testing one two

meet nathan and ruth. they're a great sweet young couple that we've recently become friends with. nathan and justin really hit it off from the start since they both love to talk about money, investing and real estate.

anyway, we finally convinced them to visit us but unfortunately they were stuck with the worst weather weekend we've had in months. regardless, i decided to take the opportunity to break in the new lens and shoot a couple in brooklyn, since there's SO many good locations around every corner here. too bad the two days we had were freezing, windy and overcast. but they posed like troopers and here's a few shots to prove it:

brooklyn

I found myself walking around manhattan all day saturday thanks to the husband having to work all weekend {again}. We got to stay in a fancy hotel near grand central station so I took it upon myself to roam the city with my camera. I made it to a couple of stores i wanted to explore and a great store opening event at purl soho. {I'll post pictures once I have time to get through the memory card.} But the rest of the time I found myself wandering with no idea what to do and desperately yearning to get away from the crowds.

And that is what I love about brooklyn. It's all the convenience and sights with half the people. It's quiet and charming with an abundance of local restaurants and boutiques and hidden gems. There are cobble stone streets and old brownstones and it's not nearly as intimidating as manhattan. But I guess that's why everyone here sticks to their neighborhoods. It's the familiar that makes us happy and comfortable and calm.

last name photo fun

When we had our friends here last weekend, they came up with a couple of photo games that even the husband was willing to play along with. While we were out on our neighborhood explorations, we decided to look for anything resembling the letters in our last names. It was actually really interested and made us pay attention to every little detail. And here in nyc, there are plenty of details. {But you can't just take a photo of a letter, that was cheating.}

Anyway, what do you think? I'm going to print and frame this for our apartment. I think it's a pretty cool idea and something to get you SLR owners out and about with your cameras. Manual focus is your friend!

{I also filled a photo clock with numbers from street signs, house numbers, fire trucks etc. That turned out pretty interesting as well.}

happy earth day!

in celebration, i picked up some plant-based laundry detergent and dishsoap, some organic leave-in conditioner and say yes to cucumbers conditioner (i've tried the say yes to carrots conditioner before and that one was great). oh and some tom's of maine toothpaste! surprisingly enough, those all-natural products last longer than you'd expect, and you're not only doing good for the environment, you're also helping your own well-being. so say no to chemicals!

oh and i'm bringing it all home in my reusable san francisco ladybug bag. that little roll-up thing is convenient! thanks JEN!! i carry it everywhere with me.

craft-a-long twenty ten: project two FINISHED!

i know, i know, i jumped on the 'ahead-of-time' bandwagon. i had a few hours to myself this past weekend after company drove away and the husband went to work SO i decided to carpe diem.

i actually designed the whole thing around my backing fabric, which is recycled chino from a pair of pants i turned into shorts for the summer. it's sort of a strange color, so the trick was matching fabrics for the patchwork. i used up the scraps from the trees and roosters fabric {love} and added more basic complimenting scraps to avoid visual overkill. i always feel patchwork is a struggle, so i cross my fingers and hope it turns out right. i actually love this one, i think everything works great together and i love the bright patch of green to liven things up.

i did alter the craft apron tutorial a bit. i eyeballed the patchwork, according to the things i wanted to store in the pockets, and added a custom-made bias tape around the whole apron. then i used some recycled cotton ribbon from a rugby shopping bag for the straps.

i'm pretty happy with how it turned out, but i had a hard time getting used to actually using the thing! i mean, i was still trying to track down my scissors instead of just remembering to put them back in my pocket each time i used them. however, i do love the idea of having an apron that stores all my essentials to just pick up each time and go...

want to see a couple of other early finishers?!? you can see kelly's kitchen apron and andrea's ruffled apron and maybe grab some inspiration for your own! who's still doing this with us anyway?

this is why

i love my apartment. this is why i put up with crappy old windows that take the world's strongest man to open, heat that comes on when it feels good and ready, critters in the basement, and a complacent landlord.

because when the sun comes through those oversized front windows, all is forgiven.

