our vacation packing list

we're very organized people (that's no secret) so we carry our love of organization over to our vacation packing.  over the last decade or so, we have developed what we think is the ultimate vacation packing list.  it's our master list that we whip out whenever we are leaving the house with a suitcase and it works great for us.  of course, we don't pack every single item on this list for every trip.  instead we use it as a guide and add/subtract depending on each destination.  we find that when we pack using our list, we don't end up worrying about having forgotten something at home.  since it's summer and it's prime travel season, we wanted to share our list . . .

clothing:
- bras
- underwear
- socks
- stockings/tights
- pajamas
- undershirts
- shirts (t-shirts, polo shirts, dress shirts)
- pants (jeans, dress pants)
- shorts
- gym clothes
- sweaters
- jackets
- suits
- dresses
- bathing suits
- bathing suit cover ups
- ponchos

accessories:
- hats
- scarves
- gloves
- belts
- ties
- jewelry
- bags (purse, beach bag)

shoes:
- sneakers
- sandals
- dress shoes
- flip flops
- aqua socks

toiletries:
- electronic toothbrushes
- electronic toothbrush chargers
- toothpaste
- mouth wash
- face soap
- body wash
- shaving gel
- shampoo
- conditioner
- hairspray
- deodorant
- cologne
- lotion

electronics:
- alarm clock
- laptop / charger
- cell phones / chargers
- dslr camera / lenses / memory cards / batteries / charger
- point-and-shoot camera / memory cards / batteries / charger
- video camera / memory cards / batteries / charger
- ipad / charger
- ipods / chargers
- watches / chargers
- headphones / headphone splitter

other:
- make up
- tweezers
- scissors
- brush / comb
- hair ties / bobby pins
- flat iron / curling iron
- nail polish / nail polish remover
- cotton balls
- tampons / pads
- tissues
- toilet paper
- shower poofa
- washcloths
- towels / beach towels
- beach towel clips
- sun screen / aloe
- shower razor / electric razor
- q-tips
- sunglasses
- glasses / cases
- contacts / cases
- contact solution
- advil
- band aids / neosporin
- umbrellas
- dirty laundry bag
- ziploc bags (various sizes)
- grocery bags
- dish soap
- lint roller
- hangers
- clothes pins
- bungee cords
- extension cords
- flash light
- duct tape
- scotch tape
- waterproof phone cases
- water bottles / travel coffee mug
- snacks
- notepad
- pen / pencil / highlighter
- money
- id / drivers licenses / passports
- travel documents / tickets

some other helpful things that we do before we leave for a vacation:
- call credit card companies to let them know the dates we will be gone
- confirm hotel / flight / shuttle reservations before we leave
- check in online and print tickets / boarding passes
- leave out leko care instructions / extra food / extra litter / medical records
- give our house key to the person in charge of leko care
- take out the garbage
- check the furnace and dehumidifier
- unplug any unused appliances

love, laurie

how to photograph fireworks

i absolutely love playing around photographing fireworks whenever i get the chance, and over the last few years i've come up with a good method for capturing them.  this is a post i have been wanting to write for awhile and i thought it would be perfect now since the 4th of july holiday is coming right up!  

today i'm sharing my tips for a simple set up in order to successfully photograph fireworks.  once you have these basic settings you'll be ready to go and you can play around with them to see what works best for you!

equipment:

first thing first, you will need a dslr camera with a lens.  i've mentioned before that my digital slr camera is a canon eos rebel t2i, and i alternate between three lenses depending where i am (50mm f/1.8 lens, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens, and 55-250mm f/4-5.6 telephoto zoom lens).

i also have a tripod for my camera.  when photographing fireworks, you need to be as stable as possible.  i highly recommend using a tripod since you will be photographing with a very slow shutter speed and you want to avoid any movement.  i consider myself to be someone who has a very stable hand, so i sometimes leave the tripod at home if i don't want to lug it around with me, but i really would recommend it if you are even a slight bit shaky.  if you don't have a tripod, find something nearby to prop your camera up on, or lean your shooting arm on something solid in order to stabilize yourself.

composition:

before you photograph anything, you need to set up your shot.  situate yourself in a good place to capture those fireworks.  scout out locations in order to get the best vantage point.  i typically reach for a long zoom lens when photographing fireworks because as a spectator you tend to sit far away from the fireworks and most times i want to see just the fireworks and nothing else in my image.  however, sometimes i want to show my surroundings (like seeing cinderella's castle in front of the fireworks at walt disney world).

camera settings:

> be sure to shoot in manual mode so that you can control all of your settings.

