new traditions

shirt/skirt: thrifted // cardigan/coat: from a friend // leggings: forever 21 // shoes: target // scarf: asos // photos taken by Matt




In wanting to wear some my hardly-worn items more often, I put together this outfit feauturing a skirt that I've never worn for the blog (because I never really liked how the outfits turned out) and a shirt that I only wore for a 365 photo, as well as a cardigan that I never quite know how to wear. I guess putting a whole bunch of these kinds of items together turns into a very successful outfit!





This weekend was a pretty good one. First of all, I got caught up on all my favorite tv shows. Still mad about the latest Top Model. New girl was perfection as always. Modern Family made me cry as always. And Legend of Korra was too fantastic for me to handle. Ugh. Still fangirling over it. I'm also super excited for the beginning of 2014, because the new season of Community and Sherlock are coming out! *swoon* My heart cannot handle all of these fantastic shows.

Also my friends and the guys on our floor + Matt all played this super awesome game that we made up for three or four hours Saturday night (well, Sunday morning if you're getting technical). We had bought two giant glowsticks from Target, and decided we had to play with them in some way, so we brainstormed and came up with a game where two people went and hid the glowsticks somewhere in the apartment. They were then blindfolded and all the lights were turned off, and the remaining people had to go out and find the glowsticks. It was such a hard, scary, and hilarious game, and well beyond worth the two dollars we spent on the glowsticks. I'm hoping it will become a new weekend tradition!




Hope you have a great week!

my week in instagram #61

1 + 2 // It has been super foggy these past few mornings, and I've been in love with (if not completely cold in) them.

3 // Went on a coffee date with Matt. It was nice to walk around town a little bit and see autumn in full swing.

4 // Have been and still am geeking out over the two latest Korra episodes. Ugh. They are seriously so good I can't even stand it. I need someone to freak out with me about how freaking awesome they were. I've already watched both of them multiple times, that's how good they are.

5 // Le drawing from my drawing class. Not one of my favorite drawings, but definitely one of my favorite classes.

Other things that happened this week:

A. Getting zero rest because I finished two graphic design projects that were due on the same day.
B. Eating Thai food for dinner and accidentally eating octopus.
C. Playing spy games in the dark with the guys on our floor until two in the morning--best way to spend two dollars (for glowsticks) and a Saturday night.

Hope you had a great week!

and the world spins madly on

dress: thrifted // cardigan: borrowed // leggings/boots: forever 21




Some days (most days) I look into my closet and think, "Man, I have nothing to wear!" or "I have so few clothes." I'm sure you have thought the same thing too. For me at least, it's really not the fact that I don't have enough clothes, but too many pieces that I'm not completely in love with. When I first started blogging my outfits on tumblr, I would buy every quirky piece I could find at thrift stores, and now pieces that I've never worn are still in my closet. This dress was one of those pieces, though it's not as outlandish as some of the things peaking out from inside my dresser. It makes me sad to say it, but this is only the second time I've worn this dress since purchasing it. The first time was when I was into my second month of blogging on here (oh just look at Lauren trying to be all model-y and serious looking for the camera, haha), and I forgot how great of a piece it actually is! It inspired me to go through and look for other pieces that I haven't actually worn in a long time, and hopefully they will get to come into the lime light once more.




Man, this week has been so so busy. I've been running on about four hours of sleep nearly every night, waking up early, and running nonstop throughout the day just barely getting all my work turned in on time. Who ever said being an art major was easy has never done it, because it takes a lot of hard work, dedication, sheer luck, and really really good time management--which I'm not very good at as of yet. But the thing is, now that I'm beginning to take more classes that I'm interested in, the more I want to do the projects for them instead of putting off something that I don't like until the last minute. It's a really great feeling. But feeling tired and hungry from not sleeping and skipping meals to work--not so great. Time management is key. (And don't worry, Mom, I'm getting plenty of rest and macaroni and cheese now!)




Hope you have a great weekend!

p.s. I haven't redyed my hair for a while, which is why it's currently this interesting dark brown/purple/gray color. I like it, but I need more purple in my life!

bellarive + digital age concert

bellarive + the digital age

There's just something about going to a concert, being surrounded by other people, and feeling completely washed over by the music. It's a little bit different to run around as the photographer, like you're looking on the outside of a department store window set up, only you can still hear the music and feel the energy. You even dance around a little bit as you run from one end of the stage to the other, snapping away photos and being so energized you don't even look to see if they're coming out or not. You just look through the viewfinder and you know the picture is perfect. Concerts are always a strange way of escapism. All the world's problems can't break into the throng of people jumping up and down, and your own thoughts are drowned out by music and bass notes. And even when it's over, the energy still lingers on like a haze, giving you courage to talk to strangers and strength to stay up late and process photos.

Ah yes, the photographer life. It's a good one.

my week in instagram #60

My face after learning that my time as an intern has paid off ... a cell phone company purchased a stock photo of me laughing on a cell phone. Gotta love stock photos. //

A trip to the Portland Art Museum. I could spend all day in that place. There were so many beautiful and interesting pieces. //

A foggy Oregon morning. Even when covered in clouds, this place is still absolutely gorgeous. //

The woes of being left handed. I get charcoal all over my hand. //

Got to pet animals! Matt and I went to a friend's house for dinner and I finally got my furry fix. //

Late night fast food runs, which usually includes some fun music to sing to, a sun roof, and a pretty moon. //

Goats at the Pumpkin Patch! They were soo cuuute! //

Cows during the drive. It took everything in me to refrain from playing the cow game. //

This has been a very good week.

film friday: adventure is calling

Adventure Is Calling from Shane Black on Vimeo.

I had the privilege of meeting Shane about a year ago, and this year he set out on an adventure to create some really fantastic art. On his vimeo page:

"This summer, two friends and myself all left our comfortable jobs of six years to spend two months traveling across the country and teaching photography workshops along the way. We all felt that it was time to take a risk and get out of our comfort zones... adventure was calling us. It was a trip filled with endless hours cooped up in a van, exploring breathtaking landscapes, sharing stories and laughs, meeting some of the nicest people, making new friends, getting to meet old friends from around the country, and sharing our love of photography with others.
This trip was a constant test for me, as we had such short and limited time in nearly all of the spots we visited. In most cases, I'd have to hurry out of the van with all of my gear and find a decent composition in a very short amount of time as soon as we would arrive at the location. It was a constant race against the light.
During those 2 months, we traveled across 32 states , visited 13 national and state parks, and drove nearly 13,000 miles in a (somewhat) trusty old Dodge Caravan... with no cruise control. It was an adventure that gave us many memories that we will all hold onto for many years to come. I think that everybody needs to take a trip and have their eyes opened to just how beautiful this world is and how much is really out there."

Ever since I was little I've wanted to explore like this. Just hop in a car and not know where I'm going and spend months and months on the road. Thankfully my family has been able to do that a couple of times, traveling across America and Canada, but I would love to do it again, just driving along back roads and couch surfing and creating beautiful art and exploring my country. It's videos like this and stories like Shane's that give me hope that that is possible and that I can do whatever I set myself to do.

Hope you have a wonderful Friday!

blog update

You may or may not have noticed by now, but I updated the look of my blog a little bit. Not that I didn't like the old design scheme, but I want a more seamless transition from this blog to my photography website, which meant incorporating the paper crane and crisp whiteness. I may or may not keep the background, we'll see. At this point in time I'm too busy to mess with the HTML (or learn HTML5 and responsive web pages), but for now, this will do quite nicely. Plus I just felt like I needed a bit of a change of scenery, since I've been feeling a bit bleh about blogging recently. In the past I've tried to focus a lot on sponsors and generating some sort of income, and while that sort of thing is always nice, it's something I can't control, so I'm not going to stress about it. For all intents and purposes, sponsorship and advertising are done, at least my advertizing of accepting it (except for the Modcloth ad because I'm part of their affiliate program and plus I just love the company a lot ... so click on the ad and buy something to support me and them!).

Not to say that I haven't done this in the past, but from here on out I want to focus more on the quality of my content rather than quantity. At one point I was posting every day and it was great, but now I don't have time for that and pushing myself to do it no longer makes it fun. Don't worry though, I'm not going to disappear or anything, the whole "diary" idea of a blog is too tempting for me to stay away from for very long. Even now I'm just writing what comes to my mind and hoping for the best.

Love you all so much. Hope you have a great day!

it's a lucky day

dress: Someone like you // shirt/shoes: borrowed // tights: forever 21





This post could also be titled, "The anti-hipster" or something with a similar connotation since I'm the last person in the world to jump on the grand bandwagon that is the Three Wolf Moon Shirt. Matt was all too kind in making fun of me for being such a flaming hipster, he's probably scared that my life will soon be overrun with mason jars, tacky sweaters, and weird music (too late, that's already happened. But in my defence, I was doing the whole mason jar thing long before it became a thing because my parents love to can--easy access--and I love random jars with which to put random crap inside. I can't say anything for the music and fashion choices though ...) But needless to say, the moment I put this shirt on, it truly did become the luckiest day ever. First of all, my class got canceled leaving me with a free evening. That was normal enough, but then I got an email saying I won the European lottery and was immediately given money by a guy who came to my door in a fancy black suit. Then during dinner, the kitchen staff came out and brought me a giant plate of macaroni and cheese and garlic mashed potatoes, a starchy heaven. Then a wizard came to me in a vision, which granted me powers to call upon ancient dragons and harness not only their powers, but themselves. So with my love beside me, I flew into the sunset on the back of a golden dragon. All while wearing the Three Wolf Moon shirt.






