Saturday, July 30, 2016

fabulous friday : what I'm up to

reading // so much Oscar Wilde it's almost obsessive (boarder line fan girl, maybe!) also Patricia Reilly Giff, Joan Bauer, E.L. Konigsburg and A Room With A View (E.M. Forester), just for the heck of it.

watching// Paris When it Sizzles.

I've seen better. I wouldn't suggest it.

listening// Bastille. Jack's Mannequin. Capital Cities. Strange Talk. Coldplay... and waiting for the perfect chance to tune into some of these. because classic.

wearing/shopping// Oh. my. goodness. I found the most beautiful pair of high-waisted jeans. I mean I can't even (mm, there's that fan girl again!)

looking forward to// to be honest, school starting. I miss that flow, kinda.

pinning// is anyone else constantly having trouble with pinterest's new layout? They switched the "like" and "save" and "send" button, so instead of pressing like I keep hitting Send. ughhh no pinterest! But you can check out my groove here... lots of camping photos. the hunger for travel is strong right now.

loving// google calendars. it's like amazing because I can share my work schedule with my mom like with two clicks.

well, I do have to initially fill in each spot, but then the rest takes care of itself, so to speak!

What's your month consisted of?

(also I'm realizing that I've done a What I'm Up To in both June AND May - maybe end of april? - so maybe this is overload... but then again, I've changed since then, right lewis carrol?)

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

week twenty-nine : Intentionally Left Blank

see last week's round-up: Light

Our school curriculum has a schedule with reading/writing/discussion questions, etc for each day. Sometimes the back of a page will be blank and they'll have a little note... "This Page Intentionally Left Blank." I don't know why they always caught my eye, but they did. and I'd read it over and over in my head...

This Page Intentionally Left Blank.

Sometimes I have a huge desire to put that in the subject line of every email I write.

This title, this name, this thought.

Intentionally Left Blank.

 day seventeen : this is sunday morning. (note the red crayon. it's seen eight years of use. the bible. not the crayon.)
 day eighteen : planning out my month and oh my word do events ever end? It's a rare thing for me to have multiple things in one week, but last week I had two or three things a DAY all weekend. phew. (and if you're reading this, deryn, I did read a room with a view.)

day twenty : [this caption intentionally left blank]
day twenty-one : library visit! I got to meet two of my favorite shakespearean actors. It was definitely in like the top twenty five favorite moments of my life so far.
day twenty-two : the second baseman... number 15 ... DUSTIN. PEDROIA.
day twenty-three : I deep cleaned my room (by putting all the junk on my bed.) and vacuumed every carpeted surface. Now I just need to straighten (and get those darn windows!) before my sister gets back from her trip.

day twenty-four : a first for me: shooting a proposal. One of those things that was a total blast, but I'm not sure if I'm up to it again. I'm not sure how that works. If I enjoyed it that much, how come I'm not willing to do it again? This answer intentionally left blank?

but in all seriousness, I think I had a good time because it was a success (mostly thanks to shooting partners + friends, Rach & OJ. you guys rocked, thank you!!) But I worry to much about what if there isn't a good angle? and all-in-all I do better when I have relaxed time to really evaluate the setting/mood/comp I want, etc. Still-life's more my thing. ;) 

But I appreciate these opportunities. ♥
And what did we do with the rest of our night? SHAKESPEARE BABY. That day back at the library? Well, I ran into two of the ACTORS and had a fan girl moment with them (at them?) and they were like Ooooh, you HAVE to go see Two Gents. (read: the twenties version - including song and dance - of William Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona!!!!! WHAT IN THE WHAT)

So I crammed it into my already-too-full schedules and it was wonderful.

What's something you intentionally leave blank? 

Friday, July 22, 2016

fabulous friday : a list of ten things that are good in life right now

Today was a long day and I didn't write a blog post.

Some days like I feel like, oh, I'm uninspired. and then another day comes and I'm like, lol I thought then I wasn't inspired? ha. I coulda been on drugs it was so good.

