just around the riverbend

dress: asos // shirt: thrifted // leggings: forever 21 // shoes: target




A few days ago was the first sunny day in a while and everyone flocked outdoors. I personally thought I was going to die from the heat, but sitting outside in the shade being serenaded by people was really relaxing. Now of course it's been raining all day and I'm itching for some sun. I'm starting to become bored with my tights and leggings (gasp! I never thought I'd say that!) and I just want to wear shorts. Alas, I fear it will still be several more weeks before these legs see the light of day.





I've been photographing my outfits less and less, and I don't know if that's a good thing or not. It is certainly nice to not always have to make time to take pictures of myself, but then at the end of the day I feel so bad for not getting around to it. I always have to remind myself that it's okay to not blog about everything and it's okay if I miss a day in taking pictures of my outfit. I love blogging and taking photos for it, but man, I'm making it sound like work. Which (and I know I'm about to go off on a rabbit trail here), work shouldn't have such a negative connotation to it. I mean, were humans meant to laze around all day? I don't think so. We were meant to work! And work shouldn't be not fun (ignore that poor grammar, just roll with it). In my schoolwork specifically, I always try to make it the best that it can be as a kind of game between myself and my professor. If it's in a class I don't like or a class that's really hard, I try to do my best just to spite the thoughts that I won't do good on it, and if it's in a class I do like, then I try to see if I can outdo my expectations. The hardest part for me though is just finding the motivation to start!




What do you guys think about work? What gets you motivated? As always, I hope you have a great day!

two years with my best friend

pictures from January 2011 to January 2013

I never knew my heart could be filled with so much joy and adoration for one person. My love for him grows every single day and he constantly inspires me, pushes me, makes me laugh, and fills me with overwhelming happiness. I love you so much, Matt. Thank you for the best, most incredible two years ever. You are amazing.

my week in instagram #35 + weekly roundup

one of my favorite spots on campus // drying some prints // skype/age of empires date with a cutie // wearing things Matt gave me // evidence of spring // showing off bare legs // cute dr. who themed valentine's day card // some finished artwork // first time playing (and winning) monopoly

You can follow more instagram awesomeness @impulsings :)

Weekly roundup (an effort to maintain my new years resolutions):

1. novel: I'm actually having some technical difficulties with this one as I can't open my external hard drive to get the files.
2. photos: have yet to do a second photo.
3. diy project: hopefully will be posted some time this week, so look out for that!
4. outfit photos: yep!
5. college street style: not this week.
6. book: halfway done with my first.
7. sketch: Yep! I did a lot of sketching yesterday.

Have an awesome week everyone!

film friday: paperman

In honor of Valentine's Day, here is a super cute movie for you. From Disney, "Introducing a groundbreaking technique that seamlessly merges computer-generated and hand-drawn animation techniques, first-time director John Kahrs takes the art of animation in a bold new direction with the Oscar®-nominated short, "Paperman." Using a minimalist black-and-white style, the short follows the story of a lonely young man in mid-century New York City, whose destiny takes an unexpected turn after a chance meeting with a beautiful woman on his morning commute. Convinced the girl of his dreams is gone forever, he gets a second chance when he spots her in a skyscraper window across the avenue from his office. With only his heart, imagination and a stack of papers to get her attention, his efforts are no match for what the fates have in store for him. Created by a small, innovative team working at Walt Disney Animation Studios, "Paperman" pushes the animation medium in an exciting new direction."

you make me blush

dress/lace shirt/shoes: thrifted // shirt/tights: forever 21





Happy Valentines Day, everyone! This holiday always has mixed feelings between people, and I have mixed feelings for the day too. Part of me thinks it's a stupid excuse for boys to be extra nice to girls, part of me adores the holiday because it's super cute and romantic, and part of me thinks it's highly overrated. Welcome to the confusing world of Lauren. I guess it really depends on the year for me. This year I'm not too excited about it, because there will be a ton of cute couple-y stuff and it will make me miss Matt more than I usually do. I don't think I've talked about him for a while on here, but we are doing good. Long distance relationships are really hard and they stink but it's totally worth it. Some days are harder than others but you just have to keep the line of communication open and be trusting and understanding. And you always have to stay positive. I've learned a lot that my emotions affect other people, so keeping a positive spirit is of the utmost importance. But Matt is my best friend and he really balances out my insanity perfectly, and I'm so so thankful for him every day. Sure, not being able to see him in person is really hard, but he is more than worth it.




But today is going to be a good day. There are so many people I love and I can't wait to spend it with my friends. Every day I'm thankful for them and where I am and I just love my college and my life so much. Even though I have bad days (like everyone does), I would say that life is pretty fantastic and I'm really glad I've reached that mindset.




