This is the story about sweater that gives me guilt. Not guilt as in it was so expensive and I never wear it but more so guilt in being selfish.
Here is the scene: I’m at a shop perusing the wares for 10 minutes until my man/ride rings for me and I spot this sweater on a rack but there are no other sweaters like it anywhere around. It is cute, bright and has a bow on it. But it looks a little too big and I’m not sure which is the front and which is the back and maybe it is too bright. So me thinks I’ll just hold it for a bit. Then a girl comes up to me and in very broken English she says “Um, excuse me, that is very beautiful. May I ask where you found it?” I explained that it was on a rack but without any other similar items around it so I wasn’t sure but if I found others I’d let her know. Not sure what came over me but I clung to this sweater with a vengeance! That isn’t me at all! My man rings that he is outside waiting for me. What to do? Buy a sweater I don’t need that I haven’t tried on and that I can’t return unless I get store credit (which I don’t like doing) or give the sweater to the nice girl? Selfish Ali bought the sweater. Then I get home and it doesn’t fit right and is kind of scratchy and I can’t return it (lost the receipt). So because of my selfishness I make myself wear it even though it scratches me and I look like a clown. I’m trying to teach myself a lesson. Even Ctron said “Maybe it could be a sweater to just wear at home?” Yeah it is that bad. Next time, Ali, just give it to the kind person. You don’t need a bright pink scratchy sweater with a bow on it that is three sizes too big for you.
Seriously.
So we went to Nicaragua to photograph a beautiful wedding with really nice people. Yes, I took thousands of photos with professional gear but the ones I’m going to share are the two iphone photos I took. Why share the “crap photos” you may ask? Well, for one the “good photos” have not yet been edited and it really isn’t my job/business to share Ctrons wedding photos. But I will say that Morgans Rock is a spectacular place to stay if you are ever looking for luxury jungle camping. Think open air bungalows with an eco-friendly twist. Here is our bungalow:
The food is good/safe, the beach is private, the people are nice, the 3/4 mile uphill hike to your bungalow includes a suspension bridge and monkeys yelling at you all while you tone your butt (especially when carrying 20 lbs of camera gear), and the road to get in is long and windy and dirt filled and bumpy so you never want to leave.
Here is the view from breakfast:
While we didn’t really “do” Nicaragua the trip was great and safe and all our gear is home with us and we didn’t have bugs crawl under our skin and start laying eggs like in Costa Rica (which happened to my ma and little bro about 15 years ago…yes, that was gross and bad news). At least I don’t **think** we have bugs crawling under our skin and laying eggs. I’ll get back to you on that.
The past two weekends we’ve slowly been moving things around in our loft. Since everything (or virtually everything) in our place is on wheels it makes it a wee bit easier to move things around and see how it works. Perhaps I’ll take more photos once we get things in total order but for now here is our wall o’ shelving (tilt shifted to make it all trippy and dollhouse looking).
And if you are curious about the shelving the C-dawg made it a few years ago. Here is a tutorial.
Since the world seems to be covered in snow (all except for California and the warm southern states), here is some sand…and an upside down owl:
Yeah, so while I’ve been taking photos every day (woot woot!) I have not been posting. Fail. Here is a loooong week in review. I give myself a 24.5% chance I can keep this up, ha! Oh, and since the photo below is unfortunately not scratch ‘n sniff…the french toast was made by Ctron and it is coconut crusted and filled with either dulce de leche or nutella… and has a browned butter banana topping. Um, yumholes.
January 15, 2012
January 14, 2012
January 13, 2012
January 12, 2012
January 11, 2012
January 10, 2012
January 9, 2012
January 8, 2012
January 7, 2012
I have been feeling creatively inspired lately and on the trip back from Washington I said to C-tron “C-tron! Remind me when we get home that I want to paint this and sew that and draw this and take photos of that and write this and read that and cook this and try to eat that!” Well, we are 6 days in and so far pllllmmmmmmfffffffffff. None of the above have been accomplished. I suppose it is like a new years resolution to get fit (also something I need to do) and so you join a gym but never go…being a creative spirit I vow to feed that part of my brain and then don’t follow through (at least I don’t have to pay the gym membership fees!). Anyhow…the one thing I am attempting along with so many people this month of January is a photo a day. Not so much for the art but to just capture a moment in each day when I’m grateful or that brings joy. While some days have LOTS of these little moments and others are a bit mundane I think it helps me focus on the little things that make me really happy. So, here are a few from the past week…maybe this will become a new weekly thing, wouldn’t that be grand? (Side note: unfortunately this project will probably all be iphone photos since it takes me a bit less time to process them but that is ok….just don’t think less of me as a photographer for doing so).
January 6, 2012
January 5, 2012
January 4, 2012
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January 2, 2012
January 1, 2012
We’ve had a very merry holiday here in the pacific northwest. A looksee/photo log of the happenings via my trusty iphone:
One of my VERY favorite things to do in the world is to go on long long walks. Walking is my form of meditation. C-tron’s mom’s house is on a great road with a good long loop and lots of trails to get lost on. This photo is from that long loop (which I could loop around 293759283752 times if I had nothing to do):
As most people do this time of year we ate A LOT. From Spanish hot chocolate to spring rolls to persimmon pudding to homemade maple fudge to larb gai to shepherds pie to millionaires bars to pepperkaker to two pumpkin pies to pot roast…we ate a bit. For Xmas gifts C-tron’s mom and I made persimmon freezer jam. I am learning to venture more into the world of persimmons but I would say this freezer jam is fantabulous (I can post a recipe if you are curious about the jam):
At the stroke of midnight on Christmas day we lit the Christmas tree. And what I love about C-tron’s mom’s traditions is she puts actual candles on her tree! So lighting is not just plugging it into the outlet…I’m talking potential burning down the house process. After the tree was lit we all sipped Bailey’s and watched the tree. Such an awesome ceremony….100% a tradition I’d like to try to keep up. (this photo is taken during the day but you can see the candles).
Christmas day we made homemade crumpets! Who knew they were not too hard to make?!?! Actually, I just ate them so maybe that is why they were so easy to make.
It was a bit rainy (go figure PNW!) so we worked on a cheese puzzle:
And I loved skyping with my family. Especially when it turned into long sessions where I ended up in crying laughter:
Happy holidays to one and all and cheers to a stellar 2012!
