Category Archives: photography

Portraits in Venice, CA

lalaland

Photos by Anni Compton with some assistance by yours truly :)

About a month ago, Anni had an engagement shoot in LA and she was sweet enough to invite me to tag along. I was only there for 2 and a half days but boy did the West Coast ensnare my heart, we stayed in an airbnb pad a block from Venice Beach and that was pretty much perfection. Also, while waiting to get a table at Gjelina I totally spotted Owen Wilson picking up some take-out and Anni may or may not be a little bitter that I didn’t get her attention when he walked right past us. (Sorry, lady!)

On our first full day there, Anni and I decided to explore the neighborhood and bring her camera with us to capture some portraits of each other and take full advantage of the beautiful California light. It was so fun to play quasi-photographer–Anni prepared the settings on the camera, I pretty much just pointed and shot–and finally get Anni in front of the camera for a change. Don’t we all agree that she should do that more often, she’s pretty damn photogenic!

choices / steven alan optical

Dennise_Steven_Alanphotos by Anni Compton frames: 1 | 2 | 3

A few weeks back, I accidentally stepped on my glasses, luckily my husband was able to super glue the broken pieces, however, these frames are about 4 years old so I’m in desperate need of a new pair. Which leads me to this…

Guys, I need your help! I am pretty overwhelmed with all the great frames out there, and though I’ve been able to narrow it down to frames from either Steven Alan Optical or Rowley Eyewear, I still need some feedback on which ones fit my face shape best.

Luckily, my best gal Anni was more than willing to help me out and snap a few pictures of my chosen frames. First up are my Steven Alan optical picks. Which pair do you guys like the most? Any feedback will be greatly appreciated, let’s face it, I’ll probably have these new frames for the next 4 years.

By the way, yes, we are at the Steven Alan store in Wicker Park, they do offer a try on at home option for their frames, but after the brutal winter we had, Anni and I were looking for any excuse to leave the house, plus the employees were sweet enough to accommodate our quick, impromptu photo shoot.

Vote here for your favorite pair:

instax / 2

instax-kauai

A few instax pictures of my recent trip to Kauai, nothing screams tourist like a gal with a dslr camera, an instax camera and her camera phone, trying to use them all simultaneously, naturally.

by fryd

byfrydimages by Jeanette Lunde of By Fryd

I’m obsessed with these simple but stunning displays, I am especially taken by the different ways to use wire hangers. I actually detest wire hangers–for my clothes that is, but of course, I have a plethora of wire hangers just hanging around. Also, how random and awesome is that mirror hanging with the posters/pictures?

ederle

ederleall images by ederle

Don’t you just love finding small but extremely well-curated online shops? How much more do you love an online shop that carries the loveliest bath oils this side of the www? If that’s the case, then you must check out Ederle, I seriously had to stop myself from posting every last picture on that site.

instax / 1

instax-garden

I finally got my hands on an Instax camera and was super excited to take it with me on a walk to the train because I’ve been dying to take some pictures of this lovely garden, a mere block from my house.

osei duro

osei-duro

osei duro

I’ve been looking for tons of hair inspiration lately as my hair has finally started getting past the “awkward growing out” stage. In the midst of my search, I came across these sweet items and images from Osei Duro, a new-to-me brand.

What a lovely discovery! I’m a little bummed that the piece I loved most is sold out, but there are a few others that have caught my eye.

mapoesie

mapoesie

mapoesie

Mapoesie’s SS13 collection has got me all giddy inside! Laying in the grass with my head on one of those scarves, sign me up!

benta studio

benta-studio

benta studio

Ah, scarves, who doesn’t love scarves? What a great way to spice up an outfit and hide a less-than-stellar hair day. Also, as Benta studio proves, scarves make for real fun photo props in an adorable lookbook. I’m kinda bummed this website isn’t in English so I can figure out how to get my hands on one of these beauties.

steven alan spectacles

steven-alan-eyewear

glasses by Steven Alan

I think we can all agree that Mondays can be rough, right? Yesterday, I woke up early to be productive but due to bad weather and a poor transportation decision actually ended up being late to work, couple that with some godaddy server issues, and a killer migraine, this particular Monday was shaping up to be pretty shitty. That is, until I opened an e-mail stating that one of my favorite brands, Steven Alan, now carries eyewear, yipee! I know it’s silly, but I am in the market for some new spectacles and am so pleased that I’ve got even more options, good options to boot.

Sometimes all it takes for a crappy day to get better is the possibility of a future shopping opportunity.