AshleyMarlenis

Five Places I Wanna Travel to before I turn 30

January 10, 2019 Leave a Comment

FIVE PLACES THAT I WANT TO TRAVEL BEFORE I AM 30| ASHLEYMARLENIS.COM

I know, I’ve had a thing for the number 5 lately (my last post had 5 things as well haha). When I think of places; there are five places in particular internationally that I would like to travel to. Honestly, I decided I’d make a blog post about my international travel blog posts in hopes that I’ll travel to them in the next 5 years. Fingers Crossed!

travel to Bali, — Photo by Artem Bali on Unsplash

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Ubud, Bali is number one on my list and for good reason honestly. It has been a top destination and is all over Instagram; and all of the photos I have seen are absolutely stunning. I’m definitely a beach person, and this destination looks so relaxing and beautiful. Besides, I’ve always been in love with architecture and history of every country (History grad, here!) and the temples are absolutely beautiful. Not to mention, Airbnb is also incredibly cheap and entire villas range anywhere between $70-100+ and if you look far in advance they can be even more inexpensive. We found this Villa on Airbnb for instance: it has its own private pool and two bedrooms! Honestly, what a dream 😍

Click this LINK if you’d like to book and get $40 off a home booking of $75 or more and $15 off an experience of $50 or more.

Greek Islands

Greece is one of those countries that has always been on my radar for as long as I can remember. I’ve been obsessed with Greek culture, food and history since I was in High School. Because of that, Marc and I even had planned an entire trip for this coming up May; but now we are saving money to buy a home. It’s also another country that isn’t expensive as far as accommodation goes; unless you do a Villa in Mykonos or Santorini ( which are more expensive than smaller islands such as Ios & Naxos in general).

Honestly, I can do an entire blog post of all the things I learned while planning our trip. If that’s something you guys would like from me let me know down below!

Rome, Italy

Photo by Tom Grimbert on Unsplash
Photo by Sarah Shaffer on Unsplash
Photo by Christopher Czermak on Unsplash

Rome, Italy was another country that we had planned to start our trip with and honestly it was a plus that flights from Nashville to Rome were like $750! ( I have a special blog post coming on how to find cheap international flights). Ultimately, we had found an AirBnb that was less than $150 for two nights between two couples. Which is absolutely incredible since it was directly in the middle of the city. Look how beautiful these photos are of Rome. How could you not want to go?!

Positano, Italy

Photo by Jack Young on Unsplash
Photo by Dan Russo on Unsplash

If you haven’t heard of Positano, which I am sure you have. Go on Instagram and look up the tag because all the photos of this village on the Amalfi Coast are stunning. Positano seems like a more relaxing village and I found (hello, Pinterest guides) that it is easy to travel to from Rome by train (would love to do a trip all through Italy). The photo ops have to be so stunning, as it has a romantic vibe to it as well.

Tulum, Mexico

Tulum, Mexico is new on my radar as it started to pop up all over on my Pinterest and when a friend from work went on her honeymoon there and said it was amazing. This town is a complete dream for those of you who want to be able to relax also while being able to see historical sites. Although, It is a boho dream it is a little more on the expensive side but I feel like it would be so worth it. Every guide that I have read shows that it is so magical and makes the city of Tulum sound very friendly in terms of venturing in this part of Mexico.

Y’all writing this makes me wanna travel so bad, and hopefully after reaching our financial plans we can then work on our travel plans! I definitely believe that writing your dreams out can put them in motion (the universe just knows yah know?).

Do you all have any dream places on your bucket lists? if so, what are they?

I hope this post gives you a little bit of my travel bug and get excited for more travel related posts from me! <3

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Lifestyle, Nashville, United States

A Wonderful New Year and My Five Resolutions for 2019

January 2, 2019 Leave a Comment

Another year come and gone and I can say that 2018 was definitely interesting and wasn’t anything out of the park but memorable. 2018 was a year filled with determination and figuring out the future; and needless to say 2019 is the year of maintaining my mental health and pushing forward on Marc and I’s goals.

Every year I come up with crazy resolutions and never feel like I am able to follow through with them after a week. This year is a year of focus and determination; no wimping out a week into the year haha.

This New Years Marc and I spent it with our parents and we had a blast, genuinely. Taking it easy was much needed since spending a ton of money in Nashville was not an option. Although it was crowded we managed to have a great time at Music City Midnight downtown. My parents have never been out for New Years so it was so awesome to see them out having fun with us.

Music City Midnight was held in Bicentennial Park in Nashville and it was completely free for all ages. It was the first time Marc and I had gone and it was cool doing something different but probably wouldn’t go back. Unfortunately, My mom and I had to use the bathroom close to midnight and they would not let us back in to where we came out; so we were a bit bummed out about that. Besides that, all in all it was a great time.

My Resolutions:

Spend Less & ONLY buy what I NEED and not what I WANT
Save 13K in SIX months, to buy a home with Marc
Go To Grad School and Get my Teaching Certification!
Focus On Myself, and Stop Worrying About THINGS that I Cannot Control

I plan on focusing more on the future so Marc and I can grow into the next chapter of our lives. Which I am so excited about but that can be in another blog post. Especially how we are able to save 13K in the next six months (which I am tempted to make a whole series about when we hit milestones). Most of these things are attainable for Marc and I, minus my grad school program since it takes up to two years to finish. But, I am so excited to start the process.

