l love this time of year

Nicole Hill Gerulat

I had the opportunity to take a beginners photography class from Nicole about a year ago. The class made a huge difference for me, and now she is based in San Francisco and doing a little traveling around teaching her classes is soon going to offer online classes! Read more about them here.

Before Nicole's class:


After:

hope

Oh how I hope these wonderful people can succeed in bringing back the Polaroid in all it's glory. Read all about it here:

"ENSCHEDE, the Netherlands — In this small town just across the border from Germany, a small group of Dutch scientists and one irrepressible Austrian salesman have dedicated themselves to the task of reinventing one of the great inventions of the 20th century — Polaroid’s instant film." -via NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/technology/26polaroid.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

the reeces circa 1995

Aw, thanks Facebook for allowing pictures like this to magically resurface after 14 years.
And just ten short years later . . .

memorial day sale

only 56 days left

I am beyond excited! And I am a HUGE nerd.

Baby Hank Vintage

Thanks to YHO I found this delightful vintage baby shop (hosted by Etsy of course.) All their little outfits are adorable with a price to match. Check them out here.

we're a little behind

This was a great movie as I am sure many of you know. I think it proved a very important point . . . Brad Pitt is hot at any age.

4 years

We have loved every minute of it!

something to look at

here's to more happiness

If you haven't been over to The Rockstar Diaries to see all the happiness you need to! Reading all these happiness lists just makes me think of more things that make me happy, and honestly who doesn't need more happy?!

1. old books with amazing covers
2. left over aloo gobi
3. early morning silence
4. new underwear/socks
5. bare feet on grass after a long winter
6. nutella
7. smell of fresh basil
8. my grandmothers jewelry
9. libraries
10. Mr. Reece

Guest Blogger: The Great Miss Kristin Green

I decided tonight that I am going to start featuring some of my favorite blogs on this blog, mostly because I feel that my writing has much to be desired (which is why I post SO many pictures.) When I read this post by my dear friend of 25 years I laughed so hard I cried and I just wanted to share her quick wit and warmth on my blog.

Kristin Green of the blog London Fog


Fiasco Averted

I was stewing over my consumer ethics essay on my laptop today when I inadvertently spilled an entire glass of water all over my keyboard. I'm pretty certain that my eyes were almost bulging out of their sockets I was so freaked out that I had caused irreparable damage to my dear, sweet lappy.

I immediately picked up lappy and flipped it upside down to let all the water drain out over the rest of my soaking papers and journal articles that were quickly crinkling and curling up. I didn't care. All I cared about was for there to be some kind of miracle that would rescue my laptop. I delicately set my laptop upside down on my bed while I proceeded to say a prayer. A real heartfelt prayer. I even knelt down and clasped my hands together. After the prayer I curled up on the bed next to my laptop and just thought of ways I could help the water's exit strategy, you know, just in case it was finding it difficult.

I thought of just letting it be, let God work his magic. Then I saw my blow-dryer sitting majestically on the nightstand, just lying there beckoning me closer to its shiny black handle. If bathed in water then bathing my laptop in blazing waves of heat couldn't harm it anymore than it probably already was. I viewed it as a kind of baptism to bring the dead back to life. I grabbed the handle with my one free hand and while lying down, laptop overhead, just pretended I was styling a cute hairdo for lappy. I turned the hair-dryer off after a minute and gave lappy a rest for another minute or so before blasting the keys again with waves of intense heat.

While I did a few more rotations of this, I thought of some of my recent memories with blow-dryers. A few years ago I lost a good chunk of my hair when I attempted to dry my hair like 'professionals' do. It always looked like hair stylists would shove the nozzle of the dryer right up to my head, but no, that was the brush. Had I only known that before I gave myself an impromptu buzz cut. Another memory was when a friend and I were making dough for Fruit Pizza. We used a hair-dryer to melt butter we forgot to soften before plopping it into a batter of raw eggs and sugar. We actually thought this was one of our better ideas. While enjoying the finished product with other friends we gloated about our smarts. Needless to say, no one really appreciated it like we did. In fact, some couldn't even bring themselves to eat any Fruit Pizza because we used a hair-dryer. It really is beyond me why anyone would discriminate against using a hair-dryer in the kitchen. In retrospect, I do believe we partly cooked the eggs in the process of melting the butter. Oh, and did I mention that I'm a budding domestic goddess?

Mmm, yes.

Well. After wielding the power of the almighty hair dryer and after a few more prayers I gingerly typed away. It was working! And it wasn't 'just' working. It was as if nothing amiss had ever happened! Hallelujah! God is great! Bless the hair-dryer! Freaking bless!

let it be

You know those movies that you love and then you forget about them, and then they are on T.V. and you become re-obsessed? Well Across the Universe is just such a film for me. I had completely forgotten about these scenes. And why is it that Gospel choirs make all songs just that much more amazing?

a good magazine

always does the trick for me, and most of all a good food mag can pretty much make my day. I love a magazine that inspires you to cook, one that the photos are so amazing you just have to try out a new recipe. Donna Hay (thanks to Nicole for introducing me to Donna) and Gourmet are my absolute favorites. Both food mags have the similarity of delicious, clean, interesting food that has everything to do with bringing loved ones together. Which is one of the best reasons to eat in my opinion, and since I come from a family that needs no special occasion to stuff our selves silly (hooray it's Tuesday lets eat!) These mags are right up my alley.

Photo courtesy Anna Bauer v. Gourmet magazine

Photo courtesy Chris Court v. Donna Hay magazine issue 43