> set your shutter speed between 3 to 5 seconds.  shooting with a slow shutter speed produces the best fireworks pictures.  i like to leave my shutter open for 3 to 5 seconds depending on the other light around me when i am shooting.

> set your aperture between F8 and F16.  the reason i set the aperture so high is twofold: it helps to prevent overexposing the photo (since fireworks are super bright) and helps to keep those fireworks nice and sharp.

> set your ISO at 200.  i keep the ISO low in order to avoid the photos looking grainy or noisy.

> manually focus each shot in order to assure everything is in focus.

other tips:

i recommend to shoot during the start of the show to avoid the smoke that builds up as the fireworks go on.  you will have cleaner photos this way with less in the background.

play around with it to time your shots perfectly to capture the fireworks as they burst.  once a firework leaves the ground i follow it with my eye and anticipate its burst.  i shoot just a moment before i think the firework will burst in order to get the whole firework in the picture.  if i wait to shoot until after it bursts, i'm typically too late and end up with a picture of it bursting and falling.

happy photographing!

love, laurie

5 simple things we do on weekends to make our weeks easier

in our house, our week days/nights are super jam packed.  honestly, i don't know how we fit everything into our schedules.  in order to make our weeks run smoothly and to avoid too much mid-week chaos, we use our weekends to prep.  taking just a little bit of time on the weekends to get our affairs in order for the upcoming week lessens our stress and ensures that we are not scrambling throughout the week.  since it's friday, today we wanted to share five simple things we do on the weekends to make our weeks easier . . .

1. menu plan and grocery shop on saturday
everyone makes such a big deal about meal planning, but it's really easy and makes our weeks run so much smoother.  it only takes a few minutes to sit down and plan a menu for the week.  base your grocery shopping list off your weekly menu so you don't end up buying things that you don't need.  we typically try to get our grocery shopping done on saturdays.

2. make all lunches for the week and cook all dinners for the week on sunday
i have absolutely no time to cook during the week.  most days i leave the house early in the morning and don't return until very late at night.  in order to make sure we have nutritious meals for the week, i make and portion out 10 lunches on sunday (2 people for 5 days).  personally, we find pyrex containers to be the perfect way to store our lunches.  if you look in our fridge on any given sunday night, you'll see a wall of pyrex containers stacked up and ready to go.  all we have to do is grab one each morning and run out the door.  in addition, i also cook all dinners for the week on sunday.  some week nights we get to eat together and some we don't.  regardless, when dinners are prepped in advance, all we have to do is heat up our portion.  if you saw us on sundays, you would think that we were cooking for an army, but it's all gone by the following friday night.

3. do all of the laundry on the weekend
it's a rule in our house that we only do laundry on the weekend and it makes our lives so much easier.  we try our best to get all of our laundry done each weekend, and it's such a great feeling to start off each monday knowing that everything is freshly cleaned and put away.

4. pick outfits for the week ahead of time
i go through a lot of "costume changes" each day.  i wear dress clothes to work, workout clothes to the gym, and then dance clothes to dance class.  taking just a few minutes on sunday night to pick out my outfits for each day is such a time saver in the mornings and allows me to sleep in just a few extra minutes.  it's also a great way to ensure that i won't forget anything at home since most of my "costume changes" are not done at home.

5. plan a workout schedule in advance
i think for most people one of the first things to get pushed to the bottom of their priority list is working out.  you skip one day, then the next, and before you know it you haven't seen the inside of the gym in a month.  our health is a priority for us, so building workout time into our schedules makes us not be able to come up with an excuse to skip out on the gym.  signing up for a fitness class or planning to work out with a friend is a great way keep yourself accountable for exercising too.

