In the Heat of the Night

Ok so the title really has nothing to do with anything other than it's been hot, and I recently saw the show by the same name; it's intro has been stuck in my head. So I thought why fight it, maybe it will leave me alone now haha. Anyways our trip has come to and end, and I am both sad and happy about that. Sad that I don't get to hang out with family and awesome friends, but happy to get back into our routine on the mountain. I swear we gain like 10lbs every time we go out that way, my family is all about really great food and it's just hard to say no to that, or at least it is for us (we have zero willpower haha). 

I got this dress while out in Portland at this awesome little store called Vintage by the Pound. If you are out and about in Portland I recommend checking it out this place because it's a nifty little place. Lex, her mom, and I hit it up the morning before Will and I headed down to Phoenix, which pretty much meant I had to figure out how to stuff all my new fun stuff into an already over packed suitcase haha. 

I love this dress, I think I might do a little alteration on it though, just taking it in a little bit (always a fun thing to do), but I think it works pretty well with one of my mom's old belts. Speaking of her belt, can I just say my mom had crazy awesome style. Every time I go through her old things I find something new and amazing (i.e. this belt). 

dress // Vintage by the Pound
belt // my moms
shoes // Target
necklace // Forever 21
ring // Stiacouture

I think one of the reasons why I love this dress is because I totally feel like I could walk into any Brat Pack movie and totally fit in, haha. Is that a really ridiculous thing to think/love? I'm going to say no. Sometimes you just want to look like someone from an 80's movie (but hopefully with a little modern touch), hehe. 

On a side note we got back to the mountain and the grass and wildflowers and weeds kind of completely over took everything (as you can kind of see in the pictures haha). The last couple of days we have been slowly reclaiming our driveway and backyard one weed at a time. Thankfully the evenings have been really nice and cool. 

Hope everyone is having a great day! 

x's and o's

Meet the Sponsors

Holy moly guys, we got back to the mountain the other day only to find out our internet was out because our antena had been struck by lightening! I'm talking melted and burned pieces and a giant black mark on the our roof now. Pretty scary stuff especially because this happened while we were still gone, but thankfully the damage was only our antena and then the router. 

Anyways on to some super awesome ladies. I think you guys are really going to dig all of them because I sure do! 

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Veranellies is dedicated to vintage, retro, diy, adventures, promoting other handmade crafters via Etsy shop interviews, garden madness, home renovations and living an all around creative lifestyle. I love mid century modern furniture, all things furry with four legs, crafting, designing, soap making, crocheting and photography. I have two Etsy shops: a  vintage shop and another one for organic soaps and lip balms! Hope you will swing by!

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My name is Kayla, and I blog over at Kaylanaut!  My blog is my little corner of the internet where I blog about all the different things that make my heart beat, like Polaroid photography, scrapbooking, yoga, video games, and all the stuff in between.  I've also been described as "an odd duck," so take that as you will.  ;)

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Twenty-something -- 27 if you want to get specific. Opinionated. Avid napper. Crazy cat lady. Some would say annoyingly inquisitive. Artsy Fartsy. Obsessive planner & list maker. Tetris master.

I blog about my family, feminism, books, cats, nerdiness, and whatever else strikes my fancy.

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Totally amazing ladies am I right?! I am seriously such a fan of these ladies, and I think you all will be too.

Also don't forget if you are interested in Sponsoring Little Lady Little City use the code 'EarlyBird' to get 15% off all Featured and Large spots.

x's and o's

Mom

Yesterday was the eighth anniversary of my mom's passing and I didn't even realize until part way through the day. I'm not sure how to feel about that to be honest. It's nice to think that the anticipation of the day and day itself doesn't plague me like it used, but it's also sad to think that it could just come and go without me realizing it. I hope that because we took a redeye back east and got in at 6AM yesterday had something to do with me not realizing until later. Thankfully, once I did realize what day it was I wasn't down and out for the rest of the day, so I feel like that is some good progress.

