Vanity Alert!

This weekend I got some of my nearest and dearest friends together for a little autumnal gathering. We had a wonderful lunch and then headed down to the Red Hook Community Farm for a little pumpkin harvesting, apple cider drinking, and general merriment. It was great to see what the local community has done in Red Hook; the farm has bees, chickens, and rabbits; a huge compost heap, and tons of delicious winter vegetables and leafy greens growing. All of this on a large patch of asphalt that has been re-purposed for gardening. What a nutritious and wonderful use of space!

Luckily, a few of my friends are just as photo-whorish as I am, so we had fun doing silly photo shoot to practice with my new camera.

Ok, buckle up, because you are about to be inundated by inane photos!

Happy days at brunch! We are all normal!

Be like really hot by the fence:

Hot by the fence round two:

Be sexy with a leaf! (This one didn't turn out so well...)

Be awkward!

Be the kings of the compost heap!

Be jumping!

Be hobbits under seige!

Pretend Engagement:

So happy they are pretend engaged:

Be really hot with the wall!

Be mimes!

...now that was self indulgent. Outfit post coming later today!

Doing the Charleston

Ok so about that last post where I said that I wouldn't do any more posts indoors? Whoops. I just had to show of the things my new camera can do! I eventually gave in and bought a DSLR (why hello debt, nice to get to know you better) because I've been covering some concerts and it got to the point where I just needed a better camera to take pictures in the low light. I got the Canon Rebel t2i, which I've had my eye on for awhile.

I took these pictures in my living room before I went out with some friends, and I think it looks like I'm heading out to do the charleston with my big faux fur coat and headpiece. This coat is one of my favorite items in my wardrobe, and you're going to be seeing a lot more of it as it gets colder. I found it at Goodwill after searching for the perfect faux fur coat for ages. I saw it but I thought it was overpriced ($70!) for Goodwill so I had to leave it behind. Well then of course, I just couldn't get it out of my head so I went back a few days later to get it. Now...this is so bad and you'll probably all hate me but I pulled the tag off because I thought it was such ridiculous price, and had one of the staff reprice it. Well she put it at $40! Oh gosh, I am dreadful, I essentially stole $30 from Goodwill. I am a notorious haggler, I once got a pair of boots in Urban Outfitters for $8 which were originally $80 because I complained that one boot was a lighter color than the other. I don't feel bad about that, but about Goodwill...that's just awful!

Anyway, that's is my beautiful coat. I wear it all the time and it is so warm (but really heavy...it keeps breaking all of my hangers!).

Headband: f21; Coat: Goodwill; Dress: French Connection; Tights: UO; Shoes: Kelsi Dagger

I am going pumpkin picking tomorrow, and I am looking forward to bringing my camera along and getting some good pictures. I hope you're all having the most fantastic weekends! Make me feel better and tell me some of your haggling stories!

From The Safety of my Bedroom

So...duh duh duhhhh...here are my first indoor shots on this blog. I know, so not cool, right? I actually went and wandered around Brooklyn with my tripod trying to find a good place to get some shots, but for some reason it was all hustle and bustle at 7am this morning (insomnia alert) and I couldn't find a quiet corner away from the many peering eyes of everyone heading off to work. I am hoping this won't happen again anytime soon, but if it does I promise I am going to figure out some of the lighting issues I had.

I decided to play around with my film camera in these pictures. This is what I really wish I could take my photos with because I have so many helpful lenses to go with it, but the self timer on it is a seriously moody B and refuses to work half the time. I have a pretty crazy set of photos that I took on the roadtrip with it, and I want to share them but I have to figure out how to transfer them to my computer first. I had many more rolls of film, but guess what...we were in such insane temperatures in the desert that five different rolls of film melted inside my camera. Now that is hardcore. I almost melted too, but luckily I am still in one piece, ready to brave the winter months!

Headband: Handmade with zippers and love; Silk shirt: Beacon's Closet; Belt: Vintage, Free 'P' Star, Paris; Shorts: Thrifted; Shoes: Thrifted

What are your tips for shooting indoors?

Tartaruga Acquatica, or Chocolate Pecan Turtle Cookies

These are some of my favorite cookies because my mother used to make them all the time when I was little, and they are the perfect thing to bake if you want something fast, that looks like it took a lot of effort! I made this batch for a friend's Oktoberfest party. Her Italian boyfriend asked me what the cookies were called, and I told him turtle cookies. When he didn't understand we looked up the name for turtle in Italian, which is tartaruga acquatica. He burst out laughing, and really, if you think about it, it is pretty hilarious that we call these turtles!

Crust Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup pecan halves

Caramel Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine all of the crust ingredients except pecans in a large mixer bowl. Beat at a medium speed until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Press into the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking pan. Place pecans evenly over unbaked crust.

Combine 2/3 cup butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar in a 1 quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the entire surface of the mixture begins to boil. Let it continue to boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Pour evenly over pecans and crust.

Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until entire caramel layer is bubbly. Make sure you do not overbake. Remove from oven. Immediately sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top and allow to melt slightly (2-3 min). Swirl chips, leaving some whole for a marbled effect.

Let cool and cut into bars. Store at room temperature in a loosely covered container.

Also, I'm sorry for being so hopeless about posting, I have been stealing pictures from my friends because my camera charger is at a friend's house and I haven't managed to get it back yet. I promise things will be back to normal soon though. And thank you all for being so encouraging about my last post. I love you guys and every single one of your comments always brightens my day a little bit.

Sunset on the New York Skyline

Here's a little post of photos that I took last week when we were having a heatwave. I didn't realize that my belt was falling off in all of the photos, oops! I went apple picking this weekend, and I have some photos to show you from that, but unfortunately my camera ran out of battery so most of them are on friend's cameras. I'm just waiting for them to come over the interwebs to me!

To tell you the truth, I've been feeling a little down in the dumps lately. I have been looking for a job for so long, and I just can't find anything. And I have tons of work experience and an MA for heaven's sake! It just seems so unfair to have recently graduated during this time when there are so few jobs. I really hope something turns up, because it's lonely being home all day when all of the people I want to hang out with are working! I've been trying to get through it by going to yoga, cooking lots of yummy food, and forcing myself to get out of the house even though it's raining a lot these days. And of course spending time with my brilliant and amazing friends! What do you guys do to cheer yourselves up when you're feeling down? I'd love to hear suggestions!

Isn't the New York skyline beautiful! I'm going to miss having this roof top to take photos on...my new apartment doesn't have roof access or a backyard so I'm going to have to venture out to find new photo locations I think!

Sandals: UO; Shorts: French Connection; Belt: Vintage; Shirt: UO

A Little Hocus Pocus

Sorry for the lack of updates but I've been busy because...I finally moved into my apartment in New York! I'm living right next to a beautiful park in Brooklyn, and I have a fire escape outside my window which I am planning on filling up with lots of flowers. This morning I woke up to hear the rain pitter-pattering on my fire escape and I must say, I think Autumn might finally be here to stay, as long as we don't get more hot weather soon. I'm sorry to those of you in California; I know you've been having a heatwave! I guess it might be quite nice since you didn't get much of a summer.

For the past few days before I moved into my apartment I was staying with my friend Elise in New Jersey. I love being away from the city (which sounds silly to say since I just barely moved here!) and we spent so much time outside. One day I went for a rainy run along the canal that travels next to the Delaware river, and I saw a heron sitting by the water as I went past. I am also really into farming, especially after living on an organic olive farm in France, so Elise took me to the farm she volunteers at. We spent the whole morning picking bundles of Swiss Chard for the CSA in the afternoon, and also picked nasturtiums to put in salad mixes, and tasted some amazing tiny tomatoes. My thigh muscles definitely weren't happy after bending down for hours picking vegetables, but it was so relaxing. I wish there were farms like that closer to the city!

The flowers in these pictures are from another CSA. I picked huge armfuls of them because they are so pretty.

Boots: Beacon's Closet; Skirt: Thrifted; Blouse: Thrifted

Are you interested in gardening or sustainable farming? I would love to hear about it!

Prospecting

Hooray, an outfit post! My computer is mostly better, although after I got it back from its recall the boys who fixed it told me they found malware on it. I think I have pretty insane virus protection so I'm not really sure how that happened, but I don't want to spend what they charge ($200) on getting it removed! Is anyone a computer smarty pants with good ideas on how to fix that?

These photos are from a trip to Prospect Park. I have been exploring Brooklyn which has been really exciting for me; I love visiting new neighborhoods and finding coffee shops or restaurants to return to. Seeing how different the people are in every neighborhood is fun too, it's like going into another little country when you get a few blocks into every new section. Prospect Park was lovely on this day because everyone was out having picnics and birthday parties and riding their bikes. My lovely lovely friend Ginger (whose bed I am staying in before I move into my new apartment) took these photos and I think they turned out so well. It was the perfect time in the afternoon to take them, and it is so nice to have a person behind my camera, rather than a tripod! I know I've said this before but I am so jealous of bloggers who have real people to take their pictures!

This is Ginger...she's so stylish!

I have so much time on my hands, what with not having a real job and all that jazz. I have been writing a bit for Baeblemusic, but other than that no exciting job offers (or even boring job offers...I would settle for that at this point!) have come along. If any of you are music lovers you can check out my first review here. I think I'm going to be exploring a lot more until a job pops up!

Sandals: UO; Dress: Thrifted; Belt: Thrifted; Feather and Bottlecap Earrings: Home made

I am going out to New Jersey this weekend for a friend's birthday, and I'm looking forward to eating cake, taking lots of photos, and going on evening walks. I hope you have a wonderful, sunshine-filled, happy weekend!