Hey there, I've got some exciting news to share- I've launched a new series on my YouTube channel with my girlfriend, called Salt & Peppa' and it's about one of our favorite things: FOOD. We're excited for all the recipes we'll be crafting, fun we'll be having and progress we'll be making!
The first episode covers a super easy and quick meal: Stuffed Pasta Shells
This past weekend, I headed out to the Old Town Art Festival with some of my favorite people! I always struggle with what to wear in hotter days, and with festival season in full swing...well...it gets me anxious. I decided to rock this super cool baby blue eye-print dress that I scored at Zara a couple months ago. I fell in love with it for obvious reasons (I have an eye tattoo in on the back of my neck, so yes, for very obvious reasons) and became obsessed with the material - scuba material, that is. (It's 95% polyester and 5% elastane, if we want to get technical here) Thankfully I didn't spill my drink on this gem of a dress because sangria sippin' can get dangerous. Also, the turtleneck wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and I received so many comments from this lil' getup. This dress is a winner!
Oh, hi, hello - you've made it to my third and final post of my trip to Traverse City. In our relaxed state, we wanted to be super low key as we had a 6ish hour drive ahead of us that same day. We got amazing brunch at this quaint little French place in the downtown area called Patisserie Amie. Fresh food, my love and a cup of jo had me on cloud nine. We chose to walk around and then...
On the second day of our quick trip, we only had to expectations for the day: 1) stay outdoors and 2) have a picnic. We did just that. We started off with some breakfast at The Towne Plaza. It was pretty yummy and sitting outside on a patio is always a plus. While we were grubbin', the weather was pretty gloomy but still warm, but even though we were confused on what to do and what to wear, we headed over to the bay area. We rented out our bikes for a couple of hours and...
About a week ago my gf and I did a nice little road-trip getaway for the Memorial Day Weekend. It was a very spur of the moment situation - we thought we were riding off to Wisconsin, then potentially flying to Colorado but ended up gracing the road on our way to Traverse City, Michigan. Lisa had me at, "quaint little area with cute places to eat + shop and beautiful scenery" ... sold. I will say we didn't anticipate the drive would be as long as it was, but the journey to our destination was just as fun. We made a pit stop in Three Oaks, Mi. to the Journey Man Distillery where we...
Where to begin? What to say? What to learn from? What to laugh at? What to cry from?
All I can say is that this year has been crazy, from graduating from an incredible university, to getting a career in what I studied, to cursing more, to having two new additions to the family (my 2nd nephew and my adorable cat), to over-analyzing, to loving, to traveling, to understanding myself a little better...
...and the list goes on and on.
I just hope everyone finds a bit of happiness and can look back and smile on the year and take on 2013 with a stronger force to be better and do better.
One thing I couldn't leave 2012 without doing is getting my 1st tattoo. I've been excited to post about it because it's something I've wanted forever (for my own personal meaning) and because I felt liberated - nothing sucks more than the overwhelming weight of caring about what other people may think. Good thing I stopped caring and just went for it.
My tattoo is an evil eye and I love it.
Adios 2012!
xx
O&C
and here's a quick/cliche/cheesy but truthful statement to remind yourself:
When I finally got my hands on the "Comme Des Fuckdown" beanie a little over a month ago, I was pretty fkn excited! As a play on words from the fashion house Comme des Garçons I thought it was genius/hilarious. I posted it on my instagram as "fake, late on trend..." and it's true - it is an over-hyped, over-trendy, over-done piece that I was too late to hop on the bandwagon BUT, to be quite frank, I don't care. I love it so much. And when you love something...big, small, materialistic, characteristic, person, or place...it doesn't matter how others may view that. So I'll keep on truckin' the streets of my beloved Chicago offending some people, but hopefully making other people laugh.
Also, took the American flag Litas out - my mom hit the spot with this very early Christmas gift.
xx
O&C
Meet the eyes behind the lens for 99% of my posts: my sister, Priscilla. Poor girl, she endures strange weather conditions, my constant looking at photos and telling her to re-shoot, and my inability to pose more than 3 facial expressions/body positions. She actually chose the outfit of this post in an efforts to let people see that I really do wear leggings and a t-shirt at home, and that I should feel comfortable enough to just throw on heels and a scarf to walk out the door. Would I really do it? Probably not, but just having her get me out of a comfort zone for a blog shoot is pretty awesome. I love her and never give her enough credit for making some of these posts happen. She's the reason I haven't invested in a tripod - even if we get into 20 billion arguments over what she thinks/I think is cool.
Also, pretty sure she was hating my guts when I started to use her as a coat rack.
First off, I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday(s) and got to spend quality time with family, friends and loved ones. It's the coziest time of the year! Anywho, I'm going to be working for the rest of break, so it's vital for me to gain inspiration and what better way to get some, then by going back to my roots? Black and white photos/photography has always intrigued me and holds a special place in my heart; given my exposure to black and white film photography back in high school. Even with the advancement of the digital world, I can't let go of this love.
