I met Jenna & Tony through a coworker that grew up with Jenna. After emailing back and forth for what seemed like forever, we finally met for the first time on the day of their engagement shoot. Despite all the weddings I have photographed over the years, this was actually my first e-session! I could not have had a better couple to photograph. Both Jenna and Tony were so sweet and totally photogenic. They were up for whatever, and we spent quite a bit of time exploring the River Bend Farm in Uxbridge. After spending time with them and going through all their photos I am so excited to do their wedding next September. Here are a few of my personal favorites from our e-session. It was difficult to choose because they’re just so darn gorgeous together.
Thank you so much for being such great sports and for choosing me to capture your day! Can’t wait for the wedding!
~L
Ah, September. As I have learned this past week from everyone and their mother posting pictures of children in their first day of school garb on Facebook (literally, I’m talking about everyone’s mothers), school is in session.
These poor kids nowadays. Children that are seven and under on this present day are literally going to grow up on Facebook. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, but it’s slightly unfortunate for them that they won’t be able to control which horrible fashion choices of theirs (or their parents) remain in the Internet universe forever and ever.
I’m lucky enough that I didn’t (or couldn’t, I guess) join Facebook until I was twenty, therefore, only a quarter of my embarrassing life choices are represented on the World Wide Web (are people still saying that? See? Embarrassing).
However, I am a blogger, and therefore an open book/attention whore, and after seeing all of these kids prancing off to the bus in their their BTS getups, I was inspired to take a trip down memory lane, also known as… The School Book.
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| the sheer size of it will sprain your fingers, which if you read on, is most likely an injury i have sustained. |
I guess when people have children they record their every move and capture it in a spiral bound book courtesy of their local Hallmark store that sits on a shelf until the pain of adolescence is long since past that they can look back on such memories and laugh. I get that normal people probably have passages in their school books like:
“Sally got all A’s this year! We are so proud!”
“Timmy learned to play the recorder in Music this year. His favorite song is Hot Crossed Buns.”
While there is a fair share of that my personal academic memoir, I noticed that under the “Special Memories” category that there are many years of memories that I wouldn’t exactly look back on as “special.” I swear to good I am not making any of this up or elaborating. Note my comments in italics.
Preschool: “Had her first fight with ‘best friend’ Erin (ouch. I don’t really remember poor Erin, but how embarrassing to be given the best friend title but only within quotation marks?). Wanted to sit next to her but she wanted to sit next to her mother (wow. What an exciting friend she must have been). Cried so hard you fell asleep.”
Grade 1: “Lindsay fell in Gym class on May 27th (thank you for the accurate timekeeping. Is the exact date of your first broken bone an anniversary worth celebrating in the future?) and broke her collarbone (whoops- sorry for giving away the punchline. It gets better) and had to wear a sling for a few weeks. She went back to keyboard lessons (not piano, because you know, that’s too classy) the next week and dance class but then came down with chicken pox on June 6th (again, SO SPECIFIC), the day of the recital and had to miss is. Through it all she was a real trooper.”
Grade 2:
(It’s blank. I mean, how could I have even topped all of the “special memories” from year one?)
Grade 5:
(Apparently words were unnecessary and an entire year’s worth of memories could be summed up with a single handbell choir photo. Although if there were any room left to write, it should have also listed “being really really cool.”)
I’m sure all of you can think of your own version of this photo or this book that you secretly thank the Baby Jesus is only stored in paper form at your parent’s house. Now just imagine if all this embarrassing information and photos were captured on social media site for all of eternity. That’s what’s going to happen to your kids someday. Someday they’ll be sitting at a job interview and the HR person will be looking over their resume and background check, saying things like “now I see here that you graduated from Plymouth State and you were the Features Editor for the school newspaper. That’s all fine but can you explain the thinking behind this purple plaid pantsuit that you wore on your first day of second grade?!”
Okay, so maybe it won’t go exactly like that. But you get the idea.
In an effort to let all children know (especially the awkward ones) that “it gets better,” I have chosen to share a few of my own personal gems. And that purple pantsuit? It happened.
Grade 2:
Oh.my.god. I don’t even know where to start. Even for 1992, this is one loud pantsuit. Also, I’m seven. Head to toe plaid is difficult to pull off at any age, and the flaming eggplant hue certainly doesn’t scream “hey kids! I’m just like you, blending in, hanging out. You know, normal playground stuff. Let’s share a carton of chocolate milk.” Also, if there’s anything I’ve learned from the real life school of Stacy and Clinton, it’s that your accessories shouldn’t “match” but “go.” Cause if there’s anything this outfit needed, it was an additional dose of purple. Speaking of accessories, I don’t know how the beaded Little Mermaid headband got thrown into the mix, but I can tell you it’s definitely not doing it’s job of helping to grow out my bangs.
Grade 3:
Again, with the plaid. I cannot believe I even chose the same pattern two years in a row. That is so unlike me. Obviously we got somewhere with the bangs, but the only thing that is really going for me here is a sweet tan. I don’t know if you can tell, but upon further examination of this photo I discovered that despite the life path I chose, I was obviously meant to be a gangster. The abbreviation on my shirt reads “NKA,” which for those of you who aren’t down with my homies from Derry, NH, stands for Not a Kid Anymore (apparently, I was going for irony). It also featured additional bad ass phrases like “Traditional Grunge” (an oxymoron, perhaps?) and “Word to Your Mother.” Hide yo kids, hide yo wives.
