hooray.....

jenny jenny jenny

YOU

are the winner in my january earring give-away

~

HOORAY

*

it's just not fitting yet.....

like many of you, for the past five years, i have chosen "a word" to be my beacon of light that helps guide me through the new year. this year, nothing seems to fit right. i've been trying on so many words that i'm practically raw. 

i applaud those who easily grasp words with their bare hands, slide them into the pocket of their favorite jeans and continue walking forward like nothing has happened. i on the other hand, tend to interview my words, make them do a bikini walk across an imaginary stage and then wait patiently for them to "wow" me with their talent.

for some reason, my word has to be a verb. i don't know why, but i feel that if i'm going to adhere to what a single word can possess, it's has to be a "doing" word. for example, i love the word "today" but for me it can't stand alone. instead it would be more like "live only for today" or "today is the only day that counts" and well, you see...then i have lots of words to deal with and the whole "word thing" is to have only one word.

so i'm being patient {which is something i am not known for around these parts-hi family} because i know a word will find me. one always does...and when it does, i'll proudly display it on my heart, which is always on my sleeve, and easily seen.

*

don't forget to enter my give-away

weekending....to the last hour

it's impossible for me to not like the weekend. i love it when we have nothing to do and the hours, with their mischievous looking eyes, wander by with a  "hey, aren't you going to do something with us" attitude. 

i didn't do any crafting in my studio this weekend, even though these photos would lead you to believe that i did. that was actually two weeks ago that i was all glue fingered and playing in the ribbon. unfortunately, i'm just now getting around to editing some old photos without any excuse as to why. wait. i guess i could blame it on how i have this crazy ability to fall into tumblr's vortex. umm, or pinterest's vortex. don't call me crazy. i've seen some of you in there with me. snort.

we filled up today on some really good food. don't mistake that for "good for us" food, as that's not the case. we started the morning with almond croissants from trader joes. can i just say that these are the most amazing things ever. seriously, if you haven't tried these, run out now and get yourself some. 

for dinner tonight, we made our famous {well famous to us} mushroom and onion flatbread. this time {as we tend to mix it up every time} we added spinach, filet mignon, goat cheese and my very own aioli sauce. {i totally wing it when it comes to making this} yum. 

for dessert, i had strawberries that just weren't ripe enough to fall in love with....so i melted 5 lindor milk chocolate truffles and drizzled that all over our cut up berries and then sprinkled a bit of powder sugar on top. they were delicious and we both contemplated licking our plates after the berries quickly disappeared. okay fine. i did lick my plate.

i'm so blessed to have a hubby who loves to be in the kitchen with me, as that's a room that doesn't get along with me very well. i have my moments, but my best moments are with him, as we make a great team. fortunately we love watching the cooking channel together, too. i'm a very lucky girl.

*

i have something for you.....

during the holidays, at one of the many art/craft shows that we attended, i found veronica and fell in love with all of her yumminess. i purchased two necklaces and a pair of earrings from her and the earrings have rarely left my ears. i contacted veronica a few weeks ago, telling her that i just had to have a few more pairs of her earrings and during one of our etsy conversations, i mentioned that i'd love to have a pair to give-away on my blog and she answered with a great big "of course, how fun."

let me just say that "i am NOT a product" photographer, so my photos here actually look like two different pairs of earrings. the color of the earrings is actually a cross between the two photos above. i wanted to show you how thin they are {hence the top photo} and then tell you that they weigh absolutely nothing. please, please, please take a look at veronica's etsy shop and be prepared to fall in love with her jewelry just like i did. 

to ENTER the give-away, you must be one of my followers and then all you have to do is leave me a comment. you can leave me anything...a joke, one word, your favorite color, a smiley face, a story about why clowns frighten you...anything in the comment box will get you entered in "my end of january give-away."

a WINNER will be chosen on WEDNESDAY, january 30th, and announced on, THURSDAY, january 31st. so come on, jump into the fun. if you win, i promise you will not be disappointed.

*

happy weekend everyone

sweater weather, not.....

were you beginning to think that i had done a disappearing act that went horribly bad? no? oh that's good...because i'm here.

i can't really say i've been so busy doing other things that "posting" got shoved into the corner with my dust bunnies...but i can say that i just haven't had anything floating around in my mind that felt worthy of sharing. 

i blog surf every night {mostly on tumblr} for inspiration, but unfortunately that inspiration breaks into tiny pieces and gets swept away in minutes...so i start all over again and before i know it, days and then an entire week, have gone up in smoke. poof.

is it cold at your house? it's freezing here {hello negative temperatures} and all i can say is that there is not ONE part of me that is even a tiny bit eskimo. nope, not one part and sadly,  sweaters are not enough.

now, just because i'm still searching for what i'd love to write about and keep coming up empty handed, randomness. simple randomness.

1. i'm reading a suspense novel that i'm loving. "into the darkest corner" by elizabeth haynes.

2. i want the old american idol judges back.

3. i have been drinking tea for so long now, that i can't get it strong enough, so i always use two teabags {of different varieties} to make a really special flavor.

4. please, please, please send me your photography questions for next months photography posts.

5. we've been without cable and internet for two days {the tech is coming this afternoon} and i have learned that i am, without question, a TV {need background noise} junkie.

6. journaling has always been hard for me, so i started an on-line journal thinking it would so much easier, as i love typing, but i have failed at that, too.

