Photobooth Friday.

We are in looooooooovvvvvvvvveeee with the photobooth friday! Next mission - maybe think of some fun accessories (ooh la la...this makes me excited) and maybe find a new photobooth to jump in.

one cool thing.

I can probably list about a million cool things that I have experienced since newly discovering this world of blogs a few months ago but one of them arrived in my e-mail box today so I thought I would share. OK...maybe not a million but I'm a million times happy about the cool things I've discovered! Anyway, it's an e-mail magazine (free subscription BTW) all about art happenings in cool cities. It is full of smart links that take you places to learn something new about the artwork and artists they're featuring and all of that good stuff. This is good for me, particularly being that I'm a nerdy accountant with a passion for all things creative but missed the college art studies boat. Anyway, I highly recommend checking it out!

monday.

It's Monday and I spent a good part of the day with my eyes closed visualizing myself still on break, but, then I would open them to find that I wasn't. That's OK. There are projects to be managed, meetings to be had, and things to be done and Friday will be here before I know it!

n. williams

Yesterday I decided to continue on with my new found love of borrowing Greg's camera and finding an hour to myself to walk and photograph. I decided to head over to our lovely old (and missed) neighborhood in NE Portland. This corner mural and graffiti art sits across the street from a daily stop I used to make on my way home where I would wait for cars and bikes to go by so I could weave my way into the traffic.

Anyway, made my way over to Alberta Street to walk, snap some photos, stop by here, here and here, and grab a coffee. I enjoyed Alberta in a new and different way and while I was sitting here enjoying a delightful soy latte and a chocolate chip cookie, I began asking myself, why is it that so many times I appreciate places on a new level AFTER I've lived there more than during?? Not that I didn't enjoy Alberta when we lived near...I loved it...but didn't see it in the light I saw it yesterday. Maybe it's because when we lived there I wasn't living in the moment as much as I try to practice now, I was working like CRAZY in public accounting and barely saw the light of day, or maybe it's because I never took an hour simply to walk up and down the street solely to find a few photographs. I think it's a little of both and I like how taking photos is helping me to see things in a new light. One exception to this was when we lived in Cincinnati for a year before we were married. I loved every moment in the moment and looking back I think it was partly due to us knowing we were there for a short period of time, but, I must ask myself...can't that be said about everywhere?

I wore children's socks yesterday (um...ya...and, we don't have kids :) ) for one of two reasons, or, maybe both. None of mine are clean, or at least, none that I can find. The sock 'drawer', we'll call it, is the one section of my closet that I choose to leave in complete disarray. I don't know why exactly, but, I REALLY like it that way. I LOVE to throw all of my multicolored socks into a pile when they come out of the dryer and jam them into this brown boutique bag I call my sock drawer. The rest of my closet stresses me out if it's not neatly organized, folded and hung in a color coordinated kind of way, so, I figure the craziness with my socks is just the yin to my closet yang. Nonetheless, as I was trying desperately to find a matching pair of ANY socks - no color really critical as I was wearing wide leg jeans with a pair of brown chucks - I noticed this neatly folded, laundered pair of mini white gold toe socks. Flashing back to some friends of ours joining us for dinner and a movie with their kiddos, I smile and decide then and there that those would be my socks for the day. They kind of fit but held up fabulously AND it looks like I have Asher's Christmas present picked out!

Photobooth Friday

Not only am I now hooked on photobooth friday, I've also enlisted greg (my husband). I'm thrilled he's thrilled because we've had SO much fun in and around the photobooth. Of course, in total greg style, he first begins to talk about how he can make a business out of the photobooth and how we should have one for our house. He goes on to talk about how much a photobooth will cost and how he can market it to people for weddings and parties and so on and so on. All the while I'm sitting here thinking to myself, how on earth would you cart a photobooth around, does it come with a trailer? And, how do you maintain it and even find a cool photobooth for sale? I'm also thinking if we had a photobooth at home it might lose its magic...we wouldn't have the incentive to go downtown to the oh. so. cool. ace hotel and have a coffee drink and sit in the marvelous lobby and pretend like we're still in college and save our $1 bills and when it's finally time to jump in we might not have the excitement and butterflies like we're just about to get on a carnival ride. He loves to dream big in everything he does, which, is something I adore about him so I'm very careful to not rain on his big dreamy parades.

This was our first photobooth together (about a month ago)...tragic, I know. How could we have missed out on ALL of those photobooth moments in all of the fun cities we've lived and frequent - well, all the more reason for us to treasure them now and go back to the places we love. Anyway, we jumped in the photobooth without realizing that the chair height is adjustable (we figured this out after the second trip) and just went for it. Our dear friend, greg (#2), was visiting so he decided to pop in on the third frame...we're SO glad he did!

happy thanksgiving

at the moment, I'm thankful for - family, friends, health, great conversation, pets, pumpkin pie, cranberries, my grandmother's stuffing recipe, garnet yams, leftovers, accidental inspiration, scarves, lucite, hidden treasures (thrift store finds, hand me downs, sea shells, heart shaped rocks, et.c, et.c), clean sheets, warm socks, delicious smelling candles, red wine, a good movie, sunshine in the fall, stars, opening the mailbox to find a hand written letter from my dad, belly laughs, having an hour to myself in a cute little neighborhood with this, a warm fire with a great book, yoga, love, and feeling uncomfortably full.

sneak peek...