(don't miss out! to sign up for the second craft-along, go here.)

craft-along twenty ten: project two details

so we're off, for project number two: a is for apron. after unanimous vote, we're completing (hopefully) either a kitchen apron or a crafting/sewing apron.

you can use any tutorial or pattern you would like but i found two that might be useful.

crafty version
kitchen version

don't forget to join the flickr photo pool here. you can even post pictures mid-project. in fact, i think it would be amazing to get sneak peaks of your creations.

deadline for this one will be May (eek, already?!) 24th which seems like a lot of time, but we all know how it creeps up on us and we realize we have one weekend left to complete an entire project. of course, if you get yours done earlier feel free to blog about it!

if you're going to join in, please leave a comment here with your blog link, so we can all track your progress. thanks!

craft-along twenty ten: project two details to come

probably tomorrow. i know a couple of you already started, so if you found your own apron template feel free to do that! it's all what you want to make.

for now i'm obsessed with my new photos. can't you tell?

lens me your eyes

i know i know, another photo to show off my crazy new lens. i don't have all the specs (50mm/1.8f EFS) but the general gist of it is this:

it takes great indoor photos without flash because it allows more light in.
it captures movement thanks to a fast shutter speed so you avoid blurry subjects.
it allows a maximum 1.4 f-stop which gives a really narrow depth of field. ie: backgrounds are really out of focus.
basically, you manually adjust aperture and it creates the proper exposure by adjusting the shutter speed.

so far i'm pretty happy with it. i haven't tried using it in any auto modes yet, i've been using it in my SLR Av program setting.

now i just want to test it on human subjects ;)

look at me look at me

i wanted to show off the mad skillz of my new lens so here it is. i have others to show but for now, midnight, this will have to do. i'm tired and i NEED my sleep.

i have to say, i love the lens and can't wait to test it on some wee little ones called kenzie and kali. i hope they'll cooperate. i do need to keep in mind that it overexposes a bit, and i need to work with the manual focus a bit. but after a couple of hours, it was probably more my eyes than the camera.

what do you think??

time for a new header

so which do you prefer?

option a, the crafty pirate:

or option b, dj crafts-a-lot:

i think i'm partial to the pirate. anyone?

hello spring

what a great day. warm sun, cool breeze and blue sky. we spent today running a couple of 'errands'. we started in our neighborhood, where as you can see everything is in full bloom.

then we were entertained in the station and on the train by this guy playing a little reggae.

on to soho where we walked around a bit, unsuccessful in finding the husband his much-needed luggage. we did however find a great lunch at the quaint and decently-priced project sandwich. this was the view from the window:

then it was up to nyu and washington square park where as you can see, everyone was making the most of the sun.

back on the train and downtown to the camera store (yee-ha) and then back uptown to grand central only to find that luggage store closed 15 minutes early. hello, new york? across town to macys 34th street via cabbie.

finally back home and our tired feet are resting as we watch a movie and enjoy some leftovers. a good day, with some new booty for both of us. a victorinox red garment bag for the husband and a fancy new camera lens for me (and a remote AND a new 8GB memory card!). now if tomorrow's as nice as they say, i might be spending some time around the neighborhood playing with my new present!

craft-along twenty ten: project one FINISHERS!

thanks to all the participants who did this, it was fun to see all your hard work and now you all have cute camera straps for your fancy cameras. good, no?

so here's the line-up:


kelly made this blue and green version: lovely, yes? you can read about her experience here!


melissa made this fabulous red and aqua version. you can read all about it here!

fields of gold (i don't know your real non-internet name! shame on me!) made a great version here!

mb hasn't blogged about hers yet, ha, but when she does i'm sure you'll find it here!

did i miss anyone? i really didn't mean to...

so don't forget, we're planning the next project. i'm thinking the apron idea is fantastic and i personally would love to do the crafty version as opposed to the kitchen version cause let's face it, i spend more time sewing than cooking. what do yous guys think?!? do you know of better tutorials?
don't forget to join the flickr photo pool here.
oh and mine was, well, just scroll down.

i've got the fabric

so what are we going to make next?

i'll have a wrap up of the craft-along results as soon as everyone gets their act together...(a-hem, mb...)

but it begs the question, what to do this round, project two?!

99 red balloons

so of course things are SO busy. but i feel guilty for leaving this place hanging so i uploaded some pictures yesterday that i'll be able to blog about over the next few days.

we had an amazing weekend full of sun and fun and pictures, but i think this was one of my favorites. we discovered this great place in CT called wadsworth falls and wadsworth mansion. (is that what it's called carrie?) anyway, the place was amazing. i'm going to go move in and just not tell anyone. it's big enough to hide out for a while undetected.

it was great to spend easter with our 'family' in CT. maybe someday i'll live close enough to my family in RI that we can make it a dual day without 6 hours of driving!

craft along twenty ten: project one wrap-up

ok, SO, who did it?!?! come on, i want to fill in the bloggin' world with your awesomeness....

(if you missed the deadline you better be cowarring in that corner awaiting the crafty wrath of moi. ok, not really, this is a stress-free zone people, no worrying about deadlines on this blog.)

so spill the beans, who's cool and who's officially not. we want photos.