#poncon2015

Camping with city friends on an island that's home to wild horses was what my spirit needed. 

We fell asleep to the sound of the sea and rose to the sound of a "good morning, campers!" wake-up call for sunrise on the beach. (It didn't matter that fog concealed any sight of the sun.)

Most of our time was shared around the campfire where we swapped stories and snacks. The remainder of our energy was spent searching for ponies and squealing when we happened upon one.

The faces filling this little video made me laugh a lot (even when a 2.5 hour drive home turned into a 5.5+ hour drive because of traffic), and I eagerly await #poncon2016!

[Humming House: "Run With Me"]

little zander

Little Zander was just two weeks old at the time of these portraits. It might sound silly, but I still have a difficult time wrapping my head around babies. They're fascinating, don't you think? And they seem to know how to restore perspective like no other. Spending time around new parents also reminds me to be deeply grateful for my own. As much as I value independence, I want to acknowledge how we're made to flourish in community. Even in adulthood, we need one another.

26

One of my favorite bands, JOHNNYSWIM , often says, "If the journey is only as good as the company you keep, then we're gonna be just fine." I concur completely.

Thank you so much for the #birthdaybluesbegone fundraiser support and birthday love! You remind me to be a grateful girl.

Here's a short video I made featuring 26 seconds on my 26th birthday in New York, in chronological order.


birthday blues begone // fundraiser

The past few years I've battled birthday blues. Now before you laugh or give me a hard time because you think I'm too young to experience birthday blues, let me just say that the twenties can be tough! And nobody really warns you adequately. Recent birthdays have been stressful because they've served as a reminder of how I'm not quite yet whom or what or where I thought I'd be by a certain age. 

This time around though, I'm actually excited about the formerly dreaded day! I am dedicating this birthday to a special collection of GlobalGiving partner organizations that I had the opportunity to visit and get to know this year. I'm thankful to have crossed paths with incredibly kind, passionate, inspiring individuals working to solve problems in their local communities. 

From empowering vulnerable youth to become organic farmers, to transforming trash to practical, eco-friendly products, to saving orangutans through reforestation efforts, to cultivating a college-going culture in schools in which it's not the norm, there are good people out there who are making this world a little bit better and a little bit more beautiful every day. Perspective and gratitude are what they've instilled in me, and as I carry their stories with me in my everyday back home, my hope is to help build awareness of and garner support for their relentless pursuits.  

As a token of appreciation, anybody who gives to this birthday blues begone fundraiser will receive a thank you postcard that is a print of a photograph I took while visiting nonprofits in Indonesia. 

Will you consider giving here?

Many many thanks!


dan + eunice // married

It was an honor to shoot dear friends with a dear friend on a chilly, but gorgeous fall day in Princeton. Here's a glimpse of this couple's honest and heartfelt story.

xsproject // trash transformed, lives changed

In September, I had the opportunity to travel to Indonesia with my coworker and friend Marisa. We spent two weeks there and visited a number of GlobalGiving's nonprofit partner organizations. Specifically, we had the honor of spending time getting to know the people behind XSProject and help them tell their story. XSProject is an amazing organization working with the trashpicker community in Jakarta and Cirendeu, Indonesia to transform waste and change lives. 

My heart fell in love with the people there, and I hope this little video and collection of photographs may be useful in sharing an amazing story, inspiring action, and instilling gratitude for kindness and community. 

In the spirit of #GivingTuesday, please consider supporting XSProject here!

pacific northwest part three // vancouver

The last destination of my little exploration of the Pacific Northwest was Vancouver. It was late evening by the time I crossed the border into Canada, and I lost count of the number of times I wish I could've pulled over because I was surrounded by the most stunning scenes of nature.

My heart filled with wonder as I realized I'd never driven in a different country before, and as I tried not to get distracted by all the night lights, it occurred to me that I had to figure out the mile to kilometer conversion. Yikes!

The purpose of visiting Vancouver was to see a bunch of friends from Virginia who've relocated there in the past year. It's sort of strange to see familiar faces dwelling somewhere unfamiliar, but it's also neat to witness how these dear friends of mine have worked to plant roots and are in the process of building community in the place they now call home.