I guess that's the thing about taking things for granted: you don't know what you've got til it's gone.

Like that beautiful light that comes in every summer in all our south-facing windows (my bedroom, the kitchen, the living room) that I am just noticing. like, gosh gracious to goodness. look at the white. just, feast your eyes. (ew isn't that expression gross?)

Some good things about my week?
  • that I DO have a good job, even when there are really hard days
  • cold coffee
  • warm light
  • cozy sweaters + blankets that help with the chills
  • good music (read: bastille. it's the only way to celebrate july 14th here in america)
  • busy schedules
  • meeting people who have meant a lot to you (read: shakespearean actors who are excited that you're excited)
  • baseball games that end so, so well
  • libraries
  • art journaling (more on that later!)
  • oscar wilde words
  • burritos
What's been on your love list lately?

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

week twenty-eight : still working on finding the light

I'm not going to pretend that I've ended that rut from last week. It's not quite as deep now, but it's still there (picture proof below.) But, I do appreciate your kind words last week.

 day ten : I'm sure I take wayyy to many pictures of the moon. But then, I'm attracted to light in photography (as are, um, like all photographers) and when the sun goes down all that's left is the moon.

That sounded wayyyy more sappy than I meant it. (okay, I promise not to say "wayyy" again. at least not for the rest of the post.)
day eleven : first day of work and then home to watch the Home Run Derby. (todd frazier was so close!!)

day twelve : Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness... I'm still not tired of this cd.
 day thirteen : oh, yeah, it's tintin. Have I ever mentioned how much we love them?

I didn't think so.
day fourteen: to be honest, I love my job so much, I'm not even mad about wearing this ugly blue color.

funny story: I was all dressed and ready to go to work, lounging on the couch, and my dad comes over and is all, what does your shirt say? and I was like, lol, idk. I haven't actually read it. When did I turn into a weird, absent-minded kid?!

if you were wondering it says: you can find me at the club.

or something to that effect. I honestly can't even remember. it's comfortable and it's the uniform so I'm not asking questions.
day fifteen : watching the red sox whup the yankees. fun day? I think yes.

What're you plans for this week? my plan right now is to just make a smoothie and try my best to get rid of my headache (I took a nap, and for me headaches and naps go hand-in-hand. probably has something to do with the glare coming in my window.)

Friday, July 15, 2016

fabulous friday // free thoughts

I just finished my second day of work. I don't know what to say... I'm loving it. (oops. that's a slogan!) It's also exhausting in an amazing sort of way. But it's working out well.

So far. 

Am I too much of a downer? Sorry, I'm trying.
Recently, I was riding along in a rental car (long story short: four cars in a week - car rear-ended, van part under warranty into the shop, borrowed car ends it's life, first rental's engine overheats... so we're on our second rental in a week... great. you're up to date. mostly. believe me, there were more ups and downs. mostly downs.

and something I've mentioned before: we listen to a lot of music. like, a lot, a lot. like, when we ride in the car, we rarely don't have music on. But we had been out all day, stuck on the side of the road, and then switching out rental cars and ughhh it was a looooong day. and after we were finally on the way home, we didn't turn the music back on. It just didn't happen.

and I almost asked my dad to turn it on and then I stopped for a second because I realized I didn't really want to listen to it. I was too tired to even ask. 

and then as we rode along in the silence, I realized I actually liked the silence. I liked being alone with my thoughts. I liked to have my own thoughts to myself. I enjoyed not having the music decide what I thought about. 

I liked devoting my entire attention to thinking.

Crazy, right?

But as I've thought about it, like, it makes a lot of sense to me. Music is not only entertainment, but it takes up the spot that your brain uses for thinking (I don't know if this is like legit science, but heck, my experiments could make this a law.

and no wonder it's so nice to fall asleep to music: it stops your creative thinking. It doesn't let your mind wander and it fills up some of that empty space your mind tries to fill when your hands aren't doing anything (i.e. at night!)

