Notes from the Something

Breakin' out!

Anyone who knows me will tell you I don't have style. No, scratch that. Everyone has a style - mine is just.... not. Basically if it's pink or sparkly, I like it, if it's not, I don't. Why yes, I AM a 4 year old girl, how could you tell? I buy most of my clothes at Old Navy, Gap, Target, and Express, because I know I can trust their stuff to look good. I wear some variation of jeans and a t-shirt most days, or a funky skirt with a plain tank top or t because I want to be different and that's the *safe* way to do it LOL! But I'm comfy and happy, so who cares? Exactly.

My photographic style is getting a bit ho-hum as well. I see photographers like Tara Whitney or the Kaisers (she's only 25 and he's 28 and they are FREAKING AWESOME!), doing things that I would DELETE immediately and making it look really freaking cool, so I decided to try some new stuff. 

This week in photography class, Allison was teaching us about environmental portraiture -- using your subject's environment to make the portrait say more. One aspect of this is what she calls "partial portraiture" so I decided to give it a try, along with some cool pre-sunset lighting effects. I wasn't sure if I got anything good, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found these on my camera!

By the way, special thanks to Baby Girl for being such an AWESOME model! We both love it so it's a win-win-win :)

This is the one I submitted for homework -- it's WAY out of the comfort zone but I like it! 

I wish she was in focus instead of the chain! I still like it though. 

Whoa! Holy flare blowout, Batman!

I totally planned to have that thing behind her perfectly framing her, I swear ;)

I gave this one an antique effect because it was blurry but I LOOOOVE the flare!! Does it work?

Ok, ok, I'm done for now. 

Tip for aspiring photographers: Shoot, shoot, shoot, SHOOT, and then shoot some more!! Don't be afraid to play and mix it up a little! Or a lot! you will learn so much more by DOING than by thinking. Ask me how I know. 

And of course, never forget the first 2 hard and fast rules of photography:

1) Turn the camera on.

2) Take the lens cap off. 

Have a great weekend!

Ain't he cute?

This is Dan:

He's my sweetie. He's smart, funny, tall, strong, has a sexy British accent, and a cute butt ;) -- sorry, no photos of that one (yet). We met, as you know, at a waterfall in Laos. This waterfall, to be exact:

Actually, if you want to get REALLY specific, it was the swimming hole at the waterfall:

(Forgive the poor quality photos (hee hee I wrote "poo quality" - indeed.) -- but I think you get the idea. Un-freaking-real!)

He was with some peeps he met in Vietnam - an Australian brother and sister, and they all ended up in a taxi-van-thingy with two English guys, an American girl and guy, and an Aussie girl, or "Sheila". Actually, her name's Lucy. I went on my own with some boring-ass people from a van my guesthouse got for me... my guesthouse with the hot pink panda sheets and the mattress on the floor - it rocked. I started chatting with the American girl, she introduced me to everyone, and that was that! Love at first sight.

Well, not exactly. My first sight of him was standing knee-deep in the swimming hole water, shivering, glaring white chest and shoulders a stark contrast to the blazing red of his upper arms and face - and I hadn't even SEEN the sock lines yet! His first impression of me after that was me talking about how cute I am (I'm a Leo. Once you get to know me, you'll love me, I promise). I told him to suck it up and jump in.

I was really psyched to meet a group of people to hang out with, so I let myself be convinced (ordered, if you want to get technical) to join them in their taxi home. On the hour ride back to Luang Prabang, I noticed that the blonde British guy was a lot cuter with a shirt on and not shivering. And he really listened to me when I talked. And he had a cute butt (did I mention that already?). We all went to dinner, we all went bowling, we all got way-hay-haysss-ted.... and the rest, as they say, is history.

It was supposed to be a travel fling -- he was moving to Australia, I was moving to Europe. But as the hours and days passed, we both started to realize we wanted more. He started joking that I should come to Australia, and I started joking that I WOULD come to Australia.... and then we both got serious, and I DID go to Australia. And the story is only beginning...

Damn, I love that boy.

Where I go to talk about photography...

I just have to throw in a plug for the awesome forums at Clickin' Moms... I was searching for a place to talk photography where I wouldn't be totally overwhelmed and intimidated all the time, because many photography forums are just way too pro for me (or at least they WERE when I was starting out), and this is the perfect balance of experienced, super-talented ladies and people just starting out. And it's mainly all children's photography, which of course I just love!

Head over and check it out!

Crafting like it's my JOB.

Because until recently, it was about all I had to keep me busy! I keep saying I am going to post craft projects when I finish up just the last few things... and then new things start, and it's a never-ending cycle. So I am just going to stop right here and post some crafty updates!

~I got my first order of fabrics from the co-op -- yum!! A lot of Farmer's Market by Sandi Henderson... she's great! My style, but different enough to be sophisticated. I see many more purchases from her line in the future! And they're all coordinated so it's a breeze to pick ones that go together! I can't wait to get some of her patterns and start playing! I ordered Gracie and Claire. I am so glad Jenny's having a girl!