Grade 4:
Okay, so this is not an actual first day of school photo. It’s actually better than that because this is clearly where I discovered my love for fashion among the elite chosen (cough, cough entered by my parents) to model for the local Walmart fashion show. Notice how they artfully constructed a runway in the middle of what was most likely the electronics department. Not to brag or anything, but this obviously requires a natural air of confidence (exhibited by my eyes planted firmly on the floor) and a killer walk (I mean, have you ever seen Gisele work it down a runway comprised entirely of Oriental rugs? Didn’t think so). I would also like to point out that I chose this outfit, despite the fact that it is exactly the opposite of what children want to wear because it’s practically a Catholic school uniform.
Grade 5:
This is the year I finally started to grasp the concept of trends (or just convinced my mom to buy me something that was actually considered cool). I mean this was the year Blossom went off the air, so I had to work that hat as long as I possibly could. I’m not sure where the denim shapeless dress came from. It would have been cute had it been taken in about seven inches in the waist area. And ironed. Not that you can tell here, but I weigh all of seventy pounds (that’s an official School Book recorded weigh in). It may as well have been seven hundred pounds. Also I think those shoes doubled as my footwear for my Kirsten Halloween costume.
Grade 9:
I hope you all understand what just happened here. I have just shown you the worst first day of school photo I’ve ever taken and you are promising not to show this to anyone because we are friends, okay? *virtual pinky swear*
I can’t even list all of the things that are wrong with this photo.
Actually I can, but I have to limit myself to only six because we could be here all night.
1. The reason this jacket is too big is not just because I weigh less than one hundred pounds soaking wet. It’s because it’s my dad’s jacket from the 70’s and I thought I was wearing something “vintage.”
2. I am carrying a backpack and a purse. Because when you’re fourteen you have a lot of important things to carry.
3. You can’t see it, but my jeans are from Ames and feature white embroidery along the bottom of the legs. I can see you’re jealous.
4. I didn’t get my braces off until I was a sophomore. For some reason they disguised that I do in fact have an upper lip.
5. I brought a picture of Christina Aguilera to my hairdresser and said “make me look like this.” Clearly, it worked. Twinsies!
6. This is my version of a middle part. Somehow I didn’t notice until I was in college that I had a cowlick that like Miley Cyrus, couldn’t be tamed. I have highlighted this with jeweled bobby pins that only exacerbate the unevenness that is this haircut. Correction: layered.
So there you have it, folks. I was not always the fashionista I pretend I am today. But it just goes to show you that how you are in school is not how you are destined to be for the rest of your life, which is a concept that is way beyond your thinking at any of those ages. That poorly dressed little girl had no idea what she was doing wrong because she didn’t care- she was actually excited to learn and read and dream about what she would become. I think that despite the circumstances, we turned out okay.
Except for our shoe size. Those things are still ridiculous.
~L
Okay, I know I’m a little behind on this one, but the Olympics is finally over. And may I say, thank you, Baby Jesus. I know that this is the one time every two years that we take a break from chastising everything that is wrong with America and find solidarity by way of Spandex and sweat, but frankly, keeping up with this is exhausting.
For starters, every citizen of the great US of A is well aware that NBC could not get their heads out of their asses with their showing of the games. Yes, I know nothing about television production. Yes, I understand that there is a very inconvenient time difference between us and merry ole England. But other than just blatantly giving away the recipients of gold medals prior to the airing of their event, I had to listen to my husband shouting at the television as if he was directly hooked up to the NBC controllers via blue tooth. Things like: “okay, we have just watched seven different forms of track races and NO ONE is paying attention to the POLE VAULTING going on in the background!!! Hello?!?!?!” or “I don’t give two craps about (athlete’s name here) personal life, SHOW US THE DAMN GAMES!!!” Which is ironic, because those Bob Costas back stories about the athlete’s daily carb intake featuring videos of them as forcibly trained babies were about the only thing that kept my interest during this seventeen day everysportathon.
Of course, I’m still me, so I couldn’t help but treat this event as almost like an award show. I mean these people were the closest thing I had to celebrities all week because my DVR was conveniently too full to capture any form of Bravo programming (further exacerbated by the fact that my go to channel crossed over to the other side and aired half of the games themselves- don’t they know what treason that is for a gay network?!).
So I have to decided to give out my own personal Lindsay’s Look statuettes: Olympic Edition. Most of them are negative so this is one case where winning isn’t really winning. Oh also, none of this has anything to do with athletic ability or talent. We’re talking about stuff that really matters. Like hair clips.
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| mazel tov. |
Worst Hair (Gold Medal):
USA Gymnastics Team
I know I am going to get hate mail for even putting these girls in the same sentence as the word “worst,” but there, I said it. I’m sorry, I just could not get over the sheer lack of effort here. I mean you train your whole life (like, all seventeen years of it) for this moment and glory, and that is what you do to your hair?! That is how my hair looks for ten minutes at the end of the day when I am washing my face, and my husband still makes fun of me and how ridiculous I look. I expect scrunchies from other non-fashion forward countries but this is America. We invented sock buns. Well, probably not considering the girl I learned it from on YouTube seems pretty Russian. And don’t get it twisted- this has nothing to do with Hairgate 2012 because a.) I know nothing about African American hair, and b.) who the hell cares about the front of her hair and whether it was relaxed/straightened/gelled/hermetically sealed, because how was anyone able to look past the haphazard half bun that she and all her teammates were sporting in the back?! They were bouncing around all floppy and totally distracted from their performances in my eyes, which is really all that matters, because well, these are my awards. I call for something slick and secure for Rio 2016!
