t-shirt: The Limited
cardigan: Express via Discount Fashion Warehouse
jeans: Target
flats: Forever 21
necklace: Kate Spade, gifted
bracelet: Etsy
watch: Coach, secondhand
UGH. Has it really been two whole weeks since my last post? Insane. (These photos are from June. Insaner.) I've been busy writing, and then recovering from, one of the most challenging, research-heavy stories in my freelance career. It was rewarding, but man, did it have me exhausted.
That story comes out in October; meanwhile, if you're local, you can see my most recently-published story in the August issue of Columbus Monthly. It's a feature on Dublin City Schools that is way, way less boring than it sounds ;)
Ok, ok — shameless self-promotion over.
What else is new? I have two, potentially three, photo shoots lined up for next month, and another I just finished, so that's pretty cool. I've started using the money I earn on shoots to save for some gear that might let me take my "side hustle," as Hayley calls it, semi-pro. First up on the list is a body upgrade, probably to this, since I won't be able to afford full-frame anytime soon; another fast prime lens, because my 35mm f/1.8 is nice, but doesn't give me the bookeh I want in full-body portraits; and a nice all-in-one zoom lens, probably this or this. If I keep getting steady work like this, I might be able to make all the upgrades before my next birthday!
Other new and exciting news: Matt and I are getting a puppy! I've been trolling Petfinder.com and the local shelter sites basically since we got back from the honeymoon, because that's what newlyweds do, right? Get a dog? Well, I finally found the most beautiful German shepherd/pit bull mix that has basically all of the qualities we want in a dog earlier this week. I contacted the shelter with very low expectations; puppies that cute don't tend to hang around long. But to our surprise (and delight!), the shelter called us the very next day. Things moved really quickly after that, and as long as everything goes well with her spay today, the little furball comes home with us on Sunday. The only downside to this, of course, being that we won't get to really play with her for the first week or so. Don't worry; there will be pictures!
I've also been getting more involved in my Big Brothers, Big Sisters match lately. For the past two years, I've met with my Little at her school, during her lunch period on Fridays. At the end of last school year, she asked if we could also become a community match, which is the more typical program you think of when you hear BBBS. We just started doing our out-of-school meetups last month, and it's been really cool getting to know her outside of her academic setting.
So yeah, that's where I've been! Just lazing around, doing not much of anything as usual, haha. So. Anyone out there ever had a puppy before? (I haven't.) Other than peeing and pooing everywhere and chewing on everything, what can I expect?
It's official: If I'm not at work or working on an assignment, I am in full-on hibernation mode. I had yesterday off for President's Day, but took today off as well thanks to either a stomach bug or something I ate yesterday. And with the frigid temps outside, all I want is to hide under 18 thousand layers of blankets and sleep until it's spring. Heck, I'd take temps in the 30s if I could get 'em; it's 17 right now (4 with the wind chill) and we're not supposed to see anything above freezing until the weekend...when we're supposed to get another dump of snow before the temps plummet down to highs in the 20s again. I don't know if this is winter's last dying gasps or if things are gonna stay this crappy until after Daylight Savings kicks back in, but I sure hope it's the first.
But enough about how much I hate the cold and the snow.
t-shirt: H&M
cardi: Forever 21
jeans and flats: Target
necklace: Jane.com
I'm fairly sure I've blogged an outfit like this before, but I have this lovely new, unshrunk mustard cardigan and I went to a trusty ol' standby for styling it. Honestly, I've been doing a lot of repeats lately; this weather just saps all the energy out of me and makes it hard to style an outfit creatively. But I said I was done complaining about the weather, right?
