My Trip to the US! (Pittsburgh, Orlando, New Jersey)

Hello my beautiful friends! Oh, how I’ve missed you and missed sitting down with my laptop and a coffee. I hope that you are doing so well and having a beautiful start to September. Can you believe it’s September already?!

I’ve been a little absent on all 3 of my platforms recently and that’s because I just returned back to Australia after a 3 week trip to the United States! In case you’re new here (and if you are, welcome!) I currently live in Australia with my husband but am American. All of my friends and family are in the states and I love going back to visit!

So, where have I been?! Well, I started out my journey in Pittsburgh, PA visiting friends and family. Though I’ve lived in many different places, I will always be a Pittsburgh girl at heart and it’s always so wonderful going back to visit. Without getting overly personal, my mom had a pretty intense health scare and I needed to get home to see her. She is doing much better now and I am so proud of how far she’s come already but some mother/daughter time was much overdo! All I’ll say is this…I think Target did better business in these last 3 weeks than it has done all year! We had a blast just browsing the aisles, sipping Starbucks and just doing what we do best. : )

During this week at home, my brother and his partner shared the very, very exciting news with us that they got engaged! We cried, we laughed, we drank, we ate cake, we bought “his and his” coffee mugs and it was just the best. I am so incredibly happy for him and I can’t wait to celebrate with the two of them next year!

After a wonderful week in Pittsburgh, I headed down to Orlando to visit friends and visit my old home. It was the busiest but most therapeutic trip for me. You know those friends that you can just be yourself around and not have a care in the world? The kind where no matter how much time passes, you grab a glass (or 3) of bubbly and suddenly it’s as if you never left each other in the first place? Those are the kind of friends I’m blessed to have in Orlando.  My husband and I spent nearly 3 years there and though we had our ups and downs in that town, it will always have a piece of my heart. That’s the thing about living in different places…you truly leave a piece of yourself in each location and you are comforted in knowing that you’re always welcome back.

I was able to visit my second family at Finding Nemo, the Musical in Animal Kingdom. : ) Talk about feeling loved and always welcomed…That stage will always hold a piece of my heart. I absolutely love going back to visit because, to me, it’s just as important as visiting family. I feel the same when my husband and I visit the Disney cruise ships. Nothing makes me feel calmer and more at ease than being out on the ocean with my husband and being able to create new memories in the same place where we first met. It is pure magic!

After a few days of Disney magic (and basically living at Disney Springs) I travelled to Mt. Laurel, New Jersey to visit “my person” that I had not seen in over 3 years! We were much overdo for some bestie time and I had a very important little girl to meet.

Erica asked me to be the Godmother to her beautiful daughter, Scarlett, and I think my heart actually exploded. I was able to attend the christening and we truly had the most beautiful day filled with family, friends, food and a few cool glasses of lemonade to top off a perfect summer day.

My little journey of reflection and reconnecting had come and gone and before I knew it, I was back in Pittsburgh leafy to spend another wonderful week with my family and friends! Again, lots of shopping, ALL the good food and the most hilarious face mask attempt with my mom! I only wish I had taken a photo to document but if you head to my IG story highlights titled “USA,” you’ll be able to see the hilarious madness that took place!

I did something on this trip the I’ve never done before. I went around by myself and visited people and places  from my past. I truly believe that in order to know where you’re going, you must remember where you’ve come from.

So, I gave myself a little refresher.

I visited all of my childhood schools. Going back to my elementary school was so fun but also so surreal. It is now boarded up and abandoned. So many hopes and dreams created between those walls.

I visited my dance studio where I spent my entire adolescence. I think I actually spent more time there than I did at home! I got to see my dance teachers, Darcy and Sandy, and words can’t describe how wonderful it was to catch up.

I ventured into the city to visit my college, Point Park University. I had the most wonderful experience at that school and was blessed beyond belief with opportunity. But my main reason for wanting to go back was to pay a much overdo visit to my professor, director, friend and mentor, Zeva. I was her “Alice” in the conservatory’s production of “Alice in Wonderland” and at any given time of day, you could’ve found me in her office chatting about life. I was SO excited to surprise her with a hug, until I walked into her office and saw that she wasn’t there. An assistant informed me that she’d had a family emergency and had to leave town. I pray that all is well with her and it just means that I’ll have to visit again soon : )

So, that’s where I’ve been! Now, onto where I’m going…

As I said, I can’t explain how wonderful it feels to be back at my computer writing to all of you. It just reminds me of how much I love what I do and how writing is such an integral part of my being. Though I absolutely adore beauty, I am planning on doing a tiny little tune up with my content. I’m not doing a complete rebranding but I am going to be incorporating much more lifestyle content into my work. I truly believe in sharing what you are passionate about and what brings you joy. Of COURSE beauty brings me joy but chatting about how to make a great cup of coffee or how to have the perfect night in also makes my heart flutter.

I love being inspired by others to live my very best life and I want to do the same for you. I guess I should ask for your patience as I slowly but thoughtfully do a mini makeover with my content to be able to start sharing with you what I’m truly passionate about.

I also just want to say thank you. Thank you for being here, for joining me on this journey and for allowing me into your space. Also, no matter what you’re going through, know that you are never lost. I have a fresh perspective on where I’ve come from and a much clearer vision of where I want to go with my beautiful husband right next to me, joining me on this crazy journey.

So much love and light you you all and keep a lookout for exciting things coming soon!

“You can’t really know where you’re going until you know where you have been.” – Maya Angelou

Love and light to you all!

Carrie xoxo

Shop the Post