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.

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

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.

Bloomin'

I mentioned a few posts back that I still have quite a few outfit photos from Georgia, and I'm trying to make my way through them. This dress used to be about five inches longer, but I had it altered so I'd wear it more during the summer. It's made of some polyester/manmade material and now at a shorter length, it breathes a bit better. 

I took these photos on my university's North Campus, on a day when everyone seemed to be out with a photographer to take graduation photos. I originally wanted to take photos at the chapel, but when the hordes never died down, I resorted to the administration building, which tries to be cool in its historical-ness with engravings of author names, but actually has 'Shakespeare' misspelled above its doorway. 

credits - dress, vintage, thrifted | shoes, target. 

Curdled skies

I'm all settled now in New York and it's funny how blogging just falls by the wayside. In the last couple weeks, I've graduated from my program, said goodbye to everyone in Georgia and then drove a Uhaul up to New York (Jeremiah may have helped quite a bit with that last one). 

In addition, I got a job as well! I'll be working for a media agency in the city and I start in a couple weeks. I'm super excited about the next few stages in my life.

I have quite a few outfit photos left from Georgia so I'll be sharing those over the coming days. This yellow vintage dress is one that sat in my closet for years until I decided to recently alter five inches off the length (as part of a graduation gift to myself, I took a few vintage dresses to get altered). Forgive the amount of photos here -- the clouds were so pretty that day I took photos that it was hard to edit down on this location. 

credits - dress, vintage, thrifted | shoes, target | jacket, aeropostale, thrifted | bag, stone mountain, thrifted. 

Turquoise sky

Just a recent outfit that I've worn so many times this semester for different presentations. I love the abstract design against the landscapes. 

The bracelet is a recent vintage find -- it's very similar to my cougar bracelet that I still need to get repaired. Until then, it's a good replacement.

Forgive the brevity -- I'm in finals week! My final finals week ever.

credits - dress and shoes, target | blouse, banana republic | bracelet, vintage, finder's keepers.

Brella

Whenever it rains, I try to make it down to the tennis courts because no one will be there so I can practice my photography, and the puddles are just too fun for experimentation. I only had a short time at the courts for this session, because about 10 minutes in, a police car came rolling through for patrols. I've never run into law enforcement during my photo outings (and I haven't gone exploring too far off to garner any trespassing suspicions), but I'd rather keep my streak of not having to explain myself going. 

I'm not quite sure why I've never photographed this outfit before -- I practically lived in it during that weird time between winter and spring. Velvet pants are just way too comfortable.

credits - blouse, vintage, thrifted | pants, talbots | shoes, target | bag, vintage, stone mountain | umbrella, gift. 

Pollen paisley

Town has been so covered in pollen, I really am surprised I haven't been engulfed in a giant yellow ball of tumblefluff yet. This J. Crew dress is one of my favorites for spring but it basically matches everything on the ground right now.

When I took these photos, I had to essentially wait in line for this spot. Everyone is out on the historic campus taking graduation photos. I normally shy away from public areas for outfit photos (because it's still weird and after four years, I feel like I still have to make excuses for such weird narcissistic behavior), but there's only three weeks left to hit up my favorite spots. I've been driving to other parks in the area lately -- there is something emboldening about having a full tank of gas, sunscreen and a little more free time. 

Here is the last roundup of all the ways I've worn this dress. I like to mix it with khakis and green. 

credits - dress, j. crew | blouse, vintage, thrifted | shoes, talbots | ring, heirloom.

P.S. After being a holdout for so long,  I'm on instagram now! Follow me at @joannssidewalk. 

  

   

Classic revival

I took these photos a few weeks ago when my bangs were still fresh. My hair has grown like a weed since then! 

I've been hopping around to different places around the area to practice my photography, but I keep coming back to my favorite building on campus, the Fine Arts Theatre. Some history of the building: It was built in 1941 and was  apparently the last building of the Works Progress Administration(WPA). It also was used to train WWII pilots. I like being able to walk through this history, and it's one of the reasons I'm going to miss Athens after I move. Photos in this spot are really difficult to do because it's near a busy road, so my time here was a bit brief. 

credits - dress, target | sweater, loft | necklace, thrifted | shoes, talbots | bag, thrifted, stone mountain. 

Back in focus

Confession time: I've feeling iffy on my Nikon DSLR camera for the last few months. Most of it is because with my model, the focus options  were really out of place on most of the settings I tried, making most of my photos pretty blurry. After spending lots of time trying to sharpen and correct a bunch of outfit photos, I was pretty much ready to call it quits on my camera and just go back to the point-and-shoot, thinking the problem was that my photography skills had disintegrated over the last few months. Turns out, the focus feature is a common problem with my model, and after finding a few how-to hacks to the settings, I think I am back in business! It's always rewarding to see photos reflect reality.

I've wanted to wear this outfit for months. It's bright and academic-ish, and perfect for campus and work. 

credits- dress, nine west | blouse, vintage thrift find | shoes, talbots | bag, stone mountain, thrift find | pocket watch necklace, waltham, heirloom.

Watson Mill Bridge

Now that I have a lot more free time, I've been visiting some of my favorite spots around town as sort of a "goodbye tour" through Athens. One of my favorite photography spots is Watson Mill Bridge Park. It's the longest covered bridge in the state. I had some fun taking photos this weekend and splashing in the water. 

This vintage dress from local store Agora is a gift to myself for finishing up my last semester of graduate school. It fits perfectly and, coupled with my bangs, I cannot help but feel like I'm Zooey Deschanel in "(500) Days of Summer." 

credits - dress, 1950s vintage, from agora | bag: stone mountain, thrifted | shoes: target | belt: vintage, from a giveaway.

P.S. There must be something in the water around April, because I seem to visit this spot at the same time every year. Here and here are my last few visits to Watson Mill Bridge.