{around here}

Our weekend, in photographs...





























































Playing at the park, running around the block, napping and baking cookies. I hope everyone else had a great weekend, too!

{living}

Today at work a colleague (doesn't that sound fancier than co-worker?) and I got around to discussing where we could live if we could live anywhere. It was hard to nail down one place for me - I quickly rattled off 10 places I would love to stay. I decided to try and whittle it down to just 5. So - here they are!

1. A plantation in Louisiana:



*Because I read too many Vampire novels, and all the best vampire books are based in LA.

2. Greenville, South Carolina



*Close to J's folks, and just a beautiful city as far as I can tell from all the pictures I looked at once upon a time.

3.

{wanting}

I've got a secret.

And I'm not telling.

At least, not yet, anyway. I hate to jinx things. Right now this secret is just a small glimmer of a wish of a prayer. So, I'm just going to keep quietly hoping over here. Regardless of if I get my wish or not, I suspect that I will be able to share within a few short weeks. But, gosh, it sure does drive me nuts to really really really want something so badly, and not be able to share it.

As I read back over the last paragraph, I realize that everyone is going to think my secret is very obvious, but it isn't what you are thinking! Go ahead and take a guess, because it would be fun if you are right when I come back and tell you what it is/was in a few weeks!

{before & after}

With my new Canon 50mm f/1.8 II lens and Adobe CS4 installed, I went about snapping some pictures of my most favorite subject this afternoon. I probably should have started with something more simple than a toddler - something that doesn't move - but, I think they turned out pretty great anyway. The first picture is unedited, straight out of the camera (SOOC). The second image is the same image, with some slight layer adjustments made in Photoshop. Not bad for my first serious attempt at photo editing!

Eating Dinner:




Down the Slide:




Monkeying Around:




Don't mind me, I'm just getting up to no good:




Riding Mr. Frog:




Unless I'm planning on teaching photoshop tutorials, I doubt I'll do many before and afters - but I thought it would be fun this one time to show you not only what the new Lens can do without the edits, but with how much more awesome your photos can look with a few simple tweaks in photoshop.

Enjoy!

{morning babies}

Please indulge me - I've recently installed Adobe CS4 and am exploring all the exciting actions the internet (more specifically, Pioneer Woman) has to offer.

These photo's explore the differences in Mikey upon first waking up in the morning. The first is at 15 days... the second at 15 months. My ovaries are weeping. Was this really my baby?





And what is this - Adobe CS5 is about to be released. Crap. Ohwell - my new Canon Lens has arrived, and I imagine that CS4 will do just fine while I experiment with my new lens!

{loving}

Honey Bee, by Zee Avi:



/swoon

and,

Fuss Necklaces:

http://tweakboutiqueonline.net/index.php?route=product/product&path=53&product_id=695

and,

Passion Fruit Lavanila:

http://www.lavanila.com/The-Healthy-Fragrance-Vanilla-Passion-Fruit_p_62.html

and, this guy, right here: