Photo Tour of Port Townsend

Back in November, the mister and I celebrated our anniversary with a short trip to Port Ludlow to stay at the resort there. It was lovely, and the weather was a perfect mix of stormy and mild for a long weekend getaway. One of the days we took a quick trip up to Port Townsend to walk around and explore the town. It was a great day of browsing through shops, snacks, and spending quality time together.

I love the architecture in towns like this.

All Quiet on the (North)Western Front

You may have noticed that posting has slowed WAY down here, and for good reason.

The mister and I are expecting!

We decided to have a little fun with our announcement and carry on the theme of Lego people from our wedding cake topper. This pregnancy has been quite a journey so far, and I'm looking forward to the next 4+ months. I want this little bun to cook as long as necessary, but we are getting anxious to meet our newest family member.

Now, I don't think this will turn exclusively into a mommy-blog, but you do have fair warning. 

Chihuly Glass Museum

I had a great opportunity to visit the Chihuly Glass Museum in Seattle during a work function back in July. The weather was sunny and hot, and it was a great day for photographs.

More photos after the jump!

West Seattle Farmers Market

On a quest for lemon cucumbers, my bestie and I headed to the West Seattle Farmers Market on Sunday last week. Much to our surprise, we spotted several vendors selling these cooky little guys. To my dismay, they do not taste like lemon and are not sour at all... in fact, they are a sweeter version of a regular cucumber and are quite delicious on their own, on salads, or in tacos. 

We also took in the delights of other vendors, scored some AMAZING nectarines and corn on the cob. It was a perfect Seattle day, and great way to get out into the sunshine.

Shopping carts in the sun

These are NOT lemon cucumbers

More after the jump

Humble Attempts at Gardening

Summer seems to be slipping away in Seattle, and just when I started to get really connected with our garden too. Such is life, and it's nothing new for me to be late to that game. It has been really great working on making our new house feel more like home; and as far as the outside goes, I've mostly been focusing on not killing what was already planted. The patio area in the front has already brought us so much joy and peace - it is quiet and fenced so there is nice privacy. We love to grill and eat outside, and enjoy the flowers and larger outdoor space than we had at the condo.

As Summer wraps up, I wanted to capture a few of these beauties from Labor Day weekend.

These flowers came over in a pot from our last place, and magically grew despite my previous neglect.

More after the jump

Photo Tour of Fremont

On a sunny Summer day in July, I spent the day with Jenn taking pictures and enjoying Fremont. I'm so happy to have taken advantage of a perfect Seattle Summer day! We started with lunch, did some walking, hiked up to the Troll, even had a delicious gelato treat, and ended the day with a sunny (top down) drive to the container Starbucks in South Seattle. What a wonderful way to soak up some rays, get caught up, and enjoy the day. 

Continue the tour after the jump

One of Those People

Last weekend I went with my bestie to the Urban Craft Uprising show in Seattle. I love this bi-annual event and usually get a lot of holiday shopping done. This time, I turned into one of those people by buying clothes for my cat. I couldn't help it! Business Catual has a great selection of dapper bow ties for your feline friends. Extra bonus points for them for donating to some wonderful animal causes and using reclaimed fabrics.

And, let me just say that I can't help but smile whenever I see Max come around the corner, or stretch out in the sun, in his new little bow tie. Amiright?

Hello handsome!

May Photography Challenge - Days 11 - 17

May Photography Challenge

This batch of photos was taken completely out of order. Such is life, but I still got them in! I'm loving the creative challenge and practicing with a lot of different subjects.

Day 11: A Smile

Flowers at work from my bestie 

See the rest after the jump

May Photography Challenge - Days 4 - 10

Updates for the May Photography Challenge

Day 4: In my cup

A little vodka for the vanilla extract recipe.

See the rest after the jump

Photo Tour of Georgetown, WA

Continue the tour after the jump

Birthday Trip to Long Beach, WA

The first trip Steve and I ever took together was to Long Beach, WA, and it has since become an annual tradition. We usually go in February, but had to move it to April this year, so made it into a birthday weekend trip for me. It was so nice to relax and enjoy the soaking tub in the bungalow. Friday and Saturday were rainy, but we still managed to get out and have our traditional crab dinner in town and have some chocolate sea foam (honeycomb) candy from the shop in town. Sunday was beautiful, so we had a nice walk on the boardwalk & beach. It was a great way to end our trip.

Our bungalow for the weekend.

Continue the tour after the jump

May Photo Challenge - Days 1 through 3

May Photography Challenge

1 - I bought this!
My new tomato-red pants.

See the rest after the jump

May Photography Challenge

My husband sent me this link this morning, and it was excellent timing. I think a photography challenge is just what I need right now. Get out your cameras & camera phones and start snapping. 

The weather in Seattle has been sunny lately (shhh, don't tell anyone), so it feels good to get outside and capture some great shots and enjoy the great lighting for indoor photos too.

Photo courtesy of http://fatmumslim.com.au/may-photo-a-day-a-challenge-that-will-change-your-life/

Waffles!

We had the nicest breakfast on Saturday at one of our favorite diners near our house. Yum!

Lemon poppy seed, blueberry waffle!

Photo tour of Pike Place Market

Seattle was blessed with a beautiful, sunny Saturday. My friend Jenn and I met at the market to take some photographs together, and it was a blast! I took all of these, except the last one with my 50mm lens. 

Continue the tour after the jump

Photography Challenge

When browsing the web for more photography tips and tricks, I often find people participating in photography challenges -- 365Project, monthly photo challenges, etc. The perfectionist in me has a hard time picking one up mid-month since I'm not doing it completely right. Ugh. So, here is my answer to that conundrum:

That's it! Hopefully this mini challenge will get us in the habit of taking regular photos, so that some of the longer projects won't be so intimidating. 

For extra credit, upload your photos to Facebook, Pinterest, or Google+ and share the link in the comments. 

Here is my photo for today:

Day 1: A good friend brought me some flowers at work to brighten my day

~Day 2~

~Day 3~

Capturing Life

I recently bought a camera insert for the big purse I typically carry during the week. For those interested, I bought the XS Snoop by Timbuk2, and it has been great so far. My hope was that having my camera readily available would help me have more opportunities to capture impromptu photographs. I've already had three great chances opportunities to capture some inspiration and practice making setting adjustments on the fly. Check out the first one below. I captured this little beauty right after a typical Seattle rain.

early February rainbow outside my office

While the picture strangely captures the framed prints on my office wall, and to some that would be considered distracting, I really enjoy how this came out. I love that the picture isn't perfect, but very accurately captures the moment. 

The next one I captured from my car (at a red light). I was so surprised when I came up to the intersection and saw this lovely display.

building dressed up for Valentine's Day

And this one from my office building.

flowers in the lobby - love that bokeh

I especially like this one. There is a florist in our building who puts out the nicest arrangements in the lobbies of our building. I was walking out, and the only objective I had for the photo was to capture the lights on the trees outside with some serious bokeh. Now that I've looked at this photo on the computer, I'm thinking I will try again tomorrow with a better framing set up.

The point is, pictures don't have to be technically perfect to be great. My goal for the rest of 2013 is to just get more practice and capture the moments in my life.