feeling grey

I think I'm in that place.  You know, the place where people you knew all have kids now and when you hang out with them they're all talking about what diapers are awesome and how sleep is a luxury.  But then you go to the bar and all the stupid, loud, obnoxious drunk people don't seem like your scene anymore either. But it's not like you're ready for sweater sets and 9pm bedtimes either.  Here I am.  Stuck in the middle, it seems.  I know it's not just me.  I recall watching a How I Met Your Mother episode about this once which involved letting tannins breathe and sneaking out of bathroom windows. To be fair, I'm pretty sure I'm bad at making friends.  Well, it's not that I'm a bad friend-maker, it's just that getting to the situation where friend-making actually happens is where I run into trouble.  As a work-from-home-er, and someone who is content with hanging out alone in the house, I don't run into a lot of friend-making opportunities.  Of course it's my own fault.  I could be "out there" more.  I could join a club or something, find like minded individuals, put on my extrovert and make friends.  It used to be so easy in high school and college.  And then all those people you made friends with move to different cities after graduation and you're stuck with tight friends thousands of miles away and no one to go on a lady date with or come over and eat brownie batter and watch Grey's Anatomy.  I do have a couple friends in town who would be up for that, but ... I miss my best friend.  I miss the hours of ab-aching laughter, brownie mix binging, and wine consumption.  Okay the wine consumption is hypothetical, since the last time we were together consistently was in high school, but I miss that even though it never happened.
art admirer top/courtesy of modcloth :: skirt/courtesy of tailor & stylist  jacket/courtesy of asianicandy :: necklace/courtesy of adorn by sarah lewis

My mom's got a great group of friends.  Crazy awesome ladies who are hilarious and crazy.  Strong, powerful, opinionated ladies.  I like them.  I hope that someday I have a group like that.  A group of friends who go on weekend trips to hawaii to soak up the sun and drink large quantities of mai tais and stay up late talking about life and love and deep thoughts and silliness.  A group of women who "get" me and understand who I am and love me.  A group of ladies who will come around me and my family when we're in need, spiritually, physically, mentally.  Perhaps I'm romanticizing it, as I know friend groups come with conflict and other downsides, but I believe the good outweighs the bad.  

I've never really had a group of friends other than in college, which was so great.  I've always tended more towards having just one or two really good friends that I hang out with.  But back in college hanging out with that group of friends was such a blast.  Of course, college is perfect for that and for providing silly shenanigans for said friend group to participate in.  Thankfully a few of my college pals still living in the Seattle area, so that's nice.  One of my super good friends is getting married in a couple months and I hope she invites a bunch of college friends so we can all hang out.  It would be such a fun time to be reunited!  I've never wanted to go to a high school reunion, but I would definitely go to a college reunion if it meant that my friends would all be there.  I'm not sure they're the tradition reunion types, though... I might have to create my own reunion and invite them all, haha.

lake sylvia

On Tuesday I took a nice little road trip down to Montesano to meet up with a client for a shoot.  I knew Lake Sylvia was going to be a beautiful location, so I went a half hour early and did some outfit photos out there.  I miss having crazy beautiful nature in my backyard, like I did back in Alaska.  I know that Point Defiance is just a 10 minute drive away, but it's not quite the same as walking out your back door into the woods.  I absolutely love taking photos in wooded areas.  I was so glad when my client suggested this spot, it was so perfect for our shoot and it was refreshing to get some of that forest air in my lungs.  I love living in Tacoma, but theres a part of me that wants to just move to the woods and wake up to this kind of scenery every morning.  Maybe someday!  For now I'm super content living in town in our little house.  Last night I worked all evening putting together a little cabinet to house our bar cart stuff and coffee accessories.  I built some shelves too, and I'm getting ready to finally put paint on walls... I think I've decided on what I want.  I just have to go for it.  I can't believe we've lived here for two months and I've only put paint on one wall.  Things are coming together in my mind, though, and I think I'm ready to dive in.  I was holding some pictures up on the wall to see how they'd look in that spot and I had one of those moments where everything felt like it was falling into place and this was feeling like home, not just the place we live that has boxes everywhere and pictures stacked against walls because I don't want to hang them until we paint.  We're almost done with shingles on the exterior and I'm doing the slow, tedious, arduous task of removing trim paint.  I can't wait until everything is done (or at least looks done.  I'm sure we'll never be done done). dress/courtesy of lace affair :: jacket/courtesy of asianicandy  tights/h&m :: boots/target :: scarf/thrifted
Half of my shoes are still in the Winne in "storage" (i.e. I just never took them out after moving).  Whenever I go in there to grab a pair to go with an outfit, I see all these shoes that I forgot I had!  It's like shoe shopping in my own shoe closet.  I used to wear these boots constantly, but they've been hiding in the Winne and I forgot about them.  They're still one of my favorite pairs of boots, even after having them for a few years. 
I was thinking about wearing some of my chunky heels, but I had this weird feeling that if I did, I'd fall into the lake as I was trying to get a shot and then my camera would be ruined and I'd lose all the photos from my shoot... so I chose boots instead.  No need to tempt fate, right?  Flat boots, much better choice.  Plus the heels didn't even look good with the outfit, so double reason to nix them.  Although, I probably should wear my platforms on photo shoots because I'm so short I find myself constantly on my tip toes trying to get the angle I want!  Moral of the story: I need to just carry around a stool when I go on photo shoots.  