~I made a "tags" blankie for the Meatball... I never understood them until I saw him in his crib one night, sucking on the tag of his stuffed animal. He also loves to suck on straps and strings and ribbons. Now, don't tell anyone you saw this, or the Taggie Police will come get me... but it's just for personal use so I might be safe ;). I was going to buy this cute, semi-generic light blue with jungle animals, and then I saw these ADORABLE MONKEYS!! And the green for the flip side and ribbons to match! Look at me, color-coordinating all by myself! The yellow ribbon is grosgrain for some texture variation.

~I offered some necklaces in Hogwarts colors as a prize for the House Cup, and I just finally got my act together to make them. I did a Slytherin, but I have no pics of that one :(, and a Ravenclaw (woot!). I am not usually a blue-n-bronze gal but I really like this! There has been some interest in a tutorial so I will be posting that soon. 

~And of course, the knitting!! Get ready for a collective "awwww!"... are these the sweetest? I swear, blocking is magic. These things were floppy blobs when I finshed knitting them, but a little water and some paper towels stuffed inside and they're good to go! 

Saartje's Booties the Bockstark way, Patons Grace (pink) and Rowan Handknit Cotton (green). The same yarn is going into a Ballerina Wrap sweater to match!

(Side note: I was just assigning categories to this post and in between "She's crafty" and "Sticks & String" is "Sports". Which is humorous enough, but it reminded me of the Yarn Harlot's idea that knitting is neither an art nor a craft... it's a sport, which tempted me to classify it as such.)

Let's see, what else... have I shown you the project bags?? Love 'em! 

~I made 3 in various sizes and I already need more! I am SO over ziplocs LOL!

Enough! Next time, much more knitting -- April was my "Finish Up UFO's" month and I got SO. much. done!! 

New gig.

I am starting my new job tonight! My career path has been.... somewhat erratic, to say the least... but I always come back to childcare. As a teenager, I had a babysitting empire in my neighborhood, took a break to waitress/bartend for a few years but ended up babysitting again for Michael, the L's, and the H's (see below). Even while I was teaching, I babysat and tutored after school and in the summer. I just love it. I just love connecting with families and spending time with all different kids, and learning about them and figuring out how they tick. And I'm damn good at it... it's the only job I've ever loved every aspect of, and not coincidentally it's the only job I've ever been really commended for how I do it. Actually that's not true-- when I was teaching all the parents and kids loved me, it was just the administrators who didn't. So I think I just really need to be self-employed.

Anyway, nanny-ing is the perfect thing to do when you travel! It's easy to find work, it's a flexible schedule, it pays cash, you don't have to have work visa... I mean, umm, so I've heard ;).... and you can do it anywhere! When I was in Australia I worked for 3 lovely families, and when I was home in the summer/fall I was a full time live-in for Chloe and Sam (you've seen their pics before!). Another great perk-- it comes with food! and lodging, if you want it.

Speaking of which, quick funny story -- this is how random my life is! I had babysat for Sam for 2 years and was lined up to work for them when I came home from Australia. Steph said she would pass my info along to her friend K, who is Australian, but I was like, It's a BIG country -- the odds that anyone she still knows in Australia would be living near us and need a babysitter are practically zero! Except they weren't -- K's sister from London was visiting her parents, with her 2 ADORABLE kiddos, in Melbourne, WALKING DISTANCE from our apartment. I don't make this stuff up. So that was my first Australian babysitting job. Moral of the story: NEVER underestimate word of mouth. 

So even though I am almost 28 and WAY overqualified, I work as a nanny. Tonight, I start my new job as a NIGHT NANNY *eek* for SWEET 5 month old twin girls. I am excited -- I am a night owl anyway, so the idea of being up late rocking babies back to sleep is no big deal, and I'll have my days free to hit the beach, if I'm not too exhausted. And they are my kind of people -- nursing, babywearing, not letting them cry, etc.

I'll keep you up to date on how it goes!! And of course, post some pics... I am hoping I get some daytime hours with them, they are just too precious to resist!

File under: WTF??

Free Viagra for the Unemployed - because you need something to do if you're not working!

Some new photos...

I am REALLY getting into this photography thing! Especially since the weather is now nice enough to go outside! I was babysitting the other night -- I know, I know,  it's pretty pathetic that I still babysit but hey, money's money and I have fun -- for T & K, who I've been taking care of since they were 2 and 4 mos, respectively. This is them then (How many th- words can you put in a sentence? Maybe it was Thursday!), at about 3 and 1:

These are unedited (cropped a bit) from my old camera, my Olympus... how I loved that camera!! It got stolen out of my car or else I'd still be using it, in all it's 4 mp glory. My friend Andrew at the camera shop told me that digital cameras have really gone downhill since the beginning because all people care about is how big the screen is, not about lens quality. Anyway, now I have a DSLR and I love it! But that was a lovely camera. 

So here are some pics from this past weekend -- look how much they've GROWN! I know it's a lot of photos but I just LOVE how they came out!! That sweet sunset light... rockin'!

Ooo, I am not loving how pale and washed out Typepad is making these pictures look!! 

This one has awesome color in real life. At least I think it does LOL, my monitor's not calibrated.

Just a little artsy shot - I SWEAR these look way better on my computer. Sigh.