TBMD

This Old Navy wool-blend cropped military jacket in heather green, size XS (sold here) was first on my list of outerwear wants (which is growing longer by the day, lol) this fall season. I tend to gravitate towards pea coat styles because I find them to be most flattering on me. I've also been on a green kick lately and absolutely loved the color on the website.

Pros: Color is a nice dark green, shoulders fit nicely, sleeve length is my preferred longer length.

Cons: There is a slight smell out of the box (must be the dye used), material made is on the thin side, too short, fit is a bit boxy.

I just don't love the jacket enough in person so it will be going back to the store. Old Navy, can you make this jacket in XS Tall? A tad longer would fit me nicely :)

My first attempt at playing with manual settings results in washed out photos. Eep! A bright, sunny day combined with light colored clothing that blended together wasn't exactly the best time to venture into the unknown. I tried fixing the brightness/contrast in Photoshop to no avail :( The learning curve continues :)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Another outfit with my favorite dress, but this time not worn as a skirt :) I don't know if it's the jacket, the long cardigan, or something else, but I like how the dress appears longer than normal. Whatever it is, I'll take it!

I've been toying with upgrading my little point-and-shoot for awhile now. DSLRs seemed like the next logical step because point-and-shoots just aren't equipped to take those cool blurry background type of pictures. So what was holding me back from taking the plunge? The daunting task of learning all the manual controls and photography lingo while lugging around a heavy camera.

Enter mirrorless cameras. If a point-and-shoot and DSLR ever made a baby, this neat little gadget would be it, with a combination of traits from both parents. The selling points for me were:
- Size: The body is bigger than a point-and shoot, but still much smaller than a DSLR, which allows me to continue carrying a camera with me everywhere I go.
- Picture quality: The ability to use interchangeable lenses allows for DSLR-type pictures, but I suppose this depends on the lens quality.
- Ease of use: There are automatic settings like point-and-shoots but also manual ones like DSLRs (for when I stop being a scaredy-cat).

After I've determined that mirrorless cameras have what I'm looking for, the next step is to find the exact one that best suits my needs. There are currently five brands on the market, but I found this article to be the most comprehensive at the time of publication (excludes the new Nikon). If you only have a few minutes, this article gave a nice summary.

In the end, I decided to go with the Sony Alpha NEX-3. The picture and lens quality is supposedly among the best in its class. The user interface is better suited for people upgrading from a point-and-shoot (like myself), as opposed to downgrading from DSLRs. The tradeoff I did make was the camera size. Sony has the smallest body but with the stock lens attached (biggest of all the brands), it's hard to pass for a compact camera.

I've been having so much fun playing with my new toy the last few days. Learning the camera setup hasn't been too difficult. The automatic setting "dumbs" things down for me nicely ("bkground defocus"?!), cool features like the sweep panoramic mode, but most of all, the picture quality is crisper than my point-and-shoot (with my skills, it's hard to tell unless I put photos side-by-side, lol).

Two goals for me in the near future are:
1) Figure out how to use the self-timer properly to focus. It's all fun and games when I'm behind the camera, but frustrating when the self-timer is set. If I had known how troublesome it is to take self-portraits, I would've paid more for the NEX-5, which at least could be used with a remote.
2) Slowly learn the manual controls and push the limits of what this camera is capable of. For now, outfit pictures using the automatic setting on a self-timer with wayward focus:

A pair of riding boots is at the top of my wishlist this season. I already own brown flat boots, so black riding boots was the color of choice. I was ecstatic to see a pair from H&M months ago, but never actually saw it in stores. Now that it's gone from their online site, I can only assume stores no longer have it in stock.

I then saw these Ann Taylor Betty Leather Trimmed Riding Boots in black, size 6 (sold here) on Vicky (who scored last season's version for $30!!!) and absolutely loved it on her. While googling for more info, I was happy to see that Ann Taylor decided to bring it back this season... albeit at a whopping $298. Luckily they had a huge sale last weekend and I bought a pair for $125. It's no $30, but it's a price I'm willing to pay for leather boots if it works out.

Like all other Ann Taylor footwear that I own (perfect patent pumps and covered platform booties), I took my usual size 6 for these boots, which turned out to be a perfect fit. The foot bed doesn't feel as comfortable as the perfect pumps, nor do they conform to my feet like the pumps do. I hope this is due to my not wearing socks when trying it on for the first time.

Other details to note: The buckle detailing (which I love) is adjustable, but I don't think it shrinks the circumference much. The inside zipper allows for easy access when putting on and taking off the boots. The material is a little on the shiny side, which I think will show wear and tear over time.

I measured the height of the boots to be almost 16", which includes the heel (~1"). The circumference is a little over ~14". For reference, from Ann Taylor's site: 15" shaft circumference, measured from a size 8. With each half size up or down, circumference increases or decreases by about 1/4".

I really do like these boots overall, but I'm wondering if it looks too short on me, especially from the side view. With these type of boots, would another 1-2" in height look better? Please help me decide whether to keep or return :)