beginning of summer musings!!!
holy goodness. summer 2023 is here and it’s already off to the best of starts. i just came back from a 13-day tour of the Greek Islands with EF Ultimate Break, and 23 other of my sorority sisters at Gamma Phi Beta. prior to the may 10th departure date for the trip, i saw lizzy mcalpine in concert with sara in atlanta and it was such a night to remember. ceilings live… UNMATCHED. it takes a lot for me to sing my heart out in public but i was belting every word along with every other lizzy stan in the audience. it’s a summer for the books for sure, and i have so much going on, in the best way.
i’m finishing the last three classes of my degree: business law and strategic management and business policy during the first six weeks, and then bioethics to fulfill my last ethics credit! i thought i had already satisfied that ethics credit but apparently not. then i’ll have my degree. it’s been a long time coming if i do say so myself lol. i’ll graduate with a bachelor’s of science in marketing and a major in professional sales. speaking of graduation — i recently booked my grad photos — with one of my all time photographers — kkphotos. i LOVE her work and have admired it for so long! i already have my look together and just need to order my heels. i’m thinking sleek, classic puff-sleeve dress with a more form-fitting figure, and ivory heels with pearls on them to match the pearl headband i’m going to wear as well. dress is from nuuly of course! where else??
greece was 100% out of a movie, like seriously. our tour covered athens, chania, heraklion, santorini, and ios, and boy was it equally crazy and incredible, in the best way possible.
positives and negatives to make this quick!!!! more in-depth blog post on greece coming soon.
positives: i got the most amazing picture ever in santorini that’s rampantly all over my social media — it’s even the cover of the landing page on my main page!!! the speedboat and snorkeling tour has to be one of the top 3 best moments!!! what else… okay our hotel in ios was called far out hotel… literally beyond amazing. my best memories from the trip were made in ios.
negatives: i regret not buying more souvenirs and gifts!!! seriously! my mom always tells me to buy less and i agree i need to work on it, but i highly regret not buying the things i thought were cute in the moment. half of what i did bring back are gifts, so there is genuinely little left for me. oh well, lesson learned. also! i should have packed slightly different — more comfy clothes to lounge in at the end of a long day — i was in and out of the same seaside t-shirt for most of the trip when i wanted to chill (lol), and same thing with socks unfortunately — i only ended up packing like three pairs somehow… definitely a mistake, but sucked nonetheless.
i am currently, in this moment, so, so, so content. like the happiest i’ve been in awhile. i’m settling into the cutest apartment that i’ll live in for the next 6 weeks while i finish out my classes, and luckily have so many besties in tallahassee for the summer. im going to be photographing summer grads, weightlifting consistently in the gym, cooking healthy meals for myself, finishing my last classes (with the little energy i have left for school), and most excitingly, working on my website (right here!) and my creative portfolio. also… i’ll be applying to jobs to hopefully start in september or october!!! for work this summer, i’m wrapping up booking summer graduates for grad sessions! i have to say i was pretty momentarily burnt out of grad sessions due to such a high influx during the spring — but SOOO incredibly thankful for every grad that chose to shoot with me. i photographed around 35 grads during the spring semester which was honestly a huge challenge while being a full-time student. i’m so fortunate to be able to work doing what i love and i try to match my tiredness with gratitude whenever i feel like complaining.
that’s all for now!
xoxo, izzy
