Vacation 2019 {Part 2)

| Allison

Hello, dears!

I’m back with the second part of our recent vacation! I’m super excited about this post because 1) I got tons of pictures of the most gorgeous surprise party + my best friend Aria, and 2) I MADE A VIDEO! I sneakily took clips of most of the things we did that weekend and compiled them for Aria after I got back. I hope you enjoy watching that at the end of the post as well as browsing through the photos. 🙂

But before you get started, an announcement: My friend Amanda and I are starting a podcast about books! 😀 You can find out more about it and about us by listening to the first episode here. If you ever wondered what I sound like, well now you can know! 🙂 Also go follow Amanda’s blog while you’re at it, because it’s excellent. ❤

Now, onto the post. Please read this on my site for best formatting results.

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Let’s start with the surprise party.  Aria’s mom picked up Megan and I from a town between our vacation house and their house so we could help set up the party decor while Aria and her dad were out for lunch. Aria’s mom had been planning this for months, which you can tell by how beautiful and thoughtful the decorations were. Just look at this!

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We borrowed this chair from Aria’s grandparents, decorated with faux flowers and bunches of pillows. SO. PRETTY.

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Aria’s mom also set up this pretty party table as the sort of “centerpiece.” Not pictured is the extremely tasty cake she put on later.

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All the guests got to wear flower crowns to go with the boho theme. What more could you want than a flower crown and a camera, am I right?

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Megan and I got to meet a couple of Aria’s friends before she came back from lunch, so that was fun. 🙂 When she returned, we all hid in the library and tried not to giggle while Aria’s mom told the appropriate cover story to get her to go downstairs to change clothes. Then we went to the patio and waited until Aria came back upstairs. She saw us in the porch and kind of just stood there staring. :’D (Photo credit for this and the next picture to Megan.)

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And then she ran and gave me a hug. 😀 😀 😀 SHE. WAS. SURPRISED. What she THOUGHT was happening… well, it’s a long story involving many tricky evasions and cover stories, so I won’t go into it. But anyway, SHE WASN’T EXPECTING ME THEN.

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After lots of laughing and explanations and hugs all around, Aria sat in the chair and looked dazed for a while. XD Except when she smiled for pictures. 😉

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The party was lovely, with cake, games, party favors, gifts, and all the other necessary party things. 🙂 Aria’s mom gave her a super neat cookbook she’d made, comprising many favorite recipes from her aunts, grandparents, etc.

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Aria is now opening my very blue gift. (Blue is her favorite color, just so you know. 😉 )

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A huge thank you to Aria’s mom for planning this party so well and for inviting Megan and I to attend! It was the most beautiful party I’ve ever been to, and quite a lot of fun. I’m so glad I got to meet a couple of Aria’s other friends too! I didn’t take this photo, but I’m not sure who did… It’s edited by Aria, anyway. XD

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Well, that’s all for the party – now for a few pictures of the rest of the weekend. Aria played a most impressive piece on her violin for Megan and I before Megan had to leave. I quite like how I edited this one!

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I got to play their baby grand piano – YAYYY! It played so well, especially compared to our piano. XD Aria played a bit too, and then we played some violin/piano duets (see video at end of post). I loved it.

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The parakeets weren’t quite as musical as we were. But they do possess feathers of a most extraordinary hue. I love the blue one especially.

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I spent two nights at Aria’s house, so these next photos are from Friday, the day after the party. Aria’s family and extended family has a huge, incredible garden that produces lots of tasty produce. 😉 It looked lovely in the morning light!

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Aria had to milk on Friday morning, so I accompanied her, of course. 😉

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Also assisting were Aria’s grandfather and her brother (not pictured)…

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Black and white farming pictures are just lovely. 🙂

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It took many tries to get this picture, heh heh.

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On Friday evening, Aria and I did a photoshoot with one of her photographer friends. It was a lot of fun, including the getting-ready process. Literally the only time I ever wear full makeup is at Aria’s house because she likes doing it for me and I like her doing it. :’D

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These next photos were taken by Amy Ortiz, and edited by Aria. Make sure to follow Aria’s blog to see more photos soon, because they turned out so pretty!

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After the fancy part of the shoot, we did a PAINT FIGHT! This is the before…

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And this is after! Ha ha, it was so much fun, despite stepping on a bunch of thorns with bare feet. XD

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I loveeee this one!

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Amy took some birthday pictures of Aria after our best friends shoot, and I got a few as well with Aria’s camera. 😉 THIS ONE IS SO PRETTTYYYY. Doesn’t Aria look like a model here?! That huge gold balloon looked amazing with her skirt.

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On the last day, Saturday, the rest of my family came for brunch at Aria’s house. It was delicious and beautiful, as all Aria’s mom’s cooking is. 😀

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They grow a TON of watermelon, some of which Aria’s mom made into these adorable watermelon salads. Aesthetic, no? 😉 We also had omelette rolls, blueberry muffins, grapes, gourmet potato casserole, and sparkling juice. Mmmmm.

