Project 365

What is Project 365 you may ask? Put simply, it involves taking a picture every day for one year and posting it online for the world to see! I joined the Project 365 group on Flickr, and am excited to get started. I like the idea of flexing my photographic muscle to explore areas outside of my comfort zone (photographically speaking anyways). I'm hoping that finding inspiration in every day things will not only make me a better photographer, but help me to see the beauty in things I might have otherwise missed if I weren't purposefully seeking them out. So, here's my very first Project 365 pic. - Day 1. I bought this chair at a garage sale this morning with my mom for a whopping $5.00! I almost walked right past it until she pointed it out to me and I instantly fell in love with it's presence and shape. I probably would have been tempted to pay $500.00, so it's a good thing the price tag closely matched what was in my wallet ;P

This summer I have big plans for an interior makeover, and this chair is perfect. I would love to have it reuppholstered in something like this:

I love this charcoal gray trellis fabric! How dreamy would it be to have a whole bed covered in it????

VOTE FOR MEEEEEE!

Hello Friends!
Tonight I am writing to you for a *BIG,BIG,BIG* favor! I am one of seventeen finalists chosen to compete for a seat at Marmalade Photography's "See The Light" workshop in Chicago, June 13-14. Marmalade Photography is the business of Marianne Drenthe, an incredibly talented, successful and well-known children's photographer in Chicago. To view some of her work, visit her website: www.marmaladephotography.com. She offers photographers aspiring to grow their business and master their craft the chance to learn from her brilliance at her workshops (www.seethelightworkshop.com) The 1st round of this contest involved submitting a picture of ourselves and listing 3 unique things about us and why we should be chosen to win this opportunity. The second round involves spreading the word about our photography bizz, and having other photogs. vote for us!!! So, here's where I need your help! If you are a photographer (small, big, huge, large, etc.) please, please, please click on this link (http://seethelightworkshop.com/blog) and vote for me!! Just click on my picture (the second one) and submit your vote. Only votes from photographers count, so make sure to link to your website, portfolio, flickr gallery, blog, etc. (you do not have to be a professional photographer!) In Marmalade's own words:
Here’s the rules for this leg of the contest:
click on the photograph of the person you want to vote for, your email will pop open and in the subject header the name of the person you vote for should be filled in
one entry per IP address
only photographers may vote - this requirement is outlined once you click on the image of the person you are voting for.
a portfolio link to prove your identity as a photog is a must have for the email you send as a vote!
contestants get out there & pimp yourselves!!
voting ends on Monday, April 20th at 12 noon
Even if you are not a photographer, please forward this to anyone and everyone you can think of to get the word out!! If I win, I will be giving away TWO FREE PORTRAIT SESSIONS!!!
Thank you so much for all of your continued support!!!
Sincerely,
Sarah
PS - I apologize if you receive this email more than once - in my desperation, I'm sending it out to everyone I know from every email account I have!!! :) :) :)

Happy Easter!

So, since I know my last post left with you burning questions in your mind {ha, ha}, here is what I was working on this week:

applique'd t-shirts for Owen:

a handy, dandy camera strap slipcover for myself:

And {much more exciting} some confectionary delights for Easter:

My first attempt at cake pops

Hmmm, I may have to rename mine as "ugly pops" but they sure do taste good!

Some more "sophisticated" goodies for the grownups.

aaaaand, finally....these little guys are still a work in progress, I'll show off the finished product tomorrow.

Any Guesses?

As to what I've been doing this week?

Here's a hint ~ I've been inspired by this:

http://bakerella.com

and, this:

http://birdandtwine.blogspot.com
(thanks kaki, for the link!)

Happy {Almost} Easter Friends!!

Saturday, in the park ....