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

tips and advice for college students

^me in my first dorm room on move-in day at the very beginning of freshman year - august 2003^

it's the time of the year when high school seniors are deciding what to do with their lives after graduation.  so, i'm excited to be teaming up with earnest today to share my tips and advice for college students!

whenever i think about education, i'm always taken back to a memory i have from when i was a little girl.  growing up, my dad used to listen to dr. laura (an american talk radio host).  i remember the first time he told me about dr. laura, "you can be dr. laura" he said . . . words that would end up sticking with me for the rest of my life.  i'm a fiercely strong person when it comes to drive and focus, and i attribute that in large part to how my parents raised me.  i take great pride in the fact that i graduated undergrad a semester early, dove right into grad school after, and then continued on to earn my doctoral degree.  anyone who knows me knows that i very much value higher education . . . but, it wasn't always like that.

i worked hard through elementary school, junior high school, and high school.  by the time i hit senior year in high school, i was so exhausted and burnt out that i couldn't even imagine going to college.  i actually didn't want to go at all.  of course this didn't go over well with two parents who hold multiple college degrees, so i went.  i applied to three different universities and got accepted into all three.  i couldn't make a decision as to where i wanted to go, mainly because i didn't want to go, and on the day decisions were due (talk about waiting to the very last minute) i remember my mom anxiously telling me that i just had to pick a school.  i looked at the three acceptance letters, saw that two of the universities were offering identical scholarship amounts and the third university was offering just a little bit more.  i picked the school that offered more.  folks, i based my whole college career on a difference of $2,000.  it was practically a game of eeny, meeny, miny, moe.  (please don't pick your college this way!)  in the end i am glad i chose the school i did, but i should have been much more intentional about my choice.  it's funny that someone who didn't even want to go to college after high school ended up with a Ph.D. after her name.

so here it is: a list of 10 tips and some advice learned along the way from someone who didn't even want to go to college and ended up surviving three degrees . . .

^left: in my dorm after a show sophomore year, right: in my dorm on the first day of junior year^

1. start taking college courses early 
most colleges have programs available where high school students can take college courses at a deep discount while they are still in high school.  i started earning college credits during my junior year in high school through a scholarship program run by my high school (and i should say it was my dad's idea).  to this day, it is still one of the very best things i ever did for myself.  it's a good way to get your feet wet and ease into college.  it's also an awesome way to start college with several credits under your belt!

2. take advanced placement tests in high school
almost all high schools offer advanced placement tests.  take them!  if you score well, you can earn college credits.  that means you don't have to take some of the entry-level courses that everyone else will have to take.  you'll start college with a leg up by already having several credits, and you'll be able to focus on upper-level courses that are of more interest to you than generic introductory courses.

3. in addition to your major, declare a minor
in college, you end up taking electives to fill your credit graduation requirment.  instead of taking random electives, be intentional about your elective course choices and put those electives to use in order to earn a minor in addition to your major.  i graduated with 2 minors (english and dance) in addition to my major because i had enough courses to meet the requirements for those minors.  years later, i'm still glad i declared those minors.  they've come in handy when applying for jobs.

4. take summer courses
summer sessions are much shorter than fall and spring semesters, and summer credits are typically much cheaper than credits throughout the school year.  the summer is a great way to bang out several credits.  it's also a great way to get a course "out of the way" quickly if you don't want to commit to it for a 15-week semester.

5. before you take any credits at another college, check to make sure they'll transfer
i took all of my courses at my college except for two spanish courses.  i was required to take 2 foreign language courses (which i had no interest in) so i took them over the summer at my local community college.  it saved a ton of time and money since the community college credits cost significantly less than my university's credits cost.  yes, it's a great idea to take some of your general education courses (or core curriculum courses) at a local community college to save money, however, before you sign up for any classes at another school make sure your college agrees that they will transfer and get that in writing!  (i spent a year as an academic advisor for undergraduate students and i saw way too many students get burned by this, and it could have been avoided in every instance if they would have just checked first.)

