Improvement

This past weekend I participated in a photography workshop to improve my photo skillz. The class was about 4 hours long and really informative-- great for beginners like me :) I signed up for it around the same time I ordered my camera and I am so glad that I did it. Before the class I just kind of experimented with my camera and didn't really understand how it works. Here's the website for the class. 

I thought I would share a couple of my photos from the "photo safari" it wasn't quite as exciting as an African safari but it wasn't too bad. We mostly had to practice photographing flowers and buildings so that's what you'll see here, no National Geographic yet. I wish I could say I recommend the safari but there were way to many students for one teacher. 

p.s. I didn't do any editing software on these and my camera is a Cannon digital rebel 1100D. These were shot with an 18-25mm lens. So gimme a shout if you have any tips/tricks/suggestions or whatever.

After I got home I walked around the lake by my house and took a few more shots:

 

Improvement-- especially if you look back at some of my older posts!

Have a lovely evening!

It's here....

Autumn! Yay! My absolute favorite season is finally here! To celebrate I wanted to combine some of my favorite early fall flavors and make a salad. I also wanted to prove to my dad that homemade vinaigrette is way freakin' better than the stuff in the bottle so here you go my friends:

Johnny Apple Salad and Cornbread Puddin':

For the salad:

Package of Spring Mix

5 strips of bacon, cooked to a crisp and crumbled

2 Gala apples, diced

1 Small shallot, minced

1/2 Cup toasted almonds

4 T Olive oil

1 t Apple cider vinegar

1 glug of runny hunny

Salt and Pepper to taste

To make the vinaigrette, combine the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and shallot. Add the lettuce, almonds, apples and toss. Sprinkle with the bacon and almonds and enjoy!

Cornbread puddin':

2 14.75 oz cans of creamed corn

3/4 C Sour cream

1 package of Jiffy cornbread mix

1 egg

1 stick of melted butter

Combine all ingredients and pour into a greased casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and serve warm.

enjoy!

Seattle

 Day two! Sometimes family vacations sometimes get a little weird....

Like the fact that the sun was shining in Seattle. Not what I was expecting but I enjoyed it.

Good news! My paleness was not out of the ordinary in Seattle. There were pale people everywhere. I felt so loved and accepted that I wore shorts. 

There were flowers everywhere and I cannot even explain their affordability. Huge bouquets were like $10 which is unheard of in Denver.

Now I'll be quiet and let the food do the talkin'

Chowda! Just as good on the West Coast

We went to the EMP (Experience Music Project) by the Space Needle! Probably the best museum I have been to in a long time, I highly recommend checking it out. We actually got in fo' free! The place was only open for another hour and a half so we asked the guy if there was a discount, apparently the discount was 'free'. Thank you EMP guy, you made our day.

They had a really great Nirvana exhibit but I loved the Jimi Hendrix exhibit and I got to see his Woodstock Fender Stratocaster. If you're there, check out the Sound Lab too, they have interactive stations where you can learn differnent instruments. They also have jam studios where you and your sisters can act like total idiots and feel like rockstars for 10 minutes.

I tried to scrounge up some more pictures but my memory card crapped out on me halfway through the trip, what the eff?!?! It was brand new! I lost a ton of pictures but I'm still working on retrieving the rest.

Here's a few pictures from where we stayed on Camano Island, our cabin was just 2 blocks from the ocean:



Lindsay told us there was an abundance of crabs walking along the shore but when we got there we didn't find any! I'm a midwestern girl so I've never really seen so much "sea stuff" the only way I can describe it. Not exactly a beach for laying out on but it was beautiful.

Oh, hey!

Woah, where have you been?!?! Oh, my bad. That was me who didn't blog for about three months. Ooops. Oh well, I have some pictures, we went to Washington! Here's day one:

Rachael and Lindsay hanging out at a little coffee shop we had breakfast at the first day in Washington. SO MUCH FOOD.

My brother David came along too! He likes his phone :)

Dad was happy to be in Seattle. This is actually supposed to be a picture of the sign behind him. It was a shop that sold vintage art. However, I misread the sign and thought it said "Vintage Farts" and almost peed my pants.

I was able to capture an image of David spitting something from his mouth at a high speed. This is probably the photo I am most proud of after recently upgrading my camera.

Hey pretty sisters!

We went to a little parade in the town near where we were staying. Here's a taste of some local flavor from Washington:

Okay, what's scarier?

My father, shaming us children for not crossing the parade route IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PARADE to search for food. 

Tomorrow: Day two!

Happy Friday!

Here's some links:

From S*** my Students write, this had me in a laughing fit today. Okay this one and this one did too. In fact just check out the whole site, I dare you not to pee your pants.

Only in Texas

Plus... Jellies are a thing again! I bought a pair last weekend at DSW. The plasticky shoe smell of my childhood is in the air and I'm loving every minute of it!!

Sitting all day is killing you --- ain't that the truth! I've been taking daily walks to get away from my desk

They're continuing this show? God help us.

Can't wait till this book comes out!

Going to see Portugal the Man this weekend at the Bluebird... can't wait! Last time we tried to go for Amanda's bachelorette and it was sold out and it was my fault. bummer.

Have a lovely weekend!

Warning: Some of you may find this boring.

But I don't! I got home from Omaha on Monday night and I'm still trying to catch up from my busy weekend! I still need to upload all the pictures from my computer but in the meantime I thought I would share this great article I found from Ashley at Money Talks. If you have time you should check out her blog. She gives great advice on personal finance and Lord knows I need all the help I can get.

Anyway, she wrote a very interesting article on privatizing Social Security. I've always heard how there will be none left for people in my generation but it helps to see why and what might be done to make some changes. It always hurts a little bit when I look at my paystub to see that money being put into a system that doesn't work too well anymore.

So if you have any interest in this, take a look! Check back later, I do plan on posting some pictures from Omaha eventually...

Guess where I'll be this weekend...



Advertising History by Brandon Addis on Etsy 

I know it sounds like a pretty lame town to some but it's home to me! I'm excited to see my friends and family and be able to spend Mother's Day with my mom.

If you have ever thought about visiting Omaha, I highly reccomend it! Here is a list of some of my favorite spots:

Entertainment:
Henry Doorly Zoo
Orpheum Theater
The Old Market
Botanic Gardens
Durham Western Heritage Museum
Joslyn Art Museum
Bemis Center

Food:
Johnny Sortino's
La Casa's Pizza (Best pizza in the world...)
Gorat's (You might see Warren Buffett here)
M's Pub
Upstream Brewing Company
Anthony's Restaurant
Caffeine Dreams

Outdoors-y
Mahoney State Park
Fontenelle Forest

Music:
The Slowdown
The Waiting Room
Sokol

This is by no means an exhaustive list... I just decided to make a little one before I take off. Add more suggestions in the comments! I need to go home and pack my bags then I will be on my way!

Here's the Omaha tourism website

My weekend starts now!