Santa Fe, New Mexico

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Santa Fe did not disappoint! From the food and drinks, to the beautiful hiking, and all the crazy weather in between: I highly recommend paying this unique town a visit.

Highs

  • Our AirBnB was awesome! It was the quintessential desert stay that we wanted and needed. We also enjoyed nice breakfasts there each morning; Lin enjoyed sitting at the table with us! 💛
  • The rail yard near our place had some amazing breweries, and it was cool to see the trains roll by while we walked and enjoyed our time in the area.
  • It took forever to find a good, dog-friendly spot for dinner, but once we did it was worth it! We enjoyed good food and spicy margs before our next day of adventure.
  • We had a very fun, windy hike in the morning during our full day there. We almost got lost of the hike, but luckily we didn’t, and it was great to beat the crowd and the heat!!
  • Our lunch spot was wonderful and I enjoyed some of the best nachos to-date. They also let Linley hang out inside with us, and he was getting all the attention per usual.
  • After an eventful drive, we hung out at a brewery outside of the city center, and had a blast making it a restful part of our afternoon.
  • We stopped by a really cool pottery bar for a drink before dinner, and it was fun to watch people make pottery while we had great martinis out of pottery glasses!

Lows

  • Santa Fe really isn’t as dog friendly as I’d thought it would be. Even some places don’t seat you outside during certain days or times of the week… in hindsight, I wish we’d spent more time in Albuquerque as opposed to Santa Fe.
  • Linley actually had some bad altitude sickness in the morning on our second day there! I’d had it bad in Peru with my mom in 2018, so I knew all the symptoms he was experiencing. He bounced back in time for the hike, but definitely look for warning signs in yourselves and pets (nauseous, cold and shaky, etc.)

Buffalo

  • We really had a wild full-day of weather, including a dust storm AND a snow storm in the same day! It was wild, but very cool to experience.

Photos taken Tuesday, March 18, 2025.

Oklahoma

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Like the places we visited in Arkansas, Oklahoma City was a very underrated place with some really surprising, unique spots!

Highs:

  • Our garage-style AirBnB was super cool! We loved it and had the best time. We barely stayed in, but we enjoyed coffee and laughing at the local news the next morning before we left. (Shout out local news… it’s always so much better than the other garbage!)
  • We enjoyed drinks and brunch in a cute part of town that actually reminded me of a small, beach town I’d visited near San Francisco. Linley, of course, got more attention…
  • The park downtown that we walked through was absolutely beautiful! So many families were out and about, and it was a gorgeous day overall.
  • We popped into a cool library-style distillery before dinner, and when I say we had the most creative cocktails yet, I mean it! Alex ordered a pho-nomenial drink that literally tasted like Vietnamese pho! Our minds are still blown… 10/10 would recommend!
  • Believe it or not, we had dinner on a “lake” with the most beautiful sunset. It was a lovely way to continue our trip out west. And my gluten free vege burger with a gin and tonic didn’t hurt either!

Lows

  • Bricktown was super crowded! The river walk was way too touristy and packed, and that part of the day really wasn’t as enjoyable. But we quickly remedied that with the distillery visit I mentioned above.
  • I slept like *garbage* that night, because Linley kept pushing into my back the entire night. I love when he snuggles up to me, but it was a little too far… he made my stomach push out and it was feeling it for a while there! (He’s worth it, but still!)

Buffalo

  • We made the most of our dinner, but boy did it get cold while we were sitting outside! Next time, I’ll remember to bring blankets for all of us.

Media taken Sunday, March 16, 2025.

Arkansas

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Our first stop on the honeymoon road trip was Arkansas, which may not seem super glamorous, but it didn’t disappoint! Here are some of my favorite photos and “highs, lows and buffalos” from the first state on our journey:

Highs

  • Our AirBnB in Russellville was amazing! 10/10 would recommend the home. Seeing Linley run around in a yard was a big plus, too.
  • Hiking in the Ozarks was amazing! Although rainy at first, this was an underrated hiking spot that everyone should check out at least once.
  • The distillery we found in Little Rock was amazing! They had the best service and St. Patty’s Day drinks, and we ran into some kind strangers there and along the way.

Lows

  • Our county was a dry county, and we had NO idea! We tried ordering margs at two different places, only to realize the nearest liquor, beer or wine was at least 40 miles away! We still have a good laugh about it haha…
  • Of course some family stuff had to go down during this leg of the trip, but so it goes. Alex and Linley are my family, and that’s all that matters. 💛

Buffalo

  • Alex was whistling while we walked through a creepy Dollar General, and the cashier commented and said it felt like a horror movie. Way to go, Alex, for creeping out a complete stranger! 😅

Photos taken Saturday, March 14, 2025.

