Just A Girl
I have been shopping. A lot. But haven't bought anything yet (well, except for bras, but in my book, they don't count - I needed them).
What have I been wanting? Well, everything. Duh. Ankle boots. A new purse. A (vegan) leather jacket.
This is going to be MUCH harder than I thought. Damn.
xo, Laura
Last month we finally set out to explore the trail that is closest to us now, and it definitely did not disappoint. Best part - horses are allowed. Not that we have a horse, but running into one is still pretty cool, no?
As for this weekend - yay for friends coming into town. Can't wait :)
xo, Laura
Life lately has been the same.
Which is just how I like it these days.
Studio is ALMOST finished. House is seriously ALMOST done (for now, of course).
Puggle is cute as ever (but hurting - poor girl injured her leg again jumping off the bed).
And I'm working late and digging it. It's been awhile since that's happened.
And that's that.
xo, Laura
And yes, I still love polka dots (and stripes - and black and white in general).
I must admit. I've been feeling really good about my no splurging. It has to be at least a month now since I've gotten any fashion-related item. Hooray! It actually feels quite simple - and neutral and key pieces have been singing wonderful songs in my ears. I'm beginning to realize that more is not better and brand new pieces are not key. Feeling comfortable and confident in clothing is what makes the outfit - right?!
Wednesday, you came too quickly.
Now if only I can stop my splurging on home decor things - new homeowners, HOW DO YOU DO IT?!
xo, Laura
All weekend it felt like summer, but this morning the clouds rolled in, the darkness lingered, and the heavy rain started to make the leaves fall effortlessly from the trees. I like a dreary day every now and then - feels quite fitting for today.
Lately I've been rummaging through my
series trying to get some things ready for a gallery show, and I remembered I've been scuba diving since I last worked on it.
So I played around a bit. Always endless opportunities there. Here's a moody picture for a moody day.
Oh Monday, here's a hello to you ;)
xo, Laura
Yep. It's one of those days. You know the ones where you really feel BLAH and have to force yourself to even shower...BUT after that shower if you just put on some pretty lipstick and a beautiful necklace, you'll start to feel better. Hell - you can even keep your hair messy.
Let's perk up this Wednesday!
xo, Laura
It's true. I have a major confession - I am a hardcore bargain shopper that spends way too much money on "cheap" clothing.
So what's that mean? It means I am trying something major. As in really major. As in not buying an article of clothing or shoes or accessories for umm...a year. Oh boy. I regret even saying it.
It's totally ridiculous though. I spend a lot of money on cheap clothes that I end up not usually liking or even wearing (or that only last one or two wears!). So I am trying to simplify my wardrobe, get creative with key pieces, and well..see if I can last a year.
It's no doubt going to be hard, but I think I can do it. And hey, it's not like I am getting a huge paycheck in every week, so I really have no reason to be spending money on clothes as it is. And I figured if I can at least make some pretty images, maybe it will make me more excited about the clothes that I already have, so let's see how this goes!
Off to New Jersey for a wedding this weekend! Enjoy the pretty fall weather!
xo, Laura
Now that the temperatures are a bit cooler, and the house has a chill to it, I've been itching to just cuddle up on the couch and read and write. I've also been itching for a vintage couch to call my own - that way I can at least feel elegant when I'm a couch potato all day!
Hope you're enjoying the crisp fall weather. And yes, this is the first phoodle in a
very
,
very
long time.
xo, Laura
It's official. The honeymoon is over, and has been over for quite some time - and no not the honeymoon phase...that's never over (well according to my grandfather). But that doesn't mean I can't look back fondly at our time in St. Lucia.
I was thinking about what I would recommend and what I wouldn't from our entire trip (for those of you planning your own honeymoon or vacation to St. Lucia) and well, this is what I came up with. And this is obviously completely personal. Everybody likes different things, right?!
The Good
-The Accommodations - our villa was beautiful (part of the
) and I really had not one complaint about it.
-Private Dinner - this was, by far, the best meal and service we had our entire stay. It was part of our honeymoon package, and I must admit, it was much more than I was expecting. People came early, set up a beautiful table on our luxurious balcony. We had a private chef and server, who were both
extremely
nice. It really was exceptionally romantic and delicious, and after the meals we had been having, we thoroughly enjoyed it. There really is nothing like being waited on while watching the sunset over the ocean with your new husband. Cheesin', I know, but it's true.
-Scuba Diving - the scuba diving was
much
better than I was expecting. We really saw a lot of interesting things (some that I had never seen before), and we didn't have to travel too far by boat to get to the different dive locations. It was also nice because we got to see the beauty of the island (that somehow had been missing before) that everyone always talks about. We passed by one of the scenes filmed for Pirates of the Caribbean, and it really allows you to take in the mystery and beauty of such a place (not to mention it was totally cool seeing that scene after having just been there!). I would say, though, that if you are new to diving and a bit more on the anxious side, that perhaps this isn't the best place to go diving (and by that I mean go diving through the dive shop at the hotel). They are definitely a bit lackadaisical when it comes to safety.
