A Botanically Beautiful Wedding

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of shooting Courtney & Jeremy's nature and art themed wedding in the heart of Columbus. The couple chose a gorgeous venue at the Cultural Arts Center, and art gallery and learning center. The ceremony was held in the open-air courtyard, and the reception following was indoors in the unique art gallery.

The decor was done out in gorgeous succulents, botanical baskets, and neutral florals. The reception included unique touches tying in with the artsy decor - including a paint-by-numbers style guest book.

I've put together a handful of my favorite moments from the day to share with you all. Thank you to Courtney & Jeremy and the rest of the wedding party for making this a truly enjoyable and unique wedding to capture! My best wishes go out to the both of you!

All photos copyright Shanon Wise Photography. 

** Also thank you thank you to my second shooter and good friend, Brittany for the help!

Outfit of the Day

Hello everyone! This past week, I've been trying to take some OOTDs to share with you guys. It was my birthday this past week, and I've been home jumping around to different events and places. 

Mountain Chic

I've been obsessed with this outfit lately. It's super cute and so comfy for anything from dinner out to running errands to grabbing some coffee.

Dress from H&M
Crossbody bag from Target

Boots from TJ Maxx

Sunglasses from Forever 21

Earrings and Fox ring from Forever 21

Quirky Cute

I threw this outfit together pretty quickly to head out to lunch with my boyfriend. Followed by some shopping and coffee, this was perfect and I even got a couple compliments on this new cat in space shirt, haha.

Cat Tank from Hot Topic

"Leather" Jacket from Target

Cutoff shorts thrifted

Boots from TJ Maxx

Crossbody bag from Target

Sunglasses from Forever 21

Hair Bow from Claire's 

Ring from Claire's

Nail color is Essie's "Eternal Optimist"

Hello everyone! I apologize that it's been a while since my last post. I've been rather busy with summer fun and some photo shoots. I recently shot a gorgeous Columbus wedding that I'm hoping to share with you soon!

Tonight, I thought I'd share with you guys one of my absolute favorite go-to recipes. It's vegetarian & vegan and nice and healthy - not to mention delicious even for a meat eater! (I have references if you don't believe me.) 

The original version of the recipe for this came from Colorado Vegan's blog (a pinterest find). Click here if you'd like to check that out!  

All you will need for this is:

Fresh or frozen green beans
Extra firm tofu
Tamari or Soy Sauce
Lime Juice
Black Pepper
Brown Sugar
Shallots (Optional)

1. Cut up tofu to desired size and shape.

2. Drain and squeeze out as much moisture as you can using paper towels.

3. Marinade tofu slices in desired sauce. I used a store bought tariyaki sauce, but anything in an Asian flavor will work. 

4. Place tofu on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, flipping once. (This isn't necessary, but I love the texture of baked tofu. If you don't have time for this, proceed to step 5).

5. Don't forget to snack on some edamame beans while you're waiting for your tofu!

6. Create your stir fry sauce by combining tamari sauce, black pepper, and lime juice.
7. Once tofu is done, fry over an oiled pan over medium heat. Remember to get both sides until they just start to brown slightly.
8. Lower heat a bit and add some of your tamari based sauce.
9. Add brown sugar, spoonfuls at a time, to your pan. Allow this to caramelize in the sauce and on the tofu.
10. Add cooked green beans to the pan (I used a microwave steamer bag as it saves time) and mix until everything is warm and coated.

Enjoy! I served mine with some brown rice and quinoa, but it would work equally as well with noodles or on its own.

Let me know if any of you guys try out this recipe, or have any of your own that you have shared recently! I hope everyone is having a lovely June!

WHAT'S IN MY FRIDGE?

Reading and watching these "WHAT'S IN MY FRIDGE?" posts are one of my guilty pleasures. I don't know about you guys, but I just find it so interesting to see what people stock in their fridge, and what they like to eat on a daily basis. So, I thought I would share mine with you!

I love to stock up on fresh fruits and veggies - especially during the summer months. For fruit, I currently have some pomegranates, red grapefruits, cherries, kumquats, apples, and pears. As far as veggies go, I have on me fresh spinach, green beans, cucumbers, onions, and bell peppers.

