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For the last 31 days, I’ve been participating in the January Photo a Day Challenge on Instagram. Each day had a photo theme, and I tried my damnest to keep up. Some days I missed and made up for on the next, but for the most part, I was pretty diligent about it. Instagram is definitely my favorite app, and this made it even more fun.

Days 1 – 6
You :: Breakfast :: Something You Adore
Letterbox :: Something You Wore :: Makes You Smile

Fun Facts!

Sexy Mouth Shot means I’m not wearing any makeup, and probably look like I got hit in the face with Steve Buscemi.
I have black French Vanilla coffee almost every morning. It’s helped me break my $50+ a week Starbucks habit.
Chicken really, really loves that red blanket.

Day 7 :: Favorite

My favorite photo from our wedding – this is a photo of a screencap of it!  It was taken on the steps of NYC’s City Hall by our friend Regina.

Days 8 – 13

Your Sky :: Daily Routine :: Childhood
Where You Sleep :: Close-Up :: In Your Bag

The sky photo was taken on a super lazy day. The farthest I got outside was in my doorway to snap that.
One day I want to do an In Your Bag post. There’s something really fascinating about that meme. I browse the Flickr pool a lot more than I’d like to admit openly.

Days 14 – 15
Something You’re Reading :: Happiness

I was reading The Hunger Games trilogy during the first half of January. Stacked recap soon!
We have matching knuckle tattoos that say That Feel. It’s by Tom Waits.

Days 16 – 19
Morning :: Water :: Something You Bought :: Sweet

The Daphne Guiness for MAC compact was an impuse buy, and I now adore it.

Days 20 – 21
Someone You Love :: Reflection

He has no idea that photo was taken.
Day 21 was our first day in New Orleans!

Days 22 – 30
Your Shoes :: Something Old :: Guilty Pleasure
Something You Made :: Colour :: Lunch
Light :: Inside Your Fridge :: Nature

Something Old is Domilise’s Po-Boy shop. I can’t find the exact date it opened, but it’s been around awhile now.
Inside Your Fridge is actually inside our freezer. Earlier that day, Ryan & I found that antique set of bar glasses in a tiny little shop in the French Quarter.

Day 31 :: You, Again

I always make the same face in photos.

You can find me on Instagram as SamSmith! I’ll be doing a February Photo a Day, too!

For a million and one reasons, The Mister and I packed up all of our belongings, bid farewell to New York City, and moved into this shotgun house in the most magical and amazing city in the world, New Orleans.

Our last home was decorated in what we liked to think of as a “Martha Stewart Opium Den”.  We had lots of overlapping carpets, piles of books and movies, and overstuffed furniture.  We also had a lot more space, and a lot less windows, than we do now.  This time around, we wanted to make the most of the space we now have, eliminate the clutter, and enhance the enormous amount of natural light we get. Of the fifty boxes of books we sent down (Yeah, I said fifty. We’re well-fucking-read), we only kept a very select few titles out, and left a few shelves open for future additions.

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Aside from the books, we decorated the living room with bits and pieces from both of us. Ryan is a very gifted bartender, with a passion for fancy pants cocktails, and has a very complete bar.  We were able to fit it all onto a baker’s rack we inherited from my dad last year, and have all the bottles of liquor and bitters displayed.  Our mantel is a combination of bits and pieces that we’ve collected over the years, and Ryan’s one artistic endeavor – which is a pretty awesome piece, in my opinion.

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The new home is influenced in part by Sleep No More, the very odd and interactive production we saw this past fall. There are actors, and there is a running storyline throughout, but we spent our entire experience in the Hotel exploring the very intricately dressed sets. Each room had something secret to share, but you had to search just a tiny bit for it.

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Did I mention ridiculously high ceilings, a million miles of hard wood floors and cabinets, and actual appliances?!  I can do my own laundry in my own home now!
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The new bedroom was the biggest challenge we had : one small closet. We both had a ton of clothing, which we had to sort through to decide what to keep and what to store.  I did manage to get everything that stayed with us into one dresser and into the one closet, with absolutely zero room to spare. It will definitely put a curb on my compulsive shopping habit, which I suppose is a good thing.

