5/52- Simplicity

The first thing that popped into my mind when I saw this week's M4H Project 52 theme was simplicity was my dog. Honestly, what is more simple than a dog's life? This is my chihuahua Lola, and her life consists mostly of laying around curled up into a little ball at my feet. If I'm running around like crazy, then she sits like this on the back of the couch like a queen bee. Her life is simple- I wish I could have it on some days.

Processed with M4H- Scratch.

4/52- Imperfection

Last week's Project 52 prompt was imperfection, and I couldn't help but think of my daughter's incoming teeth. She's 14 months already, and it seems her teeth are taking their time coming in. Not only that, she seems to get them all at the same time (whatever happened to one at a time?). I know they'll eventually all come in, but their pattern of arrival sure has been strange. 

Instagram Tuesday

Kind of a slow week around here, but I still managed to snap a few pics this week:

Lilly showing off her tongue:

 

A beautiful Arizona Sunset"

 

Brushing up on my Illustrator skills:

 

Picture that the Hubs took at the car show this weekend:

 

Mommy got some new boots:

Instagram Tuesday- A Day Late

I FORGOT INSTAGRAM TUESDAY YESTERDAY! Having MLK day off from work totally threw me off. So forgive me, and lets move on. ;-)

This week was not nearly as fun as last week with Disneyland pics, but really it shows our every day life a little better.

 Lilly and me- taken by Juliana (not bad Jules!)

 

My sister and I at my brother's "Nerdy 30" birthday bash (he's an engineer and we thought Nerdy 30 was more fun than a Dirty 30). 

 

On Sunday Lilly and I were hanging out at the house, and suddenly it got really quiet. I looked up from my computer to find her laying in the middle of the living room floor completely passed out.

 

The new purse. There's a story behind this one...I originally saw this purse over the summer when we were at Disneyland. I saw it at the Fossil store in Downtown Disney and loved it, but knew that Macy's and Dillards both carry Fossil, and those purses are always on sale. So I decided to wait. I watched it at Macy's, just waiting for the day that it went on sale (and I could be justified in buying yet ANOTHER purse!). Well the joke was on me because this thing sold out quickly- never to return. I was so sad. I checked Macy's, Dillards, the Fossil Store- all were sold out. I checked online and found a few on ebay, but didn't really want to go that route. So I chalked it up to "it was not meant to be" and moved on with my life. Then last weekend I just happened to walk by a clearance table at Macys with 1,000 purses on it, and something caught my eye... there buried beneath a bunch of other purses was this bag that I've wanted for so long. And guess what- it was on sale! 25% off, and then an additional 20% off, and then an additional 15% off when I used my  Macys card. HECK YEAH! Now that is some good shopping karma.

 

Monday night: Pizza and The Bachelor night. 

Project 52 | Week 2 | Life

This week's Project 52 prompt was "life", which could have been interpreted in so many ways! I had imagined all sorts of photo ops for this week, and in the end, the week got away from me and all I was left with were some lack luster photos. I ended up choosing this photo of my littlest daughter. She was playing on the floor with Daddy, and when she saw me get out my camera, she booked it over to me with a huge smile on her face. 

Seeing my girls smile...that is the purpose in my life.

Processed with M4H Just Love.

I am participating in a My Four Hens Photography Project 52. Each week M4H releases a photo prompt for the week, and our goal is to capture a photo with that theme in mind. For more information on M4H Project 52, visit here. 

Instagram Tuesday

Well it looks like we're in for another installment of Instagram Tuesday, since it's Tuesday and I have a bunch of pics that week took at disneyland this past week!

The girls ready for our first day at Disneyland:

 

The park in all of it's holiday glory:

 

Juliana's joy over us finally agreeing to let her have a balloon (those things are so annoying):

Lilly passed out in the stroller:

 

Jules and her "mickey make up"

 

Jules and Daddy snuggling, with Jules quickly passing out:

 Lilly checking out the goods at a shop in Disneyland:

 

Of course not ALL the pics of the week were from Disneyland. Here are a few others:

Daddy's keys were missing for a couple of days, but we found them...in the dishwasher!

 

Tried Starbucks Via for the first time. Thumbs up! 

Winter in Arizona means TONS of hot air balloons. Lots of sightings today:

 

Juliana taking a picture of Lilly:

 

Lilly saying hello as I worked from the couch:

Messy Lilly

This kid loves to make a mess while I get ready.

 

Processed with M4H "Blended Actions".

Project 52 | Week One | Resolutions

One of the exciting projects I am starting for 2012 is a Project 52. You probably have heard of the idea- take one photo a week. Hmm- I take a lot more than one photo a week  (okay MOST are with my iPhone, but whatever), so I think I can handle this.

Well a particular photographer that I am fond of (My Four Hens Photography- LOVE her actions!) is hosting a P52 over on flickr and I'm joining in! The first week's prompt is Resolutions.

One of my resolutions for 2012 is to achieve better balance between work, play, family time, me time, and design time. "Balance" also happens to be my chosen "One Little Word" for 2012, but more on that later...

My original thought for this week's photo was to take a picture of my daughter looking like she's walking on a balance beam. Well.... our sidewalks have sloped curves, and getting my daughter to pose and cooperate with my artistic vision... uh yeah- not happening. In the end, this is the best shot I got and really it just looks like she's walking away, but use your imagination- she's balancing...see?

The week is not over, and technically I could probably take another picture, but we are heading out tomorrow for a weekend Disneyland trip, so I doubt I'll have the opportunity to take another one. So, here we have it- Project 52- Week One!

Big Lens- iPhone App

If you are like me, you have more iPhone pics than you do regular pictures. It's just so dang convenient- always right there when you need it. The downside for me is that I'm a quality snob, and the quality of the pictures from the iphone just don't cut it for me. So I'm constantly on the look out for apps that improve the quality of your photos, or add vintage filters and such (like instagram) that makes it look like the grainy quality of the picture was intentional.

Today I ran across this post from Digiscrap101.com showcasing an app called Big Lens. The app is meant to mimic the look of using a lower aperture lens on a DSLR camera. Being the photography app junkie that I am, I had to give it a shot.

I downloaded the app, and in just a few minutes, I transformed one of the pics I took of Lilly over the weekend from drab to fab.

Original Image:

 Image after using Big Lens (I used the Lomo 2 filter):

Much better! However, the grain is still killing me, so I ran it through my Photogene2 app, and ran a little de-noising. Here's the final image:

Now it's still not a DSLR quality image, but it's good enough for my Project Life, and it's a cute capture of my baby feeding herself (a relatively new trick), and that's the important part!

End thoughts- Big Lens is totally worth the $0.99. It's not perfect for every photo, but I have a feeling that I will playing with this one a lot.