Worst Hair (Silver Medal):
Russia
So in this case, getting the silver medal is actually a good thing because you don’t want to get a gold medal for being the worst at something. Get it? Side note: I think I have a future as an Olympic judge. You know, when it comes to the important things like an athlete’s physical appearance or victory dances. So the thing that kept Russia from eating it in the hair category was the fact that at least the girls had some neat, normal ponytails going on. But the glitter. Oh, the glitter. And scrunchies. And those metal snappy clips. It’s like everything I wish I could forget about my 90’s childhood. Maybe Russia is so far behind with their time zones that it’s actually just now 1996 there. Other than that, I really can’t explain a need for any of this.
Best Hair:
Alysia Montano
So for all you haters that say that I’m being so mean to those poor teenage gymnasts, they’re so talented and flying off bars, how are they supposed to make their hair look good, wah wah wah, check out this lady. She friggen ran like fifty miles an hour with a flower in hair and it stayed. So I don’t want to hear that a girl swinging on an uneven bar couldn’t have made just a little more effort. Yes, Alysia came in fifth, but hey- at least she has a memorable signature. I mean, I remembered who she was, so that has to count for something, right?
Most Adorable Athletic Enthusiasts:
Will & Kate
I mean, c’mon, could these two be any cuter? Well maybe, if it weren’t for William’s receding hairline. But still, cuteness city. If there was ever a time that people were calling for these two to procreate, it was this moment when they were watching tennis or handball (whatever that is) or something. They probably could have conceived a child right there and they would have received a standing ovation from the crowd. Though it probably helps when you own the country. Although do you hate her a little bit for make a white polo look so good? No? Just me? Okay.
Second Most Adorable Athletic Enthusiasts:
David Beckham & a child that is not Harper
Ohemgee-this-is-like-all-the-puppies-and-kittens-in-the-world-and-that-fabric-softener-bear-cuteness-rolled-into-one. Who knew Becks was such a doting father? Although I guess someone in that family has to be the affectionate one. We all know that’s not exactly Posh’s strong suit.
Best Meme (Gold Medal):
The Queen (Remixed)
I can’t believe I didn’t think of this. Literally while watching the open ceremonies Steve was counting all the countries that had flags featuring the Union Jack. When I showed him this, he yelled “we could have been rich!!!” and cried a little.
Best Meme (Silver Medal):
McKayla Maroney is Not Impressed
I love that she made this face while excepting her silver medal. As the sister of a pageant queen, I know that first runner up really means first loser. That face should be the poster for the term first loser. Okay, obviously I know she’s not actually a loser, I mean she clearly also has a gold medal and I don’t no matter how much jewelry I acquire. But this reminds me of at award shows how all the nominees that don’t win are expected to clap politely and be pretend happy for the actual winner. This bitch is not pretending. She’s downright pissed and she doesn’t care who knows it. I sort of like her more for it.
Best Dressed:
All of These People
As if the Olympian’s bodies were hard enough to stare at for two weeks and not feel like a complete and utter failure, England showcased their most well known export- stick figures that could walk for days. But seriously, how fierce is this all ages living model montage? I literally gasped when they popped out from behind those billboards of themselves. I would wear every single thing that each of them is wearing. Even the guy’s gold suit. And the headdress. Together.
Worst Dressed:
Face Dress Sign Holder Girls
I’m serious, this may go down as one of my top worst dressed people ever. I mean she’s like above Gwyneth in that goth wife beater gown but below anything Helena Bonham Carter wears (hey, where was she? She’s British and weird. Would have fit right in at Opening Ceremonies). It’s bad enough there was one of these dresses, but in fact there was one for every country. Apparently they were made to represent the faces of all the volunteers for the ceremony? I’m sorry, I would have rather received a nice fruit basket. Everything about this is wrong- the shape, the shoes, the sleeves. Blech. This makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit. At least she figured out how to do a good bun!
Biggest Trend:
Bodysuits
Olympics go Gaga? Yawn. Is nothing original?
Second Biggest Trend:
Neon
Okay, I take back what I said about (certain) athletes. Both the men and women were very on trend with most of them sporting an assortment of neon shaded sneaks. I am very impressed… some one has been reading InStyle…
Ed. note: Apparently Nike makes these shoes in these colors because your eyes are drawn to them and you want to buy them. Also they’re technically meant for function so I take back what I said about these runners being so stylish.
Most Overexposed:
Every New NBC Show
Dear God, NBC. Please. I get that now is like make it or break it time for advertising, but frankly, I am no longer interested in any of your upcoming fall shows. Revolution is clearly a movie that J.J. Abrams convinced someone to stretch into a series, Go On is another chance for Chandler to redeem himself after Studio 60, and I just don’t care for shows or movies where a primate is one of the principal cast members. But of course I will watch The New Normal because it’s from Ryan Murphy and I love Glee and anything Glee adjacent.
