Philly Steak Sunrise

I'm still in a hotel in New Jersey but my view is of Philadelphia, this 3 hour time difference in the morning is difficult on my lazy bones.  However, I was welcomed to the day by this awesome sunrise, thank-you Lady Sun!  I was so groggy and sleepy until I opened my window to see this beautiful gift from nature.  Not much more to say about it...I just feel happy to have taken the moment to look.


I hope your mornings are equally joyful...

Priceless

I love it when people surprise me.  Tonight I told my friend, Val, about a series I'm working on for my thesis project and before I knew it, she was willingly jumping into a bubble bath, in her business suit, for me!  It is really amazing how happy people are to help you, all you have to do is ask (or in this case, you don't even need to ask!).  Strangers are included...I can't tell you how many strangers I have asked to take their picture and I've NEVER had anyone say no.  How cool is that?  It's a real lesson in life, if you approach someone with sincerity and kindness they will usually give it back to you.  It's priceless!


In this photo, Bathtub Office, my subject is a woman who is working in her office but daydreaming about being home, in a bubble bath relaxing.  She is mentally escaping from her reality and happily enjoying her moment alone.  I'm peeking into her daydream, sharing but not disturbing her moment of zen.

Welcome to Philly

My blog writing days have faced their first challenge and so far, so good!  I'm on the road (first challenge) and classes start tomorrow (second challenge) and I'm still doing it! Yay!  I'm in NJ actually (flew into Philly) and I'm blogging from my hotel room (which you may or may not see over the next few days).  I am obsessed with the "posterize" feature on PS and love the effect, as you can see here.  I actually came up with a cool idea on my flight here...a photog treasure hunt!  I thought it would very cool to create a list of things you must photograph in the span of a month (or so)...the list can have things such as "airplane bathroom sink" (which I did photograph on my way here but this turned out better) or "gas station circa 1980 or earlier" you get my idea...and the first person to complete the list wins!  Wins...um...fame and glory, yes that's it!  Anyway, I thought it would be fun, anyone interested?  

Anyway, back to today's shot.  As I mentioned earlier, I love photographing line and this is one example of line--the way these luggage carts are stacked.  I just love looking at the row of them for some reason.  They soothe me in a weird way.  I like the way they fit together in such an orderly way, like a hand in a glove.  Does anyone else dig line?  Or am I just a freak?  :)

Ice Cream Man

One of my favorite childhood memories was chasing the ice cream truck around my mid-west neighborhood (for what seemed like miles) all summer.  That tinny sounding carnival music still brings back those memories of grabbing all the change I could find and racing out the door with the rest of the neighborhood kids and finding the elusive ice cream man.  I saw this ice-cream man today and couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a shot.  To most of you, it might seem strange for someone to be selling ice-cream in January but not in the desert!  It was hot and sunny today and I honestly think this is where they go off-season to work.  This particular truck made me giggle because it was marked "El Mexicano Ice Cream" and everything was in Spanish.  I was in the Latino area of town so it wasn't surprising, just funny that we are all the same in spite of our differences.  The kids were just as choosy too--they made him pull out 3 different items for their approval before they chose one (when we were kids we took anything he handed us, I'm sure).  I admit that I'm guilty of shielding my daughter from the ice-cream truck because I make an effort to grab her and run in the house when I hear the tell-tale music.  Is she being robbed of a magical childhood experience?  Nah, this kid just made homemade ice-cream last week with Dad.  She probably wouldn't even like the "hyper stripe," "double king neapolitan" or "banana blast pop" anyway...right?  Is anyone else guilty of this?

