a fresh start

new website!

2010-11-15T21:45:00.001-05:00

i finally went and set up my own domain. woo hoo! i've imported this blog over to the new site, so please go check it out!

summer mini book

2010-11-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

finally! i finished my summer mini book at the end of october and i completely love it.

i picked up one of elise blaha's summer kits and also took her mini book workshop in september. i think the combination of the two really helped me to focus and not just throw anything and everything into this book. sure, there are a TON of photos, but what else would you expect from me? what i'm happiest with, is the cohesion that the kit and my edited choices make.

i used elise's tip of adding grosgrain ribbon to mark each month's title page. i found this super cute & summer-y ribbon at kate's paperie. i love this little detail. while the book is mainly photos, i did add in some paper here and there and also have a few transparency pages thrown in to the mix to hold tickets to movies and events. add in some labels and graph paper for journaling, a map, some postcards and lots of washi tape, and you have a super fun mini book.

here are a few of my favorite pages:

mini books are such a fun and easy way to keep track of memories. they can be as fancy or as simple as you want to make them. i can hardly wait to get started on my autumn book!

fall 'roid week

2010-11-09T12:27:00.000-05:00

'roid week is now a fleeting memory, but boy, was it good while it lasted.

here are my day four and five shots for your perusal.

and here a small handful of my favorites images by other photographers. to see all of my 'roid week shots and faves, click here.

1. danisoul, 2. lilacmoon, 3. minecreations, 4. his&hers, 5. maplesyruponly, 6. olivier barjolle,
7. kristin~mainemomma, 8. girlhula, 9. Rebecca...

and to top it all off, i was one of the lucky winners of the amazing giveaways that the 'roid week team hosted!! i won this lovely little calendar from xoazuree. isn't it cute? i can hardly wait to hang it up for 2011.

until next time, 'roid week. xo

etsy shop now open!

2010-11-04T23:25:00.001-04:00

i finally did it! i opened up an etsy shop of my very own. about time, right? i will be adding polaroid and digital prints soon, but for now, you can find two different 2011 calendars and two separate packs of photo postcards. if you have any special requests, e-mail me or send me a convo on etsy. hope to see you over there.

'roid week, day three

2010-11-03T16:45:00.005-04:00

day three of 'roid week brings us to a big before and after. over the summer, i decided i wanted to cut my hair short. my friend, erin, has a two-for-one deal with her stylist, so i was just waiting on her to need a trim. yesterday was the big day!! i took this "before" shot just before i left for my appointment. can you tell how nervous/excited i was??

and here is the "after"! i totally love it. it feels SO good to have a new look and to be free of all of that weight.

'roid week, day two

2010-11-02T17:29:00.000-04:00

here are my very yellow submissions for day two. check out more goodness in the pool!

costumes of halloweens past

2010-11-01T16:47:00.004-04:00

andrea posted a great list of various halloween costumes she has worn. it was such a fun list, i just had to make one of my own!

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strawberry shortcake, classic 80s plastic dress & mask variety (pictured above) (age 4)

clown, my mom made the costume -- i'm pretty sure it was some kind of crazy orange and green fabric. other than the fabric choice, she did a great job on it! (age 6?)

classic black witch (age 9)

black cat, which i believe consisted of a black leotard and tights, black cat headband, whiskers drawn on my face and some kind of tail attachment. plus a cardboard boom box to carry candy in. and a denim jacket, 'cause it was chilly. (age 10)

flamingo, a pink flamingo golf club cover on my head and some kind of pink sheet "body." probably had a pink sweatshirt and sweatpants or tights on, too. what can i say? i had a thing for flamingos. (age 11?)

bag of jelly beans, maybe my most memorable costume. we took a clear plastic trash bag, filled it with small balloons and called it a day. i probably wore purple leggings or something underneath. my main memory of this costume, is going to the junior high party and having a very tall 8th grader run up to me and start popping some of the balloons. (age 13)

eddie vedder, because you know i have to rock the long curly hair, cheekbones and grunge wardrobe for halloween at least once in high school. my friend, jess, went as the crow. we were awesome. (age 17 or 18)

i'm sure there are plenty of others, especially from when i was younger. i'll have to dig through my parent's photos the next time i go home.

fall (pola)roid week!

2010-11-01T09:54:00.000-04:00

it's fall 'roid week on flickr, people. get out there and shoot some instant film!

black swan

2010-10-26T12:05:00.001-04:00

i heart natalie portman, so i was already looking forward to this ballet thriller set in new york. but, now they've gone and put out these amazing posters for the international release. absolutely gorgeous! more here.

what's on your wish list?

2010-10-19T15:25:00.005-04:00

how is it the 19th of october already? seriously. this year is *absolutely* flying by. wow.

before you know it, it will be thanksgiving, then my birthday, then christmas, then new year's. it all goes by so quickly, don't you think?

before the stresses of the season set in, i like to think about my wish list. i can't help it. the kid in me has vivid memories of getting the JC Penney catalog in the mail and poring over the pages to make my list. now, i have the whole internet at my disposal. and with pinterest, i have a super easy way to keep track of the things i want to give and the things i would be happy to receive.

how do you keep track of gift ideas? what are some of your wish list items this year?

