8//28- Day in DC

I spent my last Friday of summer at the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum (both in the same building) and had an amazing time. I was really itching for some culture since coming home from London and got to see some really cool artwork in both museums. My favorite part was probably the contemporary art gallery in the American Art museum even one of my favorite pieces was the painting of the War of 1812 a few pictures down. (Ps the last photo is not from the museum but an Anthropologie close by that we stopped into.) 

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UK Trip- The Second Installment

School is in less than two weeks and I am less than pleased about it. I have had the most amazing summer and am so grateful for all of the experiences I've been fortunate to have. I just don't want it to end. I genuinely feel as though this summer has changed my life for the better. Oh well, I knew I would have to go back to reality eventually. On a better note, welcome to my second (long overdue) trip recap!

We only had one day in Scotland :( which we spent in a city called Edinburgh (pronounced Ed-in-bore-oe by the English, and Ed-in-bra by the locals!) I fell absolutely in love with Edinburgh, so much so that I dragged my parents over to the visitor's center for Edinburgh University and grabbed a pamphlet or two because the school is incredible. It's a city campus similar to NYU, however these buildings are already significantly older than the entire city of New York. It was incredible and  Edinburgh stole my entire heart. Anyway, we visited the castle and did a ton of Scottish shopping around the city, purchasing three scarves and more, because when in Scotland amiright?? Overall we had an amazing day, despite the cold, darkness, and rain.
WARNING: photo overload ahead

We slept over in Edinburgh and then headed over to Ireland super early in the morning via ferry. We arrived in Belfast, a port city of Ireland where we visited the Titanic museum. The Titanic was built in Belfast and departed from their port, so the museum was built pretty much on top of the dock and primarily focused on what went into building the ship and how it affected the Irish people. Not my favorite part of the trip but still interesting nonetheless. If you follow me on Instagram (which you totally should) you'll know that I posted the same photo as below of the Titanic Museum and ironically it looked to me as thought the museum was underwater. I thought that to be a bit odd. After the museum we continued onward to Dublin, which I'll talk about in my next post!

To be continued... xx

One Moment- Why I Go To Camp

I'm back and as I say every year, I've just had the best three weeks of my life! Even though my camp experience was slightly eclipsed by the fact that I had just gotten home from Europe, the best trip I've ever been on; I still had the best time. I got a chance to be in Disney on my own with people whom I treat like family and then got to spend 2 more weeks living with them full time in one of my favorite places ever.  I honestly couldn't have asked for a better camp experience. I found my way on my own a little bit and strengthened bonds with friends that I didn't know could be any stronger! I  have loved going fo camp for the past eight summers of my life, and felt as though it needed a small tribute over here on the blog in the real world. So here we go!

For those of you who have never been to camp or went and didn't like it, you might be wondering why I choose to give up all connection to the outside world for three weeks just to hang out with friends that I could quite easily see here at home. It's a very hard thing to articulate but the easiest way I've found to explain it is by centering it around one moment. 

High school is hard. Between sports, student government, college, youth groups, friend groups, school, parents, teachers, grades, etc. I, and many others such as myself, feel as though I am being pulled in eighteen-hundred different directions at once. No matter how down-time I get (not a whole lot,) when I'm not focused on one thing, you better be sure that I'm thinking about another. Dreams are riddled with fears of failing or college rejection, friends text about which girl deserves the top spot in the boat, there is no break until school ends. So for me, camp has evolved from just a place of growth and change, to a safe place to escape the intense responsibility that I am constantly dealing with at home. 

I go to camp for that one single solitary moment. That second of my life that I can be four years old again and spin around in a circle as fast as I can while laughing at the top of my lungs, trying my best not to fall over. I go to camp because I only have to stress about why there are only green apples instead of red; or whether we're going to the pool or the lake that day. Camp is a safe place where I can grow into myself and figure out who I want to be without any pressure from anyone. Camp is home, which is why I go back summer after summer. 

xx