As I've said countless times this past year, I've been thinking about this blog and where I'd like it to go. After trying new things, added new segments, and reflecting on what's working and what's not, I've decided to take some time to completely revamp this space and rebuild it so that it's tailored to the new direction I'd like to see it head in.

I started this blog as strictly a personal photography blog, and now I feel as though I'm trying to shove a design blog, a style blog, a health blog, and a college blog into that small space that I created, and obviously, it just isn't working. And I truly believe that stepping away to really think about what I need this space to be is the only way for it to get closer to becoming it.

So here's a general guideline as to what to expect when I return from this indefinite break:

• A new name that better reflects what I want this space to convey
•  A better, more organized design that allows all those different categories I listed above to fit in organically to the space
• A clear, streamlined manifesto that can be found in every post I create

Friends and family who happen to check in on me via my blog to see how I'm doing and what my world looks like currently, do not fret. I intend to maintain personal posts in this new space. I love making personal posts, it's something that I've always needed a space for. However, I've grown over the past couple of years and my goals are different and I feel as though I have more to offer than simply photography and writing. I pride myself on being a multifaceted woman; someone whose heart is filled to the brim with interests and skills and hobbies, and I feel as though at this point in my life I could really use a space where all those things fit in.

early autumn light.

Just sharing some photos that have been snoozing in my camera for a while.
October, you are awesome.

ain't no time like fair time.

My boyfriend has been working a lot lately, so to spend some time together and reconnect, he took me on a date to the Mountain State Fair.

Blogging about my obsession with county fairs is becoming a yearly tradition it seems, and looking back at the pictures I took from last year I'm shooting myself in the foot for not taking my DSLR and relying on lower quality iPhone pictures, because WOW what a difference. However with that being said, this year we managed to hit up the fair on the special day when they were offering a "pay 20 bucks, ride whatever you like" deal so I'm thankful for not having to have worried about the safety of my Canon while I rode rides.

It was a little cloudy this year, but luckily the rain held off and we stayed safe and dry. All in all, we had a great time and I look forward to going again next year. I also now feel inspired to drop the iPhone a little more often and pick up my DSLR camera in order to capture more memories like these as summer starts changing into fall.

pinterest favorites.

DIY watercolor mug | dream hair | no grit, no pearl | snake candleholders | crystals | necklace

Today I started to really settle into my dorm room and college routine. Sundays are the best days for checking off those annoying tasks on your to-do list that you've been putting off all week, and today I did those things. I hung up bulletin boards and wall art, washed a load of laundry, wrote down the schedule for the group exercise classes on campus, and organized notebooks and folders for class.

Now I'm settling into bed with a cup of tea because I happened to catch the start of Beetlejuice just as it was coming on ABC Family. (um, SCORE.) I'm feeling ready for the week ahead and even more ready to start falling into some sort of a routine now that I'm back at school.

P.S. I'm also so looking forward to fall now that spooky things are starting to appear on my Pinterest feed. I love the warm, raw, gypsy vibe I'm getting from these pins.

my Pinterest.

updates: junior year.

Well guys, it's halfway through the week. I finally made it and I'm settled in to my dorm room for my third year of college. It feels surreal that I'm back at UNCA for another wonderful year, and I believe that this one is going to be the best yet. Things are already so, so crazy, but I am finding joy in:

These colorful latte bowls.

Getting more active on campus with student orgs.

My ridiculously vulgar and delightfully glittery pimp cup from my bestie, placed appropriately next to my party shoes.

Sisterly love.

My guy friends taking on the ice bucket challenge.

And of course, mountain sunsets.

from the weekend.

Just a few pictures from the mini beach trip I took this weekend. It rained two out of the three days, so we couldn't really enjoy the beach much, but we had plenty of quality family(and shopping) time.

