Big Sur

Big Sur is beautiful. Every mile of the coast, every ancient redwood tree, it's just stunning. The thing about Big Sur however is that it's mostly for camping and thusly people who like to camp, and hike, and be close to nature.

While I'm not opposed to nature, and spent many a weekend in my childhood as a Girl Scout camping and hiking, these days I tend to identify more with Troop Beverly Hills. So when I saw that Fernwood Resort had an "Adventure Tent" to rent, I was all about my night of glamping in my tent with electricity, a queen size bed, and a heater in case it got to cold. There were two other Adventure Tents on the grounds who we shared a private bathhouse with, which did not have coin operated showers, like the bathhouses for those more accustomed to roughing it did.

After a long day of wandering through the woods, that bed felt so good.

No outfit photos for Big Sur - I foolishly only packed my white converse, and you do not want to see what happened to them!

Newbury Street

The other week I went to Boston for the day. Spent some time strolling through the Boston Garden, shopping on Newbury Street, and then walking up to the North End for an Italian dinner, complete with cannoli from Mike's Pastry for dessert.

Newbury Street is kind of like my dream street; the one where I'd live if I won the Powerball. The old brick buildings filled with cute shops and restaurants with little outdoor patios for dining in the summer... I'd buy a whole building so I could live in part of it and rent out the rest and I'd never have to worry about money again.

The Rundown

Mint Shirt Dress Boundry & Co. similar

Denim Jacket New York and Co. similar

Sandals Nine West via TJMaxx similar

Bag Tahari c/o TJMaxx similar

Belt Thrifted

Knot Necklace Thrifted similar

Midi Ring Urban Outfitters

Bronze Ring Upper Metal Class

Crystal Bar Ring Upper Metal Class via giveaway

Watch c/o Caravelle by Bulova via Lucky Fabb

Bracelets The Cavernous Jewelry Box

Sunglasses Ray-Ban (borrowed)

What's in my camera bag

From time to time people as me about my camera gear, so I decided to do a post on what is currently in my camera bag.

This includes everything I use to take my self portraits, though to be honest, in the winter any time I can get someone else to be my photographer I do. It's no fun to be out in the cold alone!

Canon EOS 60D 18 MP Digital SLR Camera, $800 at Target - The Canon 60D has been my camera for the past year. The pivoting screen makes self portraits a lot easier!

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 Lens, $359 at Amazon - My main squeeze, this is a relatively inexpensive lens that takes gorgeous photos when wide open. If you are looking for that dramatic blurred background, this is an excellent choice. The 1.8 for $100 isn't bad either, but the plastic construction isn't very durable. 

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 Lens, $679 at Amazon - This lens is used mainly for landscape photography, but I've taken some fun outfit photos with it on a few occasions.

Opteka Rc-4 Wireless Remote Control, $7 at Amazon - An essential piece of equipment for anyone taking self portraits. It's dirt cheap at under $7 and works right out of the box. Plus the battery lasts years. The range could be better and it never seems to want to work half as well in the cold, but it's tiny and wireless and the best solution if you are your own photographer.

Roma DSLR Camera Insert Bag Organizer, $60 at ONA - My solution to the chic camera bag problem - on the cheap! This $60 insert allows you to turn any bag into a camera bag. Keep in mind a bag with a boxy shape and a lot of structure will work the best.

London Fog Women's Knightsbridge Tote, $150 at Nordstrom - Lately I've been using this tote, as it has ample room for my camera as well as all my other things.

Manfrotto MK394-PQ Ball Head Tripod, $80 at B&H Photo Video - This is the newer version of the tripod I use, the 725B which was discontinued several years ago. It's light weight, can be set up and broken down in seconds, and once you have a tripod with a ball head, you'll never want any other kind.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, to you and yours. I hope it is filled with loving family, great food, and lots of sequins.

Love,
Lydia and Chloe

Moonrise

Clearly I'm on a mint kick (or I was at the end of August, anyway).
I got to see another beautiful moonrise, and I finally took some photos by that picket fence, which I'd been wanting to do all summer. It is right near the docks at the beach, but belongs to a private resident. I generally try not to take my photos near anyone's house, I've had owners come out and ask me what I'm doing one too many times in the past. 

