geocaching in a golf cart

Geocaching for those of you who are not familiar with the term, is basically modern treasure hunting. Based on the latitude and longitude you attempt to find a hidden cache. It's really quite fun. Last weekend we were up in Michigan and the lake community we stayed at had a bunch hidden around the grounds. We grabbed a list of the locations (with their clues), found some wifi to download the coordinates and hopped in the golf cart and we were off... until it got too dark to find things. Who knew a golf cart could be so much fun?

knitting spoils

Due to the recent increase in baby activity around us, I've been knitting up gifts the past few weeks, with more planned for the future. It must be noted that the hoodie could not have been accomplished without my dear friend K. I would have been utterly lost without her help. Seriously. She helped me crank that thing out in a week. But now I know how to knit in the round and a few other snazzy things!

A hat for bringing the baby home from the hospital (it'll be winter time in Chicago... brrrrrr!)

A hoodie for baby c.r.l.

with booties to match!

adorable baby c.r.l.

One of my closest friends, E (who married C a few years back) just had their first child. They happened to be traveling out to Michigan for a wedding, so we took the opportunity to drive up there and meet them. Okay, so seeing the baby was my main motivation, I'll be honest. We only had a few hours (it went much too quickly) but I was able to snap a few shots before we left. I told E that I was tempted to just kidnap him and take him home for at least a few days, but I resisted and instead settled for just looking at the pictures an unmentionable number of times.

PS: If you think I had a thing for shoes/feet... baby feet takes it up a whole other notch, trust me. They're just so small and cute. I couldn't help myself. I really couldn't. It was like being drawn in by a magnet.

How do you not love this little foot?

And this little hand?

They're going to be great parents. (I've forgiven C for being a Michigan fan and indoctrinating his child so early. May need to buy some PSU attire in the future to combat that.)

5 years ago today...

I married the most wonderful man. It's hard to believe it's already been 5 years. There's really no one else I'd want to grow old with more than M. To avoid getting too sappy, I'm just going to say that I like him a whole lot, even more now than I did then.|wedding photography by Lime Street Studios|

camera love

I kind of want this...


|from photojojo.com|

How cool is that?! You can shoot all around you while pointing your lens the other direction to throw people off. Hee hee. It could be really fun to use in the city.

Check out the other cool stuff Photojojo has in stock!

italia

kjk : in pink

I had such a hard time picking which photos to post here. You have NO idea. It was proof that yet again, the best pictures often come at the end of the shoot, when everyone has relaxed, your guard is down AND you push the envelope, asking for things that seem ridiculous but in the end turn out awesome. I would like to publicly thank kjk for being such a good sport and for carting half her wardrobe (not to mention accessories) out to OP for this shoot. Also for being a spicy Asian, in addition to being a great friend.

Can you say, "Hot?"

And hotter.

Can't you just feel the grit?

This commences the "jumping bean" phase. Get ready. It's awesome.

I'm pretty sure in her other life she's an Asian Superhero.

Our spoils.

What's becoming my signature shot.

a little laughter

Okay, more like A LOT of laughter, as evidenced below. So much in fact that I had to stop jumping because I couldn't laugh AND jump at the same time.



You can select the picture for a closer look at this craziness.

PS: I must add that these were snapped by she, who was laughing at my mexican jumping bean impression while trying to capture it.

kjk : a sneak peek

Over the weekend kjk was kind enough to allow me to use her as a guinea pig for some photo shoot ideas that I had. It was hot, we had multiple bags of accessories, I made her wear heels and walk around OP, but she was a trooper and all I can say is that end of the shoot made everything worth it. Not only did I get a great series, we also did some crazy stuff that made us both double over in laughter. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I'll show you why in a few days, but for now here's a glimpse from the start.

St. Gregory's Episcopal Church in Deerfield, IL

PSA : Do not mix cooking with Lightroom

Oh, Lightroom... how I love you. But you make me burn my waffles. I get distracted by all your buttons and presets and then I google "lightroom presets" and find myself showered with links to hundreds of free download-able presets and I get engrossed in organizing them (B/W, Vintage, Infrared, Holga) and I start to laboriously test them out on different photos, going back and forth between the presets and all the while I'm supposed to be supervising my waffle maker so that it doesn't burn my triple batch of yummy waffles. (Note: making a triple batch of waffles allows you to have WEEKS' worth of frozen waffles that can be grabbed and popped into the toaster at any time.) But nooooo... you, Lightroom, not only distract me long enough to burn one set of waffles, you have the power to distracted me AGAIN, after I've already chastised myself for thinking I could manage both things at once, and I burn them AGAIN. Not once, but twice. Well you will not fool me a third time, mainly because I'm out of batter. sigh.

This is an example of one of the B/W presets that is WAY contrasty (okay, apparently that's actually a word because it's not putting that nice little "red line" hint underneath it, huh.) but I really like how it looks applied to this picture from my brother in law and sister in law's wedding.