2013 Year of Doing: Rome



Rome is a beautiful city with so much history.  In school you learn about ancient Rome and the influence it has had on modern society but it is really powerful to be able to experience that for your self.  It is so easy to bridge the gap between what was and what is and that in itself is filled with a ton of mini Aha moments.   We spent a lot of time getting lost in the squares and checking out ruins.  It was very special to be able to experience a place with so much historical significance.








































2013 Year of Doing: Florence


Here's some photos from our time in Florence. Enjoy!








 









 



















 Fun pics:










People we met:

We met a wonderful family while we were taking night shots at El Dumo.   They were so friendly and love traveling.  We hit it off right away and we were lucky to run into them again the next night. Some day we'll make it to Spain and we can visit with them more. Nice to met you!



Ran into this guy  (Dan) one of Stu's friends from Bradley on the streets of Florence.  Small world!

2013 Year fo Doing: Cinque Terre (Five Towns and New Loves)







Cinque Terre is my Pinterst dream.  Seriously, I found out about this place after re-pinning a pin on my Pinterest to my "Bucket List" board.  YAY for Pinterest being useful! Double YAY for crossing something off my bucket list!  Anyway, for those of you that don't know, there are five small cliff towns on the west cost of Italy. Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.   They are mostly fishing towns but have become popular with tourists because they are so unusual and the scenery is insanely beautiful.  If you make it anywhere near Florence or Pisa you should check it out. 

We planned for two nights in Corniglia, that's the smallest of the towns and the central town.  There's a train that goes between the towns or you can opt for a hiking trail.  We did hike from Corniglia to Vernazza- it was hot, I was on cold medicine and the hike was a little more intense than we had thought. Nothing like WA but there were lots of ups and downs. Hiking with a cold is not fun.  My legs were noodles.  BUT- IT WAS BEAUTIFUL.  I can't tell you how many times the word "Wwwoooowwww" left my lips. 

Here are some of the images from our time in Cinque Terre.  Enjoy!



























The people we met: 

Everywhere we go we have had pleasure of meeting some wonderful people. I've been trying to take more photos of the people we meet.  Unfortunately, I decided this as we were leaving Cinque Terre so i don't have photos of everyone but I'll give em a shot out!


Jess and Mathieu:   A delightful Canadian couple that were staying next-door to us. We shared some great conversation on the terrace of the apartment building we were staying in.  They were nice and funny- just what you'd expect from Canadians.  Hopefully we get to see them out in Seattle!

Atlanta couple: We didn't catch their names but we met them on the beach in Vernazza.  We found out that they are taking a year off from work to travel around the world.  This included sailing around the Caribbean and then selling their belongings to finish their trip. We have checked out their blog and found new inspiration for future trips.  It seems like to matter where we go we meet people with a similar philosophies on life and its awesome to hear how people are making their dreams a reality.  This couple is doing it right!

Tom (pictured below): Tom is riding his bike from the UK to Rome.  (WHHAAATTT?!)  He was taking the train to Spezia to make up some time.  We got to talking and learned that he has left the corporate life and is opening up a hostel in Kenya.  So if you're in the market for reasonably priced accommodation in Kenya, we know a guy. 







2013 Year of Doing: Nice is nice

Nice was nice.  Actually it's more than nice, it's lovely and drop dead gorgeous.  We rented a room from a nice guy named Yves just a few blocks from the harbor.  He was a very friendly french man and we had a similar philosophy on life which made staying in a strangers apartment less strange.   We loved the mix of French and Italian flavors- this ran through everything from the food to the architecture.  The people were laid back and very friendly.  Nice has what every adult on vacation could ask for; the beach, partial nudity, beautiful people, big boats, dancing in the streets and wine. Lots-O-wine.  Plus it smells a lot like Paris (see previous post) + the smell of Pizza + sometimes salt water. *Swoon*  We ate and drank and rode bikes and swam and walked and got caught in the rain and watched the sunset and met interesting people and took these photos AND we would do it all over again and again.  We loved it there.  We'll be back to Nice some time in the future but until then we have some great memories.

Jugs-O-wine

Pretty Salts

The best low budget clown and yay for entertainment for all ages!

Chasin' bubbles

An invisible man










 
















Orangina: Breakfast of travelers, take that MJ.

Cute hubby

2013 Year of Doing: Paris


Paris was the perfect place to kick off our trip.  I loved every minute of it there and I must admit I feel in love with the city.  I still have the sweet sound of accordions playing in my head days later. The food is fantastic and the city is so beautiful but the thing I love most is the way it smells.  It smells so good, like a mix of roses, lavender, laundry and a hint of powdered sugar. I'm sure I lost some folks there but this is my blog and those are my thoughts and I dare you to mix those thing together and tell me it's not heaven!

Anyways we met some cool people and saw some cool stuff. We did what we could but left wanting more. I could go back over and over and over again.  We already have a list of things to do/see/eat for next time. We'll be back Paris!

I'll update later with what we did and who we met. For now enjoy the photos!


Spring Flowers


Spring is here!  I love this time of year.  All the flowers are blooming and the days are getting longer.  There is so much sunshine I can barely stand to be inside. As a tribute to spring and all it's glory,  I've pulled together some of my favorite spring images from the last few years. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.  :)








 























The Light Keeper




I received a prompt to create a series that speaks to the essence of light. I took an abstract approach.  As I brainstormed different concepts, I kept coming back to one  idea:
   Light = Love. 

These are some of the images from this project.  I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed created them.  Special thanks to my husband for being such a great subject.
 



















Views From the Air

When I fly I like to have the window seat.  I'm like a little kid, glued to the window.  This huge sense of wonder takes over me and in some ways I'll never grow up.  Sometimes, I catch myself smiling because, I feel so lucky to be looking down at the clouds and the mountains.  Really window seats are the best.  On a flight I always feel bad for the people that pull the shades to watch their inflight entertainment.  I feel like they are taking their window seat and the beauty in this world for granted!  I'm sure there are people with middle seats that would love the view. <End Rant>. This post contains some of the things Ive viewed from above as well as an image of me with my face glued to the window as I already described above (photo credit: Stuart Mitchell).   Enjoy!



 





 




 




 


Portrait Session: Emily


 

Say hello to the beautiful and talented Miss Emily.  She's a wonderful model and a talented photographer.  Here are some of the photos from a shoot we did on Thanksgiving Day. If you can't get enough, don't worry, you'll be seeing more of her in the next few weeks because she is becoming one of my favorite subjects. Enjoy!




 











Experiments With a Wide Angle Lens


A while ago I rented a wide angle lens and headed to the to the top of a parking garage in downtown Seattle.  I was having so much fun that I took the party over to the Space Needle. These image are the result of some fun photo experimentation.  Enjoy!
 
 

 

 











Self Portraits

 

Sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures.  Sometimes I don't have a volunteer to help you with your homework. SO I use myself.   Here is some of my Self Portrait work.