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project 365 : days 107 – 113

by Kaylah Stroup

107 : 376 I finally got to meet Allie from The Only Living Girl in New York. We met up for a solid day of exploring, and good food. We tried a handful of different abandoned buildings around the area that I thought were sure things but got shut down every single one of them. It was almost comical. Almost. We were almost ready to call it a day but decided after eating lunch that the abandoned trailer park, despite it’s distance, would be a good choice. It definitely was. I’ve already blogged about it five times in the past (links here) but you can expect another post in the coming week or two because of course I took more photos.

108 : 365 Professor checking out my anniversary flowers from Jeff. Cute photos to celebrate our three year anniversary can be found here. Also, in case you’re curious, those strange green stripes on him are actually rainbows from my sun catcher!

109 : 365 The only photos I took this day were for the post announcing The Dainty Squid’s new website. Thank you all for all the kind words on the big change. I’m still over the moon about it.

110 : 365 Jeff text me as soon as he left for work that it was really foggy and that I should get out to take photos. I finished my coffee, headed straight out but somehow still managed to miss the bulk of the fog. All was not lost though, I found a little snail who was happy to be photographed, created a new found on the beach arrangement, and pet my very first poodle.

111 : 365 I was juuuust about to walk out the front door when I spotted this little guy stuck in my rug. He was a perfect little model that sat absolutely still for my photos. Every time I pick up my macro lens I wonder ‘why in the heck don’t I use this more often?’

112 : 365 I had the most lovely Saturday. Jeff and I woke up early only to move from the bed to the couch where we cuddled and watched Ridiculousness for a few hours. (I really love that show, and I appreciate that it’s basically always on.) Then we made breakfast, hung out at the beach, cruised around Cleveland aimlessly, made dinner, cleaned together, and finished the series we were watching. It was just a super relaxing day, exactly what I always expect weekends should be like.

113 : 365 Spotted this perfect cactus shadow in my kitchen.

Happy Monday!
xoxo

Check out more from my Project 365 here.
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The NEW Dainty Squid

by Kaylah Stroup

I’m a few weeks late making this announcement, I was just waiting until a few loose ends were tied up first, but The Dainty Squid has a brand new look! You’ve probably already noticed by now but I’m super excited about it, and just wanted to point out a few things (and of course, encourage you to hop over to view the actual site!)

The Dainty Squid has made the switch from blogger to wordpress. It’s something I’d been putting off for…well… literally years. I always made excuses why it wouldn’t be worth it but duuuuude, so worth it. Despite a few small mishaps, I’m very happy with how everything turned out. My main goal with the switch was to make the blog somewhere easier to click around and stay a while. I don’t want you to just come and read the newest post, I want you to have multiple ways to be able to browse past posts. I feel like I definitely accomplished that, especially if you just start off on the main page.

My other big goal was to make something a bit more mobile friendly since so much of my traffic is through mobile devices. The Dainty Squid is still best viewed on a computer, in my opinion, but it should now be a lot easier to browse on your phone. Make sure to hop over and check us out on your computer if you get the chance. It’s so pretty!

Some other fun things include much larger photos, a new about page, new advertising page, new categories in the sidebar to make browsing easier, and a silly 404 error page.

There were a few issues with the RSS feed. I got Bloglovin’ fixed but if you’re using another other sort of reader you may need to update your feed. www.thedaintysquid.com/feed should do the trick! Otherwise, all links should lead to the same place with a few exceptions like some very old posts that were deleted. I cleaned out the archives and got rid of a lot of posts that just didn’t feel very relevant to my life anymore.

So yeah, I’m pretty excited. I love The Dainty Squid’s new website and I hope you do too! I think it’s a lot more visually appealing!
xoxo

PS. If you wouldn’t mind indulging me, how do you find out about new posts? Do you follow through a website like bloglovin? If so, which one? Do you wait until I post about them on social media? Or do you simply visit thedaintysquid.com? I’m very curious!

Also, I recommend following through bloglovin’ for the fact that if something does go awry again I’m able to contact them and get that fixed. Through other readers I have no control and there’s no way for me to contact anyone to say “hey, this changed, this is where you can find me now”.

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Friday Favorites #410

by Kaylah Stroup

Loving these witchy hand key chains!

(via: Leider Leather)

A very relatable patch.

(via: ambivalently yours)

I just can’t bring myself to put down a door mat that isn’t friendly but if I had to choose a grumpy one it’d be this one.

(via: jimbobart)

Paint by number post cards! There is also an office supply themed set too if thats more your thing!

(via: Robert Mahar + Hannah Berman)

I literally have no reason to have a bottle opener but you guyssss this one is a beetle!!

(via: Perpetual Kid)

Cute little cactus candles.

