Working with Eleven Year Olds

 

plaid shirt & sweater {Old Navy} - jeans {RW&Co} - booties {Steve Madden}

It's been a long while and for that I am sorry! 

Things are off to a smashing start at my new job, I really couldn't be happier. A couple weeks ago, I organized a double photo shoot, which is two girls in the morning and two girls in the afternoon. While this may sound like a piece of cake to you, I can assure you that it's not. I can also assure you that I now know why my coworkers looked at me like I had fallen from the crazy tree when I suggested this plan. Anyways, they let the new girl play crazy (joke was definitely on me...) and I had two sets of eleven year olds come in and model a couple outfits each. Now, I had been around models here and there when I was in NYC but this was just a bit different. First off, these girls weren't models because we use real customers and fans of the brand as our models. Second of all, they were eleven. Each set of girls were best friends, which makes it really fun, but it also makes it challenging. Challenging in the sense that fighting over which washroom to change in and competing for best pose are normal occurrences. If you've spent any time around eleven year old girls, you may have an idea of what this double photo shoot was like. Don't get me wrong, the girls did great and we got a ton of awesome photos. But it was four straight hours of high pitched chatter, references to One Direction, and lots and lots of giggling! Besides needing an endless supply of energy, I did learn a few things throughout the day. First, never give them the choice of what to wear (and if you can tell that one girl didn't love her first outfit, make her second outfit really special). It's also quite important to keep them focused and on track - never let them look at the photos during the shoot and don't be afraid to kick mom out of the room (politely, of course!). Help them let their guards down by letting yours down too - if you want them to be goofy, you better be goofy yourself! And last but certainly not least, brush up on your tween pop culture because once they tell you they don't listen to One Direction, Selena Gomez, Katy Perry or The Biebs, you will have NOTHING. Nada. Nilch.

As crazy as having back to back photo shoots was, they were a ton of fun...so fun that I'm having another one on Friday! (only a single one though....I did learn from my crazy)

j.

You're Never Too Old For Dress-Up

These nine photos brought to you by sheer boredom and way too much time on our hands. I simply asked Kiki (my roomie) to show me how I should do my make-up for my brother's wedding next week. That took all of ten minutes, which led to "can I give you a smokey eye?". Why yes, yes you can. That quickly led to "oooh, I should tease your hair!". Logical. So at that point it only made sense for the hats to come out.

All kidding aside, Frankenstorm Sandy came and went earlier this week and left destruction, death and flooding in her wake. We are lucky enough to be living in an area that was not badly affected, we never lost power and all of our friends are safe (although a few are homeless for the time being). We are grateful for that. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by Mother Nature's latest tragedy.

Due to the storm, classes and internships were cancelled all of this week which has meant a whole lot of time inside the apartment. With transit obviously not in service, we have nowhere to go and not a lot to do (obviously studying is out of the question). So, when life gives you lemons...put on copious amounts of eye make-up, tease your hair real good and have your bestie take way too many photos of you making ridiculous faces.

j.

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice

black top {Urban Outfitters} - black & white striped maxi skirt {Joe Fresh} - geometric necklace {So Good} - 

NYC purse {gift} - gold watch {Target} - arrow bracelet {Etsy} - silver gladiators {Aldo} - photo credit {Kiki}

Sometimes the best things happen in the least amount of time. These photos are one of those things. I was really pleased with how they turned out and they were taken in, literally, under 30 seconds. Kiki and I were on our way to meet her aunt and uncle and needed to be there at a certain time. We had no time to spare but, of course, I asked her to take a quick photo anyways. She rolled her eyes at me and said only if you run across the street and start posing so I can get there, snap a few pics and we can keep walking. I feel like it would be at this time that most normal people would forgo the photo shoot. But I am anything but normal, so I ran and got my pose on so she would take a few photos. Which she did, in record time. And the result was pure magic (if I do say so myself). Thanks to the Keeks for always putting up with photo requests. I've heard people say before that behind every fashion blogger is a photographer boyfriend/husband. Well, behind (or in front, if we want to get technical) me, is a very patient bestie, who never says no to a photo shoot and always directs me to get the best shot, even when time is not on our side (which is usually always).

j.

Reptile Chic

Long time no talk type. It's been a while, I know. The past week has been more than the word busy can even describe. The second to last week of classes plus moving in NYC equals crazy town. I have only four days left of my first semester, which is crazy in and of itself, but then when I stop to think of all that has to be done in the next four days, tears start forming in my eyeballs, I break into a cold sweat and find myself short of breath. A wee bit dramatic but sadly somewhat accurate. I did have a pretty cool experience last week though that I wanted to share with you. So, the first few photos are what I looked like when I started the day. I had a couple classes and then I was off to an interview at a production studio.

long black rain jacket {Target} - gold tote {Indigo} - reptile blouse {Zara} - white belt {Uniqlo} -

dark denim skinnies {Flying Monkey via Century 21} - tan pointy flats {Aldo} 

Yep, that's me above, pretending to be a model. I even had my hair and make-up done. So, how does one have their hair and make-up done professionally during an interview, you ask? Well, I arrived at Image Powerhouse studios and my interview turned into "stay for the photoshoot happening tonight". I thought that was pretty cool so, of course, I said yes. Then, when a few of the models were running late, they wanted to keep the stylists busy and have them practice getting consecutive girls ready. Enter, me. It was awesome getting doted on like that for a little bit. Then the real models arrived and the shoot got going. It was an amazing experience to help style the girls and keep the shoot running smoothly and on time.

Thanks to Image Powerhouse for the incredible "behind-the-scenes" experience!

j.