Friendship

There's just something magical about your first best friend.  You share a sparkle in your eye, a sense of adventure, a will to be amazingly different--together and it's the first time you really love someone who is not your relative.  These are the years when you aren't afraid to do anything, you live in your own, wonderful world that grown-ups can't even imagine and you dream about places you plan to go "tomorrow."  You make potions, create masterpieces, play games and run a lot...life couldn't be better in this moment.  What a fabulous time for a friend to share your ideas with and an even better time for a mom to watch it all and remember her own best friend moments.  It fills me with so much joy to watch my daughter play with her best friend exactly the way I used to play with mine...that is something technology will never change because it can't be improved upon, it's perfect just like it is.

Concrete Statues

I walk past these giant concrete slabs every week and today it just struck me that they are reminiscent of the famous Easter Island statues.  I liked them the moment I saw them because I'm obsessed with line and form anyway and I've been planning a shoot at this location but it's really fun to compare these eyesores with something incredible and larger than life...makes them even more appealing.  This is akin to comparing a pepper to a nude body (thinking about Edward Weston), what it is about this phenomenon that intrigues us?  I often look at trees and imagine them as human figures (I'm sure that comes from a childhood fear of the evil trees in the Wizard of Oz) but lately I've been wanting to shoot curvy bodies among trees to show the relationship between humans and nature.  I'm not sure if there's a name for this genre of work but it really appeals to me and it can make something as ugly as a row of concrete look like something beautiful.  Take a look at your surroundings and see if you can compare something very average to something wonderful.  Then smile.

note:  I pulled the Easter Island image from google images, don't know who took it, sorry!

Playground in the Sky

Contrails make me happy because I know that someone up there is smiling down while I'm smiling up!  As I took my daily walk with my friend, Mary, I had to stop to admire the dozens of horizontal lines that danced in the blue sky above us.  I told her that it was a playground in the sky and some people were having fun today!  The sky was FULL of them and we could hear a random jet flying by as we walked.  I lamented that I wished I had brought my camera but something about the clunky Canon bouncing off my chest as I power walk just doesn't appeal to me...so I brought out the camera as soon as I got home.  The dozens of lines weren't as easy to capture from my new vantage point but this one just thrilled me!  It makes me think of Snoopy as the Red Baron flying across the sky with Woodstock in tow.  I love the electric look of the smoke as it fades away.  There she goes...awesome!  It's funny to look around and wonder if anyone else notices these things or if they ever look up at all?  It's really cool up there--check it out, it's a playground in the sky!

Personal Challenges

This post might seem a bit scatterbrained but stick with me...smile!  First off, I want to show you the difference between a photograph take in full auto and that same photograph that has been corrected in Photoshop to fix the color cast.  That's one heck of a difference, isn't it?  Can you imagine how much better your images would look if you either shot in manual and learned how to master your white balance or corrected them in PS afterwards?  Amazing...one of my personal challenges is to master white balance--I'm getting better but I am still working on the manual white balance setting.  I wish Macintosh would build a camera that was as easy as their computers, dang.

My inspiration today was cooking the family meal.  This is something I do almost every day and it truly is a labor of love.  I enjoy feeding people in general (I swear there is a little Italian Momma inside me somewhere among the Swedes, Norwegians and Germans!) so cooking is something I enjoy.  However, I tend to make this daily task more challenging than it probably should be by finding new recipes and diving into my cookbooks for something that might inspire me.  When I lived in Europe it was perfectly acceptable to eat a rotisserie chicken, potatoes, carrots and fresh bread 4 nights a week.  I never thought twice about it because it was so delicious and fresh.  Am I over complicating the daily meal or do we all do that?  Do I really need so many cookbooks (no) do I love them all (yes)?!  I think simplicity should be my next personal challenge...for now, I'll stick with perfecting my photography, cooking more and thinking less and sticking with one train of thought when I write!  What are your personal challenges? 