Ironically, a song comes to mind: Let's Be Still by the head and the heart.

It says it all... to music.

The days turn into the months the months to years.
So just for a moment
let's be still.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

week twenty-seven : the first of july...

Oh, my heavens. I have no words. Or maybe I have to many words. Sometimes I get those two things mixed up.

I made a calendar in my art journal for the month of july and I've had something going on like every single day (baseball games, hitchcock in theater - what is this, 1948?, starting work, film class at the library, meeting someone tomorrow to help her learn to use her camera, then I have a surprise photo shoot that I won't talk about until later, dropped a sister off at the airport for a three-week trip, and a about a million other things that I don't have the brain capacity to think about at the minute. goodness.) 

I had a really fun week, but I can't exactly say I enjoyed photographing it. To be honest, I don't love the light in these and light is my favorite thing about photography. looking at these pictures, quite honestly, just makes me kinda sad. But I did it, whether I'm proud of it or not...

So here's my first week (and change!) from July. Make sure to link up with Rosi from Everyday Joy for our Thirty-One Days of Summer!

day one: my younger sister has gotten into lettering. more power to ya, girl friend.
 day two : I'm trying hard to remember what kept us out late, but my brain is drawing a blank? I just remember being exhausted and thinking about all the things I hadn't done... and then just going to bed. Now that I think about it, maybe it was a baseball game? They won, whatever day we went.

day three: ice coffee? yes, please!

day four: happy forth of july! (I'm not gonna lie: my firework photography sucks. time to move on.)
day five : muffins. channeling my inner Algy from importance of being earnest. Oh, Oscar Wilde. *deep sign for such beautiful language*
day six : as of last saturday... WE HAVE A NEW ROOF!!
day seven : there was a beautiful, soft light shining in my window... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
day eight : Went to see Rope at the louisville palace theatre. it's just got one of those vibes, ya know?
day nine : went to the farmers market and came back with blueberries. I mean, why else would you ever go to the farmer's market, amiright?

Friday, July 8, 2016

fabulous friday // gifts (and yes I'll come to your graduation party!)

Recently I've been to four graduation parties (five graduates.) Yay, congrats, guys! You rock. Go forth, conquer the world.

Or whatever you do after graduation.

One of my favorite summer activities this year has been wondering where everyone will be, say, ten years down the road. What job will they have? Will they be in the career they want to be in now? Marriage? Kids? Will they still be living here? 

How will those guesses match the result, though, I wonder...

Some of these people have their lives in order, down to a science. Others are going free-style, but have a lot of direction. Others are playing it by ear.

and I kinda wonder who will succeed? and then I wonder what counts as success? Good job? Good marriage? Stay-at-home mothers (they're all girls)? Traveling the world? 

or just plain happiness? and I guess in that regard I can bet at least four of them will achieve success (and I don't mean there's that one who's a loser, I just mean, chances are, at least most of them will end up pretty happy. Who knows which four?) But then I wonder how different their paths will be and once they've started to go their own ways, will their connections slowly melt away til they're just names? 

eh, probably.

but isn't that the fun part of life? you never know. and you get new friends all the time.
hey guys now that I've gotten all faux-deep on you, let me talk about something practical. gifts. I do a lot of gift shopping (not so much for graduation parties, but you'd better believe we have a lot of birthdays around.)

and let's be real: gift shopping is so darn hard. Especially if you need to be at the party in an hour and you're shuffling through target racks like uhhhhhh?

and I've bought too many mugs now. I'm pretty sure almost every friend I have has a mug I gave them. if not two or three.

and lemme tell ya, it's not because the mugs are so dang awesome.

Moving to kentucky brought out quite a few things I was not aware of before. One is how you give gifts. People here give a lot of gifts that are like a huge jumble of stuff. girly-girl? she'll get flower clips, flavored lip balm (2008, much?) a notebook, cool pens, maybe a purse... It's like they pulled off everything they saw at Claire's and stuffed it in a bag.

and I don't mean to sound rude, I don't mean to be rude at all (I'm guilty, too!) but it feels impersonal and slightly frustrating because like, why can't we get this person an awesome thing and maybe even save money instead of a million and one things that may or may not be her taste (not) and she may or may not ever use (not.) 