Honeymoon “high, low, buffalos!”

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March 14-27, 2025… what can I say! Those were the two best weeks of my life. Alex, Linley and I went on the honeymoon road trip of a lifetime.

As excited as I am to write alllllll about it, I probably can’t; it’d take too long and I’ll always have the memories in my heart. Instead, I’ll share stories “high, low, buffalo” style. Haven’t heard of this? Well, I’ll share a few highs, lows (or weird situations, I should say!) and “buffalo’s” are random things that happened on the trip.

What qualifies as a “buffalo?” Well, the fact that we encountered a severe dust THEN snow storm in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the same day definitely qualifies. More to come on that later 🙂

Stay tuned in the coming weeks! In the meantime, here’s some disposable camera photos from our trip of a lifetime.

There’s something about disposable cameras…

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March was our best month yet! Our best friends got married in one of our favorite places, we were married at one of our favorite places, and we had the honeymoon roadtrip of a lifetime as a trio. Although more photos of all that will come, I wanted to share the disposable camera photos our friends and family took during our reception. I immediately knew having these out would be a hit, and what a great idea it was! I look forward to seeing more photos soon, but here’s what we have so far…

Maddie and Quinten, our officiant (on my right)
The one and only Sahil!
Ariel and Alex!
Our venue and second home
Cousins Catherine and Reagan
Our signature drinks
Mom and Linley, our bestest ring bearer
Our lovely bartenders, Justin and Kyle!
Jesse!!!
My lovely best friend, Carolina✨
Wait, there were three Matt’s?!
Our lovely photographer, Trizzie!
Uncle Ray… haha
Reagan, Alex Matlock and cousin Jason
Dancing as newlyweds
Oh boy… haha
One happy bride
One hammered groom… haha

Photos taken Saturday, March 8, 2025 at Bantam Pub in Atlanta, GA. ✨

March 8, 2025

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It’s currently 4:05am CT in Oklahoma City right now. We’re in a garage-style AirBnB as a trio, and Lin is pushed against me in our ginormous king bed. I turned to face him so my belly would get his warmth, as opposed to him bending into my back and causing me pain later in the morning…

I wouldn’t have it any other way. 💛

Alex and I got married last weekend! We had an absolute blast and it couldn’t have been a more perfect weekend all around. Our rehearsal and dinner went great the night before, and it was so nice to hang out with our parents, friends, and Alex’s family members.

Even the morning of the big day felt “normal” in a sense. We had brunch with my parents at our favorite spot (where we had our reception actually!) and lazily hung out until 2/2:30 or so. Alex, Linley and I did, however, sneak away around 1/1:30 to read each other our vows. We wanted to do this in private, and I’m really grateful we did. It’s something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. How lucky am I to have found my best friend!

Getting ready was quick and painless, and I of course had to have one of my favorite fellas help me out!

Our apartment, park where we had the ceremony and Bantam Pub for the reception are all walking distance from each other—which is extremely lucky! We love our neighborhood and our friends in it so much. My dad walked me down to the pond where we met Bill, Alex’s dad, who also helped walk me down to Alex. I’m glad I involved both our dads and it was nice to have a moment with both of them before everything got started. It was another special moment I’ll never forget.

Our ceremony was quick and our best friend Quinten married us. Despite the wind and Cecilia, my mother-in-law, having to hold down my veil, it couldn’t have gone any better. I even made Alex cry! Haha and that was the goal… What made everything extra special was that I was able to see my high school best friend and her sister at the very end. Although they missed most of the ceremony, the fact they even made it at all was a huge surprise and blessing. After popping my first ever bottle of champagne – both with Alex and his brother, Jonathan, we chatted, took some group photos, then had fun with our couple’s session with Trizzie and Tripp. Alex and I are grateful that we have not only such loving friends, but talented friends who can marry us and photograph our big day!

