My name is Daryl and I was born and raised in a small town in New Jersey where everyone knew each other’s gossip and town was only a short walk from home. In the summer, I would ride my bicycle to the local ice cream shop or meet my friends at the lake for a swim or a daring jump from the highest diving board. I loved growing up there especially in the summer when school let out and the anticipation of what great things lay ahead caused butterflies in my stomach.
My childhood home stood on a hill overlooking a nature preserve filled with all kinds of beautiful wildlife, exotic plants and visitors who traveled from near and far to experience what I was lucky enough to see every day. On an occasional weekend, I would get up early in the morning and take a jog or a long walk through the wetlands on the trail that outlined a large lake that rested in the center of the preserve. It was here that I fell in love with nature and decided that someday I needed to travel and discover more of nature’s treasures.
My mother would often take my brothers and I on road trips to visit my grandmother who lived about an hour and a half west of us. At the entrance to my grandmother’s town stood an old stone “round tunnel” for which we impatiently awaited its arrival. Reaching the tunnel not only signified the end to a long trip but it was also our chance to blow off a little “boredom” steam and go crazy honking the horn as we passed through. This was our ritual every time we traveled through that tunnel although sometimes I wonder if it started because my mother needed to blow off some real steam after driving 60 miles while listening to us sing the “Are we there yet?” song on repeat.
Large dairy farms with big red barns and beautiful old farm houses led the way to my grandmother’s home. I remember sitting quietly in the backseat of the car with my face plastered against the window trying to get a glimpse of the farms and the animals that grazed the fields. One time my mother pulled the car over to let us stretch our legs and to see some cows that had wandered over to the rail fence to see what all the commotion was about. I remember thinking how beautiful the cows and the scenery were and since then I’ve always loved photographs of cows and horses and have just recently began to get into photography myself. I plan on taking some trips to take my own photographs and I am excited to see how they turn out and to share them with you. We ended that short driving break when we heard a loud crunching noise behind us and turned to see one of the cows munching on a juice box that my brother had held up to show him.
The first time that I moved away from my childhood home was to attend college in the city of Baltimore. Although I grew up only a short distance from New York City, I had never lived in a big city before. City life was certainly different, old oak trees were replaced with traffic lights and the sound of the birds chirping outside of my window were now the soothing sounds of car horns and speeding motorcycles. One thing did remain the same though; I still loved to write and this city gave me a fresh new perspective to write from. I decided to major in Communications with the intention of having a career in event planning and not long after I graduated I landed a job in conference and event planning.
Eventually, I moved back home to the area where I grew up to once again plant my roots and to start a family of my own. I have spent the last few years renovating two homes and bearing the title of contractor, designer, painter, landscape designer, and most importantly, mommy / comedian / best buddy and multitasking crusader to my two children. My son just recently celebrated his first birthday and my daughter will begin kindergarten in September. As I start a new chapter in my life, this blog will be my journal documenting my travels, my current style both in fashion and home, trends in fitness and health, and my family’s adventures. So come along with me…
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