But my main point being: mish-mash gifts are a thing.

and let's be honest: generic gifts are sometimes needed because we don't know everyone like a best friend. It happens. 

But let's do it well, guys. It's called World Market. (not sponsored!)

I have an inspiration board, called, *cough* Gifts.

Since we're going to do a little bit of everything in the gift, let's do it right. We don't have to know everyone like the back of our hand. but hey, we can have some tricks up our sleeve, right?

hey, it's from YOU
Give something that reflects who you are, too. Keep it personal. I don't mean necessarily something you'd want to get, but hey your reputation as a gift-giver could be at steak (IS at steak) with every gift you give. make it worth it! 

The closer the gift is to something you like, though, the more interested you'll be in picking it out and  you'll be able to be way more creative because you relate.

and everything else rides on this. This is probably the weakest link in people's gift giving. So make it strong.

Let's play stalker
if they're female, you'd better believe they have a pinterest account. if not two. Go stalk. It is probably one of The Best tools when finding the perfect gift. and I don't mean just check out their "I wannteee itttttee" (plz no) I mean really look at what they like. (and find something in common!)

Experience speaks louder than words
(Uhhh, what's the phrase?) When you come to your wits end give them something you've enjoyed doing. 

I'm not saying a trip to broadway, but what about your favorite album (like coldplay or andrew mcmahon in the wilderness *coughcough)? 

Keep it contained, creatively.
If you're going to give a mish-mash of gift please at least stick to one genre. Why give a pen and a notebook and hair clips, like no. and this is where I shine: think of something that the person likes/is (e.g. bookworm.) and then follow some rules. a book is great. how about a fuzzy socks and a pack of tea to go with it? It doesn't have to be book + bookmark. Get creative with it. Again, go for experience!

Kick it up a notch
A book is a great idea... How about a hard-bound from bares & noble? They're beautiful. and also, make sure it's one YOU loved. then bingo, you have something else in common with them. right off the bat.

Recent gifts I've given...
lounge pants, chocolate, and one of my personal favorites : Tuck Everlasting.
next up : this was for a semi-bookworm who enjoys writing. It's like my go-to mug, but dressed up. yes, please.
A mug with a tea strainer, an adorable can of honey (ahhhh) and a pack of four teas. Oh, and I baked a mini-loaf of lemon-poppy-seed tea cake (I baked four and gave her one. I did NOT give her one already cut. ha!)


What your favorite go-to gift? What's the best gift you've ever received?

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

week twenty-six : fireflies

I posted about fireflies last year but my photo shoot was far from what I wanted it to be (I wanted it to be nice not lame. which really should not be too much to ask, right? but fireflies are hard costumers) so naturally I had to give it another go. last year I came away with about fifty photos of blurry, dark, out-of-focus, confusing, ugly pictures of, well, mostly dark, and a spot of t-shirt here or there. and I think maybe one firefly?

Nice.

But in all honestly, firefly catching is mostly dark running around with shouts of, "I FOUND ONE I FOUND ONE" and "OH!" and "OVER THERE" 

I don't know if fireflies can hear, but considering how they never seem to be where we are (grass is greener...) I figure they probably can. 

my point being: It's not all that pretty catching fireflies, but it's something I want to remember. 

So last sunday (for those of us who don't know us: we never get home sunday nights before 9:30, but this was an exception) I grabbed my camera and younger sisters -- who are always willing to go outside -- to go and catch fireflies. 

and catch we did. It was quite exciting. 










This is actually might be one of my all-time favorite pictures. I love how she runs to greet whoever is coming home. She's seriously one of the most exuberant people I know. and it's very sweet.

What's on your bucket-list to capture this summer? I challenge you to make sure you get it this year!!

(and to my american friends: Happy Forth of July!!)