Hotel Lighting

Hello all!!  Reporting live from eastern Canada and from my hotel room.  I am currently reading a book on photography lighting techniques so am reading up and practicing with the lights in my room.  It was SO cold today while walking around- I had to buy some fuzzy gloves and wrap my scarf up real tight.  I must have walked about 10 km today exploring and hence I am wearing comfy clothes and boots.  The new style this year seems to be shorty tops and sweaters, boxy cuts- and its next to impossible to find longer tunic-style tops, which are the ones that suit me the most.  Any places you have seen this kind of thing you can recommend?

Hope all is well!! xoxo Jodi

Sneak out of the house Casual Sunday wear

I don't wear t-shirts much unless they are the girlie fitted ones... I HAD to buy this one in Kona though.. was too awesome to pass up.  Went to our team launch party on Friday and a friend asked me to be the photographer for her wedding vow renewal on the weekend- THAT felt like alot of pressure I must say- I am no photographer.. I just have a camera and a self timer thing-a-ma-jig.  Anyway it was a good experience and I did get some pretty awesome photos!  Hung out in the house for the day and had to go out for groceries so not lookin too fancy in these photos.

Hope you all had super weekends!! ooxo J

Black and Grey: My outfit matches the Weather

And another grey and rainy overcast day... this is just the beginning, however- we don't have it as bad as they do in Vancouver.  I got this skirt when I bought the purple one and it fit like a glove. This is an old vintage skirt and you know- whenever I try on those skirts designed for ladies in the 50's and 60's they fit perfectly.  I almost don't even need to try them on, they just FIT.  Thats what curves give you... 50's skirts that fit like a glove.  Anyway. I wasn't sure how to wear this skirt and even did a search through all my blogger favorites for ideas on how to wear a black skirt so its not just the plain old uniform and I had a hard time finding ideas.  I then referred to Who do you want to be today by Trinny and Susannah) and then started out with Androgynous Look... it then morphed into this outfit. Call it what you want. Not sure of the style, but HEY< I felt good all day in it!

I typically get dressed around the kind of day I am going to have.  Will I be walking to alot of meetings? Will I be riding my bike (and have my helmet screw up my hair)?, How professional do I need to look for this meeting, etc.  The first thing that starts my outfit idea is what I will wear on my FEET.  I then plan around that.

QUESTION: How to you plan your daily outfits?

Backdrops for your Photos

Photo source: photographicbackdrop.com

Someone sent me a link to this site the other day, its about portrait photography and I saw this post on color and backdrops and thought it was interesting.  When I first started blogging one of the things that I was excited about was the photography aspect of it, especially since I had just gotten what I call my BIG CAMERA.  I searched out colorful and interesting backdrops.  I loved it. Well. Then we lost our parking at work and I could no longer bring my car with the camera and tripod everyday.  I didn't much want to pack it to work on my bike or walking and so haven't had as much access to going for a drive at lunchtime to eat my packed lunch and scope out fun sites.  I even have a running list of great locations for future reference. For example, I was in chinatown the other day and I just happened to notice this tiny alcove that is painted an incredible purple color. My first thought was " That would make an awesome backdrop".  So I added it to my list.  *Side note: Evernote is awesome as an app on your iphone for this kind of stuff :)

Anyway, back to the resource link I was talking about: How to Choose the Right Backdrop Color for your Portrait.

QUESTION: What is your routine for taking outfit photos?

$0.50 buys you a purple skirt

Lightweight cotton crocheted skirt with lining. I saved this baby from a cute little local thrift store between work meetings today. I had about 30 minutes to grab lunch between meetings and happened upon this new and cute little store.  Fifty cents for this skirt.

What would YOU wear it with???

Walking in the Rain

Long walk in the rain on Saturday. Made me think of this old song:

Sneaking in the Halls

Happy Friday!  I have a packed day and evening today. When would I take outfit photos I ask myself? And how can I be more regular on my blog rather than logging in and dusting off the ol cobwebs  every few weeks?

I brought what I call my 'baby camera' today (Pentax Optio 70 tiny little thing) and my little gorillapod, both of which fit easily and discretly into my lunchbag.  I was thinking I could snap a photo from some great location downtown before one of my meeting but did it at work instead.
Now while the quality isn't the greatest (you may not know I am a perfectionist...) this is a little project I can play with-- how to get REALLY good photos from a baby camera.  Lets see how this project progresses over time in the face of not having my BIG and awesome camera.

I feel like a granny in this $0.50 skirt but do love it.  I rode my upright dutch bike to work and felt very Euro with the skirt flapping in the wind.

Hope you have a super awesome friday .I am wired on Yerba Mate tea already but hey, its a good start to the weekend.. yabba dabba doooo!!
xo J

Going for Comfort

Not fun getting dressed in the mornings lately. My wardrobe occurs like it SUCKS. Boring. I am bored with it.  Do you go through highs and lows with your wardrobe and what you have in the closet. I mean, realistically I do not have a shortage of clothing.  It's a shortage of creativity with my outfits.

Maybe its just the season. Maybe its because I am so busy at work.  It feels like fashion takes a back seat these days.

How bout you?  Do you focus on your wardrobe more when you have less going on in the rest of your life?

Calling all Purse Snatchers

Dear Purse Snatchers. If you ever see me wearing this outfit again I am an easy target. Let me tell you I can NOT run in this skirt. JESUS I can barely walk in it!!  So I thought I got a good deal on a cute little pencil-like skirt.  Get up this morning. Put new skirt ON.  Leave for work (with only about 10 minutes before I am going to be late).  Can BARELY walk.  Is it just me? Maybe my legs are large like old growth forest cedar stumps or something- could it be that this was designed for someone with wide hips and spindly little legs?  I have no idea who the designer thought would be wearing this but I would sure like to see the person.  I had to walk with baby steps all the way to work and was exhausted by the time I got there (and YES I am a long distance triathlete!!).  AND THEN I had to walk up the stairs sideways!! I felt like a crab trying to scurry up to second floor.

At any rate, 2 compliments " cute skirt" and " I LOVE your ring".  At least if purse snatchers do come for me I have my gargantuan ring as my secret weapon!!!  Any suggestions for what to do with the skirt???

Hope you're all having a super awesome day! xo J

Reliable Leopard Skirt

Where to start?  Well, I do think that while it may say that I have X number of followers, not that many people actually follow this blog- well, I don't really KNOW. There are a few who comment, a few who read and don't comment but otherwise I really don't know what happens on this blog in terms of readership.   AND I often wonder if this is just some frivolous thing to do- take photos of myself in my outfits-- does it really make any difference for others or is is just some weird self gratitude in terms of seeing myself in outfits and provides guidance from an other perspective on how I see myself.  Hard to say.  I haven't been as active visiting other peoples blogs for quite a while- mainly for 2 reasons: 1.  Busy at work.  2.  Tons of triathlon training. That said. I do visit other blogs regularly. I do look for outfit ideas. I do want to know how my favorite bloggers are doing and see what they are wearing and hear what they are thinking.  I have NOT been posting comments on this favorite blogs regularly hough.  For those of you who I have not been commenting on lately, but did in the past- please do not take it personally- its weird- I may have never met you but I consider you a friend. I hope you are doing well. I think about the things you share. I wonder how you are doing. I hope we stay connected. You are a part of my life.  I love blogging for this  reason. The worlds away connection. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Oh, and about my outfit. I am trying to figure out how to wear longer hair. As you know, its always been short. Now I have longer hair and I ride my bike to work. How can I have a nice hair style and ride my bike at the same time? Messy bun with hairpins falling out. Thats me.

Love ya all, xo J