A shot of fear and excitement

These are the clients I dream about.  But then fear starts to creep in and makes me second-guess myself.  It's a pressure I put on myself with clients that I respect and admire so much.  Which is the case for this Leidan Mitchell commercial shoot I'm working on.  I couldn't resist sharing some of the images as I try to take deep breaths and just trust in myself...

Crazy side note: I had just met Amy, the model from The Agency Arizona used for this shoot, on Monday and she ended up attending the same marriage retreat with her husband that Jose and I just got back from this past weekend!  Speaking of this retreat, I had a little tennis lesson from Jose and I managed to hit a ball outside the immensely TALL fence and on to some cliffs.  Clearly my brain interpreted tennis racket = BAT.  I managed to finally get the hang of it!  I guess it depends on who you ask, ha.

Alrighty, back to editing, pinterest breaks, and deep breathing I go :)

Hunger Games: How to Wear Your Hair

Oh yeah.  You know what's happening this Friday.  I thought a fun way to celebrate the opening of Hunger Games is to get a group of girlfriends together and braid our hair -- Hunger Games style.

But here's the thing... everyone forgets about Primrose!  So I decided to share with you 2 ways for you to wear your hair to the Hunger Games Premiere.  The Katniss version vs. The Primrose version:

Links to all images can be found on my Pinterest Hair + Concept Shoots Boards.

Don't be afraid to add some extensions to help out with volume and length, and also TEASE your hair for texture and volume!  I found some tutorials online that range from very intricate, to really easy for you to reference to in case you want to also have a girls night :)  You can definitely try the last 2 with short hair!  

// TUTORIAL I

// TUTORIAL II

// TUTORIAL III

// TUTORIAL IIII

So which look do you like best?  I think I love the messy braid most but may try a messy braid + bun with one of these tutorials.  A little tribute to both ;)

Fashion + Pizza + Showit Shoot Out

I don't even know where to start with this. Seriously.

Do I tell you about how mind blowing Showit as a community is? Do I tell you about the delicious pizza and hilarious conversation I had after this shoot with my Phoenix Showiteers?

A girl can only talk so much. And this girl right here talks. I've been with Showit now for about 3 years and it wasn't until last month that I even knew a Facebook group existed which connected you with local Showiteers. This might sound all foreign (showiteers, shoot out, etc.) -- but the point is that I've never been surrounded with so many creative, encouraging, and challenging artists. Our first event was hosted by the lovely Karie (this girl deserves a blog post alone!) who brought Kasey, Taylor, and Audree to model for us.

I will go ahead and state the obvious: the girls are gorgeous!

It's definitely a little nerve-wrecking to shoot in front of everyone, but once I started pulling the girls individually, I was in my zone..

♥ ♥ this LIGHT!

Although I've been in Phoenix now for a year and a half, I'm thankful for how many people have come into my life and share in my journey with me ;) Which means, uh oh.. I'm starting to get attached.

p.s. How do you like my new coral pants?!

A Ross purchase! Their new slogan should be "Like a Boss." Cause that's exactly how my wallet felt.

Upcoming Fashion Series

Meet Alex from AVE Styles...

Our initial collaboration was on my first-ever Menswear shoot. And now we are bringing YOU a series that will hopefully provide some inspiration for your closet. A twist to my typical outfit chronicles.

The first series inspiration came from the ever amazing Jamie -- but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what exactly it is ;) I'm excited to have Alex in front of the camera seeing as how she is always behind-the-scenes working her styling magic. The fun part is that she also was behind the camera taking photos of me ;)

See y'all tomorrow!

Fashion Bend

model: Hannah Sutton

Sometimes all you need is a black dress, an alley, and a chain.

Oh, and a model who can bend like no other. That helps ;)

Rustic Winterland Fashion: Ariel

I'm not sure at what point or degree unit it's considered "winter," but in my fantasy head -- a fuzzy vest, boots, and a blanket completely classify as winter. And maybe we didn't get hit with Snowmageddon 2011, but this is why I love what I do -- you create and pretend.



Since leaving Atlanta and moving to Phoenix, I've had an ache to do a fashion shoot again. Yes people, aching. Dramatic? Perhaps. But I can't put into words how much this is my element...

















Model: Ariel (The Agency AZ), Styling: Whitney Alexandra, Make up: Kristy Brown, Hair: Michelle Fink

Is it me, or did this kind of make you think of Where the Wild Things Are? Anyway, this is only the beginning!!!!! Can you tell I'm excited?! I had this idea to create this rustic winterland photoshoot, I contacted a photographer (Michelle Herrick), and from there magic just started happening :) :)

I'm finally warming up and ready to take on this year! Let's do this :)

Pink & Black Vintage Fashion

Good morning! A chilly Friday it is today. You know what's funny? Tomorrow we are doing a Rustic Wonderland fashion shoot and originally the concept was "Rustic Winter" but clearly it is no real "winter" here in Arizona so we changed it to 'wonderland.'

Until now.

I'm not even going to tell you what the weather is here because I KNOW my East Coast friends will trump me. But let's just say it's cold for Arizona standards. Then Sunday will be back to normal :)

Another outfit post! This time, instead of being influenced by a TV Character, I am loving the colors PINK & BLACK together!



I guess I'm wearing more of a coral/salmon color <-- new favorite clothing color BTW :)







Can you believe I found the top at a vintage store for 8 bucks? It was a little wide, but nothing a belt couldn't fix! Which speaking of, I found that belt (one of my favs) also at a vintage store called "Zinnia's" for 50 cents! The skinny black jeans are from Charolette Russe for $20 and earrings from Forever21.

And did you recognize my Payless shoes starred in this outfit again?! They're so comfy and a perfect alternative to my ballet flats for a shorty like me.

I'm going shopping today and hunting for: 1 blazer, 2 cardigans, and possibly a sequence top. I'm thinking more about items that are versatile. In particular I've been eyeballing THIS dreamy blazer from H&M. But would that be a bad choice considering it will be warm here in AZ soon? My friend said I could still pair it with shorts. What do you think? I could opt for a navy-striped cardigan instead?

p.s. Did you know 70's fashion is coming back for the Spring? Um, high-waist flare jeans? The association of short people kindly declines that one.

My Fashion Ode to Dexter

It's no secret... I'm obsessed with Dexter. Yeah, yeah... I'm on that bandwagon. But you guys ...there's a REASON there's a widespread obsession with this show. It is truly that good.

By the way, I am only on season 3, so don't even think about spoiling anything. Apparently my brother (who is also on season 3) read something online that gave away a HUGE plot line from season 5 by accident and described the experience like "someone just told [him] Santa isn't real." Pretty brutal, huh? Possibly dramatic.

Anyway, my favorite character is Debra Morgan (Dexter's sister). Her character almost ALWAYS wears a button up and she tucks it into her pants like so...

Sometimes she'll tuck a (casual) flannel into dress pants. I was inspired by the combination of formality and casualness, and tucking in of the shirt.

However, I wanted to add the Ale flair. I don't have a badge, but I can replace it with my accessories ;)



My re-interpretation of Debra Morgan...









I got the long sleeve at Ross, vest was thrifted, pinstripe pants from Melrose, and shoes from payless!

It was fun re-interpreting a TV show character and might do it again sometime :) Any suggestions?! And can I get a shout out from my fellow Dexter watchers? I know I'm not alone!!! :) Hopefully I did Debra Morgan some justice.