You'd think it was the Fourth of July. Seriously....it was like 100 degrees outside today! Hello?! Isn't it supposed to be SPRINGTIME? Oh well, what am I complaining about...even though it was h-o-t, it was a gorgeous day! Chris and I took the Oboski to the park, bought him some new duds (because you can only wear so many hand-me-downs) and made him model for us :)

lucky for us, he lets us pay him in ice cream :)

little things.

make me happy. Like a little bouquet of flowers from my yard, sitting on my sunny kitchen windowsill :)

and Owen's hair after a nap :) (click picture to enlarge)

birdmania

I took Owen to the park the other day to see the birds (herons, cranes ~ not entirely sure). There are hundreds of them in the trees time of year. He loved them so much (the feeling was not mutual) they really are beautiful (minus the carpet of poo covering the grass) - if you have time, it's definitely worth stopping by to check it out. I love this park, it's so pretty, lush and green! I am doing an engagement session there next month, very exciting stuff :)

My Little Picasso's Evil Twin.

You may remember a few posts back, me bragging on Owen's artistic flair. I have to giggle while I'm writing this because he just surprises me EVERYday with something - whether it's finding new and exciting ways to get into trouble, or sweet little words he picks up on (Chris taught him how to call me "hooooooneeeeey"). Anyways, the other day he created this masterpeice for me:

Pretty, huh? Yep, except THIS is where he colored it!
AND, then noteventhirtysecondslater, he comes running in to show me this:
glitter. all over the rug. all over the dining room chairs. all over him (in his hair, in his MOUTH) on his clothes.......
oh my. He certainly makes sure my life is never boring :)

Alchemy

Ohmydeargoodness. Just when I thought I couldn't get any more addicted to Etsy, I go and explore this "alchemy" section, where you can request custom items! I have been obsessing over this cute little dress from www.modcloth.com for the last couple of weeks:

Only problem is, it's been sold out for weeks :( So - I posted a request on alchemy and I had SEVEN bids by the end of the day. The best part is - I posted how much I wanted to pay (which was considerably less than the dress above) and they bid LOWER than that - sweet! The only thing better than that would be if I could sew a straight line myself. Which I can't - believe me, I've tried. Anywho, I think I've finally narrowed it down to one chickadee to make this dress for me. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Sweet Surprise!

Owen and I have come down with a case of the sickies this week = not fun! On Monday I started feeling a little under the weather, so I went to Starbucks to pick up a Chai Tea Latte (cause that ALWAYS makes me feel better!) and the girl there gave Owen and Jack chocolate cupcakes! I'm guessing she probably felt sorry for me :P Anyways, she wrapped them up in these cute little boxes and wrote cute little notes on them! It was definitely the highlight of our Monday :) The boys couldn't wait to dig in and it kept them occupied for about 10 minutes while I enjoyed my tea!

Aahhhh, bliss. I usually love to read the little messages on my cup. This one was a little confusing and depressing though. HOWEVER - I definitely plan to do exactly what it says on the sleeve. All week. :)

Hope you:

St. Patrick's Day Parade

We went to the St. Patrick's Day parade on Sunday! It was a gorgeous {but hot} day. Jack was in the parade, marching with his Martial Arts School and Granny and Grandpa were in it too, with their square dancing group, Whirl & Twirl. This wasn't Owen's first parade, but probably the first one he was really old enough to enjoy. He loved the horses and the fire trucks! He had a little meltdown towards the end, but it was quickly remedied with chocolate candy (his newest and favorite word at the moment = "chock-it caneeee"). Who wouldn't feel better after a little chocolate, right? ;)

Owen loved it!This is what I like to call "Parade Face" - just taking it all in. Looks like Chris has a bit of parade face in the second pic. too ;)

Check out the teeth on this horse! Owen LOVED the firetrucks!

Jack was in the parade with his "XMA" team

This is how he spent the last 15 minutes or so....

I tried to get Granny (Chris' mom) to take a nice little family pic. after the parade and these were the best we got:

decent of me, bad of everyone else.......

or........good (OK, better) of everyone else, TERRIBLE of me lol!

Sigh.....why is it SO hard to get a family picture where everyone is smiling????

It was a great day!