6. learn your program requirements early on and advise yourself
listen, academic advisors see hundreds of students and have to know dozens of different majors.  unless you are at a very small school with a great student-to-faculty ratio, your advisor is not going to know your program as well as you should.  learn your program requirements on day one and get them in writing (most are given to you in a handbook).  let those requirements be your bible by which you make every move for the next 4 years of your life.  there are countless stories about people having to stay an extra year because their advisors messed up and they were just a few credits short of graduation requirements.  hearing those stories was a driving force for me to take the reins to make sure i got out on time with what i needed.

7. save money wherever you can (and don't miss out on the freebies)
college is expensive, i don't need to tell you that.  it's easy to spend money unnecessarily in college, especially when friends want to go out to eat, out to the movies, etc.  set a budget for yourself and stick to it and don't miss out on all of the freebies that you can get.  from t-shirts to food, see what is going on with your student activities department and participate.  gym memberships are expensive, but almost all colleges offer access to their fitness center for free for current students.  take advantage of that!  also, don't forget that your student id card is gold when looking for discounts at stores and restaurants!

8. hold a leadership position while you're in college
this looks great on a resume and future interviewers will love it, but more importantly you'll get experience being in charge of a group and you'll get to develop and test your leadership skills.  i was the president of one club and the secretary of another.  i learned some great skills from those experiences and learned a lot about myself too.

9. get an off-campus internship (even if it's unpaid)
i see so many students turn down internship opportunities because they are unpaid.  this is the time to take an unpaid internship (because you won't be able to afford to take one after you graduate when student loans need to be paid).  you'll get experience outside of the classroom in a real life setting, and many times internships lead to job offers (or at least letters of recommendation).

10. find a mantra and stay focused on your end goal
if there's one thing i will always remember from my dad, it's the saying: "where there's a will, there's a way."  it has to be one of his favorite sayings because he recites it all of the time, and i heard it countless times growing up.  i had no idea that it would become my personal mantra to get me through school (and many other things in life).  find what works for you and stay focused on your goal.  remember what you are in college to do, don't get sidetracked.  it's okay to change your major, but don't change it too many times or else you will really set yourself behind.  when i began my doctoral program, a veteran professor shared some great advice with my cohort on the very first day.  she said that when times get tough we should imagine ourselves walking across the stage at graduation being handed our diplomas.  i am so incredibly grateful that i heard that little piece of advice that day, because truth be told it was the only thing that got me through my doctoral program.  i kept it in the back of my head for 4 straight years, and that image was what pulled me through.  when i finally got to walk across the stage as dr. laura it was the most fulfilling experience.

^ryan's crazy friends' annual bbq right outside their dorm on the lawn . . . pretty certain that having an open flame on a bbq grill would be frowned upon on a college campus nowadays!^

^writing papers for a class on our matching computers in ryan's dorm room sophomore year^

love, laurie

fighting the winter blues

i definitely get bitten by the seasonal affective disorder bug every winter.  personally, i find the winter months to be so incredibly depressing (especially since we live in an area that seems to be in a perpetual state of gray dreariness from december through april).  once the excitement of christmas and new years is over, there's a long stretch of time that seems to drag.  if you're like me, here are a few things to help distract you during the winter months and tips to help fight the winter blues . . .

1. soak in as much sunshine as you can

we live in the northeast where sunshine is limited during the winter months.  when the sun is out and shining, take advantage of it and soak up as much of it as you can.  it will renew your faith in the fact that winter won't last forever and that spring will eventually come.

2. exercise

in the words of elle woods in legally blonde, "exercise releases endorphins.  endorphins make people happy.  happy people don't kill their husbands."  get out of the house and take a walk outside whenever you can in the winter (just remember to bundle up)!  if you can't get outside, do some indoor exercise.  consider trying a new exercise routine on you tube to keep you interested.

3. cook or bake something that you have never made before

since we're stuck inside for a majority of the winter (hello, cabin fever) it's a great time to try new recipes.  however, it's easy to eat a lot of comfort food during the cold months, so be sure to keep yourself in check.  (a few months from now, your swimsuit-wearing-summer self will thank you for not indulging too much over the winter.)

4. binge watch an entire tv series

we rarely watch tv in the summer months because we like to try to stay outside as long as we can and take advantage of the long days.  but, in the winter it gets dark and cold so early and it's hard to be outside after 6pm.  take advantage of it and curl up on the couch to watch something fun at night.

