11/30

Time for something festive! For years I've dreamed of having a bird tree for Christmas time and that finally became a reality yesterday! Tacky? Yes! Gawdy? Yes! Do I love it? YES! The gorgeous blue bird on the right came from Germany. The silvery sparkly owl in the upper middle came from Austria.

11/29

Some street performers in Austria. A hardcore group of break dancers who deserve to be on television! This guy held that pose for about 40 seconds. The others were taunting him and telling him to smile while he did it so he did!

11/28

A church in central Nuremberg, Germany that I walk past constantly when I visit there. 3 big, beautiful churches are on my regular route through the center of town and I can never seem to photograph them enough. They're such striking and gorgeous structures. This one in particular is still under renovation because of damage from the war.

11/27

I'm home after an amazing trip that I'm still recovering from! I figured I should post a pic from my trip so here is a shot taken in Vienna. It was a huge fountain with various mythological gods and goddesses and one of them had their foot hanging off of the outside almost touching the ground. I thought it looked cool.

11/17

We're leaving for Austria and Germany today. This is a picture of the two that I will miss the most. Our dog, Chowder, is with some friends for the week and Molly is going to her friend Chloe's. She lives two buildings over. She is super excited for her giant sleepover. I always get apprehensive before a flight. Going to Vienna has been high up on my list of things to do for half of my life so I'm still bowled over that it's finally happening. I'll be gone through the 25th so no more posts until then. Auf Wiedersehen!

11/16

You'll find a lot of random graffiti in this blog. I have a weakness for it when I'm wandering around with my camera. This was taken in Brattleboro, VT back in October of this year. We went there as part of our honeymoon a few years ago and stopped in on the way back from another New England trip this fall to relive some of the memories.

11/15

This was taken at a restaurant in Germany over the summer. They brought out these lovely condiments but our meal was so incredibly tasty and perfect that I didn't even use any. Their efforts were not wasted though. I probably took at least ten shots of those darn bottles in an attempt to capture the essence of sitting in that booth and staring at the light that was shining through that oil and vinegar. We leave Tuesday morning to go back to Austria and Germany for a week and we are definitely eating at that place again. I can't wait.

11/14

This is another shot taken in Cranbury. I was proud of the way it came out. I really like that the blossoms almost appear to be scoping you out... It's a little difficult to determine if they are friends or foes.

11/13

This picture is about 3 years old and before we got the new camera. We were grabbing a slice of pizza before a concert in Philadelphia. This was Molly's first show (Sufjan Stevens) and we all had a great night out. I love how this kinda looks like a still from a cheesy music video.

11/12

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have a group of knitters who come and hang out in the cafe at work. The Thursday group is led by a master knitter named Maggie who is an absolute genius when it comes to needlework. She was playing around one day and knitted a tiny mitten that she planned on using as a charm on a keychain. She's been in the hospital for the past two weeks with H1N1 and I hope to see her back today.

11/11

My husband and his incredibly strong yet gentle hand. We were at a school function for Molly and they stamped us.

11/10

This past spring, we went on a Haunted Tour of the town of Cranbury, NJ. We met up at our starting point and waited for a bit to get going. There was an adorable little sitting spot and garden next to the house and it was dedicated to a woman (I think her name was Sarah) for her years of community service. The place had a peculiar yet peaceful air to it and I couldn't help but take a few pictures.

11/9

Rainbow chard has to be one of my least favorite of the leafy greens. However, it is definitely the most beautiful! I can never resist taking lot of pictures of it when I do give in to their alluring colors and purchase a bunch.

11/7

This is a new creative project that I'm doing just for fun. It's basically an outlet for pictures that don't fall neatly into any particular category but that want to share. I guess this is sort of my birthday gift to myself. I know I'm not a great photographer but I enjoy taking pictures. If someone else gets any sort of pleasure out of viewing them, my day is made.

I do a lot of traveling, cooking and galavanting and the images will reflect that. The pictures I post will be selected on a somewhat random basis. Whatever speaks to me that day will be plucked, jotted and posted.

I wasn't sure how to start this off but I emptied out my camera today and this one grabbed me. A group of some of my girlfriends accompanied my family and I out to Doylestown, PA for a birthday trip. It's a lovely little town and we had a great time wandering around. I snapped this picture of my daughter, Molly, in front of this old church and I really love the way it turned out. She has been the greatest source of joy and pride in my life and I feel that I grow more in the right direction on each of my birthdays because of her.