I have always been fascinated by photography. I have spent countless hours studying photographs of people, while considering the angles, the lighting, and the editing the photographer used. I love the fact that photography has the amazing ability to transport us to a different time, or place with one single shot.
It was not until I started blogging that I decided to take photography more seriously. With camera in hand, I started experimenting with photographs of my apartment, of friends, and family. It was after experimenting in this way that I realized my passion for photography. I have no formal training or background in this field, but I realize that passion can open your eyes to the impossible, so not only did I invest in the proper equipment I also spent the necessary time to learn everything I could to enhance the skill it takes to be proficient with this passion.
I enjoy, and appreciate the opportunity to photograph bloggers, couples, influencers who make an impact in their profession, families, and also lifestyle type setting. I take an individual approach to each person I photograph. I make every effort to embrace and highlight the focus of what they are trying to convey to their audience with each session.
I look forward to working together and capturing the potential magnificence of your moments through my eyes and the lens of my camera.
I must admit, after the cleanse I am still feeling a bit sluggish. I definitely enjoyed my salmon and french fries yesterday but am feeling a bit slow today. I wanted to do a great post about an outfit or something fashion related, but then I saw this picture on Lynsey’s blog and had to share. It really is exactly how I am feeling. After a 2:30pm consulting meeting (shameless plug), my only plans are to meet-up with Molly, pop a bottle of champagne, and cheers to it being Friday. Anyone else feeling rather unmotivated today?
The one other thing motivating me, other than my consulting meeting today, is the website Career Contessa, which was just introduced to me via Lynsey’s post today. It is a beautiful site which really explores women and their careers, how they got there, and advice for other women. I am always so inspired by people’s stories of where they came from and how they got to where they are now. It is always inspirational to know that people out there worked for their dream and achieved it. You may remember this idea was the reason I started, M.A.S. Interviews. I have loved getting to hear from Gray Malin, Grace Atwood, and other amazing, and very inspiring, individuals. Sometimes I can make excuses for why something can’t be done, but after browsing Career Contessa, I am fully ready to dive into my dreams. One day you might even see me on there! That is, after I have my champagne… Cheers! 🙂
I did it! I finished my juicing cleanse! I feel really accomplished and much lighter. The first day wasn’t too bad because you are so excited to start something you kind of forget you have two more days ahead of you. The second day, oh the second day! I kind of, sort of, wanted to die. I had a migraine, I was exhausted, and really really worn down. But as bad as the second day is, the third day picks up. By day three every juice I drank I told myself was the last time I had to drink it. And food. Man do you crave food! I would see a salad and my mouth would water (usually not a salad girl so this was strange). But would I do it again? Absolutely.
My body feels so amazing! I woke up this morning and was kind of scared to start eating again because I didn’t want to “dirty” up my body. That sounds so strange but after the cleanse you feel so clean and purified- the thought of food filling your stomach kind of makes you sick. Another benefit? I am a huge puffer! Meaning- I have a crazy case of puffing! I can have a salad and I will puff. My fingers become swollen, I feel it in my face- everywhere just puffs. It is absolutely insane and I think I need to go to the doctor for it but this cleanse totally, “de-puffed” my entire body. You should see my stomach! Never have I seen it so flat! And my fingers- well, my rings actually fit on and off easily. As hard as cleansing is, the rewards are that much greater. I only wish I knew about this before and wasn’t so stubborn in the past.
The cleanse I did was the three day, intermediate cleanse from Vim + Vigor. I fell in love with the packaging (total creative side of me) and branding. It really is so cute (see here). Now, did I fall in love with the juices? They were nice and better than I expected, (minus the carrot one because I hate drinking carrots), but any time you are drinking your meals, you won’t love what you are drinking. Since I am a foodie it is hard for me to say every juice was incredible but, again, much much better than I expected! They were definitely good enough to do it again, if that answers any questions. Especially the last one which contained: almond milk, cinnoman, vanilla bean, sea salt, and dates. Quite a nice way to end each day! So if you are thinking about starting a cleanse or totally against it (I’ve been there), I must say I recommend it as a little way to give your body a break! I know experts people say they are bad for you, but I have never felt better! Let me know if you have cleansed and if there is another one I should try in the future!
The other day I had someone ask me, “what is outside your comfort zone?” I really was taken aback. Have you been asked that? If so, were you able to answer it right away? I was not. I stumbled through the question throwing out different options but nothing felt really scary or outside my actual comfort zone. I think I even said I was scared to talk to strangers. Ummm, what?! If you know me, you know this is NOT something out of my comfort zone. After much thought I did come up with a few things that I really do not enjoy. One being writing and the other not feeling confident in what I am wearing.
Writing- I know you are thinking, but you started a blog? Isn’t that a part of the blog? I love fashion and getting to talk to and meet new people, so I thought the blog was my best avenue. It just so happens writing is a part of blogging. I really, really, get nervous to write. I know my grammer could use some brushing up (yes I use too many commas and terrible sentence structure), my sentences never form how I want them to, and I don’t think what I have to say is as interesting in text. To be honest, writing is something I would rather not do. My major in college was journalism, so you would think I would be quite confident in this arena. Wrong. I did everything I could to only take broadcast classes and do the minimum writing classes as possible. I have mentioned on this blog before that talking fashion on T.V. is my ultimate dream, which involves personality, camera skills, and fashion knowledge – luckily very little writing. The best/worst thing about my writing is, I write the way I talk – perfect for broadcast, terrible for print. I will continue to write on the blog but with feet kicking and a nervous feeling every time I hit “publish.”
Not feeling confident in what I am wearing- Fashion has always been important to me. I used to get dressed up to go grocery shopping when I was seven in a white tennis skirt, white sneakers, a white sweater, and a white bag – I wore monochromatic before monochromatic was cool! I, for the most part, consider myself quite confident so when the two things I pride myself on falter, I feel really uncomfortable. I always tell my friends no matter what you are wearing to, “rock it with confidence and you will look great.” Since I usually feel most confident in my typical basic colors and basic pieces, I decided it was time to get outside my comfort zone and wear something totally different. So when I woke up one morning with pink on my mind, I knew that was going to be it! I put my sights on this beautiful J.Brand Auden top and hit purchase. I had a lot of fun shooting it and definitely felt different in something so bright.
To conclude this long-winded post about my terrible writing and taking comfort in the typical I must say, thinking about what is outside your comfort zone and trying to tackle it is quite scary, yet very rewarding. Since the question threw me off so much and I couldn’t answer it right away, can you? Do you know what is outside your comfort zone?
