Adventures with Diana Mini

Last month, I spent Labor Day weekend with my dear friend Erin (formerly of the blog Ip & Audrey, she now uses Tumblr to post bits about writing and journalism). I brought my Diana Mini along for the ride this time. Here's a looksie into what we saw and did:

On Saturday, we took the T into Cambridge to stroll around and stop into stores we couldn't afford (think: Anthropologie and the Japanese import store selling Totoro things). We also savored our first pumpkin spice lattes of the season at Peet's. So good. In fact, it was the best I've had. A scrumptious Indian dinner followed. Samosas and dosas and Aloo Patter, oh my! Silly me forgot to adjust the settings on my the camera while down in the Harvard Square T station. These were the only salvageable pictures.

Sunday afternoon we skipped over to Ikea just for the fun of it. I had never been, so there was lots of oohing and ahhing on my part. Having lunch there was a must. After sitting down with my plate of Swedish meatballs, I pulled out Diana Mini ready to document the experience. The woman sitting at the next table eyed me suspiciously, thus increasing my nerves and decreasing my ability to center the shot. "Why yes, strange woman, I AM taking a photo of my food with a toy camera. What of it?"

Monday morning, before Erin headed into work and before I hit the road, we took a little walk (it's tradition) along the waterfront in downtown Plymouth. If you look closely in the right photo above you can see the masts of the Mayflower II. I climbed aboard the replica ship as a little girl, but haven't been on it during any of my last seven visits to Plymouth. Maybe next time!

Camera: Diana Mini
Film: Fujifilm 200

Smaller images were shared for the purpose of posting them side-by-side (hopefully they appear that way on your screens!). Larger versions of these photos can be seen by visiting my Flickr.

Hair today (or, you're so vain)

Vintage dress: thrifted, Necklace: self-made, Wedges: Target

I'm going to come right out and say it: I really like my hair in these photos. This is a rare occurrence as most days I just put up with it. It's very fine and slippery and hardly ever does what I want it to. Well, that, and I have little patience for attempting to style it. So, it usually just hangs there straight and boring (or pulled back - out of sight, out of mind).

This little gem of a dress is one of my better (and favorite) thrift finds, but this is the first time I've gotten around to blogging it. Ah, such is life. It's a Lanz Original from the 1970s/early 1980s and is exceptionally comfortable. Like pajamas. This is befitting since Lanz also makes pajamas which can be ordered through the Vermont Country Store catalog. Speaking of the Vermont Country Store, I really want to go up there and poke around through all the neat stuff they have for sale. My mom and I are taking a trip into Vermont next week, but the country store isn't on the agenda this time.

I have a strange combination of songs stuck in my head today: "Mykonos" by Fleet Foxes and "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon (hence, the latter in this post title and the former, well, I've been listening to it nonstop lately). And it's been a rather strange day, at that, as I don't have all that much to do. I've been passing the time drinking tea and reading. Two very good things, I say!

Hold on to your hats

Earlier this week I set out to give my little white frock one more proper summer outing. And what would a white summer dress be without a straw hat to accompany it? Incomplete, that's what. I don't know if I can legitimately call this hat a boater or not. The brim seems a tad too big. What I do know is that I like it a lot and I overcame my aversion to second-hand hats for it. My aversion to second-hand hats is like my aversion to second-hand shoes: I generally do not go near them. Speaking of shoes (new and unworn, that is), last year I was smitten with the Swiss-dot flats I was seeing all over the place. In usual fashion, though, I hemmed and hawed over the potential purchase and eventually missed out on them. Or so I thought until one day a few months back when I happened upon them during a side-tracked shopping trip. I was supposed to be running errands at Target, but slipped into Marshall's ''just to look.'' ;)

Hat: thrifted, Dress: J.Crew, Shoes: Restricted via Marshall's

P.S. Happy first day of Autumn everyone in the Northern Hemisphere! I couldn't let the day pass without mentioning it :)

Fleeting Summer

Hello there. The end of summer is upon us taking with it the long and lazy hours of golden daylight, vibrant arrays of wildflowers and refreshing ice cream outings. It all slips away so quickly, but the enjoyment is there to be savored long after the temperatures cool and the vegetation fades and withers. I contributed a small collection of film photos for the Summer Stories series that Emily of Ruby Slipper Journeys hosted this summer. Go and have a look if you'd like.

Camera: Nikon FM 10

Film: Fujicolor Superia X-tra 400

On glasses and birds

Blouse: Forever 21, Dress: Cynthia Rowley via TJ Maxx
Rings: H&M, Wedges: Anne Klein via TJ Maxx

  

Glasses?  Yep! They are my life-savers. I am a terrible squinter otherwise. And I generally choose not to include them in my photos because I like keeping them all to myself. I suppose a little sneak-peek every now and again is alright, though. I desperately want a pair of tortoise shell frames (been dreaming of a pair since '05), but whenever I'm due for new specs they are either a) unavailable or b) out of my budget. It's come to my attention that they can be obtained via the internet (yay), so perhaps at some point future Emily will have a pair.

In an attempt to make this post even more random (read: boring), I am going to ramble on about birds. Two very different species at that: the turkey and the hummingbird.

We've been seeing this flock of turkeys frequently (sometimes twice a day). They are usually either wandering through our field or poking across the road. In latter instances, beeping the car horn once or twice helps them along ;)

Hummingbird! I always get excited when I see these little beauties. Doesn't everyone? I was especially delighted to see this one today because I thought they had migrated south already.

In Good Company

This summer my brother and I created a weekend tradition for ourselves: going out for breakfast followed by visiting the local flea market. We've been doing this steadily (though not every weekend) since the end of May/early June. It's been rather nice, especially since he and I don't really hang out otherwise or spend a lot of time together. On top of that, the pickings at the flea market have been pretty good this year. Here are some of my favorite finds from the last few months. You'll notice a theme here as I tend to gravitate toward jewelry and accessories. I have to tell myself multiple times to stay away from the glassware and tea cups. Paper ephemera can be dangerous as well ;)

A Lack of Color

Earlier this year I was on the hunt for a roll of black and white film. Sadly, such a thing is not as easy to find as it once was. I eventually found some at a drugstore with a pretty hefty price tag attached to it. I know that analog photography is going by the wayside and film prices have steadily increased over the last few years, but it was still extreme sticker shock! The last time I remember buying b&w film was in 2009 and I didn't pay $7+ for it. Ugh. I was sharing these woes with my good blogging friend Anna and she so sweetly included a roll for me during one of our photo swaps. It was such a nice surprise! This roll of b&w film spent the better part of July in my camera and I finally got it developed about a month ago. And here I am finally sharing (some of) the results.

Camera: Nikon FM 10
Film: Lucky SHD 100

P.S. Thanks again Anna!