Iceland 2025!

My husband and I went on a recent February break vacation with two friends to Iceland. We wanted to go in the winter, one because, well Northern Lights, and two because we needed to go during school break. Mutual friends of ours had been before and loved it, so we were excited to experience it for ourselves. We planned a trip with a self-drive tour company. They rented a car under our name, including all mileage and wi-fi, and they booked our accommodations for us, all of which included breakfast. They include an itinerary with suggestions for side excursions, so you can really plan to do whatever you want! We did seven days of literal non-stop activities (though we got in a fair share of lagoon/hot springs exploring too!).

Day One:

  • Plane to Iceland—landed in Keflavik.

  • Drove straight to the Blue Lagoon! Did some soaking, a mask and had some bevvies. Such a fun time!

  • Bridge Between Continents

  • Dinner at Reykjavik Kitchen

Day Two

  • Drove from Reykjavik to Vik to Kirkjubaejarklaustur

  • Seljalandfoss Waterfall—-walked behind it!

  • Skogafoss Waterfall

  • Roadside Waterfall—-Foss a’ Sidu—-coolest dog ever!

  • Horseback riding on the beach got cancelled—way too windy!

  • Black Sand Beach-got mauled by the wind—-it hailed!

  • Lunch at Strondir Pub- great fish and chips!

  • Lava Show in Vik

  • Went to the barn and met the ponies.

  • Eldhraun Lava field

  • Stayed at Fosshotel Nupar in Kirkjubaejarklaustur- ate dinner there. Northern Lights popped off!

Day 3

  • Had breakfast and went on our way to the next leg of our journey!

  • Fjarsarlon Lagoon-smaller lagoon, but holy moly—so pretty! The color of the icebergs!

  • Diamond Beach/Vatnajokull National Park

  • Ice cave tour! Big cave—-did not have to use crampons—-beautiful and otherwordly.

  • Fossalar Waterfall— little stream.rapids—-very picturesque.

  • Dwarf Rocks

  • Dinner at Solheimahjaleiga Guesthouse —got Veggie Schnitzel for dinner.

Day Four

  • Golden Circle Driving

  • Secret Lagoon—-so many tour groups with teens. Too many people…changing rooms were crazy.

  • Geysir

  • Gullfoss Waterfall—-just WOW! and so windy!

  • Dinner at Hotel Hamar—ordered Duck Confit.

Day Five

  • Seal Colony

  • Bjarnafoss Waterfall

  • Budir— church on lava field—-beautiful and stark against the landscape

  • Arnastappi viewpoint and village—-ate an amazing lunch at Samkomuhusid Arnastapa—-had an amazing lamb soup!

  • Gatklettur Arch

  • Basalt Cliffs- Londrangar

  • Djupalonssandur Beach

  • Rainbow!!

  • Saxholl Crater—-crazy stairs but great view at the top!!

  • Dinner at Bara Borganes

Day Six

  • Slept in late! Yay!

  • Krauma Geothermal Spa—-so relaxing—cute dog wanted to play.

  • Lunch at Kverinn Restaurant and Bar—-delicious tomato soup.—vegan!

  • Hraunfossar and Barnafoss Waterfalls

  • Drive through Thingvellir National Park back to Reykjavik

  • Checked into Hotel Fron

  • Went out shopping—checked out Rainbow Street. Got some souvenirs.

  • Dinner at Rok. Super delicious tapas!

  • Bookstore Bar—went with Mike—had a mule, and watched live band—super fun!

  • Dessert at Geata Gelato—-dark chocolate dairy free

Day Seven

  • Woke up, had breakfast at hotel—-not good at all. Very little selection.

  • National Gallery of Iceland Museum—-then we split up and Mike and I went to The House of Collections which had a better selection.

  • Met up for lunch at Skreid—-tapas again—food took a long time, but delicious!

  • Sky Lagoon at 2pm.

  • Checked into Hilton- Canopy

  • Shopping—found gift for mum.

  • Dinner at Sumac—-delicious!

Day Eight

  • Back to the real world!!

