babymoon pt. one.

we knew that travel + life in general were going to get more complicated after our baby girl's arrival, and thus, we wanted to find the perfect getaway this past summer to celebrate our babymoon.

we were lucky enough to book some weddings in europe during the same week, so we hopped on a plane and escaped to some gorgeous parts of the world!

our first stop was germany, where we head to frankfurt to spend some time with our sweet friends + photograph a lovely elopement. after traveling for nearly 24 hours and getting off the plane extraordinarily swollen (thaaaanks, pregnancy!) despite doing all of the ankle raises known to man on the plane and wearing these lifesaver compression socks, we met up with our friends and celebrated mateo's first night in germany with a trip to nearby weisbaden for an outdoor festival. 

julia, elena, and lucas showed us the best german goodies (hello, pretzels + bratwurst), and we had a wonderful time wandering the square and taking in the pretty german architecture.

the following day, julia treated us to a trip to heidelberg, which was absolutely incredible! nestled in a little valley, the town is so scenic and offers perfect views of the rhine. we had the perfect day wandering the streets, exploring the castle, and trying heidelberg's famous "snowballs," which was essentially a giant ball of rolled dough covered in toppings.

this day also marked the first time a complete stranger asked if i was pregnant! despite how it looked, i was 20 weeks pregnant at the time, but i had very little bump to show for it. the heat and swelling were getting to me, so i sat down on this short tram right up the hill to the castle. i was feeling suuuper guilty when our car became packed with elderly tourists, since i was a young, able-looking gal taking up one of the few seats. i instinctively rubbed my teeny bump a few times, and this sweet old lady asked me if i was pregnant in french. i nodded, and she proceeded to fan me with her travel brochure and tell all the ladies around her the good news.  it was such a sweet little memory!

our time in germany was capped off with the most divine, homemade german meal by lovely barbara and some fun games of cards.

it was also on this leg of the trip that mateo felt baby girl move for the first time in my belly! we ended up stuck in paris on our way to spain after a train fiasco, and it was there that lil mama was dancing around in my belly so much that mateo could actually feel those tiny kicks and flutters. such sweet memories.

is this place beautiful or what?! so grateful for the chance we had to explore one of my favorite countries together and visit with our amazing friends. our time together was far too short! love you guys! 

twenty-five.

so earlier this month, i was sitting in an airport, going... somewhere (it's been one of those months!), and i had to take one of those "two-minute surveys" to be able to access the airport's wifi. as part of this quick survey, i was asked which age group i fell into. i hesitated for a few seconds before clicking "25-34 years old."

twenty-five to thirty-four. i'm now one of those people. i've suddenly been thrown into this adult age group, you guys. 

and although i'm not suffering any sort of existential crisis or anything of the like, it is a bit of an adjustment for me. when i think of twenty-five year olds, i think of all sorts of societal norms and expectations. you know, people who have reached their mid twenties are supposed to be able to wake up before ten a.m. without any sense of resentment. they're supposed to have these budding careers and wear socks that match and maybe even have a mortgage. and a few babies! that's what society tells me i should be doing. and while i still fall short on a few (read: all) of these fronts, i also feel like i wouldn't have it any other way. the free spirit in me loves the unconventionality of this life... even if it's only for a season. i'm sure this twenty-five year old will have to grow up sometime, but for now, i'm just enjoying the ride. 

my birthday this year was a bit wild and ridiculously fun. it fell perfectly during the weekend of a sweet friend's wedding. so when she asked us to come out to orange county, california, to shoot the event, we were thrilled. we started the adventure off the night before my birthday, with a late-night transcontinental flight to LAX and four a.m. check-in time at our hotel in orange county... with a little bit of car dancing and an ice cream bar along the way. we spent the weekend pal-ing around with our super cool friends, kirsten + ryan, and the afternoon of my birthday was spent eating the best gluten-free pizza (holler!!!) and then shooting meredith's bridals on the beach. she was a perfect angel bride, and i love friends and creativity and mateo, so naturally it was ideal for me. aaand we finished the night off with a trip to in-n-out and sprinkles ice cream (i can't live without gluten-free cake on my birthday guys; i just can't.) ryan was a gem and drove us all around the whole dang county to get me that ice cream cupcake-- red velvet with vanilla bean ice cream, to be exact. 

after an insanely beautiful wedding on saturday, we headed to the beach to watch the sun set and feel that pacific breeze and talk about important things, like netflix series. we forced our husbands into last-minute, spur-of-the-moment ten-minute portrait sessions on the beach, and i'm really overly thrilled with how they all turned out. thank you, knw photo!!! you know how amazing i think you are. we will love these photos forever and ever.