Greatest Spice Girl Reunion Moment:
Um, ALL OF THEM! But Especially This-
I basically only came around to being okay with this whole Olympics taking over our lives thing because I heard the Spice Girls were reuniting for the Closing Ceremonies, which is why it really sucked that it took us so long to get there. I have loved Sporty, Scary, Baby, Posh and Ginger (she was my favorite!) since I was eleven when I caught their first ever American television performance on SNL. I had a VHS tape that I recorded anytime they appeared on TV. I cried when my parent’s wouldn’t drive me and my friends to the opening of Spiceworld at the local movie theatre because there was some stupid snowstorm and they were “worried for our safety.” I also cried when we worked diligently on our lip sync version of “Wannabe” and were not accepted into the West Running Brook talent show because we were in sixth grade and the eighth graders wanted to do it too. I also cried and held a candlelight vigil (for one, obviously) in my bedroom when Ginger left the group. So you could say I’m a life long fan. I kick myself every time I hear about them doing something because I can’t believe I didn’t get it together to go to their reunion tour. So help me, if this musical gets off the ground and comes to the States I AM GOING.
Most Horrific Spice Girl Reunion Moment:
We Almost Lost Posh!
I mean, she’s no one’s favorite, and it would leave Becks as a single man, but oh the horror when she almost flew off that Mini Cooper!
Photos courtesy of Yahoo, USA Today, Style Blueprint, Gizmodo, IMDB, ABC News, Imgur, Nick Verreos’ blog. Don’t bother suing me, unless you accept payment in the currency of things that cost less than $10 from Forever 21.
~L
A few weeks ago, I celebrated my twenty seventh birthday (I’m going to assume your gift got lost in the mail). Clearly, this is a time where one starts to engage in such milestones as getting married (check), buying houses (only if they accept Ulta points as a form of payment) and having babies (eeeeeeek definitely not there yet). While I may not be ready yet to surrender my love of wine in order to incubate another human being, my friend Tim is! Well, not him so much as his lovely wife Cassie, who is ready to pop any day and theoretically could possibly go into labor as I type this.
I’ve known Tim since our days as high school theatre geeks, you know, before it was cool (there was no Glee back then). My dad and I were honored when Tim and Cassie chose us to be their wedding photographers a few years ago, and I was even more honored/nervous/unprepared when Tim recently contacted me about taking some Bump photos before Baby Girl Buck arrives.
As excited as I was… I’ve never shot maternity pictures before. I pretty much specialize in wedding and Bat Mitzvahs as far as photography goes. But since acquiring my own equipment, I’ve been wanting to branch out my photo skills a bit, and the Buck’s were nice enough to let me experiment on their innocent little baby.
Never one to leave anything to chance, Tim scoped out a location and quickly emailed me directions, photos and videos of where it was/what it looked like/how to find it/what the weather would be/longitude and latitude and all the other essential information. We were lucky enough that the weather held out for us. Cassie was a huge trooper- she didn’t complain, sweat or cry once, which is the exact opposite reaction that I imagine that I would have carrying a watermelon around at the end of July. She even willingly brought costume changes- a girl after my own heart.
Cassie is now approximately eight days away from the arrival of their little girl, so of course I want to give her her first dose of celebrity status featuring some of my personal favorite shots on the blog. Which ones do you like the best?
It’s safe to say that I am officially pumped for Baby Buck’s arrival. Mainly because these two were such great sports, and also because I couldn’t get either of them to reveal their top secret baby name. I’ll be anxiously awaiting Facebook updates from technology master Tim!
~L
Ugh, I’m sick.
Not like I have a cold sick. I get colds and coughs and general snottiness all the time (I know you just had to know all of that. You’re welcome).
If you asked me on Saturday night, I would have told you I was dying. Alright, I guess that’s a little overdramatic but I was in such pain that death seemed imminent. After going to the E.R. and whatever other doctor I could find (thank you Urgent Care, for taking in a dumb twenty seven year old young woman who STILL hasn’t found a primary care doctor in Massachusetts despite taking up residence here for the past three years), it’s pretty much a guarantee that I have a kidney infection. And it suuuuuuuucks. Not just because it sucks anytime you feel like a part of your body is failing on you (or in my case, rebelling because I’m not so good with the eating healthy/exercising), but because the pain I have felt in conjunction with this has like totally imobilized me.
I am now on day three of sitting on the couch/doing nothing and even I am bored with myself. Did you know that there’s only so much Bravo you can watch before you lose vital brain cells that prevent you from performing basic functions? Combine that with painkillers and you’re basically a useless blob. I always wish I had this many days off in a row, but that was to hopefully you know, accomplish something. The pain in my side has prevented me from putting away my laundry, blogging (!!!), painting my nails, washing my hair (I don’t want to talk about how long it has been) and performing any motions other than walking back and forth to my bedroom.
So needless to say, that’s why I’ve been sort of MIA. And not in a cool way like the rapper, as in like absent in the world. Especially blog world. Which really sucks, because now would be the perfect time to just get a whole bunch of crap done. But when you feel this horrible/are in a oxycodone haze, the last thing you can do is pull yourself together enough to compose a Friday’s Fancies, Olympic wrap up, or a montage of adorable photos from my first ever maternity shoot (taking the pictures, not being in them. After the discomfort I’ve been in I can tell you that having a baby is the LAST thing on my brain right now).
In short, this is what I can deduce from living the past three days as a vegetable:
1. I miss humans. Real ones, like other than the other sickly people in waiting rooms and every person on Bridezillas.
2. I don’t really care for Aylin (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you clearly didn’t just watch six episodes of The Glee Project IN A ROW).
3. Microwaveable heating pads are the greatest invention ever (can you believe in the old days they had to be plugged in?! psh).