Turcotte Newborn Session

Turcotte Newborn Session

After Jaden was born, the Turcotte family had me do another quick session with them out in our shared backyard. It was another beautiful day for pictures and we were able to capture some nice family moments between these four. It was nice to shake off my dusty photography skills as it had been many months since I had done a shoot. I spend so much time taking photos on my iPhone these days, especially landscapes, that I always forget how much I love doing client work. It might just be time to start up my photography business again since we have relocated to New Hampshire!! Stay tuned!

Turcotte Family Session

Turcotte Family Session

Over the course of the Pandemic, our downstairs neighbor was expecting her second child. She asked me how I would feel (a few months into our quarantine) about taking some family pictures for her. I said yes, as ?I was certainly craving some camera time and I hadn’t picked mine up in quite awhile. I did a discounted session for them and we did the pictures outside for about 30-45 minutes and we tried to stay 6 feet away as much as possible. Here are some of my favorites:

West Highland Way 2019

West Highland Way 2019

Mike and I traveled to Scotland to hike the West Highland Way. We flew into Glasgow and spent two days checking out the city and then we took a car to Milngavie to start our hike. We spent the next seven days hiking our way across the West Highlands. All in all we walked about 96 miles! By the end of it, our knees were shot; we basically limped our way to the finish line, but we were just so proud to have done it! I brought my camera along to capture moments along the Way, unfortunately it rained off and on most days and for two days it rained the entire time. Regardless, here are a few of the shots I did get.

Emily & Zafer: Wedding

Emily & Zafer: Wedding

My friend Emily got married this year to her fiancé Zafer. She invited my husband and I to the wedding but she also hired me to capture her special day and I was so excited! They had the wedding in Hershey, Pennsylvania at Weddings on Memory Lane. The ceremony was outside on the gazebo and then afterwards they had cocktails and some horś d’oeuvres on the patio. We took some family photos and then the couple walked around the property for come alone time and couple shots. They had a dance floor set up under the trees with string lights and lawn games for all the guests. Zafer, his mother, and his sister did some traditional Turkish dancing as well. It was an all around beautiful day!

Acadia National Park: May 2019

Acadia National Park: May 2019

Got to spend some time in Acadia again this year with Mike, my mum, Stew, and my brother Ryan. It was really nice to get quality time with them. We walked the Jordan Pond Loop, ate dinners out in town, and Mike and I hiked up to Gorham Mountain and found the spot where he proposed. Ryan and I went on a mission to find the best and biggest lobster roll we could find. It was a really good weekend! After wards Mike and I headed up to camp in St. Albans for a little relaxation.

Acadia Weekend 2018

Acadia Weekend 2018

Spent a weekend going to Maine with my sister Kitty, her fiancé Tristan and my Mum and Stew. We stopped in Hallowell and ate lunch at The Quarry Tap Room, where I got to see our other sister Taylor and my nephew Ronan (my first post). Then we drove to Bucksport and checked out the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and the view at the top was amazing! You’ll notice a few reflections on the photos of the view here, as the entire thing is housed with glass and it was a beautiful sunny day out.

Heading up to Acadia, we ate out at Havana on our first night, checked out some popular spots in the park the next day and ate out at McKay’s Public House on our last night. We got delicious ice-cream and sorbet at Mt. Desert Island IceCream, stopped at a cool kitchen supply store, and did a stopover in Portland, ME on our way back to Massachusetts for some pizza at Flatbread with our brother and some Kombucha from Urban Farm Fermentory.

All in all it was a great weekend! Can’t wait to go back next summer!

Ronan: Acadia Weekend

Ronan: Acadia Weekend

When we traveled up to Maine to go to Acadia for the weekend, we stopped and got lunch with my sister Taylor and my nephew Ronan. Isn’t he cute!? I took a bunch of pictures of him and had to include a few of his derp faces because I couldn’t resist!

Life in St. Albans

Life in St. Albans

On the second half of our vacation we went up to camp in St. Albans Maine for a couple of days. We had some decent weather, went for a nice kayak ride, ate a good meal with family and got to spend time with the doggo Chase!