Pet Peeves

Fewer things bother me more than lazy people.  Why has this phenomenon of leaving your cart in the parking lot that has become socially acceptable?  I still get acid stomach when I recall sitting in my car,  in a Walmart parking lot (my first mistake), gleefully looking over a huge pack of pictures I had printed when a grocery cart rolled into my car so fast I didn't have time to react and dented my car in 3 places.  I was so angry that I jumped out of my car and looked for the perp, I was 9 months pregnant and in a rage.  There she was, Barbie in her white Bronco.  She saw me waving my fist at her and all she did was shrug her shoulders and drive away, really, Barbie?  Is that how you treat an angry prego?  My car was only a year old and not a scratch on it...but I was more upset by Barbies lack of concern and more importantly, lack of responsibility.  Unreal.  It's been over 6 years since that moment and I still get fired up about it...wow...you think I should let it go yet?  I am sure I will as soon as people start PUTTING THEIR CARTS AWAY PROPERLY!  Geez!  And, when I get rid of that stupid car that I hate now.

On a funny side note...while I was shopping in Trader Joe's today, I met a psychic who wanted to read my palm (crazy, huh?), among other things she told me that I had a very low tolerance for stupidity and it was getting worse as I got older, HA!  She was right!  I should have made an appointment with her for another reading, this woman is gooooood!

Good Things

Let's see, how many of my favorite things can I capture in one shot?  Today, it was 4...memories of Florence with this espresso cup I bought in the market, coffee beans that smell like my version of what heaven will smell like (when it doesn't smell like fresh cookies or hyacinth flowers), sunflowers and (of course) photography!  What a pleasant image for a lazy Sunday afternoon.  It's amazing how powerful imagery can be, it can relax the mind, soothe you, make those angry wrinkles in your forehead relax a bit and even make you smile without thinking.  There's nothing better than catching yourself smiling--I love that too!  I'm doing it now...your turn!

Location Shoot

What a fun afternoon!  I spent it in Nelson, NV shooting with a couple other shutterbugs.  I met a photographer at a Smug Mug Meet-Up and she offered to show me and another girl this fantastic location for shooting photos today.  It was incredibly generous of her to share one of her favorite spots and even more generous to bring along a friend to model for us!  I just love shooting old, weird things and a bullet hole in an old truck fit the bill for me.  We shot right around sunset so the lighting was gorgeous and the place was an absolute plethora of weirdness...LOVED IT!  Can't wait to go back.  I had a difficult time choosing my image for today because there were so many neat shots but this one really spoke to my style.  If you haven't explored your own surroundings--do it!  You never know what you might find...your bullet hole awaits!

Allison:  ISO 100, 1/60, f3.2 (used my 24-75mm lens--this was taken at 45mm) with AWB.  :)

Fireworks

Life is full of fireworks, let them shine in you and they will light up the world around you.  You can see them in a sparkler or in a sunset.  You can feel them in your belly when you're in love, or in your heart when you are happy.  Enjoy these moments and hold them close because they are the ones that will get you through the less sparkly times.  Let your fireworks shine so bright that they outshine the darkness.  Sometimes you have to give them a little flame to get them started...but once they do, they are BRILLIANT!  Enjoy the fireworks in your life and in the lives of everyone you love.

Life in Suburbia

I long for a day when we live in a place surrounded by grass and trees.  I want to allow my child to open the front door without putting the fear of God in her that a stranger might harm her.  I wish the neighbors didn't close the garage door behind them when they drove in, in an effort to avoid all social interaction.  I want pretty birds to eat at our bird feeder, not fat pigeons.  I want to wave to my neighbors instead of hide behind a 6 foot tall cinder block wall.  I want a view.

For today, this is my suburbia.  I live in a fishbowl with lots of other fish who look just like me.  They live in stucco houses and have the same trees planted in the rocks in front of their houses.  They keep their windows closed and doors locked and they never knock on the door and ask to borrow anything.  It's a desaturated version of the life I long for...when you open the door of my rented home in suburbia it's warm and welcoming.  It smells good and there are smiley faces to greet you.  It's a happy, loving home...the colors are rich and vibrant, it's nice in my nest.  But, when I walk out the door...the colors fade again and everything becomes muted...it's ok, but that's it. 