I also have some soy coffee creamer and whipped cream in the back there. Can't go without my morning cup of joe!

As you can see, on the top shelf I have a huge container of coconut water. This has actually been a relatively recent discovery for me. I get headaches - a lot - and was looking for something to help. I read up on all the benefits of coconut water, and among being generally awesome for your health and body - it can help with headaches! It's full of potassium and electrolytes, and the first time I had a glass, I was hooked. My headache was gone! The flavor isn't for everyone, and can take some time getting used to it. I'd recommend Vita Coco's Peach & Mango flavor as well as Zico plain (definitely the best tasting). I've been mixing the plain flavor into my juices in the morning and throughout the day - it's awesome!

Hope this was helpful or interesting to some of you. Let me know in the comments below if you've shared your fridges with your readers or if you have tried any of the things I've shown!

For The People That Made Me

So I realized I haven't yet shared any of my photography on here with you guys. I recently finished a series of mine that I've been working on for a while now.

You can read my artist's statement below.

            For my final series, I explored the concept of nostalgia, family, and forgotten memories. I was inspired by a video and book from the photographer Ransom Riggs. He explored the idea of forgotten photographs and the stories behind them. I knew I wanted to do something related to the idea of old photographs, so I decided to look at my own family.
            Already interested in my family’s ancestry and being the keeper of our photo albums, I decided to dig in. I selected a group of photographs I wanted to recreate from both sides of my family. I chose photos from a few different generations as well. To execute my idea, I tried to mimic the original photograph as much as possible. I did, however, let subtle differences shine through – hinting at the viewer that these photographs are set in modern times.

            I am hoping to bring new life to these old photographs. So many of us have albums full of forgotten pictures. They all have a story to tell. Through this series, I want to revive the story held within them. The people captured in the originals may now be gone, but through myself, their descendent, I hope to make sure their memories and moments are not. 

All photos copyright Shanon Wise. You may not use my images without my permission or credit. 

           

so I made a youtube channel

I started a youtube channel as an extension of this blog. I'll start posting regularly on there in a couple of weeks, so keep your eyes peeled! If you're interested, go ahead and subscribe! :)

read, watch, play

So, I'm hoping to make this a semi-regular occurrence on the blog (maybe once a month or so along with monthly favorites). The title is pretty self explanatory, so let's get into it!

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS 

by john green

illustration by simini blocker

The Fault In Our Stars is a young adult fiction by author John Green. You may know him from the youtube channel, vlogbrothers. I had heard great things about this book for a while now, and finally decided to read it when I recently acquired a Nook and was looking for something to start off with. Best decision ever. It's such an honest story about life as a teenager, young love, cancer, and death.

There were multiple times throughout the book where I was both laughing and crying - something I rarely find myself doing. I felt so immersed in this book and felt so connected to the main character, Hazel - it was truly refreshing to be swept away into a different world (and a different perspective) for awhile. After I finished the last page, I found myself in a melancholy state of mind. I think John Green put it best in one of his videos. It's a quote I find myself thinking a lot about these days.

"All I could think about now as night fell, was how much you can love made up people - and how much you can miss them."

DAILY GRACE 

photo by daniel nguyen for nmr

If you are unfamiliar with the youtube channel Daily Grace, then number one - shame on you, and number two - you now know and you're welcome. Grace vlogs everyday, five days a week, and five days a week, I anxiously wait for her video to go up. My day is not complete until I watch her channel. I love her humor and lighthearted sarcasm, it just gets me through the less than enjoyable days. I suggest you make her channel a part of your life - you won't regret it. *ding!*

TINY TOWER

So, I'm not necessarily someone who plays games a lot, but I do like to have one or two fun and easy apps on my iPhone to play when I'm in between class or on a roadtrip. Tiny Tower is my current addiction. It's an easy, passive game where you essentially build a tower with different shops, apartments, or recreation floors. You build your population of "bitizens" to work in your places and make money to continue to build and populate. It's a pretty simple concept that reminds me of a mix between tiny tower and tomagatchi (remember tomagatchis!?). It's a free app for the iPhone and android - so check it out if you're bored!

*Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any of these companies, publishers, or persons. These are my personal opinions and recommendations.