London, Day 1

Oh My God. I took soooo many pictures on our trip that I am overwhelmed when I think about sharing them. At the same time, I want to share them very much because it was such a wonderful trip! So I am going to break it down day by day. I just don't know how else to manage it. Here goes:

Our friends Kerri and Misty gave us a ride to the airport and we stopped at the Marin headlands to say goodbye to San Francisco (also to use the bathroom).
This is our hotel room in London. Don't we look great for having been on an airplane for 10 hours?

The room was very modern and simple (which I love!) so I had fun taking pictures of the furniture. I will only bore you with the one photo of the chair, though.
This is the outside of our hotel. Not so modern out here, huh? It actually used to be a Singer sewing machine factory.
There are these stores all over London (and Ireland as well) called Marks and Spencer. The store is two floors; upstairs is clothing, and downstairs is food. All of the food they sell is single serving, "to go" food. I just loved the rows and rows of packaged meals. There is a lot of this kind of food for sale all over London (cause everyone is always on the go).
Just some shots in the street. I took about 1000 photos of myself in mirrors, windows, etc.

Our first stop was St. Paul's Cathedral, a very old, very tall church. Photos are not permitted inside, but I snuck a few anyway.


You can walk to the top of the church and there is an outdoor viewing area. There are a few hundred more steps to go above this as well, but I got scared and couldn't make it all the way to the top. I waited for Gabe and took some pictures of the view.


This is the church from outside and downstairs.

Gabe thinks he is funny.
Next up: the Millenium Bridge and the Tate Modern museum.
Photos aren't aloud in the museum but here is me outside in the trees (photo by Gabe), and reflected in the front doors (told you i did that a lot).

The Tate Modern coffee cup:
Tired and jet lagged in the underground.

Next we went to visit an old friend of Gabe's who works in a record shop in the Notting Hill area of London. It was a cool neighborhood to walk around, but, frankly I was so tired by this point (having not slept in 24 hours) that I didn't really take many photos, other than this funny one:
And me in the public toilet fun house mirror.
And the records.
Then off to the hotel, and asleep by 7:30 PM! Stay tuned!

Scooters, accidents, flowers, vacation!

Gabe and I bought a scooter. We have been wanting one for a long time cause gas is getting more and more expensive, not to mention I just would rather not use as much anyway. Also, they are just adorable and fun to ride. So we bought one. We had a blissful two weeks with her , and then I, of course, crashed. It wasn't a bad accident, although I was laid up with an injured foot for about two weeks. The scooter has been in the shop waiting on a part for awhile now, and I totally miss it.

See where I smashed the headlamp casing? I suck.

Gabe and I are leaving on vacation (Europe!) in a few days and won't be back until August 2nd, so I'll leave you with a photo of the first red rose in our yard this summer. I'm sure I will have many lovely photos to share upon my return.

Misty at the Fountaingrove Winery

These are some photos I took almost two months ago for the cover of the North Bay Bohemian (the paper Gabe writes for). He wrote an article about "urban exploration" (which just means hanging out in abandoned buildings). I did a really fun shoot with my friend Misty Green at the Fountaingrove Winery and I think the photos turned out great!

This is the one they chose for the cover.


Misty is a hairstylist (lucky for me!) so she did her hair super fancy/film noiresque.


I had to shoot the pictures in the morning and turn them in the same afternoon so of course I had to use digital, but I took a few with film just for fun. I can't help still loving film so much. The photos just look so, I don't know, velvety.

I hope I have more reason to photograph Misty in the future. She was such a trooper, and beautiful to boot.

Mother's Day

Sorry I've been gone for so long! I've been taking some classes and work has been crazy, and, well, you know the story. I've just been really busy! Here are some photos from mother's day last month. The whole family got together and took my mom to lunch and spent a few hours wandering and shopping. It was a lovely day.

I know it was mother's day, but of course it is always all about the kids. They are so adorable. This is Tristan, Dale, and Elaine (Tristan and Dale are my sister's children, Elaine is my brother's girlfriend's granddaughter.)


We had lunch at Grafitti in Petaluma. Elaine wasn't feeling great so wanted my brother to hold her all the time. She is so beautiful even when she is sick!
My brother in law, James, looking dapper as usual.
After lunch we walked around downtown Petaluma, window shopping mostly. Tristan doesn't like having his picture taken, so I had to do the "make a funny face" thing to get him to submit. Grandma got in on the fun too.

Once a horse girl, always a horse girl.
Look at my sister's crazy long hair! So pretty. That's my brother Jason in the background, still holding Elaine.
Dale and Star don't mind posing for photos.

We met a puppy outside an antique store. Of course Gabe had to make friends.

And then the bassett hound inside.
Haha. Self portrait.
I love this photo of Dale in the antique store. Sooo adorable.
Then of course I spent quite a bit of time taking pictures of knick knacks in the store. I can't help myself.




What a fabulous day! I really love it when my whole family gets together. I'll post more soon. I promise.

Spring has sprung!

Every year, as soon as the magnolia trees start to bloom, I go out and take a bazillion pictures of them. I can't help it. I don't know what I will do with all of my magnolia photos, but they are so pretty I feel a compulsion to document it. This year is no different. First, a fun photo of Gabe on a swing in the park near our house:

And then the flowers. I just love them so much. I wish our yard were big enough to plant one.




And some cherry blossoms for good measure.
I hope everyone is having a good spring!