Home Sweet Home!

My new room after all my work...

My room before. Notice the ugly wallpaper that was super hard to remove...

It's been a crazy week of packing, moving, sweating, painting, cleaning, and unpacking.... but here is what we have to gain from it: an amazing home in Detroit!

Ours is the one on the very right.

This is the community garden across the street.

I should've took pictures from before of every room, but I didn't. This is Angela's room.

Britany and Samantha's room. -Sam's bed.

One of the bathrooms. Needs work, but it will have to wait...

Kitchen. -Only room we aren't painting.

Love this storage area... needed it so bad!

Living room is amazing!

We also have an art studio room. Can't wait to spend some time in there!

The backyard and other houses in our unit.

Our neighbors are soooo nice :) & drink a lot of wine... haha

The back porch.

Moving to Deroit!

Did I mention Im moving? Yea, this week. Its going to be crazy...

Ill be at Second and Willis, across the street from Avalon bakery! We have a community garden right across the street too! My roommate Britany Fillmore bought a townhouse that was built in 1895. Its sweet. Ill be posting before and after pics as we renovate it.

say CHEESE!

Bought a new camera for my trip with an amazing zoom!

Canon - PowerShot 12.1-Megapixel Digital Camera - Black

Model: SX20 IS | SKU: 9455127

20x optical/4x digital zoom; 2.5" LCD screen; DIGIC 4 image processor; face detection technology; optical image stabilization

Fancy Hotels

The hotels Ill be staying in are all 4 Star! The hotels were the selling point for me with booking the tour. A-MA-ZING! click on each picture to see the websites for more pictures of where Ill be!

YAY! I booked all of my trip to ITALY!
Ill be gone from August 2nd till the 17th.
I booked a tour because it is so last minute and I dont have the time to book hotels myself...
Here is my itinereary:

Day 1: Board your overnight transatlantic flight.

Day 2: Arrive in Rome, Italy.
Time to rest or to start exploring the “Eternal City.” At 6 pm, meet your Tour Director and traveling companions and leave the hotel for a special welcome dinner with wine at one of Rome’s lively restaurants.

Day 3: Rome.
Sightseeing with your Local Guide starts with a visit to the VATICAN MUSEUMS and SISTINE CHAPEL, world famous for Michelangelo’s ceiling paintings and The Last Judgement. Continue to monumental ST. PETER’S SQUARE and BASILICA. Cross the Tiber and visit the COLOSSEUM and the ROMAN FORUM, where Roman legions marched in triumph. Then, time for independent activities and exciting optional excursion possibilities.

Day 4: Rome–Orvieto–Tuscany.
Following the Tiber Valley, reach Orvieto, perched high atop a volcanic rock. Access, denied to many a would-be conqueror through the ages, is easy for you. Ride a modern FUNICULAR right through the forbidding ramparts. Time to browse through tempting shops in the lanes off Piazza del Duomo and to find the right angle for a picture of the fabulous gothic façade of the CATHEDRAL. Next, drive through the Chianti wine area to the spa resort of Montecatini in Tuscany.

Day 5: Tuscany. Excursion to Florence.
All day dedicated to Florence, “Cradle of the Renaissance.” Your guided walking tour includes a visit to Michelangelo’s David in the ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS and the magnificent CATHEDRAL, Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Baptistry’s heavy bronze “Gate of Paradise,” and sculpture-studded SIGNORIA SQUARE. Afternoon for independent sightseeing and browsing through the many shops. Florentine leather goods and gold jewelry sold by the ounce are attractive buys.

Day 6: Tuscany–Pisa–Venice.
A short drive to Pisa. Take your pictures of the amazing Leaning Tower, 180 feet high and no less than 12 feet out of the perpendicular. Next, enjoy a comfortable drive north to Venice, a powerful magnet for romantics and art lovers from around the world.

Day 7: Venice.
Enter in style by PRIVATE BOAT to meet your Local Guide. Highlights of your walking tour are ST. MARK’S SQUARE and its byzantine BASILICA, lavish DOGES’ PALACE and the BRIDGE OF SIGHS. Also watch skilled GLASSBLOWERS fashion their delicate objects in an age-old traditional manner. Then, enjoy Venice at your own pace or join an optional excursion to the island of Burano.

Day 8: Venice–Assisi.
Through the Apennine Mountains to peaceful Assisi. Meet your Local Guide and visit ST. CLARE’S CHURCH and ST. FRANCIS’ BASILICA built above the Saint’s grave.

Day 9: Assisi–Pompeii–Naples–Capri.
South on the Highway of the Sun to famous POMPEII. Meet your Local Guide and start your highlight visit of this Roman city both destroyed and preserved by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. See a patrician home, public baths, and shops that give a striking picture of what day-to-day life was like in Rome at its apex of power. Next, drive to Naples, cross the blue bay by JETFOIL to the beautiful Isle of Capri for your two-night stay, and ride the FUNICULAR to Capri village.

Day 10: Capri.
This morning, enjoy sightseeing with a Local Guide. Highlight is a visit to VILLA SAN MICHELE in Anacapri. Afternoon and evening are at leisure to stroll around and discover the beauty of this famous island.

Day 11: Capri–Sorrento–Rome.
Speed across the bay to the charming resort of Sorrento. Enjoy time to stroll around and check out the local shops before returning to Rome. Why not join an optional dinner tonight in one of Rome’s fine restaurants to celebrate the success of your vacation?

Day 12: Your homebound flight arrives the same day.

And then Ill still have a few days at the end to relax, tan, blog, draw and paint!

ITALY

Recently, I was awarded through Wayne State University a chance of a lifetime! I'm going to ITALY in August to study art for FREE!!!!! Ive been wanting to go to Europe for awhile now, but to go for free just blows my mind. I am very fortunate!

About a month ago my professor told me about this opportunity and I was immediately interested. I searched online for the scholarship and couldn't find it. Busy, I put it off. My professor, days later asked if I had looked into it, knowing that it had not yet been added online. He then handed me the application. It took me about 2 weeks to finish the application, but I finally turned it in. I began to doubt that I would receive it and then a couple days later I received an email with my accept ion!

" your application was reviewed and you have been selected as one of two students for the Study Abroad in Italy program! "

Very soon I will be walking the streets of Rome, Florence, and Venice!

hello world.

Starting a new blog today to accommodate the my life. A lot has been happening that is exciting and Id like to share it with you... let start with a little about me:

me. well, Ive always have been a creative person. It runs in my family. My Grandmother used to paint, my Uncle used to do Graphics and Photography, and my Dad can paint, draw, sculpt, etc. When I was younger I was always one of the better students in the art classes. I remember when I was only 5yrs old, I got in trouble and was grounded by my mother. She took away all of my toys and gave me only a piece of paper and a pencil to play with. I drew musical notes. at 5 YRS OLD!!!! In 2nd grade I was the only kid to remember to draw a neck and ears on my self portrait. Guess I pay attention to detail. But if you had seen my honors art paintings as a Senior in H.S. you would never have thought that my parents would pay for me to go to a very expensive college to pursue art... However, after my first painting was done, we knew that this was meant for me to do. Here is my first painting from Grace College.