Georgia photo tour with Sunira Photography

Before I left for NYC, I had a chance to spend an awesome day in Athens with my wonderful friend Sunira to take some photos for her photography business. For as long as I've known Sunira, we've bonded over the outdoors and photography (in fact, we found out we both lived in the same town and were photographing the same farm park before I moved away and then met her through a mutual friend). I've always admired that she isn't afraid to get the best creative shot -- even if that means going into the deep woods or climbing over barbed wire to get it. Or doesn't mind when her subject starts to fly away ...

For years, we've talked about doing an epic photo tour of Athens, in which I'd play guide to some of my favorite parts of town, and we'd explore old Southern Gothic ruins together with our cameras. We finally were able to make it happen last spring, and here are some of those photos! We had a chance to explore some places I've captured before -- the Oconee Forest Park, the REM Murmur Trestle, the University of Georgia's north campus, and downtown Athens. We also visited a park I've never gone to before -- Hurricane Shoals Park in Jefferson. That park had a lot of opportunities -- historic buildings and cabins, as well as beautiful fields, a covered bridge and a creek.

Since I've been blogging, I've mostly taken my own photos. While I relish that kind of creative freedom, it can get lonely and scary sometimes going to locations on my own. With Sunira behind the camera, I was able to do some things on my Photography Bucket List that I would have difficulty doing solo (climbing trees, levitating in the air and balancing precariously over streams). Plus, it was great fun to share some of my favorite spots in the world and see them captured with reverence by a friend. Now that I am a few months removed from these photos and have moved away to NYC, I treasure these photos even more as mementos of my time in Athens.

Thanks so much Sunira for a wonderful time! And if you are in the Atlanta/Athens area and need a photographer for your next event(or if you're like me and just want to capture and remember How Things Are Now), I highly recommend Sunira.

The fourth year in pictures

Today's my blog's fourth birthday! In honor, these are my favorite outfit photographs of the last year. In years past when I would do these compilation posts, I would choose a lot of photos to celebrate a year's worth of work. This year I thought I'd do something different, only choosing shots that were difficult for me to capture on my own, and reflect the second (or 22nd try) at nailing the right composition, pose or lighting. 

Thank you for being a part of this blog (and therefore, a part of me) for the past four years. 

What stays and what fades away

I took these photos in April, and have purposely avoided posting them all this time because looking at those rural landscapes behind my body makes me a bit sad. I'm glad that I live in New York now, but I do miss my old photo spots, like Watson Mill Bridge. Picking up my camera while in London and using it regularly reinvigorated me. I'm not sure what it means for this blog, and I do not mean to have a slow obnoxious existential death of it, but I really truly miss the challenges of self-portraiture outdoors.   

I've never really worn this dress in any spectacular exciting ways; the bright color and sailboat applique just scream for it to be worn with minimal additions. My eagle necklace, which I've shared here before, is a tribute to my dad, who used to photograph eagles and other wildlife when he was in the Navy. It reminds me of family whenever I wear it.

The last two shots of me are kinda funny to see now that I'm six months removed from when they were photographed. I went through a phase earlier this year of taking portraits of the back of my head, as if I was journeying toward something off-camera. The composition of the last shot took forever, as I had to position myself between the boats before my timer went off, all while trying to avoid the bugs and snakes near the water's edge (sorry Mom if you're reading this).

credits - dress and necklace: vintage, both from minx (athens, ga) | shoes: target

(here and here are my favorite past outfits featuring this dress)

The V&A

 One of the biggest highlights for me when we visited London was getting the chance to spend a few hours exploring the Victoria & Albert Museum, a beautiful museum devoted to design and art. (Btw, Londoners, I am totally jealous that the V&A and so many of your other museums were free to the public!). We had limited time, but we were able to explore through the medieval and Renaissance sections, which were full of religious iconography and statues. 

My favorite section was the one that was devoted to women's fashion spanning from the 1600s to the present, and I was not the only fan, as there were so many students and artists camped out sketching out their favorites (especially near the 1930s-1960s window). A few of these dresses looked like inspirations for "Mad Men" characters (doesn't the 1970s maxi look like something Megan wore in the sixth season?). My favorite dress, however, is the 1938 Charles James green evening gown -- the crossover front draping is a style that needs to come back soon. 

I went for comfort when dressing for this day in some old favorite clothes, though I have to admit that I felt pretty blah after walking through and seeing Dior couture (I mean, who wouldn't?)

credits - dress, target | sweater, talbots | tights, boots, tj maxx | bag: pour la victoire.

Here and there

Just a few things on my mind lately: 

watching: 

- I saw Gravity last week and highly recommend (along with everyone else in the world it seems, haha). I am usually not a fan of 3D movies or the space travel genre, but this one was incredible -- a total feast for the eyes.

- Still mourning the end of Breaking Bad, but I've been filling the void with Downton Abbey (I have my sources, shh!). A few recent Netflix finds: Orange is the New Black, Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's, Freaks and Geeks. What are you watching lately?

reading: 

- I bought a copy of "Who's Buried Where?" at the Westminster Abbey gift shop and have liked poring over the final resting places of famous Brits. I know that sounds macabre, but that kind of history has always fascinated me ... Other books that I've recently read: "Quiet" by Susan Cain, "No Reservations" by Anthony Bourdain.