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(i totally got the wild panda puffalump that christmas!)

#19 - ride a bicycle

2010-10-02T16:33:00.003-04:00

the view of lower manhattan from governor's island

i don't have any good photos to go along with this one, but a few weekends ago, the mister & i took the ferry to governor's island and rented bicycles. it was so much fun!! it was a cool, late summer morning and we were on the first ferry of the day, so it wasn't very crowded. super fun!

#6 - go to the beach

2010-09-23T12:55:00.002-04:00

labor day on long beach, ny

number six on the list was to go to the beach. i grew up on a lovely, lovely lake in the midwest and also not too far away from some great sand dunes on lake michigan. i only ever went to the beach on occasional family trips to florida or south carolina. as much as i love the lake, i do love walking in the sand, the smell of the salty air and the soothing sounds of the waves crashing.

i've lived on the east coast for almost five years, and aside from a wonderful destination wedding on captiva island and a couple of non-beachy trips to coney island, i still haven't been to the beach. if you look on the map, you will see that new york city is very, very close to the ocean. however, this does not mean that it is easy to get to the ocean. or so one would think. most options involve taking a 2 hour subway ride, renting a car and sitting in traffic, or taking a train and then hailing a taxi. but i came across the perfect beach getaway from the city. long beach.

a direct express train from penn station had us at the long beach train station in just under an hour. after that, it was a few short blocks from the station to the beach. you do have to pay for a beach pass here, but i think it is totally worth it. the beach is clean and wonderful, and there isn't a touristy boardwalk. it is very, very relaxing (if you can block out the sound of some of the louder new yorkers in the mix). i can hardly wait to go back next summer!

p.s. in an attempt to work on #15 on the list (shoot more film), i took an underwater disposble camera to long beach. haven't quite finished the roll yet, though. luckily, i took a snap with the iPhone!!

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soaking up the last bits of summer in maine

less than a week later, i found myself enjoying the final days of summer in old orchard beach, maine. it was so wonderful!! a bit of a trek to get up there, but it was so great to hang out with kristin and her family and visit their fantastic beach. there were lots of great "fair food" type places (fried dough, candy apples . . . even a dairy queen!), but i was on a no-sugar diet (great timing, i know) and didn't get to enjoy any tasty treats. i did however, get to play skeeball there!

so, after a long drought of no beach time, i had a double dose this summer!

here's hoping to a long weekend at the jersey shore next summer, more trips to maine and lots of visits to long beach!

protecting a sand fort from the entire ocean

i heart orla

2010-09-21T12:14:00.001-04:00

have you heard the news? orla kiely is publishing a book! i have seen a few mentions of it on the orla kiely newsletter, but today, holly over at decor8 put up a post about the copy she received in the mail. so wonderful! i can hardly wait to get my hands on a copy.

available for pre-order on amazon.
(also, on my wish list.)

oh, orla, you make such pretty, pretty things. xo

#20 - play skeeball

2010-09-19T21:05:00.007-04:00

i wasn't sure how easy #20 on my list would be, so i ended up buying this awesome iphone app, just in case.

but when i went up to maine to visit kristin, we walked right by the arcade and saw in big letters, "SKEEBALL." yes!!!

while going to the county fair didn't quite live up to my childhood memories, playing skeeball totally surpassed them! (probably because i am much better at skeeball at age 33 than i was at age 10.) it was super fun and we got lots of tickets, so kristin's kids were able to get a decent prize. i snagged a tiny bouncy ball for myself, just to have something to show for my efforts. =)

so many tickets!!! playing skeeball as a grown-up is awesome!

#25 - go to a county fair

2010-09-13T12:43:00.000-04:00

cross another one off of the list!

finding a county fair near manhattan proved to be a little tricky. but the dutchess county fair in rhinebeck sounded promising, so i asked some friends if they could go. elizabeth took the bait and we drove up to rhinebeck on sunday, august 29th.

i don't think this fair quite lived up to my expectations, but that could be because i haven't been to a fair in quite a few years and i always went to them in indiana. where, you know, people are more in to farming and stuff.

a lot of the games booths were the same all over the fair, but this one stood out to me (probably because it was so photogenic). we didn't play any games (mostly because the prizes weren't that exciting), but elizabeth's boyfriend tried to sink the creepy clown in the dunking booth. he hit the target, but was *just* outside of the inner circle. i think we were all sorry that he wasn't successful!

it was super hot, but we did manage to find some shady spots here and there. elizabeth and i both fell in love with these rainbow umbrellas.

we saw some sweet newborn farm animals and watched some dogs in the dock diving competition, which was really fun.

soaked up the sights and sounds, saw a mini parade, and even managed to walk by chuck schumer several times!

and i had an elephant ear!!! it was SO good. that one did live up to my expectations. mmm, i'm totally craving another one right now.

all in all, it was a good day. if we go again next year, though, i think we'll hit up a fair in new jersey. ;)

olioboard

2010-09-03T09:03:00.004-04:00

i came across olioboard over on decor8. then, holly mentioned there was a contest going on, so i decided to check it out. the challenge was to take at least three items from grandin road and put together a room. the items i chose are the metal side table, the blue side table, the bulldog and the black dresser. i really like how it came out. i love the little pops of orange and blue and the repeating curves from the metal table in the wallpaper and clock.