I hope you have a marvelous holiday! I love you all so much and I'm so thankful for you, and you deserve to have an awesome day. :)

from the darkroom

I present to you my first prints from the darkroom! Obviously my scanner isn't the best, but that's alright! I've basically fallen head over heels for film photography, and that may be detrimental to my digital loving self. Haha you may never see another digital photo from me again! That probably won't actually be true, but I just want to spend every moment taking photos and hanging out in the darkroom. It really gives photography that handmade art feeling that really makes it feel like a fine art. And I love being able to combine creating something with my hands with photography. The possibilities of what I can do in the darkroom are literally endless, and I'm so excited to explore everything it has to offer.

superpowers

dress/shoes: target // shirt: thrifted // tights: diy




When I was younger, I went to a really conservative Christian school. The guys were only allowed to wear jeans on Fridays, and slacks the rest of the days, and girls were only allowed to wear slacks on Fridays, and skirts/dresses that touched the knee (or longer) the rest of the week. There were a lot of other strict rules about dress code, such as no shirts with words, sleeves had to cover your shoulders, guys' hair couldn't touch their ears and they weren't allowed to have facial hair. On Wednesdays they had to wear a button down shirt, and most of them just wore a tie with it (the girls were always excited about that). I'm not saying these things to put down my old school, because that was the best school I ever went to. The administrators said that one reason they had such a strict dress code was because of the fact that when students dress better, they perform better.




I've really taken that to heart over the years and have discovered that to one extent or another it's true. Clothes have this powerful ability to manipulate our emotions and how we feel, and oftentimes we aren't even aware of it. That's why my old school never let us come to class wearing sweatpants and t-shirts, because if we did we would be more likely to slack on our schoolwork. That's not to say that wearing sweats and t-shirts equates to slacking, but wearing something that resembles pajamas does have an impact on performance. But it's not only about fabric options as much as whether or not you feel confident in what you're wearing. Despite all the fashion trends that come and go, if you don't feel confident in what you're wearing, then it will affect how you feel. Clothes can make us feel sexy, powerful, adventurous, you name it, and they can also make us feel ugly, frumpy, sluggish. And the list goes on and on. Not only do clothes have this ability to change how we feel, but we have the ability to change our clothes. It's all an effort of tapping in to the power of a garment to feel a certain way as you go throughout your day. You don't necessarily have to dress up all the time. I have a few staple outfits that I wear over again on those days where I don't really feel like stepping outside of the fashion box, but when I still want to feel good. If you feel confident and alert in a t-shirt and jeans, then by all means, wear that. That's the joy of personal style. It is completely unique to each person. For me personally, I've found that I usually feel most confident in fun colors and patterns, and while that's not always "in style," those are the things that make me perform the best and make me feel the most happy about who I am. When we realize that a simple article of clothing has this power and when we realize that we can use that power to our advantage, then there's nothing we won't be able to do.





I hope you have a really beautiful day!

my week in instagram #34 + weekly roundup

three of my photos in the Anchorage newspaper! // watching the historical superbowl // dirty/cut up hands from working in the shop // my college at night // 365 photos all in a big pile // my first darkroom print! // new purple tips // my 365 gallery // epic pool time

You can follow more instagram awesomeness @impulsings :)

Weekly roundup (an effort to maintain my new years resolutions):

1. novel: I basically fail at this resolution.
2. photos: working on my second photo for this month!
3. diy project: still in the works.
4. outfit photos: not this past week. In my defense though the week was taken over by my 365 gallery show.
5. college street style: yep!
6. book: still working through my first one.
7. sketch: Not this week. :/

I hope you have a great week everyone!

365 Gallery Show

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted much this week, but I'm actually not that sorry because I've been busy with something really awesome. A couple weeks ago I was talking with my friend Ben, who encouraged me to show all of my 365 photos in a gallery on campus. Then fast forward to Tuesday when I casually went in to the Art Department (where Ben was conveniently the secretary at the time), and then three minutes later casually walked out with a two week show time starting this Saturday (yes, today). So my entire week has been consumed with putting this show together, skipping going to meals to eat in my room and work, staying up extra late to file photos and label and cut out things, and finally putting them all up one by one on display. Yesterday was the day to set up, and my friends and I spent about five hours in the gallery, but it was well worth it!



Before, with sad bare walls, taylor resting her legs before we even start, and Ivy modeling the gopro that was so elegantly taped to my tripod to film our endeavour.



Wall one, two, and three. It was completely surreal to see a year's worth of work all up on the wall. If I had known that all these photos would have eventually been shown in a gallery, I might have tried harder on the project, but I still am really proud of all of them as a whole. I love how you can see my progress from day one to day three hundred and sixty five, and how my style developed and changed, and I love how each photo has a unique story about it. Today I'll be hanging out at the gallery and hopefully people ask a lot of questions, because this is one thing that I am incredibly passionate about and I love being able to share it with other people.



