iPhone Photo Tips By Stesha

I'm at a trade show in Las Vegas this week for my job and Stesha from Classic and Bubbly graciously accepted my VERY LAST MINUTE proposal to guest post for me.  The truth is though, if you're an internet junky like me...you find a way to get to the interwebs! ;) If you couldn't tell I procrastinated my online quiz last night by messing with my blog layout. Procrastination is a disease people.

Anyways, back to the important person on the blog today. If you don't know Stesha you really should because she's adorable, sweet, and an up and coming photographer! I LOVE checking out her photography website! She's a natural light master. Read on for how to take great photo editing software tips from your iPhone....and yes, I have already downloaded BOTH of her favorite photo editing app suggestions!

I jacked this picture from her blog...isn't she cute!?

Hello!! I was so EXCITED when Hollie asked me to guest post for her while she is out of town this week. I love reading Hollie's blog, it always gives me a good laugh. I am Stesha from Classic & Bubbly, a blog about my photography, personal style, and anything random I decide to throw into the mix.  Today I wanted to share some ideas on how YOU can be a photographer too, and the easy part.... all you need is a phone! As a photographer one important concept I learned was it does not matter what kind of equipment you are using, its how you use it.  Many of my best photos I have taken have come from my point and shoot and even.....wait for it....my iphone! Now obviously I don't photograph my clients with my iPhone, but I do love taking creative shots with it.  There are many many apps on the iPhone that can help your image quality as well. I want to share these apps with you, so you too can take some great photos and edit them yourselves!
my fav camera app on the iPhone: CAMERA+
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download camera+: 1.99
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these are all the wonderful settings you can choose to edit your picture
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original taken with iPhone
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final photo!

See simple as: 1, 2, 3! You can do it too. There are obviously many many apps available to edit photos with smart phones.  I do use Instagram and Vintage Cam too!! check them out!
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There you have it!! I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial today. Hopefully you can now take some amazing photos yourself and blog about them.  Thanks Hollie for having me!!! xoxox

PS--Don't forget Follow Friday  is back this week on 3/2! Join the blog hoppinesssss ;)


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Loafers and Moccasins.

Need a quick and stylish update for any outfit? Jeans, pants, skirt, casual dress? Look no further than a pair of loafers or a pair of moccasins.

Honestly, simple as that.

Classic & a little funky all at once. CHA CHING!

What do you think?




Source: galoshoes.com via Joy on Pinterest







Source: ae.com via Shawna on Pinterest


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Weekend Scenes.

Happy New Week!

So I DO realize I have no contact info on my blog right now. Hopefully I'll have a new design soon and then it will be out in the open for everyone ;) A few people have asked where I'm at in the social media world so if you're interested...

Email: hollietakesnotes@gmail.com
Twitter: itsmehollieann
Instagram: holliegolightly
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/holliegolightly

And that is that, my friends.

Today I'm linking up with Jenni for some serious instagramness.

I had a great, relaxing but productive weekend.

Friday night was date night. We went to a newish Chinese restaurant close to my house called Wangs. We actually tried to go to dinner here a few weeks ago but it was SO busy there was no way we were waiting. My boyfriend made a reservation this week so he didn't have to deal with me saying "I'm hungry" every two minutes while we waited could get right in. The food was really good at a reasonable price and even though I've had better Chinese in San Diego the restaurant ambiance had some SERIOUS swag.  Like turn my swag onnnnn status. The place was an old department store so the restaurant was HUGE and had a really sexy atmosphere. I'd definitely go back! For some reason they had Pad Thai? Next time I'm trying it.


Sake is a must.


The lamp above our table. I'd love to have this!


We shared the mongolian beef and the kung pao chicken.

Saturday we? he put together the shoe cabinet I got from Ikea. 

Jeff doesn't know I took this picture of him cuz I am SO sly. 

If you're reading this, sorry ;)


I am in LOVE with this shoe cabinet!! It's fits almost all of my boots so they're no longer on the floor in my closet. YES!


I straightened my hair with two mirrors so the back was SUPER straight...for once ;)


Saturday night we made one of the best pizzas ever. It's inspired from a pizza we really like called "The Godfather." It has a ton of cheddar, colby, and monterey jack cheese, big tomato slices, salami, feta and olive chicken sausage, caramelized onions....and more cheese. #idmarrycheese. I'm so happy we made the call to use a Boboli crust and not a homemade one just because I wasn't about to skimp on toppings and typically the homemade crusts come out kind of thin.


Saturday was game night with the boyfriend, his sister, and her boyfriend. We played a game called Puerto Rico. I'd love to explain it to you, but I have no idea what you really do. My strategy consists of stopping other people from getting points since I really have no idea how to rack up points at the end of the game. It took awhile for everyone to get the hang of it so it was a really long game. I did not win. And I like to win things you know ;)

Next time ;)




Sunday was a lazy day of making blueberry pancakes for breakfast, cleaning my room, installing new sponsor ads! to your right and watching The Walking Dead. I like zombies. If you haven't seen the show I HIGHLY recommend watching the first season on Netflix. It's not even that gory! I hope you all have a zombie apocalypse plan. I'd tell you mine but my whole theory is to do what everyone else WON'T do so I can't tell you.

