Happy Monday, everyone. :)
I hope all of you are still above water after the craziness of Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales. They were nuts this year. I thought last year was crazy, but because of multiple companies offering many discounts that brought prices down by 40-60% off, I think 2012 will take the prize for most savings made by the most people over a five day period.
With the exception of my dad and my brother, I have bought everyone's presents. (Well, there is that American Girl I want to get CW, but I am waiting until I get paid on the 20th of December to buy that one.)
Okay, enough about that, and onto the mini-jaunt I made with Mr. Dina and Angus a couple of weeks ago to
Amelia Island, Florida.
Mr. Dina had a conference to attend down there, and since he was booking the trip while I was up to my eyeballs in scheduling, errands, and kid-related catastrophes, I decided to ask him to book me on the trip, too. Had I realized that the trip would be right next door to another trip (the one I currently am on in Mississippi/Louisiana), I might have re-thought my spontaneity, but since I couldn't look back,
I went ahead and tried to enjoy myself. (Chortle. You all with kids know that I am being sarcastic when I say I tried...the two days I was away were insanely blissful, with just a wee baby's needs on my docket, I was in heaven.)
The weather was slightly dreadful, what with the overcast skies, cool temperatures (low 60s), and high winds, but it could have been snowing hot coals from leaden clouds and I would have still be relaxed, that is how much this time alone was needed.
First night's outfit. Our resort had a restaurant at it that was at our doorstep, so rather than drive to one of the other places to eat, we decided to go to the fanciest one and walk instead. (The resort is rather large, with multiple hotels and condos. Like the state of Florida, it is spread out.)
This was also to be the only meal I was set to enjoy with Mr. Dina (
the other was Krystal, oh, yeah, that's romantic), so I wore the nicest outfit I had packed that night.
Right before we were heading out, I was trying to get a close-up shot of the details of the outfit and my makeup and hair, and Angus decided he would ham it up for us. LOL. What a cutie. ;)
The next morning, Angus and I were on our own, and since I knew the whole day would be spent walking all over the resort and the beach, I wanted comfortable yet bright (yay for yellow), so I threw together a casual look. The top is Old Navy, the shorts and sunglasses are J. Crew, the clutch is Tulu, and the sandals are from Target.
I added a merino cardigan from J. Crew to help keep the chill at bay. I wasn't the only person wearing shorts that day, but more folks were decked out in jackets and pants than in tees and shorts.
I set the self-timer on the walk and then grabbed this photo of Angus and me. The
mossy oaks are so pretty, and the fact they have bent by years and years of wind from the ocean is pretty incredible.
My camera (Sony RX100) allows me to switch modes when taking photos, this one is the high contrast monochrome setting. I like that it really emphasizes the shape and shadows of the scene.
This was taken at the boardwalk leading down to the beach. I took it in the high contrast monochrome setting so the grain of the wood would pop, and I post-processed the image in Picasa using duo-tone (which is how I turned the black to a mid-purple color).
Boardwalk again, another high contrast monochrome setting. I only processed it slightly, to get the rounded corners in the image (1960's does that).
The camera also takes photos in "watercolor," which is what this is. I post-processed this image to up the color and add the rounded corners, but otherwise this is how the image looked when I took it in this setting. The watercolor setting is fun, but probably not for the "serious" photographer. ;)
I love this shot. Again, set up with the timer. I took this in the camera's regular "intelligent" mode, but heavily post-processed it. If I had to do it again, I would add the 1960's at the end so the photo corners are pure white and not the grey (the grey happens when you add the layer of Holga-ish to the image).
The other shots from this part of the day are hilarious, btw. This was the only one where my hair wasn't sticking straight up from the wind.
The next day we were set to go home, so I wore my boring, yet very practical and cozy, outfit. For those of you interested in the
two-tone cashmere sweatshirt from J. Crew, it is lovely, soft, and unique (the blending of the two colored yarns create a fun, distinctive knit). It does run a bit short, so if you are long-torsoed, you may want to size up. (This is a size extra-small and if I were re-ordering, I may get the small so I wouldn't have to pair it with a cami for coverage.)
The beach was warmer the second day, so instead of just playing on the boardwalk, the three of us sauntered down and walked on the shore instead.
This is really cute, but imagine the next scene...Mr. Dina screaming loudly, "OWWW, tiny, stop pulling my hair...STOP TINY STOP!"
This was on the plane. Angus fell asleep and I loved the way the light sort of created a halo on his scalp.
Okay, that's it. Have any of you all ever been to Amelia Island? I keep insisting that we go back when it is a bit more seasonal (read: warm, sunny, and still), but Mr. Dina isn't so sure. Convince him that I am right. ;)
Ladies who love Boden, quick reminder...in five hours the
Boden Preview shuts down the 20% off promo (PRV3), so if you were thinking of grabbing something with the extra off, you have until 11:59 pm.
