Wine Country

Finally getting around to posting photos from the mini-winery tour my friends and I took a couple weeks ago while we were in the bay. After studying abroad, I already considered myself a bit of a wine connoisseur (ohhh, don't we all?), but can now officially speak to it with some validity. We went to a couple wineries near Sonoma and the estates were beautiful this time of year. It was the perfect #fall (hashtag very necessary in this case) adventure and I honestly couldn't have asked for a better weekend trip.

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Outfit Details:

Target Faux Leather Jacket

Anthropologie Brushed Lace Dress

TOMS Bellini Sunglasses

Nixon Kensington Leather Watch

Buttoned Up

You can only wear a button-up so many ways, but I think I've maximized the number of ways to style this Equipment blouse that I got on major discount at their on-site store a couple weeks ago. I don't know if I actively make an effort to not wear form fitting clothes, but the button-up + dress combo is the perfect way to create the illusion of a shift dress with two pieces. I've also found that I can create the illusion of being "fancy" by simply buttoning the top button on said blouse. I briefly considered belting my "fancy" combo but actually prefer the loose, flowy look instead. My days of belting anything and everything are long gone. Replaced with the notion that everything I wear can and should feel (but, hopefully not look) like pajamas. 

I will definitely be recreating a similarly comfy look like this for Thanksgiving dinner. Also, not to sound like a broken record/girl without a calendar but WHEN did it become the end of November? I'm tragically unprepared for the holidays and still haven't dry cleaned my party dresses from 2013 (wish I was kidding.)

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Outfit Details:

Silk Plaid Blouse—Equipment

Black Dress—ASOS

Cameo Necklace—Vintage

Sunglasses—TOMS

Gold Watch—GUESS

Explorer Tote—Fossil

Lace Ankle Boots—GUESS

Looking Up

In the midst of my postgrad funk (which I very well could still be in the middle of, but things are definitely looking up), I decided to sign up for a photography class downtown. Ever since I got my DSLR a few years ago, I've managed to teach myself some of the basics but have generally avoided the big scary "M" setting on my camera. M = Manual—pretty obvious, but figured I'd add that in to avoid any confusion. Signing up for the class was kind of a big deal for me. When you're working full time, it's very easy to constantly make the excuse that you're "too busy" or "too tired" to pursue other hobbies outside of work. I can't tell you how tempting it is to come home every night after a long commute, eat dinner, and veg on the couch watching SATC reruns while drinking wine and speed-Tindering until I'm 100% sure I accidentally swiped 3-5 future soulmates left due to careless error. (I know my life sounds pretty glamorous right now, but please hold all judgements until the end of this post slash don't ask me how I managed to go from photography class to Tinder...)

Anyway, I'm really enjoying the class so far and already feel like I'm using twice as many settings on my camera than I have in the past two years. Our first class assignment was to take photos that represent one of the 5 elements of photography (composition, light, color, the moment, and atmosphere), so it was fairly open ended. I wound up with a bunch of night photos taken during my last class session and after work. I wouldn't call them any sort of series, but I do like how light plays into each of them in a different way.

P.S. prepare for more photography posts like this each week :)

The Marina

As I've mentioned before, one of my favorite parts of traveling involves running off on my own to take photos. On our second day in the city, we headed down to the Marina for a massive crafts fair in one of the port buildings (not sure what else to call them, I could use the google-machine but am too lazy/on a blogging roll). The crafts fair was pretty much my dream. Overpriced chachkies everywhere. But crafts aside, the view of the Marina was too good to pass up so I spent most of my time walking around outside snapping photos. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves and SF really knows how to make a killer sunset.

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Outfit Details:

Floral Midi Dress—Marc by Marc Jacobs

Chambray Shirt—GUESS

Black Scarf—Forever 21

Explorer Tote—Fossil

Leather Ankle Boots—Madewell

Weekend In The City

I did something crazy and took time off for the first time in forever (it's a hard knock life for us postgrads with negative vacation days racked up) and went on a weekend trip with my friends to San Francisco. My travel style is a bit of an acquired taste and involves oversleeping, wandering the city and people watching in insignificant places, and running off by myself at random moments to take lots of photos. The weekend included all of the above and therefore, was perfect.

On our first day, we spent a gorgeous afternoon (my spoiled LA self got too lucky with sunshine and no fog) at Dolores Park lounging on Whole Foods paper bags, eating overpriced sandwiches, and catching up. It's very rare that a majority of my friends are in the same place at the same time, especially postgrad, but the stars aligned this weekend. I'm normally not one for big groups, but my close group of college girlfriends is the exception to that rule. I'll get all mushy for a second to say...I'm incredibly lucky to have them.

What I found most interesting about my trip was the way I experienced the city. It's hard to describe, but there are certain city vibes that stick with me when recalling memories from a trip. The last time I had spent any significant amount of time in San Francisco was my senior year of high school and all I can say is that the San Francisco I experienced on that trip was drastically different from the one I visited this past weekend. Nothing I can really put my finger on, but I left this weekend feeling like I could genuinely see myself living there in a couple years. Amazing how much your perception of a place can change in five years.

Anyway, these were just a small portion of my favorite snaps. More photos soon...

No Thursday Needed

It's not #TBT or #FBF (Flashback Friday...Throwback Thursday's less popular cousin) but this isn't Instagram, so I therefore reserve the right to post a photo from two years ago whenever the hell I want. And while I would rather be posting a photo from new travels, I'm not currently jet-setting Europe so this old snap from Munich will have to do. Looking through my old pictures from living abroad (which I'm still having a lot of trouble believing was two years ago...) a few photos from this weekend trip to Germany stood out to me. I remember taking this selfie with my massive DSLR for no other reason than to remember my genuine happiness in that exact moment. It's nearly impossible for me to recall my exact emotions from that trip on the spot, but I do remember more the idea of a feeling I experienced—an unparalleled elation that came from exploring new places.

As much as I crave familiarity and consistency in my life (probably more than most), I think there's always going to be periods of time when I'm in need of some Grand Shakeup to throw me back into the mix. Kickstart creativity. Recreate that emotion, not just the idea of it. I may not be old enough to say "always"...but I have a feeling this statement will ring true far past my twenties.

Rather than reminiscing on past travels, I would like to be traveling. Which is a wonderful idea in theory, before real life responsibilities and obligations sneak their way in. I guess what I'm getting at is: I've caught the travel bug once again and want to make it a bigger priority in "the plan." SO pre-Grand Shakeup (thinking of trademarking this - good or bad idea?), whenever that may be, I'm working on cutting myself a little slack. An upcoming weekend trip to San Francisco will help. Along with this article. Read once & repeat.