-Zip-lining - this totally gets a 100% definitely do in my book, which is interesting considering 1) smelly equipment and 2) I never actually thought of zip-lining as possibly being that much fun, but it was! We honestly both loved it. It was a totally cool experience and totally worth doing, no matter where you are!
The Bad
-The Food - as much as we
really
wanted an all-inclusive trip, I'm afraid that the food suffers because of it. We were really dreading which restaurants to go to towards the end of the trip -- certainly nothing available that we were dying to eat. Being a vegetarian, most of my meals consisted of shredded lettuce (yes that's a salad), pizza, and french fries. And more french fries.
-The Beach - I was truly disappointed by the beach when we arrived at our hotel that first day. It was so, so tiny. So tiny in fact, that I kept looking around, swearing there had to be more somewhere, but there wasn't. The pictures of the hotel online were definitely a bit deceiving with this aspect. To say you couldn't go for a walk on the beach isn't an exaggeration. It would take a whole 90 seconds.
-The Sunset Sail - now this was part of our honeymoon package, so we didn't exactly pay for it, although we probably actually did in the price of the package, but anyway...this was NOT AT ALL what we were expecting. I was expecting a lovely quiet and romantic sail around parts of the island. I was actually really looking forward to it. It was, however, more like a booze cruise. Seriously. That boat had a dancing king and queen by the end of the sail (who were so excited they won!). Now this is all fine and dandy if this is what you want and yes maybe at some point it is, but not when you are expecting a peaceful, romantic sail. My drink was so strong, I couldn't even drink it, wondering the whole time how I could get rid of it. Ahhh lovely drunk dance competitions. Booze cruise, you weren't for me that night ;)
The Mediocre
-The Hotel - even though our villa itself was beautiful, the general atmosphere of the hotel was a whole lot of EHHHH. There really just wasn't a lot to do (and again some of that was because of the weather). You couldn't really walk anywhere, and when the weather wasn't great, the beach was out of the picture, so there was a lot of wondering what to do next.
-The Service - the service too was a bit ehhh. I mean everyone was nice, and we really didn't deal with any nasty people, but I guess you just expect a bit more at this type of resort. Friendly smiles go a long way if you know what I mean. I was also a bit turned off because as part of our honeymoon package, we had a lot of inclusions, which if we didn't constantly ask about them, we would have never received them.
-Horseback riding - we got enticed into horseback riding (along with our other activities) because of the crappy weather, but also because of being able to go into the ocean with your horse after the ride. Umm - yes please! I was super excited, got my underwater camera housing ready, and I was set. The ride itself was umm...slow? And on a random road - not necessarily your most scenic route. It was okay though, because hello ocean, here we come. Yea..not so much. I mean we definitely could go in the ocean with the horse, but only two horses could go in, and you basically took turns taking your pictures in the ocean on top of the horses (being dragged by one of the guides). I mean it was cool to be able to ride a horse bareback (which I had never done before), but other than that, I wouldn't really recommend it.
So that's it. Goodbye sweet honeymoon.
, I don't think we'll be seeing you again. I'm not even sure if we'll ever be seeing St. Lucia again. Beforehand, we were totally set on going back to where we went on our honeymoon for our one year anniversary, but that's definitely not going to happen. And it's not that we didn't have a great time - we always do - it's just I think there can be a better place and a better time.
Happy Tuesday Folks!
xo, Laura
One of our wedding presents was a gift certificate to a local nursery, which we were super excited about. We knew right away that we wanted to get some Japanese Maples. It's funny how when you go to pick one out, certain ones really do call to you. Apparently the leaves turn greener the less sun it gets, like the top picture. I love, love, love the interesting in between colors like that one - it can't quite decide yet if it gets enough sun. The picture underneath, though, well -- I spy a little something. Anyone else?
Yep, another praying mantis. This one is very different than the last two I photographed, though. Actually one of the last ones was hanging around for a long time, until I noticed his behind turning white. I wasn't sure what was going on, if they camouflage or not (apparently they do not, their natural colors are meant to blend into the environment and different species have different colorings), but the next day he was entirely white. Intrigued, I kept my eye on him, only to later find him dangling (dead) off the branch (sad face). I tried to research if praying mantises turn before they die, but I couldn't find out any information. Anyone know? I wonder what happened to him.
Okay, okay, back to the very alive praying mantis. This one is so much more purple than the last two. In fact, I hardly saw it in the Japanese Maple. It's hard to believe they don't camouflage because somehow it was the perfect mixture of green and purple to blend right in. I know, I know. I'm a nerd. Oh well.
