Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Have you heard of the Win Kate Walsh's Boyfriend Contest hosted on Bloglovin? Kate Walsh has introduced a new fragrance that combines floral scents like jasmine with amber musky tones. She was inspired to create this perfume by her own boyfriend's warm scent. For this contest, she's looking for look boards that fit her fragrance. Since I'm more hipster/casual in style, I made this board... Boyfriend Casual. The off shoulder British pattern sweater teamed with the heart high waisted shorts are totally cool and casual, something I would wear while hanging out with my boyfriend! It's romantic in a subtle sense and something I would totally wear! Of course I would pair this ensemble with some cool studded gray boots, a headband, and of course the Boyfriend fragrance!
Want to know more about Boyfriend? Check it out here at Sephora!
I recently found this tutorial on Pinterest and I had to try it for myself. You know this crisp professional images you see that always have that beautiful white background? This is how you achieve those photos.
I didn't take pictures of the step by step process since I'm linking to the original post. However, I will show you my finished light box.
Honestly it's so easy to make and it only took me around 15-20 minutes! You gotta love a super quick craft! All you need is a cardboard box, some scissors, white tissue paper, and a white posterboard that's the width length of the box. I also realized that I don't know how I ever passed kindergarten since my scissor skills are subpar. How can cutting in a straight line be so difficult?
Curious how my photos have been turning out since I've made this amazing thing?
You'll find out when you check back on Saturday and link up to my Fox Five Photo Challenge!
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Happy Sunday! I had a fantastic weekend between seeing Prince live (finally!), introducing Fox Five Photo Challenge, and celebrating my BFF's birthday! Yesterday I tried to clean my camera and realized, after somehow getting a hair in the viewfinder, that I'm going to have to get my camera cleaned by a professional. I'm planning on dropping it off Monday and hopefully getting it back before the weekend when I have shoots and challenges to complete! Luckily I got this week's prompts down before the irritating hair and dust particles invaded my camera insides.
Walking
I got my new tripod and had to try it out, it's so much better then my last one! I literally rolled out of bed (hence my walking backside) and took this in my backyard on the fly.
Yummy to my Tummy
My favorite pizza from Trader Joes! It's my favorite, it has roasted red peppers and an oil you drizzle over it after it's baked.
Favorite Toy
My laptop is my all time favorite toy! I took this in my new light box that I made myself, I found the tutorial on Pinterest and I'll be sharing that with you soon.
What I Did This Week
I still can't believe I saw Prince live in concert! It was hands down the best show I've ever seen. Cameras weren't allowed and even these I had to be sneaky about so android phone photos were the best I could do. He played for an hour and a half with new stuff, closed the curtains for 3 mins, then came back and had a HUGE dance party with all his old hits for another half hour. It was pure joy to be in the presence of him singing Purple Rain, you have no idea. The man is amazing and it was worth every penny to finally be able to say "I saw Prince in concert." So much fun!
Anything
I'm shooting my first horse show this upcoming Saturday. I'm nervous and excited all at the same time!
If you love photo challenges, then make sure you check out the new photo challenge I'm hosting every Saturday!
The more the merrier!
I've always loved photo challenges. They are my major inspiration when it comes to blogging and trying out new techniques with photography. One of my favorites is Scavenger Hunt Sunday (which I've been participating in for a looong time) and I must admit is my biggest inspiration for this. It only made logical sense to take the next step and host my own after years of participating in them.
After doing a little research, I realized that Saturdays had the least amount of photo sharing/challenges and after much thinking I finally settled on something I'm happy with and stoked about.
I'm so happy to introduce Fox Five Photo Challenge to be hosted every Saturday by moi! There are five prompts (hence fox five) and you'll have a week to photograph your creative aspect of each prompt. I'll be hosting a linky/blog hop for everyone to link up their beautiful photos which will be open for a few days. Photography skill does not matter, what's important is to have a good time and share your work with others.
So without further ado, here are next week's prompts! These are based on a few of my favorite things.
1. Feathers
2. Purple
3. Coffee
4. Animal(s)
5. Pasta
Nothing too tough for the first time. So make sure you come back next Saturday and link up! I can't wait to see what everyone will do. Also, if you have suggestions for prompts then feel free to email me. If I use your prompts then I'll be more than happy to link your blog and give you the credit. Oh and please spread the word, the more the merrier!
Friday, April 26, 2013
We had lilac's at the house I grew up in but there aren't any here unfortunately. However we do have plenty of flowers with lilac coloring.
=)
If you knew me in real life then you would know that I'm absolutely crazy about Prince. I can't tell you exactly when and where this love of The Artist started, I think it goes back to me being a little kid and my Aunt would think it was hilarious when I would get down to MC Hammer, Michael Jackson, and Prince so she played them constantly. When I got older I watched Purple Rain half a million times and collected anything and everything I could get my hands on that concerned him. I can proudly say I own every Prince vinyl album that's out there right now. I'm still looking to complete my Prince movie collection. I've got quite a few books on the man and I love finding random posters and other memorabilia.
