5 things I love Tuesday!

1. Vitamin D

As summer is coming so quickly to an end, I find myself trying to soak up as much of the sun and its precious energy as possible. Having studied in Montreal, I know how much a lack of vitamin D can affect one's mood. And as much as I love fashion trends associated with fall and summer (warm and cozy cardigans, layers galore), I am fighting against myself in order to take off my sweater and let my bare arms soak in as much of summer as is left. I definitely notice a difference in my mood when I've gotten a sufficient amount of sunlight for the day, so I always try to fit it in.

2. Gouache painting!

As I've mentioned previously, I entered my few weeks of unemployment with specific goals is mind. While some of them have yet to be pursued, I have accomplished a few, one of which was to make more artwork. I decided to try gouache as a new medium and although I found it very difficult to get used to for the first hour, eventually I ended up really liking it.

The beauty of gouache is that it's a nice cross between acrylics and watercolor. Its most advantageous watercolor attribute, in my opinion, is the fact that it can be reactivated with water after it dries. Acrylics are basically irreversible once they've dried. In terms of its likeness to acrylics, I look most to the opacity of gouache. This is also what makes gouache a great medium if you are trying to achieve a more graphic look to your paintings.

Below is the photograph off which I based my first gouache painting. I switched out the eggs for a cinnamon bun because I didn't find there to be enough contrast between the color of the eggs and the color of the plate on which they rest. I still have to finish up a bit of the painting.

3. Green, high-waisted shorts from the Salvation Army

I posted about these shorts a while back, but I haven't really had the courage to wear them out until recently. I think I've worn them three times in the past week!

 Also, the above photograph was taken in the bathroom of a bar called Footsie's in Troy. This women's bathroom was amazing. A photo of the bathroom's wallpaper is below.

4. Searching for a new lens.

My camera lens has been broken for quite some time now and I had been neglecting to bring it to the shop for fear of the cost to fix it. I finally sucked it up and brought my camera into the shop and the gentleman told me he could not fix the lens because Nikon no longer sells parts. Therefore, I would have to send the lens into Nikon and risk being totally ripped off.

I decided that the smartest option would be just to buy a new lens. I considered getting a 50 mm fixed focal length lens, but found that I could get this zoom lens for about the same price. I had assumed that the 50 mm would be less expensive, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. I've placed the order and now all I have to do is wait. I can't wait to be able to take higher quality images for this blog! (:

Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 AF DC OS HSM Zoom Lens

5. Scramble

Since downloading Scramble Sunday night, I've been absolutely addicted. What's worst about this game is that you have to wait 20 minutes for every token you receive and it takes five coins per game if you want to use as many power-ups as possible. I feel that in this way Scramble is trying to keep me from making Scramble my entire life and I don't know how I feel about that.

I hope you enjoyed!

Happy Tuesday!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo