Fall

Fall. Its been 3 years since I've had a proper fall, and I am so happy to be back in the Pacific Northwest to experience it again. Fall seemed to come over night at the beginning of the month and its been fun dusting off my old favorites that never really got much wear in California. It has to be one of my favorite seasons of the year. I love the grey, the rain, and the whirl of color down every street from the changing leaves. Its perfect for sweaters and coffee shops, and the start of school always marks a new year for me. Not to mention having this sidewalk be where I park my car everyday just makes life a little better.

Something I definitely missed about colder weather while in California was the opportunities you get for layering textures and prints. This outfit made me happy cause it has a little bit of everything: plaid, stripes, chevron, polka dots, a knit jacket, big buckles on my shoes, soft tights, layered necklaces and bracelets, and a floaty dress. 

I found this jacket in a thrift store in California, and I'm just so happy I own it. I probably wear it too much, as its a bit of security blanket, but it always just feels undeniably "me". It also reminds me of Harry Potter(the yellow and grey remind me of Hufflepuff house colors) which  makes the 11 year old in me feel super cool. (Super nerdy yes) 

Happy Fall.

Jacket: Buffalo Exchange
Dress: Oneill from PacSun
Shoes: Fred Meyers
Necklace: Fred Meyers

Inspiration: Chris Burkard Photography

Chris Burkard has been a huge inspiration to me over the past four years I've known about his work. He is a well known surf and nature photographer and an all around rad dude. I first came across him when I purchased The California Surf Project for my best friend as a birthday present. The book chronicles a road trip taken by Burkard along with Eric Soderquist down Highway 1 while they surfed the entire California coastline. Its a wonderful story of adventure, surf, and beautiful beaches told through photos, a few anecdotes, and a short film. That book created a spark in me for travel and adventure that has continued to grow. It inspired me to move to my own beach in Oregon for one unforgettable summer, and later to take a similar road trip(sans surfing) down the California coastline. He has an amazing gift for capturing the created world in a way that connects it so strongly to us, and I can never get enough of his work.  

About a year ago, I had the opportunity to go to one of Chris Burkard's film showings at a surf shop in Laguna Beach. I got to meet Chris at the event, and I'm still just so happy I sucked up my fear of new things and took my little ol' self to that event. He was extremely nice and was completely stoked when I told him his book got me to take my own road trip. The event was so relaxed and friendly, and you could really tell he just wanted to help other people see the world in the same way he got to. I will forever treasure the encouragement he gave me to live my own adventure with a simple "Enjoy the ride." scratched inside one of his books. 

One thing I love about Burkard's work is that his photos aren't strictly nature. He captures the places he travels to in a way that emphasizes people's relationship with nature and the world around them. The result is not only beautiful, but really gives me a sense of wanderlust and creates a personal connection to the place I'm seeing, even though I've never been there.

He's done a number of fantastic projects that have resulted in books and short films of his adventures, and they are well worth a look at. They usually focus on faraway places, extreme weather surf spots, or other things most people don't get to experience in their lifetime. However, Chris takes you into his world. I think its safe to say one of his goals is to inspire people to go see the places he has, and he shows you his trips in a way that makes you believe you can. For more amazing images, and all of his books check out his website: www.chrisburkard.com

All photos were taken from the Chris Burkard Photography facebook page.

Also, for loads of inspiration on a regular basis check out his Instagram.

I really encouraged you to explore more of his work on your own, picking just a few images was pretty much impossible cause he has way too much good stuff. 

Headband Curls

I am a far cry from a hair expert, and I pretty much never actually style my own hair, but I'm posting this tutorial because I don't think I've ever worn this hairstyle without someone asking me how I do it. I love this hairstyle because its a way to do my hair a little fancier for work or a special event and also happens to be the only way I can get my hair to curl. Plus, once you try it a couple of times its literally one of the easiest and fastest things to do with your hair. I myself, learned how to do this from another tutorial video I found on the Internet, so don't think I figured this out on my own. ;)

Start with slightly wet and brushed hair, then get a loose fitting headband and place it over the top of your hair hippie kid style. (that is a technical term) I found if the headband is too tight its uncomfortable and puts unfortunate kinks and whatnot in your hair.

Grab a section of hair.

Pull it up and around the headband. 

Tip: If your goal is curling your hair don't start wrapping your hair to close to your roots or you'll have one random curl up by your face.

Once you have pulled the hair down you can let it go and grab a new section of hair to repeat the process around your head.

Do this until you have your hair mostly wrapped around the headband on both sides.

When doing the back you have to keep moving the hair over so that you always have gap, I usually try to alternate between sides so it comes out more even and doesn't get all tangled.

Once you get to the last little bits of hair just tuck them into the rest of the hair behind the headband.

Once all the stray hairs have been tucked, grab the head band from across your forehead and move it back on top of your head to finish! 

When my hair is wet this style will stay all day as it drys, but I have noticed that when I try to do it when my hair is already dry it falls out a lot more.

After it is dry you can reverse the process and take the headband out for a mass of curls!

After I take the headband out, I brush the curls out and they will stay until the next time I wash it! 

Hope this made some amount of sense! It definitely takes some trial and error, if I wrap my hair too tight I'll really crazy 90's curls but of course you still want it to stay! So if you try and it fails don't get discouraged practice makes perfect! If you want here are a couple videos that I liked:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs-F--X24VY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgS5RX1utO8