Unexpected in April

Unexpected things I came across while out with my camera this month:

A little plant growing in a crevice of a bigger plant.

This little guy. Apparently he is allergic to homework. I found him in the road and set him in a nearby tree to hang out and surprise other people.

The remains of a bird.

A funny-shaped dandelion.

Rainy evening

The rain tonight made me remember another rainy day, when I took the scenic route to Bellingham. It also reminded me of one of my favorite Little Postcards posts, which has an amazing photo of the Ballard mushrooms in the rain. And I had to listen to Morning View.

You are what you eat, day 7

I was planning on using my final day of this week to reflect on what I eat and why I eat what I do and other things of that nature, but it's Saturday night. And even though my plans only include putting the computer right next to my face to watch United States of Tara, I don't feel like reflecting. It seems silly to even try to plan reflection time. It will happen when it needs to.


* waffle with butter, blueberries, and powdered sugar, waffle with butter and nutella, apple juice
* Blue C sushi: avocado roll, sweet omelette roll, inari
* caramel macchiato
* cheese pizza from Pudge Brothers
* butterfinger ice cream

You are what you eat, day 6

* english muffin: half butter and honey, half peanut butter and jelly, chocolate milk
* pastry and coffee from Zeitgeist
* mac n cheese
* mint dark chocolate
* chipotle black bean veggie burger with cheddar, ketchup, and mustard, salad

You are what you eat, day 5

Today was a little bit rough. I woke up with pain and redness in my left eye and after a few hours I decided I should get it checked for pink eye, which I had once in high school and the eye doctor said it was the third worse case of pink eye he'd ever seen in his life. I was impressed with my bacteria. But I didn't have pink eye this time. I have CLARE, which is an adorable acronym for "contact lens acute red eye" or "you have been leaving your contacts in too long and now your eyes are broken". Bummer. I don't have backup glasses, so I am slightly blind for the next week or so until I can put my contacts back in or my new glasses arrive. I couldn't tell if my photos were in focus as I was taking them, but luckily cameras are pretty smart and I think they came out fine.


* cereal with milk, apple juice
* darjeeling tea
* leftover pasta from the other night, only now it has a mysterious purple tint. Mei Li's leftovers are also turning purple. What's up with that?
* mint dark chocolate (just imagine 6 squares instead of 2)
* bagel with red pepper hummus
* cheese pita pizza, lemon bar, the last of the best ever feta, crackers

You are what you eat, day 4

If you are what you eat, today I am fancy.

I had a lunch worthy of a last meal at Palomino today. A bunch of my coworkers got together for the Seattle Restaurant Week deal of a 3 course lunch for $15. I love this deal. I want to try them all!


* mango, toast with butter, lemon bar
* chai with milk and sugar
* bread with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, tomato topping
* an unexpectedly delicious salad -- I don't normally like tomatoes but these were fresh and firm and so so good
* mac n cheese (they tried to get me to call it by its fancy name: Baked Four Cheese Trenne, but I wasn't fooled)
* dessert heaven

You are what you eat, day 3

* english muffin: half butter and honey, half peanut butter and jelly, chocolate milk
* wannabe burrito with rice, beans, onion, bell pepper, corn salsa, cheddar cheese
* darjeeling tea
* half bagel with red pepper hummus
* mint dark chocolate
* pasta with cauliflower, walnuts, and feta (go make this pasta right now, seriously), salad
* strawberries, lemon bar

You are what you eat, day 2

Taking these photos reminds me a lot of a blog I really enjoy: simply breakfast. Each breakfast is a little different but it's always shot from above. Sometimes Jen includes other small things from her day; a book, a necklace, maybe a postcard. It seems like such a wonderful ritual to capture and appreciate a beautiful meal the way she does.


* waffle with butter, blueberries, and powdered sugar, apple juice
* earl grey
* leftover curry and rice from yesterday
* blueberry dark chocolate
* yogurt with granola
* red pepper hummus, pita, my favorite salad with dried cranberries, walnuts, and whatever cheese I have on hand (today it's grana but it's best with cheve), cranberry almond dark chocolate

You are what you eat

I have a new project. This one is only a week long (unless I decide otherwise) and it consists of me photographing everything I eat, which was inspired by this article. I love all the crazy things you can find on the internet, like people showing the world every single food substance that enters their mouths. I just think that is super. And I want to participate.

* tea with milk and sugar
* The Usual (what I call Justin's classic breakfast of potatoes and eggs hashed together with whatever else he has in his kitchen; this time chives, white cheddar, and chipotle sauce), lemonade
* potato and chickpea curry over rice, pita
* raspberries, crackers with brie and blueberry preserves

Light speckles and bricks and bars

I didn't take a single photo on Monday and it felt so wrong.

But I made up for this wrongness by taking tons of photos on a walk with a friend. She was borrowing a DSLR so we were snapping photos all along the way to and from Thai food on The Ave. It was so much fun! Now I just need to convince her to blog with me...

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P.S. I booked my flight today and will be spending the end of May in London and Paris! I have never been abroad so if you have any suggestions for me or recommendations of things to do or places to go I would love your advice.

The end of a year in photos

Today I took my last photo for my year long photo-a-day project . It's weird thinking that tomorrow if I don't feel like taking any photos, I actually might not take any photos. I feel both happy and sad about this. I think I've grown a lot during this project and I discovered a new passion that I want to continue to pursue, so even though I am done with the project I am in no way done with photography.

I picked one favorite from each month of this project, and here they are:

Hello Seattle

Yesterday my little sister, Amber, and I finally made our way to the top of the Space Needle! It was a little bit of a dreary grey day but we still had fun. The rain waited until we'd spent some time on the observation deck, but the wind was crazy up there. We also took a walk in Wallingford, ate delicious Indian food, and visited the Fremont troll. Pretty sweet Wednesday activities.

619 Western

On Thursday I went to the Seattle Art Walk with a friend, which might be my very favorite thing to do in Seattle. The best part of the Art Walk is the 619 Western building. I hadn't been here in a few months and I'd almost forgotten how magical this place is. It's six floors of art and there is so much creativity crammed into one space that it makes me giddy just being there. And it couldn't be in a better location, surrounded by the historic buildings of Pioneer Square and overlooking Elliot Bay.

It reminds me of these stories my dad used to tell me about children who discovered trap doors under their beds one day and these trap doors led to exciting new places (I usually imagined a field full of bunnies and huge swing sets). 619 Western is like my adult trap door place, only instead of the trap door there is a winding staircase and rickety old elevator transporting me to new places. Each time I go back it's a little bit different and always full of surprises.