Up, Up and Away

The girls had to hold on tight to these helium balloons because they freak out if they go up, up and away...

Reach Out (I'll be there)

I know I am so lucky to have the friends that I have.  The words to this theme/song kind of sum it all up.  Just had a girls weekend in San Francisco.  It was fleeting but I had time to visit the ferry building market, see some bridges, climb some hills and just spend time with my soul mates. Came home with a great big grin on my face.

 The three of us about to get blown away by the wind.

Brown Sugar

Last weekend our friend Greg cooked dinner.  Not just any old dinner.  This was a feast of magnificent proportions.  It was a labor of love (at least 24 hours of cooking were involved) and it was seriously unlike anything I have ever eaten before in my life.  To start off the evening he served stuffed artichokes and then came the main event -  "Bo Ssam" from the Momofuku cookbook. I can't do it justice but there were noodles with ginger and scallions, oysters, various types of kimchi, lettuce cups, and then the 12lb pork shoulder roast... with BROWN SUGAR on top.  This slow roasted for hours and you just poked it with a fork to pull it apart.  You gathered as many of the above items as you could into a lettuce cup with various sauces and you tried to deal with the flavor explosion in your mouth.  DIVINE.  Of course Greg doesn't do anything unless he goes the whole way so on the side we had asparagus with miso butter and a soft boiled egg that just gently fell out of its shell and created a little piece of heaven. We sure know how to pick amazing (and talented) friends!

Games people play

My friend's birthday started innocently enough.  Then this game came out...

Somebody to Love

Lucky to be celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary.  Lucky that i found somebody to love. Here he is drinking his coffee in Greenport.

 We visited art galleries and antique shops and I found this little sign in the window.

 We checked out the windy beaches.  Brrrr.

Whats up?

Thanks to the rain... the crocuses are coming up! Spring might actually happen after all!

Bless your beautiful hide

I am a little biased.  But I love my beautiful 3 year old.

High Hopes

I had high hopes that I would finally be getting outside and taking some interesting pictures for this project.  I have been hopelessly pathetic about this weather.  So instead I am sharing pics from another project.  I love taking pictures from different angles and figuring out my favourite composition.  In the end I chose the last one.

Help me make it through the night

We finally got to meet a very special little girl.  She was darling.  So many people see babies and get all broody.  I just think about those long sleepless nights.... I hope her mama makes it through the nights!

Purple Haze

We went away for a magical week.  I didn't take my camera.  It was lovely to actually enjoy the moment rather than constantly documenting the moment for posterity.  Its always a fine balance one has to figure out.  But now I am playing catch up with photos.  A slow catch up...

Once in a While. Week 6-52

Once in a while it gets so cold that the leaves cry frozen tears, the branches on the maple tree freeze up completely and I feel like I am losing my mind....I am not used to this.

Light my fire. Week 5 -52

We've been lighting plenty of fires.  So OVER this winter.

Handyman. Week 4-52

Here's my handyman replacing the rubbish bin under the kitchen sink.

Take a pair of sparkling eyes Week 3 - 52

Seriously its been too cold (for me) to go outside and get inspired.  But we had some sparkling eyes in the house so I think they will have to do.

The wanderer. Week 2-52

My nephew wandering back to his scooter.

Mad World - Week 1 - 52

I don't know if the world is mad but it sure is cold and it makes the girls act totally mad.  These themes are harder than I thought but it was a good excuse to get out and take pics of the kids having fun and trying to catch snowflakes

And I had to include the last one just to show she can actually look quite normal and sweet...

Night Shot. Week 52-52

Good Night to 2013.  Here's hoping 2014 bring peace, happiness and great photos.  It's been so much fun participating in this project.  I have loved seeing everyone's pics even if over the last couple of months I seemed to have less and less time to comment.  But thank you all for stopping by over the year.  A massive thanks to Lois... you seriously got me through the year with your lovely comments.  Same goes to you Bobbie! Thanks also to Tammy for organizing it all - I loved every minute.  Thank to Ron for his great sense of humour.  Thanks to Ivor for his great tutorials throughout the year and fabulous photos.  I loved seeing Judi's pictures but it was so frustrating that the site wouldn't let me leave comments. Thank You to KarenAnn for your gorgeous pictures and your kind emails helping me figure out how to use my flash.  And to the many others who took part.  Thanks for a great year.  Now if I can finally remember by password for elements I hope to sign up for 2014!

Macro. Week 51-52

My lens can't really do a great macro shot but I could NOT believe the detail on our christmas cake this year.  My mum bakes the cake in September and her friend's daughter at Cake Magic does the icing - the entire creation is edible!  It was hard to cut into this beauty but it tasted delicious.

And this is what the whole thing looked like before we cut it!

Work. Week 50-52

This was not an inspiring theme at all.  In the end I just took a picture that shows what kind of work I do.  I spend my days convincing people to switch from sugary drinks to water/healthier beverages.  Recently I have been taking a lot of "before" pics of vending machines.  I hope that in a few weeks these are going to look very different.  

Busy. Week 49-52

It's hectic over here.  So busy I didn't have time to post my pics for the week.  Up to here with decorating christmas trees, celebrating with christmas drinks, writing christmas cards and of course... dealing with sick kids. 'tis the busiest season of all.

 Christmas ornament

I write the cards, Charlotte puts the postage stamps on and Annabelle gleefully stamps our return address. A perfect assembly line!

We got through a lot of stamps

In the midst of it all never too busy to bake banana bread