And in the half light, we run.

dress(es): ModCloth | belt: vintage | socks: the Icing | shoes: thrifted

Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting quite ready for cooler weather! I know, it's definitely a case of "the grass is always greener..." It doesn't seem that long ago that I was aching for summer. Unfortunately, this summer has been unusually hot and humid, making it kind of difficult to enjoy to the fullest. Plus, my swimsuit broke, and I'm still on the hunt for the perfect one...suggestions, anyone?

Shelby (flickr, tumblr) and I were finally able to get together for our first collaboration! Her camera started acting up towards the end, but in true Shelby fashion, she got some really lovely shots. These pictures were taken on the long bike trail near my house; it's been a favorite photo location of mine for years now. We got absolutely eaten alive by mosquitoes (over 40 bites apiece!) but had a wonderful time. Since it was close to sunset, the light through the trees was gorgeous - almost otherworldly in places, honestly - and there was a delightful soft breeze. We talked about life and silly things and future plans and it was just what I needed. We weren't without our battle scars, but really, it was a perfect summer evening.

I'll have a lot more items to add to the shop soon, and any summery items will soon be put on sale! I'll keep you posted. I hope your summer is winding down splendidly!

Hope is a blindfold, hope is a solace

Well, in good news: I've been working a temp job for these past few days. It's the same job I was working about two weeks ago; they called this week and wanted us to come back for a week or two. It's good timing, because I really need the money. However, it also comes just as I'm sitting on over 500 pictures I need to sift through and edit from our trip to Petoskey. Yikes! So, things have been kind of slow on that front. Most of the pictures are for Somewhere in Time (for any new readers out there, that is the vintage bridal business my mom is trying to get started - check it out!) but I also have some pictures for Owl Eyes that I simply can't wait to share.

Anyway, I got to work today and was there for only half an hour before they sent us all home because they didn't have any work for us today. I could have used the money, but I'm not complaining! This gives me the chance to catch up a little...

dress & hat: vintage | shoes: ...I honestly don't remember, I've had them for ages!

So, since I have a little bit of time, I thought I'd share a few photos from our Petoskey trip. If you've never been, I highly recommend it! It's touristy, but not in that annoying way. It's picturesque, but again, not cheesily so. There were four of us on the trip - my mom, Esther, my sister Vera, and me. It was about a three hour drive from Grand Rapids, and the drive was ridiculously gorgeous. It rained for a little bit, but as we got further north, the sun broke through and reflected off the rain, and everything came alive. When we arrived, there was mist over the water - like something out of a dream. I feel like I'm doing it a disservice by this cheesy description, but trust me, it was so, so lovely. I'm fairly certain I kept babbling about how beautiful everything was for the entire evening!

After a brief photoshoot of some Owl Eyes dresses and a few wedding dresses, we headed into town to grab a bite to eat (hungry models = not a good thing; we were starting to get grumpy, haha!). We had to drive around for a little while before we finally found the City Park Grill. From the name, I wasn't expecting much, but it was so gorgeous inside - honestly, it was my every decorating dream. Apparently, Ernest Hemingway used to eat there regularly, and was inspired to write his short story "Killers" there. Now, I've always been much more of a Fitzgerald girl, but that gave me chills.

Of course, it wasn't all literary seriousness:

All in all, a perfect evening. I'll have many more photos to share once I get them edited!

The wind may be beautiful

dress: vintage | shoes: Target | belt: vintage | bow: Charlotte Russe

Once again, I'm sorry for the lack of updates - things have been a little bit crazy here at Owl Eyes HQ! (Okay, I guess we don't really have an HQ, but it lends an air of importance, no?) Between power outages, minor crises, and a lovely trip to Petoskey for a photoshoot, I haven't been able to update. But after being gone for so long, I have a ton of pictures to catch up on - daunting, on one hand, but lots of fun!

I'll write more about the photoshoot when I have all the pictures edited and ready to go, but seriously, it was the most wonderful mini-vacation. We got pictures of many more wedding dresses for Somewhere in Time and I was able to sneak in a few photos for an upcoming mini-lookbook for Owl Eyes Boutique, which is something I've been wanting to do for absolutely ages. I can't wait to share the photos with you all.

These photos are from last Monday. After getting together with Rose and Esther for coffee, Esther headed off to work, and Rose and I went on what we hoped would be an antiquing expedition. Alas, our plans were thwarted. Both of the stores we wanted to go to were closed on Mondays. How random is that?

But, of course, we made the best of it! Though the stores were closed, there were some great photo locations, which we took full advantage of. I'm definitely going to remember this spot for future shoots.

Much to my delight, someone had left a jumbo stick of chalk sitting on the ground. I couldn't help myself...

And that's how we salvaged a failed antiquing expedition!

Jigsaw falling into place

dress: Charlotte Russe | cardigan: H&M | leggings and shoes: Target

Whew! Things got a little bit crazy this week. Among other things, I started babysitting for four (darling!) children , and I got a 3-day temp job. The temp job was kind of ridiculous, but in a good way. I was told it was data entry, which it sort of was - but it was so disorganized that we only ended up doing actual work for a small fraction of the time. Yesterday we played the game where you try to fit in as many song titles as possible in normal conversation. (I came in third, ha.) We weren't slacking - there was just nothing to do! Luckily, it was a fun group of people, so the time went quickly. Not a bad gig!

