Making Use...

The Week Begins

Thanks for all the nice feedback on my Monday series.  While some of my posts take a lot of time to prepare (lots of words... lots of images...) I find this collection of links to be pretty speedy to throw up here and am so far  impressed that I'm on week 3 already.  Go me.  Also, it sounds like a longer post about traveling in style and my tips for doing so might be of interest to some of you.  I'll try to make that happen.  

This weekend was busy busy.  I had two portrait sessions and second-shot a wedding with Jen Fariello and on Sunday morning Meg came over for brunch and a walk in the sunshine.  On Friday evening, Flora, Mom, and I attended the opening performance of the Crozet Spirit Walk just as the sky darkened to night.  We carried hot chocolates from Mud House and pushed a bundled baby in her stroller until she grunted loud enough to be carried.  At the end of the tour she became riveted by the "strolling yodeler" character and watched him, eyes transfixed and arms out-stretched, as he strummed and sang to the crowd in a voice she knows so well.  Girl loves her daddy.

- Have you heard this song by Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers?  It's downright catchy, for sure, but it also sounds unmistakably like a reworked version of Cecilia.  Melodic homage or appropriation?

- We cook with olive oil probably every day in our household, though I admit to being pretty ignorant about our oil's sources and standards.  This NYT article from the past week really piqued my interest in exploring California olive oils.  Tasting party, anyone?

- Miranda July is possibly a genius and this video (and her solution to the plight of the easily distracted) made me laugh out loud.  Imagine how EFFECTIVE!

- I am taking my love child to New York City in the near future.  It will be her first foray into deeply urban culture, and my first time taking an infant to a big city.  Any tips for NYC with a baby?  We'll be driving in so I plan to bring her travel crib (super lightweight and easy to fold and pack) and travel stroller (lives in the back of the car and is, again, super lightweight and folds, one-handed, in a second).  But would it be better to wear her?  Where do you change diapers in the city?  Are restaurants cool about babies?  Even the teeny four-tables-and-no-toilets kind of restaurants?  I guess I'm about to find out...

- A month or two ago I decided to get me some new spectacles.  I have been wearing the same eye glasses (when I wear my glasses...) since, I don't know, 2005 or something?  It was time for a new look.  I had read about Warby Parker on Design Mom and was totally sold by the fact that you can order 5 different frames, free of charge, and they will send them to your house for you try on for a week.  How fun?!  So I picked a range of styles and colors and when my frames arrived I gave Todd an eye glasses' fashion show of various looks around the theme of "sexy-librarian-meets-Revenge-of-the-Nerds".  A few days later we did it all again, just to be sure.  Turns out we agreed on the same pair.  "Preston" in Whiskey Tortoise.  Just $95 to put my prescription in these geek glasses and the company even gave a pair away to someone in need.  Pretty darn cool.  You can see my new look below.

Have a great week.

Morning in our chair, Charlottesville, VA, September 8, 2011.  

The Week Begins

Soooo, the problem with being a lame blogger and introducing a weekly series is that sometimes no other content will be posted between these new Monday posts!  D'oh!  I should have known this would happen.  I've been working on that beautiful wedding post I promised last Monday but this past week turned out to be eventful and dramatic in all kinds of ways I didn't anticipate, so, of course, my blog suffered.  Oh well.  Better to aim high and land a little low rather than aim low and land lower, right?  That's a proverb somewhere, I'm sure.

What did you do this weekend?  I flew to Boston on Friday to photograph an extra special, candle-lit wedding with a Hollywood glamour bride and churros for dessert!  It was a beautiful affair and so much fun to document, but I do miss my husband and baby when I travel without them.  On Sunday evening I could not get home soon enough to my favorite lips (his) and cheeks (hers).  I found them in the kitchen, making pizza dough (him) and chilling in the high chair (her).  Then we had a group hug and momma cried!

- We all have our quirky obsessions.  These are the random subjects that will always be endlessly fascinating to each of us.  What are your quirky obsessions?  Mine include this movie, the US Postal Service, Mormon mommy blogs, and the elusive art of traveling with style.  

I realize that previous sentence probably piqued your interest in a multitude of ways, but here's what we'll discuss today: traveling in style.  

