Pieces of Me

1. Delicate Arch trail, 2. kayaks, 3. Save Polaroid, 4. red rack... 500!, 5. melancholy tulips, 6. pasty whites, 7. Behold the mighty spork!, 8. Maggie, 9. Grace Potter!, 10. Creekside trees, 11. Rummy, 12. snow ho!, 13. Yarrow, 14. I heart the state fair, 15. Oh pumpkin!, 16. I heart this road., 17. neighbors, 18. Grandpa and me, 19. Hey flags!, 20. Hooray for new Keens!, 21. stripes, 22. Garrett, 23. shoppers, 24. parking, 25. Chinese take-out

Like I said in my previous post, it's been a Polaroid year for me. Of the 330+ Polaroids I made this year, these are my favorites. This is officially my last post of 2008. Cheers!

Created with bighugelabs.

Tip o' the Hat

1. meet me by the garden, 2. room with a view, 3. north america., 4. you can always go, 5. ., 6. Untitled, 7. Untitled, 8. Geometry, 9. Untitled, 10. burgers, 11. Gone camping, 12. Half Moon Bay, 13. wppd-02, 14. running to stand still, 15. keep it with mine, 16. yellow flower and stem, 17. salvaged, 18. to the aproaching winter, 19. because today we are remembering grass, 20. Take Me Home, 21. his hands, 22. a winter's dream 42.365, 23. rain or shine, 24. Shade., 25. kim's my hero, 26. Untitled, 27. one day we'll update, 28. Wisconsin ~ big red barn, 29. Road Trip (Across Australia), 30. Emergent, 31. Untitled, 32. the photo trade, 33. cargo glass, 34. Treading trodden trails, 35. descent into the big muddy badlands, 36. Wanderlust

Just wanted to give a virtual tip o' the hat to some of my favorite photographers over on Flickr, and some of my favorite images of 2008. Flickr and I have had a big year. I've had an account there for about three years but it was this year that I really got into it and I'm so glad I did. I made a lot of new friends this year and even met onein person! To date, I've burned through a few rolls of film, and a handful of digital images, but it's really been a Polaroid year. I've made over 330 Polaroids! I have to give a lot of credit to the friends I've made on Flickr. It's so nice to have a place filled with like-minded individuals, and ones who constantly churn out creative and inspiring work. Thank you all! Here's to a great 2008 and an even better 2009!

Created by bighugelabs.

Take-out

I pulled some cinnamon rolls out of the oven Christmas morning, slathered on some cream cheese frosting and took them downstairs for us to eat while we did our Christmas. Trav was standing in front of the couch, and with a smile on his face, he revealed my stocking, and said "It has an Asian theme!" My knit reindeer stocking was nestled between all of this stuff and I was so surprised. He went to two different Chinese restaurants and the grocery store to obtain everything, and spent a lot of time working on it. And of course, inside my stocking were all of my favorite chocolate and peanut butter treats: M&M'S, Reese's miniatures and Reese's trees. I'm just amazed at how sweet he is and how much effort he puts into making things perfect for me. And I say that with a heavy heart because I effed up a couple weeks ago.

Remember the vintage Brownie ornament? A friend called, saying she saw them at the Sundance catalog store for cheap and to go get some, so I did, but it turns out my wonderful, thoughtful husband had been stalking the same ornaments at World Market in South Salt Lake since Thanksgiving, waiting for them to go on sale because they were so freaking expensive, and when I went and bought them at Sundance, I blew his Christmas idea for me. You see, his family has a rule about buying things for yourself between Halloween and Christmas, and I never follow the rule, but clearly, I should have. I definitely learned my lesson this year because I broke my husband's heart, and I never want to do that again. I'm very sorry, dude. Your wife is an ass.

Christmas Greeting

When I got home from work last night, I suddenly felt like I was written into the script of Christmas Vacation. I went into the front room to water the tree and realized that my tree skirt and the two oversized bath towels beneath it were drenched. Immediately, I grabbed one of my wrapped presents sitting on top of said wetness, only to find the paper ruffled and damp. I tore into it and the present inside - a very special book I made - was ruined. The pages were wet and wavy and the binding was separated from the hard cover. The next three gifts - same special books - had damp wrapping paper, and wavy pages too, but the bindings were still intact. All in all, seven of the ten presents under the tree were soggy, and as I pulled the pretty red and green papers off of each of them, I ugly cried. I was so happy Travis wasn't home yet. I didn't want him to witness that.

