Body Slam!!

Lately my son, Oliver, has become a bit of a wrestle-maniac. His signature moves include The Armpit and The Toot (a small, but powerful fart timed for maximum effect). It seems that every time I pick him up, I'm getting treated to one of these. He's not feeling as gushy in the love department as he once was, instead asserting his big kid status as a 5 1/2 year old with a hug that quickly turns rowdy. However, this morning I woke up with a headache and a not so happy tummy (plus I stayed up late watching The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - take my word for it - it's icky), and I needed a little lovin' so I scooped him up, and said, "Come on, give me a good squeeze, because I need it and you're getting bigger, but you're still my little baby..." Not too desperate or dramatic, right? To which he responded with a nice big hug - then wrapped his arm around my face, armpit to nose, and said, "Take that, mama!"

Yummy

Yesterday was such a sweet, easy-going holiday. We all sat at the kid's table. We all ate wonderful food (or at least gave everything a try with "no-thank you bites"). We made stuff from scratch! And opened a few cans and boxes too. We all said our thankfuls, which of course for me included friends and family who were there with us, and those who were not, and for my camera being able to document our time together. Too bad I had my macro lens on and most of my pics are blurry and strangely orange. Oh well.

On the list for today - not getting up early to go Black Friday shopping. That whole concept has gotten way out of hand if you ask me. Unless etsy is in on it! Oh my, am I missing something? Also, we're going roller skating in a little while, and let me say I can't wait to see my hubby in a pair of those! Hopefully I can work off the thirds I took of the green bean casserole.

And Dave, that sweet potato souffle might just be my new birthday cake. Thank you!

Oh, I'm also participating in this fun little idea - a Thanksgiving Blog Hop, brought to you by Mortal Muses. Hop away!

Picture the Holi-daze!

So, I did it! I just signed up for Tracey Clark's Picture the Holidays class! Originally I was thinking that I'd be too busy for this class (and that may still be the case), but I figured I've learned so much taking her previous two, I should definitely give it a try and make this December one to remember! That is the case with the other months I've dedicated to her classes (July and October). Focusing on the prompts, picture assignments, and posting in the student gallery have made a huge difference in capturing and remembering the daily activities themselves. It should be fun, and I hope you think about doing it too! It starts next week!

I Want to Be Present!

Rocks the kids found at the beach this summer - cool, huh?

If anyone is wondering what to get me for Christmas this year (or Hanukkah - I'm not Jewish, but we can all feel the love), or if you happen to be a rich hippie benefactor who would love to sponsor me on a creative endeavor...have I got an idea for you! I just found out about the be present retreat happening next spring in my "backyard" - Manzanita, Oregon! Oh.my.gosh. This retreat is going to be a series of workshops centered around the theme of "Joy," and I'm wondering if it could get any sweeter than that?!

I don't know anything (yet) about polaroids or painting, but you can bet that I need to find my joy in the kitchen. Just look at that berry cobbler. If anyone asked me to whip up some whipped cream like that from scratch, I might just stare into a big bowl and have a little cry, that's how badly I need to go to this!

Plus, getting to meet Andrea Jenkins (aka hula seventy), and having her teach me the art of taking polaroids is right up there with shooting hoops with Barack Obama...out of this world, surreal fun!

Is anybody else considering going to this? We could be roomies!

En Guarde!

Look what I'm doing today! Vacuuming like I should be? Non! I found this book at Powell's this morning, and now I'm going to indulge in a little quiet time and classical French culture. C'est si bon! Sadly, this book did not come with its candy bar counterpart, but it does help me with #23 on my list. And maybe #5 too, but we'll see.

Maybe I'm feeling a little nostalgic about France because I was there one year ago, wandering around the streets of Paris with my friend, Tiffany, just going anywhere we wanted, eating anything we wanted, and breathing it all in. It is a city that I absolutely LOOOOOOOVE. I'm a little silly about it, probably. But what can I say? I'm not the only person to feel that way. It's Paris, for crying out loud!

Oh! Depending on who you are, you may be interested to read that I went up to Seattle this weekend to meet up with the Northwest Dreamers of Mondo Beyondo, and they are fabulous!!! I was so excited to meet these ladies, and we had an awesome time getting to know each other over yummy Greek food and gelato. I highly recommend these meet-ups for any others that know what I'm talking about and have the opportunity to meet like-minded women. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, use that linky up there and check out Mondo Beyondo. It's fantastic.) Go for it, people! Put yourself out there and see what happens! 

Loving Fall!

I was really lucky yesterday to find myself with just a little free time, so when I happened to drive by this park on such a beautiful Fall day, I had to pull over and sit for a little while. I also happened to have my Mondo Beyondo pen pal list with me, so surprise Nelly! Look in your mailbox in a few days! (She lives all the way across the country, but I just couldn't wait to spill the surprise! heehee). It was wonderful to just sit, write, lean back, take pictures looking straight up...

and feel the sun on my face (p.s. this is my first picture for my newest flickr project called BAM)...

I hope you're getting the chance to take in Fall the way you want to in your neck 'o the woods! Pretty soon we'll have rain, rain, rain - so I'm just sponging it all up right now!

At Long Last - The 10.10.10 Photowalk Pictures...

Perhaps you've been wondering about that little photo walk I put together last month, wherein I  met up with international blogging all-star, Kat, and her sister Laurie, to wander gingerly through Northwest Portland, snapping away at any old thing that caught our fancy? Didn't it rain cats and dogs? And wasn't there a 15,000 person marathon happening about three streets away? And didn't it rain on them too? Yes to all of it! We came, we saw, we took pictures...and had a great time!

Here's Kat, all the way from Italy! Isn't she cute?

Bear with me on the quality of some of my shots, please. I found out that it's not so easy to balance my camera, my umbrella, and my extra huge, yet very chic camera bag while walking in the rain and trying to use manual focus. I had to make the sad decision to leave my coffee at Starbucks and switch to autofocus. Kat is a serious pro at this kind of multi-tasking (she may have three arms).

After seeing her get her camera all wet, I started to loosen up about keeping every drop off mine. Her pictures always turn out so well, I had to just follow her lead and I'm so glad I did. These aren't exactly straight out of the camera, but most of them are close. As I went through them, I kind of liked the soft gloomy glow that the clouds provided. It was a great experience to meet Kat (and Laurie!) face-to-face, and I'm hoping that more of these meet-ups will happen soon! 

Oh! Also, Kat and I are synchronizing our blogs to showcase our photo walk pictures on the same day (so James Bond of us!), so be sure to check hers out too! I can't wait to see how she captured the very same things I was looking at.

Check out the rain drops on her lens! Brave lady!

 Thanks again, Kat! This was a great idea, and I can't wait to do it again!!