Category Archives: photography

dollar shave club

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And here’s my review of the awesome Dollar Shave Club!

I’m a total sucker for packaging and from their creative website and commercial I expected a lot. And Dollar Shave Club did not disappoint! The logo is hip and masculine, and your first delivery comes in this awesome kraft envelope.

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In your first delivery you’ll get the blades (of course), but also a super nice handle, and note of sorts from the company.

And I just loooooove their cheeky notes. I’m not sure if you can read it from this picture but it says “Official Member, Present this membership card at any bar in America for a free drink*” with the * reading: “Not really; Please don’t drink and shave”. LOVE.

Here it is with the blade on it. And my husband just looooooves it. Truth be told, I love it too – I’ve definitely used it on my legs…

And that’s my unsponsored totally truthful review! Such a great idea, and I wish the company lots of success. If you’re interested in getting this for you or a man in your life, here is the link!

long weekend luxuries

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Hi friends,

I hope you had a fabulous long weekend! Memorial day always feels like the start of summer to me, and I welcome smell of BBQ in the air and warm summer nights.

Sadly my fiancé had to work most of the weekend, but I was able to get a lot of wedding preparations done (but still so many “projects” to do!), hang out with some friends (congrats on the engagements!), head to the LA flower market, and I tried this amazing recipe for avocado and cilantro pasta. I know, avocado cilantro pasta  sounds crazy, but it was delicious and I plan to make it a summer staple.

Most importantly, perhaps, my  fiancé and I got to relax a little bit amid the fun and craziness that has been the last couple of weeks and will be the weeks to come. I find it easy to forget how lovely it is to just sit back and enjoy each other’s company, but it definitely refreshed me.

What were you up to this weekend? Do you have any summer plans that you’re looking forward to? I’d love to hear about them!

Giveaway: Too Faced Cosmetics

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My amazing aunt and uncle and parents threw my fiancé and me a family wedding shower on Sunday (thank you!), so it was the perfect opportunity to get dressed up and try out some awesome new Too Faced make-up I recently got my hands on. And here is the best part: I’m giving away everything below. See the end of this post for details!

After trying this foundation once I’m pretty sure I’ll be wearing it all summer. It’s really light, has just enough coverage, gives a hint of shimmer, and has SPF 20 (because who wants to age prematurely?)

It turns out this eyeliner is not just eyeliner, it’s a Long-Stemmed Lashes Lash Enhancing Serum & Eyeliner Duo. Apparently after 4 – 8 weeks your eyelashes will be longer and thicker – yes please! Beyond that lovely benefit this liquid eyeliner was really easy to use and stayed put all day.

 This blush (first on the left) was really subtle and was a great mix between bronzer and blush. It will be great for weekend picnics or weekday work!

And this eyeshadow set is just the greatest. The first trio is matte and the other two are shimmery, one more than the other. I’m really looking forward to using these all summer – maybe even for my wedding?! It managed to outlast the sunshine of Sunday!

Here’s a little sample of how I used it on Sunday.

How to win: All you have to do to win everything here is head over to Too Faced’s facebook page here and “like” the page, and then comment on this post to let me know you’ve done so. And that’s it! You have until Thursday 9:00pm PST.

(Sorry, you have to live in the continental US to win. And stay tuned – I’ll be giving away more next week!)

DIY and the LA fashion district

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As part of our wedding preparation, my fiancé and I are attempting some DIY projects. I guess “attempting” is the key word there. Wish us luck!

The first project is to make throw pillows in our wedding colors to throw around the venue’s benches and couches. I was inspired by this tutorial. What do you think?

So because this project and a couple others involve fabric and sewing (thank goodness my future mother-in-law is a master at this), we decided to head down to the Los Angeles Fashion District for the first time. We had no idea what we were in for.

Word on the street is that Michael Levine is the the place to get any and all kinds off fabric so we headed there first. After 20 minutes of looking for parking, we headed up Maple Street. You can’t miss the big blue sign!

Once inside, it was clear we would find what we were looking for. We could find what anyone was looking for. Fabric, ribbons, threads, even whatever that was that Catwoman’s catsuit is made out of. Check it out!

After a couple laps we finally decided on half a dozen coordinating bolts of fabric.

Next step, take them to an available sales associate and tell them how much you need. We got a yard of each , just enough for a throw pillow each.

Voila! Don’t they look nice together? I’ll be sure to post some pictures when they’re all done. And I’d include a tutorial, but let’s be honest, without my future mother-in-law, these throw pillows would never get made ;)

After our adventure at Michael’s, we wandered in some of the smaller surrounding shops (I’m sorry I didn’t take any pictures!) and bought all sorts of chiffon-y fabrics in shades of pink and white and cream in an attempt to make the archway of sorts below for our wedding ceremony. Though the quality may not be as nice as those fabrics found at Michael’s, we found them for $2-$4 a yard, so no complaining here. I was pretty excited.

Maybe if this project works out I’ll create a tutorial for it! Fingers crossed.

bottom image via this wedding from 100 layer cake

Any other DIY ideas? I’d love to hear them!

wedding wednesday: timeless romance

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Welcome to Wedding Wednesdays!