(via: Ornerx)

I am dying over these overalls. They’re so amazing! I would wear the heck out of those babies.

(via: Urban Outfitters)

I own the kitty version of this already but the pup version deserves to be shared too.

(via:kookoobird)

Mint chocolate chip is my favorite ice cream so obviously I like these socks but it’s the packaging that really gets me here.

(via: Animi Causa)

I wouldn’t necessarily consider these shoes my style but holy smokes, I love them! I feel like they’d look really rad with the overalls I featured above.

(via: Vans)

Link love…

Happy Friday!
xoxo

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abandoned china factory

by Kaylah Stroup

dishes in abandoned china factory

I’ve been holding on to these photos for way too long. It’s one of those sets of photos I just knew I couldn’t possibly describe correctly and wanted to keep all to myself. I like them too much to never share though…

A month or so ago Jeff, Jake, and I spent the day exploring. We had a decent sized list of places we at least wanted to cruise by. Some we knew were do-able, others were a bit of a long shot. We eventually ended up about fifteen minutes away from this place, an abandoned china factory. The spot that had led us close by ended up being a bust so we decided to just keep driving. Jeff had been here a few years earlier but Jake and I had never been. Despite really digging the photos I had seen of it, I was always under the impression it was further away from home than it really is so it was never really a huge priority to me but from the second we walked in I was in awe. Dishes upon dishes. Many of them unbroken, and still stacked. In regard to things left behind, this might be one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. (Another favorite would definitely be the rubber duck factory, of course!)

I thought the dishes would be the clear highlight of the factory. I couldn’t imagine what else would be as interesting… then we got upstairs. I found a sheet of decals on the floor that Jake and I were like “Oh! Look these must be how they decorate the plates and mugs. How neat.” We took turns shooting the single sheet. What we didn’t realize was that the whole room in front of us was FILLED with them! Drawers upon drawers of decals for diners, for special events, with flowers, with maps, with intricate designs. They littered the floor yet most of the drawers were still filled. I guess I’ve never really thought about how plates or mugs get the designs they have on them but here were thousands of them!

Between all of the remaining buildings on the property, I saw molds, decals, silkscreens, blank dishes, finished products, kilns, and more. It was incredibly interesting to me to be able to see so many steps of the process. I’ve been in my fair share of factories but none with as much of a story left behind. After the factory closed there was an auction to clear out inventory so its a little bit strange to me that there is still so much left. Even today there is a ton that could still be salvaged. Doesn’t it just break your heart to see those beautiful drawers left to rot?

plates in abandoned china factory

Two more interesting things – one significantly more interesting than the other.

  • X-rays! There was a pile of them on the floor still in their original envelopes, labeled with names and dates. They were of employee’s lungs. Judging by the box of unused x-ray film found nearby it seems this might have been an in-house operation checking to make sure the employees weren’t dealing with any adverse effects from production. It’s so wild to me that when this place closed up no one thought to dispose of these medical records properly.
  • One of my favorite things to find in abandoned factories – newspaper articles attached to the wall. This sort of thing makes it so much easier to imagine that people really did work here at one point. To me, it’s just an empty factory but this was previously a place where people spent a good portion of their life.

This factory turned out to be one of my favorite adventures to date. I can’t believe after all these years of being abandoned that there aren’t more broken dishes. I’m thankful the people before me didn’t make too much of a mess and hopeful the people after me won’t end up ruining it for everyone else.

Check out the abandoned tag for more grime.

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Friday Favorites #409

by Kaylah Stroup

This bed wouldn’t work in my current bedroom. It would just dwarf the room but gosh darn it, it’s such a lovely set up. It looks so cozy!

(via: Urban Outfitters)

How adorable is this cactus throw pillow?!

(via: Ankit)

My squad! Yesss!

(via: Moorea Seal)

Cactus socks! Love the colors.

(via: Woven Pear)

This bra is the cutest, and it comes in SO many colors!

(via: Cosabella)

I have a new love for shirt dresses, especially when they have a print this good!

(via: SimkaSol)

One of my favorite foods!

(via: Heather Buchanan)

Love this mirror!

(via: Urban Outfitters)

Friends who collect weird things, this skull is super cheap (+ waaay cool!)

(via: Amazon)

This print is so so so awesome!

(via: Kathleen Neeley)

Link love…

Happy Friday!
xoxo

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what I wore : a food baby

by Kaylah Stroup

Sharing outfit photos can be scary. There are a lot of people who think that because something is published or otherwise put out into the world that it’s up for debate or open to criticism. People tend to forget that behind every single thing there is a real person who is potentially reading these things, and being affected. It doesn’t even have to be a huge deal, a simple off handed comment can shift how someone thinks for the worst.

