happy birthday, dad!

I hope you have a great day! Looking forward to seeing you in Jackson in just a couple of weeks!

/////

Photo / At The Wedding / Sowell Archives

around here lately.

Ever since Spring has officially sprung here in Wilmington, we find ourselves getting out around town so much more. The warm weather sees us eating alongside the Cape Fear River frequently, & I have even made my way out to the beach once already, with high hopes of many return visits. The town is coming back to life after the coldest & longest Winter I can even remember. It is a joyful, joyful thing, Spring-time.

a smiling beach selfie | trying Bon Appetit for the first time | Justin's Easter picture

i finally got my hair cut again - here is a before & an after. all i have to say is, #wifehair

wisteria in bloom | the beautiful green fields of East Carolina

first culinary experience at The Scullery yielded my first latte art | justin indulged in simple coffee

after Church on Easter Sunday, we had brunch at Dixie Grill, a downtown favorite of ours

lunch on Carolina Beach with R at Tiki Bar | sunset dinner with Justin at Delphina Dos | new glasses!

As you can see, a lot of eating has been done, and a lot of photos have been taken! I've been trying to pull out both my phone and my DSLR more regularly, as I've slacked a bit in the documenting-the-moment category. I've been enjoying getting back into it, though, so expect to see some more Around Here Lately posts in the near future!

/////

Photos / Assorted Memories / Instagram

the sunday currently, volume 84.

i've basically been living at our local dunlin donuts this week. it's iced coffee season!

Good morning! How do you do? I'm so glad you're back here for another edition of The Sunday Currently. Last week, I held back a little so I could fully soak in all the Easter goodness. This week, though, it's back to regularly-scheduled programming. 

C U R R E N T L Y . . .

R E A D I N G  The Light Between Oceans, by M.L. Stedman. And since we last spoke? I've finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and read both Gone Girl and Divergent. I've been on a reading kick, to say the very, very least. And I love it. The Light Between Oceans is a book I've admired from afar on my reading list for a long time. It felt like a very dreamy book to me, and I hope it fulfills this lofty image I have in mind. Soon I'll be sharing a post about my past four reads, so I'll share my thoughts on the other two books then.

W R I T I N G  scholarship applications, scripts for interview videos... you know, those kinds of things. There will be a post coming soon about what school I got into and where my career is headed! Also, today I will be writing a to-do list for the week, along with daily tasks and things I want to accomplish before the end of the month. Also? I'll be writing a LOT of blog posts this week, so I can get back on a more natural posting rhythm. It's been chaos on this blog for far too long, and franky, I'm tired of it and ready for a positive change.

L I S T E N I N G  to a lot of uplifting songs lately. My Spring 2014 playlist is going to be called Let's Be Happy. That will be coming to the blog soon, so stay tuned if you love playlists [and the sharing of them] as much as I do.

T H I N K I N G  that my resolve to drink decaf coffee [which I talked about in the TSC post from two weeks ago] didn't last very long. Not long at all, in fact. I'm pretty sure that on Wednesday of that week, I had "real" coffee. My anxiety has been a LOT [read: one million tons] better, so I don't think coffee was the sole culprit. When I was feeling bad, though, coffee made it worse. I'm so glad I feel better, and if I get to the root of the problem soon, I may share a post on it.

S M E L L I N G  the delicious Red Velvet Cupcake candle that Kelsey gave me for Christmas. I burned it for a long time last night while we were watching The Firm [seriously one of my favorite movies!], and I can still smell traces of it in our living room. I'm almost finished burning this particular candle, and I'm anxiously awaiting October, so I can start burning the pumpkin selection, also from Kelsey, which smells like Heaven in the jar. My May candle of choice, though? Lindsey & Justin's wedding candle, of course! They got married in May of last year, and they gave out Zombee Candles of their custom wedding scent as favors! I burned it a lot last summer, and I can't wait to bring it back out.

W I S H I N G  for a clean house. Do you think that will do the trick? Let's see........... Nope. My house still isn't clean. That's on the agenda for today, though it's starting to feel like it's on the agenda every time I visit with you here in these TSC posts. Maybe today will be the day we get our act together. To be fair, a lot of progress has been made in cleaning the house, but it's just not yet back in tip-top shape, the way we like to keep it. Luckily, we have a visitor coming in just a few short weeks, now, so we HAVE to get things pristine around here. I've always found that company is the best motivator to get your house in its best working order. And that visitor I talked about? We are anxiously awaiting her arrival.

