Instant Sunshine
Style
The “It” Bags
| via PopSugar |
According to PopSugar (and fashion bloggers, generally) the Chloe Drew bag is the "It" bag this fall. It's very pretty. I can't afford it. And even if I could, what I suspect fits inside it is, like, a tweezer and a credit card, as opposed to the thirty-pound assortment of diapers/wipes/bottles/toy cars/Red Bulls that I drag with me everywhere I go.
(I also suspect that I'm not exactly who that particular item is marketed to. I think it's marketed to that girl with the wedge shoes pictured above. You know, the one who has so much money to spend on Chloe Drew bags that placing shoes on white sheets seems like a fine idea. (I'm joking; I totally do that too. Because white sheets make the best backdrop and bloggers be crazy.))
Comfort Zone
Los Gatos, CA | Photo by Mom
Here's something I never expected to happen when I started blogging all those years ago: I love taking photos. Not "having photos taken" - I mean, I love that occasionally, but other times it's something that I do because I have a post I'm excited to write and, well, I'm right there, making the most convenient model to illustrate said post...me. It's fun sometimes, and embarrassing sometimes (okay, a lot), but I always love shooting other people. LOVE. Like these photos of our trip to the LACMA? And these? So much fun to take (I'm referring, of course, to the shots in those posts that I'm not in).
I didn't really used to love photographing friends, because it made me nervous: I felt pressure to give the person I was taking a photo of the image that they "wanted," and didn't feel like I was an especially good photographer...but I don't know what happened. Either I feel better about my ability level now, or I've gotten better at making people feel comfortable in front of my camera, or maybe it's a bit of both - because taking photos is without question one of my favorite things to do.
The D’Orsay
What, you ask, is a d'Orsay shoe?
Excellent question; I know them when I see them, but wasn't sure what the exact description was, so: google. Apparently they're a style of shoe in which the part of the shoe that covers the top of your foot is cut very close to the toe box, and in which the sides are cut away, revealing the instep.
In other words: they're very bare-looking. And even though my feet leave much to be desired, I happen to find the style really pretty. Jenni Kayne's flats are kind of the gold standard, but they're so popular at the moment that pretty much everyone makes them, so you can find them in virtually every price range. My own pick: the J.Crew Sloan flats pictured above (which I love, but which also started looking worn - on the tips of the toes - immediately, so if you buy them I'd recommend taking them to a tailor and having the toe reinforced before, say, spending all day wandering around Carmel in them).
Second Time Around
If you had asked me a few years ago if I liked Los Angeles, you would have gotten massive eye-rolls and "GOD NO"s. But you know what I realized, once I had a little distance from the place (like six years' worth) and started visiting again, just to spend time with my friends and family who live there?
I love Los Angeles.
I hated it when I lived there because I was miserable, not because the place is miserable.