if you like it, maybe you will head over and vote for me? pretty please?

and now? i am completely addicted to olioboard! what a fun way to put together a mood board! so much easier than tearing things our of magazines and catalogs, don't you think?

sixty-four colors

2010-08-30T21:24:00.005-04:00

(click to view larger)

i have several favorites so far from sixty-four colors. if i had to pick my top five that we've done so far, i think i'd have to go with red, pacific blue, scarlet, goldenrod and blue green. which diptychs are your favorite?

i can hardly believe that dani & i are already well past the halfway point of our project. the weeks are just flying by! we only have about 26 weeks left to go and we're trying to come up with something extra special for our final week(s). stay tuned!

summertime

2010-08-19T13:52:00.005-04:00

A life without love is like a year without summer. ~Swedish Proverb

(photo by mike cole)

tomorrow evening, i will set out for some full-on summer goodness. a trip to indiana to visit my family at the lake, followed by a day at the beach with my husband, wrapped up with a trip to the dutchess county fair with one of my favorite flickr friends.

i fully intend to lounge around, do some swimming, work on my non-existent tan, eat my dad's famous hamburgers, feel the sand in my toes, eat an elephant ear or two, and take as many photos as possible.

luscious

2010-08-18T09:52:00.001-04:00

a little bit of pretty for your wednesday morning.

#31 - add to the list of flickr friends that i have met in real life.

2010-08-15T18:03:00.007-04:00

(the lovely elizabeth taylor)

i am an idiot. i recently met meredith and stephanie and was all excited to put together a post about #31 on my list.

(meredith & kristin on the brooklyn bridge)

then, as i was going through photos, i realized that i met, lindsay, tania AND jason this year.

(tania & lindsay at an anthropologie event)

(jason & erin in front of soba-ya)

and i got to see kristin again! i guess i had it in my head that i would meet people who were traveling to new york or i would travel somewhere and meet them. the good news is that i've met five new flickr friends in real life this year! and seen lots of other flickr friends again and again. hooray!! flickr friends are the bestest. for reals. if you don't have some, you should go out and find some. they're awesome.

tour guide

2010-08-04T21:43:00.003-04:00

two very lovely ladies are coming to nyc this week. i am very much looking forward to walking around with them and enjoying the city. and eating some cupcakes.

summery

2010-07-22T11:05:00.002-04:00

summery
Originally uploaded by jodi*mckee

a little colorful happiness for this sunny summer day.

zoe murphy

2010-07-16T10:37:00.007-04:00

i came across this amazing photo on pinterest and just had to click over to see where it came from. and oh, boy am i glad that i did! zoe murphy says to "love what belongs to you" and re-uses vintage furniture and textiles to create amazing bespoke pieces. aren't they incredible? i love the mid-century style mixed with bright colors and her great illustrations. and the fact that she is re-using and recycling everything is tops. i will definitely be adding one of her pieces to my wish list!

the lake

2010-07-06T11:18:00.004-04:00

it has been so HOT here in the northeast the past few days. like, crazy hot. it is supposed to be 100° in the city today. it is just completely GROSS out. i wish i could teleport myself back to the lake i grew up on. sure, it would be nice to see my family and friends and eat at my favorite places, but really, i just want to slip in to that cool water and relax.

arthritis today

2010-06-21T20:38:00.004-04:00

(click on the photo to read the text)

last fall, the editor in chief of arthritis today magazine contacted me about my portrait project. a few months later, i was interviewed about the project, and now, here it is in print! crazy exciting.

and now, i'm able to cross #11 off of the list!

where in the world?

2010-06-17T14:30:00.000-04:00

image via aaron huey

my husband and i currently live in new york city (queens to be precise). we definitely have a love/hate relationship with the city (love the subway, the diversity, the art, the energy . . . hate the subway, the crowds, the inconsiderate attitude, the cost of living) and have decided that we don't want to live here forever -- although we'll likely still be here for a few more years. while i'm not sure that any other city can compare to NYC for me, i think we both need a slightly smaller city with a slightly slower pace.

image via hula seventy

so, i figured, why not ask the internet? where should we move to?

considerations:

we still want to be in a city . . . maybe just not a city of over 8 million
we would love to be able to rent or buy a small house with a yard
my husband is a massage therapist, so a place that has a good market for massage therapy is needed
i suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, so extreme cold or damp weather is not favorable
public transportation is very important to us
as is an environmentally friendly community
a good arts scene beats a good sports scene for us
needs to be dog friendly
close to water of some sort

any thoughts or advice?