Just Do It!

If you feel like shooting something but don't think you have time to leave the house, I bet you can find something right in your own kitchen!  Quit making excuses and just do it!  Here's a shot I took in mine...can you smell that basil?  I know tomatoes are not in season (and according to my book "French Women Don't Get Fat" I shouldn't even be bothering with them right now) but, I love them...even if they are not at their peak!  I guess I'm not French.  I really played around with this shot tonight.  I shot in auto, manual, Canon's "creative auto" mode (which I like), manual and auto focus and then I arranged and rearranged the items about 4 different ways before settling on this one.  I actually cropped out my kitchen rooster (who was going to be the focus of my post--c'est la vie!).  In case you are wondering (and if you are, I made a composition error), the "thing" behind the tomatoes is a brochen and not a potato.  Oops.  I guess the whole point here is to have fun with your subjects, play with your camera and enjoy the process as much as the product.  For my dear friend, Allison, this shot was taken on a manual setting (1/40, 2.8, 1000 ISO, I adjusted the white balance to tungsten light and I used my 50mm 1.4mm lens) -- no flash, of course. So, dust off your beloved camera and walk around your house for some inspiration and go crazy!  Then have a snack, bon appetit!

Art or Graffiti?

Is graffiti art?  Is it art if it is executed exceptionally well or is it still just graffiti...or, is it graffiti art?  I know that my conservative Grandfather would have said, "It's all vandalism."  I'm one of those people that have complete double standards when it comes to "graffiti art" because when I view something I think looks like it took real talent (and is not pornographic) I think it's quite artful; however, when it's really crude or looks like a scribble on a building, I think it's vandalism.  Now, don't get me wrong, I have a genuine appreciation for crude and pornographic art...but I don't want to drive by it with my kid staring out the window asking me questions.  

I found a very cool website called Graffiti Art (http://www.graffiti.org/) that hosts many photos of graffiti art from around the world.  I found many of them just amazing and wondered if other people found them equally impressive or just scoffed them as paint sprayed illegally across a public building.  Another fascinating site is called Environmental Graffiti (http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/35-greatest-works-of-reverse-graffiti/1949) and here they show off "works of public art" that people created by using "green" cleaning products to create images on public places.  It's quite clever but is it art?  What do you think?  Since this image was taken in the Arts District in Las Vegas, I think it's appropriately placed and I kind of dig it.

Bloke on a Wire

In preparation for his trek through the Himalayas this Spring, my hub is performing all sorts of strange exercises...walking across our yard on an overpriced piece of fabric is one of them.  For the record, this is much harder than it looks, and is supposed to improve your stability.  I much rather watch him do it while I sip wine and shoot him.  What I find exhilarating is the fact that someone nearly 40 years old is still pushing himself physically, emotionally and spiritually.  He embodies so many qualities that lead to an ageless lifestyle.  It's inspiring to be around someone so motivated and disciplined, this makes me strive to set goals and achieve them.  Surrounding yourself with positive people really rubs off on you if you let it.  If you have friends or family that pull you down because of their own negative outlook or poor choices, either pull them up or walk away.  It feels good...like feng shui for the mind and heart.  My bloke inspires me and I hope I can watch him walking on air for the rest of my days.