5. wear bight colors
despite the dreary weather and dirty snow all over, you can think warm thoughts by wearing bright colors.  it's an easy instant mood booster.

6. start a project and/or set a goal
it's easy to lose focus and motivation in the depths of the winter months.  set up something for you to look forward to in order to help pull you through.

love, laurie

navigating nyc

i just came home from spending the last five days in nyc for a conference for work and i had a really great time!  i can't wait to share pictures from my trip next week.  in the meantime, i wanted to share a post that i have had sitting in my drafts folder for awhile now.  since i just came home from a long trip in nyc, it seemed like the perfect time.  

ryan and i have this running joke every time we're in nyc that we must look like we "belong" there or something.  it seems like whenever we're in the city, tourists approach me to ask for directions both on the street and in the subway.  luckily i almost always can steer them in the right direction (i must just look like i know where i'm going or something, ha!) but that wasn't always the case.

we absolutely love visiting our favorite city and since we visit so often, we find it easy to navigate around the city.  however, if you are not familiar with the city it can be a bit confusing and overwhelming.  so, i thought i'd share a few tips that we have found helpful for navigating yourself around new york city . . .

1. if you can count, you will be okay.  when we're in nyc we walk almost everywhere.  most of manhattan is designed on a grid system.  street numbers ascend as you go north and avenue numbers ascend as you go west, however, broadway does it's own little squiggle right through the middle of the grid.  strap on a pair of comfortable shoes and walk the grid.  (it's good exercise too!)

2. use a map without looking like a tourist.  if you whip out a gigantic map in the middle of the city, you will look like a lost tourist.  look around.  almost everyone has their phones in their hands.  forgo the paper map for an electronic one instead.  lower manhattan and the other boroughs are not as easy to navigate as the grid system in the rest of manhattan, so a map can be helpful.  we often use the google maps app on our phones to help us navigate areas that we are not so familiar with, and i have found this map to be really helpful for determining where manhattan neighborhoods start/end.

3. ride the subway like a local.  without a doubt, the easiest and most efficient way to travel a long distance in the city is by the subway.  unless you live in the city and utilize the subway system on a daily basis, it's impossible to know where every train is heading.  i have found that the nyc subway app created by the mta is the greatest subway guide ever.  the app has a map as well as a route planner.  you can purchase metro cards in every subway station.  you can purchase either a single-ride card or a regular card that acts like a debit card.  (we ride so often that we always have regular cards in our wallets which we simply refill when they get low.)  most trains run every few minutes (although there are often delays on weekends.)

4. hop on a bike.  a really fun way to get around the city is via bike.  there are numerous bike paths/lanes to make biking a bit safer.  however, i only recommend biking if you are really comfortable on a bike and not afraid of biking in traffic.  citi bikes is a great bike sharing system with thousands of bikes parked all over the city available 24/7.  there are also a bunch of bike rental shops around.  if you want to try biking in the city but don't want to bike among crazy taxi drivers, then i highly suggest biking around central park.  the only people you will have to compete with are other cyclists, runners/walkers, and carriages.

5. hail a taxi or call an uber.  if you can't walk, ride the subway, or bike to your destination, then grab a car.  (we never take a car around the city, except for when we go on a cruise out of manhattan and have a ton of luggage with us.  then a taxi is necessary to haul us and our luggage to the port.)  hailing a taxi is an experience.  (by the way, taxis are available when their light is lit and occupied when their light is off.)  taxis are all over the city and will take you just about anywhere you want to go, at a price.  uber can also be helpful since you can plan ahead and schedule a time and a price in advance.  there are also buses that run throughout the city, but we tend to leave those alone.

have fun navigating around nyc!

love, laurie

10 simple photo editing tips

a few months ago, i shared 10 tips for better travel photos and today i want to follow up that post with some tips for editing photos.  let me let you in on a little secret (which isn't really so secret): i've been editing photos for my blog for the past 4 years and i don't own photoshop.  sure, i'd love to use photoshop, but it's expensive, and i've had success using free online photo editing websites.  in the past i used and loved picnik, but now that it is gone i primarily use picmonkey and ipiccy for all of my photo editing needs.  whether you use fancy editing software, or free editing websites, here are 10 simple tips for editing your photos to make them look great . . . 

