Sidewalk Chic

Bryant Park

2013-06-11T10:00:00.000-04:00

Technicolor

2013-06-10T10:00:00.000-04:00

When I took these photos last month, I ran into an old friend on the bridge. I normally don't speak to people whenever I go on photo trips -- the less opportunities for awkward run-ins or questions about why I'm taking photos of outfits, the better. I was taken aback to see this friend because it had been years since we had seen each other, that I stammered through some lie about working on some landscape photography (which is kind of true?).

I've been sitting on so many outfit posts from Georgia, and have had a difficult time putting them up because I am homesick for my old photo spots. Seeing these photos reminds me that I was very lucky to have a park basically all to myself in the mornings for three years.

credits - dress, nine west | shoes and scarf, target | jacket, aeropostale.

The High Line

2013-05-31T10:00:00.000-04:00

The other day Jeremiah and I explored ventured out of our neighborhood and explored the High Line. I had visited back in December, so it was fun to point out some of the different art installations and views as we walked along. I really love how this old train trestle was re-purposed into a park and that all of these city views are now accessible to everyone.

My new Pour La Victoire bag has been inspiring an all blue mood lately and I've been wearing the color head to toe (I need to get a closeup of the bag soon!)

Happy Friday!

credits - dress & shoes, target | bag, pour la victoire | sweater, banana republic.

photos of me by Jeremiah.

Bloomin'

2013-05-29T10:00:00.000-04:00

I mentioned a few posts back that I still have quite a few outfit photos from Georgia, and I'm trying to make my way through them. This dress used to be about five inches longer, but I had it altered so I'd wear it more during the summer. It's made of some polyester/manmade material and now at a shorter length, it breathes a bit better.

I took these photos on my university's North Campus, on a day when everyone seemed to be out with a photographer to take graduation photos. I originally wanted to take photos at the chapel, but when the hordes never died down, I resorted to the administration building, which tries to be cool in its historical-ness with engravings of author names, but actually has 'Shakespeare' misspelled above its doorway.

credits - dress, vintage, thrifted | shoes, target.

And now for something completely different

2013-05-28T10:00:00.000-04:00

This Memorial Day weekend was pretty laidback -- now that I'm settled into the city, Jeremiah and I have been spending our time exploring our neighborhood, eating at different kinds of restaurants and looking for new furniture for our home. I have a few more days before I start work so I'm trying to make the most of my time setting up our apartment. Jeremiah's been living here for almost a year, but now with the rest of our stuff in the apartment it's like a completely different space and we're trying to accommodate with extra storage. I cut down the amount of my belongings before the move (including about two-thirds of my wardrobe, which included some beautiful but hardly-worn vintage dresses. Ughhh, will I regret that later?), but it's still been like shoving an elephant into a mousehole. I'll probably have it figured out soon, but until then I'll be scouring craigslist and design blogs for ideas.

So our neighborhood -- I love Hell's Kitchen. It's close to everything in midtown without it actually feeling like we live super close to all the madding crowds. And there's so much history, too -- a lot of the architecture is late 1800s/early 1900s and I like finding new details in the stones and woodwork. I love this arched doorway -- it's the exterior for the New Dramatists building. Some of the theaters in this neighborhood have really intricate facades, and I love the idea of old churches being repurposed for theaters and other types of organizations.

This J. Crew dress is outside of my typical preferences, but I love the neutral geometric print. Jeremiah hasn't taken my outfit photos in a really long time, and we're still getting used to each other. I'm still trying to figure out a way where I can do most of my photography on my own. I'm just not used to being near other people when I do photography!

This is the first post in about three years where I haven't put used 'athens' as a tag -- that was kind of exciting and weird. But mostly exciting.

credits - dress, j. crew | sweater, banana republic | bag, pour la victoire | shoes, target | hourglass necklace, gift.
pictures by Jeremiah.

Curdled skies

2013-05-23T12:12:00.001-04:00

I'm all settled now in New York and it's funny how blogging just falls by the wayside. In the last couple weeks, I've graduated from my program, said goodbye to everyone in Georgia and then drove a Uhaul up to New York (Jeremiah may have helped quite a bit with that last one).