One day, and probably one day soon, I’ll devise a better – and more aesthetically pleasing – organizational method, which I will share with you. Until then, just picture a very packed closet, full of dresses and suit jackets.

The top of my dresser is still fairly empty, save for my jewelry, and current reading stack.  I’m hoping to find a big antique mirror to hang above it, and add some smaller treasures to keep the girls on my wall company.

There’s also a purple bathroom, complete with a deep Southern style clawfoot bathtub and scalloped sink, which were impossible to take decent photos of.

And, most importantly, Princess Fatty loves her new home, and all of its sunny spots to lounge.

I had a long and lovely post that I was working on today, and sadly, my laptop died a tragic death while I was editing everything. It was full of bright and colorful photos of our new home in New Orleans, which I hope you will enjoy as much as I do. It is now late in the evening, and I am very full of steak, so the aforementioned post will have to wait until another day.

Until then, Chicken waves from her new found love of lounging in sun drenched spots around the house.

I’ve always been a big fan of style and What I Wore posts on blogs.  I have only ever tried doing it myself once, and didn’t even take my own photo.  Now that I’ve resurrected FiveTwentyThree, it’s something that I am determined to master.

I haven’t quite gotten there yet.

My first effort has resulted in a number of unflattering shots taken in the mirror of a poorly lit (and poorly cleaned) room.

The Outfit!

I was headed out to have dinner with my mom, and then later meet up with some friends for drinks.  As it’s January in New York City, it was well below freezing, so I layered up*.

• Skinny Jeans from American Eagle Outfitters – the only brand I’ve ever found to fit my short legs, wide hips, and small waist properly!
• Camisole from American Apparel – not visible in the photo, but layers layers layers.
• Slouchy white Tee from H&M – here’s a clearer picture of it.
• Wishbone silver necklace from Marc Jacobs
•  Knit draped cardigan from All Saints – I bought this one a few years ago, but the Cerulean is similar!
• Suede buckle boots from All Saints – Winter 2010

*Knee length puffy black parka, enormous knit scarf, gloves, and other obligatory insulated accessories not pictured.

I promise, that over the next few weeks, I’m going to make a valiant effort to master this type of photography.  Until then, bear with me, friends!  I will continue to scrutinize Zo’s Style Dispatch and Sawyard’s What I Wednesdays (my two favorite style columns) to pick up some tips!

Before I begin this, I need your help!  I need a clever name for these Week in Photo / Things I Love entries!  I can’t seem to get my poop together enough to do one weekly, so help me figure out a fancy little title for these semi-weekly-maybe-once-or-twice-a-month photo dumps.  I think I’d like to avoid the word “dumps” in it, though.

Without further adieu :

We adventured over the river and through the tunnel into Brooklyn, for an amazing lunch at Marlow & Sons.  Walking around Williamsburg reminded me of Portland, but apparently mentioning the similiarities is offensive.

I cut about seven inches off of my hair, got some fringe, and continued on my path to red.  My hair had reached crazy lady length and I am glad to be rid of half of it.  Thank you so much Robbie at Damian West!!

The Move is happening one week from today.  Our apartment is currently a labyrinth of boxes and stacks of things to donate or sell.

Chloe & I learned that Doc Marten’s are no longer all that awesome, which is unfortunate, since she had to buy a new pair.

Chicken had a catnip party.

 Yes, it totally is.

And lest we forget :

• Ryan surprising me with roses on one cold afternoon for no reason at all.
• Getting matching Marc Jacob wishbone necklaces with Chloe.
• Discovering the most delicious burger of all time because of How I Met Your Mother.
• Having multiple going away dinners and lunches with family and friends.
• Knowing that this time next week I’ll be in my new city, and I swear I’m not freaking out at all about it (maybe just a little).
• Participating in the January Photo a Day challenge on Instagram.
• The Tarot Deck scented candle I bought for our new place at Catbird NYC.