My tour guides were thebomb.com. Seriously. I felt so cared for and welcomed as they planned where to take me each day; they made certain that I saw and ate and did everything the city has to offer. 

Vancouver is really a breathtaking slice of the earth. There's something about having mountains, water, and skyscrapers clustered in one line of sight that gets me every single time.

pacific northwest part two // seattle

I cannot recall too many details about the drive from Portland to Seattle. I want to say it was rainy that morning and there was a bit of traffic. (To be honest, I don't mind being a passenger on long road trips, but driving long distances myself is not my favorite.) I do remember distinctly that I felt comfort and excitement upon arriving because I recognized neighborhoods and streets from being in Seattle last year.

Though I had anticipated traveling solo for this leg of the trip, each of the days there was actually spent in really good company. I was connected to the kindest mutual friends for dinner one night, spent a day adventuring with college friends who happened to be there as well by chance, and shared life-giving conversations with someone I sat next to once at the Love Does Stuff conference in Tacoma last May. (The former gathering was solidified while in Portland, and the latter two surfaced serendipitously while in Seattle.)

The pockets of time I had alone unraveled like so. Part of it was spent hitting up spots I fell in love with before (e.g. Fremont Vintage Mall, Gas Works Park, Paseo, Theo Chocolate Factory), part of it included visiting establishments that I didn't get around to last time (e.g. Oddfellows, Volunteer Park), and part of it involved roaming around in the rain and exploring new territory. (Throughout my foray in the Pacific Northwest, I wore my "pretend to be a local" hat and weathered the rain sans umbrella. A part of me wanted to picture if I could see myself living there one day.) 

Seattle was so good to me again (in the grand scheme of things). The only other point I have to make is that I received my first parking ticket ever while there. Sad trombone.

pacific northwest part one // portland

I recently returned from the most structurally unique trip of my life. Twelve days spent in the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver) included a weekend getaway with a hodgepodge of people to a new city, solo road tripping, meeting new mutual friends, adventuring with college buds who happened to be traveling in the same place at the same time, visiting old friends in a different country, and reconnecting with someone I sat next to at a conference one year ago.

It started when a group of comfortably old and completely new friends met in Portland, Oregon. (We hailed from all over the states - New York City, Atlanta, DC, Houston, and Austin.) My travel companions visited for a long weekend, and I remained a couple extra days by myself before driving up to Seattle, Washington.

The pace of life in Portland is slower than I'm used to, and I welcomed it wholeheartedly. While there, I didn't feel an impulse to photograph everything. In fact, I didn't document most things, and a few rather rainy days went by during which I didn't take my camera out at all. I'm grateful for the snaps I did get, but I'm also glad to have sweet memories preserved in my mind.

What I remember most about Portland is how a random bunch of people traveled really well together, how giddy I was about visiting the Kinfolk office, how I stayed at an Airbnb apartment while the hosts were there for the first time, how I'm more likely to engage in conversation with shopkeepers and locals when I wander around solo, and how freeing it is to travel without an agenda.

ingrid + keith // married

Some of you may know that I work at an organization called GlobalGiving. It's a special place filled with the smartest, funniest, most big-hearted people I know. Every day I count myself lucky to be surrounded by a team that I call my friends and family. In particular, getting to work with Ingrid is truly a treat, and getting to see her get married to Keith was an honor and a joy. 

The wedding day was relaxed and fun. It was filled with love and brimming with laughter. And boy did the ceremony pull at our heartstrings. We all formed a circle around the coupleboth Ingrid and Keith had their two sons standing behind them as their best men. They exchanged heartfelt vows and the crowd in unison pronounced them as husband and wife.

Also, Ingrid loooves littles, so they were everywhere. :)

a weekend in louisiana

When Lucy picked me up at the airport in New Orleans, we realized that I've visited her in every city she's been a resident since we've met. (The others were Dallas and Nashville, and I promised to visit her in New York when she makes the move.) Though I wish I could have all my people nearby, it's nice to get to visit each other around the globe, and time together seems to be a bit sweeter because we know not to take it for granted.

