Look how they shine for you

The last couple weeks have been such a whirlwind of activity with me starting school and J moving for work. I spent three weekends up in NYC this month helping J find a place and get settled in to his (our!) new apartment up there. Now that I'm back down south, I'm readjusting to a routine of school, work, internship and photography. I have so many NYC photos to sift through and I'll be sharing those soon! 

I actually took these photos about a month ago, but I've been wearing this same uniform of button-up shirt/shorts for a while so it's still relevant to my wardrobe. Maybe it's some weird mixture of watching "Breaking Bad" and pining for summer camp that's made me wear so much yellow and green this summer.  

credits - blouse: gap | shorts: walmart | belt: camp | sandals: miss trish of capri | bowtie: agora.

Make a wish

This was a little dandelion that grew outside my apartment.   I resisted the urge to blow its seeds away to take photos of its fluffy globe, though the  flower is probably all gone now. Often in my landscape photography, I take photos of forests and lakes -- big sweeping views that make me feel infinitely small (like Pale Blue Dot small) -- but never details of those things like leaves or insects. I'm trying to remember to stop and consider these details in nature; their state is ever-changing and precarious as the tufts of dandelion ambling through the wind.

Rainbow sails

When I spoke of "write fright" a couple weeks ago, I didn't mean to disappear online for so long! I took a post-finals trip to New York to go apartment-hunting and to help set J up in preparation for his new job up there. After a few days of meeting with brokers (we saw 11 open apartments in a day, which still feels a little surreal and oddly something to be proud of?) and getting lost in the subway, we finally found our new home! It's a much smaller place than the one we live in now, but I'm happy with it and am looking forward to my own move up there in a few months.

I took these outfit photos  a couple weeks ago. In the midst of finals and cross-country moving, it seemed appropriate to stay optimistic -- and what better way to express that than in my clothes? 

credits - dress: vintage, from minx| belt: banana republic| shoes: naturalizers| bag: fossil, thrifted.

Write fright

My outfit posts have been piling up and sitting in draft mode. I have like 17 posts just lingering in the queue, mementos of summer days and sartorial decisions gone by. I'm not sure why I've hesitated in publishing  -- I've been consistently taking photos everyday, but for some reason, I've been coming up short when it comes to writing the actual posts. Perhaps it's because I've been sitting in research classes all summer, and have been preoccupied with writing papers on methods and studies, that it's difficult to switch writing styles and be confident and definitive with publishing something that hasn't been copy-edited and fact-checked to pieces. Perhaps it's because in my free time, I'm tired of staring at long words and searching for meaning in research theories, that it's easier to pick up a camera and accept whatever truth I can find on the other side of the lens. Perhaps.

As I've evolved with my photography I've realized it's become more difficult for me, at least mentally, to improve my writing here. Sometimes I feel tempted to put up two ill-punctuated lines of lowercase ramblings and emoticons and just call it a day. Staring at the fruit of my self-photography efforts sometimes is overwhelming, how many hours of blog photography can yield just a handful of photos. And yet I keep trying.

Of course, it sounds like such a navel-gazing luxury to have the time and opportunity to wax and wane on a hobby I profess to love. I feel like any sort of hand-wringing over it seems a bit silly and overdone (not to say that I haven't done it before, though). But often it is eye-opening to take a moment and see how things have evolved as I forge ever onward with my camera, my dear friend who understands me at the end of a long day.

credits: blouse - loft | shorts - walmart | shoes - born crown | sunglasses - forever 21 | bag - fossil, thrifted.

A clearing in the woods

Thanks so much for the congrats on the last post. For the first time in months, I've been excited about future plans. There's so much to do in the next few weeks to get J situated into New York, and it feels like there are a million points in between, but for now I'm just thrilled that we're finally putting this years-long plan into motion.

My summer class is ending soon and I'll be free for a little bit! I'm looking forward to sleeping in for a few days.

credits: dress - c/o sway chic; scarf - vintage, thrifted; bag - fossil, thrifted; shoes - born crown.