Bantam Pub… where to even begin! When Alex and I first met in person, we visited Bantam for brunch that weekend (August of 2023). It was Bantam where we decided to move in together, and it was there and the servers-turned-friends who rallied for Linley during his major surgery last year. It truly is our second home and the community we feel – and created – there is insurmountable. There was absolutely no way we could have our reception anywhere else! We each had a featured cocktail (Linley’s was the “salty dog” of course!) and we danced, ate and drank the night away. Seeing all our favorite people in our favorite place… unreal in the best way.✨

I could go on about how much I love Alex, how great Linley did as the ring bearer, and how lovely everything else was… but I don’t feel like ugly crying at 4:33am CT in some random AirBnB that we’re staying at as we head out west haha. All you need to know is that this is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love that I’m forever grateful for, and our little guy killed it out there last weekend. 🥹 The morning of, the after party where everyone kept buying us drinks, and everything in between… it was an incredible day, with incredible friends and one incredible husband!

Media taken Saturday, March 8, 2025.✨

Asheville Strong

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Our best friends got married in Asheville, North Carolina this weekend, so of course we made a trip out of it! It was bittersweet seeing Asheville in its resiliency following the devastating flooding that happened due to Hurricane Helene. Although our trip wasn’t full of the usual hiking and nature exploration, we had a blast in the city itself.

We highly recommend Ginger’s Revenge and The Twisted Laurel if you’re in the mood for some good drinks and food!

The next morning, we had a blast at brunch and enjoyed the sunshine before Carolina’s and Matt’s wedding celebration. We even took Linley to the local Wag Bar—where he played and ran around like a maniac for hours! He also got attention from everyone – including little kids – at the local bars and restaurants…

After we tired Lin out, we headed back to our Airbnb so we could get ready and Linley could finally sleep.

The venue, ceremony and celebration were all beautiful and emotional given the delay since October. It was a lovely evening and wonderful to finally celebrate with Carolina and Matt!

The trip back on Sunday was smooth, and of course we had to enjoy some of our local spots in Atlanta given how beautiful of an afternoon it was.

Media taken Friday, February 28-Sunday, March 2 in Asheville, NC & Atlanta, GA. 💛

Beautiful Birmingham

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Do you ever have those days that just seem perfect, like every single thing is going right? And it actually does?! Well, that’s how I felt on Saturday, February 1 when Alex, Linley and I visited Birmingham, Alabama!

It was a beautiful, sunny day and we were excited for a mini-vacay as a family. We started at a fun dog park and bar (ironically called Good Dog Bar and Dog Park), where Lin ran around like a manic… and we were all smiles!

After some runs and fun’s in the sun, we had the best and most filling seafood lunch of my life! Linley was of course getting all the attention, and before Alex and I headed to an Atlanta United soccer game, we had to walk off all our delicious food.

Alex and I had a great time at the soccer game, but we actually left early because we missed Lin so much… haha! It was too nice of a day to have him cooped up inside.

Our evening was just as fun as the rest of our day together; we had some good drinks at a local brewery where two kiddos gave Lin all the attention in the world! It was such a nice evening with great conversation and company. And when we wrapped up there, we had some good bar food and a nice walk to wrap up our evening.

It was truly one of those days where everything went smooth. The drive was great, stopping at Buc-ee’s was awesome, all the activities and sunshine and smiles… everything was picture-perfect in Birmingham!

Photos taken Saturday, February 1, 2025 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Frustration turned into fondness // It’s all about perspective

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I had to upgrade to the WordPress business plan, and I was pissed about it. But then I realized after all the time I was trying to spend cleaning out my storage to meet the 13 GB limit, “Wow, what a blessing that I’ve written and photographed and filmed and traveled this much!” So now I’m happy again 🙂

Back to journaling about and sharing photos from recent travels tomorrow! For tonight, relaxation… and wine…

Atlanta Snow Days

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Alex and I are recovering from a nasty case of the flu (we’re incredibly lucky we’re vaccinated!), and the sweats make me wish for another snow day. Here in Atlanta, snow is rare but we were blessed with two winter storms that made me feel like we were suddenly in Michigan.

Linley and I certainly missed this snow, but what made the first snow day extra special was spending it with Alex. The three of us have never had a fun-filled day in winter wonderland before, and we hope to have many more!

Media taken Friday, January 10, 2025 ❄️

Holiday Spirit✨

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Atlanta is always beautiful, but I especially love it during the holidays. This is my second holiday season in ATL and I’m incredibly lucky to call this city my home. 💛

Here are some amazing places to check out if you’re around for the holidays:

Piedmont Park Botanical Garden

Fernbank Science Museum

West End

Your local bars of course 🙂

Raindrops🍂

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I lay awake with back pain, uncertainty with my current job interviews and applications in flight and some anxiousness around the holidays, but I’m also excited, hopeful and am feeling inspired! I don’t have much else to say; I simply wanted to share these photos because I love the big leaves and raindrops at our place. 🙂