And for the record, I think there's something so incredible about the way the coast looks on a rainy day. Everything seems a bit more dramatic. Clouds are bigger and more impending. Greens are brighter. Grays are cooler and browns, warmer. It's almost like there's nothing in this world as dark and deep as the ocean before a storm. It's very extreme in the best of ways.

Overall, it was nice to get away for a bit before I face the stress of packing and moving back to school. I now feel refreshed and ready to take it all on and transition into a new kind of routine.

pinterest favorites.

lime & sea salt cleaner | call of the sea | healthy beach snacks | day dress | sorbet pineapple boat | watermelon lips

Currently:
Listening to my Third Eye Blind playlist while packing for a mini beach trip that my sister, mom, and I are taking this weekend.
Getting super pumped about the school year coming up. (First year of college, I was freaking out and feeling so not ready to leave home. Fast forward to my third year, and I'm jealous of my bestie/suite-mate who's moving in 2 days before me.)
Wearing super simple jewelry and comfy tees.
Loving a bright pink lip.
Eating my weight in raspberries.
Feeling very intrigued by that lime + sea salt all purpose cleaning spray, but also feeling pretty convinced I'd love it and that my dream house would smell of nothing else.

my Pinterest.

bedroom update: gallery wall.

This weekend, my dad helped me hang a gallery wall in my bedroom at home. I wanted a place to store some of the many, many pieces of art I've created and accumulated since high school. I also wanted to display a few gifts/souvenirs(rose print, sunset print, and Bob Dylan poster) that I've gotten over the years in a way that seemed intentional and thoughtful. I love the way it turned out. It's definitely NOT a traditional gallery wall with matching frames and synchronized pieces, but it feels very "Liz" to me. At a single glance, I can see years of memories and better yet, years of practice and improvement within my own art.

Some quick tips for hanging your own gallery wall:

• Plan it out on your floor or a big table before putting it up on the wall. This final format you see here is probably the twelfth combination I actually tried.
• Use pieces you already have and/or accumulate more pieces over the years. Buying a ton of pieces all at once from discount places can make your gallery wall seem kinda forced and stiff, rather than homey and personal.
• If you find yourself stressing about positioning each piece, keep it super simple like I did and create two rows of prints, aligning the bottoms of the first row and the tops of the second row.
• Consult Pinterest. (Duh.) There are pretty much billion resources available online for creating your own gallery wall. It's kind of a thing now.

summer silence.

Sorry about the radio silence, y'all. I don't have an excuse. It's summertime, and I've been all over the place and that's okay. I'm trying to go with the flow and live each day as it comes. I'm in a really weird place in my life where summers aren't this huge amount of freedom like they used to be growing up, but at the same time, I'm not in any kind of routine. This is really hard for me, but so far I'm learning as I go what I need to fill my days with in order to feel fulfilled, and also what I don't really need.

I need productivity. I need to blog. I need to have school or work or something on my hands to keep me busy. I kinda need a little routine.

I don't need to live my life according to how I'm supposed to be living it. I've said all of this before, but it's something that I struggle with daily. I think anyone in my generation struggles with it at times, so shout out to you guys.
Scrolling through beautiful adventures posted by others in explicit detail on Instagram or various blogs, I'm constantly feeling like I'm not keeping up with everyone. My summer isn't "summery" enough. I haven't caught enough lightning bugs or gotten a deep enough tan line. I didn't wear enough neon shorts or took enough of the same pictures of the ocean. This sounds like a bitter complaint, but really it's a reality check to myself from myself.

I need to remember that life doesn't stop because the season does. Summers are fleeting, yes, but so are all the seasons.

I don't need to waste each one by not taking it all in, but I also don't need to waste them by worrying about whether or not I'm taking it all in, you feel me?

Here's a ton of pics from our annual trip to the mountains for my dad's birthday to make up for the silence. These photos are well over a week old, and I actually just came home from a trip to Asheville to see my boyfriend, and the short trip only made me miss it all more. As much as I'm always sad about summer ending, I look forward to going back to school and enjoying the fall. Another season, another chance to take it all in.

fast times.