A year or so ago I shared a photo of Jeff and I. It was an adorable photo with a caption about our half anniversary but someone left a comment asking if I was expecting*. That caused me to look super closely at my body in that photo… and in every single photo I shared ever after that. My stomach is not flat. It never will be. I’m not pregnant…and I never plan to be. It shouldn’t be necessary for me to have to examine my body closely and meticulously before sharing photos for fear that someone will ask if last night’s sushi is a baby or comment that my knees are ugly. (Yes, that really happened. And yeah, that made me self conscious for a while until I realized that you have to be a real dingus to make fun of someone’s knees. I mean, THEY’RE KNEES. For the record, my knees look just like everyone’s knees)

Comments like these are why everything gets photoshopped. Why Madonna is photoshopped to look twenty years younger, why apps like facetune even exist, why bloggers edit out their pimples, and on, and on, and on. You can’t comment on these stupid things and also be outraged at the fact people photoshop themselves into oblivion. It just doesn’t work that way.

I’m mentioning all this because immediately after thinking “Oh, these turned out cute” my next thought was “Shoot, someone is going to ask if I’m pregnant. I just know it.” And then “darn it, you can really see the dye on my scalp.” I started trying to fix the dye along my hairline so my head didn’t look so blue but realized I definitely have better things to do. I have no reason to be ashamed that there is dye on my scalp. It happens. Every time I dye my hair, my scalp is the same color as my hair for a few days. I also have no reason to try and hide the fact my stomach isn’t completely flat. I love food. I eat well. So what?

I always feel a little nervous to share this sort of commentary. I don’t want to stir the pot or draw negative attention to myself but I definitely want to use my platform to remind people to be better to others. Nobodies life is all peaches and cream. Everyone struggles. Why add to that with silly little nitpicks? Do your best to raise other people up. Comment on the good things, instead of the “bad”! I’m going to leave you with one of my favorite little sayings…

“You shouldn’t point out things about people’s appearances if they can’t fix it in ten seconds.”

for your viewing pleasure, dye on my scalp.

details
shirt – TJ Maxx
sweater – Moorea Seal
glasses – Louise via Warby Parker
pins – Jim Carrey via Two Ghouls Press, Pizza c/o Moorea Seal, Tooth via Hooptedoodle
jeans – TJ Maxx (similar pair)
boots – Palladium Boots c/o Urban Outfitters

*For the love of dog, STOP ASKING PEOPLE IF THEY ARE PREGNANT. If they want you to know, they’ll tell you. Otherwise, it’s none of yer bee’s wax. Even if you think you’re being friendly, it’s just intrusive. Women aren’t simply baby machines. I could rant about this subject for years but we should probably save that for another day.

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found on the beach

by Kaylah Stroup


The weather here in Cleveland is finally warming up, at least for now. Everyone knows we’ll probably get at least one last surprise snow storm because that’s just what happens here. The warm-ish weather had me aching to get back to the beach. It’s been so long since my last found on the beach arrangement but I am back in action… and kind of completely hooked all over again!

The last few times I had been to the beach it was actually very clean. It seemed like the park was on the up and up! There were new picnic benches, a fancy pants wooden fence, and most noticeably of all, it was clean. This beach that was previously covered in driftwood, and trash was actually somewhere people might want to go again.

Well, winter did a number on the beach. It was gross… but perfect for picking! I found lots of colorful things, and had lots of fun ideas brewing about how I’d lay everything out for photos. While trying to avoid a group of people who seemed to be wandering my way (I had crazy morning hair and was picking up trash, not really in ideal people meetin’ mode) I walked out onto a small breakwall. The gloomy sky mixed with the dark rocks immediately made me realize it was the perfect spot to lay all my colorful finds. It’s been a great deal of time since my last found on the beach arrangement, and this certainly isn’t my largest but the photos are definitely some of my favorites!

A quick found on the beach FAQ

  1. You found all this stuff in one trip?  Sadly, yes. This isn’t even a quarter of it either.
  2. What do you do with all after your done? Normally I toss it in the trash. Sometimes I may take certain pieces with me if I think they’ll look cool in a future arrangement. On rare occasions I leave it as I photographed it. I’m still not sure which side of the fence I fall on here. It’s a bit counteractive since it’s still on the beach after I spent the time to pick it up but maybe others finding it and seeing what an issue plastic is, and possibly getting a kick out of the fact that someone made something colorful and fun from trash, is better than it sitting in a landfill forever. I don’t know.
  3. Do you wear gloves when you pick all this trash up? No, I don’t. These are things that are washed up from the lake, not just left on shore. They’re no dirtier than the sand or water. That’s not to say I don’t sanitize my hands as soon as I get back in my car though…

Kinda sorta obsessed with this shot of the colorful trash with my bright white Palladium boots. I purposely put the white trash at the bottom of the arrangement so my shoes would start the gradient.