My mom was pretty darn great. When my brother and I were little we drove almost an hour each way to school, so needless to say we would get bored sometimes. I remember one time my mom let my brother sit up front with my dad and she sat in the back with me and we just drew on some legal pad she had in her bag. We just hung out in the back of the car drawing and laughing the whole time.

She was a very loving lady, and I miss her terribly, but remembering the fun times we shared together always helps.

x's and o's

Camera Equipment

After posting the Brenizer Tutorial I started getting more and more questions about the type of camera and lenses I use, so I thought I would create a post about them. 

Cameras
1. Canon 6D - This is our newest camera, and the camera I use the most often. After lusting over a full frame sensor camera for years (but not having the money for one) Will and I were so ecstatic when Canon announced the Canon 6D. It has a lot of the same features as the Mark III but at a much lower price, so we were sold.

2. Canon Rebel T3i- This is the camera I used before we got the Canon 6D. This little guy is a really wonderful DSLR. My favorite feature on it, which I wish the 6D had, is the flip out LCD screen. It made shooting with a tripod so much easier, seeing how I am not the tallest person in the world, hehe.

The video below is a wonderful example of the difference between a full frame (in this case, a 5D) and a crop sensor (the 7D) with a variety of lenses.  5Dmk2/7D lens comparison test from Mike Collins on Vimeo.
Lenses
3. Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 - This is by far my favorite lens to use, as it works well for portraits, and creates extremely vivid photographs. Its best quality may be its depth of field, which at f1.4 is beyond fantastic. This specific lens is a manual focus making it much cheaper than its autofocus equivalent which was one of the major factors for us in buying it. The trade off is that it works great for still shots, but isn't good for action shots because a manual focus ring makes focusing on moving things very difficult. But like I said, it works wonders for stationary shots.

4. Canon 50mm f/1.8 II (nifty fifty)- While I am hoping to upgrade to the Canon 50mm f/1.4, I really love the 50mm f/1.8. This lens allows you to get some really great portraits as well as detail shots. But honestly, when you are taking pictures of your cat how can you ever go wrong hehe.

Aww look how tiny Wigs used to be! 

5. Sigma 20mm f/1.8 - This is a really nice wide angle lens. I love using it for landscapes, especially roads, it really creates these expansive images.

So those are the cameras and lenses I use for all the photographs on my blog. Are there specific lenses you guys love using?

x's and o's

Oh Hai! (Week in Instagram v13)

So I did a little bit of a disappearing act there (helping with the wedding kind of took over haha), but I should be back to a regular posting schedule soon. Until then, I thought I would share some instagram photos from the past week. I'm also stealing some photos from Lex, Megan, and Will because they all took so many amazing photos!

1. Two of my favorite people. Northlight ladies forever! 
2. Picking lavender for the wedding and wearing an absurdly large floppy hat.
3. I think I drank more coffee over the past week than ever before haha. 
4. The bride and groom being wonderful at the grilled cheese bus. 
5. Finishing up Lex and Eric's gift with a rented nail gun in the parking lot of a Home Depot in the back of their Prius. That's just how we roll.
6. You Pick Lavender Farm, I don't think I have ever been to a better smelling place! 
7.  Flowers all ready for the wedding. 
8. Wedding rehearsal and the bride and groom being freaking adorable. 
9. Transporting things to the wedding venue, we had a very full car.
10. There were a lot of weird paintings throughout the hotel (which used to be an old elementary school).
11. Our hotel room had a chalkboard in it! 
12. The puppies were pretty tired while we were all getting ready.
13. The decoration Lex picked out, some absolutely adorable things for the reception.
14. Photo booth fun with my handsome gentle sir.

I'm so happy to have been part of Lex and Eric's big day! It was such a great time. I've said it before and I will say it again: Lex is one of my favorite people and I am so happy she and Eric found each other because I can't imagine a better couple. 

x's and o's

Portland FTW

We made it safe and sound to the lovely Portland, and so far have been having an amazing time. We've been helping out the besties, Lex and Eric, with any and all wedding related things (trying our best to repay them for all the help they gave us for our wedding). Lots of crafting, brainstorming, and of course lots of cocktail drinking. We might just have gotten a little drunk last night before going out for grilled cheeses at the grilled cheese bus, haha. But you have to go all out when in Portland with two of your favorites, am I right?

