Winter Wonderland and New Friends
We have been on this blogging journey for only three short months now, but we've come to find most people we encounter through Instagram can fall into one of three categories:
(1) Casual peruser of the 'gram, purely on the app for the fun of keeping of with friends' latest posts and occasionally scrolling through the nearly 60 million photos posted every day on Instagram.
(2) Accounts that are trying to grow a following and will interact generically with others, but only to the means of gaining a follower, not a friend. Common tactics employed here include follow/unfollow teases (essentially someone follows you, hopes you follow back and then they unfollow you shortly afterwards... How rude!) or blasting out comments with three emojis of heart eyes or vague comments of "sweet!" or "cool!" hoping you'll check out their page (confession, we've all done this at one point or another). The fact you are here taking the time to read our blog means you do not fit this description!
(3) Genuine, authentic people who interact with other users in such a way that those they interact with feel like a connection is actually being made with another human being, not just another name on a screen.
When we created the Everyday Urban blog and Instagram account we had no idea where it would take us and still have no idea, but even in its infancy state we have been SO pleasantly surprised by all the connections and budding friendship that have started through this creative endeavor!
First and foremost, Everyday Urban is an outlet for us to create something together, to go on a journey as husband and wife and see where it takes us, and there's a lot of joy in that for us. On the one hand, we could learn to take pictures or design our apartment or make crafts and bake cookies and travel to new places and keep it all to ourselves. But that's no fun! And there are so many awesome people doing amazing things within that third category noted above that have been a huge encouragement to us and spur us on to create more, go on new adventures and really dive into the possibilities of what Everyday Urban could look like in the months ahead.
To all of those that have reached out to connect with us, encouraged us, DM'ed us just to say hello, THANK YOU! If we haven't had the chance to meet up in person yet, we can't wait to connect with you guys in 2017!
One of our most recent interactions was with a very talented fella based out of Naples, FL (but hopefully Chicago soon!) named Hernan Sanchez aka @stillsbyhernan. Hernan is a photographer, predominately of weddings, engagements, couples, etc. Hernan found us through Instagram before coming up to see family in the Chicago area and asked if we wanted to connect while he was in town, talk shop and shoot some pics. One FaceTime call and two weeks later, we met at one of our favorite neighborhood coffee shops, C.C. Ferns in Humboldt Park.
Daniel: Express: Skinny Stretch Jean // Ashton Grey: Boots // Banana Republic: Sweater
Jennifer: New York & Co: Soho Jeans // Steve Madden (in black): Over the knee Boots // Forever 21 (similar here): Cable Knit Sweater
We were even able to sneak away to the adjoining California Clipper to snap a few cozy shots before the lounge opened for the evening. I don't think it would have mattered if the lounge was completely full, when we get on the same side of a booth we kinda get lost in our own world ;)
Daneil: H&M: Wool Coat // Jennifer: H&M: Pompom Hat
We had so much fun hanging out and getting to know a little bit about Hernan's journey as a photographer, what inspires him and the beauty, joy and little details he captures in his photography. What subsequently followed was quite literally the perfect storm. Hernan had never seen snow before and he captured some pretty dope shots of us trouncing around in the first snowfall to hit Chicago this winter. Check out more of the pics below and also be sure to check out Hernan's website and his blog post detailing the day's events from his perspective :)
We'd be lying if we said we didn't hope to grow our following here on the blog and on Instagram but we hope to do so only as a result of interacting with each of you in a personal way. We'll leave you with a quote from one of our favorite authors, C.S. Lewis from his book The Four Loves.
"Friendship arises out of mere companionship when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which the others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure (or burden). The typical expression of an opening Friendship would be something like, "What? You too? I thought I was the only one."
Thank you again, Hernan, for the beautiful pictures!
With love from Chicago,
Daniel and Jennifer