H O P I N G  that our downtown library is open today. I need to pick up The Reptile Room, by Daniel Handler, as it is the next on my reading list. I've had that book on hold for a few days now, and I need to get it before the hold expires. I love the library. Its system really does motivate me to get books read quickly, so I can devour even more. I'm starting to really pick up on my Goodreads Reading Challenge, and I'm hoping to even surpass my goal. Also hoping we can get in a little antiquing today after brunch. Wilmington has some GREAT antiquing.

W E A R I N G  ... well, would it be a Sunday if I wasn't wearing my Millsaps sweatshirt? No, it probably wouldn't be. 

L O V I N G  the way I feel right now. I've been guzzling my iced coffee, the fan is going, and I'm sitting on the floor of our living room, with the sunlight streaming in through the blinds and onto my hands and the keyboard. I feel energized and ready to make today a good one. I feel ready for brunch, ready for antiquing, ready to pick up my library book, ready to clean the house, ready to work out... the list goes on. I'm ready to be productive! There are few better every-day feelings, in my opinion.

W A N T I N G  to search, this week, for a dress to wear to Kara's graduation! I feel like the occasion warrants a new outfit. I guess we'll have to see what I can come up with. It's been a long time - other than shopping for our skiing apparel - that I shopped specifically for a certain event. I'm excited to start the mission!

N E E D I N G  ... is it weird that every time I sit down to answer this question, I always want to answer "to drink more water?" It's true, though. It's really, really true. We have a brand new water filter pitcher, sitting on my desk, that's begging to be put through the dishwasher so that it can start doing its job. Don't ask me why I'm procrastinating on something like that. I have no idea. But maybe now that I've blogged about it, it will actually happen. Here's hoping. Keep your fingers crossed, folks.

F E E L I N G  pretty great, as you may have gathered from "loving." I hope the feeling sticks around today, and, well, every day. 

C L I C K I N G  Tina's Documenting The Bump posts. I love them! 

Well, that's all she wrote, folks! And she definitely wrote a lot this week, didn't she? Ha - but seriously. It feels good to have written a nice-n-meaty post this week. Did I just call a post "meaty?" I think it's time to wrap this one up. Hope you all have a great week!

/////

this week's posts:

the sunday currently, easter edition | let's go to the beach | this is it

Photo / Our Neighborhood Dunkin / Instagram

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this is it.

It's a tough thing, writers' block.

It's a tough thing, bloggers' block.

I always swear to myself, up and down, that no matter what, I'll just continue to write. No matter what, I'll just continue to blog. Because writing - because blogging - is allowed to be a fluid representation of you, in whatever form it may come out. It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't even have to make sense. It just has to come from a voice that is uniquely you - uniquely yours. 

I don't know what happens to stifle my voice. But, it's always a creeping thing. Slowly, less lines of paper taken up with my thoughts. Slowly, fewer lines of text in a blog post. But then, it feels sudden. Suddenly, no journal entries. Suddenly, no blog posts. 

It's all a delicate flow, really. It's a fragile push and pull, a give and take, writing. It whirs along at the speed of light, and then, the tiniest distraction or divergence can throw it off kilter, and then, well, it's completely out of sorts. 

But then, I remember. This is writing. This is living. This is it. And the pen flows.

/////

let's go to the beach.

THINGS AROUND the C Residence have been hustling and bustling lately. Hustling and bustling, and bustling and hustling, and everything in between. But still, I feel myself thinking those five words internally. I feel them echoing around in my head, ready to be spoken aloud.

Let's go to the beach.

Let's go to the beach, if only to feel the rhythmic swishing of the tide over our feet. Let's go to the beach, if only to stand there and marvel at it for a second. Let's go to the beach, and let's forget about all of our worries and stresses. I've grabbed our towels. Let's go.

/////

Photos / The Beach / Nikon

the sunday currently, volume 83 [Easter Edition!].

Join me here next week for regularly-scheduled TSC programming.
Please do feel free to link up your posts this week, though!

I hope you & all of your loved ones have a happy, happy Easter!

Celebrating Nanny: her love of flowers.

