Maxigumee

A few weeks ago, I got an e-mail from my friend Meredith about a photoshoot that she and her partner Spencer Richardson had planned for Spencer’s new line, Evie and Victor. (I had previously worked with Meredith and Spencer on their collaborative Powder Room line.) Feeling a bit out of the photography loop, I jumped on the opportunity. As a new upstart company, they were working on a tight budget, but were looking to collaborate with a group of different photographers and stylists for a blog series featuring “everyday” girls in their clothes. As the photographer, I had free reign in terms of location, so I decided on the wonderfully industrial Red Hook area of Brooklyn. The location fit the clothes and our amazing model fantastically. We shot in a rather desolate stretch of Columbia Ave near IKEA which, in addition to being surrounded by grain elevators, massive cargo ships, and factories, came ready with its own heroin-chic aesthetic: there were plenty of empty crack vials and syringes littered around the sidewalk. I was a little bit nervous that our group of designers and stylists might look a bit suspicious hanging around a bunch of factories, especially because we came with a giant U-Haul van, but the shoot went quite smoothly. We started around 10am and wrapped around 1. As a bit of a treat, Daniel and I headed to IKEA after for lunch and a bit of retail therapy.

Clothing: Evie + Victor and stylist’s own.
Model: E-Money Lopez
Styling: Soukena Roussi
Hair & Makeup: Tracy Pairis
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In my post-grad, pre-summer-employment phase that I’m going through right now, I’ve had a little bit of time on my hands. In addition to filling this time with vegging out in front of the TV, reading celebrity gossip, and sleeping, I’ve actually been doing some nice cultural things. On Saturday, I went to the Met to see the Room With A View exhibit which was quite lovely. Then, yesterday, Rachel and I decided to go on an epic biking adventure through New York City. This is everything we did over the course of seven hours:

1) Biked from my apartment to Choice Market where we enjoyed delicious panini sandwiches and cookies.

2) Went over the Williamsburg Bridge and onto the East River bike path.

3) Went through the financial district to the Governor’s Island Ferry.

4) Got on the Governor’s Island Ferry. Went to Governor’s Island. (I had never been before and this place is INSANE. It’s like visiting a picturesque college town in the middle of the city.)

5) Explored the island, checked out the old fort, ventured into some of the old houses, ate some popsicles, went on the ferry back to Brooklyn.

6) Got back to Brooklyn, decided we were thirsty, went to the lovely and oh-so-hipster Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain.

7) Went to the bike shop and then to a nice outdoor dinner at Pequeña. I had chicken tacos!

8) Met up with a bunch of friends for trivia night at a nearby bar.

INSANE, right? So much biking! So much sweating! I’m glad I packed three towels, because it was HOT out. I’m also sporting a nice sunburn that will no doubt turn into a pretty awesome farmer’s tan.
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Whenever I come home to Buffalo for a break, my mother immediately enlists me in numerous projects and chores. This spring break was no exception. Two days ago, my mother brought me over to my grandfather’s house to take the last of the things that needed to be cleared out. I knew that I wanted many of the things in the house, but I really had no idea what sort of treasure trove was waiting for me. When we arrived and my uncle let us in, the stuff I saw made me shit my pants so hard that blood probably came out. As I sat on the floor wrapping item after item in newspaper, I occasionally let out a small moan or a squeak. My uncle and his family couldn’t wait to get rid of all of this junk, and I couldn’t have been more excited.

In addition to enough carnival and milk glass to sink a boat, there were dozens of vintage souvenir plates, old eyeglasses, glass figurines, and toys. Oh, and books. So many AMAZING books. I apologize if this post crashes your browser from the number of photos it needs to load, but I couldn’t help myself.

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Because I’m hardly ever at home for more than a month at a time anymore, my mother had taken to turning my room into an extra closet of sorts. Whenever I returned home for Thanksgiving or Christmas, I would arrive to see things thoroughly out of order and new pieces of furniture, blankets, and photographs stuck here and there. This summer, I decided to try to reclaim it, at least temporarily.

I made a few additions to the room including a quartet of paintings that I created from wood from Home Depot (only $8 for all of it!), a new alarm clock, and the chair and American flag I bought at Sloan’s. I created the DIY chandelier a few years ago by stringing large christmas bulbs through a chandelier I bought at IKEA.

For those who are unfamiliar with my bedroom, it can be a little bit odd when entering it. For one thing, it pretty much is the size of a closet. It is also painted a particularly garish shade of yellow. I have a cup of black Sharpie markers in my room and when people enter it, I allow them to draw or write whatever they want on the walls. All-in-all it creates a nice black and yellow bumblebee sort of color scheme.

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