Sunday Morning Serendipity

I had a hankering for eggs and veggie bacon strips on Sunday. To my utter delight, out popped not one, but two gorgeous egg yolks from my beautiful brown egg. What a stroke of luck! Honestly--I resembled a child as I gasped with my eyes wide before immediately breaking out in an awe-filled smile. What can I say? Simple things please me so. It was a beautiful morning. The air was crisp, the breakfast aromas were mixing with the fresh morning breeze, the sun was pouring through the window...ahhh...so very nice. All I needed was the sound of coffee brewing and the fantastically heady smell that comes along with it.

homemade pizza anyone?

Tasty Little Things

For my birthday I had two things of which I don't normally have:

1) A fantastic Twix bar (which I haven't had in FOREVER. And by forever I mean years.)
And
2) What I call "Birthday Cheetos!!!" A completely delicious Family Size bag of crunchy Cheetos. So good. I'll buy another bag in 6 months or so. Good stuff. It'll probably take years off my life...but...oh well.

Honey Lemon Ginger Tea w/Mint

My favorite homemade tea is made from fresh ginger slices boiled in purified water. Once the ginger's boiled and steeped, I add tons of lemon and honey to my cup with a bit of mint. I think it's super yummy and absolutely love it, but others tell me it's too spicy. Depends on how long you boil the ginger.

Ummm...that spicy ginger coupled with tangy lemon, then swirled with honey to sweeten and reign it all back in...Yum! I've yet to find a pre-packaged tea like it. But who needs pre-packaged when you can make it fresh and it's so easy too.

Blueberries on Quaker Squares + Fresh U-Pick

My current favorite cereal is Quaker Oatmeal Squares (the brown sugar flavor) with fresh picked blueberries that are only $1.10 a pound at the local produce farm. The cereal is hearty with a good crunch and flavor, not overly sweet. And with the blueberries...oh...Perfect!

Below: fresh-picked blueberries from our favorite u-pick farm, Philbrook Farm, in Vancouver, WA. They don't have a website yet otherwise I'd link to it. This season, the u-pick blueberries were only $1.10/lb!! Such a steal for a bit of work picking the berries, which are so easy to pick compared to thorny blackberries.

Lilah Maureen

I just love the outtake above from Mark and Marella's newborn shoot. Great energy.

...and, of course, a family photo...

Silver Star Mountain, Round 3

It was an overcast day as we set out for our third trip up Silver Star Mountain. The third time is the charm. Not only did we finally make it to the top but the hike was the most stunning I'd ever seen it, just chock full of blossoms and color everywhere! In some parts I swear it was like hiking through someone's well-maintained garden. I can't believe how perfectly the wild blooms grew. Just smashingly beautiful! The pictures don't do it justice. Like so many things, you just have to be there.

That hill in the background above isn't our final destination, just a bump along the way.

Can you believe how perfect the plants look? Utterly amazing.

Couldn't resist posting another one of Max among the blooms. He looks so cute!

When we came to this huge flat field bursting with yellow flowers I honestly felt like I was in some whimsical land. It was fantastic and magical like The Wizard of Oz and the Yellow Brick Road. The sun would come out for a fleeting moment and the whole expanse would light up powerful and golden. It was the most exhilarating and breathtaking thing I've seen since living here. Amazing. Just absolutely amazing. It was an experience so wonderful that I wished all my good friends could be there to experience it also.

It's Blackberry Pickin' Time!

We've been picking the free blackberries that grow around here and I tell ya what...There is nothing like FREE produce to make something as delicious as a homemade pie. Well, the inside was homemade. The crust was organic, whole wheat, ready-made crust from Whole Foods. I took one look at the directions for making pie crust, deemed it far too time consuming and quickly opted for the (actually quite scrumptious) store variety.

Above: me quickly devouring a warm piece of pie a la mode. And yes, I was shooting and eating at the same time. I love to eat. I love to shoot. So why not do it at the same time?

Below: More blackberry and ice cream fun at home!

The Tiners

I had an incredibly effortless shoot while in Seattle shooting the oh-so-photogenic Tiner family.
They were marvelous models, I didn't have to direct them at all. All I had to do was show up and they did their thing!
It was hard to choose just a couple for the blog, but here are some of my favorites:

and then the entire beautiful family:

Seattle

View From the Top, Seattle, WA

We've been on the move once again. Two weeks ago it was Bend, OR. Last week it was Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. Next week it'll be Welches, OR.

The adventure starts at the sweet --I mean, really sweet-- Pan Pacific Hotel in Seattle. It's currently only 1 of 2 Pan Pacific Hotels in the United States. The other one is in Hawaii. Of course. I highly recommend a stay at the Pan Pacific Seattle. They are highly accommodating and pride themselves on two words: Of Course.

Whatever you want, that's their response. You say, "Can I get a..." or "Yeah, I'd like..." To which they answer, "Of course."

Within reason...of course.

That bed was soooo comfy. And the 32" flatscreen TV wasn't so bad either.

Oh, and why is the window blown out? Because if it wasn't then you'd see a bunch of construction on the building across the street. And nobody wants to look at construction when they're pampering themselves.

Loved the sliding doors separating the bath from the rest of the room. Nice touch.

A view from inside the glass-walled shower.

And me.
About to eat breakfast while soaking in the tub.
Why?

Because I can. That's why.

In fact, I even watched an episode of So You Think You Can Dance.
From the bathtub.
Why?
That's right.
Because I can.
---------------------------------------

It was my first time in Seattle and my friend Rachelle (who is an AMAZING artist, check out Rachelle's website) showed me all the sights and sounds of the city. We had a full day experiencing the thoroughly intriguing Pike Place Market, Seattle Art Museum, and dinner at The Pink Door. After which we decided to stuff one more attraction into the day and that was certainly none other than the attraction of all Seattle attractions: The Space Needle.

...and the view from the top.

Marella

Update: Marella had a girl. Just as I suspected! It seems like everyone I know is having baby girls. Three out of four couples I know had baby girls this past year.
Just a shot from Marella's maternity shoot about 2 weeks ago. She was fabulous and looked great for being 9 months pregnant. In fact, I believe she's due today! Will it be a boy or girl? We don't know! Only time will tell!

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

If you've never tried this, you should. It's as good as Twix if you dip the pretzels in caramel first.