Art Of The Selfie

Remember how I said I didn't really take touristy pictures? Well, there's always room for exceptions. My friend (who just moved into the cutest SF apartment. ever.) and I spent an afternoon exploring The Palace of Fine Arts since neither of us had ever been. Plenty of photos were taken. And I've also learned to trust no one when it comes to asking them to use my DSLR. I think one of our "photographers" even managed to completely crop one of us out of the frame at some point. Seriously though...Rule of Thirds. Has the Instagram grid taught us nothing!? Luckily, I've become an expert at DSLR selfies (it's all about balance, no selfie-stick needed) so we were still able to successfully document our day trip together.

P.S. This is the last of my San Francisco trip posts. How I managed to take 3 weeks to blog about my weekend, I'll never know. "Real time" posts coming soon... 

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Outfit Details:

Topshop Turtleneck

Target Faux Leather Jacket

Vintage Cameo Necklace

Madewell Destroyed Denim

Madewell Glasgow Satchel

Vintage Printed Scarf

Converse Leather Sneakers

Normalcy

One of my favorite parts of traveling is being able to take photos of new and exciting scenery. Whenever I visit a city, I can get lost for hours snapping pictures by myself. In fact, I'd often rather wander around aimlessly than have a set plan of touristy sites to see. My ideal travel day is one of normalcy. Experiencing a new city as much like a local as possible. (It's not always easy, but helps when you've got friends who actually live there.)

So, after I got home from San Francisco, I realized that most of the photos on my DSLR weren't exactly...pretty. Instead, they were a collection of random snapshots that captured (along with a few Instagrams) my brief excursions on a normal, somewhat gloomy week in the city.

But don't worry....I still managed to squeeze in a few tourist photos :) Here's one for good measure.

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Outfit Details:

Madewell Printed Shift Dress

Target Faux Leather Jacket

TOMS Bellini Sunglasses

Madewell Lindley Boots

Ryanair Approved

I was lucky enough to spend last weekend in San Francisco after heading up to the city for a quick business trip earlier in the week. A few of my best friends have recently moved up there, so it's becoming a home away from home for me. Plus, it helps to always have a place to stay if you're like me and would rather spend money on brunch than boarding :)

One thing I'm slowly learning is how to pack effectively for short trips like this. I can proudly say I was not the girl carrying ten different bags around the airport. Would you be surprised if I told you I usually was? Probably not. Instead, I broke out my beloved Ryanair-approved (miss those travel days) suitcase and strategically packed five days worth of mixed-and-matched outfits. There's something fun and kind of mathematical about creating outfits from a limited selection and this funky look (yes, those are purple boots and I'm going to love them forever and ever) was a product of such an equation.

P.S. These photos were taken on Fillmore Street after a great day of brunching and thrifting.

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Outfit Details:

H&M Striped Tee

UO Mustard Pullover Sweater

Paige High Rise Canyon Jeans

Vintage Jade Necklace

TOMS Bellini Sunglasses

Nixon Brown Kensington Watch

Madewell Glasgow Satchel

Vintage Printed Scarf

Madewell Lindley Boots

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

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...