This is currently on my wall. You're welcome.
Unfortunately when he was running his club out here and doing regular shows and appearances, I was underage. Womp womp womp. Fake ids may work in the local bars but they don't work at nightclubs. Of course as soon as I turned 21, he had closed his club and moved on to greener pastures. Go figure. Then when he did come here, tickets were around $200 and then some or he would randomly show up at underground sets I never heard about. Sneaky Prince.
Now I've done some awesome things to cross off my bucket list. I've swam with dolphins and fed JJ the Gray Whale on my birthday. Snorkeled with sea turtles in Hawaii. I lived in Mark Twain's house in New York for about a month when I was in the 4th grade, thanks to Papa! Not many kids can say that. Partied with George Costanaza (very cool dude) & met Joey from N'Sync. Yes, you read his shirt correctly.
I've seen a lot of awesome bands, gone to some great concerts and music festivals. However I've never seen Prince in concert. Until today.
That's right. I'm going to see Prince live and in concert.... TONIGHT!
You have no idea how excited I am. Tickets were finally affordable (thanks tax return!) and I even splurged on the most expensive option so I could be standing room, right up in front. Unfortunately I can't bring my professional camera into the show without a media pass which I have no access to so I'll have to make do with my broken android. Also... This is the first concert I'm going to by myself. 0_0
Hopefully my friend Adam (a really amazing photographer) will be coming to the show I'll be at and regardless if he gets in the same show, since he's starting a new photo venture dealing with band photography, he told me he would do his best to send me some prime shots to cherish forever. So fingers crossed!
I still can't believe I'm going to be seeing the living legend in person.
One more thing, I have something in the works for everyone that I'll be unveiling tomorrow. If you've looked at my sidebar then you have a gigantic clue. I'm pretty stoked about it and hope word spreads and you'll all enjoy it. So make sure you check back tomorrow!!!
If you had the chance to meet your favorite person or see your favorite artist live...
Who would it be?
Thursday, April 25, 2013
I follow quite a handful of blogs and most of them I've been following for years, even when I took long hiatuses from my own writing. Blogging is constantly changing as new apps and technology become available to us. There's a lot about blogging that I love especially when it comes to marketing and reaching out to find new followers and friends. On the flip side, there are also a few things that I find irritating.
For instance....
Giveaways
Favorite: Duh, you get a chance to win free stuff. That's awesome. It's also a good way to give your blog exposure by hosting one or sponsoring one.
Pet Peeve: I remember a simpler time when you would leave a blog comment and then had a chance of randomly winning the giveaway. With the introduction of Rafflecoptor, which is an easier way of submitting an entry and I'm sure most of us are familiar with, it's kind of taken the fun out of it for me. Not so much the Rafflecoptor itself but the way you have to win one. I don't have a twitter account nor do I want one. Yet for "extra entries" I would need to follow so and so on twitter. Or Pinterest. Or Etsy. The list goes on and on. I've seen giveaways that have had 75 different ways of earning entries. SEVENTY-FIVE. That's over the top. And sometimes, even if I have those social media, maybe I don't want to follow you on there, no offense. It just bothers me. I don't want to feel forced into following someone just to win something even if I REALLY want to win. Which leads to...
Blog Hops
Favorite: I love blog hops. It's the easiest way to advertise yourself while finding new blogs to follow. One of my favorite blog hops is at Life of Meg, Mingle Monday. You link up, answer a question to get some conversation going. Simple, easy... Just how I like it.
Pet Peeve: I don't like being forced into having to follow someone just to join a blog hop. It kind of goes hand and hand with the giveaway thing, sometimes multiple people are hosting the blog hop or in the giveaway. I don't want to follow all these people, on both GFC AND Bloglovin specially if I'm not interested in their content. I like to not clutter my reader with stuff that I don't want to read or I'm not interested in. Specifically rules like "You have to follow all these co hosts and sponsors and at least three different blogs.." No. Not doing it. I care more about quality then quantity you know? This one really grinds my gears.
Following Methods & Feed Readers
Favorite: GFC has always been my favorite method of following. Now with it hanging in the balance with the demolishment of Google Reader and the fact that my blogger dashboard doesn't always post everyone I follow, I've actually switched over to Google + and The Old Reader. I can hear you all saying, "But what about Bloglovin??" Hold on, I'll get to that in a second. The reason I like The Old Reader is that, in my opinion, it seems really simple to use. It was easy to transfer my subscriptions from Google Reader to Old Reader and apparently its like the old version of google reader though I can't really remember how that looked. I've been using it for about a month and I have no complaints.