So next time you need a really fantastic day, just wear this shirt, and all your dreams will come true.

my week in instagram #59

poetry reading // video game playing // yearbook meeting // concert photographing

This week has been pretty low key as I have been sick (and missed two days of school) + we all got a day off of school. But in between meetings and events, things have still managed to stay busy.

states of being

dress: borrowed // belt/tights: forever 21 // shirt: thrifted // rainboots: gift





Recently I've been thinking a lot about blogging, what I'm doing with it, and where I want Introvert's Introduction to go. At this point in my life I have no desire to make it my full time job (or even a part time job), simply because I don't have the time or the platform to do that. When I was just reading blogs, I figured it was pretty easy to do. Take a couple photos, write some words, have people send you free stuff. Sounds like the life, yeah? Since I actually started blogging, I realized how much work it actually is. And I'm not even one of the "big" blogs with all the advertisements and c/o items and giveaways. I do have great respect for bloggers that do that kind of thing though, because it really is a full time job and a lot of work. For me, I usually spend about an hour and a half from shooting photos to editing and processing them, and then anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour to write a blog post. Then I spend about an hour going through emails, replying to people (which I love!). Then of course there's the planning process, which I haven't been very good about since school started--planning blog posts, brainstorming ideas, etc. It's a lot of work, but I really do love it.

Outfit posts are kind of the easy, fall back thing, but I like doing them and I like sharing them with you. I don't know if I necessarily want them to be my main thing, but it seems that more often than not I just use outfit photos to accompany my thoughts, like with this blog post. One thing I really love sharing are my adventure posts. They're more photo diary entries about my daily adventures, and I just love being able to document them and give them a proper spotlight on the internet. I also really love sharing photography stuff, such as behind the scenes, tutorials, and before and after videos.

What I love is sharing what little knowledge I have with you to help you along the way, whether that be through photography, or being an introvert, or giving you the push to explore your backyard, or even trying a new style. I just want this blog to be a place where people can come to be helped.




So here's a question: what do you want to see more of on Introvert's Introduction? I want to be here to help you in any way that I can, be it through tutorials or outfit posts, or even something new. Life is too short to go through it alone and I want to be there for you guys.




I hope you have a very wonderful day!

film friday: the gps prank

Here's a little humor for your Friday enjoyment.

indoors

shirt: thrifted // pants/belt: target // shoes: forever 21





Cue that spongebob song that I always sing anytime someone mentions being indoors. These photos were taken during one of the long rainy days where there was no break in the clouds for even five minutes. This is the kind of outfit that happens when I'm still sleeping and trying to get dressed in the dark. Somewhat really colorful and kind of crazy, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless.

Also I supposed you could say that this is kind of a sneak peak to my room, and if I ever find a spare moment I'll give you a lovely apartment tour, but for now I'll just let the curiosity foster inside of you.





Hope you have a great day!

art retreat 2013

through instagram photos.



This past weekend I got to hang out with 60+ crazy art people along the coast of Oregon. Especially since I've been too busy with school to shoot anything creative, I was extremely excited for the break to produce some new artwork. Despite getting sick with that nasty cold/throat thing that always happens around this time of year, I was still able to hang out on the beach literally from sunrise to sunset on Saturday, shooting concepts, assisting on photoshoots, and hanging out with people. On Sunday we went gallery and antique store hopping, which, even though I was too sick to fully enjoy, was still neat to look at art and dig through piles of antiques to find a couple treasures.



the morning beach // lunch at a local diner



endless photo adventures // antique store treasures // photographing dead things and lighthouses // viewing the coast

My love and connection to the ocean only grows and grows, and my desire to submerge myself into nature and creating and being surrounded by the beauty of the world grows as well. I've been thinking a lot about myself, who I am, and what I want to do with my life. For me and any other creatives out there, the desire to travel and create is very great, and I'm constantly wanting to be rid of extra things that distract me. Of course, actually getting rid of those distractions is a different story, so I'm thankful for weekends such as this one to eliminate anything that would hinder my desires, at least for a little bit of time.



pretty models and photographers // beach bits

But now I'm back in the real world. I skipped classes yesterday because of being sick, so it was a nice way to vacation from my vacation (funny how that works). Some of the images I got I'm really excited about, and I can't wait to work on them and release them when the proper time comes. After going to the beach, I realized how needed it actually was. There's just something about being surrounded by the ocean and creative people that's rejuvenating, and it's also nice to know that I can feel completely comfortable around people that I barely know, and just after a weekend call them my friends.



treasures collected from the trip // one last look at the beach

It is good to be back home though (where there is soup and medicine and a bed with minimal sand in it), and I am so thankful the ocean is close and my beautiful Oregon family is even closer.

september photos

"Margaery of the Reach"

Model: Felicity
Assistant: Heather

This is the only photo I worked on in September. It was shot during the tail end of August on the same day as this photo and over the course of September, in between my schoolwork, I finished this piece. It's just a little different from my usual style in that I added in a lot more elements during processing, like the castle and sword, but I personally love how it turned out.

For the rest of the year though, I'll have a ton of images to work on because I just got back from my school's weekend art retreat to the beach. It was such a great weekend, but I'll talk about it more in a different post.

january/february // march // april // may // june // july // august