Train Trip: Day 1

My bosses told me that a journey is not an adventure until something goes wrong. Well, I guess we got off to a pretty good start when we found out that our reservations started on the 8th (the day we called Amtrak)instead of today, September 18th. (and yes, i FREAKED out for a few minutes and the counter ladies couldnt find our reservation info) Because Amtrak thought we missed our rides, our reservations were messed up and we had to add a stop to Spokane, Wa.

We forgot to stop at a grocery store to grab some fruits and bread for dinner and by the fourth hour of the ride, we were starving. Train dinner was out of the question because it was so expensive so we started eating the snacks we got, but that quickly ended since it couldn't keep us full. We had to bite the bullet and bought $2.25 Cup O' Noodles to hold us over and so far so good

All is well now and we are en route to Chicago. We just passed Pittsburgh and are hoping to be in Chicago around 8:30 the next morning.

So far on our first leg of the trip we've met a couple named John and Marsha. John sat down with us at the dining area and shared a little bit about his life. He and Marsha have been married for 38 years and met when he moved into an apartment above her's in New Jersey. He talked to us about his favorite city and told us some jokes...dirty ones we'll be sure to tell our dear friends back home.

Since i'm updating on my phone, I won't be able to load the photos. Maybe when we stop in Chicago, i'll add some. Goodnight friends. Let's hope all we get some sleep.

Remy, my love.

got my latest tattoo from Tom Kenney today...







now my girl will always be with me. i love this pup!

our adventure

on Saturdays, Shane and i like to go thrifting. i'd say it's one of our favorite hobbies together. his mom used to take him with her when he was little, and i'm just a hoarder. we've found so many great treasures and deals...i'll have to remember to take photos of them and share!

yesterday, we decided to pack up my whole camera collection and went on an impromptu adventure as it was his birthday. we didn't get to take any photos of my collection...but i took other photos and i wanted to share!













fun times!

what we make

happy Friday everyone! before i go back to work, i just wanted to pop in and show you what's being made around these parts.

last night, Meg made delicious S'More cookies! they were so good!



Shane finished his electric cigar box guitar out of a vintage cigar box that he thrifted for a couple of dollars and some found supplies. this guy is uber talented, but doesn't want anyone to know about it, so SHHHH! he actually carved the handle himself! it sounds so good hooked up to the amp.



and today, your's truly made a dinosaur tail with little C as my helper. he got distracted after a little while, so i had to finish it up all by myself, but i'm certainly not complaining. C is completely into his dino phase and loves anything T-Rex related, so when i saw this tutorial mentioned on Craftzine's blog, i totally jumped on it!\



it was so adorable i want to make more!

hope everyone's having a fantastic Friday. off to work i gooo!

lets talk about talent.

my friend Johanna is majorly talented. just look...



it's a mini notebook with sewn covers. i love it! i use it for almost everything; grocery lists, doodles, and important notes. i mentioned how much i liked her notebook...and she made me one! how sweet!

photo courtesy of Johanna_e

where have i been?

dear friends. unfortunately, i've had a string of bad luck. i've been sick for nearly a week (it's on it's way out, but man! it has been annoying!) and my computer got a virus! ICK! (it's away getting fixed as we speak) on my only day off, it has been raining and dreary. that's ok though, Meg and i have turned to the tube and started a movie marathon. we just finished watching Pan's Labyrinth and are about to watch the Big Lebowski. i'm sipping on a bubbly coke with Remy nestled in my lap, there could be nothing better right this minute.

Food Friday

every once in a while, i like to take photos of what i eat. Lacey, is really good at that. but me? i'm just shy of mediocre. but when it's just too pretty to dig in without evidence, i whip my camera out. for instance, my breakfast from the other morning.



and speaking of food photography. here's a look at what i baked last night...



that, my friends, is a piece of cookies n cream Oreo fudge brownie. you can thank my roommate, Meg, for that. she was the mastermind and found the recipe from KevinandAmanda.com. (Meg has just found StumbleUpon and she's been sending me food and photography links left and right.) as soon as i saw the recipe, it was over. we hopped over to the store, grabbed the ingredients, and whipped up a batch...oh my goodness was it tasty! i'm not sure if i had undercooked it (like how i like to bake most of my brownies so it's really gooey on the insides) or if it's because of the extra fudge added into it...wait! did i tell you there was fudge AND cookies 'n cream ice cream in the batter itself?? oh yea, and we used double stuffed Oreos. it's so rich i could only handle eating half of a piece...so maybe a nice glass of cold milk would help wash it down.

thanks to Kevin and Amanda (and their cute Bostons!!!!) for this divine recipe...

