The Princess and the Bounce House

The highlight of my weekend was going to my niece's 3rd birthday party.

I managed to do other things in the two days I didn't have to go into the office at an ungodly hour. I slept in until 7:30 (!), I helped put our house back into some semblance of order after last week's wood floor extravaganza, I went to IKEA and found a great desk - one that accomodates a small room AND has plenty of storage AND hides the clutter (Woohoo!), went out to dinner and splurged on steak and a passionfruit layercake - but not at the same time. I also worked my tail off sitting at the computer, proofing photos. (I had a long talk with Mike about this one and it seems I need to become a little less obsessed with this and more into, uh, daily interaction with my family, maybe?) I thought about quilting, one of my Christmas present projects, but am fully enjoying the suspense that serious procrastination gives way to (kids - DO NOT try this at home). On a rare organizational note, I also brainstormed for Christmas gift ideas and came up with some real doozies. Here is to being optimistic about non-stressful holidays!

Coming full circle after the above laundry list of weekend activities, I went to my niece's princess and Barbie-themed birthday party. When I got the invite in the mail, I think I audibly groaned. Barbie? Ugh.. Even that particular shade of pink gets on my nerves. I know I played with Barbies when I was a kid, but mine were cool. And fairly illicit, but that's another story....

So I winced at Barbie, but knew I would enjoy this most girly-girl of occasions. Mostly because I knew they were balancing out all the pink & purple with a bounce house. I actually thought that I would have a good time IN it, but once at the party, I never really made it inside. It was so much fun taking pictures of everyone having a really good time.

The best part was watching my niece. Since she was a baby, she's always been one of the most solemn kids I've ever met. It's not easy to get her to crack a smile and when you do, it's blink-and-you'll-miss-it quick. At the party she's surrounded by presents, balloons, party favors, and cupcakes. But like a moth to a bug-zapper, all she wanted to do was bounce. And bounce. And bounce. She even stopped mid-present-opening to run over to the bounce house and pull off her shoes. I loved the single-mindedness of it all.

Come to think of it, I think she's got it right. I am SO getting a bounce house for my next party.

A few more of my favorites from the afternoon:

You can see the rest of the set here.

Over the River and Through the Woods

Spent a whirlwind weekend in Gresham - about 20 minutes away from Portland, Oregon. The weather was perfect at 50 degrees and steady showers. I felt rehydrated, like a frog's first dip after a long dry spell. And then I come back to hot, dry perpetual summer of SoCal. {Sigh} I'm in the wrong city. But back to Gresham...

When I go up north, I always try to take some time to walk around with my camera. I have hordes of family up there and it seems someone is always calling up to hang out or have dinner or visit. It's fun being the popular girl for a time, but it gets exhausting. Sometimes I'd rather just go for a walk or curl up with a book. Relatives don't always understand that. Anyway, I was able to escape for a bit and took a walk around my grandmother's neighborhood. It was pretty much the same as any neighborhood around here except for the rain-slicked streets and brilliant fall colors.

You can see the original set in it's entirety here. (If you're interested, some of them are better at their original size.)

Hope you're enjoying your cozy quilts, pumpkin lattes, and spiced ciders as much as I am!

Decisions, decisions, decisions

Just when I thought things were going according to plan, I decide to second guess myself. You see, I really like having a plan. I like having goals and little boxes I can check off along the way that show me I am getting closer to my intended purpose. I like being able to say, "I only have 1 more year to go in The Plan and then I'll be done." When I don't have a plan, I feel like I'm just floating along. I'm picking up life experience, for sure. But a plethora of life experience does not pay the bills. Nor does it necessarily make one happy. I've done enough swimming to last a lifetime, and was barely able to keep my head above water. Yessir, I like my plans.

I also think the fact that I've had a plan or two in the past couple years is the reason I've been so happy. My life is
more organized and I feel in control of my destiny. It may not be as romantic as Fate or Kismet, but I'm ready to hand that off to someone else for awhile. My two on-going, peaceful mind-inducing goals at the moment have been (1) paying off all my outstanding debts; and (2)attending school to get that little piece of paper, also known as a degree. The bill part is coming along fine. It's the other that concerns me at the moment.

Six months ago, I decided to quit waffling between the two artistic endeavors that seemingly pulled me this way and that and make a choice as to what studies I was going to pursue. Graphic Design won out since it seemed to be the fast-track to a career. All things pointed to it being the more responsible of the two because writing and layout and computers seem to be the way to go. It was also the more versatile as I could go into print or web or whatever fell in between those two forms of media. But in the past week or two, as I've been reading Photoshop tutorials almost as quickly as I can download them, I am finding a real creative joy in what I'm doing. I'm relaxed, I'm happy and the hours fly by as I click and tone and mask and see my photos really become what I see in my mind's eye. I've found myself missing the hours in the old photo lab, anticipation building as I uncover a roll of negatives ripe with found imagery. I find, as much as I love words, I am in love with my camera and the craft of photography. And now, my formerly unsinkable plan is now the Titanic.

So, for my new plan... I don't know, yet. I'm taking two graphic design classes this semester - both of which started
only last week. I have 3 months to figure out what I want to pursue between now and the end of January, when the next semester begins. So far, I'm looking at a lighting class and maybe Large Format? or Portraiture? I don't know. It bothers me that this is all going to take me longer than I thought (what do you want to be when you grow up? A professional student.) but the decision to go back to photography is already making me get those happy butterflies.

A definite good sign.