To me, traveling in style is not about fashion or wealth.  It is about traveling well.  To travel in style you must know how to pack a suitcase efficiently and with all the items you need and want.  You must have luggage that you can carry yourself without looking like a pack horse or being forced to walk funny.  You must be able to move through security gracefully, pulling the necessary offensibles out of your carry-on quickly and tidily, removing your jacket and shoes discretely, without appearing to strip to your skivvies...  You must never pitch a bitch fit when your flight is delayed or cancelled.  Delays and annoyances are part of the traveling life and screaming or whining at the gate agent about how supremely important your itinerary is suggests that you don't get out much.  And, ideally, you will honor all of these tenets and look amazing while doing so.  This means, at the very least, no sweat pants, no flip flops, and no collection of assorted and overloaded shopping bags and totes strung up your arms.  

When I travel by air, I love to people watch at the airport.  I'm not interested in the major offenders.  I'm interested in the people I see who succeed in traveling with style.  I like to see what they wear, what they carry, how they pack their carry-on, what they do to kill time at the gate, etc.  And if they travel in style with kids, I'm doubly impressed.  

Though I've been obsessed with traveling well for many, many years, I consider the act of doing so to be something we must constantly and actively pursue.  With every trip I like to think that I tweak and improve my packing skills.  And I'm always trying to do better.  (Does this sound weird to you?  I don't care; it's my quirky obsession, okay?)

I could expand this post considerably, but here are three key points to my travel style:

1.  Invest in a good rolling carry-on that actually adheres to airline overhead compartment dimensions.  It peeves me to watch weak travelers try to stuff oversized luggage into the overhead bin.  And it feels so good to slip your bag in that space without resistence.  (I'm trying to think of a less-tantalyzing way to phrase that sentence but, well, that's how satisfying it is to have proper luggage).

2.  My "personal item" is always a purse with dual straps.  I must have my dual straps!  This means over the shoulder straps AND a cross-body strap.  Having multiple ways to wear a bag helps prevent body fatigue during a long day of travel and the cross-body strap allows you to free up your hands and arms for other things.  

3.  Wear comfortable clothes that make you feel good and look put together.  You will be treated better by airline staff and your fellow passengers if you dress with some self-respect.  And you will feel a lot better when you see yourself in the bathroom mirror if you look cute.  My current uniform for flying involves well-fitting jeans, a drapey t-shirt or interesting blouse, flats or boots I can run in, and a cardigan or jacket for smart layering.  This is a close approximation to my travel outfit on Sunday, which both looked and felt good:

 

Travel Style by mermont featuring a boyfriend jacket

For some reason Typepad is cutting off the edge of the image file (even though it is sized correctly), but you can click on the links to go right to the Polyvore set.

- I'm on Pinterest.  Did you know?  I can see what an immeasurable time-suck this site could become, so at this point I'm just using it as a visual collection space for things I find online and want to remember.  Maybe my pinning activity (???) will grow and become more interractive and extensive?  Maybe.  In any case, feel free to follow my boards!  Do you pin?  Do people even say that?

- Did you see Joanna's Motherhood Monday post last month about children in Scandinavia who nap outside in their strollers and spend time out in the fresh air every day, despite the weather (which can be severe in that part of the world)?  I found the topic fascinating, and when I told Todd about it during one of our walks with Flora he said, "I like the sounds of that."  I agreed.  Flora takes a walk in her stroller pretty much every day and I hope to keep up the fresh air and exercise routine through the winter.  She loves to look around and feel the breeze on her face.  And sometimes a long stroll helps lull her to sleep.  Todd and I definitely do not and will not leave her unattended in her stroller (not in the land that brought you the Amber Alert...), but I am inspired by the Scandinavian belief that "it's healthy for babies and children to be exposed to cold air for a few hours a day."  Now I just have to make sure we have appropriate outerwear for the winter weather!  

- Speaking of babies, I read the most interesting interview with Ina May Gaskin in the fall 2011 issue ofPathways Magazine.  Ina May Gaskin is an American midwife who is considered the "godmother of modern midwifery," and her book Ina May's Guide to Childbirth was the one and only source I read last year to prepare for childbirth.  Although Todd and I had already decided to pursue a homebirth with midwives when I read the book, I found her words, stories, and research to be very informative and HUGELY inspiring as I mentally prepared myself for an unmedicated birth.  Regardless of your birthing plans and where or how you hope to or will deliver your babies, I highly recommend Ina May's Guide to Childbirth to any woman (or any person) because the book fills you with so much confidence about the female body and all it is capable of accomplishing.  I will share the passge from her interview in Pathways that I found so interesting in a post on my other blog (do you follow that one, too?) since it might be a bit overly baby-centric for all my readers here.  :)