4. It’s okay to abandon all of your fashion rules when you feel like crap (I went to the E.R. in socks and sandals- I KNOW) but you still have to brush your teeth.
5. Husbands are the best. Well I don’t know if all of them are, but mine certainly is. I knew this already, but it pretty much hit home when I woke up this morning and realized he labeled all my medications in black Sharpie because it’s really hard to tell them apart in a drug induced haze.
So that’s where I’ve been. I’m hoping after this round of antibiotics I’ll be back to my regular self. Because the version of myself that I have been for the past seventy two hours is someone that no one should want to be friends with. I’m thinking about breaking up with me.
~L
When you’re with someone for seven years, you think you know everything about them. Or at least the important things. And of course all the weird things. I don’t think it was until now that I knew how truly obsessed Steve was with all things Olympics. I mean there’s been like three other Olympics in the time since we first started dating, but this is the first time it’s been on since we’ve lived together.
I have never seen someone so entranced with something as I’ve seen him in the four days since the Games started. I’m not particularly athletic, so I’ve never really paid attention to the Olympics in the past. Plus I hate watching people play sports on television.
But like every other red-blooded American I of course tuned in for the Opening Ceremonies on Friday night. And while it’s hard for me to get into the sport of it all, it was instantaneous that I observed what I deemed to be the hits and misses of the Parade of Nations ensembles. Which is obviously almost as important as winning an actual medal. I mean, who wants to go down in history as the team with the worst uniforms?
So here it is, your very own Lindsay’s Look: Best and Worst Dressed, Olympics Edition. Just like the Oscars, but with more blazers and less sequins.
Best:
Brazil
I imagine that designing skirts for a large group of women is tough, especially very muscular women with athletic bodies. But I think unlike the longer skirts that many countries donned so awkwardly, these bright green and yellow minis seemed to compliment the female Brazilian athletes very well. It probably also doesn’t hurt that Brazilian women have a reputation for being the most beautiful women in the world. I’m not usually a fan of the sneaker/skirt combo but they manage to make it look really cute and not at all Working Girl. Bonus points for the cute scarves.
Cayman Islands
How often do you hear “relaxed fit” and think “sloppy?” These loose white pants get the job done right. I mean it wouldn’t make sense for this locale to send their representatives in there in some some stuffy buttoned up duds. However, the fitted blazers add a level of polish to what could be a slackerish look. Also I’m a sucker for some good piping. With the straw fedoras and hints of lime, this look screams “preppy islander” which I’m kind of obsessed with.
Denmark
This may be one of my favorite looks of the evening, and I spent quite a bit of time staring at David Beckham. I love that they look like a group of well-dressed school girls. This is such a classic ensemble that it could be their uniforms from 1912 or 2012. You really can’t go wrong with a classic cardigan and a swooshy A line skirt. Also, props to whoever designed this for grasping the concept that athletes can wear something other than sneakers for a few hours. There’s nothing wrong with a tasteful flat!
France
Leave it to France to be at the height of fashion even in sport. For them, it was all about the accessories. The women carried purses. PURSES! Genius. Just because you don’t have to carry money, identification or a cell phone doesn’t mean you should scrimp on the extras! Between the guys striped belts and the women’s red shoes (die!), these looks were pulled together effortlessly. But what would you expect?
Guam
Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Just don’t look at the men. The women (you know, all three of them. Represent!) I thought looked stunning in their blue and white printed maxi dresses. I love that they stood out in a sea full of blazers and linen pants. I think the whole thing of these outfits is that it’s supposed to accurately represent the feel of your country, and you have all of ten seconds to make that impression. These women would have looked out of place if they had tried to sport some version of what they thought Olympic uniforms are supposed to look like. If I could say hooray in Guam I would.
India
I haven’t really gotten in on the whole Bollywood trend (I mean, I still haven’t even seen Slumdog Millionaire) but I think these buttery yellow gowns compliment their skin and hair perfectly. The beautiful edge detailing and soft slippers compliment the busy garments without distracting from what I can only refer to as an ornate simplicity.
Jamaica
It’s hard to tell the difference between these and the Brazilian uniforms upon first glance, as they feature very similar colors. While I don’t love them as much as the aforementioned outfits, I like the boldness of the yellow jacket and the insignia style patch on the skirts. Now I know the weather is crappy in London, but were the black tights really necessary? It’s July. But props to the men for rocking those very fitted green pants.
Latvia
Has anyone else out there only heard of Latvia because that’s where Winston played basketball on New Girl? No? You guys all knew where that was? Just me? Whatever. Well what I now know about Latvia is they are at least halfway stylish. A fitted white blazer, tasteful sheath dresses, chic flats. However they almost lost me with those floppy hats. You know how they say you should always remove one accessory before you leave? Well those hats would have been best left at home in Latvia.
Liberia
Again, I’ve chosen to completely ignore the men in this instance (I mean completely, because um, hello, ponchos?!) because it does not look like they and the women on this team came from the same place. I mean the women look so chic in their white dress/red blazer combos and the men look like they all piled out of a very small car to get there.
Libya
So apparently, this is where I need to go to find just the right pair of red pants. Now if someone could just point me to the general vicinity of where Libya is located, I’ll be on my way.