1. straighten your photos
often i have to snap a picture quickly in order to capture an image before the moment is gone or before the subject moves.  i don't always have time to worry about lining things up in my lens to make sure they are perfectly straight.  luckily, it doesn't matter because most photo-editing programs have a rotation feature.  the very first thing i do before editing my photos is make sure they are straight.  you want to make sure that the horizon is actually evenly horizontal and that any buildings, poles, etc, are actually vertical.  use the guiding grid lines in the rotation feature to be sure that your photo is properly straightened.

2. crop your images
whether you need to hide something in the picture or you need to create composition, be sure to crop your images.  use the crop tool to get close to the action or to cut out anything that you don't want featured in the image.

3. re-size for intended use
what do you intend to do with the photo you are editing?  if you plan to print it and frame it, then you should make sure it is the highest quality possible.  however, if you are posting it online, it will take longer to load on a web page if the dimensions of the photo are too large.  determine the exact size you need and re-size the image accordingly.  (ps: for my blog, all photos are 675px wide.)

4. adjust the exposure 
it's not always possible to take photos in perfect lighting.  if your image is looking a little dark or overly bright, fix the exposure by adjusting the brightness, highlights, shadows, and contrast.

5. enhance the colors
if the coloring of your photo is dull and dingy, adjust the saturation and temperature to boost the wow factor.  let those colors pop off your photo!

6. play with black and white
it's really rare that i post black and white photos, but sometimes the coloring in a photo is just too messed up to salvage.  that's when i turn to black and white to save the day.  bonus: it gives the image a really cool artistic effect.

7. reduce shine
reflective surfaces can cause problems with a flash or bright sunlight.  several members of our family wear glasses and practically everyone wears sunglasses in the summer.  inevitably, there is always a shiny reflection in someone's glasses.  similarly, when photographing food next to a window when it's really sunny outside, sometimes there is a shiny sun streak across the plate.  luckily you can reduce the shine in order to dull the shine or to make it disappear all together.

8. remove blemishes
i'm not a fan of retouching and airbrushing to make people look unnatural.  however, every once in a while you have a great picture and someone has a blemish, pimple, cut, scratch, etc.  sometimes pictures of food have a stray "blemish" too, such as a drip of sauce on the side of the plate or a runaway nut or sprinkle.  it's great to be able to make those blemishes disappear and not distract from the rest of the photo.

9. sharpen the final image
i like sharpening my images to make sure they are as crisp and clear as possible.  if you need to sharpen an image that is otherwise a little blurry or slightly out of focus, be sure to do it after you have already cropped the image to your desired size.  the level of sharpening required will vary depending on the final size of the image.

10. save your edited images, but keep the originals
it's fun to edit photos, but i religiously make sure to keep the unedited originals too.  you never know when you will need to go back to the untouched original image.

love, laurie

5 lessons learned from my high school job

today we're teaming up with the folks at the ladders, a comprehensive online career platform that helps make job searching simpler, focused, and more efficient.  they reached out to me to share some experiences and lessons learned from my first job, and i thought that would be a great idea.

experience makes us wiser.  my first job in high school was working at a family-owned 1950s themed ice cream shoppe that served food and had an arcade, a miniature golf course, and a single-screen movie theatre.  i fell into the job because my dad knew the owners.  my brother and i both worked there after school, on weekends, and throughout the summers for about 5 years.  it was a lot of fun and that job was such a wonderful experience for both of us.  even though it was "just a high school job" i learned important lessons that helped shape my professional life.

1. patience
anyone who has ever worked in food service, retail, or hospitality knows that customers can be difficult.  although that old saying "the customer is always right" is not necessarily always true, the customer has to think they're right if you are ever going to get repeat business.  have patience and be nice to customers.  you need them to keep any business alive and thriving (and you might be relying on them for tips for your good service).

