winter thoughts

thank you all for sharing your december lists, i loved reading them! there has been a lot of inspiring finds around this online corner of the world. tifanie posted a beautiful maira kalman article, back to the land, that made me a little teary and very very happy. i love the cicero quote "if you have a garden, and a library, you have everything you need."

and gwen bell's 2009 challenge has been popping up all over as a wonderful way to look back on the year, reflecting on and remembering all the good moments 2009 brought. for now, i am accepting her challenge in my private journal, but i may share a few here and there in this space. i'm looking forward to thinking about the best new food i tried in 2009 and the best car ride i took.

this weekend i'm going to the urban craft uprising to look for some cute handcrafted gifts and scope out the scene. i've always loved craft fairs. i'm looking forward to browsing paula deer's booth and sprout studio.

have a great weekend!

a tour

*some cool buildings in seattle*

top: the varsity on the ave. second: the malloy apartments in the u district. third and fourth: a hotel on 4th ave that i can't remember and am too lazy to look up. it's by the library.

my recent roll of expired film has been very grainy. i guess that's the joy of expired--you never really know what it could turn out like.

i wanted to tell you that there is also another great giveaway going on at lea's blog. (my giveaway will be soon) lea is a very talented photographer from copenhagen. she has a great knack for the best thrift store finds and i love her eye and perspective on things. you should check out her blog for more than just the giveaway!

***
thanks for your comments, thoughts and enthusiasm on my last post. i'm going to respond to some of the comments here.
tifanie: i'm nervous, too about winding the film correctly. i've been practicing!
lea and lecia: it's great to hear what is occupying your creative energy right now. keep up the good work!
ida and jane: i'm sure there will be another giveaway by jen. and i will definitely show you what arrives for me.

important things to get done

in two weeks i am going to montreal and there is a lot to get done. of course, there are all the odds and ends that i need to gather which i wont bother you with here in this space, because who really needs to know about what toiletries i still need to buy and what shoes i'm struggling over taking or not? but besides all those necessary details, there are also really important things to get done.

for one, there are 10 more posts to go until 100! remember i promised you a 100th post giveaway? i'm not quite sure when that will land in relation to my trip, but i hope everything will line up. my goal is to start the contest before i leave in hopes that winners will understand that their surprise will come when i get back. we'll see...
if you are looking for a great giveaway right this second go here.

another important thing to get done is the summer photo trade. i am so excited about this project, created by jen of nectar & light. since i've joined this online community of blogging i've been waiting and hoping for a fun photo sharing/trading opportunity. i hope that this is the first in many projects that i can participate in. but i also have to shoot some great summer photos and print them and send them before i leave in two weeks.

lastly on my exciting photo-related to-do list, tifanie and i have a fun little film trade we are doing that i can't wait to share with everyone. we are each shooting a roll of 35mm film, rewinding it with a little tail hanging out, sending it to the other to shoot over, and then developing. neat, huh?

well, thanks for letting me sort out my to-do list with you. do you have any exciting creative prospects going on?

pictures from the solstice

i got my first set of pictures back from saturday. here's what the day looked like for me:

*started off with a special breakfast potluck*
*

*first sights of the parade*
*

*the crowd*
*

*barrel folk*
*

*scorpion*
*

*fire*
*

*watching*
*

it was a great day!

amidst all the new

guess what i just realized?
the color in my 35mm film shots are so cool not because of my funky vintage camera, but because i'm using expired film. i don't know why i didn't even think that the film i've had for over 3 years might somehow make my images look different? but, i love it and i am suddenly very sad that there is only two rolls left. to celebrate my new discovery and to enjoy my last rolls, i joined the expired film flickr group!

above are two really neat theaters in seattle and the bottom photo is behind my work. i like being reminded that seattle has age and character, amidst all the new modern looking condos and shopping complexes. sometimes i like to imagine that i am my grandma when she was young, going downtown and seeing the big city. or that i see what my great-grandpa saw every day when he went to work. the old, the brick, the rust, the class--they're important. i'm glad my film can retell that antiquity.

***
have you seen adie loves polly yet? do.

sun tea

i've been making sun teas each weekend, putting them in the fridge and drinking them as iced tea during the week. it is the easiest thing to do and has been fitting perfectly with my weekend activity of gardening. i just put a pitcher of water and some tea bags on our fence ledge--next to the potted oregano, sage and mint--and then i work in the garden, watching the tea slowly brew and turn the water into a burnt orange color.
since this is an overcast saturday in seattle, i will post about sun teas instead of making one. for me, the fun in making them is creating different types of flavor combinations. i just look at whatever teas i have in my house and think of yummy concoctions!

here's what i've done that you might like:

combo #1
2 bags lemon black tea
2 bags ginger tea
5 sprigs of mint (from the plant on the fence ledge)

combo #2
2 bags good earth spiced black tea
1 bag cranberry flavored black or herbal tea

combo #3
3 bags moroccon mint tea
1 lemon round
5 sprigs mint
optional: ceylon tea or lemon black tea

-fill a clear glass pitcher of water
-add tea and herbs
-let sit out in sun for about 6 hours, depending on sun intensity.
-refrigerate pitcher and drink tea cold

**green tea:
i'm not a big green iced tea fan, but making a sun tea with green tea and drinking it warm sounds amazing.

**sweetened tea:
i haven't been adding sugar because the teas have been tasting flavorful enough without, but if i were to sweeten them, i'd use agave because the flavor blends well and it disolves easily.
or, the icing on the cake would be to get a stevia plant. my mom has one and it is sweet just chewing on it! i would love to add a few stevia leaves to a batch for natural sweetness. maybe i'll sneak into my mom's backyard....

any tea concotions that you really like?