I guess it could be worse. Now I have an excuse to stay in and work on projects in the evenings and on weekends; I don't feel like such a recluse for spending my Friday nights with a hot glue gun when everyone else I know is doing the same with Netflix or what have you. And the central Ohio area has been spared a lot; we've received nothing compared to the feet of snow that's been dumped on New England this year. Still, I find myself daydreaming more and more about the Mexican beach where Matt and I will be spending our honeymoon. We're inside the three-month mark now, and I couldn't be more excited!
t-shirt: The Limited
maxi skirt: Target
sandals: BCBG via TJ Maxx
necklace: Cassiopeia by Corinne on Etsy
Howdy hey, folks! It looks like things might finally be slowing down for me. After eight photo shoots, two weddings, a few Halloween festivities, some much-appreciated family time and a killer cough that I'm still trying to recover from, I'm finally trying to get back into the blogging routine.
Fortunately, I've been making a point to shoot a couple of outfit photos here and there during my hiatus; this one is from early September, back when the weather was warm and sunny. I miss you already, summer. Buuuuut the past few days have been a little warmer, so I thought it wouldn't be too bizarre to post this before it's too late.
This necklace, by the way? My friend Corinne made it. I'm loving it lately and have been wearing it a lot...it just goes so well with everything! You should definitely check out Corinne's Etsy shop if you're looking for a cute, vintage-y new necklace or other jewelry.
Phew. I feel like getting back into the swing of just knocking out a post off the top of my head might be harder than I thought. Ah, well. Looks like you guys are stuck with some awkward banter for a while :) #storyofmylife
Alas, I had hoped I would have better photos to share once I returned from my self-imposed blogging hiatus. For some weird reason, I've been having issues with focus on self-photography lately, and a lot of the shots I'm getting turn out unfocused. Which I don't realize until I upload them, because my camera screen is tiny and (I suspect) fairly low-res.
shirtdress: Express via Discount Fashion Warehouse
hat: H&M
gladiator sandals, bracelets: Target
I did manage to get one in-focus shot (perhaps not coincidentally, it was one where my "focus marker" tripod was still behind me, so I had to crop). Unfortunately, I'm making a weird face.
Oh, well. The important thing is that several time-consuming projects--two three-story freelance writing assignments and an in-depth dance residency--have come to a close. That's not to say I'm totally free; I still have a batch of photos from a baby shoot to edit, and as soon as I'm done with those I'll have to edit our engagement photos, which my friend Emily is kindly shooting this weekend. On top of that, in the next two months, I have: the Color Run, aforementioned engagement photo shoot, my cousin's wedding, shopping with my mom for her mother-of-the-bride dress, a friend's weekend bachelorette party, a beach trip, and a secondary engagement photo shoot at Ohio University in Athens (where Matt and I met). I just wish I could keep myself this busy in the winter months, instead of just sitting around binge-watching Netflix and eating way too much junk food :/
Please tell me I'm not the only one who does this whole "kill yourself with activity in the summer and with boredom in the winter" thing. Right? RIGHT??
Forgive the pun, but I wanted to give a little shoutout to my sister, Ellen, who graduated from Bowling Green State University yesterday! I'm crazyproud of her; she busted her butt for four years to graduate summa cum laude, working the entire time she wasn't student teaching to pay her own way as much as possible. Whatever elementary school that manages to snag her will be a lucky school indeed. I went up to BG with my parents and (most of) my siblings to watch her get her diploma and enjoy a celebratory dinner. (I didn't think to bring my nice camera, so forgive the iPhone snaps.)
The gang, minus Abby (who was home in South Carolina) and David (who was at prom with his girlfriend).
I also managed to snag a quick outfit shot with my sister, who was dressed to kill on a budget that wouldn't. Seriously, her entire outfit was from H&M, with the exception of her Target shoes. Girl knows how to dress on a dime.
on me:
shirt: The Limited
sleeveless button-up: New York & Company
skinnies: Forever 21
flats: Target
necklace: giveaway win (Nordstrom)
Our youngest sister, Audrey, didn't want to miss out on the photoshoot...though I have no idea where her outfit is from. Probably Target/Old Navy?
