It’s been some time since I’ve sat down to write a post without  much knowledge of what I was going to say. The last month  or so has been wonderfully hectic – our trip to New York, a  family trip to Florida, many new clients, and the start of  (what I can only hope is) my last year of classes. During our  trips, I went online for maybe five minutes a day, long enough  to respond to any urgent emails only. Funny how difficult it is  now to get back into the swing of Real Life, and how much  incorporating leisure time online seems just out of reach.

Because of this, I’ve been putting a lot of thought into my  online presence lately, and the lack of time I have to  adequately keep up with this blog. In just a week, I’ll be  shooting my first wedding. There is so much joy and  anticipation wrapped up in that very defining event, although  I feel quite confident that I’ve built up to it in the right way. I  have so much left to do in terms of building though – not only  a style and experience, but also the business side of things.  What I’d like to do, I think, is eventually integrate everything  into one website – have a more organized approach to entries,  with less wedding and food blogging, and more of the most  important things, posting personal, travel, and Anni Cee  photos in the same blog, with the occasional text entry  updates as well. I hope that will bring a little more care to my  photography blog, which I think is lacking, and that I’ll be  able to focus more on having a clear “feel” to it.

I also want to put my all into a few projects that I have up my sleeve – I’m in the early stages of putting together a boudoir marathon here in Chicago (and will need a model for a free mini session, please let me know if you’re interested!) and I’m finally taking a real French class that has been quite the treat.

I’d love to hear all of your thoughts on this — I love keeping up with everyone on here, and I do value your opinions!

Kelly from KJ Pugs tagged me in this fun post – seven prompts that you pick an old post for. I had a lot of fun going through old posts – a lot which I had already forgotten about – to figure out what to share with you all again.

1) Most beautiful.

The Short List. This is pretty much my life well-lived plan, and it includes lots of beautiful places and promises. I’m not sure there’s anything more beautiful than that!

(Pret-a-voyager)

2) Most popular.

The post that has drawn both the most links and Google searches (even though it didn’t win) was my entry into Serena’s cooking challenge, my Strawberry Grape Focaccia + Perfect Lemonade. And really, it sounds oh so good right about now. It almost makes me want to do dishes so I can make some. Almost.

3) Most controversial.

This one was a huge surprise to me, but without a doubt it was this post about figuring out if we could afford to re-sign our current lease. I got not only a whole bunch of opinions and comments, but emails too. If anything I learned that what’s important in a place to live is so radically different to everyone that it’s a miracle I ended up with someone who agrees on apartment criteria. I heard from a lot of people who valued parking spaces, in-unit laundry, and square footage over neighborhood, and couldn’t believe that we’d choose a more central location over such amenities. And I got a lot of people reminding me that Chicago is still cheaper than New York and D.C. (On the other hand, try telling someone from the suburbs what rent is in the city. You’ll get a dropped jaw, especially if they’ve just seen said 650 square feet of living space.)

4) Most helpful.

For me, at least, my post on struggling with getting any sort of foot in the door with photography was the most helpful. I heard back from lots of photographers who had been there, brides who let me know what was important to them and where they looked, and all of you in general, who have been so supportive! The advice I received in that post really helped me to feel more confidence for the free sessions I shot initially, and later my first few paid sessions.

5) A post whose success surprised me.

Man, is that worded awkwardly. It makes the post sound like a person. Anyway, this is much more recent, but I was amazed that you all understood (and even agreed with) my rambling post on Why We Write. It was one of those posts that I didn’t plan, and it was exactly what I love about blogging – that it’s an outlet to not only push yourself and your own writing, but also to bond with others who are similar to you. And, you know, it’s good to know that I’m not the only one who still watches my Sex and the City dvds years later. (And no, I didn’t take this photo from my TV – it just was uncredited online. We actually don’t have a TV!)

6) A post I didn’t feel got the attention it deserved.

This little post, on being young and in love, was one of my very first posts on the blog. It was a silly little thing, written (I’m sure) in response to the zillionth person who couldn’t believe how young we were and our story. I’m honestly not bothered by peoples’ surprise, especially the longer I live in the city and see how unusual it is to be committed so young – and the more we grow, the more secure I am in our relationship. But I think that every stranger who interrogates (because it’s always strangers, for some reason) forgets that, you know, while they’re asking for the first time, we’ve been asked over and over and over. (And over.)

7) Post I’m most proud of.

Hands down, I’m most proud of my D.C. Recap, not because it was particularly amazing in and of itself but because of the experience. I loved our whole trip, my wonderful D.C. ladies, and going on the first trip that was 100% ours. This trip really gave us time to think about what we want with our futures, and realize that living in at least one other city is something that’s so important to us. It also made me realize that we can travel on a budget, and on our own terms, so that it fits into our lifestyle without being extravagant.