NOKIA LUMIA 920 GIVEAWAY!

Hi guys!  Since Valentines day is next week, I thought it'd be fun to offer something a little special and out of the ordinary for this week's giveaway.  Today I'm partnering with AT&T to give away a brand new, bright red Nokia Lumia 920!  I currently have an iPhone 4s (with a broken screen because apparently I can re-side a house without breaking it, but can't stand in the kitchen for two seconds before I drop it), but I've seen these around and I kind of like the big screen!  All the better to take pictures with, amirite?  If you've already got a phone you're happy with and aren't looking to upgrade, consider entering to give it to a loved one who is in need of a new phone!  If you don't win, but kind of got your heart set on it, AT&T is offering a buy one, get one free deal on the Nokia Lumia 920 until Feb 21st!  Then you and your loved one can have a new phone.  But anyway, you probably want to get to entering.  Just follow the directions below and you'll be entered to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


The phone will operate on AT&T’s network and wifi. If you win and you're not an AT&T customer, you have three options: 1) become an AT&T customer, 2) use the phone with wifi – all of the phone’s features (i.e., Facebook, Apps, Twitter, Calendar, Web Browsing, Contacts, Games, Linked In, etc.) will work on wifi with the exception of making calls and text messages. It’s like having a mini tablet (this is what I did with my iPhone for months before my previous phone kicked the bucket). 3) you could sell it – a new Lumia 920 retails for approximately $450 without a two-year wireless contract. Please note that the giveaway is open only to those in the US, sorry for the inconvenience!

fake plastic trees

Dressing up feels like such a luxury these days.  Most of the time I'm covered in powdered paint from grinding nasty old paint off our trim.  Feels so good to peel off work clothes and put on a clean outfit.  Today I'm taking a break from house work, though, and heading off to Lake Sylvia for a fun photo shoot.  I've driven past the area but never stopped for a look.  From the photos on Google Maps, it looks gorgeous!  It'll be nice to get an excuse to spend some time in nature.   This dress actually has a nature scene print on it, albeit a bit abstracted.  I love how the print looks like moss, algae, or lichen.  It's got an organic feeling to it, without being a leaf print, or something more obvious like that.  When I ordered this dress I actually didn't even know that there was a picture of trees in the print, I just liked the natural look to it.  Upon further investigation, it actually has some cabins hidden in the print as well!

dress/courtesy of lace affair :: top/courtesy of ever+mi.crush. :: hat/the north face via rei tights/target :: boots/courtesy of blowfish shoes :: necklace/courtesy of i dream i can fly
I wish I could say I have profound thoughts to share, or interesting stories, but really life just consists of work and sleep these days.  I do have some deep thoughts, but rather than blurting them out all incomplete and willy nilly, I'm working on composing more "candid thoughts on.." posts where I can more fully flesh them out.  So enjoy this outfit.  My brain is only capable of slightly more than, "here, look at these pictures I took of myself wearing  clothes."  So that's what you get today.  Enjoy.

banana muffins

I had a bunch of ripe bananas sitting in my freezer, so naturally I decided banana bread was in order.  Lately I've been having all my banana breads come out with raw centers, so I decided to do muffins instead.  I was sure they'd cook through, and they'd be easier to grab than slicing some banana bread.  I think this is my new favorite way to make banana bread!  I usually throw some chocolate chips in, but I didn't have any on hand.  I suppose they were more healthy that way!  I have another banana muffin recipe I want to try soon that involves oats and greek yogurt so I'll see how that goes.  This recipe, though, is based off of my mom's recipe for banana bread.  I tweaked it slightly.

(recipe via my mom)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
4 ripe bananas
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
add nuts or chocolate chips if you like!

Mix everything well.  Spray nonstick in your muffin pan and distribute batter between the cups (I had a little leftover after filling 12).  Bake at 300-325 for 1 hr.  Eat!