Pet Peeves: Bloglovin. I'm honestly not a fan. Do I have one? Of course. Any good blogger knows the advantage of keeping up with good social networking sites (even though I'm so against twitter but that's for another time) and it seems that's where the majority of people are switching their feeds to. I'm glad people follow my blog through it. But I don't personally like it. I don't like the feel of it and won't use it to keep up with my reading. And if I'm following you on Bloglovin it's to win a giveaway because I'm not reading anything on there. Just being honest here.
That's just a few examples.
What stuff can you not stand when it comes to blogging?
What stuff can you not live without in the blogging world?
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
My pets are my life. Period. I prefer the company of animals over people even though I am a social butterfly. It doesn't make any sense I know but it's still true. My very first best friend was my Aunt's rough collie named Laddie. She lived with us when I was little hence Laddie spending all his time with me. Seriously the most patient dog I've ever met, he let me put toys on him and dress him up in sunglasses and Mickey Mouse ears. I would whisper secrets to him under the piano, which was our hideout. I always got him a special bone for Christmas. One day, I would like to get a collie of my own... When I can handle the crazy grooming and shedding.
Since then I have had a variety of pets but these are the ones making an impact on my life now.
Sinatra
I rescued Sinatra from a local animal shelter after I had moved into my own place with some friends. It was my first time living on my own and I felt weird not having a pet around. The family dog and cat had stayed with my grandparents so it was time to find my own pet. I wanted a siamese mix (since that's what we had adopted before) and I browsed the online website of adoptable animals, one caught my eye. When we went in and looked at the cats in person, the one I had liked online was meowing and reaching out of the cage with his paws, trying to get my attention. So I took him home. It was my friend Eva that gave him the name, we couldn't think of anything good but after thinking of things I loved, she brought up the name of Old Blue Eyes who I've always been a fan of. It totally fit. Sinatra is quite the character, he gets along great with dogs but has to be the dominant one of the house. He has no problem putting anyone in their place (example: he likes to bite us for no reason just to show he is displeased about something or he will also poop in the bathtub if he's mad) but other then that he's pretty nice. He's got a huge personality and likes to talk.
Murderface
This is my man, love of my life. He's around six years old, Border Collie mix. He's the only animal I haven't adopted, we (and by we I mean I made my ex get him for me) paid $75 bucks for him from some crazy lady in North Las Vegas. Worth it. I might have a bit of a favoritism towards this dog but he was my first puppy that was truly ever mine. I picked him out, trained him myself, loved him unconditionally. Ok, the name. My ex fiancé and I named him Murderface after the Adult Swim cartoon Metaloclaypse. It's an adult cartoon about a heavy death metal band and it's pretty awesome. The bassist name in the show is Murderface. As we were living in an apartment on our own and I spent a lot of time there alone, we wanted the dog to have a tough name. Hence, Murderface. It's funny because he's the nicest dog you could ever meet and ridiculously smart. He knows words, all of his toys are named and if you say a name he will retrieve the right one. He also knows words like coffee (meaning he gets to go on a ride with you to the coffee shop) and the vet (so he hides) and walks (he goes nuts). He likes to go on adventures with me, we do a lot of hiking and exploring together. When my fiancé and I split, it was really brutal. Murderface was my saving grace, he got me through some really rough times.
I almost feel like a protective parent when it comes to him, when I first met Kris I was anxious for him to meet my dog. As he gets older, he has gotten really talkative. Sometime's it's pretty obnoxious but if you don't like my dog then we can't date. Luckily, Kris likes him (although sometimes he needs a break) and his dog Koko and mine get along so well. Because of Koko, Murderface finally got over his fear of deep water (he loves playing in water but would never swim unlike Koko who might be part beaver) and finally learned to swim.
I have so many photos of my dog and I could go on all day about how much better he is then anyone else but I'll keep my bias to myself.
Jasper
My little man! Jasper is an Italian Greyhound, allegedly around 7. Kris and I found him at an animal shelter and were smitten by him leaping behind his cage to make eye contact with us. He's proved to be an excellent companion for Koko and Murderface and even my cat tolerates his quickness. He's a total sweetheart and likes to cuddle and give kisses even with stinky breath. He likes to burrow under the covers and for a little dog he has some heavy dead weight if he doesn't want to be moved. He hates the vacuum and tries to attack it if it's running. If it's raining, he refuses to go outside. It can be quite the ordeal. And man, can he run and jump. You have to be careful when opening doors because he will take off on some grand adventure. Since Kris lives in an unfenced middle of nowhere forest in oregon right now, Jasper stayed behind with me. Seemed safer and he seems pretty happy here.
I'm linking up with Paws to Claws today, share your pet stories and show off the furry friends you love with the link below.