The Project

Do you have a project that remains stuffed in a box, a drawer or in a pile or in your garage?  Well, I assume this guy does because, like Erik's Groovy Grooming Machine, I drive past this eyesore about 3 times a week and wonder if his wife made him get this thing out of their driveway.  It's parked in a public lot but adjacent to a 55+ community (in the same parking lot as my grocery store) so I am guessing it's some old guys hot rod that his wife (or neighbor) got sick of looking at and forced him to park it elsewhere.  That is funny to me for several reasons, first, I love that someone loved this "thing" enough to park it somewhere permanently (it's been there for a year at least), I also love that it's tacky and probably worthless to anyone else (it's painted gold and the windows are very sun damaged), and I also love that they were defiant enough to keep it.  Why are we all so preoccupied with each others silly hobbies and wants?  Sometimes it's the most inconsequential thing that makes us happy (an old car for instance) so just let it go for goodness sakes.  Let them have their stupid, old rust bucket and be happy!  I also wonder what my "old, rust bucket" is and if it bothers my spouse.  I know he hates clutter and although I have become quite a minimalist in home design, I still have my piles of crap here and there (like 5 year old magazines I can't bear to part with).  What's yours?  My friend, Mary, makes jewelry and she has a whole box of what she calls "UFOs" or "unfinished objects" (apparently, everyone who makes jewelry has these) and I can completely relate to the UFO problem.  I once kept a cross-stitch project for 10 years thinking I'd eventually finish it...I didn't and felt so free when I finally threw that thing away.  So, what projects do you have and are they worth keeping...and why?  These are things that make me go hmmm....

ADMIN NOTE:  I just made it possible for anyone to make anonymous comments.  I'd love to hear from you and learn about what's on your mind.  :)  You no longer have to sign in to leave a comment, just please be respectful of my awesome friends and keep it clean.  Thank you!!!

No Edits Required

Meet Hannah.  She is a gregarious, beautiful, tough little cookie whom I had the pleasure of photographing today.  I can't lie, family photos scare the crap out of me--so much pressure to get that perfect shot, make them look blissfully happy like a pleasant fiction novel...but it was easy today because of this lovely face.  Her smile is contagious and her attitude is equally brilliant!  I'm loving her today!  Her older brother is equally photogenic with those amazing blue eyes but her innocence was truly captured best today.  What a huge rebound from my uninspired photo yesterday, yay!

Thanks for making it easy, Hannah!  No edits required.

Reality Check

Sometimes you just can't pull it off...tonight was my reality check.  I was so prepared to take a sweet shot in a casino, lugged my camera and 2 lenses to dinner (was made fun of for carrying my "luggage" to the restaurant by a friend) and pulled out my camera to take a shot when I was told (by my smart camera) after pressing the shutter, "no card."  Insert expletive here.  

So, with an hour to spare (before my self-imposed midnight deadline) I ran around the house (with a wine buzz) looking for some inspiration.  I not only chose to take this uninspired photo, I took it badly.  It is terribly under exposed, there's an ugly color cast, the white balance is off, the crop is weird, but the worst of all is that the photo is meaningless.  I love this blue bowl because my Great Grandmother gave it to me and I love these candies because I bought them in Italy but seriously, the shot means nothing.  Lesson learned...for now.  Sometimes, you just have to have these reality checks to do better next time!  A great shot will be posted tomorrow.  

Please feel free to post one of your crappy (or fabulous) shots if you feel the urge.  Just be sure to tell me why YOU think it's crappy because I might just love it!  :D

If These Chairs Could Talk...

It's less than 30 minutes before the show starts and the chairs remain empty...but oh the stories they could tell if they could.  These red chairs have probably seen it all (especially since they are in Las Vegas).  I wonder how many people kissed in these chairs, or fought in them, or watched their team win in them, or watched their favorite performer from them?  I wonder...how many stories these red chairs could share if they could...how many people switched seats to avoid sitting in the #13 seat, or how many people switched in hopes of sitting in #13 (my friend Teaka would)?  How many kids saw their first crush singing from these seats or how many "girls night out" events took place in them?  I guess the nice thing is that everyone who sat in them, all of the millions of butts that occupied these dirty red chairs are all connected in some way.  That's pretty cool.  If life were a movie, we could rewind to see who sat in the same chair years prior and maybe it was someone we know now or are married to now or were married to once or just shared a moment together...or someday will?  Who knows, but it would be cool to hear the stories.  For tonight, they played host to thousands of yodeling children at Toy Story 3 On Ice and I'm exhausted.