The weekend in Louisiana in August was steamy, tasty, rich in culture, and slower than usual (in a very good way). It always surprises me how different American states can be from one another. Whenever I visit a new place, I like to make a list of the details I observe to be unique. In New Orleans, I remember most how beads appeared everywhere (e.g. telephone poles, porch fences, mail boxes). I also noticed how there were street musicians on what seemed to be every corner of the streets in the French Quarter. It was my favorite.

lauren + steve // married

I met Lauren in grade school. She was a year older, and we served in student council together. When she moved to Africa, we wrote each other letters, but fell out of touch when she relocated to Switzerland. Years later, we connected via Facebook and then a few more years later, she asked me to shoot her wedding. Cheers to my dear childhood friend!

everyday // a tea party

A tea party was an excuse to invite dear friends over on a Sunday afternoon and use the antique Bavarian tea set from the 30's that we found by chance at a yard sale. 

To appreciate the everyday. To seek and find beauty in banalities. To document and remember the norm. 

To invite the extraordinary. To chase after adventure. To capture and memorize the incredible. 

To slow down. To simplify. To pursue purpose.

These are reasons Everyday was born. Everyday is a collaborative creative lifestyle project with Megan that challenges us to be intentional about how we spend our time. It often feels like we have very little control over what happens to us--and to an extent that's true--but we also have more power than we think to choose and take responsibility for how our stories unravel.

Each day matters because as my girl Annie Dillard once said, "How we spend our days, is of course, how we spend our lives."

home away from home

The other week, a new friend asked what's my favorite subject to shoot. I paused for a moment and decided that at this given time, I most enjoy capturing people in their everyday element, and I find great pleasure documenting the spaces in which they experience their day-to-day. 

I retreated to Charlottesville for the July 4th weekend with a couple of friends, and we called this charming Airbnb house our home away from home. Our host mentioned in her profile that she's a touring musician, so I asked about it while touching base before the stay. She kindly offered to leave us a CD! It was awe-inspiring to pop the album into the kitchen player and hear songs travel through the very rooms that house the people and instruments and stories responsible for bringing the sounds to life.

I hope to see David Wax Museum live one day.

ahn family

A collection of images from a day trip to Richmond to hang out with these lovely folks for a family portrait session at Maymont.

moments in minneapolis

My childhood friend Gloria flies out to Minneapolis weekly for work. We reconnected recently and she invited me to visit, so I did. It was a semi-solo trip because I explored the city by myself while Gloria was at the office, and we met to spend the evenings together.

The plan for the week was to not have a plan. And the hope was to sink into the rhythm of a few unhurried, unstructured days. 

I didn't take a ton of photographs, but I'm glad I captured these moments in Minneapolis. The latte made sweeter with lavender and honey. The farm-to-table meal savored while journaling. The brioche cake devoured a bit too quickly. The Mississippi River. The exploratory walks all around town. The view from the sky-deck of what was once the world's largest flour mill.

This was probably the first time traveling during which I didn't feel compelled to document every single thing I did or saw or ate. I willed myself to be present and pay attention to my surroundings and experiences. I created space to think in solitude. I stepped out of my comfort zone and chatted with locals. I deeply enjoyed sharing adventures with an old friend. I learned. And I think that's exactly what my spirit needed. 

stand with me // dc instameet

Here's a little video that documents DC's instameet to celebrate National Freedom Day and the premiere of #standwithme, a documentary film that tells the story of a 9-year-old girl named Vivienne who dreams that a lemonade stand can free 500 children in slavery.

In Vivienne's words, "Big things have small beginnings." Though the reason we met is heavy, taking a walking tour of the city with creatives who care about social justice is hopeful and beautiful.

Please learn more about the #standwithme movement here.

[Humming House: "Forever Is Better With You"]

keep austin weird // part three

Steph and I couldn't figure out how people in local establishments often knew to ask where we're from...until my roommate, who's a Texan, enlightened us. She said the head-to-toe black likely gave us away as Northerners. Interesting, huh? Discovering and seeking to understand cultural differences is one of my favorite parts about travel. 

When a trip comes to an end though, I always hope that the spirit of travel will carry over into the day-to-day. The unbridled enthusiasm, the thirst for adventure, the willingness to go out of the way to do something simply because it's fun. The very necessary rest and restoration. The pace that's slow enough to search for and find beauty. 

The final two days of Austin are chronicled here. May we all keep the lovely place weird.