2. the value of a dollar
i grew up in a household with two parents who both had degrees in accounting.  needless to say, i have always been mathematically minded.  it must be in my blood.  my parents taught me all of the important life skills that you don't learn in school like how to balance a checkbook, etc., but when you earn your own money and get to manage your own money, you really learn the value of a dollar.

3. work ethic
there's no secret to success.  rather, hard work pays off.  when i hear the phrase "work ethic" i think of my dad.  he has the best work ethic of anyone i have ever known.  even though it was just a high school job, my dad always encouraged us to treat it like it was the most important job.  if we were scheduled for a shift and didn't feel like going in, we went.  if we were having a bad day, we left all of the nonsense that was going on at the door and walked into our shift with an open mind and ready for work.  we took ownership over what we were doing (even if it was just scooping ice cream some days) and we always put our hearts into it.  we worked hard and were rewarded for our work ethic.  a good work ethic will get you far in life.

4. expect the unexpected
you never know what each day brings.  learning to roll with the punches is an important lesson to learn in any business.  don't get caught up on the little things, and remember to keep the big picture in mind.

5. never burn bridges
life goes on and interests change over time.  if you disagree with a co-worker or a boss, or if you need to leave a job for one reason or another, don't burn bridges.  leave on good terms.  you never know when you will need to ask someone for a letter of recommendation, or if you are interviewing for a new job you want to know that your old employer will give you a good referral.

what was your first job?  i'd love to hear about it!
what lessons did you learn?

love, laurie

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ps: this post is in collaboration with the ladders

10 tips for better travel photos

it's the season of exotic vacations, simple day trips, and exploring.  when you are traveling, it is great to be able to capture special moments so that you have photos to look back on to remember your adventures.  you don't need a fancy camera or a degree in photography to document great memories through pictures.  wherever you are roaming this summer, here are a few tips and tricks for improving your travel photos . . .

1. learn the rule of thirds
composition is key, and the tried-and-true rule of thirds is so often used for a reason.  when you line up your shot, mentally break your image into thirds vertically and horizontally so that you have nine parts.  place the subject along a vertical or horizontal line and a point of intersection.  the human eye naturally falls to the point of intersection.  it will make your photos more interesting instead of having your subject exactly centered.

2. pay attention to the lighting
lighting can make or break a photo.  when shooting outdoors, many photographers try to avoid the harsh direct light of the midday sun and instead wait for "blue hour" (the 30 minutes before sunrise and after sunset) and "golden hour" (the hour after sunrise and before sunset) because it is when the lighting is best.  the soft and warm glow of the sun during these times of the day is great for gorgeous photos outdoors.  natural lighting is best because lamps and artificial lighting cast shadows and create varying light temperatures.  sure, a flash is necessary at times.  unfortunately, a flash often leaves things looking too bright and washed out.  if you need to use a flash, consider wrapping your flash in a coffee filter to soften it.

3. change your point of view and try different angles
bend down, stand on top of something, or lean over the side of something (without falling) to change your point of view and to capture photos on different levels.  play around and take photos from different angles to keep things interesting.

4. place an object in the foreground
consider placing an object in the foreground of your image to frame your photo and to give your image some depth.  it is a neat way to make your image almost look 3D instead of looking flat and two dimensional.

5. look for lead-in lines
let naturally occurring lines (a road, a bridge, a tunnel, etc.) draw your eye through the photo toward the key subject in order to keep your eye moving through the image.

6. catch movement and action
keep your photos from looking boring and create eye-catching images by looking for movement or action that you can capture.

7. create a sense of scale
it can be difficult to translate the scale of certain objects in photographs, so add a point of reference to help convey the scale of an object.

8. play with color
keep your eyes open for bright vibrant colors around you when you are shooting.  later, when editing your photos at home enhance the brightness, temperature, and/or saturation to make your colors really pop.

9. capture the details
remember to pay attention to the little details and nuances about the place you are visiting that make it unique.

10. don't forget about the food
one of the best parts of traveling is trying so many different types and styles of food.  don't forget to snap photos of your favorite meals.

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i'm certainly not a professional photographer, but these are a few tips i have picked up along the way.  it's so much fun to travel and to document special moments in life through photographs so that you can look back on your memories for years to come!

love, laurie