SUCH A HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YA'LL >>>>>

i wish i could say something excellent or profound about the world and life at this stage of my life. but really, what i can tell you about this beautiful life, is that people matter. it's the joy of human connection and the love that it brings that inspires me, makes me happy, and keeps me going. i feel the best when i am showing love to those around me. similarly, i feel such joy and get such strength from the support and love of my family and friends. on my birthday, i was overwhelmed by the sweet and thoughtful texts i received and by the generous gifts i received. i wish i could've celebrated with you all!

and a special thanks to my mateo for being as sweet as ever in putting forth all efforts to make my birthday magical.

thank you for making my life a pretty wonderful place. 

a few frames from new york.

so tonight, i was standing in my kitchen and adding another cup of gluten-free flour to my chocolate cake, and my mind wandered to miss trunchbull. which naturally made me think of matilda. which led me back to one of our more recent travel adventures that i never shared with all of you! 

plus, the weather is starting to heat up, so we've been trying to get out and about more in our city. and with tess and will in new york, we've just been itching to get back to the big city. 

in the end of september, we were lucky enough to spend a weekend in new york city with will + tess. we took the bus up from baltimore and met will at his office building near times square. lugging our suitcases and camera bags in hand, we stopped for some of the best halal on earth, and crammed ourselves into will's tiny harlem bedroom for the night. tessy showed up the next morning, and then the real party began!

we spent the weekend shooting this, being the engaged couple's paparazzi for the weekend and exploring their new hood with them. and their new york city engagements prove to be some of my favorites yet! the weather was perfect, and the city was abuzz with activity (which, i'm pretty sure, it always is). we explored many of the little nooks of new york-- spent the afternoon lunching in the village, walking through brooklyn and then crossing the bridge back to manhattan to surprise tess with a night on broadway at matilda. 

will picked out the most amazing little lunch spot for us: risotto. although at first glance, it might look like any other restaurant, risotto is a gluten-free girl's heaven. it specializes in all sorts of italian gluten-free goodness-- pizza, breadsticks, sandwiches, cakes, risotto (you get the picture). it was pretty much a dream to sit down at a restaurant where the breadsticks on the table were edible by a person like me, and a place where you have to order "special," gluten-filled food? incredible. the food was divine. i will divulge that it was the place where i fell in love with tres leches cake. 

we ate a late dinner in times square after the show, and then mateo and i headed to our hotel for the evening. somehow, by the mercy of the hotel tonight gods, we scored a room on the executive level (maaaaybe with a little sweet talking to the nice receptionist who checked us in) of the new york palace hotel for $200. we may have brushed shoulders (read: backpacks, creepy glances from across the hallway) with some diplomats and fell asleep to the perfect view of the city and st. patricks cathedral. i feel like this kinda warrants a post of itself; it was just too good.

our final day was spent perusing morningside heights and the upper west side, stopping by the temple, and eating tacos al pastor and gluten-free cupcakes to our heart's content. 

do we love new york? 

i think these photos speak for themselves. 

until next time, new york!! we hope to see you again this spring. 

XO,

anna + mateo

san juan daydreams.

while gearing up for all of my finals last week, i couldn't stop thinking about more relaxing times. naturally, my mind drifted to some of the most recent, happy times: honeymooning in puerto rico. i couldn't stop thinking about the clear blue skies, that idyllic, teal caribbean water, and the sweet, garlic-y taste of mofongo. 

we spent the last weekend of our honeymoon in bayamón, near the capital of san juan. we had heard such great things about old san juan; so naturally, we had to venture into town to see what all of the hype was about. 

we loved just wandering the streets, checking out the different little restaurants and shops, and taking a million photographs (obviously). 

also... pretty little kitties everywhere! mateo was pretty excited about that part of it. 

we highly recommend checking out the plaza de armas, different forts (another post for another day), and grabbing empanadas any time you can. 

tell me you don't want to visit san juan after seeing these photos! i dare you. 

also, don't mind my awkward glamour shots. just have to prove to my mom that i was actually there enjoying it and everything, not just stuck behind the lens. one day, i'll figure out how to make myself look good in a photograph.

considering that puerto rico is US territory, and all, i'd definitely have to say that san juan is my new favorite american city! i'd go back in a heartbeat. 

who wants to join us?