One of the other favorite things to do when we visit Portland is to go shopping with Lex. In college it seemed like almost every other weekend we would go hit up the nearest Forever 21 or Goodwill in search of something cute. And now that we are "adults" nothing has changed. We still hit up Forever 21 and Goodwill when we are out here haha! 

 vest, maxi dress, earrings // Forever 21

shoes // Walmart

Ok so I know I am extremely late the to maxi dress party but I'm so happy to finally be here. I was so unsure about how I felt about them. I always thought they looked absolutely adorable on tall fairly skinny people. But seeing how I'm both vertically challenged and a little larger in the mid/butt section I just thought I couldn't pull it off. Then I came across this one and thought what the heck I will try it on, it looked super comfy and I ended up loving it! It's funny how when you get out of your own head and just try something you can end up really loving it. 

And now I just have to gush a little bit more about this lovely lady right here. Lex is seriously one of my dearest friends and I absolutely love her to death. I'm so excited and honored to be able to help with and be here when she marries her love. Lex and Eric are two of the best people I know and I am so happy they found one another.

x's and o's

Holy Hair Batman!

If you follow me on instagram then you probably already know what the title of this post is all about. But for those who don't, Will chopped off all his hair! Ok so not all of it, but a heck of a lot of it.

Will had been rocking his long hair and braids for at least the past 3 years if not a longer. He had been talking about wanting a change for a little while, so seeing how we hardly ever actually leave the mountain (haha) we had to look on line to research hairstyles. We came across one similar to the one he is now sporting and decided to do it before we left on our trip. And I must say I think this 'do is a keeper (at least for a little while). 

Of course, before he got his hair did we made to sure to give his long hair a proper send of with a fun photo shoot. Below are my two favorites. 

It's funny when I look at Will in person I don't think he looks all that different, but when I look at the pictures he looks like a whole new person! I really do love it, hence this big gushing post about that handsome fella.

x's and o's

Trisha of The Hive Botanical is offering up some awesome deals until Sunday!

20% off all orders over $10 with code 'FIREWORKS'
A FREE Watermelon lip balm for all orders over $20 (before shipping)

So what are you waiting for get over there! 

Also because Shaye is all kinds of amazing she said I could pick two winners for the PearApple Giveaway! And the winners are Amanda A. and Cadry! Congratulations ladies! 

Gettysburg

Last weekend Will and I made a day trip out to Gettysburg to watch the 150th Anniversary reenactment. We got up at the crack of dawn to get out there for what we thought was the 9 A.M,  battle but in reality the battle was at 2 haha! Apparently there was a bit of confusion when it was actually going to happen because there were quite a few people there with us at 9. 

We lucked out that the reenactors added a little calvary show around 10. It was so fun to watch them riding around on their horses waving their swords in the air shouting things at one another. We were seriously so close to the action we could've reached out at touched the horses, it was really wonderful. Having never been to an reenactment before I was so fascinated by their outfits, they were so intricate. But man oh man did the people sure look hot wearing them. I think they didn't mind though.

I was having a really great time until a creeper reenactor said some vastly inappropriate things about my outfit, which was some shorts and a tank top (not that it even matters) because it was so warm. I really wish I spoke up and told him how not ok saying that to me was, but I just kind of froze and he road off before I could. I've never had anything like that happen to me before. I really hope that if that creepy guy said something to someone else they put him in his place. Ugh.

Anyway, minus that we had a really great time and would really love to go to another one again. Have you guys ever been to an reenactment? Did you like it? Oh and another awesome thing about the reenactment, I actually got myself a little bit of a tan (well tan for me) which is kind of a big deal for this pale kid.

Hope everyone is having a lovely Wednesday!

x's and o's