- Lastly, my talented friend Stephanie Marie, has launched a new blog, The Fête Blog, where she shares weddings and lifestyle inspiration and DIY ideas.  I attended Stephanie's launch party with cocktails and candy at a rooftop bar one rainy evening last week and am happy to support her new creative endeavor both in person and online.  Follow along on her blog--she does a great job of posting everyday!  Also, she featured one of my photographs in the debut weekly series "Photo I Heart".  Thanks, Stephanie!

This week--a wedding!  I hope.  

 

The Week Begins

I'm going to try something new.  Many of the blogs I read have Friday wrap-ups, where the blogger will post links to interesting things discovered on the web that week.  I suppose these links are to tide the readers over until regular posting resumes on Monday?  

What I have always noticed, however, is that my readership tends to fall off on the weekend and pick back up come Monday morning.  Do you know what this trend tells me?  It tells me that my readers have interesting, active lives that take them out into the world during the weekend.  But come Monday, when they are back at their desks, there is always some time to return to their favorite websites and blogs, even for a few mintues, for a workday distraction.

So here's what I would like to do: 

On Mondays I would like to begin a little series for my readers.  Some lite reading for the lunch hour.  Links to all things interesting, pretty, yummy, or worth-sharing that I have come upon in the last week.  Nothing profound.  But hopefully a bit of this-and-that to help make the Monday morning return to your desk just a smidge more bearable exciting! I want this series to be interactive, creating an exchange of ideas and discoveries.  I will pose questions and hope that you'll respond.  At least every once in a while...

We'll start with a weekend recap.  

On Saturday I drove to Lewisburg, West-by-God-Virginia* with Maggie, my multi-talented second shooter, to photograph a pretty spectacular farm wedding.  Yellow leaves on the trees, short dresses with cowboy boots, shotguns, home-grown flowers, a locally sourced menu, and a bride and groom in love love love.  Maggie and I had a blast.  After Saturday's late night drive back home, we in the pink house had a lazy Sunday morning.  In the afternoon we took Flora to the park and pushed her in a baby swing for the first time.  She squealed while I recorded the moment on the iPhone.  Such a 2011 mommy move!

What did you do?

--  On Sunday night I made this fall salad for dinner using butternut squash.  Paired with grilled Alaskan salmon it made for a fantastically tasty and nutritious meal.  I'm going to try it again with pumpkin.  Also, I tossed the arugula with some fresh lemon juice and olive oil before topping it with the other ingredients.  Yum!

--  Every spring and fall I like to think about a handful of items (no more than 5, ideally, and that includes accessories) that I can purchase to add to my wardrobe to make it fresh for the season.  So far this fall I bought a pair of high-waisted skinny cords that are surprisingly flattering and these boots.  Haven't worn them yet but I think they might be just right.  Except that they are suede.  I love suede, but it is not always the best material for winter weather, right?  Any ideas where I can find something similar but non-suede? 

--  Bread and Roses was a song we used to sing at Step Sings at Bryn Mawr.  This article about contemporary feminism really tickled my Mawrtyr bone.  "Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses too."  Check it out.

--  I still can't get over this song.  The combination of melody and lyrics is just killer.  Achingly so.  Right up there with Hallelujah for the emotional punch it packs in one performance.   

--  Finally, I just started listening to books-on-cd while editing photographs.  I don't know why I didn't think to do this sooner.  I find that I stay so focused on my pictures while simulatenously "reading" a new book.  Genius!  Better than listening to music, I tell you!  Listening to podcasts is also a pretty effective way to engage more parts of my brain while working, but spending so many hours invested in a single story is especially effective, not to mention rewarding.  Last week I finished listening to this story.  Oh my goodness.  It was so excellent.  An unbelieveable testament to the strength of man in the face of mankind's very worst.  I highly recommend that you check it out.  I'm now going to the library every week or so to pick up new books-on-cd and have accumulated quite a list of titles.  What have you read recently that you recommend?

Okay, that's it for now.  Have a wonderful week!  Next up on the blog will be a beautiful, late spring wedding at King Family Vineyards!

*Todd, WV born and bred, uses this expression all the time and so I've adopted it.  Marital right.