BUT...while I was obsessing over awesomely colored praying mantises, my husband spotted something very unusual (and I was secretly mad because I'm supposed to be the observant one - boo hoo me!).
When I say this thing was the greenest green I have ever seen, I seriously mean it. It was so vibrant it was unreal. I certainly had never seen anything like it before and the closest thing I could relate to it is was one of the awesome nudibranchs that I always obsess over, but obviously we weren't submerged in the ocean, so I was thrown. Needless to say, it was so cool, that I had to photograph it.
So here I am, writing this blog post, and researching this little critter, and well, I'm slowly starting to learn I should probably research these things before I get all in their space to photograph them. Yep, this guys right here is very venomous. No wonder his color was so awesomely bright. It's a saddleback caterpillar, native to eastern North America (I'm surprised I've never seen one before). Those tiny little hairs they have coming out of their horns secrete a venom that cause a bad rash and nausea in humans. If the hairs aren't removed from the skin immediately, the venom can continue to spread. I've heard it feels much worse than getting stung by a jellyfish. Eek! Happy I did not touch this bugger. Phew!
On that note, happy Friday! Go enjoy nature (wink, wink)!
xo, Laura
Oh and PS if you do ever come across one of these buggers and your skin gets irritated, place scotch tape over the area and pull off until all hairs are completely out. I would have never thought to do this! Thank you poison control. You are oh so smart ;)
Yep. That's right. I am the worst
new
wife ever and made my man go scuba diving for the first time on our honeymoon. Oops. But I am TOTALLY happy we went. Thank you best husband
ever
!
Having been diving quite a bit, we had always discussed the idea of diving on our honeymoon, but with my husband not being certified beforehand, I wasn't actually sure if it was going to happen. Once the honeymoon got closer and closer, I was pretty comfortable with the fact that we were not going to be diving. But once we were there for a few days, I started itching to go.
I hadn't been diving in so long, and I knew the chance to do it again probably wouldn't have been for awhile, so I batted the eyelashes and asked the man if he was down (and ps I probably couldn't actually bat my eyelashes if my life depended on it). I just knew I would regret not going, and I was secretly envious seeing the divers come in at the end of a long day of diving. Hello jealousy!!
The man, of course, said yes. And he watched his instructional dvd, and we were told there would be a one on one instruction for him beforehand, and that his instructor would be by his side every step (or kick?) of the way and that he could go on both dives with us, not just the second. Wahoo! Win, win :)
That is until the instructor gave a whole 30 second introduction (all underwater-eek!) and well, left him as soon as we descended on the first dive. Man, he was a trooper. And did quite well I must say - much better than me on my first two dives, but than again, I did have a string attached to me.
I must say, the diving was much better than I was expecting and I am
SO
happy we went, but it was a little worrisome going with my brand new husband, who had no idea how to dive. When I saw his hand signal for turtle, though, it made it all worth it. It still cracks me up. Man, I love that man!
These photos of him totally fit into one of my series that I am continually working on, but never actually compile properly. Titled something along the lines of "Adaptation," I am always secretly laughing and photographing how silly we are as humans. I mean we put this ridiculous equipment on to try to get a glimpse of a world we could never survive in. And yes, I am one of those silly humans because yes, I am madly in the love with the ocean. And my husband..
Happy, Happy Tuesday!
xo, Laura
The glorious honeymoon posts are almost over.
Wah!
I want St. Luca!
The hotel offered two daily snorkeling trips - we went on one while we were in St. Lucia. The boat left straight from the hotel and took you to a little cove close by -- it was quiet and peaceful and definitely worth going!
Only one other person was on the boat with us, and we had the hour just to explore the ocean. It was the first time I went snorkeling with my husband and I enjoyed every second of it. Yes, even his reenactment of the movie
Open Water
. Man, I love him!
Happy Wednesday!
xo, Laura
I'm sad to see the summer go, mostly because it has yet to feel like summer. I think this may be my first summer not going to the shore, and it makes me ache for my younger years (or a beach house closer to Virginia!). I think because of the lack of summer in my mind, I'm bringing in the fall with open arms. Hello pumpkins, sweaters, high boots, and wonderful breezes. Doesn't that sound nice?
Enjoy the mixing of weather!
xo, Laura
If you follow me on instagram (
), you saw a few little tidbits of our home yesterday.
I walked around aimlessly taking pictures - it was a rainy, dreary day.
It fit the mood.
Anyway, thought I'd share them here.
The
REAL
house tour will come eventually, promise.
1. Being lazy on the couch in the living room.
2. Powder bathroom. Polka dots and a shelf made out of extra hardwood flooring. Silly, I know.
3. Guest room filled with lots of Moo Shu and Tessa. Oops ;)
4. Frame decals in the hallway from
(Did I Mention I love Walls Need Love?!).