. . . or maybe we'll just move to brooklyn.

otchipotchi

2010-06-16T09:07:00.006-04:00

i love the trend of crocheted covered stones and things. i especially love the ones on resurrection fern. she doesn't seem to have any in stock lately, and i have been contemplating purchasing one of her prints, instead. i guess i could continue to learn how to actually crochet on my own, but my hands aren't always up to the task.

so, when i saw this photo on martha from uniform studio's flickr page, i instantly fell in love with this lovely porcelain stone from otchipotchi. isn't it beautiful? i love how paula took an already great idea and made it her own. and the result is just wonderful.

renegade

2010-06-06T22:36:00.006-04:00

the brooklyn renegade craft fair was this past weekend and it was super awesome, as usual. the mister and i got there late in the day, but we still enjoyed it immensely. chris added to his ever expanding t-shirt collection with a stop to supermaggie, we found a christmas gift for my brother, i added to my letterpress card collection (with full intentions to mail out all three of the cards i bought within the next 6 weeks), and we managed to have our photo taken in a photobooth. all in all, a success.

i didn't take a ton of photos, but here are a few peeks from the fair.

chris loved this booth. i think he was kind of sad when he saw that someone had already bought the zelda piece.

so many of the booths had pretty little details, like this.

tons of great ink everywhere. i think next year, we'll just park ourselves on a bench for the day so we can do more people watching & tattoo spotting.

super fun plush toys.

and the completely RAD (& free!) photo booth provided by magnolia photo booth co. with props to boot!

LOST at the vilcek

2010-06-01T21:43:00.001-04:00

on friday, my husband and i went up to the vilcek foundation to check out their LOST exhibit. it was SO COOL. it runs through saturday, june 5th. so, if you are in the NYC area and are a LOST fan, get yourself there this week!

the main focus of the exhibit is on the international diversity of the show's cast, crew and production staff. it really is amazing when you think about it. so many different cultures were represented just with the cast alone. such a terrific ensemble.

there were also lots of great props from the show . . .

the dharma initiative rum that juliet & sawyer drank on the beach after the freighter blew up.

the dharma vw bus. SO COOL.

ben's alias passports, faraday's journal, the freighter satellite phone, sun's business cards.

desmond & penny. *sigh*

bonus? they were piping in music from the show in the background. it was so well done. i think i might have to go again before it's over!

renegade

2010-05-26T09:34:00.004-04:00

how is it time for the renegade craft fair again already? this year is absolutely flying by. renengade is next weekend (june 5 + 6) at mccarren park in brooklyn. there are going to be so many amazing artists there. i can hardly wait!

pin it forward

2010-05-24T09:44:00.004-04:00

i am so excited to be kicking off pin it forward! thanks again to victoria for inviting me to be a part of such a fun event. i love inspiration boards and pinterest is such a great way to play with them online. when i thought about "what home means to me," these are the ideas that immediately popped in to my head. i hope you will enjoy them and click over to pinterest to check out the rest of my pinboard!

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what home means to me . . .

photo credits (clockwise from top left): tastysuite on etsy; what was a happy love by john w. golden on etsy; kimhas7cats (aka kim from desire to inspire); jodi*mckee (hey! that's me!) on flickr; enormous champion via design*sponge; jen at the fabled needle; lovelydesign via cafemom; my family.

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home is where the heart is. that is for sure. my husband & i have moved around a lot over the past ten years. while i don't always feel completely settled in each physical space that we live in, i know as long as we are together we are home. throw in some color, cozy spots to curl up and read or watch a movie, and a furry friend to cuddle with, and we've got it made.

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a big thanks to victoria & pinterest for organizing pin it forward. now passing the baton to the lovely nichole of little brown pen. i'm looking forward to seeing "what home means" to her, since she splits her time between the NYC area and paris!

paint by number

2010-05-21T21:45:00.005-04:00

i really like this trend of paint by number + text, don't you?
(totally wish i would have splurged and bought this trey speegle puzzle from anthro back in december. it is SO good.)

maybe i'll just take this print or tote bag to make up for it. =)

peonies!

2010-05-18T20:42:00.003-04:00

sure to make a cool and rainy may day much, much brighter.

pin it forward

2010-05-13T17:08:00.005-04:00

i am so excited to be a part of victoria's pin it forward blogger mash-up event!

a while back, she hinted at some cool, new visual bookmarking site. having finally lost the battle to keep google notebook on my browser (update firefox now, or else!), i was feeling quite blue about the loss of my visual notes. other services like evernote and zoho notebook just weren't as easy to use . . . or to look at. i e-mailed victoria directly, just to let her know how excited i was at this new prospect. lo and behold, she sent me an invite to pinterest. omg, you guys, it is SO GOOD. it's kind of like a combination of google notebook (but nicer) and tumblr (but more user-friendly). which is to say . . . it's pretty rad.

and now, victoria has invited readers of sfgirlbybay to join in the fun! ~~head over here to sign up for a spot in "pin it forward." (hurry though! there are only a few spots left!!)~~ (all the spots are filled, but you can still sign up for a pinterest invite!) you will receive an invite to use pinterest and then you can work on your own pinboard for the blog event. all the details are on victoria's post.

i'll share more about my own pin boards once we get going with pin it forward. it should be fun!

wool felt state pillows

2010-05-13T13:30:00.008-04:00

possible the cutest pillows ever, from love, california on etsy.
seriously. i really want the indiana one.

and maybe new york, too.