Updates: my little sister graduated high school and the next day, I went on a week long family vacation to the beach. It seems as though since I graduated high school two years ago, time has been moving a million miles a minute. Especially during these longer summer days, I'm finding that I'm craving more time for reflection.

I feel as though I've touched on this subject a lot, as memory keeping has always been important to me, but with the free time that summer break provides, I've been wanting to actually buckle down and keep up with it. I'm making a goal for myself to journal a bit tonight. I journaled all throughout high school, either in sketchbooks or in composition books where I would doodle and paste images, movie ticket stubs, candy wrappers; anything which held a memory, big or small.

Someday soon, I would love to get my hands on Project Life, but for now, journaling a bit in my sketchbook once or twice a week sounds more like a realistic start. I strongly encourage old school pen to paper for real reflection, because it's much easier to control your audienc and get all thoughts and memories out of your head and on to something tangible without fear or judgment. To hold myself accountable, I may share a few pages if I find them artsy or cool enough. ;)

I will also be bloggin' about that beach trip I talked about within the next week or so, I promise. I've found that this blog is so much easier to keep up with when I break things down and give myself ample time to make each post a quality one. I'm learning as I go and it feels amazing. :)

P.S. If you're local to the Charlotte area and lookin for an AMAZE cake, check out Mo Betta Cakes. My father is colleagues with the wonderful lady who runs the small business, and she ain't messin' around with her cakes. They are damn good.

left my heart in asheville.

My trip to Asheville was short but sweet.

I ate.

A lot.

The giant, glorious picture of food is a smoked turkey sandwich with brie, candied bacon, and pesto mayonnaise, complete with baked beans and jalapeno cheese grits. All from 12 Bones. Oh yeah. On the way back from 12 Bones, Lonnie stopped to check out a 1950 Chevy Deluxe that was for sale, knowing how much I love them.

I also went to Charming Charlie with some girlfriends and spent way too much money picked up the cutest carousel key chain which led to a much-needed simplification of my keys.

Here's to more simplicity this summer: Easy days. Sitting on the porch. Toes in the water. Holding hands. Vanilla with sprinkles.

bedroom update.

I'm sharing a few tiny corners that I have finished in my new room to better show how the new color looks. I still need to hang a gallery wall above the bed, figure out the space above my desk, and get a new TV and desk chair before I feel ready to share the full effect. After living with the color for a few days, I've grown to love it even more. My room feels both lighter and calmer, and it's becoming a place I can see myself truly relaxing in after exams over Winter Break or after an 8 hour shift at my current summer job.

from the weekend.

Saturday, I ran errands, went to the Farmer's Market, and bought fresh strawberries. I enjoyed the beautiful weather and ate the best homemade black raspberry ice cream.

Sunday, I slept in, ate a homemade brunch(strawberries included of course), sipped my coffee slowly, and caught up on the latest episode of Hart of Dixie. Then, I caught up on both homework and my workout routine. As a bonus, my friend Brandon planted a seedling of his mint plant for me to keep. I had painted a pot to put it in a few weeks earlier, but I just got around to picking up the finished product yesterday. It is definitely adding a cheery spot to my current stress-zone of a dorm room. Hopefully, I'll keep it alive and have fresh mint all summer to infuse in my water with lemon or cucumber!

I truly believe that one of the most important things I've learned as a college student is how crucial productive Sundays are to my well-being. I have recently made it a habit to spend Sundays all by myself and take the time to do the things I may have neglected the previous week to prepare for the week ahead. I always allow myself to wake up slow, then I make a to-do list for the week ahead. I usually manage to squeeze in a small workout to push my routine into action, and then I make a point to get ahead and start work on the most daunting project for the week ahead.

I've grown to love Sundays, instead of spending the entire day stressing about the week ahead.

This has definitely become my latest mantra.