The Travels of June

So I know I have been gone for a while but I am a very, very busy bee! Now that my schedule has finally opened up, I have time to sit down and write!

So I have spent the month of June traveling. After graduation (that's right, I am officially a high school graduate!!!) I traveled down to the Outer Banks with some of my closest friends for some beach time. We spent the week reading and chatting and just having a great time. Seriously, I got through 3 AMAZING novels in five days: Redeeming Love, The Husband's Secret, and I'll Be Seeing You.

The whole week we were as dysfunctional as usual. (Pulled from instagram)

Carrie joined us later in the week!

The beach was absolutely perfect and exactly what I needed to decompress after all of the graduation festivities!

When I returned from the beach I had a week to sort through graduation presents and get my life ready to take on summer. Then off to Charlotte, NC for my cousin Matt's Wedding! This wedding absolutely magical and one of the most beautiful and fun weddings I've ever been to. Brianne, Matt's now wife, was so so so beautiful and was super nice! Everything about the Wedding festivities was fantastic; the rehearsal dinner, the dance, the wedding, and the reception were all picture perfect!

Caroline and myself with Mary Meade and the groom at the rehearsal dinner!

There was a dance hosted after the rehearsal dinner and I was lucky to have danced with two of the amazing men in my life: my dad and my grandad, Piney

Brianne looked absolutely stunning and I could tell that Matt couldn't be happier. They were so cute and so in love and that evident and clear to everybody that was there!

The morning after the wedding my dad and I got up early and headed off to Charlotte International Airport for my big trip of the summer . . . Shanghai, China! Traveling to the People's Republic of China was one of the most amazing and terrifying experiences of my life and staying in the largest city in the world was the icing on the cake! My dad had to go for business so we were on an all expenses paid, luxury trip to Shanghai!

After a 14 hour plane ride from Chicago to Shanghai, we finally arrived! We stayed at the beautiful Grand Hyatt located in the magnificent Jin Mao Tower in Pudong, Shanghai!

One the first day my friend Cullen and took a guided tour around Puxi, Shanghai and were able to visit the old French and British Concessions. The French Concession was quaint with cobble stone streets and old stone houses. It was very European and picturesque. The British concession was grand and reminded me of 5th Avenue, Manhattan. Both were absolutely beautiful!

Cullen bought a Chinese fan for a friend and we got to watch the woman put the fan together.

We spotted a Gelato and New York Pizza stand in the French Concession! It was so cool, we were in a completely different world and then, there it was, something way too familiar! It was a little surreal!

Don't these pictures of the British Concession remind you of Central Park? Walking through these streets I felt like I was back in the United States, although I knew that I was far from the USA!

We also went to a food and bird market while in the French and British Concessions. Cullen got pictures of that (I was too astounded to really get pictures of that stuff, it was so different!)

We also went to the Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai. This was a really cool experience because, as a Baptist from Virginia, USA, I had never seen a Buddhist temple before, let alone been in one! Our amazing Tour guide Susan told us so much about the temple and what everything meant inside. I learned a lot about the religion and got to see some believers worshiping and we made our way through the temple. Unfortunately, they don't allow any pictures to be taken of the Jade Buddha but here is a little bit of what I got!

One the second day we went to the big Grand Opening Event of the new Lifestyle showroom in Shanghai (the whole reason we were even there) and then ended the night with a beautiful river cruise around Shanghai! It was one of the most breathtaking experiences of my life!

This is Cullen and myself in front of Pudong!

On Wednesday Cullen and myself went to the Shanghai Art Museum. There we so many beautiful exhibits but we visited the Jade, Clothing, Paintings, and Currency (at my request) exhibits! I had a fantastic time at the museum on the rainy morning because, not only was it inside, it was amazing! Later that night we met the rest of the Lifestyle crew at the Zhang Zhou Water Village for dinner and then walked around for a little before heading back to the hotel.

 Cullen and I with our amazing tour guide from Day 1, Susan!

For our last "official" day in Shanghai, Lifestyle organized two tours and we went on both! The first tour was to Yuyuan! These gardens were magnificent, even in the drizzle. There was so much greenery and buildings in Old Shanghai were exactly what you picture when you think of a Chinese city! Later we went to the fake market which was AWESOME but in no way picture perfect, haha!

I caught Daddy trying to take a picture of me in the square!

 We finished up the night with a big farewell party hosted by Lifestyle that lasted till all hours of the night!

My dad and I were leaving for the airport at 12 on Saturday so, Cullen, Barbra, Steve, Amie and I all went down to The Bund and now I understand the saying, "If you haven't visited The Bund, you haven't been to Shanghai," Well let me tell you, whoever came up with that saying was so right! The Bund was beautiful. It is a boardwalk down the river lined with ancient buildings from the British Concession. It was a phenomenal morning walk and I am really happy I got to experience it before I returned to the United States.

Spotted! Chairman Mao on The Bund!

The Bund was an absolute beautiful place to be!

Shanghai was an amazing place to visit and when the time came to get on the plane, I didn't want to go. As much as I miss it there though, there is no place like home!

What traveling have you done this summer?