(pola)roid week: day two

2010-05-04T23:22:00.002-04:00

day two of 'roid week. i saw this awesome food truck on park avenue yesterday and knew it would make a great pola. i mean, c'mon, look at that font! look at those colors!

apparently, the flickrverse agreed with me. this one made the explore front page!

submission #2: a detail of a really amazing sculpture in indianapolis.

spring (pola)roid week

2010-05-03T20:56:00.006-04:00

hip hip hooray! it's time for 'roid week again. my favorite time of year, when it's okay to shoot a lot of polaroids and share them with my fellow instant film nerds.

here are my submissions for day one:

#9 - make more handmade gifts

2010-04-30T15:12:00.000-04:00

i love picking out a good gift, but i wanted to try and make a few this year, too. i was totally in love with this project on design*sponge and decided to give it a go.

first, i used a paper doily as a stencil for the lacy part. filled it in with fabric paint.

then i made a letter stencil out of freezer paper. i ironed it on to the bag and then used fabric paint to fill in the letter.

i should have let it dry a little longer. maybe the edges of the letter would have been cleaner that way. but i still think it turned out pretty well. my friend loved it!

just wish i would have remembered to take a shot of her carrying it. =)

20/20

2010-04-14T11:13:00.003-04:00

i keep seeing more and more cool eye chart style prints around these days. i really like the quote above and i am all over the ampersand print.

it's a nice take on the eye chart style, plus an appreciation of different kinds of fonts. and i love me a good font, don't you?

spring has sprung

2010-04-11T22:18:00.004-04:00

thank goodness! it seemed like that winter was never going to end, didn't it?

a year of dates

2010-03-30T21:26:00.006-04:00

i came across this wonderful idea for a year's worth of dates and just knew it would be a great gift for my husband's birthday earlier this month.

each month has a different activity for us to go do together. some are fun or silly, some are more romantic, but hopefully each one will give us something to look forward to doing together each month. i did splurge on tickets to a comedy show that my husband wants to see, but for the most part, each of the activities are inexpensive things like renting bikes to ride in central park or going to listen to the free concert.

he really seemed to like it and i'm really looking forward to re-opening the envelopes each month to see what we have in store!

(a little dorky? yes. did it make my husband smile? you betcha.)

in need of a little happy right about now

2010-03-18T21:16:00.004-04:00

balloons will do the trick, every time.

color!

2010-03-10T21:54:00.003-05:00

it was a good week over at kristin's for the love of color group. a definite late-winter pick-me-up!!

five senses friday

2010-03-05T15:22:00.006-05:00

playing along again this week with abby's five senses friday.

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tasting:

sweet, sweet pineapple. such a wonderful treat in late winter. tastes like summer.

hearing:

the nbc olympic theme song one last time.

seeing:

all of the wonderful, bright colors in this fun group on flickr.

feeling:

everything. i've been trying to be more mindful of textures this week. the feel of a fabric band-aid, the smooth keys of the keyboard, the soft ridges of cotton that make up my sweater.

smelling:

the subtle scent of daffodils. they are so cheery and scented just enough. they have made me thoroughly happy this week.

for the love of color

2010-03-04T10:29:00.004-05:00

kristin posted this vivid color faves mosaic the other day and got quite the response, so she is hosting a color week starting today! who needs to wait for monday, when we've all got spring fever? no one!

here is the line up:

thursday ~ spring greens, apple greens, verdant greens

friday ~ hot pink, fuchsia, raspberry

saturday ~ orange, saffron

sunday ~ sunny yellow

monday ~ electric blue, royal blue, bright blues

tuesday ~ purples, eggplant

wednesday ~ (final day) rockin' reds: cayanne, candy apple red, fire engine, cherry

won't you join the fun?

mrs. downtown

2010-03-02T09:50:00.000-05:00

mrs. downtown

i love mrs. lilien's lovely style posts and witty poetic descriptions. this one, in particular, really struck me. it's a little bit girlier & fancier than i normally dress, but i could totally see myself wearing all of this!

2010 lovely package exchange

2010-03-01T15:08:00.004-05:00

oh, hello, friend is hosting a package exchange. last year's looks pretty, well . . . pretty, so i decided to join in the fun this year. i love to wrap up packages and i also love getting something fun in the mail, so this seemed like just the project for march. maybe you would like to play along, too?

weather geek

2010-02-28T14:20:00.003-05:00

well, hello fancy new accuweather.com page. you look quite nice. how do you do?

#14 - read five books for fun

2010-02-26T19:36:00.004-05:00

well number five sure was easy. i'm not quite three months in to the list and i've already read six books for fun. i do love to read, i just don't always make enough time for it. having it on the list is definitely good motivation. so is easy access to my public library!

books read so far:

1. one year off by david elliot cohen. a re-read, actually, but it had been quite a while since i read it last. loved it just as much the second time. it's a real life account of the author, his wife, their nanny & their three children on a one year trip around the world. wanderlust much?

2. the first annual grand prairie rabbit festival by ken wheaton. a story about a young catholic priest in rural louisiana who holds a festival at the church. MUCH funnier and more interesting that it sounds. a great read.

3. the lost symbol by dan brown. the latest installment of the adventures of robert langdon. i still like angels & demons best, but if you are a fan of that or the davinci code, then you'll enjoy this story set in washington, d.c.