The Rundown

Striped Top Old Navy similar

Mint Jeans LC for Kohls similar
Sandals Frye Gerry

Monogram Necklace Amazon similar

 Ring Thrifted similar
Crystal Bracelet Taken for Granite similar
Gold Bracelet The Cavernous Jewelry Box

Elephant Bracelet Ebay similar

Sunnies Ray-Ban Emma

Ever so fleeting

I love these photos. I took them Tuesday night and I raced to the beach like a mad woman to make sure I didn't miss the sun before it disappeared beyond the trees.

Then I went home and wrote up my Lucky FABB post and was so exhausted after that, that I didn't download these photos off the camera.

Last night I went out to take photos, got to the beach, set up the tripod and for some reason - I have no idea what possessed me - I pressed the menu button on the camera. Saw that I didn't format the card last night, so I decided to do it.

The moment I said, yes I'm sure, delete contents of card, I realized I hadn't taken off the photos.

I had a little panic attack, immediately packed everything back up and went home.
Called my Brother.
He told me most memory cards come with free card recovery software you can download, but there is a catch, you need a number off the packaging. Obviously I threw that away years ago.

Thankfully my father came to the rescue and produced a SanDisk package. Once I jumped through all their hoops, gave them all my personal information and promised my first born, I was able to recover my photos.

Thank God. I love this outfit, and I adore these photos. The sunlight is only in this spot for a short time late in the summer, and I love being able to capture it.

(By the way, I skipped my usual processing - these are practically SOOC)

The Rundown

Chambray Tuxedo Shirt J.Crew

Paisley Pencil Skirt c/o JC Penney similar

Panama Hat Gap similar

Bag Thrifted

Sandals MRKT
Ring Thrifted

Bracelets The Cavernous Jewelry Box

Turquoise Cuff TJ Maxx similar

Instagrams from New York

Unofficial end of summer

I still feel like summer barely even had a chance to begin, and yet here we are celebrating the end of it.

My only hope is that the warm weather lasts as long as possible, and that the winter flies by because there are too many pleasant distractions to be depressed by sunsets at 4:30 pm and mountains of snow.

To those who celebrate, happy Labor Day.
Only 266 days until Memorial Day.

Big Moon

One of the best things about summer is that I can take outfit photos pretty much everyday. I can come home from work, eat dinner, then go to the beach and take photos at my leisure without worrying about it being dark or cold.

I can even catch beautiful sights like a rising moon at sunset.

I love summer.

The Rundown

Paisley Button Down J.Crew

Pencil Skirt Iisli New York via TJ Maxx

Sandals Nine West

Turquoise Bag Charm & Luck via TJ Maxx

Watch & Bracelets The Cavernous Jewelry Box

Earrings Kohls

Ring Home D'Jour Consignment
Sunnies Aldo
Nail Color Essie No Place Like Chrome

Unofficial start of summer

To all who celebrate, I hope you have a safe and happy Memorial day weekend, and enjoy the extra day!
(And keep your fingers crossed the sun actually comes out!)

Tampa

A good deal of time was spent wandering around downtown Tampa looking for shopping, and Starbucks. Most of the area seemed to be offices, so it seemed odd to me that there wasn't a Starbucks (or even a Dunkin Donuts) on every block.

There was no where to shop either. Never mind that there are no fewer than four malls within a 10-20 minute radius; you need transportation to get to those.

In the end we took a cab and went to the mall, where I got recognized from the blog for the very first time, so that was pretty darn cool.

Other than one $12 beach bag from Forever 21, I came home empty handed. Not for lack of trying though, I tried on so many things and consistently had a problem with things that fit my waist being too tight around my hips.

My biggest letdown was a paisley no. 2 pencil skirt at J. Crew. It was on sale and going to be an extra 30% off and I've wanted one of those forever. Darn J. Crew hates my curves. So do Zara, H&M, and Forever 21.

The Rundown

Top Elle for Kohls - Ruffled Skirt Tinley Road - Leopard Sandals Target - Anchor Necklace Gift - - Starfish Ring c/o LuShae Jewelry Similar - Bracelets Khols, Thrifted, The Cavernous Jewelry Box - Nail Color Essie Aruba Blue