5. Word search and ceiling in the other guest room.
6. A lovely message when we walk into the closet.
And that's it!
Happy Thursday.
xo, Laura
We got all of our wedding proofs back this weekend, and we were
SO
excited to bury ourselves in them. Here's a little sneak peek while we are still sorting through the rest.
As always, husband and wife photography team
totally rocked it!
Happy Wedded Bliss!
xo, Laura
Even though we ended up doing a lot more activities than we initially planned on doing on our honeymoon, there was still
PLENTY
of time to hang out around the hotel (both when the weather was good and when the weather was not so hot).
The hotel really was beautiful, and I loved how it was set up like the Mediterranean. Though the set up is gorgeous, being built going up the mountain, we were happy to be close to the shore. It was nice being able to walk everywhere as opposed to waiting for the shuttle.
I don't think we went in the main pool once, but we did take advantage of one of the smaller, more private pools, which was really nice.
Other than that, we took advantage of hanging out on the beach, eating at the restaurants, enjoying the music at happy hour and just walking around the hotel.
We would definitely recommend taking out the jet skis off of the beach. Even though they are not associated with the resort, you can get on them right there, and we had a blast on it. My husband was going so fast, I can honestly say that I laughed uncontrollably the whole ride. I was like a little kid on a roller coaster for the first time -- it was great.
That's it for now! Time to catch up on a long list of things ;)
xo, Laura
With the continued rain storms in St. Lucia, we booked another activity - horse back riding to the beach.
The highlight was definitely riding the horses bareback in the ocean.
Did I mention it is really hard and awkward riding bareback?
How do people do it?
Anyway, we had a great time!
Hope everyone is having a good day!
It's dreary and humid as hell here - perfect day to knock out some wedding thank you cards!
xo
Laura
The house is almost, sort of, really close to getting there, seriously
almost
finished.
For now.
Seriously.
Man, why do I obsess about
EVERY
thing.
Oh well.
Here's the second bit of our honeymoon.
It's funny..one of the reasons we picked St. Lucia is because we wanted a beach without much to do. We wanted to relax. And seriously relax. Not the relaxing that has you thinking you have to do an activity everyday you are there.
What we didn't expect though, or at least not me, was bad weather.
And the first few days were really not the best.
Hello Tropical Storm.
So what does that mean? We did exactly what we didn't want to.
We booked activities. And we ended up having a ball.
Funny how things work out.
First up...zip-lining, which I was especially excited about because it was something we could both experience for the first time together.
The zip-lining itself was way more fun than I was expecting.
I mean I always wanted to try it, just because I never had, but I never expected to actually think it was really cool. But it was.
My favorite line wasn't the tallest one, but it was the fastest one (and was pretty long too) and as soon as I started it, above all the trees in the rainforest, it started raining. It was really cool and I loved every second of it.
It looks like it's going to be a rainy week here.
Perfect for working on the house!
xo, Laura
I was hooked since the other day trying out new experiments with self-portraiture, but it's one of those things that you are really into, and do a million, and then look back, and think, "hmm, these are pretty awful."
Don't you love those moments?
Just kidding. They are the pits.
There was one, though, that I'm eh, maybe about, so I figured I'd share.
I just love the pop of the lace, but then again, I am a sucker for lace.
Enjoy the day!
xo, Laura
For those of you who don't know, we went to St. Lucia for our honeymoon. We wanted to go somewhere beachy (for sure), warm, and not too far away, so that we didn't waste a lot of time traveling (we were already traveling beforehand for preparation for the wedding and for the actual wedding, of course!).
Based on recommendations from others and from our own research, we decided to stay at the
.
Having an all-inclusive plan was something that was very important to us so that we didn't have to worry once we got there, and the Windjammer was one of the few locations that offered that.
Having a private villa was also important to us, and the beautiful thing about the Windjammer Landing is that it is set up like the Mediterranean, filled with different sized villas.
Ours was one of the newer ones, part of the
, and we really could not have been happier with the room. That's one thing the Windjammer definitely had going for them - the accommodations were perfect. We had a nice kitchen and living room, leading into a beautiful big bedroom with a beautiful big bathroom, all surrounded by a gorgeous (and big!) balcony, including a hot tub and killer ocean view.
Man, just typing this is making me want to go back!
I loved the greenery (not sure what it was) that spelled out "Welcome Enjoy Your Stay" when we arrived. Our first night we explored the hotel, took a stroll on the beach, checked out the pools, and well, SLEPT! We (especially me) were very, very, tired. The entire week before the wedding, I think I totaled about 12 hours of sleep. Just thinking about it makes me tired ;)
Oh St. Lucia, you are missed!
xo, Laura