4. unclutter your life in one week by erin rooney doland. a great, practical guide to get you started on getting rid of the clutter in your home and at work. i read it once quickly, just to get the general idea. i plan on going back and really going through each chapter thoroughly. an encouraging read.

5. my life in france by julia child with alex prud'homme. i absolutely loved it. i will probably end up buying a copy, so i can re-read it. and i know i would have loved it, even if i hadn't just watched julie & julia, but the movie is what made me aware of the book in the first place.

6. the catcher in the rye by j.d. salinger. somehow, i never read this in high school. oh, how i wish i had! it was a little slow for me at the beginning, and it took a while to get used to the language style, but in the end, i really, really liked it. i can see how it would make a huge impact for younger people.

i'm sure i will be adding to this list as the year goes on, but for now, check off number fourteen!

#10 - surprise someone

2010-02-25T19:50:00.006-05:00

oh, boy, did we ever!

some very lovely ladies had an idea to surprise our friend, kristin, for her birthday. everyone was so nervous that the secret would be blown, but we totally pulled it off! a wonderful video slideshow of our photos was unveiled to kristin this morning and she was blown away. it was so great. i seriously couldn't stop smiling all day!!

cross another one of the list!

(i have a couple more surprises in the works . . . can hardly wait to reveal them!)

happy birthday kristin!

2010-02-25T09:31:00.001-05:00

wishing you the most wonderful year imaginable. you deserve it!

and we all chipped in and got you something. hope you love it as much as we do. xoxoxo

in a rut

2010-02-21T21:58:00.005-05:00

i have been in a serious photo-taking rut lately. i'm sure two months of bronchitis and cold weather have contributed to this problem. also, i have been so focused on the current week's color for sixty-four colors, that i haven't been shooting much else. i really need a flickr meet-up to get going again. who's with me??

(this photo is from last year, btw.)

testing, testing, 1, 2, sibilance

2010-02-16T14:29:00.004-05:00

one of my friends, who uses typepad, has said lately that she cannot comment on my blog. i was just wondering if you would mind adding a quick comment, just to see if it works. if you are unable to comment here, but have a flickr account, would you mind posting a comment over there stating that you can't post on the blog? thank you kindly.

five senses friday

2010-02-12T12:34:00.004-05:00

playing along again this week with abby's five senses friday. won't you join the fun?

+++++

tasting:

a good batch of clementines. the last bag we got were not good. at all. i was worried that they were done for the season. but then, whole foods came to the rescue with some good ones.

hearing:

the soft quiet of snow falling.

seeing:

new york city blanketed in white. it was so beautiful on wednesday. but, now, it is all gray and slushy.

feeling:

the fur coat next to mine in the waiting room.

smelling:

the delicious french toast that my husband made for breakfast.

hello

2010-02-11T16:40:00.002-05:00

maybe my favorite self-portrait to date.

(half) snow day!

2010-02-10T17:03:00.008-05:00

nyc finally got some snow! (december doesn't count for me, since i was out of town.) i know my friends in philly, baltimore & d.c. have had enough, but i was pretty excited to have a blizzard warning today! my other city-dwelling co-workers and i made it in to the office just fine, but got the okay to leave at 1:00. so glad that we did, because queens was being blanketed by snow by the time i got home!

(chris really should have worn a hat today!)

(henry seemed unphased by all the snow. he was just happy to be outside!)

i'm so glad that we took henry on a little walk and made a pit stop for lunch. it was so lovely to be out in the snow, since we didn't have anywhere else to be. i'm sure it won't seem as pretty tomorrow. and by friday, it will be a big, gray, slushy mess. but for now, i'm liking it quite a bit. only wish i would have gone over to central park for some photo ops!

dreaming of paris

2010-02-09T20:50:00.001-05:00

(photo credits: (top) jennifer causey, nichole roberston, alicia bock, (bottom) alica bock, nichole robertson, anne ditmeyer)

it seems that everyone in blog land is either in paris, going to paris, or just got back from paris.

paris is definitely in my top three of places i really must visit. (the other two being thailand and san francisco. i know . . . how is it that i haven't been to SF yet??)

travel funds are low at the moment, so i'm living vicariously through anne at prêt à voyager, nichole at little brown pen, alicia bock's amazing photographs, and jennifer, patrick and beau's flickr sets.

where are you dreaming of these days?

post secret

2010-02-08T15:14:00.005-05:00

oh, how i love postsecret. i can only imagine how much mail frank gets and what a wonderful postal route that must be to have!

anyway, this postcard really stood out to me this week. i love the idea of it and i think this might be the next step in my "practice more random acts of kindness" item from the list.

sixty-four colors

2010-02-08T11:49:00.002-05:00

i really, really love this week's diptych.

working on this project with dani has been so wonderful. it's always nice to have a project or goal to keep me shooting on a daily or weekly basis. and going on a color treasure hunt each week is such fun! it's not always easy, but i always look forward to seeing what we each shot & putting them together in a diptych. also, it makes me feel more connected to a friend who lives about 2900 miles away. =)

and i love that so many people want to play along! okay, at first, it really bothered me that everyone wanted to jump on our band wagon. but i got over it, and now i just look forward to the enthusiastic submissions to the group pool each week.