In addition, I got a job as well! I'll be working for a media agency in the city and I start in a couple weeks. I'm super excited about the next few stages in my life.

I have quite a few outfit photos left from Georgia so I'll be sharing those over the coming days. This yellow vintage dress is one that sat in my closet for years until I decided to recently alter five inches off the length (as part of a graduation gift to myself, I took a few vintage dresses to get altered). Forgive the amount of photos here -- the clouds were so pretty that day I took photos that it was hard to edit down on this location.

credits - dress, vintage, thrifted | shoes, target | jacket, aeropostale, thrifted | bag, stone mountain, thrifted.

Home

2013-05-08T09:00:00.000-04:00

I graduate from my master's program tomorrow, and in three days I'll be moving to New York City. My fingers and body ache as I type this and ignore the packing tape and boxes currently strewn about in the living room. But I'm at a place where I'm really happy anyways, despite the scattered mess of moving my entire life.

That is a strange sentence to type: In three days, I will be moving to New York City. That's essentially been my dream since I was 11, ever since I started watching "Felicity" and "Friends" regularly and daydreamed about cityscapes and sidewalks. Since I chickened out from applying to NYU and Columbia because I couldn't deal with the remote possibility that they -- and by extension, the city, my city -- would reject me. It has been a dream that hit its fever pitch when I interned up there for three months in undergrad. And solidified this year, when Jeremiah moved up there and started building a home for us.

In three days, I will be ticking off my life dream.

I haven't really discussed much of my personal life on the blog this year. Part of it is because my blog has become a little more public, as I've opened up to more people in my program about it and have mentioned it in job interviews and things like that.

Part of it is also that it has been a really hard year, being separated cross-country from Jeremiah. Our marriage was thrust into long distance very quickly when he moved up to New York, and I've been living down here, just finishing up school and work. On good days, the distance was my friend -- I could keep my head down, work on everything I needed to professionally without feeling pressure to come home at a reasonable hour. Personal projects (like building my online portfolio, learning to cook, writing spec scripts, hanging out with some of the best people ever) got done. And even small things like picking out my own groceries or taking the car wherever I wanted without consulting another person was a nice relief. And then there were the bad days -- being separated for months at a time, hating everything about living down in Georgia and feeling very stuck and lonely.

I've mentioned before that I've essentially lived in the air space between New York and Georgia this year, as I've flown between the two every other month to visit Jeremiah and put all my dominoes together for a possible career and life up there. It's been weird, adjusting to figure out "home" -- having two residences but not feeling like I belonged at either of them.

But.

None of that matters today.

Because today I'm picking up Jeremiah from the airport, and we'll be living together permanently in the same city. In three days I'll be trading my beloved car for public transit, and rural landscapes for skyscrapers.

I've learned a lot from Georgia in the last 17 years. I'll always have a soft spot for this state -- all of its beautiful, haunting and even twisted parts -- and the wonderful people here who I am fortunate enough to call family and friends.

In four days, I will ~~be moving~~ living in New York. And then I'll have to find a new life dream.

Get lost

2013-05-03T16:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday! Hope you have a chance to get lost this weekend (in the nicest, most adventure-est way possible).

This photo is from one of my weekend trips to the covered bridge -- I really am going to miss that place!

Turquoise sky

2013-05-03T08:56:00.000-04:00

Just a recent outfit that I've worn so many times this semester for different presentations. I love the abstract design against the landscapes.

The bracelet is a recent vintage find -- it's very similar to my cougar bracelet that I still need to get repaired. Until then, it's a good replacement.

Forgive the brevity -- I'm in finals week! My final finals week ever.

credits - dress and shoes, target | blouse, banana republic | bracelet, vintage, finder's keepers.

Dizzy up the girl

2013-05-02T14:48:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned my frustrations with photography many times on this blog. A new camera takes time getting used to, and whenever I nail the right composition, focus, lighting and pose, all the hours of effort and sweat feel worth it.

But what about those mistakes? I've been poring over my Dropbox lately, and have come across a small collection of soft-focus self-portraits. Normally these would get deleted, but for some reason, I like them now. They skew reality and give off a hazy point-of-view, which is often how I feel whenever I take photos in the morning -- bleary-eyed and half-asleep.

