We had such a lovely time photographing the beautiful Clara! ;) She came from Knoxville to get her portraits done and she is absolutely radiant inside & out! 

Her outfits were super fun & she had a perfect variety of elegant, classy & urban and fun! 

Clara is about to graduate from West High School in Knoxville this year. Not only is she graduating Class of 2018 but she also is AMAZING and will be graduating with her IB diploma. I know how much hard work and dedication it takes to be an IB student so it is a really big deal!

So fun doing her some of her images inside Frothy Monkey in Downtown Franklin. She's the absolute cutest. Congratulations Clara on graduating and I'm so excited to see what all you do in the future - whatever you do you will excel!! 

We had the privilege of going on a weekend trip to Valencia Spain through CIEE Study Abroad Program. The weekend our group went we ended up having perfect weather (as you can see) and were also able to see the Las Fallas. 

Everyday at 2 PM as part of the festival tradition for a month, fireworks went off in the city center plaza- some of the loudest fireworks I've ever heard, or for that matter, felt. 

We had a small but fantastic group all from the CIEE Liberal Arts Program for the weekend! 

Valencia is well known for their oranges and mandarines - driving through the countryside you can see acres of orange tree groves. 

The architecture in Valencia is beautiful & the guided tour of Valencia was so interesting to learn the history of this popular city. 

If you didn't know, Valencia is the home of the Paella. We had the privilege of going to a paella school where they taught us the art of making paella - if you would like to see how to make paella- click HERE. 

I don't think I could ever get tired of these calming colors together: blues, whites & greens. 

We were walking through the streets of roses and then I had a crazy idea to photograph Elliot in the middle of the street- little did I know he was going to run in the middle and lie down on the ground haha but it looked great and we snapped them just in time. 

Elena is the amazing program director of the Liberal Arts Program at CIEE Barcelona and she & lovely Irene lead us on the tour of Valencia for the weekend. Muchismas gracias, Elena y Irene por todo!!  

We had a great day exploring the beautiful park of Valencia. Will and Victor who also go to Vanderbilt University in Nashville TN- what a small world! 

Take a look at gorgeous Alli, Emily & Megan- we had so much fun exploring the beauty Valencia.

The walking street art graffiti tour was really interesting - so many murals with different artists who have made their mark & branded themselves in the city. The street art really does make the city vibrant. Also, if you live in Barcelona, Valencia is the perfect weekend getaway because it is only 3.5 hours away by car or bus. 

Thank you CIEE for an amazing weekend trip to Valencia, Spain! 

I love this city! If you are a history buff- you would too! Filled with gorgeous little streets, ancient Roman ruins along the Golden coast, Tarragona is one for the books. 

We took a day trip excursion from Barcelona to Tarragona - perfect place to visit if you are spending a week or so in Barcelona as it was only an hour drive away. 

A cat in the midst of the ancient Roman ruins - that was interesting! 

The Catedral de Tarragona is one of the most lovely and intricately designed cathedrals in all of Catalonia. It was actually built upon the foundations of a Roman temple dedicated to Zeus under the reign of Julius Caesar. 

Tarragona was the oldest Roman settlement on the Iberian Peninsula and became CAPITAL of the Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis during the Roman Empire. We walked on the ancient ruins of the old Roman circ- where they held chariot races of fire on the tracks. 

If you can imagine, these streets used to be the very foundation of the Roman circ which held the greatest chariot races in all of Spain - couldn't feel any further away from Nashville right now - Roman ruins in Spain ha! 

“Travel makes one modest, you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”

— Gustave Flaubert