Y’all are going to see more and more on this blog this coming year and hopefully consistency is key. My motivation and determination is sky high; since I absolutely talking to those of you who stop by my site <3

Until next time,

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beauty, boxycharm, subscription

Tis the Season – A December Boxycharm Unboxing

December 20, 2018 Leave a Comment

All photos are mine unless stated, and this post was not sponsored by Boxycharm. I purchase this monthly with my own money. I also included some affiliate links if you would like to subscribe to your own Boxycharm

You all know how much I love my Boxycharm subscription but I unsubscribed for the last 4 months or so, to save money. Ultimately, here I am again with a restarted subscription because I really do enjoy this company so much. It never fails to surprise me on how much the total box is worth. Especially when I only pay $21 a month for this box. It is absolutely incredible so if you want to grow your makeup collection; definitely sign up!

I really don’t know how they do it but honestly, but I’ll take it! Each month they do little sneak peeks on their social media, since most boxes have different variations.

Fashion

FOUR FALL/WINTER TRENDS THAT I LOVE AND YOU SHOULD TOTALLY TRY!

December 15, 2018 Leave a Comment

I have included some affiliate links through Shopstyle Collective that allows me to receive a very little amount back if you decide to purchase an item, which is a lot of help so thank you if you decide to purchase

It’s the beginning of the best time of year… Colder weather is finally here in Nashville and I am so excited! I have way more clothes for the fall and winter season than summer (crazy, I know). I’ve noticed while online browsing that this seasons trends are pretty cohesive and all work together so well. I am going to be linking quite a few items that are affiliate links and if you happen to purchase them, I will receive a couple cents or so ;).

I love being able to browse from the comfort of my own home and be able to see what the latest trends for each season are. I’m also debating whether or not I am going to do a lookbook with outfits that have trending staples for this season. SO be on the lookout for that y’all! Trends come and go and honestly; I think most of these that are in this season are staples that can last for seasons to come.

For each trend, I’m gonna pick four items that coincide and link it for you all and each item can be found on my “Shop the Blog” tab at the very top of the page!FOUR TRENDS THAT ARE THRIVING THIS FALL

FOUR TRENDS THAT ARE THRIVING THIS FALL

NEUTRALS AND KHAKI EVERYWHERE!
ANIMAL PRINTS
STRIPES
PLAID IS SO…IN

Photography

An Afternoon at the Greenway: Little Sister Portrait Session at Clarksville Greenway

July 30, 2018 Leave a Comment

Hey Guys,

So I have exciting news pertaining my blog: I have recently started a Photography Business on the side to generate income and have some sessions to write about in order to build my portfolio for paying clients. You may see a change on this site since I have decided to write about my sessions and have my photography website link back to this one. I am keeping my name in order to stick with branding, etc.

My first session was with my little sister, in order to test out my camera on Manual mode and our dad went with us for some moral support and we knew he could make her genuinely laugh. Which definitely happened on multiple occasions. I had a few locations in mind, all outside of course because I wanted to capture photos in natural lighting. I chose the Clarksville Greenway for a ton of reasons but one reason in particular was because I knew it wouldn’t be busy. We went mid-day and it was HOT; I have so many photos but will only be sharing a few since I still have her client album private for now and have the photos posted on to my website over at:http://ashleymarlenisphotography.com

Getting natural photos of her were so easy since we make each other laugh but it was so much fun bringing what I had in mind to life. We wanted natural, airy photographs and I think that happened in this session. I had so much fun and it was an awesome stepping stone into photographing people.

Senior Portrait in Clarksville, TN

Senior Portraits in Clarksville, TN

Adventures, NYC, United States

A Day in New York City | Walking Around Manhattan

July 16, 2018 Leave a Comment

This past month Marc and I went to NY to see both his nephew and see his best friends for about a week and some days. I’ve only been to the city once before and we didn’t get to see much which was a bummer so we made an effort to take a day and see the little things that I wanted to experience.

We flew in about 9-10AM into John F. Kennedy Airport and took and got an Uber to his sisters office in the city to drop our bags off; and off we went. I knew that I wanted to see Central Park and also wanted to fully walk around and take in the city. Which, bless Marc because he willingly walked 45 minutes from his sisters office to Central Park with me lol ( in the heat). On the way I got to see St. Patrick’s Cathedral and honestly pictures really don’t do it any justice and the architecture is so incredible. You can go inside for free but Marc and I didn’t stay long since it was packed.

On the way over to Central Park, I took a few photos along the way:

This one has to be my favorite since I have a few of these from when I went to Europe and C’mon it’s the Cartier building (brb, drooling).

I’ve noticed that I really enjoy taking photos with people in them, and love this one that I snapped when we finally reached Central Park.

We walked quite a bit to reach Bethesda Fountain and it was definitely worth it. I’ve only ever seen this part of the park in movies so it was pretty cool for me to see it in person. I also loved that you can canoe The Lake that is in Central Park, originally I wanted to try the Loeb Boathouse Restaurant but unfortunately it was booked out for the next two months. So if you want to try out this very popular restaurant when you go to the city I would suggest booking a reservation a month or two before you go!

The fountain area was so pretty and Marc snapped some photos of us and I absolutely love them!

Once we made our way from the fountain, we started walking aimlessly looking for the Belvedere Castle which sadly we couldn’t figure out where it was haha but we did stumble upon Cedar Hill which is a prime picnic spot in the park and makes for some awesome photos.

Another thing we ended up doing was going up Rockefeller Center at Top of the Rock which Marc had never done before and it was definitely a experience for us, being on top of the world and seeing the city from above was incredible. Another plus, about this spot:

You can purchase a time slot on your phone and walk around and head over to the building to avoid the line. it was so quick and easy to go up. Heads up, it is pricey I believe Marc and I spent 71$ on the both of us.

Walking around, we got to see little things of the city and most importantly: It’s FREE! we only spent money on coffee, food and doing Top of the Rock and souvenirs at Rockefeller Center.