JULY // GONE

I think July has been the most fleeting month in 2012. It literally went by in the blink of an eye!

- I found out that I got a job at the soon to open Lomography Gallery Store here in Chicago! It's just a few miles away from our place. I am beyond thrilled
- Christopher and I don't go to the movies often but this month Moonrise Kingdom stole my heart and fueled my imagination, while Dark Knight Rises made me feel the dorky excitement that I felt the first time I watched Star Wars (nerd alert!)
- I had a wonderful time exploring Chicago with my best friend Tiffany and her awesome husband Todd
- We went to Pitchfork where I saw Japandroids which was really fun despite the rain
- I enjoyed the sounds (and looks!) of Father John Misty with good friends. Have you seen his videos? My favorite is this one
- I headed down to Bushnell IL to see the last Cornerstone Festival and had a great time with old and new friends
- For some reason it's taken me 30 years to discover how amazing Fudge Stripes are, but this month I have more than made up for lost time by gorging myself on them
- I took more pictures this month than I have all year. I love rediscovering old cameras I have and I'm still working on my doubles
- I started making a book with my Polaroids! I have wanted to make a book with my images for years and I just decided to start the project one day! I'm having so much fun keeping up with it and going through old Instant images to include in the book
- Christopher's friend Nic, a talented musician and tattoo artist from Hong Kong gave him an awesome tattoo rendering of our first two bunnies, Franny & Zooey (pictured)
- This amazing and inspiring look book. I love the combination of hand drawn illustrations and photographs. I wish I could do a fun instant collaboration like this!

WORDS TO SHOOT BY // SUMMER

All three images shot on Impossible Project's PX70 Cool film

Are you tired of hearing about how much I love Summer yet? No? Good! I present to you, my contribution for "summer" on Words To Shoot By. Take a look at all the other summery images, shot by some of my favorite instant photographers!

XO

THE AUGUST BREAK 2012

Are we really on the brink of AUGUST?! Where is 2012 going?!

Last year I participated in this little blog project called The August Break, where you try to blog a photo a day, every day for the month of August. The wonderful lady who started the project, Susannah Conway suggests it's a time for bloggers to take a breather. We all know that I'm not that great at keeping up with this here blog so for me it's more the fun challenge of posting a picture everyday for a month! A small, feasible project. I think I did pretty well last year.

I'm going to give it a go again this year. Let me know if you plan on participating as well!

XO

LOVING LATELY // JULY

Lately, I've been in love with:

- These awesome sunnies that my friend Ben sent me
- Lingered Upon's photos of Paris!
- Christoffer Relander's AMAZING double exposures
- East Side Brides awesome wit and snark relating to all things wedding
- Mikael Kennedy's Tumblr
- Redscale film. No idea how I'm just getting around to using this
- Stereoscopy Photographs. Such a cool concept. If you decide to follow this person on Tumblr I'd suggest stepping outside the dashboard and seeing the way he's laid it out. I think it really adds to the images/text
- Worishofer sandals. Judge me and my granny ways if you must, but theses sandals are SO comfortable
- Andrea's super cute list of things she misses. I'm right there with her on so many of these things!

Tonight I will surely be in love with Refused, a band I never thought I'd get to see live!!

XO

FOR THE LOVE OF FILM

My pile of black and white film that needs developing is out of control! It's time to buy some new chemicals and lock myself in the bathroom! Do you know how to develop your own black and white film? It's not as hard as you might think! You just need a few essentials to get started and follow some easy steps. I wrote a tutorial about it a little while ago, you can read it here.

Because I went a little over my budget buying film last month (I blame The Impossible Project for tempting me with their awesome PX70 COOL film I've been burning through this Summer) I need to raise some chemistry funds! Sooo..... use the code "xodevelop" for 10% off your entire order in my Etsy shop! This four card set is the best deal of all! All of the cards are also available as prints so just send me a message if you see anything you'd like printed larger! 

XO

I N S T A G R A M

Guys. I'm an Instagram addict. I mean, seriously. I wouldn't be surprised if there was an intervention being staged for me. It's easily my favorite form of social media. It's life in pictures...PERFECT!

A few times a week for the past few months I've been finding little hearts here and there and I've been posting them with the hashtag #ubiquitioushearts . If you're interested in photos of bunnies, small hearts, cameras and Chicago follow me under the username xoazuree !

What's your user name? What's your favorite Instagram account? Help feed my addiction!

XO

MAY // GONE

How'd I let this one go unpublished? Almost three months late I present to you, my May recapped!

May has been a roller coaster of emotions. I've been really excited about quadrupling our space and trying to make it our own, but am heartbroken that my Mom moved back to Puerto Rico. I'm glad she's there, to take care of my Grandma- but if you know me and Nexy you know she's one of my best friends. I miss her so much!

Otherwise things have been wonderful. I've enjoyed:

- Bonfires with friends
- Girls night at Big Star with some of my favorite ladies
- BIRTHDAY CAKE OREOS
- Getting to take in Father John Misty with my girlfriend, Misty
- Christopher surprising me at work with flowers and treats
- Our new home (duh)
- Learning how to cook....very slowly...very cautiously...
- Franny & Seymour were in one of The Impossible Project newsletters

I'm ready for you June Summer days!

LOMOGRAPHY ET MOI

It keeps getting quite around here doesn't it? It's because a lot is going on. Summer, as I've said many times before, is my very favorite time of the year! Watermelon, pool parties, bike rides, photo walks and traveling! My heart is so full right now!

I have some exciting news to share- I got a job at The Lomography Gallery Store which is to open here in Chicago July 19th! I am SO excited. This is a dream job for me, to have the chance to dork out with cameras and film all day! Yes please! The location is just a short bike ride away from our place in a cool neighborhood called Wicker Park. I'll be just a few stores away from two of my best friends as well. I'm elated.

Also, I've been meaning to post links to a few articles I've written for the Lomography website this Summer. This one is about Go Skateboarding Day, which was June 21st. That day each year skateboarders EVERYWHERE go out and ....skate! This article was my first for Lomography, all about Chicago! Take a peek at them and let me know what you think!

If you live in Chicago, come to the photo walk meet up in Wicker Park this Sunday, July 8th! It's the first I'm hosting! For more info, check out the event on the Meet Up site.