Wellington, NZ: Botanic Gardens

One of my very, very favorite things to photograph is nature. I could spend hours upon hours taking photos of trees, clouds, flowers, statues,  and taking in the fresh air. Here are some of the plethora of photos I took in the Wellington, New Zealand Botanic Gardens. I hope you enjoy!

OOW: 1 Day, 1 Dress, 3 Outfits

Have you ever had those days when one look just doesn't cut it? 

That was totally me on Sunday. 

Here is how things played out through my wardrobe....

Look #1:

I wore this at the beginning of the day; Dave and I went to brunch, shopping, and then to a street festival. It started to get a little windy so I was at times trying to hold my dress down and my scarf from flying in my face at the same time...then add holding bags, it was not a pretty sight. It was then and there I decided it was time to head home and maybe put some pants on....

Dress: Forever 21, Cardigan: Old Navy, Scarf: TJ Maxx, Shoes: Big W

Look #2:

After heading home and changing the outfit a little bit I was ready to head back out to the street festival. I feel that adding the pants and tucking in my dress a bit really changed the outfit. With the pants, I wasn't feeling the red cardigan anymore, so I opt for my trusty black one and added a little color with the necklace. I also got a little bit of color with my new purse purchased that day! 

Look #3:

So after a day at the street festival, Dave and I headed back home to relax. The day was so lovely outside I talked him into going into once last walk before it got dark out. Since the wind died down, off with the pants....for my third look of the day!

Don't you love pieces that are so versatile?

What do you have in your closet that you 

can wear in different ways to get

different outfits?

This girl needs more tips and ideas!!!

Me: A to Z..Yippie!!!

I have seen this on a few blogs and thought it would be fun to do! A lot of the items are random tidbits about myself, but random things are sometimes the most fun to know about others! Dave and I came up with the categories ourself, that way I could switch it up from what others have posted. What can I say I sometimes just like to go my own way......go my own way...anyone, anyone get the reference?!?! Anyways, I hope you enjoy!!!

Age: 27 years, 4 months, 16 days
Books I really, really like:  This Much I Know Is True, Lovely Bones, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, (almost) any Laurie Notaro book.
Colleges Attended: Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSU) and George Mason University (GMU)
Dad Memory: every summer my dad would take me on a trip in his Semi to Texas, it was just us and the open road for a week. I loved it, it made me feel special and close to him!
Eye Color: Blue
Favorite Movie: Away We Go, if it is on the TV I HAVE to watch it!! The end, it always gets me, I cry soooo hard. I want to one day live in the farm house where my mom and I grew up, it is filled with so many memories and I would love to fill it with more family memories.
Games I like to play: Scrabble, Drunk Monopoly, and Scategories
Husbands Name: David Andrew Roberts.  I call him 'Babe' or Davi

Inspirations: clouds, love, trees, children, colors, openness, quite, the world
Job: book seller at local family owned bookstore
Kids: someday...but none right now.  I keep changing the time on when I want to have them, one day it will be soon and then another time I think people my age are crazy to have kids...I'm just so confused!
Languages: English (kind of) and Spanish (poco)
Music: Hanson, City and Colour, Bright Eyes, The Head and the Heart, Foster the People, Florence + Machine, GLEE, Mumford & Sons, Matt Wertz, etc.........
Nervous Ticks: tapping my foot, twidling my thumbs, feeling like I'm going to pee my pants
Originally From: Huntley, Minnesota...small town, probably about 300 people. It has a church, bank, cafe/post office, and lots of farmers!

Patience level: not very high, this is something I need to work on.
Questions I most frequently ask: Why? Does this look cool? What are you doing?
Reality Shows I'm addicted to: Farmer Wants a Wife, The Beauty and The Geek, The Bachelorette,The Amazing Race, Kardashins,...I will watch almost any reality tv show. I love other peoples drama and then am glad I don't have drama in my life.  Maybe I learned this from my mom who used to watch the Jerry Springer Show to make herself feel normal!
Song on the radio that I stay in my car for: Boys of Summer; The Ataris version. It's hands down one of my two favorite songs!
Twinge: Great Scrabble word I played this last month!
Umbrella: square blocks of pink, green, yellow, purple, white...its cute!
Vikings Player: Jared Allen #69....I sooooo want to be his friend. We could double date!
World Travels: Mexico, Nepal, London, Canada, Bermuda, Australia (2 times), New Zealand

Mexico- Mayan Ruins

X-Rays: only of my collarbone when I was little, I fell off my grandma's bed.  My mom was an X-Ray technician so I grew up around X-Rays and trying to figure out what was wrong with people.
Yard Sales: YES PLEASE!! I love yards sales! We used to have one every summer and for some reason I loved working it all day long.
Zoo animal: elephant, if it's a baby elephant it's even better!

Thanks for reading! I hope you learned something new!

Have a great Tuesday!