Cookies ‘N Cream Oreo Fudge Brownies
1 box Brownie Mix
eggs & oil (as called for by the brownie mix)
1 heaping half cup (6 oz) Cookies & Cream ice cream
1/4 Cup hot fudge topping (chilled or room temp)
Preheat oven & spray an 8×8 baking dish generously with cooking spray. Combine brownie mix, eggs, and oil as directed on the back of the box, but do not add the water. Add ice cream and hot fudge to the brownie batter and stir to combine. Pour half of the brownie batter into the baking dish, layer with Oreos, then top with remaining batter. Bake for 40-50 minutes or as directed on the back of the box.

YUMMMMMMM...

Coast to Cote: week 35

last week i didn't have enough time to post our weekly Coast to Cote. it was week 35 and without further ado, here is our baby...



Pang: A great little place called the Source just recently opened up in our town. It's a place in town to recycle, buy locally made goods and organic foods. Lacey came over during her break the other day and we went over to check it out. This little honey bottle and the logo caught both of our eyes. I couldn't get over how cute it was so I ended up making the purchase. It's a local honey from the next town over. We were both wondering why the color was much lighter than the other bottle sitting next to it. I finally Google'd it this morning and found out that it must have been harvested in the Spring time when bees collect nectar from flowers. Now I know why it was also in a smaller bottle. I love how Google can help in answer my life's questions. Thanks!

Lacey: So about a month ago I started volunteering at the animal shelter in Frederick and I would send pictures of the dogs to my dad. He kept giving me a hard time - saying I shouldn't send pictures because he is weak and will want one (duh, that's why I sent them) - but I really got his attention with the two weenie dogs that came into the shelter. I sent him links from Petfinder so he could read up about the dogs and even though those two weenies got adopted before Dad could make a move, it set off a craze in him to find one and before I knew it he was sending me links of dogs from Petfinder too. This dog - who was named Miss Sugar - was one I saw when we first started browsing Petfinder but then she dissapeared. She popped up again this week and when Dad found out she would be in the area he just had to go see her. And now she is ours! She has had a sad little life but we plan to change that. Miss Sugar - now Pocahontas (keeping with the Disney princess theme - we had an Ariel and a Jasmine previously) was a puppy mill mom. Before she had even reached the age of two she had already had 4 litters of puppies (incredible because she is soooo tiny). Once she got rescued from that unhappy situation she bounced from foster to foster and then was adopted by a family who brought her back. They had a hamster in the house that ran loose and Miss Sugar liked to terrorize it. Luckily for Miss Sugar my dad is a sucker for weenie dogs and now she's ours. She's super sweet and hopefully she will warm up to us all soon. She looks a little nervy huh?

crafting for a cause

i've been known to mention the Fiercegrrl Fund a couple of times on this blog. i have to say that even though i don't know Nicole personally, crafting for the fund is near and dear to my heart. i got a few friends together the other night for some crafting and we made ornaments for the Fiercegrrl Fund ornament drive over food and drinks. we listened to Girl Talk crafted the night away. even a man got involved in making an ornament for the drive...although i'm quite disappointed i forgot to take a photo of the 'space panguin.' here are some photos from the night. enjoy!



 





i'm off to Maine for a couple of days. i've never been so i'm very excited. i'm even a little excited about the 15 hr drive! expect lots of photos!

Coast to Cote: week 34

Pang: I had another photo shoot with the Slough's for their fall family portraits over the weekend. The weather couldn't have been more perfect really. In between shots, Haiden stretched out his hands towards me as i snapped a quick photo. Kids are so cute!

