What I Wore: This Is Snow Awkward

Okay, so the reason that I didn't list where I bought all of my outfit elements in the caption like we bloggers are supposed to do is not because its been months since I have posted a What I Wore and I forgot the protocol.

It's actually because I was pretty embarrassed about all of the awkwardness of this outfit.

• So everything on my body in this pic was purchased at either Target or Walmart. Budgetista at her finest up in here.
• Except my coat which is from Spain. I guess that's kind of cool.
• My husband and both of my parents all said independently of each other that this beanie makes me look like a homeless person.
• My friend Ben said, "Nice orphan hat," when he saw me at church. I guess orphan is better than homeless person . . .
• Those white things around mt ankles are huge insulated hunting socks. It's 13 degrees here.
• I'm actually wearing huge earrings that go perfectly with my dress, but they're kind of invisible in all of ma hurr.

If you live in my neck of the US, happy snow day! I hope it's an awkward and awesome one.

V-Day Brunch

Brunch with the sweetie at Charlie's Frog Pond

 

Sauteed banana sauce instead of syrup. Heaven.

Lox Benedict. Lox. And Eggs Benedict. Wow.

Peppermint tea. A great IC-flareup soother.

Goodbye, Bahamas. Hello, Happy Birthday!

I doubt that I've mentioned this in my long absence from the blog (except for in Awkward & Awesome Thursday, everything seems to come out there), but Josh and I were blessed with the amazing opportunity to accompany our senior class on a trip to the Bahamas on a Carnival cruise!

It was so wonderful to be able to spend time together as a couple but also fellowship with some great friends we've made throughout our three years at Roberts.

 

More pics of our Bahamas vacation with friends after the jump!

No Words

Re-Blog: 7 Ways to Be an Ethical Photographer While Traveling

The following is an incredibly insightful article written by travel expert Julia Austin on Planet Green's blog.

I happened upon the article while watching recent episodes of Dresscue Me on PlanetGreen.com. I hope to write more about Dresscue Me in the future. It's about a vintage boutique that makes it's living upcycling out-of-date fashion items!

Anyway, this particular article about travel photography really spoke to me, as it resounded with many of the experiences Josh and I had while in Europe this past winter and spring. We came in contact both with the joy that respectful lifestyle photography can bring and the mistrust that careless photography can cause.

Julia said it best, so I'll stop babbling and let you enjoy her work.

The best part about a trip might actually be looking at the photos after and sharing the stories behind photos with friends. And taking a photo in today’s world has become extremely simple.
You can take one while you text your friend what time to meet you at a café. But don’t forget—you create a world through your images. Just like you monitor which personal photos you put up on your social media pages like Facebook and Twitter, in order to give what you believe is an accurate and complete depiction of yourself, you must take this same care with photos of others that you take while traveling.

The tiniest camera phone can be snuck into a sacred place. If you wanted to, you could take a photo of just about anything. But, as always, with freedom comes responsibility. Here are a few tips on being a responsible, ethical photographer while traveling.

1. Unless you are at a public performance, parade or somewhere where the individuals expect to be on display, always ASK to take a photo. Sometimes language is a barrier, in which case simply smile, present the camera, make a motion to take a photo and see how the subject responds.

2. It’s tempting to pay your subjects to be in your photo, but this encourages a type of prostitution, so to speak. Individuals in that culture might then offer to pose for photographers in exchange for money, making their ordinary lives look more “photogenic” rather than portraying the reality of it.

3. Try to develop a relationship with an individual or a group. If you can just spend an hour or a week with them, they will grow a trust for you and usually want you to take photos of their life. Also, those photos will be more genuine because the subject is comfortable with you, and feels they are being in your photo, rather than imagining all the websites they may appear on . . .

Read the rest of the article on PlanetGreen.com!

"Stockholm in My Heart"

 

I know it's no excuse, but Travel Tuesday has taken a nosedive amidst my efforts to weed through and edit seventy-three billion six hundred and nine kajillion photos of Stockholm, Sweden.

What can I say? The two days Josh and I spent in Stockholm were absolutely magical (despite the fact that I was in the middle of one of the longest and most intense IC flareups of my life. What does that tell you?) Stockholm is one of those places you love to just be. It doesn't matter what you're doing. Just taking in all of the colors, the culture, the crowds--it makes the experience worthwhile.

Title is from this fabulous Swedish pop song "Stockholm I Mitt Hjärta."

 

 

This is what the Swedes dress like.

I'm kidding. Of course they don't :-) This was a traditional Swedish festival that was going on downtown right as we arrived in Stockholm. Talk about luck! Josh and I even stopped to pose with a beautiful older couple in traditional garb. Who knows? Maybe this is how their parents dressed when this couple was growing up.

There was also a street dance festival going on while we were in town. What a weekend to pick, huh? There also happened to be a marathon going on. That wasn't so great. Lots of roads blocked off.

Anyway! The art culture of Sweden is just so vibrant. The crowds that turned up for these dancing street performers where so thick I literally couldn't get a single picture of the actual dancing! Plan on more than just a handful of posts about architecture, sculpture, decor, and street art out the wazoo.

 

 

A guard at the royal palace

Most Swedes practice a daily ritual called fika. While it's not unusual for the average American to have a cup of coffee in the morning and then head off to work in an office that keeps a pot of coffee on hand, a Swedish office will actually close for about 15 minutes in the mid-morning and again mid-afternoon so that everyone can take a break and fuel up on caffeine and a pastry of some kind.

And I thought the Spaniards were big on coffee!

 

More gorgeous pics of the most special city in Europe after the jump!

Photo Shoot: Awoken Beauty Part 2

Wow, does anybody even remember Awoken Beauty Part 1? Well, I assure you it was good. 'Cause I'm not biased or anything.

After weeks of negligence on my part, here is the second half of the photos that resulted from this fairy-tale-inspired shoot with Rachel. For some context on what the idea behind this interesting "bed in the woods" theme we have going on. You can always check out the first post.

I hope these feel even just a little bit magical to you :-)

More ethereal photos after the jump!

Independence Lake

The houseboat roof was so small I couldn't get my shadow out of the pic!

I know it's a cheesy-as-can-be title, but it never ceases to amaze me how being confined to a slightly claustrophobic floating cereal box in the middle of a body of water can make you feel more free than you've ever been. I just love the Finger Lakes and the time our family has spent on them over the years. I can think of nowhere better to celebrate Independence Day.

The only thing that could have made it better would have been if Josh had come with us :-(

 

 

Some photos of mind-blowing aquatic acrobatics after the jump!!!