And finally, here is a timelaps video of my day yesterday! Thank you to everyone who helped me in any way with this project, from finding materials for me to putting all the photos together, from lending supplies and bringing me food while I was working to coming and hanging out during set up, and thank you to all the people who have and will show up for the show. Photography is meant to be shared so I am incredibly thankful for everyone who allows me to share this little piece of me with them.

365 Art Gallery Show 2013 from Lauren Parker on Vimeo.

a thousand million words

Hey guys! Today I'm guest posting over on A Thousand Million Words, so be sure to check it out here!

we keep waiting

sweater/tights: borrowed // shorts/lace shirt/earrings: thrifted // boots: target




Happy Tuesday everyone! Tuesdays are my busy days, with four classes that are all at least 80 minutes long, and my last class not ending until 5:25. Yikes. But school has been good. Every day I can't believe how fast the time flies, even though each individual day seems long. My dad already bought my plane ticket for spring break, and I can't even believe it's almost that time of year. I can't believe I'm almost done with my first year of college. When I was little, I used to hate being the oldest child because that meant I had to experience everything first--first to drive a car, first to graduate high school, first to go to college, and that terrified me as a seven, eight, nine year old. (And even in my senior year of high school I was terrified.) But now it seems like a breeze, an exciting adventure that I love living out. Sometimes it is hard and stressful and I don't always know what I'm doing, but that's all a part of the journey.



As for my wardrobe, I've been trying to plan out my outfits a little better instead of picking clothes out in a half dazed state of morning grogginess. And with that I've been trying to accessorize more. I'm really bad at doing it, and I'm sure I haven't bought a new necklace in years, but I really think jewelry can be that icing on the cake for an outfit, so I'm trying to make a conscious effort to incorporate those pieces into my daily ensembles. We'll see how this pans out.




Have a great day everyone!

my week in instagram #33

my clean dorm room // taking pictures in the fog with Amy // my favorite spot on campus // developed my first roll of film! // had another fire in our dorm thanks to the boys // me, haaah // preview weekend with some awesome prospective students // traveling down Oregon roads // photo adventure with flickr people!

This has been yet another fantastic week. You can follow all of my adventures @impulsings !

Weekly roundup (an effort to maintain my new years resolutions):

1. novel: nope. still didn't write a page. I need to get better at doing this one.
2. photos: just came back from a day of shooting, so I'm well on my way.
3. diy project: finished two, now just have to put them up for you!
4. outfit photos: done!
5. college street style: nope, didn't do this one.
6. book: almost done with my first one.
7. sketch: worked on a cute photo this week.
8. money: saving up.

Other resolutions that included more vague ideas like getting my work out there and going to meetups were successful this week. I just came back from spending a day with my friend Heather, a previous flickr friend and now a real life friend (I'll have a post about it soon). Yay for meetups! And I just learned today that three of my photos made it into the Anchorage newspaper, which is definitely big for making people be aware that I'm around, and it was incredibly exciting to wake up to that news.

I hope your week is fantastic!

the first days of spring

jean dress/shoes: forever 21 // button-down shirt: thrifted // pin: antique shop




Things are starting to get warmer here in Oregon! I can almost go outside without a coat and scarf, but part of me is still holding on to the feeling of winter and layering up and being warm and cozy in a bunch of clothes. Also this weekend has been the scholarship competition for preview students, so my roommate Annette and I have been housing two really awesome girls that had better come to hang out with us at college next year! It's hard to believe that less than a year ago I was doing the exact same thing, staying in a freshman's dorm, walking around my college for the first time, and being completely overwhelmed. I'll never cease to be amazed by the concept of time and how overtime people change and morph into different versions of themselves. I remember I was so sad to leave my college after that weekend and I couldn't wait to go back, and now I get to live here every day and every day is a new adventure and there are opportunities for me everywhere. I just really am in love with this place and all the people here.




Speaking of school, on Thursday I got to develop my very first roll of black and white film! It was so exciting and scary to be working with film in pitch black and then messing with chemicals. Next week I'll make prints of the photos and see if I actually did a decent job of getting the right exposure and such, but for now I'm just happy I didn't destroy my film, haha. I can't wait to show you guys the results from that!




I hope you have a really awesome day.

january in review

What what what? January is already over with? This month has just flown by, and I'm sad to see it go. January is probably one of my favorite months, because not only is it my birthday month, but it represents new beginnings and new outlooks on a new year. Looking back on January, I can see it's been a great start to the year, and it's only going to get better!