord of the rings fan. Like. Really big. I got kind of emotional while re-reading some of the hobbit. No shame.

So, that’ll be its own post. Cause it’s the shire, and bag end, and I just can’t handle it.

After that lovely experience, we jumped back on the bus and went back to Rotorua. Okay, so, while I was on the bus I was like it is starting to smell like breakfast… but in a bad way… and I thought maybe I was going crazy. No. I wasn’t. Rotorua has a giant lake (called Lake Rotorua, go figure) and apparently was formed from the crater of a large volcano. BUT. At the end of it is a sulphur bay. So, the whole town smells like sulphur. In fact, its nicknamed Sulphur City. So, I was right! It did smell like rotten eggs! The smell does kind of go away after you get used to it, but that was very weird. Beautiful, but weird.

After about 30 minutes of rest, my parents pulled me from my hotel room and we walked to the Pig & Whistle Pub. It was very cold, and I was exhausted, so it is not a stretch to say I was a little cranky. I ordered some beef nachos, at the Pig & Whistle (can you tell that I love the name?) and crossed my fingers it would be similar to tex mex. What was I even thinking?! Nothing compares to tex mex. But, this was pretty interesting. Sweet chips and tomato-y, cheesy, beany, dip. Very strange! But, not horrible.

Needless to say, after that  venture… I passed out. J

PS keep up with my adventures via instagram/tumblr/youtube >> links are in sidebar :)

Day 2 in New Zealand

Day 2 brought good things. We ran all over Auckland on our first day to find myself a flat. Day 2, I got a flat! Hopefully I don't jinx myself, because I haven't signed the lease yet. I woke up at 6 am (fell asleep at 9 pm on the dot), and chatted with my american people for a bit until 7 am. Then we called the realtor for the flat, who was not quite at work yet. Apparently they don't open until 9 am.

Eventually we talked to the realtor, got things a liiiiitttle bit sorted out, and then started a new adventure!

We took a ferry over to Devonport. Which is beautiful! Auckland reminds me a lot of San Fransisco, and Devonport was very reminiscent of Sausalito (though maybe not quite as posh ;). We had lunch at a cute place called corelli's, where I got a chicken sandwich and the parents got fish & chips. I had a NZ beer, that was actually really good. I don't typically like beer for reference.

After lunch, we immediately headed up Mt. Victoria. BEAUTIFUL VIEWS. I can't even. It was an old military bunker, and they had these mushrooms put all over the top to disguise vents. Very cute.

After Devonport, I was exhausted and we headed back to the hotel. I got to skype with the boyfriend, and then I showered and fell asleep. Jetlag is still kicking my butt.

xoxo

PS keep up with my adventures via instagram/tumblr/youtube >> links are in sidebar :)

Ranch via the big camera.

So, I already mentioned what we got up to at the ranch last weekend here. My friend, Cassie, mentioned to me a couple of weeks ago that it would be fun to do a paint photoshoot with all our friends. I told her that sounded fun, and then more recently she thought up the idea that colored powder (known most famously for being used for Holi) would be a better idea & way more exciting. So, we all wore white shirts and ventured into a field where Cassie had already set up cups full of powder. And then... we got up to no good.

I've said it before and I'll say it again- I love these people & I love that weekend. I think we've set the bar for a fun weekend, and it will be interesting to try and up ourselves next time!

xoxo