FPW: Oct 2nd -9th

Sorry this is a little late today! I worked today and then did not feel well at all, so I had to take Tylenol PM (the only thing we had). No later than 1 hour after taking the pills I was asleep in my bed for 7 hours, but at least I do feel better!! Without further ado, here are some of my favorite pics from the past week!

A surprise carnival on the way to the beach!

Look at those waves! It was a windy, wavy day at the beach!

Protest to save the Fig Trees.

German Sausage and Cupcake for lunch..mmm mmmm goood!

Hope you all have/had a great Monday!

Aussie Artist: Boy and Bear

Before I shared with you Gotye, a Belgium Aussie artist. Now I give you the band, Boy and Bear...who I am totally loving right now! These guys are exactly the type of music that I could listen to for hours upon hours.

Boy and Bear - Rabbit Song

Don't you love the video too!?!?! I think these would be great Halloween costumes, the office warrior because you know business can be deadly and it is a war out there!

Stay tuned for more Aussie artists that I'm lovin'!

Wellington, NZ: Things to Do

If you ever find yourself in Wellington, New Zealand for a little period of time here are some things that you can do! The best part (almost) everything on the list is free...wwhhhooooooottttt!

1) Museum of Wellington City and Sea: This is a medium sized museum filled with history, photos, and artifacts about Wellington. A great museum to learn more about the city itself, how it was founded, how it evolved, etc. The Museum also had one of the best gift shops, great items that are reasonably priced!

2) Take a ride up the famous Wellington Cable Car.  From other websites I thought this was free, but it costs $3.50 a person. Dave and I were lucky enough to get free coupons from a Kiwi due to their being a Spring Festival! I'm not sure we would have paid the money, but you get a ride up a hill and are greeted with a spectacular view!

3) Stroll through the Botanic Gardens.  Once you get off the cable car and take in the view take a stroll through the botanic gardens at an easy decline. Their are different trails, trees, flowers, and views for you to take in. The main trail will take you about 40 mins. and lead you back to the city. 

4) Walk through the cemetery, where history meets present.  When strolling through the botanic garden continue your stroll to the city through the historical cemetery where graves date back hundred of years. 

5) Attend a Rugby Game.  Dave and I went to a game for the World Cup, we got good seats for only $40 each! Most The All Blacks games are played in Auckland, however you maybe able to catch a local club game. 

6) Walk along the Harbor.  The harbor is beautiful, with views of the distant rolling green hills and the different colors of green in the ocean water. It seems like everywhere you look is green! I could spend just all day walking along the harbor taking in the view, watching the people, and be happily content. 

7) Hike up Mt. Victoria for a 360 degree view of the city. Mt. Victoria is one of the many locations that Peter Jackson used when filming Lord of the Rings, however I do not know what scene it is in. The hike/climb up the hill is not that bad and the view of the city is a great reward. The trail can be kind of tricky to find, but if you get confused or lost just keep climbing up and you will get right on track!

8) Check out Te Papa Museum.  This is a great museum, where you learn about the culture, history, landscape, etc. of New Zealand. I was greatly impressed by the museum, especially since it was free! Dave and I learned and performed the Haka, saw a Colossal Squid, learned about animals, immigration, and much more! This is a definitely must see and do when in Wellington, make sure you give yourself at least 3hrs. to see it all!

9) Take in some political lessons at Parliament.  Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, take advantage of this by visiting the Parliament buildings and learning more about the politics of the country. 

10) Relax and Just Have Fun! You can shop at many cute stores, grab a drink at a local pub, read in the park, take in the view, and have great conversations with the locals. The most important thing to do is  take in the moment and not worry about anything else, because you need to cherish the moment so you can remember it always!

Kiwis are super duper nice!
Even their busses apologize for not being in service!

FTF: Five Things Friday

Happy Friday! It's another Friday which means you get to learn another 5 things about yours truly!

1) The only family vacation my family took was the summer before I started kindergarden. We borrowed a motor van and drove through North and South Dakota. I remember going to the Corn Palace, seeing bears and Bear Country, riding a tortoise at the Reptile Garden, and driving through the Black Hills. It was a great family vacation and one that I will probably do with my future children.

2)  My favorite photographer in the whole wide world is Ansel Adams. His pictures of nature are breathe taking and grab you. He was an amazing, talented photographer. If I had just the talent he held in his pinky finger I would consider myself to be a lucky lady.

3) I L-O-V-E the smell of freshly mowed/cut grass. Plus I even love cutting the grass to get that smell.

4) In high school I played basketball and softball. Basketball was okay, but softball was where my heart was. I played first base and truly loved it, I was pretty good on the field but I kind of stunk at hitting. I wanted to play in college, but I graduated high school early and left the dream of playing in college on the field.

5) One day, hopefully within the next year, Dave and I will own a bulldog (hopefully English) and their name will be Winston. We have been waiting and thinking about this dog for over a year now and I can't wait until we find one. It will be a little harder because we plan on rescuing one instead of getting it from a breeder, when looking at the website our hearts break a little for the bulldogs with no homes.