Mauritius
Forget Banana Republic, apparently the Olympics is where you need to go to get yourself a quality fitted blazer. These ladies look lovely in navy skirts and khaki blazers. The print is a little scary on the shirt (again, mainly exhibited by the men, ugh) but the little red scarf is a nice distraction. Again, this is a case of where a good flat can go a long way in place of an athletic shoe. I mean, look how happy that flag girl is. She knows she looks good, so she feels good too! It could also have something to do with being in the peak of physical perfection. Eh, screw that. Clothes make the man (or woman!) and this girl clearly can tell she’s rocking it.
Nepal
Again with a quality maxi dress! Applause, Nepal! I admit, I would have liked to see what appears to be a one shoulder top of this dress, but maybe this is one of the more conservative countries? I don’t know, Nepal sounds cold too. Maybe that’s why they’re covering up with blazers? It definitely takes away a little bit from the breezyness of it, plus you’re kind of throwing off what is supposed to be an asymmetrical design by putting something so balanced and structured on the top. But props to them for stepping outside what appears to be a very narrow box at the Opening Ceremony.
Netherlands
This one deserves a gold medal if only because it is one of the worst color combinations to work with. I know that blue and orange are technically complimentary on the color wheel, but that is a very challenging palate. Speaking as someone who is married to someone who’s favorite color is orange, I can tell you for a fact that while nothing rhymes with orange, nothing goes with it either. Something about this orange trench just works, and the muted navy dress helps to balance out what could have been a fashion disaster. Even the guys are rocking the orange pants a fabulous sweater and blazer like it’s nothing. The only thing I find weird about this is the corsages. First of all, why?! I didn’t seen anyone else looking like they were heading to the prom instead of the Olympic games. Even if you disregard the flowers on the men because I guess they are like, a little bit dashing, the sheer size of these buds are just kind of awkward for the women and like that giant creepy baby in the opening number, I just don’t get why it’s there.
Nigeria
Talk about representing! I love these cheery swooshy numbers. The bold emerald color looks awesome against the crisp white and it makes me want to go there and hang out with these people and have them dress me. I’m sure the hats are traditional garb, but they’re just like slightly big for my taste. I know, I’m a bigger is always better type gal when it comes to accessories, but I think they distract a little from the dresses. Still beautiful, though!
Paraguay
I think in general the men of the Olympics pretty much all deserve to be in the worst dressed category. I mean, who knew that the athletes from Paraguay also moonlight in a barbershop quartet?! But look at those women. Red wrap dresses and cleavage make for the most va va voomiest of Opening Ceremony garb. However the flats help balance it out a bit. But ladies, where are we going with the barrettes?
Senegal
So other than red, white and blue which is apparently everyone else’s national colors (good to know that if things don’t work out here, my wardrobe and I will be just fine in almost every other country previously owned by Great Britain), yellow was the hot color of the evening. I know, I know, it’s like the actual color of these countries, but I love how everyone was just so bold with it. LIke these two piece dresses courtesy of Senegal. I loved the contrast of the black embroidery on the top, and their head pieces were just the right size that they didn’t distract from the rest of the outfit.
Serbia
Um, what’s going on here? I thought Serbia was an awful frozen tundra where you send things that you never want to see again? Not the land of cute shorts and striped sweaters. Seriously, I love everything about both of these looks. For guys or girls for that matter, you can never go wrong with a nice sweater and a button down. As for the ladies, the white blazer has obviously been a staple for many Olympic uniforms, but the thin navy piping is the perfect addition to such an essential piece.
*note: I have just been informed that Siberia is the awful frozen tundra, not Serbia. Serbia has to at least be nice enough to wear shorts, wherever it is.
Kate Middleton
Okay, well obviously this is a give in. I mean, is the Duchess even capable of being on a worst dressed list? Clearly she’s pulling out the big fashion guns being that this is the Olympics and all. This pale blue number is stunning, which is hard to say about something with a satin belt.
Worst:
Algeria
Track suits? For a sporting event? How groundbreaking. Wake me when it’s over.
United States
Okay, I know I am being a total traitor to my country and my marriage but I hate these outfits. I don’t care that they’re Ralph Lauren. The double breasted blazer is way too stiff and those white skirts look like they belong on nurses in the 1950’s. And the bobby socks with the white Ked’s? Kill me. I think the absolute worst is the hats. Oh, the hats. If there was something I never needed to see, it’s LeBron James in a beret.
Canada
Again, the track jackets? Snooze. I think Steve used to wear this jacket in college and I can vividly remember he bought it at Walmart. Also no one can wear a red top and khakis anymore without looking like the Target lady. Not cute.
Czech Republic
I think the Czechians have taken every possible horrible thing you could wear and thrown them together. This reminds me of what kindergarteners look like after they beg their parents to let them dress themselves. I get that London is rainy, but the boots are so unnecessary. Also, the umbrellas. And the leggings. And the print. Ugh, that horrible print.
Finland
Again with the print. What is this? Whatever it is, it hurts.
Hungary
The cast of Annie Get Your Gun called. They want their costumes back.
Liechtenstein
One word: jeans.
Macedonia
Oh, sorry. I mean Former Yougoslav Republic of Macedonia. Sorry for the confusion. Is this a warm place? I mean, it still doesn’t really justify showing up in board shorts. As if those weren’t bad enough, a long sleeve shirt doesn’t exactly compliment the beach bottoms.
Mexico
I’m sorry, but these outfits just look like something that Mexico threw up. Which is exactly how I feel when I look at them.
Papua New Guinea
Sorry, New Guinea, you are no Katniss. And don’t even get me started on the skirt length.
Samoa
I guess their Olympians double as nurses at the local hospitals?