As for today, I was a total mixture of lazy and productive. I cleaned the bathroom and did a load of laundry, went on a mini Hulu spree, switched out my winter/summer clothes (finally!), then jumped on the scooter to donate the too-small stuff from last year and do a little closet-gap-filling shopping. Did pretty dang well on that part :)
Now Matt and I are off to swing by his parents' house to wish his mom a happy Mother's Day, then it's back home for some much-needed relaxation for both of us :)
What about you guys? Anything exciting to report this weekend? Graduations, siblings' proms, Mother's Day escapades?
sweater: thrifted
t-shirt: The Limited
skinnies: Forever 21
boots: Target
Er. Mah. Gerd you guys. This weekend was so ridiculously crazy and wonderful. Matt and I went to Pittsburgh for my friend Hayley's wedding, in which I was a bridesmaid. In a true break of my usual character, I put my phone down and actually took in every moment instead of snapping pics constantly. (Except for the rehearsal dinner and the morning of, because there was no professional photographer, so Hayley asked me to step in.) But for the most part, I wasn't really snapping away. I'll try to dig up some pics from Facebook and scan in the photobooth shots to share, though. All in all, it was crazy-fun. Congrats, Hayley and Ernie :)
I wound up with a four-day weekend, since I had to be there early on Friday (Matt met me in town on Saturday) and yesterday was Veterans Day. So in between the crazy partying Saturday, the doing-nothing-and-recovering Sunday and the chore-filled Monday, this weekend was pretty jam-packed.
I always feel like it's rough going back to work after a long weekend, but this morning has been a particular struggle thanks to the first real snowfall of the season. It's only two inches, but it's slowly crushing my spirit. So here's an outfit from slightly warmer, significantly less snowy days. I'm almost certain it's a near- (or exact) repeat of an outfit from last year, but eh. Who's keeping track, right? (Also, I've only just noticed that my necklace was inside my sweater for every single shot that day. Wompwomp.)
Did you guys have exciting weekends?
shirt: The Limited
sleeveless collared shirt: New York & Company
slacks: secondhand
flats: Target
necklace: Express
nail polish: Old Navy's brand in Melon Glow
If I had superpowers, they would be unpredictable spurts of enormous amounts of productivity. This morning, I was exhausted from a long (and awesome) weekend of family time. I walked into work and immediately was asked if I was sick. That's how tired I was/looked. I slogged through what felt like the longest morning/early afternoon ever, then got a weird boost of energy around 2 pm. And from then on, I've been an unstoppable force of getting-shit-done-ness. And it's been awesome.
I spent the rest of the afternoon flying through projects, then threw in a load of laundry as soon as I got home and dashed off to the gym. Then it was off to the grocery store, where I set a new personal record for in-and-out. (Special shoutout to the cashier who opened a new register for me...isn't that the greatest thing ever?) And then I ran home and whipped up an awesome dinner. Now, I'm about to fold that laundry while Matt and I watch the new Game of Thrones from last night. TAKE THAT, TO-DO LIST!
I guess I'm still just in go-go-go mode from the last three weeks, during which I squeezed in dance classes and interviews for four different freelance stories (not to mention writing said stories). If I can keep this pace up, there will be no stopping me. (Cue evil laughter!)
Now, I always let you guys know when I get a free item of clothing or something. But sometimes, I host a giveaway (like this week's to the Earth Jam) and completely forget to mention that as part of hosting the giveaway, I get two tickets to Earth Jam myself, plus a free service at Nurtur. Seriously, I'm sorry. I'm the worst. Post has been updated to reflect that fact.
Ok, now that that embarrassing admission is out of the way, I can share with you all the fashion story I recently wrote for Columbus Monthly magazine! It's unfortunately a bit brief (I got way too excited and wrote way too much, so this just seems short to me now haha), but it was a lot of fun to research and write. Click here if you wanna read the piece – it's about getting your closet ready for spring fashion: what to keep, what to toss/donate, and what to buy new.
