A wrinkle in time

I took these photos a month ago, back when I was going through a patriotic color phase. I've had this thrifted white skirt for years, but I find it difficult to wear because it wrinkles after one use. 

School and work are going, slowly but surely. So many exciting things are happening right now. I'm working on a "Mad Men" script for class, and so many great television shows are coming back on the air this week. And as a present to myself, I  finally ordered a new DSLR camera that I'm excited to test out soon! All good things, all good things.

credits - skirt: thrifted | blouse: old navy | sandals: miss trish of capri.

Bloom

Just a pretty bloom from earlier this summer. Can you believe fall is already here? 

Happy Friday!

About a boy

These photos are such a time warp — I actually wore it back in July the day Jeremiah turned in his thesis, and we went out for celebratory milkshakes at The Grill. It's weird looking at these photos because so much has happened since then with moving him up to NYC and me starting school — and it's like this version of myself is blissfully unaware of all that.

I've worn many iterations of this outfit before, but I think the bowties and plaid will once again become my template for a good fall outfit.

credits- shirt: arizona jeans co, thrifted | bowtie: vintage, minx | shorts: walmart | bag: fossil, thrifted | belt: from camp | shoes: born crown. 

Flutter by

Even though I've done landscape photography for the last couple years, I'm still pretty new to it, especially when it comes to taking photos of animals and creatures at the park. I've seen many kinds of birds, and occasionally deer and foxes, but I usually discard many of those shots because I couldn't get close enough physically or my lens couldn't zoom far enough, and those animals are relegated to blurs and dots in my online photo gallery.

So imagine my surprise when, on the same day I wore butterfly sleeves, I spotted a really pretty butterfly nearby. The colorful insect rested in the same area for about 10 minutes, so I experimented with different angles as it flitted around. I'll hopefully be getting a new camera soon so that I do more landscape stuff — something tells me that trying this with either the ducks or the foxes just isn't going to work out quite as well ... 

credits- dress: erika, vintage, from minx | sandals: miss trish of capri, target. 

The end of an era

Because I study advertising and social media, I usually consider myself on top of the latest news in technology. But one area I was behind in for a long time was my phone. For a while, I had a really old 2005 Motorola model that I just never upgraded, partly because I was never home to do so on my parents' plan. Eventually, it got to the point where my embarrassment in keeping such a relic around became a point of pride, in a stubborn sort of way where my friends, in all their iGadget glory, would be astonished that anyone would keep around such an old device. And after seven years, despite its basic functionality, the phone had weathered many nicks and bumps throughout its history with me. I didn't have brand loyalty toward the phone company. But as someone who sleeps next to her phone and has it permanently pressed inside her right hand, I had personal loyalty toward a device that had been reliable and had stuck with me through many life changes in those seven years. It was there with me when I took on job interviews,  planned my wedding, moved around the Southeast and worked through college and graduate school. Even as I changed, my phone stayed the same, which was comforting.

The only issue with my old phone was that it had a terrible signal, which is somewhat of a safety hazard in rural Georgia. Living near the outskirts of town meant always relying on Jeremiah's phone whenever I was at our home, which was like 60 percent of my time. 

And so, with his move out of state, I bought a new HTC One X to replace the ol' gadget. I love the new phone so far because it allows me to do most of my web browsing and photography without actually having to lug around my computer or camera all the time. When I took home the new phone and held it with its predecessor, I had to take a photo of my personal evolution of technology. The new phone makes the old device look so paleolithic and outside of this decade. For now the old phone will languish in a drawer, where I keep my old dead cameras and other broken technology. Who knows, perhaps in 10 or 20 years, it will be cool again. But for now, it will be an endearing part of my past, in a way that we look upon record players and cassette tapes and VCRs. 

Here's looking at you, phone of my late teens - early 20s.

* this is in no way a paid endorsement or review of Motorola or HTC. I just felt like waxing about technology.

The soul of wit

 

Slowly but surely I am getting caught up on my outfit posts. Of all the ways I've worn this dress before, I think this might be the most experimental. I've had this thrifted seersucker vest languishing in my closet for a while and it was time to try it out.

Sorry for the brevity. School, work, various other projects and getting used to solo-living are sucking the words right out of me now, and all I can say is, Look at these photos. I made them this one time.

credits- dress: c/o swaychic | vest: tommy hilfiger, thrifted | porcupine earrings: kohls | shoes: naturalizers.

The elusive egret

In the two years or so that I've been taking photos at this particular park, this is the best photo I've taken of the egret that I often spot in the mornings. It felt like some small sort of accomplishment.

Stumped

 I have no earthly idea why I've been sitting on these photos for so long. I took these photos about a month or so ago during my summer class session and they've been lingering in here since the New York trips. I've got a few summer outfits I need to post about before it's no longer summer anymore.

I've been practicing stunts with my photography for a while, and things like climbing fences, dangling tripods over lakes and bridges (I'm very careful, most of the time) don't really faze me, as long as I manage to get the photo compositions I want. So I was excited to see that someone (perhaps a fisherman who often sets up in the mornings) left a stump in the lake, just a few feet from the shore. I decided I wanted to, uh, take really majestic-looking photos of me balancing on the stump, overlooking the lake in some kind of zen-like "Walden Pond" way. That lasted for about two minutes, tops, because I over-estimated how sturdy the stump was and managed to fall into the lake and get all mussed up, and these were the best photos from the bunch. Lessons to take away from this: a) don't perform photography stunts before class; b) if you do, don't wear your nice stuff, either.

credits- dress: j. crew | sweater: ruche | shoes: miss trish of capri. 

I wear this J. Crew dress a lot (in fact, I'm wearing it right now as I type this), so here's a recent compilation of all the ways I've worn it.

First we take Manhattan

Here are the last of my travel photos to New York. Besides the Natural History Museum, Jeremiah and I spent a lot of time visiting the Upper West Side, Union Square, Times Square, Clinton and Chelsea (where our hotel was). One of our favorite finds was a restaurant in Chelsea called Bombay Talkie, where we had a celebratory dinner after we found out that our application was accepted for the apartment we wanted. Looking at these photos makes me a little homesick — even though I haven't lived in New York for an extended period of time, I already feel like it's home. I can't wait until I am up there too with Jeremiah in May.

Keep your eyes on the stars

In the middle of looking for apartments in New York, Jeremiah and I had some time to visit the Natural History Museum, because we've always wanted to go, and well, we were in the neighborhood. After standing in a really long line of school field trip groups, we made it in and I was in photography heaven, while Jeremiah had fun reading all of the displays. Here are some photos from my camera and my phone. My favorite displays included the animal dioramas and the dinosaur bones.