Nanny loved plants & flowers. She prided herself on the floral arrangements around her house & in her yards. I still remember, as a little girl, I'd be sitting at the kitchen table with a near-panoramic view of the back yard, & I would ask, "Nanny, what kind of flower is that?" And then, she would tell me the name of the flower, & then, all about it. And even though we never really discussed it [from what I can remember], I bet she loved springtime. Her birthday was in springtime, yes, but mainly, all of her plants & flowers sprung back into life in the springtime. All of her hard work, blossoming back up, talismans bearing hope and pride and joy.

I love this memory of Nanny, because I can see in myself, today, a growing interest in and love of flowers. I've been noticing it a lot recently. "I can't wait until the crepe myrtles in front of the walkway to our apartment come into bloom," I'll think to myself. And then, I remember Nanny. Because it's something I think that she would think to herself, too. And those glimpses of Nanny, those tiny remembrances, are something I am so happy to have. It's something that I think will make me feel closer to her throughout the years. I think it's a fun thing for the two of us to share, even now.

I have even more photos of Nanny's flowers, which I plan to share sporadically in this space in the time to come. They are joyful, and they are vibrant, just how I want to remember Nanny.

Want to see other Celebrating Nanny posts? 

celebrating nanny.

turnip greens & meat loaf.

[Photos: Nanny's Plants & Flowers | Fowler Archives]

I'm writing snippets of memories of my grandmother all during April, her birthday month.

the sunday currently, volume 82.

wanting to venture out here again this week

C  U  R  R  E  N  T  L  Y  .  .  . 

R E A D I N G Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, followed by Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. Then? I will finally start reading Divergent! I want to see the movie, but I won't until I've read at least the first book in the series. That's just how I roll.

W R I T I N G didn't really happen this week. When I'm honest, I know that this week was largely unproductive. 

L I S T E N I N G to my two favorite stations on Sirius XM latey - Alt Nation, which is 32, & Underground Garage, which is 21.

T H I N K I N G that this week I'm going to try out drinking decaf coffee. I know, I KNOW. My Dad & I have joked so much about decaf coffee in the past, calling it "fake coffee," etc. But lately, I am thinking that the caffeine associated with coffee is making me more anxious. Thus, my experiment with decaf begins today.

S M E L L I N G like delicious salon hair products today. I got my hair chopped off again on Friday, & the styling is still going strong. I'll have to share some before/after photos soon, since I haven't done that yet. I'm really loving short hair right now.

W I S H I N G I had worked out more this past week. This week, time to stop wishing & start doing. I'm getting a little frustrated with myself, but it's all in my hands to change it. So, I'm going to.

H O P I N G we actually get the C Residence into tip-top shape today. We've been "meaning to" clean it for a long time now, including me vowing to clean it last week, then it just not happening. I feel good about today, though, and I think I'll feel so much better when it's clean. [I always do.]

W E A R I N G an SAE tshirt & sleep shorts. Hair's a mess, looking awesome, as usual.

L O V I  N G that Kara is coming to visit after graduation! And that graduation is coming up soon! I can't wait to see my family. And, I can't wait for Kara to see Wilmington again. She hasn't been here since Christmas 2012, & we hadn't been living here that long then. Now, we have more places to show her & take her. We're gonna have so much fun!

W A N T I N G to be my best self this week. I think a "life makeover" may be in order.

N E E D I N G to get out of bed & get going with today!

F E E L I N G quite relieved after a heart-to-heart this weekend. Sometimes, you just have to let your feelings & fears out to someone you're close to. I am horrible at doing this, which means my feelings get bottled up. This is not a good thing to do, I know. I'm working on it.

this week's posts:
the sunday currently, volume 81.

a little snippet on sharing our view of others.

wilmington snapshot: wrightsville beach interlude.

breckenridge snapshot.

Celebrating Nanny: turnip greens & meatloaf.

[Photos: Wrightsville | iPhone 5C]

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Celebrating Nanny: turnip greens & meatloaf.

When I was little, my grandparents would often take care of me [and my sister, too, after she was born] when my parents were both at work. This meant a multitude of home-cooked lunches [which my country-raised grandparents would call "dinner"] that Nanny would - effortlessly, it seemed - whip up in the kitchen. 

