Orlando Museum of Art

Back when I lived in Huntsville I would pass the art museum all the time, but never went in to see any of the exhibits.  In hindsight I was totally slacking because admission was heavily discounted for students.  So when I moved to Orlando, I didn't want to make the same mistake and added visiting the Orlando Museum of Art to my 30 Before 30 list.

National Geographic Women of Vision: Maggie Steber, Kitra Cahana, Amy Toensing, Carolyn Drake, Diane Cook, Lynn Johnson, Beverly Joubert, Jodi Cobb, Stephanie Sinclair, Erika Larsen and Lynsey Addario

A couple weeks ago I finally went!  There was an exhibit called 'Women of Vision' displaying work of various female National Geographic photographers.  It was amazing!  I found myself walking from photo to photo imagining what it was like to capture.

Lynn Johnson "In the Footsteps of the Apostles" March 2012 Odisha, India

Maggie Steber "The Secrets of Sleep" May 2010 Miami, Florida

When I was in college, I majored in photojournalism, but as I went through the classes, I started feeling like it was only news reporting style photography.  So I drifted away from it and towards the more artistic studio photography.  Walking through the exhibit really reawakened my interest in photojournalism. 

Stephanie Sinclair "Too Young to Wed" Haijah, Yemen

The photos were more storytelling and anthropological in style.  It was awesome for me and I kept saying to myself, "This! This is what I wanted to do!"  It was great to find that connection.  I want to take that inspiration and use it towards the photo stories that I want to shoot more of.  I just have to find the stories to tell.

Beverly Joubert "Lessons of the Hunt" 2007 Botswana

In addition to the Women of Vision exhibit, I also visited the African art collection which was very inspirational color and design wise.  I think my favorite pieces were the love note necklaces.  I think it would be awesome to design something using the colors/meaning for Lamar.  Hmm... anniversary/birthday gift maybe?? I think I'll start planning! ^.^

Zulu & Xhosa Love Note Necklaces - Art that Speaks Exhibition

 The last section I visited was the contemporary art.  My art lovin' heart jumped out of my chest and danced around the room and then my body followed!  I'm so glad I was alone in the exhibit.  I'm pretty sure I twirled! lol! I loved the colors and there was so much energy in the pieces.  Everything was gorgeous eye-candy.  The photo below is of one piece that drew me in straightaway.  The motion in it was... mesmerizing. Unfortunately, in all my awe, I forgot to make a note of the artist.

Contemporary art pieces at Orlando Museum of Art

Contemporary art pieces at Orlando Museum of Art

After I'd been there for a couple hours, my friend Cherie came by and we went back through Women of Vision.  On my second go through, I felt like an excited butterfly zipping all around ^.^  The last thing we did was stop in the gift shop and snap a couple pictures of the statue installation outside.

Horizons Sculpture by Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir

It was an awesome trip and definitely something I'm going to do again.  One more thing to check off my list! Woot Woot!!  I'm hoping to be half way through the 30 Before 30 list by my birthday.  So that leaves me 4 days to finish 3 more items o.O  EEP!

Calamari Dates: I-Drive 360 Experience

A couple weeks ago was Veteran's Day and since Lamar had the day off we were able to have a date day! Huzzah!

We went to I-Drive 360.  That's the area where the Orlando Eye, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, and the Orlando Sea Life Aquarium are located.  It's actually quite a cool setup with all three attractions being housed in one building.  Plus free parking ^.^

First, we went to Madame Tussauds.  We took a picture with President Obama and MLK.  I put my foot next to Shaq's and I'm pretty sure his foot is the same length as my whole shin!  Lamar's hands are the same size as Serena Williams' o.O and he danced with Michael Jackson and I'm a hair taller than Beyonce' lol.  Being in there was a little creepy mainly because I kept expecting them to move. Ugh... that thought gives me chills!

Next we went to the Sea Life Aquarium.  I felt like a little kid squealing about the tiy jellyfish and itty bitty Nemos.  We also saw Dory (Regal Blue Tang) and a huge Gil (Moorish Idolfish).  Towards the end, they had a rock pool area where we could touch everything in it.  So. Many. Weird. Textures!  But I touched everything except the fish because it was too fast.  I think my favorite things to touch were the sea cucumber and the anemone.  The sea cucumber was weird because I couldn't feel it, but I saw that I touched it... does that make sense?  It was like sticking your finger into a bubble.  The anemone closed up and tried to sting my finger but couldn't because my skin was too thick.

Lastly, we rode the Orlando Eye.  It was really pretty to see the city from so high up at night.  I took a time lapse video and it came out pretty cool.


To end our date day, we got a few souvenirs: a ridiculously huge mug for Lamar and a bunch of pressed pennies and a shopping tote for me.  Then we ate french fries at Shake Shack while watching a group of people play petanque.  Of course Lamar started quoting the Cosby scene. ^.^  I definitely want to go back and play.

All in all the day was really good.  We don't get to spend many non-Sabbath days together because of our work schedules.  So that Wednesday was a welcomed change in pace.  We took lots of pictures and I kept pretty much every piece of paper for scrapbooking :)

What was the last excursion you went on?  Have you and your significant other had a particularly awesome date day/night recently?  What are your go to date ideas? Leave a comment, I want to plan more date nights with Lamar.  I've definitely learned that you have to make time to spend with the people you love.

Have a great weekend!