The title of this post is from my favorite Goo Goo Dolls album -- it seemed appropriate for these blurry versions of myself.

And it was all yellow

2013-05-01T10:00:00.000-04:00

I have spent a lot of time at this lake lately. Whenever I get free time from work or class, I just find myself driving those back roads to the park, through farm land and past dilapidated farms. It's like nothing can really, truly reach me when I'm there.

I've been wanting to wear this outfit all spring, and actually envisioned the floral wreath to go with this dress. Yellow used to be my favorite color as a child, and I've been seeking it out to match my current landscapes. I had some difficulties taking photos on this dock -- the outer section floats and doesn't have a foundation, so I had to be super careful with my movements to prevent my camera from falling into the water!

credits - dress, target | shoes, talbots | hair wreath, diy.

What the water gave me

2013-04-24T10:00:00.000-04:00

This post is a direct result of listening to so much Florence Welch and Lana Del Rey this week -- now that it's spring, all I want to do is bust out the floral hair wreaths. I tried explaining all of this to a friend earlier this week and he called me the ultimate hipster. Though I like things that are popular in the fashion blogosphere -- constructing elaborate photoshoots and making hair wreaths, for instance -- I can't say that I aspire to embody certain stereotypes. I like what I like and, well, no apologies.

There's been a sense of urgency in my photography lately, since I've been revisiting all of my photo spots in anticipation of moving in a couple weeks. When I go, I spend a lot more time planning for the locations, hoping to make the most of the weather and my time, everything else be damned. Whenever I go to the usual spots, I sometimes run into bird watchers and ornithologists, armed with their cameras and binoculars to watch for the herons and other aviary. It's always a good omen to see these visitors at the park, because usually my photos turn out better whenever they're there. I'm not sure why my photos end up better, but I think it's because I'm there early enough to watch the sunrise and do some reflection photography. When I took these photos, I shared the dock with some very good-natured landscape photographers. I usually shy away from other people at the park whenever I'm there to take photos -- I don't like having to explain what I'm doing to everyone! So when the photographers came and saw me, they were pretty cool about it and apologized for interrupting. And though for different purposes, we stood on opposite sides of the dock, working in silence on our photography. I don't know if they wondered what I was working on, or cared, but it was nice to have kindred company for once.

credits - dress, vintage, agora | floral wreath, self made | shoes, talbots | ring, heirloom.

Thoughts from the Sidewalk

2013-04-23T18:00:00.000-04:00

I've had "Roxie" from the "Chicago" soundtrack stuck in my head for the last few weeks. I know that murdering sopranos are hardly the best place to cull life lessons from, but this song in particular has been inspiration in this time of graduation and wrapping up things in my town. I originally took this photo on the plane when I was flying from NYC back to Atlanta during spring break. I've spent the last year essentially living in that air space between New York and Georgia, as I've flown back and forth to visit Jeremiah, do interviews and meet people for the last year. With three weeks left here in Athens, I'm excited and scared for the next step of moving up to NYC, and I have to believe it's all for something amazing, I'm just not sure what yet.

Until then, I'll just be singing "Chicago" lyrics and wondering if I too can do Billy Flynn's tap-dance during "Razzle Dazzle" (probably not).

Brella

2013-04-22T10:53:00.002-04:00

Whenever it rains, I try to make it down to the tennis courts because no one will be there so I can practice my photography, and the puddles are just too fun for experimentation. I only had a short time at the courts for this session, because about 10 minutes in, a police car came rolling through for patrols. I've never run into law enforcement during my photo outings (and I haven't gone exploring too far off to garner any trespassing suspicions), but I'd rather keep my streak of not having to explain myself going.

I'm not quite sure why I've never photographed this outfit before -- I practically lived in it during that weird time between winter and spring. Velvet pants are just way too comfortable.

credits - blouse, vintage, thrifted | pants, talbots | shoes, target | bag, vintage, stone mountain | umbrella, gift.

Pollen paisley

2013-04-19T15:48:00.001-04:00

Town has been so covered in pollen, I really am surprised I haven't been engulfed in a giant yellow ball of tumblefluff yet. This J. Crew dress is one of my favorites for spring but it basically matches everything on the ground right now.

