new website!

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

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

'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!

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

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

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

costumes of halloweens past

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!

+++++

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!

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

black swan

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?

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?

+++++++

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

#19 - ride a bicycle

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

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!!

+++++++

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

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

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

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

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

(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

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

a little bit of pretty for your wednesday morning.

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

(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.