I live in a watershed area of the valley and there are warnings like this everywhere despite the fact that most of the streams are awfully close to busy roads. We even have rules about which canyon areas are allowed to have dogs. Now I could be crazy but wouldn’t a dog’s feces be less harmful to our water supply than the toxic waste washed down from the roads?

On a completely unrelated note I kind of like this selective focus effect that my lens has recently started doing.

© 2010 Shauna L. Ehninger. All rights reserved. Originally published by Shauna Ehninger for meowsk.com as We All Live Downstream. This post cannot be republished without permission.

Yesterday Andrew and I went out in search of a good venue to take my outfit photos and once we spotted this location we stopped immediately. A seemingly normal residential farm on a sunny day…

Notice how I am looking left in both of these photos? Well that is because there are llamas to the left of me. LLAMAS! With their cute noses, fluffy fur and overall cuteness.

We have been meaning to stop and photograph these guys for quite some time but never seem to have our cameras on the days they are outside. So we totally lucked out, not only getting llama photos but also llama-outfit photos, which there are quite a few of so bear with me here.

I love their little noses – this guy gave me a little nose kiss while I was peeking through the fence.

I adore every detail of this dress – the stitched pattern, colors, fit and most important vintage-inspired ties at the neck. It is quite fun to pair with different colored tights because it can completely change the mood – at the moment I am a fan of the purple cable knit.

This ring was one of those really great garage sale finds that only comes along every once in a great while – I am usually not so lucky at garage sales or thrift stores.

It has been fantastic outside the past few days (maybe slightly cold) but sunshine nonetheless. So I am off to run some errands and soak up some Vitamin D.

XOXOXOXOXO to Andrew for taking these photographs.

Outfit Details
Play by C. Ronson Indigo Dress via Urban Outfitters
UO Multi-Strand Locket Necklace via Urban Outfitters
Garage Saled Violet Glass Stone Ring
Mossimo Beige Pleather Pocket Purse
Simply Vera Vera Wang Purple Cable-Knit Tights
Seychelles Trip the Light Fantastic Heels via Urban Outfitters

© 2010 Shauna L. Ehninger. All rights reserved. Originally published by Shauna Ehninger for meowsk.com as Llamas!. This post cannot be republished without permission.

Photographic proof that I do in fact occasionally wear pants, particularly on grey rainy days such as this one. Even though the colors are fairly neutral the roses add a touch of Spring to this outfit.

This is my go-to casual outfit for when I just can’t be bothered with tights. I found this tank on sale at UO last summer and it was a must have due to the rose applique.

I feel a bit drowned in this cardigan – I think it is supposed to fit sort of oversized but I was really struggling with getting it to fit right with this outfit. Maybe mixing it with the bubble hem of the tank makes it feel and look so large?

My faithful filigree cutout skimmers that have not yet fallen apart despite many miles of travel.

I found this bracelet randomly years ago and am quite fond of how it appears to be vintage although I am pretty sure it is new. I need to get a closer detail shot of it one day so you can see all of it’s intricacies.

Turns out Urban Outfitters has an affiliate program for people like me who have websites that feature their clothing. So to help afford my shopping addiction and maybe make a few extra pennies on the side, I am now including affiliate links to their shop with my outfit posts. I also setup links to a few of my other favorite shops as well including ModCloth, Gilt and We Love Colors, all of which you can always find on my links page. I hope this is helpful if you want to try and find pieces from my outfits you fancy and when available I will try to link to the specific item.

Thanks to my husband Andrew for taking my photos yet again.

Outfit Details
Kimchi Blue Rose Applique Bubble Tank via Urban Outfitters
Coincidence & Chance Cream Cardigan via Urban Outfitters
Thrifted Ornate Pearl Bracelet
Old Navy Sweetheart Jeans
Fairy Tales Are True Leather Filigree Skimmers via Urban Outfitters

© 2010 Shauna L. Ehninger. All rights reserved. Originally published by Shauna Ehninger for meowsk.com as Turning Up Roses. This post cannot be republished without permission.

This weekend I set up my Eames House of Cards for Lucy to explore. At first she seemed ambivalent, trying to avoid looking at it but eventually warmed up enough to chase toys through the openings. She wouldn’t, however, allow me to take a photo of her making eye contact with the camera.

© 2010 Shauna L. Ehninger. All rights reserved. Originally published by Shauna Ehninger for meowsk.com as Lucy & Her House of Cards. This post cannot be republished without permission.

For my final image, from my photowalk I thought it appropriate to feature the Robin since they were being so elusive to me and my camera. Just look at this guy eyeing me down ready to fly away if I come forward one more inch. These birds are quite common around our area and I love the male’s amber colored breast matched against their neutral grey feathers and bright beak. I sneakily tried to lure them closer by playing their call on my iPhone but they were much too cunning to be outsmarted by some electronic bird sounds.