When I took these photos, I had to essentially wait in line for this spot. Everyone is out on the historic campus taking graduation photos. I normally shy away from public areas for outfit photos (because it's still weird and after four years, I feel like I still have to make excuses for such weird narcissistic behavior), but there's only three weeks left to hit up my favorite spots. I've been driving to other parks in the area lately -- there is something emboldening about having a full tank of gas, sunscreen and a little more free time.

Here is the last roundup of all the ways I've worn this dress. I like to mix it with khakis and green.

credits - dress, j. crew | blouse, vintage, thrifted | shoes, talbots | ring, heirloom.

P.S. After being a holdout for so long, I'm on instagram now! Follow me at @joannssidewalk.

Classic revival

2013-04-16T12:39:00.000-04:00

I took these photos a few weeks ago when my bangs were still fresh. My hair has grown like a weed since then!

I've been hopping around to different places around the area to practice my photography, but I keep coming back to my favorite building on campus, the Fine Arts Theatre. Some history of the building: It was built in 1941 and was apparently the last building of the Works Progress Administration(WPA). It also was used to train WWII pilots. I like being able to walk through this history, and it's one of the reasons I'm going to miss Athens after I move. Photos in this spot are really difficult to do because it's near a busy road, so my time here was a bit brief.

credits - dress, target | sweater, loft | necklace, thrifted | shoes, talbots | bag, thrifted, stone mountain.

Back in focus

2013-04-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

Confession time: I've feeling iffy on my Nikon DSLR camera for the last few months. Most of it is because with my model, the focus options were really out of place on most of the settings I tried, making most of my photos pretty blurry. After spending lots of time trying to sharpen and correct a bunch of outfit photos, I was pretty much ready to call it quits on my camera and just go back to the point-and-shoot, thinking the problem was that my photography skills had disintegrated over the last few months. Turns out, the focus feature is a common problem with my model, and after finding a few how-to hacks to the settings, I think I am back in business! It's always rewarding to see photos reflect reality.

I've wanted to wear this outfit for months. It's bright and academic-ish, and perfect for campus and work.

credits- dress, nine west | blouse, vintage thrift find | shoes, talbots | bag, stone mountain, thrift find | pocket watch necklace, waltham, heirloom.

Watson Mill Bridge

2013-04-02T19:51:00.000-04:00

Now that I have a lot more free time, I've been visiting some of my favorite spots around town as sort of a "goodbye tour" through Athens. One of my favorite photography spots is Watson Mill Bridge Park. It's the longest covered bridge in the state. I had some fun taking photos this weekend and splashing in the water.

This vintage dress from local store Agora is a gift to myself for finishing up my last semester of graduate school. It fits perfectly and, coupled with my bangs, I cannot help but feel like I'm Zooey Deschanel in "(500) Days of Summer."

credits - dress, 1950s vintage, from agora | bag: stone mountain, thrifted | shoes: target | belt: vintage, from a giveaway.

P.S. There must be something in the water around April, because I seem to visit this spot at the same time every year. Here and here are my last few visits to Watson Mill Bridge.

Muscle memory

2013-03-27T12:26:00.000-04:00

I've been in New York for the last three weekends for job and research stuff, but now that my media research project is over, I have much more free time! I'm looking forward to enjoying my last month in town before I move up North.

So I've been resorting to the same uniform of sorts for the last couple weeks -- dress, sweater, tights, and out the door. I haven't really worn my brooches in the last year or so, but I've been revisiting them as kind of "good luck" talismans I wear throughout the day. I bought this leaf a few years ago before I graduated from my undergrad years -- it seems appropriate now to rewear it while my life is in transition!

It's been very cold down here that my tripod has been freezing in place. I'm so happy to play around with my photography more now that my time is more open.

credits - dress: loft | sweater: talbots | coat: h&m, thrift find | boots: tj maxx | brooch: vintage, from finder's keepers.

Grand Central

2013-03-12T22:09:00.000-04:00

I went to New York last week for spring break to visit Jeremiah, go to some meetings and work on a giant research project. While I was there, I had to shoot some video footage around the city for my project, so we went to Grand Central. Jeremiah lives in the city now, but had never been! We spent some time wandering around and staring at the beautiful constellation mural on the ceiling. I love old architecture in New York, and learning about the stories behind building development. Growing up in suburban Georgia, most buildings have been built in the last 40 years, so it's cool to visit cities that have more remnants of their historical background. When I move up to the city, I'll be checking out a few more places I've found on Scouting NY and capturing these details with my own camera.

