Day + Night

The weekend is here and although our home is kind of messy and unorganized still (post-wedding aftermath, even a month later), I'm missing home already being that we're going away for the weekend. I enjoy relaxing at home with my favorite cups coffee and the peonies from the market that I finally tracked down. I hope our little trip don't get completely rained out on the coast. We're taking our chances since I've only been looking forward to this for a month!

I love our home and all of the plants we've accumulated this spring season. Being surrounded by little bits of nature make our home feel more like a tropical resort. Being surrounded by plants reminds me of my trip to Costa Rica a few years ago - a trip that my entire family still talks about to this day. S and I are taking a little petit-weekend trip this weekend and all I want to do is sit on the beach in my bikini with a cold, perspiring drink in my hand - just like the relaxing days in Costa Rica.

One of our balcony plants is a sort of hanging ivy and it recently has been made a home for a mourning dove. Before we had white curtains on the balcony  we had hanging ivy above the length of the railing. In summer and the Florida afternoon sun, it was impossible to keep it alive, so we opted for curtains in the end - which I think look lovelier anyway, albeit less privacy. Back then, we had a mourning dove couple make their nest in one of our ivy plants every year. We had eggs there, and eventually lil chicks! I believe it is the same mourning dove that has made her way back to us to have her chicks this year. She must really love our spot, or maybe she just likes that we put out birdseed for her, the cardinals, blue jays, and sparrows. 

The morning and the evening are about the only times these days that we can enjoy our balcony. With the midday sun and afternoon heat, it's just too unbearable out there. Unless of course I have my bathing suit on and a caipirinha in my hand, it's rare that I'm out there in the afternoon. Recently, we enjoyed the cool breeze that night brings and S was actually interested to play around with the camera. I took advantage of this moment because he is almost never interested in it! I showed him aperture, shutter speed, manual mode, and later we even played around with long exposures. 

We set the shutter speed to be extremely long (20 seconds if I remember correctly) and we had the aperture set incredibly small. Little by little, with all of the lights in the apartment turned off, we let the last light of the evening trickle into the camera lens. I held up left over wedding antlers to my head and half way through, I shifted across the floor. It was fun to experiment together with the camera settings.

Life has been pretty good lately. Earlier this week I went to the international beauty show that I used to go to every year when I was a hairstylist. I still have my license and decided that this year it was time to go again - I  miss the hair industry! With some estheticians I know, we walked through the skincare area first, then through the endless aisles of hair care, then of course we ended with nails. I got all of my favorite products like Moroccanoil and a new Hot Tools curling iron. I also got my shears sharpened since I still cut S's hair on our balcony. I have plenty of photos of the show to share with you!

It's been nice not having to go to class twice a week and not having assignments to busy myself with in the evenings and on weekends. I have definitely been filling my time though. There are plenty of events that I want to volunteer my time for this summer, including the Florida Blogger Conference that I worked last year! If you're in the area - I definitely suggest checking it out. I enjoyed working it so much last year that this year I want to work it and attend it - it was that great!