Lacey: This past weekend I went to New York for the weekend with my old room-mate Brittney. We've done a bit of a traveling together and I feel like maybe we are getting better at balancing each other's moods and itineraries. Our activities for the weekend centered mostly around museums and food. The first day we went to the MET and checked out the Roman statues and the Egyptian exhibit. We ate at Candle 79 that night (which you must check out!) and were rewarded with amazing food, free drinks and Alicia Silverstone in the building! The second day we went to the Natural History Museum to see the butterfly exhibit (they were flying so close to my head, I was a little creeped out) and then that evening before jumping (or rather pushing and shoving our way) back onto the bus we stopped at Babycakes - an all vegan bakery around the corner from the bustop in Chinatown. Alicia Silverstone's book had tipped me off to this place as well and we were not at all dissapointed. The treats were great, Morrissey was playing and the girls were dressed as pin up 50's girls with their hair up in scarves and their lips painted red. 

Nostalgia

remember Vincenzo? well, he finally moved out west to Seattle to pursue his love of photography, film, music, and fashion. i must admit i'm a little jealous of his ballsy-ness. i would love to be there right now...he tried to talk me into it several times so we could be roomies...but i'm too much of a chicken.

we become photo partners over the summer and went on a couple of excursions together and while doing so, he always took clips of videos as well. here's a compilation of his summer clips.

















every time i watch this it makes me miss him more and more. follow his photographic adventures here, watch more of his videos here, and read his thoughts here!

Coast to Cote: week 30

 



Pang: I promise no more pottery/firing talk from this point on, but i couldn't help but choose this photo. I went back to the firing on the second night to try to get more shots and check out the pot luck (we all know I love food!). While stoking the fire on the first night, we didn't have to use too many precautions, but on the second night, on top of wearing gloves, when the fire reached it's highest temperature, we had to wear goggles (to protect our retinas), a face mask, and made sure our shirt/jackets were 100% cotton (if not, we risked catching on fire even if a little spark were to fly out). I got to help feed the fire and had to put on a cotton flannel shirt and felt an immense difference in the temperature of the fire. I felt like my face was going to melt off if I stood in front of the open kiln door any longer. When the fire is at this stage, the potteries in the kiln are almost at a liquid state (although they retain the shape). Joy's husband mentioned that if we were to poke a pot with a rod, it would go right through. They put out the fire around 1 am, but even with that, it takes four days for the pots to cure and become solid again. Tomorrow is the big unveiling where the kiln doors will be disassembled (they had to build it shut for the firing) and the pieces will be ready.

Lacey: This week on a lazy Saturday we went to Wonderbook in Frederick to rent some movies and peruse the books. I came across the children's book Nos Enfants by Anantole France. The book is sadly falling apart and was wrapped up in plastic but in fact, this is actually perfect because I have been looking for a falling apart book with awesome illustrations (this one was illustrated by MB de Monvel - who may just inspire another tattoo in the future because his little girl drawings are just my taste) because I would really loved to have framed storybook pages decorating my (future) apartment. These are especially perfect because they are in French and they are already literally detached from the spine. I have a really hard time bringing myself to rip or destroy a book - but if it's already falling apart its ok right? In any case I spent more than I usually would, but I'm super excited to see the finished product one day.

Coast to Cote: week 27

Pang: Every year, Jefferson County holds a fall arts and crafts festival (Mountain Heritage Arts & Crafts Festival). There were lots of great handmade goods, like animal masks (photos later!) that I wish I could afford, but some really affordable things items too. I got a pair of vintage owl earrings as an early Christmas gift from Meghan. This was the bust displayed at that very booth, filled with vintage buttons!

Lacey: Gone are the days of tasteless terrible cookies. Ever since I have started making vegan cookies I have had no more problems with my cookies coming out too airy or too just blah. This week I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies - and while they were not my all time favorite cookie (I love shortbread best!) they came out pretty well. I brought some over to Pang but she wasn't home so it was just me, Remy and some cookies. I saved one or two for her - just because Im a nice friend.

