CARE TO LOOK

a lifestyle, travel, and photography blog

Marfa

After a few days in Austin, we hit the very long and straight road for Marfa! Still getting adjusted to driving the van we took turns navigating the open roads and getting a little work done here and there and had lunch along the way in a very Texas-y small town. Then, we finally arrived in Marfa, the most bizarre place, just in time for the final few minutes of sunset.

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It was so beautiful to see the sunset over the open fields. Although I have traveled quite a bit, driving through these roads was something so different than what I am used to, and so incredibly beautiful.
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This place is literally in. the. middle. of. no. where. And I kind of love it ;) The whole town has this eerie feel but is also packed with loads of art from installations to murals, and museums to concept stores. marfa-62 marfa-76

Our goal for the evening was to drive back through town to spot the Marfa lights. Sadly, I don’t think we located them, but we did find the perfect spot on the side of the road to call home for the evening. We made the best tacos, sipped on Trader Joes wine, and did a little work before heading to bed. marfa-78 The sunrise the next morning was crisp and chilly but still so beautiful. After getting a workday in at one of the local hotels we passed through the town to head to the Prada installation. Again, so bizarre, but so cool.  marfa-100 marfa-133 marfa-140 marfa-141 marfa-163

We snapped some shots, ate more tacos, and then continued on our merry way to White Sands! Marfa was as weird as I expected it to be and I am so glad we got to make a little spot here. It’s almost as if the entire time you are in the town you are unsure if it’s a legitimate town or an entire art piece. Marfa, I hope you stay weird.

Vanlife | Dallas and Austin

After spending a few days in Nashville, and even getting snowed in a day or two, Katie and I started off on our month long road trip! We woke up to snow falling and hit the road as soon as possible to head west and escape the snow. After the longest drive through Tennesse, Arkansas (where we saw kiddos sledding on the exit ramp to the highway since that was the only hill in sight ;)) and Texas we finally made it to Dallas where we posted up for a few days! We spent the days getting some work done and getting acquainted with our new home, the van! After moving in we spent the coldest night of my life in the van as a test run. Good news is we survived, bad news is we were both frozen. Thankfully the rest of our trip looked to have warmer temperatures ;)

We hit the road the next morning to head to our first official stop, Austin!

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We had the absolute sweetest host, Jessica! Her home was to die for and it was such a treat to chat over slow mornings and evening dinners. Katie and I loved getting to post up outside her house in the van. It was hilarious to roll the door open in the mornings to meet her neighbors with a, “good mornin’.” austin-1-3

Obviously, we had to hit up a few taco spots while we were here and even made it to the land of succulents. We explored around the city and took a walk on the path along the water. It was perfect. austin-1 austin-13 austin-14 austin-15 austin-17 austin-18 austin-21 austin-38

It was the perfect start the to the trip and now I am dying to get back to that city!

Virginia Beach Snow Day

Having a snowday at the beach was one of the wildest sights. Ben moved up to Virginia Beach for a course at the beginning of January. A few days later I drove up, just in time, to spend the weekend getting snowed in. We watched more movies than we could count, took a few walks through the snow, and devoured a whole lot of pizza.

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These pictures don’t really do the beach justice. The blanket of white meeting the water with the sand filled in between was beautiful. vabeach-snow-9 vabeach-snow-14 vabeach-snow-16 vabeach-snow-22 vabeach-snow-26 vabeach-snow-1-2 vabeach-snow-31 vabeach-snow-36

It was such a fun way to spend the weekend before spending a few weeks apart. Excited to keep visiting Ben here these next few months!

  • The flu struck our household this weekend, which wasn’t exactly the start to the new year we were hoping for. But, in between medicine breaks and movie watching on our makeshift bed in the living room we snuck in a few walks on the beach and sunset views over the sound.
  • I realize it’s only the second day of 2019 but this is how I’m feeling about this year. Ben and I were chatting about goals and looking at our calendar for the year and I’m just so excited for all that’s in store! I’m choosing to expect big things from 2019 👏🏼✨
  • 2018 was full of surprises, twists and turns, ups and downs. I'm learning that will be the case at the end of every single year, but it never ceases to catch me by surprise. I lived the vanlife with @katielentile for a month, explored Vietnam for two weeks with @benwradford , spent several weekends third wheeling with some pretty incredibly couples as they said 'I do', finally got to go back to my favorite place in the world, London, for a week and trained up to Scotland for the weekend, packed up our home of two years in New Bern to move to the coast with our best friends, unexpectedly added a furry fellow to our family (and thank God we did), evacuated from a hurricane, traveled back and forth to Nashville, and soaked up a lot of time with family in Roanoke. It was a wild year filled with a lot of crazy plot twists but I am so incredibly thankful for all Ben and I learned, experienced, saw, and dreamed up this year. On January 1 I had a "new year's resolution" to capture a second a day and I DID IT. Through this little project I learned that it is quite alright that some days, my most exciting second is that we are cruising on Halong Bay in Vietnam, and others it's just that we made dinner on a Wednesday night. Both are just as wonderful. So, enjoy a brief snippet of every single day of my 2018 and shout out to everyone who probably has no idea I captured them 😉
  • Ten whole years today with you makes for a very Merry Christmas indeed. I just adore you and all we’ve done these past ten years from prom and Friday night high school football games to traveling the world and walking on the beach with our pup. Merry Christmas! Love, the Radfords
  • It’s my most favorite time of the year and we are finally home, sweet, home. Ready to snuggle up and soak up all the time in Roanoke with my best pal.
  • Merry Christmas ya filthy animals! Doing life with these five humans (yes, five 🐶🐶) is hilarious and perfect. 10/10 would recommend living with your best pals.
  • Last year around this time we were playing in the first snow of the year in Boston and this past weekend we soaked up the warm weather and walked on the beach with our pup. Life with you is fun @benwradford 📷: @rachelleinerphoto
  • This year has been an absolute whirlwind and looking back through all the ‘I dos’ I got to be a part of is such a joy. I’ll forever be grateful for all the couples that invited me into their lives this past year. You humans are the best!