It's growing...this secret of mine.
p.s. That's snow on the grass...snow in Las Vegas.
I joined the Coloriffic Swap-O-Rama Flickr group this month and am sending out my first swap package today ... I hope my secret partner enjoys it! Can't wait to get mine!
Searching for moonstones in Cambria, CA (4 mo. pregnant)
This one was tricky...
didn't want to look like a crazy girl,
all alone on a plane.
Early morning flight,
too early for contacts,
or a real hair-do.
Could hardly wait to get home...
enclosed on an airplane.
sleepy girl between the sheets
itty bitty nightie
dry lips need a drink
summer freckles fully exposed
I had a dream last night that my heart fell out...yeah, just fell out. I don't specifically know from where it fell, but it landed in my hands, cold and solid, like an anatomical model straight from this exhibition (which I recently, with slight regret, attended).
Try a little Word Play today...it's quite Addicting.
For the final post of May's SPC (Introduce Yourself), I decided to show exactly what I was carrying around w/ me in my purse. I think what a girl hauls around w/ her can say a lot about their character, what they care about, what's important. What does my junk say about me?
Click on the picture to see my flickr notes and what all these treasures are... it's been nice meeting all of you.
More SPC here...
Check out more SPC's here and here
p.s. when Esquire saw this picture he said it was a fake smile...I agree...it was nearly 100 degrees!
This is a most befitting theme for me this month as I was introduced into this world exactly 26 years ago on this very day...that's right people, today is my B-day. Here are some random bits-o-info about Abby dearest.
More May introductions here...
I was not what you would call excited about Easter this year...I actually forgot about bunny day until a couple days before and my mother-in-law reminded me I was responsible for the appetizers. We went to church, I contemplated my faith that a man of flesh and blood rose from the dead, took a little nap, ate (of course!)...then the real fun began. My in-laws had bought these pop darts for our friend's kids...little did I know I was a pop dart phenom. So silly and so much fun. This is what my in-law's garden window looked like,,,I won't go into too much detail, but keep in mind we had to lick each dart to get it to stick...yummy!
I think I might have said it before, but I am a huge fan of floaty pens...and alright, I'll admit this Thursday that I'm in love with floaty pens. If you don't know what a floaty pen is, it's a pen that the top half has a little sliding scene (mostly sold at tourist attractions, etc.).
I've been collecting them now for more than 15 years on trips I've been on, or if family members go on trips they're on the look out for me as well. My very first floaty pen was from Disneyland, and my most recent from Westminster Abbey in London. I'll keep collecting them as long as they're around but they're not as popular now as they were when I was a kid... so keep your eye out for me ya'll!
More Thursday love here.
You know what I do when I feel completely unoriginal? I make a noise or I do something that no one has ever done before.
And then I can feel unique again even if it's only for like a second.
So, no one's ever done that?
No, not in this spot. No. You just witnessed a completely original moment in history.
It's refreshing. You should try it.
If you've seen the movie you know what I'm doing...If you haven't seen the movie, you should...I'm not lying! More April foolish SPT here and here
This beautiful picture is ushering up this desire to travel and discover and photograph and be creative. I'm leaving for Sacramento today and wasn't going to take my D50...but this changed my mind...a real photographer wouldn't be disinclined to carry along their heavier but incredibly superior camera just because she already had too many bags to carry... so here's to encountering something magnificent and beautiful this next week.
See more beauty here.
I don't wear much jewelry but these two items are a constant...I love,love,love them.
The Ring: I grew up hangin' out with my great grandmother, playing cards, crocheting a mean doily or what-not, and I always admired this ring. It's black onyx in white gold w/an inset diamond and was given to her by her parents in the 1920s when she graduated from high school. She passed away when I was 9 and I always wondered what happened to the ring...I never saw it again. On the day I graduated from college my grandmother presented it as a gift to me...
The Bracelet: This was a present from my best-friend...not for a joyful occasion, but a wonderfully kind gesture to ease my heartache. It's by a great artist (Amy Peters) and is a star which says "SHINE". It arrived in the mail shortly after I lost my baby... I can't explain how much it really means to me.
SPT: February Challenge - "All of Me"
So...this is me this week, exhausted, sad, confused. My daughter would have been born this week and I can't stop thinking about how different my life would have been. This would have been her room, this would have been her dresser, these would have been her clothes... If I could, I'd like to just curl up and shut myself away in one of the drawers in hopes that when I come out, everything will be normal again.
A Portuguese girls gotta do what a Portuguese girls gotta do... So here I am red faced and shiny after a facial wax. I'm sure there's a million people out there that do it, but I've always been embarrased to admit this vanity...sure I'll fess up to waxing my eyebrows, but what woman wants to talk about the fact that they have unsightly facial hair?
