• Character Sketches,  Fashion

    Fashion as Storytelling

    Whether we buy into new trends, wear the things that make us happy, or simply give the matter little thought, one thing is certain — the clothes we wear have something to say. Put simply, fashion is a form of storytelling, whether we intend it to be or not. Movies and books know this fact intimately. One of the first things authors and screen writers describe about their characters is the clothing they wear. And that’s not an accident. Perhaps the easiest way to shape someone’s perception of a character is to be intentional about the clothes you put on their back.  And it works. When was the last time…

  • Fashion,  Outfits

    Picking Pumpkins

    Last weekend, Brian and I took Clark to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins for Halloween. Every year we mean to get pumpkins for carving, and somehow it always ends up getting put off. Last year, we got our pumpkins on Halloween, and never ended up carving them! This year, we promised ourselves we would be a little more on top of things, so we made a day of it and took a family outing at the Schmitt Brothers Farms in Pasco. The farm has a whole slew of activities to offer, including a corn maze (which is haunted at night!), a petting zoo, and tractor rides. This year we…

  • Fashion,  Outfits

    Holiday Red

    I’ve been spending a lot of days in pajamas and sweats recently, and I’ve definitely seen it impact my mood and productiveness. Therefore, I’ve decided to make getting dressed a priority — even if I won’t be leaving the house and the only people who see me are Brian and Clark. It’s amazing how big of a difference a little bit of effort can make. Getting dressed in the morning isn’t easy, especially when I’ve been up all night with Clark or am finding trouble setting him down long enough to even brush my teeth. Easy or not, taking a little time to dress up helps me feel more awake and…

  • Fashion,  Outfits

    Maternity Photos in Red

    It’s been a long 9 months, and I can’t believe I’ve finally come out the other side. There were times when I thought pregnancy would last forever, times when I hoped it would, and times when I found myself praying to God that I’d just go into labor already. There’s something so precious and magical about waiting…but when waiting is so darn uncomfortable, it becomes anguish. And yet, there’s something strangely precious about that anguish as well. Brian and I had maternity photos done by our photographer friend Manny Avila (check out his photography website here) when I was well into my ninth and final month. To be honest, I…

  • Fashion,  Outfits

    A Yellow Sundress and Summer Tomatoes

    We’ve finally moved into a house and started unpacking all of our boxes. It’s a long process (who knew we had so much stuff?), but it’s been really nice to have a place to call our own. The house is a little far away from Brian’s work, but aside from that, it has everything we need — three bedrooms, a garage, and a nice big backyard for Flash to play in. I can’t even begin to describe how lovely it is to finally live in a house with a dishwasher — I’ve been doing all our dishes by hand for the last few years — and to not have to…

  • Fashion,  Outfits

    A Walk in the Park

    About a month ago, I got a new lens for my camera, and boy has it been a game changer. I’ve been able to control the lighting in my pictures a lot better, and it also lets me get that nice, dreamy background blur. That being said, there is definitely a learning curve with using this thing and some of my pictures are out of focus in all the wrong places! I kept a few of the blurry ones because in some cases the blur added a nice effect — even when I was the thing that got blurry. Let’s just agree to pretend I did it on purpose! Most…

  • Fashion,  Outfits

    Sweater Weather and a Lace Kimono

    Sweater weather? I wish. It is most definitely not sweater weather right now, but I can still keep up with the cozy wearing this brown, knitted t-shirt! Though this shirt looks like a sweater, it’s wonderfully breezy and cool. People are always looking at me askance when I wear it on 100+ degree days, but I like how it reminds me that fall is just around the corner — or a few months away at the very least. Something about this shirt makes me think of summer nights spent around a campfire in the woods and makes me yearn for plaid blankets and cozy hats. Today, I paired the shirt with a pale pink…