I've also been working hard at organizing and taking pictures of more things for the shop. I've got a ton of items to post. It's a little frustrating because I'd like for the shop to look consistent, but I can't really do that at the moment since I have to keep changing where I take pictures. Oh well. It's really just as well, because - exciting news - I found a place to live! I was really bummed when my previous housing plans fell through, but this new plan is going to work out really well, I think. My friend is buying a house, and I'll be living with her. I haven't seen the inside of the house in person yet, but the pictures look gorgeous, and it's right in the neighborhood I want to be in. So happy! If all goes well, I should be moving in near the end of July or beginning of August. This summer has been up and down, to say the least, so I'm really happy to see things finally working out. (So, until I have a place where I can set up for the shop, it's going to be a little eclectic.)

Oh, and speaking of the shop - I'm hoping, hoping, hoping that this will work out - I'm planning to go up north sometime this week to do a photoshoot for Somewhere in Time, and we're going to do some photos for Owl Eyes, too! My goal is to put together a lookbook. If this little trip works out, it should be fun - I've never been up north in Michigan, really, which is strange considering I've lived here 10 years.

I'll leave you with a few pictures (really, just a few - forgot my memory card at home!) from the chalk art contest held in my town this weekend. It's a new thing, and apparently it was really disorganized this year, but they're planning to make it an annual thing. It's really nice to see the community come together, even if our town isn't the most exciting. This event attracted all kinds of people - kids, adults, artists, and - as you'll see - one hopeful lover! A friend of my family's won first place - the man is ridiculously talented.

Don't think twice, it's all right

Well, it has been an interesting week, that's for sure! Thank you all for your comments on the baby rabbits. I haven't seen the little survivor since last weekend, but I'm just going to take that as a sign that he is safe and far away.

Esther and I took these photos the other day in the park near my house. It was a perfectly lovely day - finally! So far May hadn't been very springlike at all here in Michigan, but the weather, it seems, has turned around. I rode 5 miles on my bike on the trail right by my house (it goes all the way to the zoo downtown - 16 miles, though I've never gone all the way!) and in the light spring breeze, it was glorious.

We were so excited to take these pictures because we had just finished taking the first round of photos of some of the merchandise for our Etsy store! Things had been so busy - she with her job, me with school - that we hadn't had the chance until now. Unfortunately, when I put the memory card into the computer, the photos disappeared. I downloaded a photo recovery program; still nothing. So unfortunately that time was a loss, but I was able to redo some of the pictures today. I'll have some to share as a sneak preview in a future post!

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to cut this post short - I've come down with an awful cold today and my body's telling me that I need to get some sleep. Who am I to argue? What an exciting life I lead - in bed before midnight on a Friday! Anyway, I'll have lots more to share soon - including the story of how I met Nigel Barker. I'll leave you with some more pictures. Have a great (and healthy!) weekend!

Denver dreaming

headband: Forever 21 | tank top & cardigan: Target | belt: Charlotte Russe | skirt: vintage | tights: ModCloth | boots: Shi

The odds are pretty good that I will look back on this collage and think it was a terrible idea...but part of me thinks it's kind of fun! Am I crazy? I really wanted to do an outfit post, but my camera is at home (and the battery is terrible anyway) and I'm going to be on campus all day. What to do? A collage of crappy webcam pictures, apparently. Kind of silly, but on the other hand, it's one way for me to do an outfit post without a working camera!

In many ways, this is the polar opposite of my last outfit, but that's because Michigan is throwing a tantrum. It's been rainy, which isn't a big deal, but it's also been in the 40's again. Oh well. Spring will just be all the more welcome when it comes back.

However, at the moment I'm really wishing I was in Denver. Not because of the weather (I have no idea what it's like there right now!) but because the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference is going on there right now. I have some friends who are attending, and then I found out that my cousin is there - and then, to top it all off, I found out that some of the ModCloth writers are going to be there and host a party! Man, I wish I had known about this. Maybe it's just spring fever, but I feel like I haven't traveled anywhere interesting lately.

Besides, the conference sounds amazing. I don't know if I've mentioned this here before, but I'm a creative writing major. I firmly believe that it's the best major in the world - I get to play around with words, and learn quite a bit about myself in the process. It helps that my school has an incredible writing program. From everything I've heard, there really aren't many schools out there that have the great setup and workshop atmosphere that we have, so I feel really lucky. I have some really awesome opportunities coming up, too - in the fall, a play that I'm helping to write will be up on our school's stage in the fall! It's been so fun being a part of the process and it will be great to see how it turns out.

Well, it's back to homework for me. I've tricked myself into thinking I don't have a lot left to do, but my end-of-the-semester to-do list is actually ridiculously long...we'll see how this goes!

Black & white

dress: ModCloth | tights: Forever 21 | shoes & bow: Charlotte Russe

Just a quick post to introduce you to someone very dear to me! This is Lucy, my puppy. Well, I guess she's technically full-grown - she's 3 - but I think she'll always be a puppy to me. She's the funniest little creature. Like most small dogs, she has a complex, and thinks she's much bigger than she is. But she also snorts like a pig. She can seriously snore as loud as a full-grown man. It's pretty hilarious.

I had fun romping around with her for a few minutes this afternoon. The weather has been absolutely divine - in the mid-80's, in Michigan, in April. I can't believe it! I hope you all are having equally lovely weather. The week of Easter (which is actually called Pascha in my tradition) is my favorite week out of the whole year, so I'm pretty psyched that it's so gorgeous outside.

We've both had a case of spring fever, in case you couldn't tell!