Spain
Ugh. I take back what I said about yellow. And purses. Sometimes trends can go wrong. I mean, even the boat shoes are questionable in this instance. Oh and there are headbands. Basically everything that could ever be horrible is in the ensemble. Which is unfortunate, because I picture Spanish women as being really sexy in like a flamenco skirt or something with their flowing hair pinned aside by a giant flower. Stereotype? Maybe. Whatever, it’s better than being forced to look at this mess much longer.
Queen Elizabeth
Okay, I don’t really want to judge her outfit so much because this lady has worn every color under the sun throughout her reign and she’s probably running out. However I do know this is a difficult color to wear when you are British/Waspy/”Pink” (as my mother says, who is one of those people herself). I am more bestowing this un-honor on her due to her facial expressions, or lack thereof. Lizzie, hasn’t anyone ever told you you’re never fully dressed without a smile?! Cheer up! You got the Olympics in your city, it’s your Jubilee, and you got to meet James Bond!
~L
all photos courtesy of yahoo!
Hey, did you know that the Fourth of July is my favorite holiday? No? Well then you must be new around here. Welcome.
After spending all night packing every nautical item in my wardrobe, it was finally ready to begin our annual Portland trip. On the way, my friend Alisa and I stopped in Wells to catch up with some family friends and to celebrate my mom’s birthday.
These two are just so hard to be around. They’re so shy and quiet you can’t even stand it:
My mom’s birthday is July 3, so usually a large birthday/seafood dinner is in order. Of course, what kind of birthday would it be if you weren’t being humiliated in front of an entire busy restaurant?
Not a very good one, I can tell you that. Because I personally love being sung to in public. I’m serious. I will welcome this level of publicity anytime. However my mom looks less then thrilled at what is happening here, which I imagine will be similar to the emotion she feels seeing that I posted this picture. Love you, Mom!
It was time for Alisa and I to get going. Partially because it was getting late but also because Mikey kept referring to me as a female Jason Mraz.
After spending the night at Alisa’s brother’s house, we were horrified to find out that the weather forecast for the Fourth was not what nautical dreams were made of. This didn’t stop us from our usual caravan trip to the grocery store where we stocked up on all of the essentials.
How many times did you say that day you “wanted a hot dog real bad?” I’m going to guess no less than five for us.
I personally try to stay away from berries of all kinds, but I appreciated the color palate.
Speaking of accessorizing, how bummed was I that the horrendous downpour prevented me from sporting so many of my planned outfits? Well I can tell you, not as bummed as the fact that Steve showed up in this:
Speaking of accessorizing, how bummed was I that the horrendous downpour prevented me from sporting so many of my planned outfits? Well I can tell you, not as bummed as the fact that Steve showed up in this:
I only wore ONE outfit that day. It was depressing. Also depressing? Cancelled fireworks. That’s right. It was like not having snow on Christmas. Or picking out really cute outfits to ride your bike in and then your husband tells you you have to wear sneakers. But that’s a story for another day.
Despite the elements, we did not let this ruin our annual group photo shoot.
However, getting there was tricky. There was a lot of this:
And this:
Honestly, I’m still not even really sure what was going on here:
Followed by our annual “rap group” photo (note that almost every part of this trip is annual):
Which quickly turned into this:
Of course none of this would be complete with Brent’s annual (there it is again) red, white and blue margaritas. Because nothing says patriotism like a Mexican cocktail.
After recovering from the sadness of see NO FIREWORKS AT ALL we ventured out the next day when the weather was of course, finally beautiful and perfect. Alisa and I insisted on at least something of a beach day and the boys relented, despite the fact that Rocky couldn’t find his one bathing suit (I think the biggest headscratcher here is HOW COULD SOMEONE ONLY HAVE ONE?!) and Steve hates the beach.
We went to Scarborough where we were quickly ambushed by an entire camp that happened to be visiting the beach that day with counselors that virtually paid no attention to what they were doing, which was running on top of our blanket and kicking sand all over us on their way to the trash can. Before you say that I’m a horrible person who doesn’t like children (which is only partially true, some of the time) even my kid-loving husband (ew, wait…) had enough after he got hit in the side of the head with a Frisbee.
At this point Steve left us to return to his week of fishing far away from ocean water and nautical costume changes. Alisa and Rocky and I continued on for our annual (get it?!?!?!) quest for lobster rolls. And not only did we find them, we totally trumped last year:
We continued walking around Portland for as long as the meter would have us. I love Portland, Portsmouth, basically anything to do with a port and cities that look like this:
I also appreciated that many of the storefronts were in on the patriotic theme as well:
All in all, it was another great trip despite the rain and the gross amount of underused outfits. Thanks to everyone who housed us, fed us, and put up with our baggage (I mean literally- there were so.many.bags.). While I was super bummed to wear so few of my patriotic duds, I kept many ensembles in mind for my upcoming post-Portland trips. Here’s a brief rundown of what I actually made it out wearing during our three day adventure:
Just to be clear, those are my pajamas in the first pic. Yes, those are red, white and blue too. I don’t mess around.
~L
In addition to getting back into my regular swing of things since returning to the blogosphere, I’m excited to finally be participating in my first Friday’s Fancies!
What’s that, you say? You’ve never heard of such a thing? Well here’s the lowdown:
When I met Alison from {long distance loving} at a blogger event, I immediately loved her sense of style. After reading her blog I knew I wanted to join the party that is Friday’s Fancies. Every week, there is a different style inspiration challenge and it’s up to each blogger to come up with their own perfect ensemble. It’s basically imaginary, so money is no object (BAM!) and everyone then links up on LDL to share their dream boards.