Hi all,

I’ve been a bit lax in the posts over here, but that’s mostly because I’m brewing up an amazing end of summer series for you all. So don’t lose hope yet! In the meantime, I wrote a guest post for one of my favorite blogs, Couple of Crumbs, that just went up today. Head on over and check it out!

And I may be a day late, but to all the Francophiles out there, Happy Bastille Day! Hope everyone in Paris got the chance to picnic and see the fireworks. And know that I’m very, very jealous!

(source)

Blogging is a curious medium. Since it’s fairly self-run, there are varying degrees of quality (or not so quality) content out there for anyone to read. It’s not as satisfying as good old ink and paper, but it’s immediate and there’s a certain amount of instant gratification involved – even the most boring of us can rustle up a handful of readers, and hopefully we improve with time. It suffers, too, from the lack of an impartial editor, whose job it is to be ruthlessly honest in crossing out unnecessary bits and clearing up what’s poorly written.

And yet, I think that blogging is inherently tied into the art of column writing. We pick some sort of theme, we use our lives to influence daily topics, and we hope to stay current. Anyone can sign up with WordPress or Blogger or any of the other myriad sites out there, but to gain an audience – or, of equal importance, to say something well – is something that takes a similar amount of hard work and failed attempts.

I wonder, though, if blogging can ever come with the same charm that a column naturally carries. To have people write to you in search of advice, trusting in your worldview and ability to see something that they can’t, or even to be a silent observer, nevertheless mulling over what it is you have to say.

The two are even more similarly intertwined, I think, when you consider the fallout. I remember in the early 2000s, when advice columnist Carolyn Hax announced that she was divorcing her husband and, about a year later, that she was pregnant and remarrying. Everyone had an opinion, and even though it wasn’t the topic of her column (until the letters built up to the point of necessitating reply) they felt betrayed. She was called a hypocrite, a failure, and many other things. It didn’t matter how she explained things (that she had privately separated from her husband a year before they announced it publicly, that she had completely ended the relationship before even beginning to think about a new one – no matter that she never condemned divorce in her column) because people weren’t looking for a human response. They wanted perfection in the form of their Advice Columnist.

The same can be said, over and over again, of blogging “scandals” (I had to add the quotation marks, it felt so silly to type out the word scandal seriously) which are often over small, nit-picky things and always forget that what one presents on a website is never the complete picture of oneself. The same self-seekers come out in droves when any hint of inconsistency or humanity shows itself. But really, many of the best capital W Writers of all time would be proud. It does seem that, if you’re not being disagreed with on some level, either no one is reading or you’re not writing about anything groundbreaking.

Of course, there are blogs that aren’t meant to be groundbreaking. I think most personal blogs aren’t, except for the occasional post sparked by something particularly interesting. They’re mostly reflections, daily happenings, things that are important to record and look back on. And when most blogs are updated by a single author, four to fives times a week (and not as a career), can we really expect groundbreaking writing? Even the best of the best tend to put out only one to two substantial columns a week, as their paying gig.

I know all this, and yet part of me (my inner ten-year-old, still writing thirty page novellas about who knows what) yearns for the romance of a Real Column that is carefully put together, completely torn apart, and (most importantly) that Says Something.

I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately, writing-wise at least. Hopefully will have something worth reading for you tomorrow, but until then I leave you with…

Peonies in Paris from Jordan Ferney.

A sparkly vintage dress to die for. (Via Shopyo Vintage)

And, I’ll admit it, I still get nostalgic for Dawson’s Creek. No matter how ridiculous and dramatic it was, no matter how crazy Katie Holmes may now be, I still miss these two! (And Jen. Jen was the best.)

Happy Tuesday!

I think some confetti is appropriate here…

(source)

And the winner is…

….

Layla!

Congrats, Layla! Hope you enjoy the macarons and gift card. Email me with your flavor preference and I’ll get cooking!

It’s finally (FINALLY) starting to feel like summer in Chicago. My shoulders are burnt, the beaches are packed, and Memorial Day was a blast. I hope you all had a lovely weekend as well, and for those of you with family in the armed forces, a big thank you to them. Here’s where Ross and I spent our afternoon:

Getting down to business – the new blog! I absolutely loved Lincoln Park on a Lark but at some point, I realized I would feel weird writing there when we leave Chicago. It won’t be within the next two years, but at some point we do want to move around a bit and experience other cities and cultures. For now, we satisfy that wanderlust with traveling as often as our small paychecks and high rent allow. And so, A Room with a View was born to document our various adventures (also, I do love E.M. Forster!) – and will, of course, continue to function as my smorgasboard of a blog with lots of inspiration, musings, and pretty pictures.