How was your weekend?

PS-Guess what!? This Friday is the first Friday of the month! That means Follow Friday the blog hop is back! Mark your calendars! Check out the last one here and find some new friends.
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Bobble Bobble

You won't see me with a blogger bobble head.

What is a blogger bobble head, you say?

Oh you know. It's that huge head and obsessive thought process about how important they are because they have XYZ number of followers, or XYZ number of pageviews, or XYZ number of sponsors.

I won't become friends with someone based on the number of followers they have. I won't treat bloggers differently because of where they fall in my own personal "cool" ranking. I won't suddenly distance myself from blog friends because I am suddenly too cool from now having XYZ.

I remember my first comment from someone other than my family.

Marissa, I'm talking to you.

I remember the first "big" blogger who emailed me back.

Jenni, I'm talking to you.

The first "big" blogger who left me a comment.

Megan, I'm talking to you.

The first blogger girl I text...often. ;)

Lauren, I'm talking to you ;)

Talk about blog role models.

I also remember the first tweets and blog posts I saw about how there are status quos about blogging.

How bloggers change when they perceive they've suddenly become more important now based on numbers.

At 32 followers, I couldn't comprehend. My blog has grown since then, and I still can't comprehend.

Aren't you always important?

Aren't we part of a community?

I may not answer every comment, but I will make an effort when I can. I may always be polite and sweet, but I won't lie. I'm not ashamed or afraid to speak my mind. Even if it's on my blog.

I've seen this newfound sense of importance first hand with a few blogs I've followed for the past six months.

And I've seen it NOT happen with a lot of blogs I've followed for the past six months.

And I gotta say, what is the real reason you blog?

Is it for competition or is it to inspire?

Is it solely a business for you these days or do you still have the passion?

You can have both. You can be successful and humble. I want to have a successful blog but does that mean I will change my values to be in the "in" crowd? This is not high school, so no.

It doesn't need to be a competition.

There is room for EVERYONE, blogs of all sizes in this blog world.

There are enough readers for everyone to have xyz number of followers.

 If you don't have passion for the beginning, the middle, and the end of this blog journey then...

Check ya self, before ya wreck ya self.

Your true self. The self that started this blog.

(While I didn't write this to offend anyone, I reserve the right to write about anything and I thought this was deserving)

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How to Wear Color + A Giveaway

Want to WIN a medium ad space on my blog for the month of March!? 

I know you want to because I have fun activities in store for my sponsors!
So, head on over to Anna's blog and enter the giveaway.

That is after you've read her guest post below.

 It's all about color and how to incorporate it into your closet. I'm such a blog poser, I'm always posting about this color and that color and the farthest I've gone is painting my toenails mint and my nails bubblegum princess pink.

I'm supposed to say something funny now, but the pressure is just too much. So just know that Anna is insanely sarcastic and fantabulous and you'll love her suggestions! Oh and also know that she is a liar. She claims to be a "formal" writer but twitter is still writing...and she says informal hilarious stuff on there all the time. Check her @theniceblog and you can find concrete proof!

So I guess in all honesty she's not like Jim Carrey in Liar Liar...she's just a little too humble.

Ps--If you're already sponsoring for March and win the giveaway I will credit you another month for April so don't worry your pretty heads and enter enter! :)

one // two // three // four // five // six // seven //  eight // nine // ten // eleven // twelve // thirteen // fourteen

Hi friends, it's Anna from And Everything Nice. I'm excited to be sharing with you today and hope that you will hop on over to my blog after this and check out for more stylish tips and things I'm loving. My favorite trend by far right now is all of the colors so I wanted to show you some ways to incorporate color into your wardrobe this spring/summer, whether it's a little pop or a big punch. I've heard a lot of "I couldn't pull that off" being said, but it's simply not true. Everyone and anyone can wear color! The most important thing to remember when wearing something you think might be a big risk is this: YOU wear the color, don't let the color wear you. Wear your outfit with your shoulders high and always make eye contact. I promise that by the end of the day you will be smiling naturally and feel more confident in yourself (which is the most important thing here) and your outfit. I personally love adding punches of colors to my outfits through my accessories: handbag, shoes, and jewelry, but I also look forward to sporting a bold colored dress or wearing two colors paired together. What's one way you would like to add some color to your outfits? 

Thanks so much to Hollie for having me! My writing is kind of formal so I'm relying on her to add some funnies to this. Which I'm sure she will…. (hint hint). Also, don't forget to check out And Everything Nice for more inspiration and fashion. 
xo, Anna
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Ikea.

Do you have an IKEA near you?

We do and I'm obsessed. 

I could spend hours there.

Hours upon hours exploring how they make such fabulously organized and aesthetically impressive small spaces.

My room is le small.

Which is fine. I am a single (as in not married but i'm kind of smitten over my best friend boyfriend so don't try to set me up....unless his first name is Ryan and last name is Gosling) twenty something who works full time and goes to school at night. So needless to say, I'm not home too often.