I loved everything she made, but two items really do stand out the most. She cooked up one delicious meatloaf, folks. And I largely credit that meatloaf to my continuing love of a food to which some turn up their noses. And then, there were the turnip greens. Yes, as a young child, I asked for these delectable greens to be added to my plate, sometimes even going back for seconds.

So today, I celebrate Nanny's unmatched skill in the kitchen - between measuring everything in pinches & dashes, to making everything from scratch, to teaching me the joy of "cleaning my plate" - she instilled in me a love of food - even the so-called weird stuff - that I still hold dear & close to me, to this day.

Thank you, Nanny.

Want to see other Celebrating Nanny* Posts? They're all below.

Celebrating Nanny.

[Photo: Nanny in the Kitchen | Fowler Archives]

*I'm writing snippets of memories of my grandmother all during April, her birthday month.

breckenridge snapshot.

Back at the beginning of March, our friends Alex & Ashley were kind enough to invite us to come stay with them in Breckenridge, Colorado. Neither Justin nor I had ever been there before [or snow skiing!], so we were more than happy to make the trek west for a change of scenery. [And these photos are a huge change of scenery from yesterday's beachy post!] 

justin was already in colorado for our friend blaine's bachelor party, 

so my trip over to meet him was a solo one; i enjoyed reading the cuckoo's calling.

upon arrival in denver, i was famished. we stopped at a little restaurant called 

smokin' yard's BBQ, in idaho springs, on the way to breckenridge.

the view from our table at smokin' yard's. i loved being in the "real" mountains.

try as i did, i couldn't adequately capture the beautiful views we experienced on the drive 

from denver to breckenridge. the mountains were steamy & foggy & stately.

massive icicles clung to the roof of the pretty house where we stayed.

justin was much better at skiing than i was; here you see him holding both our sets of skis.

riding in the gondolas was one of my favorite experiences. yes, i was a total newbie.

at lunch with everyone.

at another favorite restaurant of the trip, the lost cajun. a little piece of louisiana in colorado. 

my beloved pinecone necklace that justin picked up for me from one of the shops.

Though I turned out to be a rather sub-par skier [and that's being kind], I am already looking forward to planning our next ski trip. Maybe next time, we'll venture over to Utah! Have you ever been there? What are some places we can't miss? A big thank-you to Alex & Ashley for inviting us to come experience Breckenridge with them! We had a wonderful time.

[Photos: March in Breckenridge, Colorado | iPhone 5C]

wilmington snapshot: wrightsville beach interlude.

an interlude is defined as a period of time between events or activities. 

the interlude you see pictured above lay between 

a trip to the library & an afternoon spent cleaning the house.

LAST WEEK, I packed up a bag with a blanket, a camera, & a book. I was headed to the coast - to Wrightsville Beach. When I got there, I spread my blanket out in the cushiony sand. It was chillier than I had expected: there was a cool breeze, but the sun was very warm on my face & legs. I read a few pages out of And The Mountains Echoed, snapped a few photos, & just laid back & relaxed. In the future, when I think about our time in Wilmington, I want to remember days just exactly like this one. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Justin had been out there with me instead of at work.

[Photos: Wrightsville Interlude | Nikon]

a little snippet on sharing our view of others.

We live in a world where - I believe - it is getting increasingly harder to figure out how we view ourselves through others' eyes. Our self-identity, if you will.

The other day, a friend & I were walking, talking about this & that & life & everything else. And she said something about how careful she is now, compared to how reckless she used to be.

"You feel adventurous to me," I said.

I think it's a great gift, to tell someone exactly how you see them. We walk around all the time with these ideas about everyone around us, but we fail to remember that those people often have no idea how exactly we see them. And maybe, for some of those individuals, that's a good thing. Because, naturally, we don't have positive outlooks on all of our peers. 

But just think how wonderful it would be, every once in a while, for someone to share their unique viewpoint of your character, with you. It would be akin to someone taking a candid snapshot of you, placing it in your hands, & saying, "This is you, to me. This is how I see you."

Just imagine.

the sunday currently, volume 81.

Good morning! And happy Sunday! Hello, everyone... I am happy this morning because today, we have decided, will be a day of productivity here around the C Residence. When I finish this post, we're off to the gym, then the grocery store, & then we'll be cleaning the house [which is sorely needed]. I don't know... sometimes there's just something exhilarating about getting back on track... the prospect of a clean house... the prospect of a great workout. That's where we are today.