7. we had our photos taken in a photo booth and i forgot how much i love those things.

*

if you could get a sharpie tattoo on your back

what would it be of.....

and we melted.....

well, we didn't melt, but most of the snow around us has. thank you rain and unseasonably warm temperatures. 

i won't miss the white stuff at all and if spring wants to weasel her way in here, i'll help her by holding the door wide open. okay, fine. i know i live in wisconsin and it's only january and i'm wishing for possibly the impossible, but hey, a girl can dream.

the weekend is almost over and i'm okay with that. parts of it were great...like the huge bridal show that my hubby and i went to with our bride-to-be daughter, where my hubby might have been the only dad there {he's so great like that} and where i found a wedding planner {who i've already worked with before} who is going to help us with the big day and the fact that we can now check "the D. J." off our list...whew...but one part was really sucky and i hate sucky parts on the weekend {well anytime actually} so thank god it's been put to rest. actually, a resting state isn't enough. i hope and pray that i smothered the living daylights out of it so that it will never, ever surface again.

now, how about a question or two? first, what do you eat for breakfast on a regular basis? second, what's your favorite store to shop in for clothes for you? and let's do one more...do you wear a bathrobe after you shower/bathe, or do you go straight from a towel or two to your clothes?

*

in a content kind of way.....

sometimes i apologize when i've let days go by and i feel like i've neglected my blog, but not this time. i've finally realized and truly appreciate that when days go by and words escape me, that all it means is that i've been busy living. 

i don't mean living in a big way or on a vacation kind of way, i simply mean in a content kind of way. my hubby was home with me for two solid weeks and it was wonderful. having him home with me, doing whatever we wanted to do, going wherever we waned to go, eating anything we wanted to eat and watching anything we wanted to watch was simply amazing and truly the best kind of gift.

speaking of watching whatever we wanted to watch...wow, did we ever "movie up" our time together. here's where i share with all of you, most of the movies we watched together and some movies that i watched alone {while he worked on a project just down the hall from me.}

now granted, it's a mixture of new movies that are in the theaters now, movies new to dvd and old movies on hbo or just regular cable, but they're all worth sharing. 

pitch perfect and salmon fishing in the yemen and silver linings playbook were our favorites and absolutely WONDERFUL. then there was, in no particular order: committed, with heather graham, hanging up, arbitrage, peace, love and understanding, we bought a zoo, the art of getting by, hope springs, ruby sparks and promised land...a movie with room for lots of conversation afterwards. 

we also watched sleepless in seattle, like for the hundredth time, friends with benefits, maybe for the fourth time {i love justin timberlake} and the family man, for the second time...which is just the warmest movie ever.

i know this was a movie overload post, so i apologize...but i really hope you have a chance to at least see our favorites. i don't think we'll steer you wrong, but i've learned with movie and book recommendations, it's always a crap shoot when it comes to opinions. so have fun and if you've seen some of these and want to let me know your thoughts, i'd love to hear them.

simply tell me what you want.....

due to our cold and snowy weather keeping me indoors, some of my photos that i'll be sharing here this month, could be old. {as in "shortly before our blizzard"} i'm sorry.

on a happier note, i'm going to do what i said i would do in regards to sharing my photography tips and ideas with all of you {but not until february}and now this is where i need YOU. please, please, please send me any and all of the questions you have regarding anything photography related. i don't care what the question is, well as long as it's related somehow to photography, or how many questions you send me...i just want to know what YOU want to know. it's that simple. 

i'll put all of your questions together and answer as many as i can, all while sharing some of the things i've learned over the past five years. the path to learning anything and everything photography related never ends and if we share what we know and what we've learned, well then we all end up together on that path, side by side.

thanks everyone. i'll be waiting to hear from you. OH, and a personal email is just fine if you don't want to ask your question in the comments section.

2013~let's DO this.....

dear 2013...

hi. i've been waiting for you. thank you SO much for coming. as you may have seen in my previous post, i wrote a letter to your predecessor. it wasn't a very nice letter, but it was truthful, and now i can only imagine the pressure you feel to make and keep me happy this year...i hope it doesn't overwhelm you.

all i'm asking for from you, is for you to keep my heart safe and fill it with nothing but love, honesty and all that's good in my world. that's all. that's it. well okay fine, as long as i'm on the topic of asking, could you also make sure to keep my thoughts on the right track and prevent them from getting tainted...oh, and maybe could you restore all the things {well, not things as in objects, but other things} that 2012 took away from me? i really don't think i have to go into detail here, as i have a sneaking suspicion that you've done your homework and already know exactly what i'm talking about. 

oh, and i don't want you to feel like i'm not in this with you, as i am. i completely believe in teamwork and know that what i'm asking for, and what could feel like demands, can't be carried on your shoulders alone, so i promise to be front and center with you. i mean, how could i not, right? i also understand that together, we may still not be "enough" and that the troops may have to be called in, but for now, i say we just take each other's hand and jump.

wait a minute...just so you know, i don't for a second mean a measly jump that leaves us grabbing sticks on the way down, only to get caught up and hang dangling for awhile, as that's what happened last year {times a thousand} i mean jump, as in plug your nose with one hand, reach for the sky with the other, bend your knees and on the count of three, JUMP like you've never jumped before. simple, right :)

come on 2013~let's DO this!!