Monday, April 22, 2013
I was recently watching an old episode of Sex & the City when Aiden was moving into Carrie's apartment and she was majorly stressing about not having the privacy that she use to have. The girls chatted around the table, discussing the "secret single things" they liked to do that men would never understand, hence the secrecy. Examples would be Charlotte studying pores in a magnifier and Miranda loved watching infomercials while soaking her hands in vaseline gloves.
I never thought I had any weird behaviors that would count as something I would have kept on the downlow in a relationship. I pretty much do everything in front of Kris or that he knows about. But now that he's been gone for almost a month, I have noticed there are some things I do really enjoy by myself without him thinking I'm a weirdo.
1. I think my number one activity would be sitting down on my bed with the tv on (I enjoy television as white noise while I work or I'm doing things), reading trashy magazines or Cosmo while eating a bag of flaming hot Cheetos with a tall mexican coca-cola in a glass bottle. It's way more enjoyable doing this alone. By the way, I have yet to express exactly how addicted I am to any hot chips. It started in elementary school when you could buy Andy Capps Hot Fries at the snack shack after lunch and I bought a bag every day. It escalated in high school when I would eat them during classes or after school. And now with the variety of flaming hot chips, man, makes me a happy girl.
They need to bring these back pronto.
2. This isn't so much of a single behavior as a stress reliever. When I was a young angsty teenager, my temper would flare on a whim. I inherited this lovely trait from my mother and I'm much better at controlling it these days. Anyways, back then I would get so worked up and argumentative and I remember once talking to my mom in my frustration and she told me that whenever she was pissed off, she took a very hot bubble bath. I took her advice and I've been doing it ever since. And it works! I always feel a lot better after a ridiculously hot bubble bath. Sometimes I can take multiple baths a day depending on what's going on in my life! A few candles, a good book, something delicious to drink. Perfect.
My idea of a good time. Source.
3. I like to watch British shows on my laptop by myself because my boyfriend doesn't understand british humor or my british obsession. He accepts it and has even surprised me with british things for holidays and such but he will never get it and that's ok.
Jon Richardson from 8 out of 10 Cats gets it.
4. I'm obsessed with real-life crime dramas. I could watch them for hours. For the past week I discovered the show Criminal Minds and have been non-stop watching it. Now Kris and I are really into The First 48 and watch it all the time but he can't go on these crime sprees as long as I can. Also, I have a very very secret behavior of watching everything on Bravo. That's pretty much all I watch now that Kris is gone, which is awesome.
5. I like to eat cheese. Any kind of cheese. Shredded in a bowl, slices from a package. Fancy cheese from Whole Foods. Sometimes it's nice to eat a delicious piece of cheese in the bath tub, on the couch, in the car. God, I really love cheese.
Now I'm hungry and I'm gonna have to go make some Mac & Cheese. Source.
Now since Kris is in another state, I've easily started doing more of these things with little to no shame. Especially with the hot cheetos, I have been working out regularly again so it's allowed right? When he's back, I'm sure it will become a private affair once more. But that's not a bad thing. Just like we need girl night/guy night, we need to all have our own little time and space to do our own thing and enjoy those things we love to do without criticism.
There were some awesome secret behaviors people admitted to on HelloGiggles that I might have to participate in myself.
So, what secret single behavior do you indulge in?
Do you think your significant other would give you a weird look if he knew?
Saturday, April 20, 2013
So my grandpa's retirement party was Thursday (after 44 years of teaching!) and it was a blast. Papa had a great time and I was so honored and proud to have him as my grandfather. I brought my camera with me, thinking I would capture my own memories and also fulfill the Gathering and Family prompts for the Scavenger Hunt. It wasn't until after I had gotten there that I realized I had forgotten to put the battery back in the camera after charging it. =/
So that obviously didn't work out. There were professional photos being taken there but I'm not sure how long it will take till we get to see them. So I might have to cheat a little (apologies before hand because it's not my favorite thing to do) by throwing in an Instagram pic or two.
Happiness
Happiness is a warm puppy..
Spring in Black & White
Family
My Instagram cheat. Papa and I after the retirement party. We later all went out to dinner with family and a few special students and had a really good time.
Fuzzy
This was my fancy rat Pumpkin. She passed away not too long ago. I miss her a lot. I featured this photo before on my old blog and figured I would revive it here.
A second fuzzy photo. I'm going to be shooting my first horse show in the beginning of May at the barn I ride at. I've never shot a horse show before so I've been going out to the barn (and will be there again tomorrow) to practice and test different lenses and light and see what works. I snapped this pic of North on the quick while in between breaks.
Gathering
Another one from today (or yesterday if it's already Sunday in your neck of the woods) during one of the group riding lessons.
Hope you all have a fantastic Sunday and make sure to link up below.
Hope you all have a fantastic Sunday and make sure to link up below.