Also, it appears Spring has officially arrived here in Wilmington. In fact, last week I went to the beach. And yesterday, when I went walking with a friend, I regretted the decision to wear pants instead of shorts. It was that warm. It seems I'll never know from year to year whether I'll be a Spring/Summer lover or a Fall/Winter lover... but this year, I know... I'm already in love with Summer Time.

C  U  R  R  E  N  T  L  Y  .  .  . 

R E A D I N G And the Mountains Echoed. Then, I'll be finishing up Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. And then? Gone Girl. I'm already enjoying ATME. I love KH's writing: it's so easy to get lost in his stories. The prose feels simple, but full.

W R I T I N G tasks to complete in my planner yesterday decreased my anxiety exponentially. Sometimes, I just have to write things down to make sense of them. And tomorrow? Well, let's just say tomorrow comes with a big to-do list. And I'm fine with that.

L I S T E N I N G to the fan whirring. That sound is what allows me to sleep so late sometimes, I think. It's a comforting sound... a sound that seems to say, "It's ok... why don't you sleep a little bit longer? I will continue spinning around and around and around and around."

T H I N K I N G that it's disappointing that Florida lost against Connecticut yesterday. Justin & I went up to a little place called Copper Penny to watch the first half of the game. It was fun - I sipped on some Blue Moons and we both had delectable sandwiches. 

S M E L L I N G like Country Chic from Bath & Body Works lately. It's such a Spring-y scent, really. I'm a fan as of late.

W I S H I N G I hadn't drank Dr. Pepper last night. Sometimes too much sugar can really make me feel awful. Back to water today!

H O P I N G for success with a few things right now. So much is going on! Hopefully soon I will be able to write about it. Also hoping that Kara will be coming to visit in May.

W E A R I N G the same thing I was wearing last week, funnily enough. Don't worry, though, the items have been washed in the time since. I wear this Millsaps sweatshirt all the time. Thanks, Kara!

L O V I  N G the prospect of the day that lies before us. And, Spring. And, the prospect of returning to the beach this week. And, my reading schedule. And, And the Mountains Echoed. And, coffee. And, the fact that coffee hasn't been making me feel crazy lately. And, getting back into writing in my journals. And, getting back into writing here on my blog. 

W A N T I N G to figure out what to do with my blog design. I haven't really been happy with it for what feels like at least a year. You may be noticing that it's a bit different today. That was a rash decision to other night, one in which I was just haphazardly changing the colors of everything, haphazardly slapping a new header in place... etc. One day, I hope I'll stumble upon a design I like for a while. 

N E E D I N G a glass of ice water, a cup of coffee, & a HIIT routine to do on the elliptical. All things that can easily be remedied. Though I do believe the workout will be coming first, as soon as I've completed this post. 

F E E L I N G full of energy & promise this morning, which, honestly, is a great way to feel. Bring on the day! Let's get moving, shall we?

this week's posts:
the sunday currently, volume 80.

april things.

wilmington snapshot: a day downtown.

march makeup bag.

celebrating Nanny.

[Photos: A Compendium of Spring | iPhone 5C]

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Celebrating Nanny.

Today would have been my grandmother's 90th birthday.

On March 12, 2014, she passed away, & I got on an airplane home. I spent the next two weeks with my family, talking about Nanny, remembering the good days, & figuring - knowing - that now she must now be in a better place. 

But a memory I know that I will hold dearest has to be when I was going through all of the photos and re-sizing them, preparing them for a slide show our family would watch at her memorial. I say it was a dear moment, because as I was pouring over the images, I realized just how vivid all of my memories of her still are. And how lucky I am that they still are. And how much I want to get them down somewhere so that I may never forget them.

That's why every Friday for the month of April - her birthday month - I will be sharing photos of her, along with those dear memories of a woman who was not only a grandmother, but a caregiver to me. Nanny was not just an interesting, unique woman, but also a good one. And I can't wait to celebrate all of the good that she put into my life.

Happy Birthday, Nanny.

[Photo: Dorothy Hazel | Fowler Archives]

march makeup bag.

TODAY I wanted to kick off a little monthly series that I'm excited to start here. I love makeup, & I've long been wanting to figure out a different way to share my favorites, as well as ways I've been using those products. This makeup bag was a gift from Justin, & I adore it.

