04.04 | Puerto Rico | Vieques

We journeyed over to Fajardo on the eastern coast of Puerto Rico to catch a ferry to Vieques, a small island about an hour away. Vieques is an incredible place. We stayed on the island for two nights last year & just fell in love. It's a simple island, filled with a few bars, restaurants & shops and friendly locals, happy ex-pats, wild horses, roosters and iguanas! The beaches were recently opened to the public, so they are still unspoiled, and often completely empty. The beaches on the Atlantic side are great for snorkeling but the true beauty lies in the Caribbean side of the island. The water is crystal clear & the sand is so soft. We rented a villa in the town of Isabel Segunda and spent a week exploring the island with a Jeep (many of the beaches are only accessible through very bumpy dirt roads). Vieques Island is also home to the best biolumiescent bay in the world; we took a midnight kayak trip out in the bay & swam while the water sparkled bright around us. AMAZING! It's very hard to photograph, but most certainly an experience everyone should have!

04.03 | Puerto Rico | Rainforest Villa

Once a year, I take a long tropical vacation somewhere to hideaway & unwind before wedding season kicks into high gear. I was tempted to bring all my equipment & my laptop, but my wonderful boyfriend Jason insisted that I bring extra flip-flops and snorkel gear instead and just stick to a simple point & shoot camera. He's one of the only people in my life that (lovingly) calls me out on my workalcoholism haha. I planned a nine-day trip for the us and six of our friends, including my best friend from college whom I rarely get to see. She flew from Boston & met us there: that alone made the trip for me :)

We landed in San Juan in the afternoon & headed over to Loma Sol, an incredible villa on 16 acres in the rainforest. Hands-down the most amazing place I've ever stayed! We were totally enthralled with the landscape, flora, smells and sounds of the rainforest, not to mention this incredible house with five gorgeous bedrooms, outdoor bathrooms, sixteen-person dining room with hand-painted walls, gorgeous pool & hot tub overlooking the ocean. It was an incredible experience to sleep somewhere with all the windows and doors open, with the rainforest breeze flowing through the entire house. We got up early & enjoyed local coffee while laying on the porch lined with hammocks. Simply amazing! I'm already ready to be back, especially since it's SNOWING outside right now. If you ever go to Puerto Rico, this house is a must :)

Wisconsin : Family Dairy Farm

I wanted to share some photos from my most recent trip to the family dairy farm. Breezy View Farms has been in my family since 1921; it's a certified organic diary farm outside Madison and it's an amazing place to escape the sounds of the city (although, it's a LOT of new smells haha). I brought my boyfriend, Jason, to see the farm & meet my family, and he fell in love with this place too. We were even treated to a homegrown meal, in which ever single ingredient came right from the farm. Yum!