I'm so upset about the books. They are the culmination of two years of scanning and editing my old family Polaroids, and obviously they mean a lot to me. Plus, that's $200 worth of books! I left the wet wrapping paper mess laying in the front room and just crawled into bed last night and cried. Trav came home an hour later, saw the mess and thought we'd been robbed. He hurried down the hall to make sure the computer was still on the desk, and then found me in bed. He cheered me up and then ran to Target and bought a new tree stand, specifically one that wouldn't leak. We awkwardly moved/dragged the Christmas tree and the new stand across the room, ornaments and all, so the carpet beneath the original spot could dry, and tonight, we'll move it all back. And then I'll re-wrap my seven presents, and tomorrow when I give the books to my family, I'll explain my Christmas tree disaster and apologize for the wrinkly pages. The one book that is completely ruined is now my copy of our Polaroid book, and my dry copy that was in the other room far away from a leaky tree stand, is now going to be wrapped and given away.

After all is said and done, it's really a funny story. We laughed about it last night. We joked about waking up this morning and finding the tree and its brand new stand tipped over and broken, and wondered if anything else would go wrong with the Christmas decorations. So when I left for work this morning, it should come to no surprise that our white twinkly lights outside have mysteriously turned themselves off. They're all plugged in. They're just off. Curious.

Despite seemingly major disasters and little unusual snags, our Christmas will be wonderful and fun and joyous, and I hope yours is too.

The last of the Christmas videos... Day 10, Day 11, and the finale, Day 12. Hope you enjoyed them!

Happy Solstice!

Winter is officially here! Six fluffy inches of snow fell on Friday, flurries yesterday morning, and we're expecting another 6-12 inches tomorrow, with more snow coming all week. I couldn't be happier. Hope your Solstice is wintery and fun.

Need a little Christmas cheer? Our 12 Days of Christmas Videos are sure to put a smile on your face... Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, and Day 9.

Chocolate Tradition

Every December when we were kids, my mom would take us down to ZCMI (our local department store) where she'd buy giant bricks of yummy white and milk chocolate for dipping her amazing peanut butter balls and pretzels. We'd come home and she'd make the pb concoction and roll it all into bite size balls and then she'd put the pan of peanut butter goodness out on the deck to freeze (Utah winters) before dipping them in the chocolate. My sister and I would sneak outside throughout the rest of the evening and steal the balls. They were delicious even without chocolate! My mom would make enough for our family, the neighbors, and our cousins, and we'd snack on homemade Christmas treats throughout the season.

My sister and I carried on the tradition for a year or two when we were in high school, with my mom's help of course, but then we just stopped. After probably five ears without these delectable treats, I felt domestic one Christmas and decided to go for it, and for maybe eight years now, I've been rolling peanut butter balls and hand-dipping them and loads of pretzels every December. I do two things different though: 1. I've incorporated dark chocolate into the mix because my husband's family loves the dark; and 2. I put the peanut butter balls in the freezer instead of on the deck. I still sneak one or two though before I dip them!

Thanks Mom for instilling this chocolaty, time-consuming tradition in me. Sometimes I want to just buy chocolate-dipped pretzels from Costco, but I know that I can't find your peanut butter balls anywhere else, so I will roll on.


Wanna take a listen to our 12 Days of Christmas Videos - Day 5? It's David Sedaris!

Red + Green

I've always loved the red couch and chairs. They were beautiful in my dad's house and when he gave them to me when we moved into our new house, I fell in love even more, and now that it's Christmas, they're perfect. The vibrant red looks so good with the greens of our Christmas tree and giant fresh wreath on the coffee table, and the reds of our ornaments and stockings. I walk into the front room about 20 times a day now. I just can't get enough of it, and I've left my tripod and various cameras set up in there, just waiting for another photo or two. I hope your home is just perfect for you during this lovely holiday season.

Ready for 12 Days of Christmas Videos - Day 4?