I’m super excited to share the gorgeous shoot from the amazingly talented Lindsey of Eyelet Images. These photos are the perfect mix of romance, whimsy, and timelessness – and it doesn’t hurt that this couple is devastatingly handsome. I’m so inspired by their details, from the classic books to the her shoes to his pocket square.  And it’s so easy to tell how much these newlyweds love each other!

Here is the description of the lovely couple from Lindsey herself:

You know those people who are so classic and charming that they seem to belong to another era? David and Erin Sutton are two of them, and they fit PERFECTLY together. When they were married earlier this year, love stories from the past two centuries surrounded them on every table as part of their decor (so craftily designed by Erin). The Suttons carried this literary romance into their bridal shoot, and were sure to include their absolute favorite book, “Pride & Prejudice”. I was completely captivated by their tenderness toward one another, and couldn’t help but think of the scene when Mr. Darcy tells Elizabeth, “You have bewitched me, body and soul” (Yes, I am a hopeless romantic!) Thank you David and Erin for being so vulnerable for my camera! It was magic, and I’m so happy for you two! ♥

And don’t forget to vote for your favorite instagram photo! The contest ends tonight.

vote now for your favorite instagram photo!

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Hi friends,

Thanks so much for sharing your instagram photos. I loved seeing them! Below are the 10 entries I promised you. Now it’s your your turn to vote for your favorite. Voting closes this Wednesday at 8:00pm, and I’ll announce the winner this Thursday.

Entry 1

Entry 2

Entry 3

Entry 4

Entry 5

Entry 6

Entry 7

Entry 8

Entry 9

Entry 10

You only get one vote, so choose wisely. I can’t wait to find out who wins!

French Fridays: Photography Atelier (III), Normandie

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Bonjour mes amies -

Even though we took a break from the French Friday photography posts, here is the last one. I hope you enjoy!

When my fiance came to visit me during my semester in Paris, we took a quick trip to Normandy and took the most amazing tour with the former Battlebus tours. It was worth every penny. He still talks about how amazing it was. We saw Utah, Omaha, Point du hoc, St. Mere Eglise, and more. I highly recommend it!

And send me your favorite instagram photos at fromkristina@gmail.com! (Who doesn’t like free Starbucks money?) Contest details here.

Contest: I want to see your favorite instagram photo!

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Instagram. We use it. We love it. It’s awesome (and here’s hoping it doesn’t change much under Facebook).

For some of us (okay, me…) it’s caused me to take wayyyy too many photos. But I’ve seen the photos that pop up and there are so many lovely images! They’re smart, creative, witty, and lovely to look at. And I’d love to see yours!

So I wanted to put together a little contest and I’d love you to participate if you’re up for it. Send me your very favorite Instagram photo (I know, it’s going to be hard to choose just one) and I’m going to choose my 10 favorites and put them up on here a week from today and let you all vote for the winner. And here’s the best part… the winner is going to win a $10 giftcard to Starbucks! And who doesn’t love Starbucks?

Here are the rules:

  • Only one entry per person
  • Email your favorite Instagram photo to fromkristina[at]gmail.com
  • The photo must have been taken on a phone or mobile device (tablets are okay!)
  • The photo must have been formatted with Instagram (square!) but you don’t have to have used a filter.
  • The photo must be submitted between Tuesday, April 17 @ 7:00am PST and Saturday, April 22 @ 7:00pm PST
  • My favorite 10 will be posted a week from today, Tuesday, April 24
  • Then you can vote! The winner will be announced on Friday, April 27
  • (and I will need the winner’s email address to send your gift card)
Good luck. I can’t wait to see your photos!

perch: an elevated resting place

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Bonjour mes amies -

I had planned on doing the last installment of “photographie atelier” but decided to change it up – hope you don’t mind!

For today’s French Friday I’m sharing one of my favorite French inspired places in Los Angeles: Perch. This lovely rooftop bar is one of my favorite go-to places – even though it’s all the way Downtown, it’s worth it!

This Monday I happened to have the day off work and my mom and I headed over to Perch for late afternoon drinks and a cheese plate. It was the perfect afternoon to spend on a rooftop enjoying the sun. Take a look!

 

 

sunny san diego (part II)

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Welcome to Part II of our San Diego trip! Now I really only brought my camera the first day (it was supposed to be a relaxing vacation after all) so don’t judge me because I’m wearing the same outfit in today’s post as yesterday’s post. It was the same day!

Like I mentioned yesterday, we took a day trip to Old Town San Diego, the birthplace of California. California, for the most part, is not very old. When you find something built in the early 1900′s (like the US Grant from yesterday’s post), it’s quite rare. But San Diego has an extremely rich history. It was inhabited by Native Americans as far back as 9,000 years ago and the San Diego area became a Spanish settlement in the late 1700′s when Father Serra established the first mission in California.

Today, Old Town San Diego is historic state park and many of the original buildings have been restored to their original glory and function. It’s so fun to walk around the buildings and shop around!

I have a soft spot for old fashioned candy stores

He couldn’t resist

I bought these amazing tissue paper flowers!

And old tobacco shop

After all that walking around, we needed some… libations. Lucky for us we can across Old Town Mexican cafe and stopped for some drinks and snacks. The handmade tortillas were amazing!

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos from our mini-vacation! Do you ever take mini-vacations? Where do you go? What do you do? I would love some suggestions!