This month, I'll simply be sharing the contents alone, but in the coming months, I plan to share specific looks, complete with photos & techniques I've picked up while incessantly watching YouTube beauty videos. Disclaimer: I'm definitely no expert. I just want to share what I know! 

For primer, I've been using the Revlon PhotoReady. I haven't been using this product daily, but only on days that I know I'll be really active, or for days when I know my makeup will need to wear all day long. For foundation, I've been torn between two selections: Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 [I currently have two shades: 805 & 825], & Maybelline FitMe [in 115]. The Covergirl selection is more matte and more full-coverage, whereas the Maybelline is a little lighter, with a more dewy finish. And as for concealer, I've been combining two: Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser Treatment Concealer & Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch. I apply the Dark Circle Eraser after foundation & before setting powder, and I apply the Dream Lumi Touch as the very last step of my makeup routine, for brightening purposes. I really love them together!

For setting powder, I've stayed true to the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Transluscent. Though I love this powder, I have to admit that lately I've been missing my Mac Mineralize Skinfinish Natural. And while I've been shying away from bronzer to go for a more rosy look, my Revlon PhotoReady Bronzer in Bronzed & Chic has been residing in my makeup bag. The blush I've been using to achieve the rosy, spring-time appropriate look? ELF's Studio Blush in Pink Passion. I haven't been doing a lot of highlighting, but when I have been in the mood for a little extra glow, I've reached for my NYX Liquid Illuminator or my Maybelline Chic Naturals single eyeshadow in Champagne Fizz. 

For eyeshadow this month, I've exclusively been using these two palettes. The Urban Decay one is a limited edition, I believe, & unless I'm wrong, it's called the Peacock Palette. As you may have guessed from the indentations, I've been using Toasted the most [all over my lids], followed up by Smog [in the outer third of my lid and blended up into the crease]. And to be totally honest, that's the look I wore 90% of the month, though I did create some looks with the ELF palette while I was in Colorado.

For eyebrows, I've been using my ELF kits. I had been using the Ash shade, but I've been realizing that I needed something a little darker, so I picked up the Medium selection during my visit in Shreveport, at Target. I've mostly been smudging either Toasted or Smog [mostly Smog] eyeshadow onto my lower lash line for a sultry type of eyeliner, but when I've wanted "the real thing" I've been reaching for the Jordana Easy Liner in Coffee Bean. I haven't really been using any of the others, and definitely not the liquid selections, though perhaps April will see a return to that kind of liner. For eye base, I've either been using Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion or the NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk [not pictured]. I've been curling my lashes with an ancient eyelashes curler, and I've been using a mascara I adore from NYC.

As you can see, I've used quite a selection of brushes. Brands: Eco Tools, ELF Studio, ELF, My Glam [now Ipsy] and Urban Decay. One of my favorite brushes is the ELF Studio Powder Brush, which I use to stipple on and buff out foundation.

As for lips, it really has been just as simple as the photo you see above. I've been addicted to Carmex, and this NYX Lip Gloss in Beige has been the perfect, easy, spring-time pink. Effortless. 

And that, folks, is the inside of an empty March makeup bag. Looks like the lining needs a little TLC, doesn't it? Perhaps I'll give it a good cleaning as I switch out to some products I'm sure I'll be loving all during the month of April.

What's in your makeup bag? What do I need to add to my collection in April?

[Photos: March Makeup Bag | Nikon]

wilmington snapshot: a day downtown.

A few Saturdays ago, after I dropped Justin off at the airport, I found myself with an entire day ahead of me. I had previously had plans to venture downtown to check out The Cotton Exchange's Mardi Gras celebration, and that is exactly what I did.

It was quite a gloomy day, but the streets were still bustling, despite the somewhat chilly temps. I love spending time in downtown Wilmington, and in the photos below, you'll see some of its charm, I'm sure.

I've greatly missed my consistent snapshot series posts, and I hope this one is the beginning of bringing them back full-force! I'm also planning to add a new type of photo post, which I think I'll be calling my "Photo Diaries," into the mix soon. So, be on the lookout!

Have you ever been to Wilmington? What about other areas of North Carolina? It really is a state that possesses a lot of natural beauty, isn't it?

[Photos: Mardi Gras in Wilmington | Nikon]