- A few new blog finds: Empty Emptor, Wish Wish Wish, Assembled Hazardly, Chronicles of She. 

- Inspired by this post about the power of side projects (via swiss miss). 

- 101 travel tips that are pretty useful and include tips like rolling every piece of clothing you own to maximize space, and avoiding airplane ice cubes.

- When I miss Georgia, I look to these blogs: Petite Panoply, Grits and Moxie, Evan Leavitt, Back Down South. 

-  I look here to fall in love with New York even more: HONY, NYC Type. 

london calling (me answering)

I think I've been dreaming of visiting London ever since the late 90s, when the Spice Girls, Titanic, Austin Powers, and Princess Di transfixed 10-year-old me, creating a personal obsession with crossing the pond (add to that the Royal Wedding, as well as Downton Abbey and anything on Keira Knightley's filmography, and it has only intensified). After an intense final year of grad school, graduation, moving cross-country and starting a new job, I haven't really had that much down time. And so, after months of planning, Jeremiah and I decided to take our first post-grad school vacation together, which was important in that it made us feel like real-life responsible adults (not that we weren't before, obviously, and not to imply that travel is the only way to feel like an adult. But years of being poor graduate students can make you constantly feel like you're trapped in arrested development). So this vacation was a big deal, celebrating that we were finally able to make some headway on our life goal of traveling around the world, together.

London was incredible, and definitely surpassed whatever childhood expectations I mentally clamped onto the city. We stayed in the Mayfair area near Hyde Park, and had a blast exploring the city through the tube (which fascinated this new New Yorker. The tube is so clean, beautifully designed and easy to navigate!). I took a million photos, and never wanted to leave. I may have even promised Jeremiah that it would be a part of a five-year plan for us to move there ...

I originally purchased this Kamali Kulture dress for work, but brought it along on the trip thinking it would be a great outfit staple for several days (I try to pack as light as possible because I always try to avoid checking bags). Wrinkle-free, easy to clean and goes with everything. Cannot recommend enough.

Here are a few photos from our day at the Tower of London, a major highlight of the trip for Jeremiah, who visited years ago during his study abroad. It was really fascinating to learn more of the buildings' histories, complete with royal executions, murders and intrigue (not to mention some of the Crown Jewels). Though it was super packed with tourists, I had a great time, and loved the views of the Thames River nearby.

credits - dress: kamali kulture (amazon) | oxfords: naturalizers | bag: pour la victoire | trench: banana republic. (photos of me by Jeremiah) 

Comeback kid

I didn't mean to be gone for so long. So this is hello again.

My life has completely changed since moving up here. All in good ways, of course. I'm working fulltime for an agency, working long hours but learning a lot about television and media buying. I'm making new friends, and count my lucky stars that some of my old ones from Georgia have made the move up here too for their careers. Jeremiah and I live in the same apartment now (the first time in a year after our long-distance relationship), and I'm having fun setting up our home. By all accounts, life is turning up.

But moving up here has put a damper on my photography, at least for this blog. It's been almost impossible to do self portraiture the way I did before, as the streets and areas near me are very, very busy, and I'll have to get over my fears of being around other people while I engage in this hobby.

I'm also ... I'm not entirely sure how to phrase this next part. Maybe it's because I had to decimate my wardrobe for the move, or my fluctuations in weight, or perhaps its a general apathy toward fashion blogging and gluttonous consumerism, but I haven't been interested in photographing my daily outfits. Though if I am honest with myself, outfit photos haven't been a priority in the last year of blogging, as I've tried to step up my self portraiture photography in general, aiming more for composition and lighting rather than showcasing outfit details here and there. 

So I'm not sure what this really means. I still do enjoy self portraiture photography, and like being able to put myself through different feats as a photographer/model/editor, and want to continue that. I'm just stumbling on how to do that here. 

In the meantime, I still have a few photos from this summer, and a few scraps left over from Georgia that I'll share soon. 

Hello again. 

I've missed you.

*photo by Jeremiah from a weekend trip to Vermont

Bryant Park

Technicolor

When I took these photos last month, I ran into an old friend on the bridge. I normally don't speak to people whenever I go on photo trips -- the less opportunities for awkward run-ins or questions about why I'm taking photos of outfits, the better. I was taken aback to see this friend because it had been years since we had seen each other, that I stammered through some lie about working on some landscape photography (which is kind of true?). 

I've been sitting on so many outfit posts from Georgia, and have had a difficult time putting them up because I am homesick for my old photo spots. Seeing these photos reminds me that I was very lucky to have a park basically all to myself in the mornings for three years.

credits - dress, nine west | shoes and scarf, target | jacket, aeropostale.

The High Line

 The other day Jeremiah and I explored ventured out of our neighborhood and explored the High Line. I had visited back in December, so it was fun to point out some of the different art installations and views as we walked along. I really love how this old train trestle was re-purposed into a park and that all of these city views are now accessible to everyone.

My new Pour La Victoire bag has been inspiring an all blue mood lately and I've been wearing the color head to toe (I need to get a closeup of the bag soon!)

Happy Friday!

credits - dress & shoes, target | bag, pour la victoire | sweater, banana republic.

photos of me by Jeremiah.