The Beauty in the Everyday

I once made the mistake of complaining to my friend about how frustrated I was at my daughter because she was incorrigible.  My friend had been undergoing fertility treatments and she and her husband had been trying to get pregnant unsuccessfully for years.  She gently responded by saying, "Kristin, I would trade 100 of your bad days with her for one of mine best days."  Of course I felt about as small as a worm and promised her I would never complain about my kid again (to her anyway).  Now I try (repeat TRY) to appreciate the simple things, the mundane moments in each day with my lovely family and try not to get too caught up in the rough patches.  We had a rough morning, it was filled with drama, tears and temper tantrums but it ended as it normally does, her at the table doing her homework and us putting her to bed, lovingly kissing her goodnight.  The beauty in the everyday is such a gift and one that I hope I always cherish.

PS. My friend has since been blessed with 2 healthy boys...one through IVF and the second was a surprise gift from God!

Baby Steps

Sometimes it takes baby steps to accomplish a goal and that's okay!  I took a one today as I volunteered to "gallery sit" at a local art gallery.  I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and into a place I once felt I didn't belong.  I rather enjoy the irony that the first exhibit I sat for is called "Garden of Eden."  How perfect, I thought, as I enjoyed both the art (photographs that mimicked Renaissance paintings of fruit) and feeling part of the art community all at once.  My photography started out as a dream to transition from one career into another--a career that is a complete departure from my last.  Now, I'm enjoying the journey and allowing myself to take these baby steps closer to accomplishing my dream rather than pressuring myself to rush into something.  It takes time to build confidence in what you do and it takes courage to put yourself out there for everyone to judge--reminds me of those naked stress dreams!  Only this time, I'm running around with my clothes on laughing!  What's your dream?

Cheap Thrills

Yes, my 5 year old's crayons are now what I consider a cheap thrill.  They serve as both a cheap thrill for her (she loves to show off her colorful creations) and for me (I love to photograph colorful things).  These are what I call the simple pleasures in life...not exactly akin to a cup of tea and a good book but simple nonetheless.  These worn crayons make me think of something a good friend told me, "you should have friends from age 7 - 70."  I completely agree with this wise statement because I truly find as much joy in email exchanges with my Great Auntie as I do in conversations with children.  This is evident when you see a grandparent playing with their grandchild in the park, each person is enjoying the moment equally and for very different reasons but the fact that they are together heightens the experience.  Find something and or someone to play with and have a good laugh soon!

So Much to Read and So Little Time!

So, how's you're reading list looking these days?  Here's my "book" list for January--my magazine list is a much taller stack with embarrassingly 1950's-esque titles, such as Good Housekeeping and Southern Living (I dream of Southern Living--I live in Las Vegas).  But isn't a stack of books, a comfy chair, a fireplace and a glass of wine inviting?  The problem is that I'm going to publish this post, grab my wine, sit on the opposing couch and turn on HGTV.  Why?  Because it's easier.  I'm considering canceling my cable TV...doesn't that sound terribly liberating?  It's VERY tempting...we'll see what tomorrow brings.  If that stack isn't tackled by Jan 30th, I'm going drastic!  Now if I could only develop a little self-discipline...hmmm.  I really need to work on that.

Finding Your Mojo

I

Every strong woman is empowered and fueled by her own version of mojo...she gets this from a variety of sources, she is a leader, she is beautiful, she is generous and kind, she is sexy and free, she is happy.  Unfortunately, some of us lose this inner feeling, this strength and it's all because we lose our mojo (it happens).  We feel less of who we once were.  When I turned 40 I felt more empowered, more beautiful, sexy and strong than I had ever felt before.  I put all my titles and roles to the side and put myself first again and in doing this, I found it...my mojo.  I'm happy to say that it's stronger than ever and I'm a better wife, mother, sister, daughter and friend because of it.  Here's me...and my mojo!  Find yours, hold it tight and keep it close!  You rock!

