Met life

A few years ago, Jeremiah and I visited the Met during a trip to NYC shortly after our honeymoon. Unsuccessful at finding an apartment (and realizing that the permanent move to NYC would take some more financial planning on our part), we went to the Met to buoy our spirits one last time before we flew back to Georgia. It was kind of a bummer visit, walking by the Egyptian artifacts and mummies, being newly married and overwhelmed and not totally sure of where we were going to live.  
  But now that we've been living up here for a couple years now, it seemed appropriate to visit the Met again and get rid of whatever negative memories we had associated with it. As you can see from the above, I had fun reenacting one of my favorite scenes from When Harry Met Sally in the temple room. Jeremiah really loved checking out the weaponry section, while I loved the photography exhibit, though I wish it was more expanded. People-watching at museums is always fun, too.There were quite a few people carrying monopods to take selfies with their phones, which has to be a thing at major tourist destinations (like the Eiffel Tower or the pyramids). I don't mean this in a facetious way, but perhaps one day in the Met, on a floor between the Egyptian mummies and the European paintings, there will be a nostalgia-inducing photography exhibit showcasing old Instagram filters and selfies and how democratized art has become. Gone are the days when an artist would need a wealthy patron or sophisticated tools to create art.

Anyways, enough of me waxing on the flattening of art and technology, more pictures below:

credits - dress, 1940s vintage, from portobello road (essentially this outfit repeated, because this dress is perfect and doesn't need anything else really)

Bethesda Arcade

 I have a confession to make -- I've been somewhat gun-shy of taking my own photos in the city, for a whole slew of reasons: pedestrian traffic, little to no privacy, my tripod getting knocked down, getting ticketed for not having a photography permit in the park (technically if you're a non-commercial photographer, you don't need a permit, but I've heard of it happening enough times to hobby photographers to dissuade me). But the weather's been nice, and I've been inspired by so many portraiture projects that I've been itching to play with my camera again and new Gorillapod. After months of not taking any photos, I'm really quite rusty with the new Gorillapod setup and having to remember all the settings on my camera. So these were the best of the bunch on a morning walk through the Bethesda arcade and fountain in Central Park. The arcade area is often used as a filming location for television and movies, so this felt like a personal triumph being able to compose these shots on my own. My favorite time though had to be walking home. I don't think there's anything nicer than walking home through Central Park in the early morning, crunching on leaves and watching the sun come up.

I got this dress in London at Primark for a steal, and it's been on a few tourist adventures with me already (namely, a solo bus tour I took to Stonehenge, Oxford, and Windsor Palace). It's got a roomy waist, so it's a perfect eating dress, and with a blazer it can be dressed up for a casual Friday.

details - dress, primark | shoes, thrifted, vintage.

Linkfest

- I've long been a fan of Evan Leavitt's atmospheric Southern photography.
- Time is a Flat Circus: What the world needs: a mashup of True Detective and Family Circus.
- Blogs I'm perusing lately: Dreams and Jeans, Rosapina Vintage,De Lune.
- In love with the photos for Dear Creatures' autumn line.
- Daily reading rituals that can help make you more productive.
- Dirty old 1970s New York.
- Making and keeping friends past college. 
- Creative ways to photograph new locations.

(photo by me, at Westminster Abbey earlier this year)

Out in the grey streets of London

Some highlights from this past trip in June include St.Paul's, Antony&Cleopatra at the Globe, Westminster Abbey services in the Shrine of St. Edward's, Hyde Park, Portobello Road, the War Rooms and the Sherlock Holmes Museum (so cheesy and full of bespoke mannequins, but loved it). Jeremiah and I also spent a couple days in Oxford and explored around Christchurch (where those epic dining hall scenes were filmed for Harry Potter), Trinity (where Jeremiah did his study abroad), and a few of the pubs that are hundreds of years old. I really can't wait to explore this city again.

Throwback

So I realize that I've sat on these photos for almost a year, and am now presenting them in non-chronological order. Not sure why it took so long. Perhaps it was knowing  that once I hit publish, I no longer have any photos left to share from my favorite spots in Georgia! I love living up here, but I do get homesick every now and then for my old haunts. But alas, in order to move forward, I'd like to empty whatever's left in my archives and move on. 

