(UN)shrinking Violet

Do you know what I admire? 

Not perfection. Not fearlessness. I admire people who are willing to step outside their comfort zone. I admire people who are willing to breathe "outside the box."  For instance, I can appreciate a man who normally lives in  jeans & T-shirts, who is willing to don a suit and tie to take his  lady out. A music buff who listens to more than one kind of music, even from a genre he/she may possibly dislike. I really respect people who hear out the other side of an argument,  who listen with an open-mind. I love to see people who act IN SPITE of their fears, even in the smallest of acts. I really can look up to a camera-shy girl who will pose for me anyway.

This is my dear friend Kerry. She is a monster of style, a smart and principled woman who loves fashion, music,  her pals,  and her husband, Joe. She is GOOD PEOPLE. She is a beautiful bloom, who like a violet, shrinks from attention, and most definitely avoids the camera. I've been trying to take her portrait for a year now, and she's been one of those sorts who always puts her hands up to block a shot. Pity. She's gorgeous.

Well, recently, she's been a willing victim to my camera's point & shoot. Oh, but she's a shy girl! When we went "antiquing" this last Saturday (more photos to come, a future post) poor  Kerry kept blushing a deep, deep crimson red everytime I aimed the camera at her. I dare say, there were moments that she just wilted before the lens; several times I thought she might faint.  But she's no feint of heart! That Kerry is a trooper. In spite of her fear, she kept letting me take pictures and we discovered that she is a most photogenic subject.

The two above photos really inspire me. You can see her first knee-jerk reaction and then her brave pose in front of the camera. She looks great, doncha think? Check out her fierce style. She's got a gorgeous dress on that she found at Salvation Army, a fab fur collar, an adorable vintage owl pendent, and she was rocking the sexiest patterned tights and Jeffery Campbell wedge combo you could ever hope to see.  Yep, she's hard-hitting on stylish. She's got a blog of her own too. Full of her visual inspirations, gleaned from all over. You can check 'em out over at EquineBovine.blogspot.com

I'll be posting more pictures of our shopping adventures before the end of the week. Until then, bloom madly!