During my last trip to Charleston, SC I finally got to visit one of those old plantations you always hear about. Boone Hall Plantation, my friend Laura's favorite. The property is huge! I loved the house interior - and our guide was super cute in her period outfit and calming demeanor. The weather didn't really cooperate for us - very cold and rainy - but we managed to make our way to the house, slave quarters and this beautiful old bar and dock - that has apparently been in a lot of movies! Recognize that dock from The Notebook?
FLW
Finally made my way to Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio. I have to say, learning how he built this place in the middle of the desert while living in the structures as they were being built with no electricity, water and such is pretty amazing. Somehow he makes these linear structures fit within the Arizona landscape - the use of local materials and pulling the reds direct from the earth - quite a talent indeed. It's sad that he died with pretty much nothing, but he was clearly an artist that lived for his craft.
My favorite room was the theater (last photo). He designed the space in such a way that performers need no equipment to amplify the sound. You can speak facing away from the audience and hear just as if they are facing you. You can even hear a whisper! And the angles of how the seating are so that when sitting with your right arm behind your neighbor and left leg crossed over put every single person at the perfect angle to view the center of the stage is nothing short of brilliance! A great way to wrap a quick weekend in Phoenix with my design friends!
121 sparklebomb surprise
My co-worker and friend, Brad, entered his 30's over the weekend. Ahhh, I remember 30. His adorable girlfriend, Christina, planned a surprise birthday blowout at Cody's Public House with family and friends. Happy Birthday old man! (ha!)
128 chicago in white
What better way to spend an evening than with 10 friends and 1600 strangers dining along the Chicago River? The second year of Chicago in White dinner's secret location was the Merchandise Mart! Kendra was a little bummed - given that she works there - but after getting all set up, I think even she was impressed! It was a beautiful night! And I cannot wait to see what super fabulous location they will choose next year!!
the konza
Back in the beautiful month of May I spent a few days with my friends, the Magee's, in the Flint Hills of Kansas. After all the change of command duties were done we headed out to see the Konza Prairie. Bethany is so good to always go along with my crazy ideas.
Growing up in Kansas you hear about the Flint hills, you see lots of photos, but until you actually experience this area I don't think you can truly appreciate it's beauty. We hiked about a mile up to the top of the first pass (in my flip flops - not the best decision) listening to wild turkeys, meadowlark calls and the rustle of tall grasses in the wind. It could possibly be one of the most peaceful places I've ever been.
I am very happy with the photos I took, but even they cannot really express just how beautiful the rolling hills are. If you ever find yourself in Kansas - take a drive out, you will be very happy you did!
10 on 10 { june 2012 }
Ten photos (plus one) in ten hours on the tenth of the month ... and again I get a weekend, woot! But sadly, it was a pretty darn boring day. Eat. Process photos. Eat. Drink. Process photos. Pet cats. Eat. Process photos - with a change of venue to the balcony! Watch the sunset. Laundry. Eat homemade brown butter salted rice krispy treats! Happy Sunday folks! My life is so glamorous, no? (ha!)
10 on 10 { may 2012 }
Hey! Guess what? It's the tenth of the month! You know what that means, right? Yep.... ten photos in ten hours!
I worked from home this morning because I had repairmen scheduled to fix the toilet (that had been running non-stop) and the other to fix the dryer (that had developed a squeak!) so I thought maybe I would be better equipped to take photos of something different than the usual workday. Sadly, that was not the case. But ... for better or worse, here is my day.
Started my day having tea with Nelson (ha)
Then the repair guys showed up .. both within 10 minutes of each other. And thank goodness the toilet guy had a quick fix. The dryer guy was here for a while and had the whole thing torn apart. I thought about photographing that mess, but I don't think the repair guy would have appreciated that much.
Finally wrote up a little card for Mom for Mother's Day. Had to pop it in the mail in order for it to get there by Saturday! Hope you enjoy what's inside mom!
Phoebe was in rare form today. She was all over me, super lovey dovey. Too much travel I suppose. She misses her mommy.
Still working from the home office - bookended by kitties.
Finally made it into the office just after lunchtime. The cute little desk ornament I ordered on fab.com arrived. I'm starting a little "shit" desk collection. I took a little break from photos for the next couple of hours .. spent in a chair on conference calls. There is nothing to photograph there. Nope. Boring!