TGIF

It's wine time, yay!  There's nothing more fun than having wine delivered to your door on a Friday afternoon.  I feel inspired to share a poem from the great William Shakespeare (from Anthony and Cleopatra):

Come, thou monarch of the vine,
Plumpy Bacchus with pink eyne

In thy fats our cares be drown’d,
With thy grapes our hairs be crown’d!
Cup us till the world go round,
Cup us till the world go round!

Cheers, prost, skol, a votre sante, salud and clink clink and down the hatch, it's happy hour in my house!

Things that make you go hmmm...

I drive past this green machine at least 3 times each week and every time I wonder, who is Erik and what kind of Grooming does he do?  Why did he choose to paint his motor home this fantastic shade of green?  What's inside?  I want to know, but why do I want to know?  Who cares about Erik's cool, green, grooming machine anyway?  It's ALWAYS parked here, it never moves...does Erik groom from the truck or does he only drive around at night?  I'm so curious!  I guess all that really matters is that I love Erik's happy, green, machine and I hope it stays around for another year. 

New Beginnings

A friend gave me a calendar today entitled "New Beginnings" with the photo genius of Anne Geddes gracing each page.  Even though babies are not my "thing" (I only thought my own baby was adorable) I thought about the positive message these two words brought...new beginnings.  I've been watching too many documentaries on food, health and recently vanishing bees and have been a bit down on the government farming practices, lack of regulations and capitalism in general.  When I saw this winter rose in my backyard this morning my first thought was, "I wonder if the bee that pollinated this rose was healthy?"  I obsess about things like this when I have free time (and probably drive my hub nuts in the process) but it's like someone said once, "now that I know this, I can't unlearn it."  I'm sure I'll continue to educate myself on the horrors of mass farming, toxic chemicals in my childs lunches, the abundance of chlorine in my water and the unnecessary cruelty to animals but for today, I will focus on the simple beauty of something as wonderful and gentle as a pale pink rose.

Resolutions

Do you dread the new year or look forward to the opportunities it brings?  Do you commit to resolutions each year?  I'd much rather call resolutions "goals" instead.  Goals are attainable, they can be thought through and planned...resolutions are too hard and I'm often disappointed in myself for not following through.  So, one of my goals for this year is to get my studio up and running.  I'm going to start by ironing that horribly wrinkled muslin, learning how to use those new lights, and putting butts instead of a hat in that seat!  No matter what you call it, it's a chance to improve yourself in some way.  A door that has been opened just for you to make a change for the better, all you have to do is take a step inside, then another, then another...good luck with your resolutions!

What's Ahead?

Looking back, I can't help but wonder what's ahead?  There was a time I was naive enough to think I knew what to expect, I had a plan, I knew everything...I'm smart enough now to know what I don't know.  Last year brought some truly joyful moments but it was shadowed a bit by the loss of dear friends, grandmothers, and pets too.  Will this be the year I have to say good-bye to my furry companion?  She has been my shadow for the last 10 years, how can I imagine my life without her? I hope we skate through another year without any good-byes, but I also know that I just don't know...

Happy New Year!

Happy 2012!  My first image of the New Year is this lovely woman, a martini and a mustache...perfect!  It seems that strong women always have a masculine quality and this picture captures hers--she is very feminine but there is a devilish side to her that is displayed here in the form of this simple gesture.  Her eyes tell us that she is well aware of the subtle message, which makes this all the more fun to admire.  

I've always admired strong women.  My first idol was Wonder Woman (still LOVE her).  I loved the way she went from the meek secretary to kick-butt, tough (yet still very sexy) super hero.  She was my ultimate role model--I wanted to be her.   I think this image helps carry that grown up persona--a seemingly gentle lady at first glance with a bit of whimsy and wonder behind the mustache!