Brownie Holiday

Isn't this adorable? It's a tiny Kodak Brownie Holiday Flash! It's not a working camera, it's just an ornament, but you can see through the viewfinder. I want a real one now!

Got a minute? 12 Days of Christmas - Day 3!

Pom + Snow

Aren't pomegranates just so pretty? And isn't this pomegranate especially lovely surrounded by eight fresh inches of snow? Oh, how I love this season.

Check out our other blog for
12 Days of Christmas Videos - Day 2!

Let it Snow

It finally came today! Snow! We have five fluffy white inches outside and more flurries forcasted through Monday. I couldn't be happier. It feels like Christmas now, and it's about time!

Last year, Trav and I posted 12 Days of Christmas Videos on our blog, and this year, we're doing it again. Here's this year's Day 1, and last year's too. We've chosen favorites, all-time greats, family traditions, and some that are just plain silly. Stay tuned from now through Christmas Eve for the rest.

Wish With Me

Wish with me that it snows this weekend.

The Village

I feel like blogging something but I don't have much to say today. At least not right now. It snowed yesterday and finally feels like Christmas, so how about some Polaroids of my grandma's Dickens Christmas Village? There are some digital snaps of probably some of the same people way back in my archives, but I love the Polaroids so much more (of course!).

Just Wait.

How is it that while the days seem to fly by (it's December 5th already!), some things just never get here? I'm not a patient person and I'm experiencing yet another test of my ability to remain calm and just wait. I hate it. I want to sit back and enjoy this wonderful holiday season and everything that comes with it, but I've got something I'm really looking forward to in January so I find myself wishing December away. Ugh.

Shifting gears entirely, I'm really shocked at the amount of personal information people put on their blogs. I don't think I even mentioned my husband's name for the first year on my blog. You could go through the archives if you want and prove me wrong, but I hope you get my point. We've really slowed down at work and that gives me a lot of time to "read the whole internet" as we all say around here, and when I'm tired of reading the forum on toycamera.com, my groups on Flickr, the local news, MSN, Huffington Post, The Goat, and This is Somewhere, I read random blogs. Thank God for the internet and the invention of blogging because this way I can spy on people I went to high school with and they won't even know. Don't get all uppity. You do it too.

I've always been a pretty private person anyway and my blog is a direct reflection of that, so it amazes (read: scares) me how much people share about themselves. I mean, I don't need to know every minute detail of your pregnancy or your childbirth, your child's bathroom events, your sex life, etc. I just don't get why you need to tell the whole world. You do realize the whole world can see you, right? Also, don't tell me that you're 256 days, 7 hours, 23 minutes, and 41 seconds away from embarking on your fabulous cruise. I don't give a shit and now you just notified the entire planet that you are leaving your home and all your valuables all alone for seven days and six nights. Smart. And don't chronicle the fight you just had with your husband on your blog either. Chances are, when you go back and read that post a year later, it'll piss you off again and you'll end up in another argument.

I think the problem is that a lot of people treat their blogs like journals. You know, the things you disclose your most intimate secrets in and then tuck under the mattress, only it's a blog, people. It's a giant marquee, screaming your secrets to anyone that will listen. I really don't know where I'm going with this. It's just been on my mind for the last week and I felt like spouting off about it. And if you don't like the vagueness of my blog, let me know and I will direct you to a dozen blogs that are like a damn People magazine.

It might appear as if I'm grumpy today, but really, I am in a good mood, a great one, actually. I just had to speak up. Now run along and have a lovely weekend, and listen to Jen Crowell. Her voice is smoky hot.

Plastic Landscapes!

I'm a tad late posting this since the reception is tonight and starts in a half hour, but I wanted to put it out there anyway. It's my largest solo show. I've got 20 pieces from my Plastic Landscapes series. I'm pretty excited about it, but hate receptions so I hope it goes by fast!

Garrett

I spent yesterday at my sister's, loving on Garrett, who is nine days old today. I can't get enough of him. Maggie is getting used to him, although she had a bit of a breakdown when I went to leave without playing with her more, so I loved her up and snuggled with her and took pictures of her, just like she wanted. I was out of Polaroid though so I had to run with the digital. I can't wait to see them both again. (The first two images are 600, the third is Artistic TZ.)