Best Spots for #OOTD Pics (In & Around Philly)

All walls are not created equal. Sometimes an #ootd is only as good as its backdrop and finding the perfect one can take a lot of time and effort. Luckily, I've spent countless hours driving, walking, biking, or otherwise aimlessly wandering around to find some of the best so you don't have to. Pretty sweet, right? After a few years of fashion blogging, I've stumbled upon some absolute gems in (and around) Philadelphia. I'd be remiss to not share a few of my favorites so here's part one of what's sure to be an expanding list.

As Real As The Streets

Not sure if this look is necessarily "blog-worthy" but I kinda like it. It's definitely a lot more "street style" than usual for me but I'm into it. It's actually so street that I had to make a Workaholics reference in the post title. (If you knew what it was before watching the video, we might have to become best friends.)

Our Icelandic Elopement: It's Been An Entire Year

It's been a year since B and I stood on Vík's beautiful black beaches and said "I do," and whew, what a year it has been. So maybe it wasn't the easiest first year of marriage but I still wouldn't trade it for anything. 

If there's anything we've learned in this last year, it's that every facet of life is truly, tragically, and beautifully ephemeral. Pretty much everything has changed so it's good to have photographs to vividly recall moments like these that would otherwise become faded over time. Since I love them so much, I gotta dust off our wedding photos and share them once more. 

Photos by Violet Short.

ICELAND - Skógafoss

So sad! I'm sharing photos from the last day of our trip today. To make the trip back to the airport a little less somber (before we all went our separate ways to different homes, countries, and time zones) we stopped at Skógafoss. Of course my wedding dress came along as well.

Photos by Violet Short.

ICELAND: The Wedding Day

I've been sort of putting off posting all of the photos from our wedding day. It's not that I haven't wanted to share them with you-- I haven't had a moment to really pore over all of them myself. I just wanted some time to soak it all in and enjoy them before putting them up here. Some time to reflect, some time to cry, some time to repeat over and over "I JUST WANT TO GO BACK!"

*All images by Violet Short

ICELAND: The Video

I promise I'll post more photos but for now, take a look at some of the "highlights" from our trip. Violet did an amazing job. I love that we get to re-live our little trip every time we watch this! (I pretty much cry the whole time. Every time.)

xo,
e.m.

*video by Violet Short

Vacation Style

Sorry for being MIA these past few days. It's been a bit turbulent over here. I knew 2016 would bring a lot of changes but I didn't know they'd be happening so rapidly! We're barely over two weeks into January already everything has changed. More on that at a later time. Lets focus on these amazing wide-leg trousers.

ICELAND: Day One

Oh, Iceland. How I love thee. I've said it before but I'd move there in a heartbeat. Going through all these photos has got me wandering around expat forums, looking for jobs and pricing out apartments. (You know-- just educating myself!) Apologies for posting the photos out of order. I originally wasn't planning on sharing all of them but since they came out so utterly fantastic, I had to. These are pictures from our first day on the island. If we look a little dead around the eyes, it's because our red-eye flight got in around 7AM. We waited in line for our rental cars for about an hour then headed straight to Reykjavík. So yeah, we were pretty sleepy and very, very hangry. 

(All photos by Violet Short Photography.)

First Look, Jökulsárlón

I like to reserve the term "magical" for only truly spectacular people, places, or things. Outside of my beloved Walt Disney World, I've probably only used the term a handful of times. Having said that, my wedding was pretty magical and our first look was no exception. Originally we were planning on getting married Thursday so I could carry my dress around and take photos in front of all the places we planned to visit. Mother Nature can be cruel sometimes though and we ended up having to push the wedding back, which meant I'd be heading to Jökulsárlón without a dress. After talking it over a bit with B, we decided to pack it along anyway-- you know-- just in case. I think we made the right decision. Photos by Violet Short.

Paris, je t'aime

Ah, Paris. The perfect way to end our trip. The last time I walked these streets, I was sixteen years old. Yes. Sixteen. I was just as awestruck this time as I was then. 

Lovely, Lovely Ghent

Ah, Ghent. My favorite place. As soon as B and I stepped off the train from Brussels, I felt like I was home. You know how there are some people or places you feel instantly bonded to? That's how I was with this city. I'm full of sighs just thinking about it. I wish I could jump through my computer screen and into these photos.

Messy Hair, Don't Care.

If I could find a job in Ghent, I would move there in a heartbeat. It is, without a doubt, my favorite place I've ever been. I loved it so much that I spent the smallest amount of time getting ready in the morning, just so I could get out and explore it more. What you're seeing here is the fruit of that struggle.

La Seine

Paris: always a good idea.

Pont Saint-Louis

I learned that all it takes to fit in with the Europeans is to wear a lot of black and to stare off into the distance a lot. For the best effect, do so on a bridge, as I am doing here. 

Over the River Leie

We snapped these photos in Ghent, (more pictures coming soon, of course!) which was my favorite part of our trip. We walked up and down this river path dozens of times and it never got old. I'd give anything to be back in this spot again. 

Brussels

Brenden and I loved Belgium. We started out by spending a couple of days in Brussels, which is an incredibly lively city full of beautiful old architecture and GREAT food. We felt so welcome there, it didn't feel like a foreign country at all. If you want to experience European hospitality at its finest, take a jet over to Belgium. For real.

Brasserie Breakfasts

We kept our honeymoon pretty casual-- not a whole lot of "blog-worthiness" going on there. I did, however, feel cute and cozy in this blanket scarf-turned-wrap so we took some photos on the way back from breakfast in Brussels.

Exploring South Iceland

Today was my first day back to work. It was-- well-- let's just say I've had a few strong alcoholic beverages since I got home. No worries though, having a bummer of a shift gave me the best reason so dive back into my Iceland pictures. I realized that I didn't take nearly as many photos as I thought but that goes to show how much fun I was having. Here are the few snapshots I have from the rest of our time in Iceland. 

Reykjavík

I'm getting a little weepy-eyed going through these photos from the trip. We just got back and we only left two weeks ago but I still miss it so much! Iceland is so stunning. We kinda want to move there. (Not kidding.) I didn't take a ton of photos on the trip because I was busy doing other things but I did manage to snap a few to share with you guys. We spent our first and some of our last day wandering around Reykjavík.

See Ya Soon!

Hey you guys! I won't be blogging over the next few days because I'm heading to ICELAND. Though I won't be around here too much, you can follow along on Instagram! Not just me, but Danielle, Brenden, Violet, Jenna, Douglas.

xo,

e.m.