pdx/sea mini book

2010-02-05T21:30:00.003-05:00

elizabeth turned me on to mini books and elise blaha's wonderful blog. so, when i saw that elise & her friend were hosting a week long craft challenge, i was all in and asked elizabeth to join me.

monday's word prompt was "wander." that got me thinking how i'd like to make a mini book of our portland/seattle trip last august. (turned out that it took me four evenings to make this book, so i didn't exactly get around to the other prompt words. oh, well!) i started a mini book for my 33 things list, but it's only partially done, since i have to actually complete all the items before they can go in the book. so, it was really nice to be able to start and finish this project in such a short time.

i made the cover out of a pressboard classification folder and cut up some file "out" guides to mark the start of each day of the trip with the date and a little list of things that we did. i also raided my old stash of scrapbook papers & stickers and used a few of them throughout the book, but not too much.

there are a few maps, postcards, tickets and other bits thrown in to the mix, but a lot of the pages are just photos or notes. i also printed out menus from some of the restaurants we went to.

one awesome thing that i discovered while trying to narrow down my photos, is that picasa has a really great collage feature. i set the collage size to 4"x6" and threw a few photos in to it. then, when i had the images printed, i had these great little mini collage pages. no cutting or pasting required! (although i did cut up a few of them.)

i think this one of images from pike place market turned out really nicely.

overall, this project was tons of fun! i'm already thinking up ideas for my next books.

five senses friday

2010-02-05T15:18:00.005-05:00

(the W hotel's gift shop window)

i love abby's five senses friday series and decided to play along this week. (mostly because i had a really good one for "tasting"!)

+++++

tasting:

amazingly delicious peppermint stick ice cream from adirondack creamery. soooo goooood.

hearing:

my co-workers' laughter and happy voices that are helping to drown out the dump trucks down on the street level.

seeing:

the lovely, lovely tuilps that my husband sent to me on tuesday (our first date anniversary).

feeling:

my sweet puppy's soft fur.

smelling:

the soft spring scent of the above mentioned tulips, which are contributing to an onset of a little spring fever. =)

LOST

2010-02-03T15:47:00.007-05:00

i printed out these rad dharma beer labels (for our root beer) in honor of the LOST season 6 premiere. don't they look awesome? i might have to do this every week. =)

i really love this show. it messes with my head, gets me all confused and frustrated, but then does something super cool that makes me dig it even more. and stuff like this? makes the whole thing even better.

and if you watch the show, then you gotta read doc jensen the following day!

#23 - learn to crochet

2010-02-03T14:00:00.000-05:00

(bad blogger, bad! i uploaded these photos right away, but didn't add any text to go along with them!)

when i originally posted my list on flickr, erin offered to teach me how to crochet. so, a couple of sundays ago, we met up at birch coffee in the flatiron district and got to it.

my first partially completed, almost correct granny ~~square~~ pentagon. still, not too bad for my first try!

(isn't erin the cutest? i love her hair this length.)

here is erin's much more professional looking granny square. told you she's good. she was a great teacher, too. thanks again, erin! looking forward to our next crafternoon!

#27

2010-01-17T17:42:00.004-05:00

#27 on my list is to get my medical file organized. since developing rheumatoid arthritis, the amount of paper work related to my health has grown exponentially. the system i set up last year just wasn't cutting it any more. so, i sorted everything out by doctor with a couple of extra sections for insurance companies, clinic visits, etc. and voila! nice and organized. (although, i can see already that i'm going to need a bigger binder. eeek.)

claire danes

2010-01-13T22:46:00.003-05:00

(images from dailymakeover.com)

i've always liked claire danes. i was obsessed with my so-called life back in the day. but man. claire danes is looking fabulous these days! so very, very pretty!

wanderlust

2010-01-12T22:20:00.005-05:00

i'm such a sagittarius.

i want to go pretty much everywhere.

places i have been:
boston (though not in a very long time)
chicago
florida
japan (2 trips + 1 year of living)
l.a.
new orleans
philadelphia
portland
seattle

places i want to go:
paris
thailand
san francisco
london
south korea
china
ireland
barcelona
madrid
florence
venice
austin, tx
amsterdam
bruges
argentina
hawaii
moscow
tibet
india
south africa
sydney
melbourne
new zealand

where do you want to go?

52 projects

2010-01-11T16:24:00.002-05:00

how have i never heard of this site before? such fabulous ideas!!

i love this one:

Take some chopsticks from your kitchen drawer (the one where all the take out chop sticks get thrown), and, along with $25 cash and a take out Chinese food menu, seal them up in an envelope. Mail off the envelope to one of your currently unemployed friends, your college-aged kid brother or sister, a person you know who is financially strapped at the moment.

Keep it anonymous. Do not hand write the mailing address or enclose a note. Include the take out Chinese food menu regardless of geographical issues. You want to be sure that the person you mail the envelope to gets the right message and orders up some good take out.

and this one!