© 2010 Shauna L. Ehninger. All rights reserved. Originally published by Shauna Ehninger for meowsk.com as Turdus Migratorius. This post cannot be republished without permission.

While out on my photowalk, a family saw me taking photos in the street from their living room and invited into their yard to see if I could spot anything worth capturing on film. Their backyard ending up being a treasure trove of photographic opportunity with all kinds of birds, rusted equipment, unusual plants and at the very end this beautiful white horse. As I approached I thought I may have somehow ended up in a fantasy film because of this animal’s sheer magnificence. Maybe that is just an effect of watching so much Legend of the Seeker lately. He came up close only for a second then walked away, possibly suddenly recalling the harsh sting of barbed wire on his face. I realize he is not the focal point in this photo but despite having several further away shots in focus, for some reason this one is my favorite.

© 2010 Shauna L. Ehninger. All rights reserved. Originally published by Shauna Ehninger for meowsk.com as Fenced In. This post cannot be republished without permission.

I happened upon this little guy while on my photwalk the other day I am not sure what type of bird he is only that I can’t recall seeing anything like him locally. A very loud dark started barking right when I spotted him so I was only able to get one photo but he appears to have a red stripe on the underside of his head and a neat texture on his back feathers. He was very fast and scurried into the brush so quickly I couldn’t find him again. On another note I dropped the lens used to shoot this photo a few weeks ago and ever since it does this weird selective focus thing occasionally – I would get it fixed but I think I sort of like it.

© 2010 Shauna L. Ehninger. All rights reserved. Originally published by Shauna Ehninger for meowsk.com as Bird Unknown. This post cannot be republished without permission.

Andrew suggested we photograph this outfit with a blue spruce background which turned out to be a novel idea because the pine needles very much compliment my new shoes. These trees live everywhere around us and I always forget how stunning their blue tint can be – they even smell divine especially after a light rain. We were hoping for sun and warmer temperatures for these photos but had no such luck and ended up out in the cold with flat light.

My dad ordered me these incredibly adorable shoes for Valentine’s after he saw my tweet telling the world how much I coveted them for spring. And since it isn’t quite spring yet I am wearing them with tights but I imagine they will be wonderful in the warmer weather with painted toenails. The seafoam color is totally made to be paired airy dresses and the heels are the perfect height that incidentally correct my horrible posture.

This dress has one of my most favorite floral prints ever and is made of a lightweight sheer fabric that makes me want to twirl around in circles all day long.

I have obtained a second matching shoe and bag duo completely unintentionally – I suppose it’s just my affinity for seafoam and purple.

Smiling hoping the sunshine will come if I do because it is FREEZING.

I quite like this metal knot belt with this dress, it divides the print up and gives this frock a bit more form.

All photos taken by my wonderful husband, Andrew.

Outfit Details
Kimchi Blue Asymmetrical Botanical Printed Dress
Loyalty & Blood Filigree Bird Necklace
Deena & Ozzy Teal Metal Knot Belt
Cog & Pearl Carved Rose Ring
UO Navy Opaque Tights
Seychelles Aqua Teardrop T-Strap Heel
Deux Lux Seafoam Twist Bag

© 2010 Shauna L. Ehninger. All rights reserved. Originally published by Shauna Ehninger for meowsk.com as Blue Spruce. This post cannot be republished without permission.

Today it was warm and sunny outside so I decided to go on a little photowalk in the neighborhoods surrounding my apartment complex. I had a lovely time exploring and came across tons of birds and interesting botany. I will be posting my discoveries all week but thought I would throw out a little sneak peak for your amusement. While walking I stumbled across this shiny silver reflective ball in someone’s yard and decided to snap a self portrait that turned out sort of surreal.

© 2010 Shauna L. Ehninger. All rights reserved. Originally published by Shauna Ehninger for meowsk.com as Photowalk Reflection. This post cannot be republished without permission.

I have long since been a fan of Charley Harper’s illustrations and one of my earliest memories is flipping through his now infamous Giant Golden Book of Biology at my babysitter’s house. So imagine my surprise to find not only a Charley Harper calendar under the tree but his Birds & Words book too. Don’t let this grey photograph fool you – inside is filled with colorful artwork. His “I just count the wings not the feathers” philosophy makes for beautiful minimal representations of some of the most complex creatures on Earth. I am especially fond of birds so these are some of my favorite pieces and each page has a short anecdote relating to the bird type. So armed with my Chirp! iPhone app and this book I will become nothing short of a master bird watcher.

© 2010 Shauna L. Ehninger. All rights reserved. Originally published by Shauna Ehninger for meowsk.com as Charles Harper’s Birds & Words. This post cannot be republished without permission.