Favorite Music of 2013

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been compiling a playlist of some of my favorite songs that were released in 2013. And now I'd like to share it with all of you.
This year I spent A LOT of time listening to music and discovering new music, thanks to discovering Rdio this summer. During the busy wedding editing season, I'd have it streaming music all day, so most days I listened to at least 4 to 5 albums every day (sometimes the same album on repeat a couple of times). This playlist proves that I really did listen to that much music since I had a hard time narrowing down my favorites, resulting in a 6 hour playlist. You're welcome. This year, I spent a lot more time listening to pop music with dancey beats. I found those beats greatly helped me get my editing done.  

* Favorite Albums of 2013 *

- Bad Blood : Bastille
- True : Avicii
- Where Eyes Don't Go : The Gray Havens
- PRISM : Katy Perry
- Native : OneRepublic (also my favorite concert of the year)
- PTX, Vol. 2 : Penatonix

Below you can listen to the whole playlist. You'll have to create an account to listen to the whole playlist, but don't worry, it's free (or you can choose from 3 different paid options). Just click on the playlist title to listen in your web browser.

What were some of your favorite albums and songs from 2013? Does my list contain some of your favorites?

Dressember

So, I'm a bad blogger, but that's not much of a surprise, now is it. For the entire month of December, I have been taking part in a challenge called Dressember (and I'm just now getting around to blogging about it) in order to raise awareness and funds for International Justice Mission.

"International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression."

To raise funds, I have a campaign page, which has already exceeded my goal by $200! One day I checked in the morning and had not had any donations yet, and by the next day, I had $440 that was raised to go directly to IJM! Collectively, amongst all of the other participants, we've raised over $115,000! I can't wait to see what a difference these funds make in the projects that IJM is able to complete. It's been a month of testing creativity, and fighting urges to cheat and wear pants (I only gave in one day. I'd say that's a success). It's also been really cold, so thank you to whoever invented fleece lined leggings. 

There are only 3 more days left in December, but the campaign pages will stay live until January 3rd, so you'll have till then to donate. I would LOVE to be back to be able to have raised $600 by the end of campaign in just 6 days. So if you feel led to give, just click on this link (all donations are tax deductible). 

Below are just a few of my outfits from this month and a video describing how Dressember cam to be. If you want to see more of my outfit photos, just follow along on my Instagram: http://instagram.com/laurajanetakesphotos and you can see the other participants by searching the hashtag #dressember on Instagram. 

"Dressember is a month of dresses! Thousands of dresses are adorned around the globe during the month of December each year. Through Dressember, vital funds are raised for International Justice Mission, a human rights organization that works to combat human trafficking and end sexual slavery."
 
DRESSEMBER from Two Spoons Productions on Vimeo.

Fall Colors

By now, the fall leaves are long gone off the trees and everything's looking kinda sad outside now. On a couple of really nice days last month, I went outside to photograph a few outfits (and the fall leaves). The colors were just so vibrant, as you'll soon see. And I even found a PILE of trees who's leaves had turned PINK, yes pink leaves in the fall. I was obsessed. This fall, I feel like a majority of my outfits were black and white patterns or fairly neutral colors. Maybe I was subconsciously trying to not compete with the beautiful colors of all the trees. But now that all of the leaves are gone and it's getting dark stupidly early, I'm all into wearing bright colors again. Do you ever find yourself choosing your outfit colors based on the season?

Necklace: made by me out of vintage brooches, earrings, and buttons (i'm in the process of making some to sell)

Scarf: Blano y Negro by Noonday Collection // Bracelet: Metallic Pearls bracelet by Noonday Collection // Earrings: Blossomed Earrings by Noonday Collection