Just a little sneak peek into the ornaments I'm making for the swap. There's a few more over here.

self portrait challenge.

I've decided to begin participating in this. I'm not quite sure how to feel about it yet, but, I figure any kind of direction and inspiration to practice my VERY amateur photography skills is a good thing. I also figure since I'm expanding in my practices of self reflection, having photo shoot sessions with myself might just help me learn something new and interesting. Anyhow, this month's challenge is "what you wear"...

for me - scarves. LOVE LOVE LOVE them. I love scarves of all kinds from all walks of life; old ones, new ones, wool, knitted, crocheted, cotton, linen, any fabric really, but most of all, silk. I adore vintage silk scarves. I treasure them as I would any other piece of beautiful artwork. I'm crazy about how I feel when I wear them and this one I wore on Friday because it was Friday and we were driving to the beach.

Greetings Photobooth Friday!

Me (Lucy - far left with the crazy eyes - err, eye), Kates Kates bo Bates (Mandy's little sis), and Mandy (my best friend). LOVE these girls and am so excited they are in my first photobooth friday post!

ready for our little road trip!

my eyes are on the finish line - tomorrow afternoon - my love, myself, a latte and some good tunes in the car pointing towards the beach. yes.

glad.

"Be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars." - Henry Van Dyke

Always love, a lot of work, little play, and SO thankful to see the stars. It's a rarity this time of year in Portland and with the stormy weather from yesterday I thought they might not show themselves for a while. But, there they were. I love the depth I feel when I look at them. They ground me and during these times of crazy craziness I'll take any opportunity to find the ground.

Not only did the stars add to my joy for the day but my swap group arrived in my e-mail! Yaaaaay! A few of them have sites and after checking them out I am even more excited about being a part of this fun little homemade gift giving and receiving...take a peek for yourself:

cplush - prints, collage and little jewels inbetween. fabulous.
sewpink - she knits and that impresses me.
blackdaisies - I'm particularly fond of this recent post.
jennalou - creates all sorts of fabric totes and accessories, I like the Eliza Jane Handbag in her little shop.

blustery day in Portland.

I've been in overdrive since leaving the bed this morning and by the looks of my calendar this will continue for the rest of the week. BUT! I was still able to get out my little camera and snap a few shots (the two with the raindrops were while driving...serious multitasking). Let's see if I can keep this up!

five good things about today.

• breakfast. yum! consisted of two pieces of toasted multi-grain bread we picked up here and had left over from dinner last night. oooh...and a fresh brewed hot cup full or two of black coffee (I'm one of those individuals whose morning personality arrives in a mug, generally black and freshly brewed, although sometimes in the form of a hot frothy soy latte). my husband on the other hand has enough personality for the two of us no coffee needed. this makes for some interesting mornings. ;)


• spent the greater part of the morning brainstorming with my love on where we should go on vacation over christmas break AND eventually managed to agree and share mutual excitement on where that is. decided location is currently on hold and pending flight confirmation but will be revealed soon.


• enjoyed taking her for a walk:

• made progress on building our holiday cards AND solidified my idea for the ornaments I will be making for the swap. VERY excited about this accomplishment!


• still have some time left to bury my nose in my current reading, which, was listed as one of her favorites and given how fabulous miss hula is I decided to try it. I'm thrilled I did and that's why it's my #5 for today. good stuff!

I'm glad I put some effort into that little reflection....I felt like I spent too much time playing cat and mouse with the blaaah of today so definitely needed this.

here we go, go, go...

I’ve known for the past month that I wanted to get my blog going and have been back and forth and all around on how to get it started. Pressure people, pressure! First coming up with an address and name and then combing through recent journal writings to find something that would be a good first entry. Writing and combing; writing and combing. THEN thinking and thinking about how to create a nice little banner with my non photoshop, non apple, non creative computer. Do I wait for Christmas and ask for a photoshop package from Santa? Do I wait for my 30th birthday in February because I’ll certainly have some great story to tell then? Just a few of the questions that have been fogging my blog craving brain. Then it happened…I was doing my usual reading of my favorite blogs and came across this – the holiday ornament swap. OH, how I want to participate in this swap. Really, really want. So I’m reading through the instructions and come to the point where I’ll need to send my name, address, e-mail and … uh-oh … blog. Hmmm. AND…must submit my entry before midnight EST on Friday, November 9, 2007. That is JUST what I needed…a deadline! I went to yoga that evening and connecting in to the energy that is yoga for me realized the key. I need to do this blog, not for the most creative banner or best first impression entry. I need to do this for the sake of doing. Just like my yoga practice. Figure it out and just DO it. Do it for the practice as it will get better and easier, yet, more complex and interesting over time; and do it for me. So, with that, here we go, go, go…