Shop Excess Baggage Spring Lookbook-Model Behavior

Being a part of the Shop Excess Baggage Spring 2013 look book is quite an honor as the site carries a fabulous selection of trend driven tops, bottoms, dresses and outwear mainly priced at under $100. Don't you love it when you don't have to break the bank to achieve fashion zen? I had a blast working with the SEB team and felt completely relaxed and at ease at the photo shoot. But I didn't always feel that way standing in front of the camera.

I got my first taste of "modelling" when I was nineteen. At the time, I was signed with an agency and needed zed cards to go on auditions. I'm not trying to toot my own horn because honestly if you live in LA long enough you will encounter agency solicitation at some point. The photo shoot was a complete disaster as I was trying too hard to be a "model" and lost myself in the process. I wanted lusty Angelina Jolie lips so I smeared five coats of lip gloss. My lips were so shiny they looked like saliva had overtaken them. I tried to channel Kate Moss fierceness but something got lost in translation because I looked like I was out for murder in every picture. I wanted to copy a Naomi Campbell sitting on the legs pose but ended up doing the fob squat. Not a model look.

That day, I learned an important lesson. I'm not Kate or Naomi. I'm not a model so what's the point of forcing a nonexistence? Nowadays, I don't care about looking cool or Gisele-like in my pictures as I simply try to convey a sense of self and inject some personality. And honestly, most of the time I'm zoning out and thinking about what I should eat for dinner. The Costco chicken bake comes up a lot.