Goodbye, vacation

 Dress: Liz Claiborne, thrifted; Shoes: Born Crown; Belt: Loft. 

Today's the last day before winter vacation ends and graduate school resumes, so it seemed appropriate to wrap up the warm-weather outfit photos. It's been a busy winter, but I feel invigorated for school and whatever comes in the next few months. Spring semester, bring it.

In the misty morning fog

 Dress: Liz Claiborne; Jacket: Club Monaco, thrifted; Blouse: Chaps; Tights: Vera Wang; 

Shoes: Ipanema, thrifted; Belt: from camp a long time ago. 

I had a hard time going through these photos because half of them turned out dark and serious, almost like a film noir, and the other half appeared bright and cheerful. Unsure of how to balance this duality in tone, I just chose my favorites. Have fun guessing which photo fell under which theme (hint: apparently pensiveness is correlated with buttoned coats and slightly-popped collars for me).

Because I am convinced that the next three weeks are the absolute prettiest time of year to do landscape photography in this area, I've challenged myself to go shoot every single day this month, even if it's only for a few minutes a day. I used to spend every morning at the park during my more disciplined days; with graduate school, it's become more difficult to claim more of my free time back. I'm looking forward to getting back to making this hobby more of a priority ...

Condemned to repeat it

 Skirt: Liz Claiborne, vintage, thrifted; Heels: Bongo, thrifted;

 Blouse: NY& Co.; Bracelet: Kohls; Bag: thrifted. 

I wore almost this exact outfit six months ago and it feels just as relevant to fall weather as it does to spring. Sometimes it's nice to repeat an outfit that you know is just going to work no matter what, and I'm a big fan of the high-waisted silhouette these days.

My picture plans were nearly foiled by a biology class taking measurements by the creek. I've run into many university biology classes these past few months, and often I have to change my photo plans (or not take them at all) because the students are on the shore line or right where I had envisioned where I would do my shoot. And let's face it, it's a little awkward being overdressed and taking photos near an audience of 30 pairs of eyes. Not this week. I felt a little bolder and decided not to repeat this cycle of giving up photography in the spot I wanted. As soon as I saw the crowd of students clad in rainboots and  assessing their gear in the parking lot, I high-tailed it to the creek and did quite possibly the world's fastest photo shoot. Despite the buckets of creek sludge they brought back to their labs, I'm sure in my five-inch heels I was the most unexpected specimen they saw that day on the shore.

Happy weekend! Friday finds will be up later this afternoon.

The lost weekend

Egads, I have a lot of catching up to do! So you're going to get two outfits in one post so I can get back up to speed on the blog. 

 Dress: R&K Apparel; Jacket: Aeropostale; Shoes: Zigi Soho. 

I wore this at some point last week after a very frustrating morning with my camera (I forgot to charge my battery and guess what happened when I turned it on?), so looking at these photos makes me a little exhausted. I've really been enjoying wearing my grey jacket with my floral dresses, but now the weather has turned and jackets are almost no longer necessary. Hello, early summer!

 Dress: Liz Claiborne, vintage, thrifted; Sandals: Bongo, thrifted; 

Bag: H&M; Belt: BR, gift from ML.

 

 Photos by Jeremiah.

My sister came to town for part of her spring break, and so Jeremiah and I took the opportunity to show her some of the best parts of Athens: the Grill, Weaver D's (it was the 25th anniversary of this awesome soul food establishment), vintage shopping, and then some movie-watching at night (mainly "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Swedish series). I've really been cherishing my time with her because she'll be going off to college really soon after this summer ...

How was your weekend?

The pretty little patter of a seaboard town

 Dress: Liz Claiborne, thrifted; Belt: Ann Taylor Loft;

 Shoes: Minnetonka; Flower crown: DIY by me.
Listening to: "Down by the water," The Decemberists.

I've been starting the last couple of posts with apologies for not blogging as much. I've had to take a break several times this month because of technological breakdowns -- my laptop, camera and television all died within the same week, and Jeremiah and I have spent every free weekend looking to replace them. It's been hard, because not being connected has left me feeling out of the loop by not being able to keep up with my  inbox, my friendships and my photography. Things have started to look up finally this week, though -- we just got my new laptop in the mail, so here's my foot back in, and  I am excited to getting back to a regular, consistent schedule.

While I was away, I did indulge in some DIY projects --- floral crowns! I am in love with the bohemian hair look -- I even used a floral wreath in my own wedding, and so I've been wanting to make some for awhile. I used this easy tutorial from Bleubird Vintage, and eventually made four of them with different flowers. The whole project was pretty cheap -- about $10 with supplies from Michael's -- and the only addendum I would add to the tutorial is that I had an easier time using silk leaves and smaller flowers. I couldn't get bulb-shaped flowers (like tulips) to work for me, but I'll try with more practice. I'm so excited about these, and plan on wearing them a lot this summer!

It feels so long, so tell me: how have you guys been? 

here is the deepest secret that nobody knows

Dress: Liz Claiborne; Shirt: Arizona Jeans Co., thrifted; Boots: Loft;

Tights: Simply Vera; Bracelet: Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI. 

here is the deepest secret that nobody knows

(here is the root of the root

and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;

 

which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

 

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

 

i carry your heart

(i carry it in my heart)

-- ee cummings, "i carry your heart with me"

Snow white, rose red

Dress: Liz Claiborne, thrifted, vintage; Belt: LOFT; Coat: Fabio;

Scarf: thrifted; Boots: Target; Tights: Simply Vera.

Photos by Jeremiah.

So Athens got slammed with eight inches of snow earlier this week, and since it never snows that much here, we decided to make the most of it. Just about everything in town got shut down as the roads were really icy all day.

I decided to go with a more playful than practical outfit in the snow, since there are never any opportunities around here to shoot photos in a wintry landscape. Despite the nasty outdoors, I kept warm in my bright red vintage dress, which was perfect for keeping my spirits up during the day in. I like the dress's color contrast to the snow.

We live right next to a cemetery so we trekked over there to look at some of the graves. Just walking a few hundred yards from our home made us feel like pioneers or astronauts walking into an undiscovered world. As much as I am not a snow fan, I am a fan of taking photos of ordinary things transformed by snow's creation/destruction.