This first one was inspired by favorite summer treats. I chose to go the refreshment route, which of course meant paying homage to the ultimate in summer beverages: the classic margarita.
I think I was destined to be a ‘rita fan. No, I wasn’t downing Jose in my sippy cup as a toddler. I’m what you call a second generation Parrothead. My father has almost every Jimmy Buffet album ever made, and I grew up listening to his free and easy beachy music. My sister’s first sentence was a line from “Volcano” and my first concert was Jimmy and his Coral Reefer Band at Great Woods. So I think deep down, I always knew that me and margaritas were meant to be.
My ultimate favorite is a classic on the rocks with salt. And I don’t go for any of those crazy fruity flavors, like strawberry-pomegranite-blueberry-mojito-creamsicle-whatever. I don’t even like them frozen. So I drew my inspiration from a good old fashioned yellowy-green libation courtesy of sour mix and actual lime.
This neon yellow lace number is the perfect summer shade. Somehow in the process of me finding this dress online yesterday it has since sold out. And it was on sale! The necklace provides that little hint, or garnish if you will, of lime and the square stones remind me of fresh ice cubes clinking around in my glass. With all this busyness going on, a neutral shoe was necessary, but the extra texture on the front reminds me a bit of the frothy film atop a freshly blended frozen concoction. Finish off with a simple pair of earrings (but still with that same “cube” shape) and you’ve got yourself an ensemble worthy of an hot summer evening at your favorite outdoor bar. And if that bar happens to be Margaritaville, so be it.
~L
It’s no secret that I have a small interest, okay obsession, with all things red, white and blue. So of course the Fourth of July is one of my two all-time favorite holidays (the other being Halloween, natch). I think it also stems from the fact that my grandfather was in the Navy and my mother was so into like the whole country Americana thing.
In the past few years it has sort of… snowballed into a ferocious attempt to collect whatever nautical items I can. We’re talking anything with anchors, rope, ship wheels, and anything that falls under a patriotic palate. It was the only motif that we could agree on when decorating our bedroom and it’s also now consumed the inside of my closet.
So as you can imagine, packing for our annual Fourth of July trip to Portland was no easy task. Actually, I guess it wasn’t that hard because I just packed every nautical item I own. The most difficult part was just getting my suitcase shut.
I should preface by saying that I am probably the worst packer in history, mainly because I always have so many things I want to bring and because well frankly, packing sucks. You have to think ahead about every possible weather and social scenario and find a way to cram all of the products that you use on a daily basis to transform yourself from the swamp creature you wake up as into someone presentable. I always forget how much stuff I use to appear effortless until I have to travel somewhere. I usually wait until the absolute last minute because I work best under pressure.
So after watching marathon sessions of The Hills and trying to decide if I want headbands to come back, it was time to start the dreaded packing. Steve had already left for his fishing trip, so I was left to my own devices, hence none of this starting until 10:30 pm. I decided like all successful endeavors, I would just have to take it one step at time, step one being accessories.
To be honest, when I first saw all my accessories laid out, the first thought in my head was “how do I not have any nautical rings?!” and not “I have a problem.”
Next, shoes! Oh my God, shoes. Footwear is tough mainly because of the highly unpredictable New England weather. Also if you think it’s hard to wear five pairs of sandals on a three day trip… well, you’re right.
Some may think that it’s a bit insane packing up all of your nautical clothing and your nautical accessories in your nautical bedroom. Things did get a bit crazy there for a minute…
… but luckily I had my nautical notepad to help keep me organized.
YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY WHITE BOTTOMS. I would have been lost without my white shorts, white bermuda shorts, white capris and white skinny jeans. It’s like Pokemon. You gotta have ’em all.
Okay, so I guess I would have technically “survived” without the aforementioned white bottoms. But I think that ten shorts/pants options is totally appropriate for a three day trip. A girl’s gotta have options.
Oops. Sorry. There were dresses too. MORE OPTIONS!
Hmmm. Something’s not right here. I should probably buy a navy bathing suit.
Ah, the dreaded zipper. Most people (i.e. my husband) say that if you can’t shut your suitcase, you should probably take out a few things. Or…
You just pack in multiple tiny smaller bags! Done and done.
And that, my friends is how I packed for my favorite holiday.
And… it rained. Not just rained, but like pouring horrible monsoon style tropical stormed. My outfits were sad.
Oh, did you want to see said outfits? Stay tuned for a follow up Portland post!
~L
Did you miss me?
Okay, so I may have taken an accidental hiatus the past few weeks. I went on like three trips, which is three more than I’ve taken all year, let alone in three weeks. I say my hiatus was accidental because I brought my laptop to many of these places with me and didn’t crack it open once. Sorry, folks. I missed you though.
So needless to say, I have tons of recapping/updating/photo editing/unpacking (yes, still. I’m the worst) to do. Tomorrow is my first full day off without plans in a long while so I’m locking myself somewhere with WiFi hoping to get some things accomplished. And if I don’t… it means it was nice out and I went to the pool instead. My life is so hard.
So let’s be friends again. Because I’m sad and lonely without you, Internet.
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| even steven (get it?!?!?!) has been begging me to blog again. or maybe he just wants me to leave him alone so he can watch olympics coverage in peace. |
~L
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