In all my beach combing days I’ve never found so many army men and animals in one single trip. Right after taking the photo below I ended finding a little red dinosaur a few feet away. Kind of makes me way to break my “don’t keep any trash” rule. I feel like a jar of beat up plastic soldiers would look pretty darn neat on my shoulder.*** For the time being they’re in my car since I’m hoping to possibly do another found on the beach fabric, and maaaybe postcards? We’ll see. I had a pretty large collection of interesting beach finds stored up for those types of projects but I got rid of it all when I moved because it just seemed weird. Now I’m kind of kicking myself but I guess it just means I get a fresh start on the project!

I want to say that you’ll be sure to see lots more of these arrangements in the coming months but hopefully the park gets back to it cleaning routine once the weather warms up for good.
xoxo

***I literally had coffee come out my nose when I read over this post and finally caught that. I don’t know why in the world I originally typed “shoulder” instead of “shelf” but it made me laugh so hard that I have to leave it. Brain, what you doin?!

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project 365 : days 86 – 92

by Kaylah Stroup

86 : 365 Office plants.

87 : 365 This is more toy soldiers and plastic animals than I’ve ever found in one single trip to the beach. I try to make it a point to not bring anything I pick up on the beach home with me unless I have plans to shoot it again but I really think these lake weathered toy soldiers would make a neat collection.

88 : 365 A very suspicious kitten.

And another…

89 : 365 Just a shelf in my office. I can’t believe I’ve been in this apartment for three solid months now and haven’t share an office tour yet. I’m still constantly rearranging in here though, trying to find the perfect feel. This shelf did photograph nicely but to be honest, I’m not in love with it. I can definitely do a better job creating a nice display.

90 : 365 Working hard on the new site. Wait. You did notice The Dainty Squid got a major facelift, correct? I worked my buns off. There were a few minor glitches (including the transferring of my domain name taking longer than expected which is why you might be having some trouble with links not going exactly where they should right now. I’m hoping to get that fixed as soon as the transfer goes through.) but I’m still so so so happy with how it turned out.

91 : 365 Nothing new, just poking around.

92 : 365 I just happened to notice a clump of black things on top of a electric box I was walking by. I assumed it was rotting leaves but upon further inspection it was a bunch of boxelder bugs. I’ve never seen them hanging out in such a big bunch like this but when I did a tiny bit of research I found that they’re considered a nuisance simply because they enter homes in large numbers so I guess hanging out like that is totally their thing.

Happy Monday!
xoxo

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Salton Sea of the Midwest – 2017

by Kaylah Stroup

Two years ago Jeff and I discovered a place we’d come to call “The Salton Sea of the Midwest”. We’ve visited there numerous times since (I’ve linked all of my posts at the bottom of this one) but it still hasn’t lost its charm. Recently we decided to head back out there to see how its changed and get some new photos. Finding brand new places to explore is always an excellent feeling but I truly enjoy going back to the same spots to see how they’ve changed, to see if I can get an idea of what sorts of other people have discovered them since (aka has anyone painted penises on the walls yet?), and document the progress nature has made to take these places back.

Each time previous to this we’ve sneaked on to the property, and of course, been the only people there… because it’s abandoned, duh. This last visit though? People galore. As we approached on foot we spotted a parked car on the road close to the trailers. I wanted to leave but Jeff insisted it was okay. When we finally made it through the bushes we immediately came face to face with a middle aged couple. I assumed they’d question what we were doing but instead they commented on what a neat place and kept on walking the other direction. Well, that was weird but okay… We continued along the abandoned road, spotting some people out on the decrepit docks who also didn’t seem to concerned that we were there.

It was definitely a strange feeling to be there with so many other people. I guess saying “so many other” kind of makes it sound like there was a family reunion or something but generally abandoned places are very peaceful and devoid of people. It’s like finding your own little sanctuary… if you could consider somewhere filled with mold, broken windows, and animal feces a sanctuary. To have this place have any people is weird but multiple groups is something else. I guess part of it lies in the fact I consider it “my” spot. This area that everyone else seems to have forgotten – when I’m there, it’s mine. What are those people doing at myyyy spot? They’re probably wondering the same thing. We’re all just looking for our own little escapes.

During this visit I concentrated on shooting interior as opposed to taking the same exterior shots as before. It’s funny because after all these visits I feel like “well, yeah, of course I’ve been inside all of the trailers and cottages!” but I only recognized a handful of them. Everything else was new to me. I don’t know how, maybe I just have a really terrible memory but it made this spot that I thought I knew like the back of my hand feel new to me.

abandoned, trailers, ohio, colorful, decay
xoxo

Check out past posts from this location – March 2015, March on film, June 2015, and May 2016.

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