And because I feel guilty for not posting very many outfits this week, here's an outfit!
shirt: The Limited
blazer: thrifted
skinnies, flats: Target
necklace: InPink
And here's to hoping that these are my last indoor pics for the season! (And, I guess, my last Spazzy photobomb. Look at that silly cat.) Oh and hey, before I forget, any of you readers living in/around Columbus should definitely remember to enter my giveaway! It ends soon...
Aaaand that's all I have time for. Meeting a friend for drinks...and I'm already late, haha. Womp womp.
shirt, cardi: H&M
jeans, flats, hat: Target
necklace: VeryJane
That last photo there? That's kind of how I feel whenever I talk about my blog IRL. Whether it's with extended family at the holidays or a friend of a friend as we sit and chat over lunch, the second someone brings up my blog, I break out in a major case of the awkwards. It's not that I am embarrassed of VM by any means. It's just...well, it's kind of a weird thing to talk about. "Oh hi! Let me tell you all about the pictures I take of myself and how I talk about my clothes all the time on the internet." All I can ever think is how conceited I must seem, like I'm constantly preening and showing off.
But then I remember that that isn't why I blog. Yes, I have an inherent need to mindlessly spew whatever is currently on my brain. But that's not it, either. It's about the community you get in the blogosphere. I've made amazing connections with so many interesting people over the last 22 months. And it's about personal growth. When I started this blog, I had no idea what I liked. I had no sense of personal style...not in the clothes I wore, or the way I attempted to decorate my apartment, or in the food I was making. I also had a completely screwed-up sense of personal finance. Through blogging, I've grown in all those areas. Both through self-discovery, but also through discovering what works (and doesn't) for others, too.
I know this sounds like a wrap-up, "it's been fun but I'm done" kind of post. And I promise, it's not. I've just been thinking a lot about why I blog, and I wanted to share with y'all that you're part of the reason. And, you know, say thanks for that :)
sweater: The Limited
polo: Target
slacks: thrifted
shoes: Payless
hair flower: H&M
necklaces: gifted
That's the official name I'm giving this slump I'm in. I've hit the wall. Winter is the most dreary time of year in Ohio, where we can go weeks without seeing a blue sky or the sun. And the cold, snow, and general crappy weather conditions are not conducive to cute outfit styling. More often than not, I find myself dragging my butt out of bed and throwing on the warmest combination of clothing I can find...and that combination is rarely flattering, or stylish, or blog-worthy. Usually it's just slacks, flats and a sweater. Today I managed to make that combination work in a blogable way, but that's a rare occurrence. (It's not this outfit. This outfit is my typical, boring winter uniform.)
The same thing happened last winter, too. I hope you'll all bear with my lack of acceptable outfit posts between now and spring. I promise, this ol' blog will get interesting again as soon as the weather perks up.
Do all bloggers go through this? How do you handle the winter blahs? What outfit pieces help pull you out of the cold-weather rut?
sweater, slacks: thrifted
polo, shoes: Target
necklace: InPink
ring: TaDa.com
hair flower: H&M
I've complained about it before, I am now and I probably will again. But Ohio weather is just the craziest thing. When I wore this outfit last week, I was waking up to 30 degree mornings and frosty grass. Today, the high creeped up to a balmy 73 degrees. What the what? I guess it's not so bad, really, to get unexpected spurts of warm weather. But it makes it really hard to find coats (I have a couple lightweight and a two heavier coats, but nothing in between) and it's really annoying to leave the house in gloves/scarf/coat and have to carry it all home because it's too warm out. Blah.
Anyway, I really like this sweater, but I kind of wish it was just a size bigger. It's my official mission this fall to find the comfiest oversize sweater possible. Anyone have any favorites they'd like to mention? Ha :)
(BTW, if you're wondering why there are only two photos here today, it's because the rest were just awful. No lie. I looked drunk in some of them. Ick.)
