Archive for 2012

Happy Friday! Last week was utter insanity and I did, indeed, skip Friday Five! I had the best of intentions. My brother and his girlfriend were out to visit, and I took my camera with us when we went to Balboa Island. However, we arrived there and I went to grab my camera…no card, no batteries! I was prepping for a wedding so all my batteries were being charged and I’d taken out my cards to format them. I’ve never arrived to a portrait session without everything I needed, but this wasn’t the first time I forgot something for a personal project! Oh, well!

1. Herb garden

My husband and I live in a condo, so we don’t have space to plant anything. Even if we did, I don’t have a green thumb and I doubt we’d have a vegetable garden. However, we always have a potted herb garden! I learned long ago when a recipe calls for fresh parsley, dried is not an acceptable substitute. Herbs pretty much grow like weeds and don’t die when I forget to water them…which is often. I love having a fresh herb garden!

2. Raspberry Thyme Smash

Another reason I like having a garden is a few select drinks I make in the summer that require herbs :) A couple of  summers ago we went to the JW Marriott for a weekend trip. The stay was amazing, but I also had a drink there I’ve never forgotten – it was raspberries muddled with thyme and it was delicious! The version from Bon Appetit is the closest I’ve come to recreating it. I like to add a little club soda because I like bubbly drinks :)

3. Caffeine

My position on caffeine can be summed up via someecards:

I admit I love energy drinks, which I know are not great for you, so I’ve been trying to transition to tea. I love Yogi Vanilla Spice Perfect Energy tea because it has a healthy caffeine kick :)

The only problem with tea is it takes FOREVER to make and drink tea. Heat the water to boiling. Brew the tea. Wait 15 minutes so you don’t scald off your tastebuds. Fortunately, I just discovered a website that provided me a solution to my tea making quandry!

2. Fab.com

I read about this via Perfectly Cursed Life and I just love Fab.com! It’s similar to the Rue La Las of the world, but instead of clothing or beauty, they focus on home goods, as well as offbeat items. I have pretty modern taste and a lot of their items appeal to me, but I only recently purchased something from the site! I bought this Takeya tea maker which I just love!

It’s perfect for brewing large batches of tea. Then I can refrigerate and heat up when I want a little tea. Non-scalded tastebuds, rejoice!

5. DRY soda

I don’t drink pop. That’s right, I said pop, I’m from the midwest! ;) I mean, I use it as a mixer for drinks, but in general, I never crave it. I don’t even like cola. But I DO like buying new, trendy things! I don’t remember where I heard about DRY soda, but I was pretty excited to see the lavender flavor at Ralph’s.

This is SO GOOD! It’s probably not for everyone, but it’s the perfect combination of lavender, a touch of sweetness, and bubbles, of course! It also smells divine! A bit of a relaxing soda (pop), if you will.

Happy Friday!

Today I had a rare double-header for portrait sessions. A family photo shoot in the morning, and an anytime shoot in the afternoon! I’ll have more up later this week, but until then, enjoy!

The always amazing Riley family…

…and the unfairly photogenic Jessica + Young!

I hope you had a FANTASTIC weekend!

Whew! What a crazy week. I was in northern California until last night. It’s incredible to me how diverse the state of California is. You have the desert, beach, and northern California seems to be its own thing. It actually reminds me of Michigan. The trees and farmland are pretty similar, and it has a flatter landscape, although of course you can still see mountains in the distance. At least I think they’re mountains. I’m a little shaky on my northern California geography.

Today’s Friday Five is some pictures I took on my phone. I considered bringing my 7D, but between my laptop, tablet and purse, I thought I had plenty to take on the plane already. Nearly every time I consider taking my camera and leave it behind I regret it. I know a lot of people love taking pictures on their phone, and it’s super convenient, but I can’t help but compare them to the beautiful pictures I take with my DSLR :)

I saw more horses and cows in my time there than I probably have in the past 10 years combined. This was such a beautiful tawny-colored horse that I wanted to come closer…but he or she seemed a little wary of me.

The Sacramento airport’s baggage claim. I don’t mind flying into Sacramento, pretty decent food, easy to get in and out of, and most importantly, free Wi-fi!

You can’t see them too clearly here, but I drove through an area with lots of windmills. If you can see them, it’s a picture of windmills. If you can’t…it’s cows.

Yay big trees! Maybe it’s because I grew up in Michigan, but I appreciate large trees. I mean, a palm tree is nice-looking and certainly says something about where you are, but a tree like this, with branches reaching towards the sky, simply seems more rooted to me. It feels like it has a history.

Last but not least…duck face with a giant pinecone from Lake Tahoe.

I’m proposing a new rule…you can ONLY do duck face and take a picture of yourself if you are able to procure a pinecone the size of your face. Otherwise…just say no. ;)

Happy Friday!