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Posts Tagged ‘photos’

our week in snapshots:

| highlights |

I cannot believe that a week has passed already! The summer is flying by with barely a moment to spare! I’ve been working a lot at my day job, on my Etsy shop, and writing for Goodwill. It seems there’s barely a moment between each task on my to-do list, but at least I make a little progress every day. On Saturday, I believe, {all of these days tend to blur themselves} I certainly had my work cut out for me restocking the things I’ve sold in the past month and finishing up a custom order, when suddenly my primary sewing machine seized up! That’s alright, I told myself, it’s for this reason mainly that I wanted to have a second one. I knew the time would come when this 50+ year old heirloom needed a break. So I switched over to the other one, and wouldn’t you know that that one started giving me problems, too? I don’t usually believe in signs, but decided that it might be a good time to call it quits for the night and just watch Funny Face instead.

Ryan came to the rescue for me, though, on Wednesday and brought ol’ Bess down to the workshop to have some repairs and now, I’m told, she’s back to her good old self. I’ll be testing her out as soon as I finish this post! I’m so lucky to have the support of Big, Strong Uncle Ryan {as our niece LG calls him}. Speaking of LG, yesterday I took a break from work while the machine was still in the shop, and spent the afternoon at Camp with my family. I think it’s safe to say that the next generation of waterbabies is starting to earn her fins because she and I spent the entire afternoon floating around and splashing in our little cove. All of the neighbours came over, and Ryan, too, after work. It was the perfect way to end the week.

Happy weekend!

xx.

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What a difference  year makes.

I decided to do a “year in review” post, choosing one photo from each month to represent the lot. Starting with January, I was shocked at the jarring difference of this January and last. My blog, my shop, and my self have come a very long way since then.

Have a look for yourself:

 { hover over the photos for details }

Can you believe the difference in the quality of my photos in just this last year? Here’s hoping that I manage to improve this much again in 2012! And in more areas of my life, too! I’ve got a lot of goals to accomplish, and less than 365 days to do them. Thanks for all of your support and interest in 2011.

Enjoy your Saturday!

xx.

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A few snapshots from our week:

Ryan’s Mum sent us home from her house with millions { I swear } of cookies and sweets, so in lieu of a regular birthday cake, this year we celebrated with clementines. It’s now the last week of the old year and we’re gearing up for the new year. Ready? Here we come!

What are you doing New Years Eve?

xx.

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PHEW! I finished my novel!

On November 1st, I undertook the challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel in just 30 days. The point of the exercise is to promote the skills of writing and imagination, and to help writers get past their “block” to form the skeleton of something that could be very good if it is then given more detailed attention.

There is a lot to do from here. I did the research, and I wrote the story, now I need to go back and fix it all up. When the goal is just to get out those 50,000 words, and to have the story in front of you, there are sometimes other things that are sacrificed leaving behind continuity errors, improper grammar, lack of detail or explanation, lack of character development, and the occasional spelling mistake. If I decide to finish up this novel and share it with others, then I still have many months of work ahead of me.

However, I’m incredibly proud of the feat that I have accomplished, and for the first time, I think my novel could actually turn into something worth reading (I’ve finished NaNoWriMo twice before, but wouldn’t pick up those stories again). I set this year’s story in 1966 – 1968 in a tiny New Hampshire town. A Tale For Autumn started out as a snapshot of life in rural New England, but ended up being a statement about the passing of time, the significance of place, and appreciating simplicity in life.

I put together a pinboard on Pinterest and a playlist on GrooveShark to inspire me when I didn’t feel like writing but really needed to. Check these out if you’re wondering what my story looks and feels like.

As for the story itself, I’ll let you know if it’s ever ready to share. For now the closest thing to reading it is the song below. Ryan wrote it and it feels perfect for my novel. Along with the other songs on the playlist and the images in the pinboard, you should be able to get a pretty good feel for the story.

Have a wonderful Saturday.

xx.

(Click images for sources!)

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my children will look at “old” photos of me…

and wonder what it was like to live in 2011. They’ll most likely laugh at my hair styles and clothing choices, and be amazed at how young I look. They’ll ask me what I was doing in certain pictures, and I might not have a response seeing as it was another lifetime for me. This is what my sister, cousins and I did on Thanksgiving when we looked through an old album and saw our parents as children.

Doesn’t my Mom look cool? She’s the one with the bongos.

I find all of these photos so exciting. I wish I could have been there for all of them!

xx.

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One week from today is Thanksgiving.

At this time next week I’ll be waking up at my sister’s house. She + Michelle {my cousin/one of my favourite people in the world} will have just put on some coffee, and the turkey will already be in the oven. The tofurkey will follow — by the way, thanks for always taking care of that stuff, guys.

After we have our first piece of Thanksgiving pumpkin bread for breakfast, and Ryan has circled ’round my sister’s house looking for interesting mushrooms, my big, huge family will start trickling in, one small group at a time.

As more people arrive, so will more food, and the house will soon be filled with a remarkably mouth-watering scent {I can almost smell it now}. Then someone — I’m not naming any names here — will pull out the traditional Smith Family Apron.

I think this apron was made by my Grandmother many, many years ago. A lot of people think it’s hideous {I find it charming}, but for some reason it gets passed around from family member to family member every single Thanksgiving. We all take turns, handing it off to the person next to us after we feel we’ve had it for an adequate amount of time. And my Uncle Paul has to have it on when he carves the turkey — whether he likes it or not {+ he doesn’t like it even one bit}.

Also of note are the famed turkey shaped salt + pepper shakers that I found one year and bought with Thanksgiving in mind. I talked these things up for months because I thought they were so cute, then conveniently misplaced them about a week before the actual event. I finally found them months later, and ever since then my sister has held on to them for me — thanks, Kristen.

Those traditions, and the Berry/Smith cousins-sleepover that happens the night before, are what makes Thanksgiving my all time favourite holiday. We’ll be down a cousin this year for the night before {Boo, Tracy!}, but that’ll make the day of festivities even more important.

Are there any special little traditions that your family has?

xx.

P.s. While poking through all of my old photos looking for a picture of the apron, I happened upon this little nugget. It’s me, as a pilgrim, in kindergarten.

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First, Ryan made the most delicious pumpkin pancakes.

Then, Atlas packed himself into as many silly places as possible. Cats are funny like that. He may or may not think that if he’s sitting on my bag, then I won’t be able to leave the apartment {sometimes I wish that were the case}. So, this was essentially my week in photographs.

Have a lovely weekend.

xx.

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Here’s a super useful tutorial for anyone interested in photography:

Personally, I like taking pictures, but not so much for the artistic value of it as the fact that Iam a memory hoarder. Also because I have an online shop that hasn’t done well in the past with my point-and-shoot cameras.

So, a simple tutorial like this makes it easy for someone like me who needs clear photos but lacks tech-savviness.

Good luck, photo editors!

xx. Julia

(Images via The Sartorialist and Ruche. Click photos for details.)

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