But when I am home I want a cozy, meticulously organized, space that is just mine.

Ya know?

I visited this wonderful store last night and changed the look in my room quickly and inexpensively!



Tip: Commit to a down comforter for a duvet. Cheap and easy way to switch it up!


Skinny shoe cabinet. 
Entryway, bedroom, closet organization (although I think it's much too pretty for that) it does multiple jobs.

My next trip in my dreams I'd like:
This coat rack. Someday it's going to start pouring down all the time like Seattle and I'll need this. And Hunter boots. ;)

Such a cute vase! 
Vintage but not from the goodwill where you have no idea if anyone once peed in there.

This really unique and whimsical lamp!
 Except at $69.99 I'd probably wonder why the hell I bought it one to two weeks later.

Where do you shop for home accessories?



Posted by 29 comments:

I don't know what I even did this weekend.

Linking with Jenni for the best of Instagram!

Here's my weekend in pictures :)

Yummy Saturday breakfast/brunch at Opera Patisserie.

That's a scrambled egg and bacon croissant sandwich.

I could eat this for every meal possibly.


Still meh about my bangs.

Saturday we originally had plans to go to the Wild Animal Park.

It's like the zoo but more safari-ish and the animals have more roam area.

But then after our huge breakfast, pretty much my energy went downhill.

Boyfriend suggested we go get a bottle of wine. At noon. Which is so out of character for us, really.

First of all. I can't hang. I am not a day drinker and binge drinking backfires on me these days.

Hangovers get worse with age. I live in terror of them so I usually keep it to 1-3 drinks.

Anyways we hit up BevMo! and discovered they have wine tasting there Saturdays from 12-3?

I mean who goes and buys booze Saturday from 12-3, so how could we have known that?

So for $2 each we got to try 3 different white wines and 3 different red wines.

They were also having their 5 centwine sale! Buy one get one for 5 cents so we stocked up.

Stocked up so we could have bottles on hand for special occasions (aka when we make dinner...yes this is a special occasion :/)


We also realized the importance of cheese for mass wine consumption.

I wanted something rich like a gouda but boyfriend wanted spicy. I'm pretty much a cheese fiend so a jalapeno pepper jack was totally fine with me.


Somehow our day drinking sesh went from one bottle...

...to two

...to three

...and a half.

We ordered a pizza at 6.

Fell asleep by 8.

And did not wake up until 9 am Sunday.

Spontaneous wine extravaganza=Saturday win!

Here's me proving I can wear color in my Wild Animal Park outfit.

I'm usually a neutrals slave.


I don't have kids but DVF for Baby Gap!!?? SOOOOOO CUTE!!

I had to send this picture to Lauren. It comes out March 15th and since homegirl will be in San Diego then...and we have plans to hit up the mall & Mecca In and Out we are definitely going to check out the collection. Sadly, these dresses are $50 each. But definitely worth an oogle fest.


Sunday I sat with the love of my life.

Chamomile Tea, duh.

No kind of tea soothes as well as this. 

Challenge me. I dare you.


How was your weekend?!
Posted by 21 comments:

Friday Funnies + Opportunities

Hopefully in the next few days I will have a new Follow Friday button! Click here to check out the blogs who linked up last week!

It's Friday...And I'm so happy to post another Friday Funnies! And super happy to sleep in this weekend? :X No, I am not eighty years old.

I love sharing with you all what's made me laugh this week. All I can hope for is that you actually laugh ;)



Source: tumblr.com via Matt on Pinterest



And now some news!

Do you have a blog, shop, or business that you'd like to promote?

I'm accepting sponsors starting March 1st!

And guess what? It's going to be VERY affordable. I'd love to work with you and help spread the word!

I will only be taking a limited number of each ad size to make sure that I have enough quality time to dedicate towards each blog's feature post. I'll also link to my favorite posts of the week!

Rates are as follows:

SMALL
200 x 150=$5 per month
Includes group feature/introduction post (one feature post for every three months )

MEDIUM 
200 x 250=$10 per month 
Includes group feature/introduction post (one feature post for every three months )

LARGE
200 x 400=$15 per month
Includes group feature/introduction post (one feature post for every three months)

*All payments accepted through paypal only*

I'm also...er...very active on twitter if you haven't noticed...so I'd be happy to help spread the word about your blog/business/sweet life on other social media sites during your sponsorship as well :)

Stuff sometimes people want to know:
+580 followers  friends via GFC
+799 followers on twitter ((@itsmehollieann))
+4-5 new posts per week
+topics: style, design, lifestyle, "humor";)
+17,000+ pageviews for the month of January and on track to increase substantially for the month of February

For the right product, giveaways can be negotiated through email.


Interested? Email me! hollietakesnotes@gmail.com
Posted by 10 comments:

Something I'd Never Do.

Absolutely the most impractical inspiration post ever.

I'm dreaming about ALL white rooms.

Whimsical, girly without the adolescence of pink, and stylish.

Somehow this needs to happen.

(images credit can be found here)
Posted by 23 comments:
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