Coast to Cote: week 26

love the blue/gray tones



Pang: Our first stop on Sunday was Hudson River Park. It was beautiful and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. this park is the largest park constructed in the city since Central Park and this area used to be piers were ships would dock to unload cargo to the trains. this pile of metal, used to be one of those piers...or so I was told

Lacey: Its been a pretty mellow week here. Ryan has been sick and now I feel the creepy crawlies in my throat and the coughing has started. Fall is right around the corner (its technically today right?) and all I can think to myself is I want to curl up in bed, not be sick, and feel the warm sun coming through the window, because soon the sun wont be so warm, and then there will hardly be a sun at all till spring. Lets enjoy it!

meeting of the photography mind

Stephanie over at Rinehart Productions thought it would be nice to get a group of people together to discuss photography and start a club where people could come together, give each other constructive criticisms, talk techniques, and ways to get to know our cameras better. yesterday a few of us got together at the Moon (a nickname us cool kids give the Blue Moon) for a little first time meet and greet over dinner.


(DJ, Jess, and Stephanie)

only four of us showed up (i'm pretty sure we'll be picking more up as it goes along) and we all somehow knew each other from different connections so it was really fun. of course since the girls to guys ratio was favoring the estrogen side, so our conversations weaved in and out of photography. next time we plan on actually giving each other photo critics...i'm scared...but i'll write about it of course!

getting crafty

my friend Jenna asked me to help her with a school project, so she came over this morning and we got started right away. she's a graphic design major and her assignment was to design a type of beer and it's packaging (i believe). she needed help making little Santa hats to go on top of her beer bottle and luckily, i had all of the supplies on hand.







it was really neat to help out. i really loved making these little hats. i'm thinking that if you have a pet, you might be getting these in the mail just in time for holiday photos. let me know if you're interested!

weekend trip

the weekend trip to NY/NJ was jam packed. the wedding in Bedminster, NJ was small and laid back and the food was utterly amazing. since the groom's family is from the south, they offered things like southern sweet tea, seafood gumbo, and sweet potato casserole in a buffet style dinner. Molly and i were completely touched by how much love there was floating around. we both got all teary eyed during a couple of toasts at the rehearsal dinner (which by the way was amazing) and we both choked up during the father/daughter dance.



on Sunday we went into the city since Molly had two shoots lined up on the Upper West Side and the Upper East Side. i tagged along and helped carry bags and push strollers for the families so they would be at the ready. it was so nice cause we got to see two separate sides of Manhattan since i had never been to those parts and it was right next to both of the rivers surrounding the city. we walked around Hudson River Park and Central Park.



oh! and i got to meet another adorable Boston, Otis. he belonged to the very first family Molly photographed. he was super chill and just all around cute! i totally made a love connection for Remy without her knowing it!


(after his three hour walk, Otis was ready for his nap)

all in all it was a very fun trip. busy, but fun. the weather was perfect and i couldn't have asked for more. what did you do?

my mind was blown

today i flipped my lens...my world changed.


(spider web up close)


(tiny fuzzy bird feather...i think...)

i was catching up on my daily Photojojo (yea, i'm a couple of days behind) and their article finally inspired me to try it! i know, i know, it's been done before...but i've never done it! and i was so amused that i talked DJ into doing it too! have you flipped your lens? i'd love to see some photos!

Coast to Cote: week 25

this week's Coast to Cote is rather dark in exposure.



Pang: As I mentioned in an earlier post, a couple friends and i headed to DC to see Best Coast. At one point during the show, Bethany Consentino (vocals) mentioned that her guitarist, Bobb Bruno, will be at the merch table. I yelled out and asked if he was for sale as Bob answered that he would only cost a mere $1...but alas, Bethany had the last words when she said he would be selling for $420. Obviously, I could not afford my very own Best Coast guitarist and I was defeated.

Lacey: Yesterday I did a photoshoot with Jeremy Litten as part of our Where Can't I Chant series. We went down to the National Harbor in Alexandria at sunset and the view was absolutely beautiful. I convinced Jeremy to hop a rail and get out onto this ledge to snap a few pictures and we both agreed it was worth the risk (the ledge was plenty big enough it was just a concern of security guards!).

my weekend.

my oldest friend in the world is getting married in two weeks. two weeks! to a very wonderful man and it's going to be such a gorgeous wedding set in a farm house filled with lots of lots of antique furniture. gosh, i seriously can't wait.

over the weekend her bridesmaids and family threw her a Bridal Shower. it was simple and elegant and i was lucky enough to have gotten a few photos from the event.



later that night she had pretty low key bachelorette party. drinks and snacks and a night out in town. what fun!