Find your old letters. Gather up all of the letters that one of your oldest friends has sent to you over the years. Photocopy the letters. Put the photocopies in an envelope, and then mail off the envelope to your friend.

i'm sure i will find plenty of others to love, too, when i have some free time to go through them all!

a happy morning

2010-01-08T14:38:00.005-05:00

a few days ago, holly from decor8 had a post about walking around her neighborhood in germany. she mentioned that she has been drawing big happy faces in the snow on cars around the area. something about that just made me really happy and stuck with me. so, this morning, when i awoke to a dusting of snow, i decorated several cars in jackson heights while i took henry for a walk. it made me so happy!! i hope it made my neighbors smile, too. =)

i'm in trouble

2010-01-07T15:16:00.006-05:00

i'm broke, but oh how i love this scarf from martha at uniform natural. yes, please. i like the gray one, too.

sixty-four colors

2010-01-06T22:30:00.009-05:00

when dani & i met in washington last summer, we decided we needed some kind of collaborative project. i came up with the idea to draw a color each week out of the crayola box of 64 and our project was born. it has been so much fun to hunt for a particular color each week and put them together in a diptych.

sixtyfourcolors.blogspot.com

(my favorite diptych so far)

so many people asked about doing something similar, that we started a group over on flickr. after we do our diptych, the group has the rest of the week to search for that color. want to join in the fun?

and while we're at it - cross #26 off the list!

the list

2010-01-06T22:23:00.029-05:00

33 things to do before i turn 34

1. go ice skating in central park
2. ~~walk across the manhattan bridge~~
3. give my husband lots of kisses (in progress)
4. ~~give my puppy lots of cuddles~~
5. make something with my sewing machine (find parts first)
6. ~~go to the beach~~
7. ~~renew my passport~~
8. learn a new recipe
9. ~~make more handmade gifts~~
10. ~~surprise someone~~
11. ~~have my photos published~~
12. ~~visit at least one new city~~
13. go to the new museum
14. ~~read five books for fun~~
15. shoot more film (in progress)
16. practice random acts of kindness (in progress)
17. buy or make curtains for my bare windows
18. ~~give my mom & dad big hugs~~
19. ~~ride a bicycle~~
20. ~~play skeeball~~
21. have dinner at tree
22. mail letters to my favorite people, near & far (in progress)
23. ~~learn to crochet~~
24. go the macy's thanksgiving day parade &/or the ~~greenwich village halloween parade~~
25. ~~go to a county fair~~
26. ~~start a new photo project~~
27. ~~get my medical file organized~~
28. shop at more thrift/vintage stores (in progress)
29. ~~open an etsy shop~~
30. clear out the clutter (in progress)
31. ~~add to the list of flickr friends i have met in real life~~
32. organize my workspace at home (in progress)
33. document this list

33 things

2010-01-06T21:49:00.013-05:00

for my 33rd birthday, i made a list of 33 things to do before i turn 34. i am always so inspired by the lists that andrea, kristin, elizabeth & dani make, so i wanted to give it a whirl this year. elizabeth, in particular, made an awesome mini book to document her last list. i used to scrapbook a lot, but now that everything is online, i haven't done anything. a mini book seems like just the ticket to get back on the crafty track.

so, taking inspiration from elizabeth, her inspiration (elise blaha) and ali edwards' december daily books, here is the beginning of my 33 things book. mostly assembled and waiting for the documentation to begin!

(can i just say how happy i was to find these sparkly aqua letters at target? and how happy i was to use my new japanese masking tape? hint: the answer is very.)

practicing

2009-12-02T23:03:00.008-05:00

for something very, very good.

love

2009-12-01T17:05:00.011-05:00

the empire state building + magic hour light + a borrowed lensbaby?

pure magic.

care to go for a stroll?

2009-11-12T22:35:00.001-05:00

my good friends kristin & dani started a new project. "walk with me" features slideshows of photos taken on a walk. so much fun!!

"a walk to anthropologie"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

j

2009-11-12T14:54:00.001-05:00

is for Jodi.

"J" daily drop cap

portrait #4

2009-11-10T16:27:00.005-05:00

check out my portrait of carrie over on my autoimmune portrait project page.

striderite must follow me on flickr

2009-10-19T10:52:00.006-04:00

because these shoes are named jodi aqua and are a very, very close match to my wall color.

so cute!

2009-10-19T10:48:00.007-04:00

completely adorable polaroid plushie by etsy seller onelatenight.

excited!

2009-10-13T16:29:00.004-04:00

yes!
Originally uploaded by jodi*mckee

my first entry over at i heart faces.
chris was SO excited when he passed his licensing exam!

portrait project

2009-08-27T12:35:00.003-04:00

so, i decided to start an autoimmune disease portrait project. in a moment of silliness, i started this over on wordpress. but i'm thinking about scrapping that and moving it back to blogger.

for now, though, you can see my first two portraits here:

jodimckeephotography.wordpress.com

yay!

2009-07-08T10:53:00.003-04:00

i entered this photo in a little giveaway over at the design*sponge guest blog last week. i didn't win, but they did post my shot as a runner up. =)

hi

2009-05-19T09:57:00.000-04:00

i love this.
from joannarutter on etsy.