Six Years

I started my blog six years ago today and I decided to do a little recap of some of the highlights through the years. I didn't initially mean for it to be a personal style blog, but after sharing a few outfits I wore outside of my summer job (in the school cafeteria) it quickly became that. I was just back from Japan, wore glasses nearly every day and took pictures around my college campus.
In the Fall of 2008 I studied abroad in Greece and documented some of my adventures on the blog. We had to leave early because of the riots, but I only have fond memories of my time there. I became addicted to gyros, champagne truffles, and island hopping.
I graduated from college in 2009 and went on road trip. I saw land that belonged to my family generations ago, visited my sister in Kansas, and got very close to buffalo at Yellowstone. It was really beautiful and as a new graduate I spent a lot of time thinking and blogging about what I should do with my life.
I moved to Washington State and I found some of most beautiful places to take pictures ever. These ranges were also used for military drills so I had to keep an eye out for soldiers, land mines, and the occasional explosion--there were a couple of heart-pounding moments when a range wasn't marked properly or a fully armed soldier came running out of the woods.
In the summer of 2010 my sister Elizabeth went to Europe for research and I tagged along so we could split housing costs. We spent time in England, France, and Italy and I fell in love with Venice. It's still my favorite city and however irrational I'd love to live there even if only for a year...
February 2011 I was invited to attend fashion week with Tumblr and I had an amazing time shooting backstage at MILK Studios and seeing so many Mercedes-Benz shows and presentations too. Backstage at Suno might have been my favorite experience--I made a lot of videos that week including one of the Suno models getting ready before the presentation set to a Lykke Li song.
That summer I moved to Virginia but also flew off to Spain and Italy briefly with my friend Jen. We stayed in crowded hostels and enjoyed street food and talked about how romantic the trip would be if we were there with boyfriends. She got married last summer, so I imagine her trips are more romantic now!
In Virginia I took pictures in an abandoned train car and lived inside of a moat; I really wish I could have lived there longer, but I moved to another house in Virginia with my family after less than a year. I also started cutting my hair off.
The summer of 2012 I moved up to Pennsylvania to live with a friend from college in an old farmhouse in the countryside; later in the fall I moved to downtown Lancaster with some other friends. I had very short hair and my friends took my exploring all over the state. I found abandoned barns and roller coasters and met a lot of new people.
I started sharing more of my artwork and making monster doodles in 2012. I'm still actively drawing and collaging today and hope to release a monster zine I'm making with a friend soon. One day I hope to have an Etsy shop where my prints would be available.
Now I have blue hair and am renewing my lease on the house in Pennsylvania--it will be my first time to live two full years in one state since 2008. It's wild to realize how much the blog has covered, how long it has been with me, and how many changes I've undergone. I wouldn't still be blogging today if it wasn't for all the sweet comments I receive and friends I've made online. The Internet has definitely become more than a place to record pieces of my life but rather a space to interact with kindred spirits.