This first dress was a dream vintage find from Portobello market in London. It is a World War II-era dirndl dress from Munich, Germany, complete with (what appears to be) a homemade tag dating it to 1944. It's become a treasured item and I love that it's not overly costumey with its heavy cotton and tiny buttons down the front. I wore it down to Georgia during a trip last October to Athens, and took photos in one of my favorite spots at the University of Georgia -- the Fine Arts theater, which was built in 1941 and was the last project to be built by the WPA.

So though it took more than 70 years and thousands of miles for these two to meet, it seemed completely fitting to wear this dress in front of a building from the very same era. I wonder how many women have owned this dress before me, and what kind of lives they led. I'd love to go full period-style and wear my hair in a soft wave and hat with this dress at some point.

This second dress is also from London, but its origins are much more contemporary (Topshop). I'm really kind of in love with white dresses with dark flowers or embroidery for autumn. The print on this dress kind of reminds me of those mushroom cookie jars that everyone's mom seemed to have in the 90s, so it seemed appropriate to wear a mushroom brooch with it.

The cloud cover on this day was beautiful. It was from the same trip to Georgia last October to visit my family.

Not much to say about this thrifted vintage dress, except that I've had it for years and finally got it altered. It's one of those dresses that's awesome when you're just laying around the house and eating potato chips and don't actually have to answer the door, but is super terrible to be photographed in without a belt because it gives the illusion that you're a circus tent.

I've technically posted this outfit before  - I think I was just too critical in how these photos turned out. 

These photos are from the weekend I moved to NYC, and so this was the only presentable outfit I had not packed away in boxes. I snuck away that Friday morning from packing the Uhaul to take some photos as a farewell ritual to visiting my favorite park. For whatever reason, the blue heron that lived around the park would only be out in the open when there was really spectacular natural light, so it always felt like a good photography omen when I'd round the bend and it was there. And it was there that day, for about 30 seconds -- before it flew off across the lake and somewhere unseen into the grass. It was a nice, brief farewell visit before I went my own way too.

And so, goodbye to all that -- onto new adventures up north.

credits

outfit 1 - dress and shoes, vintage

outfit 2 - dress, topshop | sweater, target | shoes, vintage | brooch, cath kidston

outfit 3 - dress, thrifted | shoes, target

outfit 4 - dress, target | top, banana republic | shoes, talbots

outfit 5 - dress, spense | sweater, banana republic | shoes, target

Linkfest

Happy Wednesday! I've decided to mix up my content a little bit and start including links to things I've been reading lately -- a smorgasbord of fashion, technology and pop culture. Hope you enjoy!

- Advice to my teen self.
- The Internet is one giant orange.
- Are millennials Generation Nice? 
- How much $100 is really worth in every U.S. state.
- I love The Billfold's financial essays of how fictional characters may spend their money. Here, a look at Draco Malfoy and his post-Hogwarts life actually makes me feel sympathy for the Slytherin.
- Thinking small when it comes to good deeds.
- The British Library's flicker set is full of beautiful illustrations, maps and more -- perfect time-waster for the design lover or history buff.
- And finally -- rom-com BFFs, ranked.


(photo by me, from Portobello Market-wandering last year)

Orange crush

Hello again! I didn't mean to take such a long break, but life stuff caught up with me, and I spent some time away from photography and things in general that I normally love. But now that I've gone through a few transitions in the last couple months, hopefully that will change and I'll spend a little more time here.

  The biggest life change includes switching jobs. I am now working in cable news research as a digital analyst. I love it. I really ended up enjoying quant/qual research in grad school, and television consumer habits have fascinated me for a while, so I think this role is a perfect fit. I like knowing how people watch their favorite shows they obsess about, and what kind of screens and technology they use to watch. This new job allows for some more schedule stability, which is so welcome, and I love my new team.

 But other than that, things are awesome. Still living in the same apartment in Hell's Kitchen with Jeremiah, and we've just been exploring our city and traveling abroad (namely London again, so I'll have to share pics soon)! These photos are from a recent night out -- we were on our way to dinner and walked by the NYPL so I played tourist for a minute.

  I've missed this blog. I'm not sure if anyone is still reading, but hoping to take baby steps to post more. We'll see. My views have changed a bit on blogging, and I waver back and forth on whether the whole endeavor has been narcissistic and pretentious (I am certainly no expert in fashion or writing). But it's been a fun experiment in photography, and I like having this space as a record of the last few years.

credits - dress: topshop | skeleton key necklace: vintage | shoes: target. photos by jeremiah