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After brunch, we looked at some photo books about their farm, and then the kids played a game called Psychiatrist and did various other things before we had to leave, including attempting to use the pull-up bar. XD Both of my brothers can do it pretty well, despite the way the picture looks. 😛

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That’s it for the pictures! I shall fill in the gaps with a video. Note: I’ve discovered that I am not a professional video editor. 😛 It’s a bit shaky (literally and figuratively), but I did my best and I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Ahhh, such good memories. 🙂 It was a wonderful way to end my vacation, not to mention a relief to not have to hide such an elaborate secret from my best friend for any more months. XD I loved spending time with you again, dear, and I hope to see you again soon! Thanks for turning 18. 😛 Happy birthday! ❤

Make sure to follow Aria’s blog so you can see her upcoming post on her party, as well as a bunch more photos from our best friends’ photoshoot.

Have you ever participated in a surprise party? Wasn’t Aria’s party (and Aria) GORGEOUS?? Did you check out the first podcast episode?

Thanks so much for reading this ENORMOUS post, dears, and have a lovely day!

***Allison***

46 thoughts on “Vacation 2019 {Part 2)”

  1. The decorations are so pretty! It must be so wonderful and fun seeing the surprise on someone’s face at times like that. 😀 You girls are GORGEOUS, and you can’t deny it. 😉 Also, the paint fight looks like a lot of fun. 😛 Happy Birthday Aria!
    😄💕✨🎈🎈🎉🎉

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    1. Aren’t they?? YESSS, it was great! I had imagined it so many times, ha ha. Oh my goodness, that’s so sweet of you to say! I’m happy to have such a beautiful best friend. ❤ IT WAS! And yes! 😀

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  5. OMG the photos! You guys are so beautiful May God bless you 💖 the photos are so aesthetically pleasing and that’s nothing new bcs i’m now familiar with your style and i get excited everytime you post a new post 🙈💖

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  7. Wow!!! SO much fun and such beautiful photos!! YESS I love the one up close of you and Aria with paint on your faces, soo pretty and unique!! 🥰 I loved the video, yes it isn’t perfect…but I actually really like it like that! I would love you to do more of those!! 😀 ❤

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  9. Ohh! I will have to go check out that podcast! 😀 Those decorations are so pretty! *heart eyes* That picture of Aria is so funny! XD She looks VERY surprised. XD Ahh!! That looks so awesome! A paint fight sounds EPIC. 😛 All of these pictures are so amazing! I LOVED that video! Y’all’s duet was so pretty! ❤ Awesome post! 🙂

    -Laura ❤ 🙂

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  12. WOW. Literally everything looks like it belongs in an event planning magazine or something. Even the food is so fancy. XD I know I’ve said something like that before but it’s so true! Your photos make your life look so fun and beautiful. 😀
    I’m so glad Aria loved her party, and I love her skirt and everyone’s flower crowns! Blue is my favorite color too! ❤
    Okay this may be a random question, but why is her cow wearing a blindfold? XD XD (I know nothing about farming obviously 😛 )
    Oh I live the paint fight photos! They look so fun and colorful. You both look like you had a lot of fun. 😀
    Wow she DOES look like a model. O.o I wish I was that photogenic. XD
    OH MY GOODNESS I LOVED THE VIDEO! It was so cool to see all you guys as real people!! 😀 I mean, I KNOW you're real people, I just mean seeing you living and breathing and moving around…and…not…in a picture. Okay this is getting weird Idk what I'm talking about. XD But anyway it was so cool to watch! I loved listening to you guys play music and stuff and I don't think your editing is bad at all! I've seen A LOT worse. XD XD
    AND OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HAVE A PODCAST ABOUT BOOKS NOW I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm totally subscribing! 😀 ❤

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    1. Okay so I was going through my comments and APPARENTLY I DIDN’T REPLY TO THIS?? I was sure I had, ages ago! But anyway.
      I KNOOOOW, right! It felt like I was in a magazine for sure!
      Aww, thanks.
      YES!
      Ha, good question! It’s actually made of mesh fabric that keeps flies off the cow’s face and eyes, kind of like screens on windows. 🙂
      I love those too! We sure did. ❤
      I KNOW. SAME. XD
      Aww, I'm so glad! No, I totally get what you mean about the video making us seem more real! Hee hee, well I'm glad you liked the video!
      AND YAYYYYY.
      Thanks so much for the lovely comment – so sorry I took this long to reply! XD

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  15. These pictures were so awesome! They made me feel like I was there. Yes! Aria looks so pretty in the picture with the balloon. I’m glad you had a great time, and happy birthday, Aria! ❤️

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  16. Oh! *facepalm* You didn’t stay at Aria’s house XD. Ignore that part of my last comment. That would be such a great surprise for Aria though! It looks like you guys had a bunch of fun. The party pictures are super aesthetic! Also, my friend took almost that exact getting ready picture of one of my other friends before prom. It looks super cool though.

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  17. Hey Allison! I just subbed to your blog bc of Aria mentioning you, and WOW, those photos are lovely!!!!! I love the one of Aria playing Violin❤️️ As I play the Violin too! I’ve always wanted to do a paint fight, yours looked such fun!
    Bethany

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    1. Aww, that makes me so happy! Thanks for visiting, Bethany! It’s really neat that you play violin as well – it seems like SUCH a difficult instrument to play. O.o Also yesss, the paint fight was a blast! 😀

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  19. So fun! And I love the paint fight, lol!!! 😂😂😂 You did a great job on the video! I loved seeing Aria’s reaction and hearing the instruments—almost experiencing the party myself! 😂

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