FINALLY.
You know how the fact that it is FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY actual-spring (as opposed to calendar-spring, which coincided with a for-real snowstorm in my neck of the woods) makes me feel?
Like doing a little dance. (I'm dancing in that picture up there, I swear. See the jazz hand?)
Q. I'm wondering what you've been doing to your photos recently? They look beautiful - I want to call them "whitewashed" but that's because I know nothing about photography at all..? I've noticed the shift on your Instagram and here. Very different vibe lately and I'm curious about the background story and the technical change!
A. Thank you! And I am SO EXCITED that this was noticeable to someone other than me, because it was definitely a conscious decision.
Here's the thing: Regardless of what your job is, I think it's very important to take a minute every so often to step back, try to look at your work from an objective standpoint, and say "Where can I do better?" And when I did that a few weeks ago, a major opportunity that jumped out at me was my Instagram. I love Instagram - it's my most casual, fun outlet, and I was treating it like…well, basically like casual fun. But what I realized is that while it's important to me that I keep having fun with it…it's also a component of my business. And it should be treated like one.
For the past couple of years, swimwear has been all retro shapes and high waists and bralets. I love this because high waists and supportive tops are both good things, especially for we thirtysomethings who have procreated, but I've also kind of Taylor Swifted out of the look. It's just so ubiquitous, and every time I see yet another girl in a black-and-white checkered bikini bottom cut up to their belly button "Shake It Off" starts playing in my head. I like that song, but I'm sort of over it.
Just like I'm over '40s-style bathing suits.
And apparently swimwear designers agree with me, because everywhere I turn I see a completely new silhouette: long sleeves, cropped tops, and high necks. It's inspired by surfer-wear, but while some of these suits are clearly intended to be worn while doing full-on water sports, others are more "here I am lounging on the beach in my fabulously chic suit." I kind of love it: the silhouette is definitely sexy, but the element of modesty feels more refreshing than showing tons of skin. And I especially love that you could totally do stuff in these suits - frolic, et cetera - and not have something like this happen to you (oh god).
(Full disclosure: this entire post may just be an excuse to use the word "verlegenheit" in a sentence. It means "embarrassment" in German and I have no idea how to pronounce it, but seriously think it may now be one of my favorite words of all time.)
So I spent this morning packing the attic, because my daughter ate the end of my computer charger*. Which brought my workday to a halt until I was able to find a RadioShack (yes, a RadioShack) willing to sell me a way-out-of-date MacBook charger for the bargain price of NINETY DOLLARS. Let's just let that one go, shall we?
Back to the packing. In our attic we have these built-in storage shelves that go wayyyy back into the house, and are thus the repository for things that we use so infrequently that we completely forget they exist until we unearth them during the course of a move (very useful stuff, as I'm sure you can imagine). And while going through one of these storage shelves I found them:
Truth. (Follow my Daily Inspiration board on Pinterest here.)
Link roundup today because my head is completely fried from adding the full-time job that is finding a new place to regular day-to-day work and kid stuff. I don't even watch Friday Night Lights anymore; I pretend to watch it while actually scrolling through endless API scores and inspection reports and Google Earth views of streets I've never stood on. Sigh. I'll be back, Tim Riggins. I'll be back.
Look, you can totally wear a sports bra in public! Like, to a fancy restaurant! (I'd totally wear this one in public. Love it.)
Because the sky is grey and miserable today and I'm dreaming of hot days and open roads, let's do a little warm-weather fantasizing, shall we?
P.S. All of the above pieces are from ShopBop, and you can get 25% off of your entire order using code SPRING25 at checkout. Also P.S. this fringe bucket bag is great and I couldn't get it into the slideshow above but still wanted you to see it because: great.
Clearly I'm pretty excited about the wardrobe possibilities for our upcoming summer. I'm thinking cowboy boots, obviously (I have this one pair that's actual cowhide, and that I've never really worn because they're just a hair too Western for anywhere other than The Actual West). Cheesy tourist t-shirts, please. Short short shorts, because deserts are hot. And a cowboy hat, of course (I already have a leather one from last summer's Cali trip, so that's done and done).
But the kids are coming along on our little Summer of Love too, of course, and so I thought I'd get them each a little something to wear in the spirit of it all. For Indy, a t-shirt to remind him to keep on dreaming…and for Goldie, a full-on rainbow.
Packing - which, to me, translates to How Much Stuff Can I Possibly Get Rid Of And Still Live My Life - is, weirdly enough, one of my favorite things to do. The fact that anything that you don't toss or give away will have to be packed up and lugged long distances and then unpacked again is a pretty good motivator to force you to get rid of all that excess baggage, and also: it's just fun to go through all your things. Trips down memory lane and such.
I spent the weekend going through my closets and bringing bag after bag to Goodwill (PSA: if you're into thrifting, you should probably take a little trip up to the Elmsford Goodwill, because I dropped off some VERY good stuff), and rediscovered some old favorites that haven't seen the light of day in several years…and so I thought I'd break 'em out for our dinner with friends at a Chinese place in Hartsdale (we went despite the unfortunate name - Fantasy Cuisine - because of the Times review and because oooo soup dumplings).
The Old Stuff...
You know how occasionally some actor's original audition tape for some film or another will get released, and it's always fun to watch? Fun to see why they got the part in the first place (or maybe why they didn't)?
Watching these tapes gives me All Of The Residual Anxiety. Because GOD, I hated auditioning. No matter how prepared I was when I walked into the room, no matter how right I was for the part, I could never be sure that my nerves wouldn't get the better of me and leave me standing there in front of a huge room of people with my knees shaking, my neck bright-red, and my voice all high and weird...and oh, the lines? Not thinking about those even a tiny bit anymore; all I'd be thinking was GET ME OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW. It was terrifying, and self-esteem crushing, and it made me dread each and every time my phone rang with my agent telling me I had to go in and read for a new part.
While effectively quitting the acting industry (or being forcibly evicted; however you'd like to put it; the latter being significantly more accurate) was obviously one of the most overwhelming (and frightening) moments in my life, it was also kind of…a relief. Because even though I was being faced with starting completely from scratch, looking out into a wide-open future full of uncertainty, I knew one thing: I would never have to audition again.