Montréal Part Two

Montréal Part Two

The Cathedral in Montréal was beautiful and we had a great time walking around the Old Town and eating Poutine. I had never been to Canada before this trip (minus doing the Canadian side of Niagara Falls). I will definitely be going back to Montréal again.

Montréal 2018

Montréal 2018

My husband and I took a small three day trip up to Montréal, and we had a great time exploring the city. We took in the Botanical Gardens, walked by the Olympic Stadium, explored the Museum of Art, walked through the Cathedral, had two amazing dinners out, and checked out the Old Town. Oh, and of course we made sure to get some Poutine!

Southwick's Zoo Trip 2018

Southwick's Zoo Trip 2018

Took another trip to Southwick’s Zoo with my friend Rachel and her two kids. Got to see some cool animals, like my favorite, the turtle! It was an eventful day too because when I got back to my car, the battery had died and I spent a long time in the parking lot waiting for the guy to come. All in all, it was a good day though and here are some shots to check out.

Muir Woods

Muir Woods

The last stop on our trip to San Francisco was to take the ferry out to Sausalito and check out Muir Woods. After that we headed back into town and went to check out a restaurant called Lark for dinner. It was delicious and I would highly recommend it if you like Mediterranean food.

Let's Play Ball!

Let's Play Ball!

The next stop on our tour of San Francisco was to go to the Giants game at AT&T Park. We got seats in the upper corner so that we could see the water and it was beautiful and sunny out by that afternoon, so we had a great time enjoying the game. After that we walked around the pier and checked out Ghirardelli, ending our day with some tacos in the Mission.

San Francisco 2018: Land's End

San Francisco 2018: Land's End

For our summer vacation, my husband and I traveled to California with my sister Kitty, and her fiancé Tristan. The second half of our trip was in San Francisco. We checked out Land’s End on the first full day there and even though it was windy and a little cold it was still beautiful!

Shasta Lake 2018

Shasta Lake 2018

This summer Mike and I traveled to the West Coast to join some family members on a houseboat vacation in Redding, CA . Shasta Lake is a beautiful lake that we had done vacations on for a long time when I was younger, but the last time we had gone was in 2010. It was really nice to get to do it again as an adult and we had a good time relaxing, drinking margaritas and reading. Here are some photos from the trip!

Ronan Visits

Ronan Visits

Ronan and Taylor stayed over during the week of Kitty's graduation, and then we went home that weekend for a Mother's Day day of bonding. We met up for brunch at Slate's Restaurant in Hallowell. Later in the day my sisters and I got matching tattoos of a pine tree while my mum decided on a sunflower. We went to El Rayo for fish tacos afterwards. It was a great day!

Ronan's Second Birthday

Ronan's Second Birthday

My nephew Ronan turned two in March and his mom threw him an Elmo themed party at my aunt's house in New Hampshire. I'm glad I brought my camera along to capture his special day!

Family Session: The D'Ambras

Family Session: The D'Ambras

One of my best friends, Rachel asked me to come take some photo of her and her two kids to send to her husband. I spent the night at her place and the next day we took the kids to their swim lessons and then played in their backyard in the afternoon. It was a lot of fun hanging out with them.

A Vacation in Three Parts: Paris

A Vacation in Three Parts: Paris

On the last leg of our anniversary trip, Mike and I went to Paris for three days. We took a very short plane ride from the Edinburgh airport and arrived in Paris shortly after noon. Our little flat was the tiniest of the three and the building was a little rundown. The location, however was fantastic! We stayed in Montmarte, right down the street from the Sacre Coeur, which we explored right away. We walked by the Moulin Rouge and checked out the shops on Champs Elysees. We spent the next few days exploring Paris; We went up the Eiffel Tower, but couldn't get all the way to the top due to construction. The view was amazing!  We checked out the Arc de Triomphe. We checked out the Louvre obviously, but we also went to the Musee D'Orsay, which had the most amazing impressionist art I'd ever seen. It was a revelation! We had an awesome dinner in the museum that night.  On the last day we checked out Notre Dame and Jardin du Luxembourg.