After work I headed to a new tanning salon. (for spray tanning!) I have been so fed up with the problems at my salon, and their super old equipment, that I decided it was time for a change. I googled the VersaSpa and found there was a salon not too far! I have to say, it's a much more pleasant experience. The girls were super nice and happy to be helping me. The salon was big and bright and clean! The VersaSpa machine is super cool - love that it's a light mist and not dripping down my body when I'm done. Heck, the machine even dries me off! Will have to see how the color works out, but so far I think I may be onto something!
Stopped at a RedBox on the way home to pick up a couple of movies. I have completely switched from Netflix to RedBox. I didn't think I would like having to pick up and drop off, but the boxes are everywhere making it totally convenient.
Just a quick photo of my new "gratitude" bracelet from Bali. I picked it up at a cute little shop/yoga studio in Charleston. The woman who owned the place was fabulous and had such good energy... I had to see if I could get a little bit of that to rub off on me!
Now I'm off to watch my movies. Night!
289 green goddess
Spent St. Patty's Day on Southport. Had brunch with the girls at the new Deleece and took in the atmosphere of the holiday as we shopped and everyone else drank themselves into leprechaun stupor. I even sported green - I never wear this much color - and was the only one! Selika in orange, Simone in yellow and Crister in black! Sadly I did not get photos of Simone and Crister, but will be sure to do that next time we get together!! I love Chicago on St. Patty's day - I love that most everyone is sporting some shade of green. Doesn't matter if they are decked out to party it up or if they are just out walking the dog.
Here are Selika's fashion pics for the day ... anytime we get together I have to take her photo for her fashion blog. She's the fashionista of the group for sure!!!
10 on 10 { march 2012 }
It's ten photos on the tenth day of March! I love this challenge that Rebekah put together and love seeing how everyone interprets their day. I decided to do an additional "from where I stand" to go with the main photo. I started out good and then petered out toward the end of the day ... oh well. So here's my tenth day.
10 on 10 :: 27 of 30 :: hello sloane
Oh what a day! It's 10 on 10 challenge day { on the weekend, yeah! } and day 27 of my 30 days of gratitude challenge and the first time I get to see my bf/sister's new baby girl!! So let's jump right into the fun!!
day 27 of 30 :: daily routine :: I start every day with a cup of tea. I love the little leaf stem on the forte triangular tea bags!
Then I hit the new market at the Evanston Ecology center - was hoping for a couple of vendors to be there, but sadly they were not ... maybe next week. We saw some good stuff tho!
Then it was time to hit the road ... it was a beautiful day, the sun was shining bright ... if only it wasn't so cold!
I arrived in Chesterton just a couple of hours after momma and baby came home from the hospital. Little Sloane was all snug as a bug... she is super cute and so stinkin' tiny she doesn't even fit into premie clothes! Look at her tiny little bracelet!
I spent a little time snuggling with her before we decided to start the photoshoot. I gotta give huge props to baby photographers!!! I do not have any idea how the pose these little munchkins. They just don't cooperate. I'm thinking maybe she was a little too young at only five days old, but I did get a couple of cuties! Holly purchased this crazy long santa hat off etsy and she wanted to try to recreate the shot from the website - impossible!!
After Sloane was done with her first photoshoot, Holly's friend Nikki came over to bring them dinner { so nice } and hung around for a little bit. Her adorable little boy was so excited to hold the baby.
Meanwhile, Bella was busy taking photos with her camera. I caught her snapping a self portrait and asked her to show me. She's such a ham...
I hung around till it was about dinner time for the Pittman clan ... snapped a few photos of Jeff with his little girl before I left. He is one proud papa! Oh and I caught the BEST baby yawn! Oh how I love a baby yawn!!!
Oh and I had to snap a photo of Xavier's sign. He made this adorable little sign to hang on the hospital room door - they said the nurses were gaga over it. Apparently this was a first.
Couldn't officially leave till I got one more snap of Sloane and her big sister Bella B! We were cracking up because it looks like Sloan is throwing the peace sign...
Back on the road home...
What a great day! And then I arrived home to this adorable Christmas Card from my friend Kathryn. Happy Everything!!!
