Found this truck in Napa Valley, California. We must have pulled over 60 times as I spotted things during our drive from San Fran to Napa. I can never sleep or close my eyes during road trips for fear that I’ll miss something beautiful. (Except if the drive is anything like Toronto to Montreal – the most un-scenic drive of life.) Chris’ patience is unmatched. He always pulls over for me to take a photograph. I would have NO patience for myself. :P ‘Tis one of a million reasons I’m marrying this amazing man.

Heading out to Pacific Mall shortly to continue bridesmaids accessories shopping.

I guess I only have time to blog once a week now. It has been so busy!! I feel like I’ve been saying that for the past 3 years hoping I could stop saying it soon and it never seems to happen! Anyway, I COULD NOT WAIT to get home, edit a photo, and blog tonight. I actually go through a withdrawal when I’m disconnected from all of this even for just a short period of time. And then once I go back to it, it feels like paradise. It’s actually a drug.

More than anything, I’m constantly fascinated by the human ability to learn and adapt; how you could be thrown into something completely foreign and incredibly scary (at first) but after some time, you become familiar with it, it becomes a part of you, it’s no longer scary, and becomes the new norm and any old thing. Like freaking out at the beginning of a Finance course and not knowing what the hell is going on and then 12 weeks later, finishing the exam victoriously. Or moving to a new country where no one speaks English but… you figure it out. Or having a baby and figuring it out. Or buying your first home and figuring it out. Or breaking off a long term relationship and figuring it out. Anyone else fascinated by our ability to just… figure it out? :) I suppose the key is how quickly you can figure things out and adapt.

We played some jeopardy at work today. I suck at it. :) Chris is amazing at it. Where does one acquire all of that useless knowledge? :P

Anyway, I have an eventful weekend ahead, so I’m super excited. Tomorrow I am meeting my 601 group for lunch; we’re getting the “storming and norming” stages out of the way before September kicks off our capstone course of the MBA program. Then I’m off to a BBQ with old friends. Then double dates on Sunday. :) Happy weekend!!

I’m in a very exciting time of my life and the best is yet to come. I’m always so curious to see how all the “dots” connect in the end to make the big picture. Every experience is a process that’s also a “dot” and they all connect at some point in your life, and then suddenly, the pieces fall into place and it all makes sense. Every day we are paving the path to our destination and the journey is so awesome. I embrace all of it!!

I’m going to go get birthday breakfast now with my love. :)

I have the kindest, sweetest, most awesome mom in the world.

And because I love airplanes, I take a photo almost every time I see them. This one was flying on California skies. :) Forgive me for not posting a photo all week!

Survived week 1 at work. :) Now onto week 2. Steep learning curve. Good challenge. Out of my comfort zone. I’ve been getting out of my comfort zone A LOT in the last two years and it has been good for the soul. Remember, comfort is stagnation. A bit of stress, anxiety, and discomfort is growth. Nothing happens in comfort zones, so always be making moves. That’s my friendly reminder. :) I’m going to go eat my favourite meal for dinner now – it’s the simplest yet tastiest family recipe passed down from generation to generation – ground pork chopped up into little pieces and cooked with fried onions and soy sauce, eaten with plain steamed rice. It takes 5 minutes to make and it’s literally SO damn GOOD.

Here’s a closer shot of Pigeon Point Lighthouse. :)

Went bridesmaids shoes shopping today and got the perfect pair at Le Chateau for $60. Le Chateau is a hit or miss but today it was a hit. Plus, we splurged on our dresses and so we are being more frugal with shoes and accessories to keep the balance. :)

Two songs on replay these days: Changes by Faul & Wad Ad vs. Pnau and Animal by Miike Snow.

This is supposed to be the tallest lighthouse in the West coast of the US. When we were driving along the Pacific Coast Highway, lighthouses were obviously on the list. :) There were tons of them but this was the only one that was worth seeing that was also close enough to drive to. I know I’ve said it a million times but I love lighthouses. I don’t know what it is – there is something about them that’s so beautiful and haunting at the same time.

Now listed at my Etsy shop.

This was taken on an endless road by the Pigeon Point Lighthouse in California. I have beautiful photos of the lighthouse that I’ll share in the next post just to break up the pictures and not bombard with San Fran. :) I LOVE lighthouses.

I’ve had a busy week but what’s new, right? I wanted to post this announcement last night but was too damn exhausted. I’m running a 48-hour sale (now just over 24 hours left) in celebration of reaching my 600th sale yesterday. The sale is: buy any print up to an 8×12 at my Etsy shop and get a free 5×5 print of your choice. :) Sale ends tomorrow, May 2nd at 11:59PM EST.

Finally did my first exhibit!!! I’m not one to capture life events on Smartphones but this is all I have from the show for now. I was so caught up in all of it that I didn’t even take my actual camera out of my bag once to snap a few decent photographs. Regrettably, we’ll just have to settle for an Instagram shot. Nothing makes me less satisfied than capturing life events on phones, given their current quality. It makes me feel like the events aren’t captured at all. I don’t know what it is. If you can’t ever blow up the picture, print it and display it on your walls or a physical photo album, or project it on a screen without it looking like complete crap, I don’t consider it “captured”. You can’t tell stories with your pictures the same way on a darn mobile device or laptop screen. And the story is certainly less compelling when the pictures are crap. But that’s just me. But I also do realize that in the next 5 years, Smartphones will have the same censors as point-and-shoot cameras or even DSLRs (for the real innovative companies), at which point, my narrative would change. Anyway, at least there were professional photographers on site, so I’m going to see how I can get a hold of their shots. :) Overall an amazing show with some serious talent. For what it’s worth, I’ve certainly been bit by the “showcase bug” and am definitely going to do more shows in the future.

Going back to San Francisco photography, The Painted Ladies are up next.

Ahhh, I’ve finally taken my long awaited trip to San Francisco and I am SO IN LOVE with the city!!! It’s so beautiful with the PERFECT mix of the ocean, nature, and city life. And the hills. Oh the hills. Walking to the corner store is a complete workout but I love it anyway. I have over 3,000 pictures to go through and I’m so excited to post them and make them available at my Etsy shop. California in general is so beautiful. We road-tripped to a few hidden gems along the coast and everything was just breathtaking. The world is truly a beautiful place, my heart is almost constantly jumping out of my chest when I travel. I have a BUSY few days ahead getting ready for the RAW:Toronto’s Spectrum showcase and so the pictures may come slowly but they WILL come! :) I will try to post 1 or 2 daily. (If you live in Toronto, come hang out at the showcase!)

I’m already thinking about the next trip. I may hit up Nevada and Arizona again in September or October and do a more thorough adventure by the desert. The bigger more costly trips will have to wait until next year since these darn wedding expenses are eating up all the travel budget! :P