Joy from How Joyful Design is the mind behind the design, and I am just thrilled with what she came up with! Over the next few days there will be a couple of changes in the sidebar – including a Twitter widget, yay! – and I’ll be updating my old info to make it more current, so keep an eye out!

SO. The giveaway. Finally, you say! The good stuff. Because I’m so excited about this new blog and ninety-degree weather, I’m showering you with goodies. Or, baked goods and a dinner, to be more accurate.

The first part of the prize is $25 to any Lettuce Entertain You restaurant. They’re based out of Chicago, but have US-wide locations of places like Maggiano’s Little Italy. Where, by the way, the bruschetta is top notch.

The second part of the prize is a box of homemade macarons sent directly to your door. I love macarons, and I think they’re perfect for the unveiling of A Room with a View! Who knows, maybe someday I’ll be sending them out from Paris. In the meantime, they’re coming directly from our kitchen, and I’m willing to make whatever flavor you prefer. My personal favorite is the kind with jam filling, and as I mentioned before, I’ll be using fresh, amazing Jars of Love jam if that’s what you prefer. I can also make pretty much any variation on chocolate, mint, vanilla, etc that you dream up.

Mmm, macarons:

Photo from Delicious Magazine

So how do you enter? Because I’m so nice, there are three ways:

1) Subscribe to my new blog and leave me a comment on here letting me know your absolute favorite thing about summer. (Make sure to include your name and email in the comment form!)

2) “Like” me on Facebook.

3) Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway, linking back to me and this page. You can use this short url: http://bit.ly/j5SDvh

The giveaway will be open for only two weeks, so enter soon!

Lots of exciting news to share today!

First, and probably my favorite, Steph and Scot’s Farmer’s Market Engagement has been blogged by one of my favorite wedding inspiration sources, Lovely Little Details. It means so much to me to be featured, especially with a shoot so near to my heart.

Jacin, the lovely mind behind Lovely Little Details, also makes fresh jam for charity through Jars of Love. You may remember me posting about this during Operation Layla, when Jacin was kind enough to donate all the jam profits to help fund Layla’s surgery. I just bought a jar of to-die-for strawberry jam that benefitted tornado victims in Missouri, and I can easily say it’s my new favorite way to do something good for others. I’ll be featuring the jam prominently in my next giveaway (hint – it’s very Parisian) so if you don’t buy your own, you’ll still have a chance to taste it soon.

I also guest posted on Katie’s blog today. I talked about relationships, and what it means to be with someone after the honeymoon phase. There may be a gratuitous cute photo involved, but that’s all I’m saying.

Last but not least, I am moving upward and onward blog-wise. It’s a change I thought about for a long time, and though I love it I have really outgrown Lincoln Park on a Lark. I’ll be unveiling a whole new site and concept within the next few days, and as I mentioned, there will be a spectacular summer giveaway to go along with it.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday weekend, whether you celebrate or not! Mine was certainly hectic, and everyday life is a bit of a relief. I think today’s a wonderful day for a brain dump post!

1) I am currently enamored with the idea of an unfussy but still gorgeous fresh poppy bouquet for the wedding. This bride went to a farmer’s market the morning of and made her own! Ambitious.

(source)

2) I want to know how this girl manages to look cute and stylish in wellies. I love my black ones, but they always look and feel clunky somehow. And they’re the exact ones she’s wearing, but in black. If I was to attempt pairing them with a dress, it would look ridiculous. Height issue, maybe? Also, at the rate we’re going with rain on days when I have shoots planned, I feel like I’m in reschedule and stay glued to weather.com limbo. No fun!

                                                                                                                  (source)

3) Does anyone else read Dear Prudie as obsessively as I do? I adore her. I also wonder, time and again, why in the world I don’t subscribe to Slate considering one of my very favorite authors writes a column for them, and Dear Prudie writes for them. Alas, Vogue is my only current subscription. As my bank likes to inform me time and time again, I’m flat broke.

4) We got the official lease sent over, and I’m so excited to renew! It’s nice to have some stability for the next two years, and to allow myself to fully settle in without that looming “will I have to pack up everything I own for the seventhy zillionth year in a row?” feeling.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about names. Blog names, specifically.

When I started this blog, it was mainly as a way to keep up with some friends, gather inspiration, and vent. I had no idea that I’d be heading in a more creative direction, launching a little photography venture, and (honestly) keeping people interested in what I had to say.

So I just kind of named this site off the cuff, with something I thought sounded cute. But I’ve always been a little… eh… about Lincoln Park on a Lark. Also, we live one street over, so we’re technically in Lakeview, which doesn’t have the same ring to it. Regardless, while we’ll be here at least two more years, I feel like maybe attaching a neighborhood moniker to my blog is a commitment I’m just not ready to make… or keep.

How did you decide on your blog name? Any thoughts on a big rename?