I wore this dress multiple times during the week for my meetups -- it's such a great staple.

credits: dress- loft | blouse- vintage, thrifted | boots, tights: tj maxx | bag: stone mountain, thrifted.

Gather ye rosebuds

2013-03-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

I've been in a floral crown kinda mood lately. I bought some more floral tape and wire at Michael's a few weeks ago and have just been making a bunch for spring. I'm not a cold weather person at all, and so working on a craft so associated with summer helps lift my mood. Though it's not quite time to wear them yet because it's so cold, here are just a few looks of mine in the past that have incorporated floral crowns ...

Hepburning

2013-03-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

It's still miserably cold here in Georgia, and I've been favoring more pants this winter than usual. Something about pulling on extra-warm wool tights in the dead of winter just feels really tiring to me. I'm excited there have been more patterned pants the last few seasons — I'm slowly trying to experiment with different styles.

I've been watching a lot of old movies recently, and have been really digging Katharine Hepburn's minimalist style — all strong shoulders and neckties. Not sure if she'd be a fan of bright-colored bowties, but here is my sartorial homage to her. I'm in the middle of comprehensive exams and a giant media research project, so feeling dapper in dress makes me feel less stressed than usual.

credits - coat: michael kors | blouse: lei | button-up: vintage, thrifted | pants, shoes: talbots | bowtie: vintage, from agora in athens, ga.

Brain juice

2013-02-07T10:00:00.000-05:00

It's a little daunting that my graduate school career will be over in a few months! The last year and a half has flown by so fast. To keep myself somewhat sane through this whole process, I've been tinkering around with some design and photography just for fun. I take quite a few photos for this blog, and a lot of them don't get used because they don't necessarily make sense for a post. Sometimes I revisit my archives and repurpose the photos for design stuff.

Below are a couple based on some of my favorite pop culture things!

I've mentioned my love of "Game of Thrones" quite a bit on this blog, and I decided to take it to the next level by making a pretend book title for the series. The inspiration was a photo I took over the summer of a lion door decoration I found downtown.

This next one was inspired by a quote from "No Country for Old Men," one of my favorite movies. I took the original photo in north Georgia, and just transformed it in Photoshop and InDesign. The fonts I used for these are "Clumsy" and "Mexcellent" (both recommendations from Pugly Pixel, a great design resource).

I'll try to share more of my extra design/photography stuff here in the future!

Online/offline selves

2013-02-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

I've been a busy bee these past few weeks, I thought I'd share a little bit of what I've been working on. In addition to doing my assistantship/internship/school, I've also been in graduation mode and have tried to be proactive in updating my online portfolio (which is here if you're curious). I know I've discussed blogging privacy and my hesitations with linking my online self with my personal identity, but I think I am finally at a point where I'm comfortable merging the two. Part of it is because it's so important in the adpr/social media industry to have an online presence, and part of it is because I no longer feel like I have to hide or make light of my hobbies from people in my real life. I've introduced my online self to my real-life friends -- so now online friends, here is a peek at my offline identity. I don't really think there is too much of a distinction with online/offline identities anymore because of social media.

P.S. If you want more talk on blogging identity, the comments on this past post are pretty insightful.

Stage right

2013-02-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

I took these photos on campus in front of the Fine Arts Theater. It's one of my favorite spots on campus because it's such a beautiful building, but it's hard to take photos because it's close to such a high-traffic road. Yesterday afternoon was a bit quiet (perhaps because it was Super Bowl Sunday?), so I took a few quick shots. This headphones sweater is so comfortable -- I found it on sale in the boys' section of Target and I've gotten so many compliments on it!

I got a haircut over the weekend to define my bangs and add in more layers. I think the bangs are just a smidge shorter than what I am normally comfortable with, but my hair grows fast so it's a small quibble. The last couple times I've gotten them cut, they haven't been the right shape and were too piece-y. But these ... I think I am definitely in Lisbeth Salander territory again, and I'm okay with that.