Holy crap, errybody! I’m so excited to talk about this that I can barely contain myself. This morning was just refreshing, inspiring, and beautiful. And as cheesy as it sounds, this morning reminded me of how truly amazing life can really be.
Now, I am not a morning person at all, as most of you know. So you’re probably wondering why I’m all hyped up about this morning. Well, I spent this beautiful Wednesday morning drinking delicious lattes, eating fancy French pastries, exploring St. Louis, and meeting some new, badass people. If only every morning could be this awesome! 😉 How’d I get away with this, you ask? Read on to find out!
I have been thinking to myself for awhile now that it’d sure be nice to have some “non-selfie” [haha] photos on my blog. But I wasn’t sure how to go about finding a good local photographer – especially for the price. I’m not exactly made of money, but I want good quality work done if I’m gonna get all dolled up for some professional pictures, ya know?
Awhile back, I stumbled across one of my now favorite STL Instagram feeds: @paintchipps. @paintchipps’ real name is R.J., and he’s a St. Louis University (SLU) business alum. His real passion lies in entrepreneurialism [don’t ask me to say this word out loud, cuz I’m 99% sure I can’t pronounce it properly] – particularly with photography. This dude is legit.
Recently, I was fortunate enough to see that he was offering portraits for a reasonable price to help build his photography portfolio. I realized that this was my chance to have some awesome photos taken to help improve my blog, while also helping out a fellow local entrepreneur. Now, I don’t know that I’d necessarily classify myself as an entrepreneur, but I definitely like to pursue my passion of baking and food blogging wherever possible – similar to how R.J. has his passions. So I reached out to him to see if he’d be willing to take some pictures for me, and he agreed.
R.J. and I met at RISE Coffee House in the Grove neighborhood. It’s a very cool place, and they have delicious coffee, too [obviously]. Then we did some more exploring and stopped by La Patisserie Chouquette – a cute little French bakery in Tower Grove. {I’ll definitely have to dedicate a separate “Local Noms” post to both of these places later on.} We also met some really cool people, had some tasty food and coffee, and R.J. got some awesome pictures of me, if I do say so myself. 😛
I will admit that I was slightly apprehensive about getting my pictures taken. Of course, I was never doubting R.J.’s ability as a photographer; rather, I was more self-conscious about how photogenic I would be. I’m not always a fan of being in front of a camera. But again, it worked out quite splendidly.
Alright, I’ve shared enough hipster-esque pictures that I took with my iPhone. The real purpose of all this rambling is to take the opportunity to dedicate a post to our little photo shoot, and share some of the photos that R.J. captured.
I had a hard time choosing, but I have chosen two photos to use as my new pictures on my Who am I? page. Here’s one of them:
{I mean, it’s me standing with a chair that says “Let them eat CAKE.” It’s just too perfect!}
In addition, here are some of my other favorites from the photo shoot session:
{Looking awesome in black and white.}
{Eating a chocolate croissant, and of course I had chocolate all over my hands and on my teeth. Typical Darcie. I do love my hair in this one, however.}
{Sometimes my hair being blown to bits in the wind makes for cool pictures.}
{It’s hard telling what I was thinking here.}
{I love the soft light and mood in this one.}
{Grinning in the sunlight at Tower Grove Park.}
Thanks again to R.J. for working with me on this! {And thanks for making me look like such a badass, haha!} It’s so inspiring to see other people [especially in my generation] pursuing their passions unabashedly. This morning was inspiring, fun, and it was a real treat to be able to take the morning off work to meet some cool people, eat some tasty pastries, drink delicious coffee, and explore this city that I now call home. <3
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++ Important Links!
– Follow @paintchipps on Instagram.
– R.J.’s website.
– La Patisserie Chouquette – I still have no idea how to pronounce this, but this is a very cool little French bakery in Tower Grove.
– RISE Coffee House in the Grove.
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