Fall Outfits and Photo Shoots

Pictures by Amy Parks Photography 

I have never been a huge picture person so for me to start taking selfies and hiring people to do photos of me is very uncomfortable. I would rather have pictures on my good side but only having half of my face showing (yes, the side that doesn’t show as much of my big head), or pictures of me doing something dumb or even videos are more up my alley. The real reason is because I hate my big ole forehead. I also am very critical of myself, but who isn’t. So, when I decided to start a blog, it was letting all my insecurities go and just go with it. I had to stop caring what others thought of me and be happy with myself. I also knew that I could not have my husband or best friend drive to my house every other day to take a picture of me. So, I was speaking to my best friend Jennifer and she told me I should consider hiring a photographer. Since her sister in law is a photographer, she would even go with me and help me throughout the shoot. It was awesome to have her because she was able to straighten a hair that was loose or untwist my necklace. It actually also worked out great because our other friend Bethany  joined us for some photos of her own and we celebrated with a glass of wine.

Now when Jennifer and I spoke about this idea, the thoughts that went through my mind were probably different than the normal person. I immediately thought about  all the maintenance that would have to be done. This included, “what am I going to wear, do I need to spray tan, what about my nails, what if I look fat,” the list could go on. See, I am usually the girl that spray tans, gets my nails done, and buys new outfits for any parties I am hosting or any pictures that I am having done. But I also just bought a new car, so I have to start watching my spending. So, I decided to embrace the pale Heather. Now I still got a manicure because if you saw me paint my nails, you would laugh. I paint worse than my 3- year old daughter. I am hoping in time someone can teach me how to paint my nails. Hint hint..Jennifer Reed. The other worry I have when doing any type of pictures is the stress that I put on myself. I always think I am not pretty enough or people will laugh at me, so I said “screw it” and just tossed all that out the window. I just went with the flow and I would say the results made me extremely happy. The more blogging I do, the more I am learning about myself and just learning to let things go and enjoy life. As long as you happy with yourself, that is the only thing that truly matters. Plus, if you cannot be happy with yourself, how can you be happy. Since I did not do my typical maintenance, here are some things I did to prepare me instead. Now we are not talking about being a model here or anything, these are just some things that I wanted to share anytime you having photos done, especially with Christmas card pictures right around the corner.

• Whiten Teeth with crest strips – I wore them everyday for a week, okay maybe not an entire week but like 3 days.
•  Exfoliate- I made sure to exfoliate my face the day before the pictures.
• Manicure – Now let me be honest here, I cannot paint my nails at all. I have tried and tried and have been so unsuccessful so I have to go get manicures most of the time, but if you can do it yourself, I would recommend it.
• Shave- not that it really mattered but I just wanted to feel clean.
• Outfits- bring 4-5 different outfits in case one of the ones you planned fail.

Now, lets talk fashion…. the dress and cardigan I am wearing are from forever 21. Everything about this outfit screams fall. I swear my entire closest is from that store this season. It is funny because I had not bought a single item from there in years and this season that store is speaking to my soul. The dress is so comfy and feels very flowy. Is that a word, if not, I made it one.  I am short (5’1), but with this dress I did not have to get it altered. I have like 10 dresses right now that need to be altered, gosh I am lazy. But seriously the dress is super casual and light. I am wearing a xsmall in the dress and cardigan for size. My over the knee boots are from Nordstrom. I actually bought them over the summer during their Nordstrom sale so I was so excited to actually wear them. I have big calves so I had to order the wide ones and  they fit perfect. Now, do not get me wrong, it was super hot that day we did photos so I was sweating and I had to have Jennifer  help me pull them off, but that was because I had not worn them enough. She told me to go home and wear them for a couple of hours and bam, now they go right on and right off with no problem. My bracelets are again from Boho Betty and I am just obsessed with the wrap bracelet this year. I find myself wearing it with all my outfits, casual to trendy. My Kate Spade watch adds that silver to the outfit I was missing. Yes, I mix gold and silver. Both of my necklaces are from Kendra Scott. It is funny because about a year ago my husband Andrew bought me some Kendra Scott stuff and I had him return them. It was not that I did not love them, it was more of I did not need nice jewelry. Now, I am finding myself buying Kendra Scott often. I think I found my forever hat from Forever 21.  You will be seeing more of ways to wear this hat throughout the fall and winter months. So, if you have learned anything so far from this Blonde Twin Mom, it is go to Forever 21. Until next time….

Shop My Look

Dress: Forever 21/ Cardigan: Forever 21/ Hat: Forever 21/ Bracelet: Boho Betty

Necklace: Kendra Scott/ Over the knee boots: Nordstrom/ Watch: Kate Spade

Cheers,

HO

Jennifer and I pictured above doing some behind the scenes pictures.

Above- Not to sure what I was looking at but I thought it was a good picture of Jennifer and Bethany.