Costa Rica

It's difficult editing beautiful Costa Rica when my butt's in grey, dark Boston. In February! Thought I'd share some pics that didn't make the cut but are still worth keeping. 
  
(the second to last picture's gross actually, this guy had jars of snakes, bugs, skeletons...) 
   

Michael Pollan

Every one of NY Times journalist Michael Pollan's books are a must-read if you care about your health and your planet's health.

His latest book:

Photographer, Elena Kalis

Amazing work! Take a look:
Alice in Wonderland 
  

Meet Otto

So you and me, we've been dating for what, a year now? I think it's time you met my crazy dog, Otto, and I mean crazy-smart. Otto's a greyhound we adopted in 2006 when he was one month shy of five years. He eats whole sticks of butter if we leave the butter dish out overnight along with sneaking entire bags of bagels. He loves to run in the snow, in leaves and in the ocean, otherwise he sleeps all day. It's true, greyhounds are the fastest couch potatoes. And he tolerates us dressing him up as a reindeer for our holiday cards. 
   
And smart? He knew I was pregnant before we did. Both times I was preggers, he never left my side. Kind of annoying but sweet too. That's how I knew I was pregnant the second time. And he has a love-hate relationship with me, I'm the master. When he's mad at me he'll pee on only my clean laundry (even though my husband's is right next to it) or eat only my passport a week before a trip (even though my husband's is right next to it). And we haven't come to terms with this yet, but he loves his dogwalker more than he loves us. He actually nibbles on her. It's cute! I will say this, if you can adopt a greyhound then please do it. They're wonderful, even with kids, because they're pack dogs—there's no jealousy, they're just happy to be a part of a family. 


So without further ado, I give you Ottoman:       
  

Mother/Photographer

I actually feel bad for my children—it must suck having a photographer for a mother. My son is going to hate that I have a close up of his chunky baby butt. Actually butt, belly, thighs...
  

Arnold Arboretum

Perfect morning walk at the Arnold Arboretum in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston. Someone hit the mute button—it was crazy quiet and so few people were out. Sorry you missed it!  (via iphone) 
  

WEBSITE: Still Editing

I'm still editing for my new site. Big surprise right. (Thank heavens none of you are all that interested!) Kind of going a little crazy staring at every little detail in my photographs—playing with particular shots, letting them rest side by side then changing their residence for no real reason, just a gut feeling. 
  
I asked some painter-friends recently, "When do you know a painting is finished?" One responded "A painting is never finished, just abandoned." But then he told me that Yoda said that so I'm kind of screwed here. I could move images around for years, forcing them to work side by side, then realizing they never worked well together in the first place. I'm going to stop writing now. Happy Monday!  
   

Happy Valentine's Day

Who knew a little food coloring could be so much fun! (I love having a two year old.)  

2¢

Shoot all the time. Shoot whenever and whatever you can. Now I'm not saying shoot in every style. Shoot in your own style, have your own voice, but shoot all the time. You'd be surprised at how much you can grow in a very short time. I set up test shoots for myself all the time just to keep myself sharp and active. 

(2¢ post series is me offering up my mostly useless, sometimes helpful photo tips. enjoy!)

BeST purchase... Fleece Balls

Yes, that's right, fleece balls. I bought two for my little critters for xmas. Huge hit!  

Follow this link to Handmade Pretties 

Gardening Books

Because I like to attract wildlife into my garden; I want to have my own bees someday; I want my children to get their hands dirty with me and appreciate mother nature as I do; because I love melons; because I'm clueless (was); because I love the outside of my house more than the inside; and for no real reason at all; here are some of my favorite gardening books: 

What I'm "working" on right now

Just taking a break from working on my site. 

BEST purchase... Cape

I think everyone should own a cape and for the ladies, a superman cape is not what I mean. I just bought this abbreviated cape for a wedding next month and it is gorgeous, the photos don't do it justice! The artist extraordinaire is Sandi Quatrale. Check her out:
   
http://front.bigcartel.com/
  

2¢

I think it's great if you've got a blog. For me, I'm able to sort through my thoughts and ideas and remain focused, kind of out loud though (good for me, bad for you). So if you have a blog, have fun with it, but make sure to set email posts to never publish emails immediately. It's not a pretty thing when the specified email address you're using is swiped. Your blog will then be attacked by spammers, like mine this week. Sorry folks, all fixed! (I'm sure none of you need viagra or coreldraw, at least not at the same time anyway.) 

Purchasing Seeds

Please, I know I have issues, especially when it comes to my garden. I just bought $100 worth of seeds for crying out loud, and I'm not even done yet!!!  I buy my seeds from:
Botanical Interests

Renee's Garden

Seeds Trust

High Mowing Seeds
Please, please don't buy seeds from big companies like Burpee selling GMO (genetically modified organisms) seeds. Support local and small seed companies by purchasing organic and/or heirloom varieties. The links above will get you started.    
    

Here's what I bought this morning and how I organize my seeds so I know what to plant and when: 

BEST purchase... iPhone

Best purchase simply because it keeps my 2 1/2 year old from making me nuts when we're sitting in traffic. Enough said. (His favorite apps right now are Tozzle and iWriteWords.) 

2¢

If you want to be a great kids shooter, then I highly recommend popping out a couple kids of your own. Really. Kids change how you see the entire world and they will inspire every step into it. My work has grown into a completely different animal in the past couple years, an animal I feel totally in sync with. And I've never been so connected to my work and so focused.    
 
(and if you don't have kids or aren't planning on having any then steal your friends' — the more kids you spend your free time with the better the kids photographer you'll be)
  
(2¢ post series is me offering up my mostly useless, sometimes helpful photo tips. enjoy!)