Bohemian Autumn & Thanksgiving weekend

Is it just me or was autumn incredibly short this year?  There was a week in September when it was still nice and then BAM it was suddenly ridiculously chilly.  And now it already feels like winter is slowly descending upon us (winter is coming) and boo am I the only one upset that I have this whole autumn section in my closet that is going to have to wait a whole nother year? -super sad panda-

Anyway, it must've been that last nice week in September when I took these photos then, in my boho dress and hat, without the need for a jacket.

look left

look right

I've gotten a surprisingly large number of compliments on this super affordable dress from Forever21 and have gotten quite a few wears out of it already.  It's a great loose style too -- I've already shared it with my pretty mama.

As previously mentioned, I've been working on improving my "phashion fotography" and have been researching ideas by collecting magazines from stores that I frequent, including J Crew and Guess and Kate Spade and IKEA.  That last one might not sound relevant but it totally is and you'll see what I'm talking about in a subsequent blogpost.

look straight

If you couldn't tell, I've been relying on simple poses, like looking left, right, and into the camera.  Posing is something I'm still learning and hopefully I'll have some more dynamic/full-body shots to share as I progress.  In the meantime, I'm having fun with these zoomed-in portrait style ones.

the wind doesn't always cooperate but I kinda like this shot :)

accessories for this shoot

If you haven't seen from my Instagram, this cherry keychain is my new favourite thing that does absolutely nothing except bring me joy when I look at it.  It's a silly little trivial item, but when I didn't buy it when I saw it the first time, I found myself thinking about it for an entire week until I finally caved.  Yeah, that money probably could've gone towards something more practical like groceries or band-aids but can you really put a price on joy? :P

Two weekends ago it was nice again for Thanksgiving and hooray! because I knew it would definitely be a photo-heavy weekend.  Started off with a traditional Thanksgiving feast at Carlie's, for which we prepared waaaay too much food as it was our first time celebrating Thanksgiving together and we had no idea how much of anything to make.

waaaay too much food

this turkey looks so good it doesn't even look real

can you tell what's real and what's for display purposes only?

candle-lit Thanksgiving feast - is there anything more romantic?

I went for "vintage catalog ad" kind of vibe with these shots, wanting them to look really old-school and traditional.  Spoiler: not everything pictured is edible; Amanda and Carlie were awesome with the table decorations and I couldn't be happier with these photos.

Then, the next day, I headed out for a mini family road trip back to Ottawa.  I did some research on some small towns between Toronto and Ottawa, considering how much we enjoyed Prince Edward County last time.  It was a two-day trip and we visited Westport and Perth.  In Westport we went up to Spy Rock and watched the sunset and in Perth we spent all afternoon in the fabulous Stewart Park. Before we left, we also made a short stop in Port Hope to watch the salmon spawn.  I managed to catch a decent salmon shot before we headed back onto the road again. Disclaimer: sooo many photos ahead! 

didn't know salmon were this huge!

adorable little school house in Westport

first look at the gorgeous view from Spy Rock

stayed up here to watch the sun set

pulled over by the side of Hwy 10

tiny smiling snake! 

pulled over again on Hwy 9

sitting at the lockstation

Perth's town hall

first look at Stewart park

traffic light colours

parents being cute

loving the reflects on the water

amazing place to sit and listen to the water running by

Perth's old fire station

Looking back on the photos, I feel that this mini road trip really embodies the saying, "it's the journey, not the destination".  We took a couple of different roads and was amazed at the autumn foliage along the way -- which of course, meant frequently pulling over to enjoy the gorgeous colours.

Since we went on a holiday weekend, the little shops and restaurants were all closed, so I definitely foresee a second visit!

Thanks for reading!