Unexpected in December

Unexpected things I saw while out with my camera this month included:


This fun traffic controlling guy


A wilting pumpkin


From another side



Rock balancing at the falls

I hope everyone has a great new year celebration!

The Falls

On Friday I went to the falls with my dad and sister (other people call them Granite Falls, we are more familiar with them), which was one of my favorite childhood places. Amber and I skipped stones and played other rocks and water related games while my dad whistled and pondered nature. Being there for the first time in several years brought back all kinds of memories, like the time I found a smashed pumpkin on the rocks and tried to find all of its shiny orange pieces. And the time the water running slower so we ventured out farther than usual along the rocks and I fell into the water, which was shocking and cold but I was fine. And the time a high school boyfriend and I ate a picnic lunch near the water. So many good times at the falls.

Winter Words: tradition

The word of the week for Winter Words is tradition. My photo is on the right and Allison's is on the left.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is when my family piles into the car on Christmas Eve night and we drive around and look at Christmas lights in our town while listening to our favorite Christmas tapes by The Living Voices. It was raining this Christmas Eve, as you can probably tell in my photo, but that never deters us. I look forward to this ride every year. I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

Celebration of light

Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, but the point at which the days begin to get longer (in the Northern hemisphere). I've enjoyed reading more about this day and its history and celebrations in various places around the world (especially here and here). Taking photos has gotten me thinking more about light and the way it influences us, shapes our moods and activities. I'm taking a few moments to reflect on my gratitude for sunlight, and next year I hope to have a real celebration inspired by some of the traditions I read about today!

Winter Words: hibernation

The word for this week's Winter Words project is hibernation. My photo is on the right and Allison's is on the left.

Lately things

Lately in real life I've been enjoying:
brisk walks in the cold,
peppermint hot chocolate,
going to bed early but staying up late reading,
finding new ways to eat squash (such as warm butternut squash and chickpea salad),
Arrested Development marathons with Justin (isn't it time for the movie already?!)

Lately on the internet I've been enjoying:
a Christmas-inspired tiny street art project,
Brian's latest mix,
multi-layer wallpaper art on Poppytalk,
Tommy's post on bread in Singapore

Winter Words: layers

Here is the second installment of Winter Words. The word for this week is layers. My photo is on the left and Allison's is on the right. I'm really excited with how this one turned out! We chose pretty different interpretations of layers but I think the photos complement each other.

Pathways and pastries

I love this ivy arch. I've come across it several times on walks around my neighborhood and each time I'm thrilled by it and I try to make a mental note of where it's located but it never sticks in my mind. I just have a vague notion of where it is in relation to my apartment. But I guess that's okay since each time I come across it I'm happily surprised.

The beautiful plum danish in the bottom photo is from Cafe Besalu, which is probably my favorite bakery in the whole world. It was a deciding factor in my apartment hunt this summer. When Allison and I were talking about winter projects she suggested that we become regulars at a cafe, which I think is the perfect excuse to treat myself to a pastry here once a week.

Christmas trees in the night

The other night I was walking home and suddenly the air smelled intensely woodsy, like I had wandered into a forest without realizing it, and then I looked across the street of course it was Christmas trees for sale. I had to go over and take in that wonderful smell that has become so rare since I've moved to the city. And since they looked so majestic illuminated by the stark overhead bulbs I also had to take a few photos.

Winter Words: serene

I recently met up with Allison, creator of the awesome blog 24:00, to discuss a project we could collaborate on this winter since we both struggle with finding inspiration during these months of short days and little light, so we came up with Winter Words. We picked a list of words that remind us of winter and each week we'll independently take a photo to represent that word and post them together on our blogs. This week's word is serene. My photo is one the right and Allison's is on the left (click on the photo to see a bigger image).

I'm really excited to see how this project pans out and hopefully it will help motivate me to keep taking photos even when I'm not feeling inspired. Are you guys doing any projects this winter?

Unexpected in November

At first I thought a pet dog was looking at me through the fence.


This fantasy land car.


Snow is a pretty rare phenomenon in Seattle, but snow before Thanksgiving is really unexpected. I can't even remember the last time it happened. But it looks so pretty when the leaves are still falling and create a nice contrast of color against the snow.


I'm not sure why water was coming out of this hole but apparently there was quite a bit of it when it froze.

First snow

It snowed today! That's a pretty big deal in Seattle. Even a two hour commute home after work couldn't dampen my spirits. I love the snow. I especially love those giant flakes that float down so peacefully and if you catch one in your hand you can see its unique shape before it melts away. Today's snow wasn't like that, it was more like tiny icy flakes that blew around in a pretty intense wind, but I'm hoping we'll get my favorite snow later this winter. We are supposed to get lots of snow this year.

Also, don't you just love that purple sky that happens sometimes when it's snowing or about to start?

Slowish November

My new favorite thing right now is 8tracks, where you can make your own mixes and share them with others. I've been finding so much great new music and I love the mix tape format, so I finally got an account and created my own Slowish November mix.

Lunches at city hall

This is where I like to spend many of my weekday lunches. Our city hall building is full of cozy chairs and its walls are mostly windows so it's the perfect place to relax and read. It also has a really interesting view of the city, downtown streets busy with cars and pedestrians, layers of old and new buildings, and the ocean off in the distance. In the summer a farmers market sets up shop outside and the building often hosts free concerts. It's nice to have such an inviting public space nearby.

Fall/Winter

Just wanted to post a few fall-ish photos here. It's really starting to feel like winter and I don't like it very much. Fall is my favorite and I don't want it to end! But of course, it will end anyway. But I've got a few ideas on how to make this winter awesome. More on that later.