I can't help it...it's in my gene's! I suppose if we ever enter into another Ice Age, I may survive just a bit longer than another less pileous being... Another issue I have with this picture is the slight double chin, but we'll just say that I'm working on that issue.
I'll admit that I'm easing myself into this months challenge. My face is my favorite part of my body. I will linger in front of a mirror if that's all I see, but will avoid all unnecessary contact with a full length mirror...the next weeks should be interessting, we'll see if I expose myself further.
This was when I was about 13 years old and we were at a movie theatre...it was a polaroid photobooth which I thought was pretty cool. I think we were up to no good...fun times!
I only have two photobooth pics in my life collection and this is one of them...I'll have to search out photobooths in my town as I never recall seeing any...
We just took this in December at the Exploratorium in San Francisco...they're a bunch of little stickers...I think it's a little creepy.
Thanks Andrea for the great idea!
These are the two lovely creatures of which I am the offspring. This picture was taken Halloween of 1978 and it has always been an intrigue to me. My brother was 2 years old and I was but a twinkle in their eye...I imagine what fun my mom must have had concocting such costumes, how they might have laughed getting ready(I can't believe my dad let my mom paint his face!), and what sort of trouble they got into at the party. Another mind bender for me is that I am the same age now as they were in this picture...I just always remembered looking at this picture as a kid thinking how cool they were, going to a grown up costume party and all dressed as some sort of KISS spider creatures. I still feel like a kid, waiting for my day to come...I actually hope it never does...I like feeling this way!
Oh...sweet Seattle, I could barely stand to leave knowing there are at least 279 more kitschy corners of your town I've yet to stumble upon. By some mastery of my constant maneuvering mind, I managed to turn a business trip into a menagerie of exploration with an almost equi-ratio shopping to working experience.
I forged my way through rain & muck... & although it was treasure I sought, I found something a trillion times more important...an aspect of my life I'd completely forgotten. In every shop, bar, or booth I entered I conversed with any English speaking being who seemed willing (with the exception of one non-lingual canine cutie!) and I remembered how fulfilling it can be to share and listen with a complete stranger. I realize how small my world really is and that there are so many interesting, creative, and genuine individuals out there. I see crime and cruelty on a daily basis in the news, but forget that this is not what makes up our world. Our world is made up of these people, simple and complex, beautiful and not so, intelligent or otherwise, but kind-hearted, chivalrous, and real.
I remembered how it feels to rely on myself for everything I need, terrified of being my own navigator on streets unknown. Dining alone is more then a humbling experience, but an experiment in human nature, it's been a long time since I sat in the bar area alone!
More than anything I missed my dear husband...his kind heart, glowing smile, and warm body next to mine at night. He is my constant, my friend, my love. If I could only really be the person he imagines me to be, I would be a magnificent lady!
Places Visited this trip:
This is simply my favorite picture of my child self and I had to choose it for SPT. What more could a little girl want than an impossibly cute outfit (topped of with a matching crayon hair band, of course!), a day at the fair, and her very own pony ride? My mom loves this picture too, she calls me her little sparrow...mostly because of the way I scrunched up my face like this when I smiled.
I was 3 years 10 mo. in this picture and even at a young age in my life, it was a pivotal moment. Several months later, my father was in a car accident in which he broke his neck and was paralyzed from the neck down. I remember the day my mom got the phone call and I can still feel myself latching on to her leg as she erupted into a panic of fear and sadness. This is my earliest memory in life...
My father is an incredibly strong-willed, physically & emotionally, man and with the grace of something or someone greater than ourselves, he regained feeling in all extremeties and went on to learn how to walk again, tie his own shoes, feed himself, all at the age of 31. To this day he is the strongest man I know and has taught me priceless life lessons, notably to work hard with determination and a well laid out plan and I will get what I want in life.
I must be losing it!
Self Portrait Tuesday - January Challenge: Personal History
All my life I wanted nothing more than to be my brother's friend. I always tried so hard, but he, being almost 4 years older than me, and completely cool, was not all that accepting of my attention. When he had his friends sleep over I would sit in his doorway and listen because that wasn't necessarily part of his "room", but then he'd slam the door in my face. Once, I begged him not to go on a ski trip with his friends because I didn't want to be alone for the weekend, of course he went. At our grandparents home he would see how fast he could skate around the block, and each lap I'd have a glass of water waiting for him, just because I thought he'd like it. I never got a glass of water when I tried...
The sad part is we don't really talk all that much anymore. He has his life, and I have mine. Maybe aftertrying for so many years, my heart just gave up on the quest. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother and I think he is a wonderful person. We just have absolutely nothing in common, and are lacking a strong bond that most siblings have. I wish things were different, but I can't say it was for lack of trying.
