LENS

possibly my favorite blog ever.

the orange state

blog.

i think of writing in you often. i wish i could just post blog entries from my mind. like blue tooth them over to the computer because i will often compose an entry in my mind and when my body is actually in front of the computer i draw a complete blank. lame, i know.

tonight is my last in florida. i came to surprise visit the little lizards, the spanish moss and the humidity. oh and my mom too, on her birthday this past monday. let me tell you blog, she was surprised as hell. it was awesome. my flight arrived late afternoon and shortformelissa picked me up at the airport with her amazing miniature pug, leica. christopher and i called mom three way while i was in the parking lot of her apartment. he talked with her for a bit, asked if she wanted to talk to me for a second and when i came on the phone i was right outside her door. i said happy birthday and knocked on the door and threw mel in front of it, to further throw her off. she opened the door and i jumped in front of it and things like hugging and screaming and crying happened. the phone plan was all christopher's so i have to give credit where credit is due. the flying to see mom plan, that one was mine.

it's been so fun to be in florida, although i can't honestly say i miss living here one bit. i love chicago even though the weather there doesn't quite love me. being here has been so great though. seeing things you don't see in chicago like chik fil a, orange driver's license plates, palm trees reaching for the heavens, little brick roads, all that beautiful romantic moss drapped all over the trees, squirrels and tiny dinosaurs lining the sidewalks and even enormous prehistoric mosquitoes. mostly i've had fun eating places with mel and mom and having peter jump in bed with me last night and snuggling me! oh peter. (let's not tell franny & zooey that last part- okay?)

i am chicago bound tomorrow to prepare for leaving for the woods, get as much hanging out with amy as it is possible, bike riding with hannah and possibly kaitlyn and maybe even amy (if it's not too much lady), sitting in front of the lake and wrapping my mind around the fact that it is a lake and not a very large ocean, imagining that somehow there are whales in the lake, writing about whales in the lake, finding out just how toxic the lake is, seeing cdubby, of course, and anxiously awaiting their finalized record with him (!!!), eating some gigio's and riding buses to get around.

well i should probably spend these last hours with mom and not with her imac so i'll see you some other time in life imac.

good night.

i found out my grades today, 3 a's and 1 b! i didn't even expect to get a b in zoology or an a in philosophy. i am so stoked!!

today amy and i went to the shedd aquarium. it was really a fun day and so nice to spend time with a familiar face. welcome to chicago amy! i was a little disappointed at their lack of jellyfish but the other cool fish more than made up for it.

so much has gone on since denmark. it seems too long ago to recap everything but here are some things that stand out in my mind. all kids ride around in buggies instead of strollers. all sorts of folks ride bikes everywhere. it's so awesome! hot dogs there come in a croissant like bun and garlic butter is a topping for them. their money is really cute, called crowns or krone and have hearts all over them, the coins at least. there are tons of little mom and pop shops everywhere and they have the best shawarma ever. their mcdonalds has something called the new york burger but i think it just has bacon on it. kind of funny and weird. an o with a slash in it makes a u sound. i didn't see one overweight person in denmark. we went to malmo sweden which was a really fun hour train ride away. i thought denmark was cleaner/cooler looking. danish weddings are amazing. there are toasts, songs, skits, and amazing speeches and a long night of dancing. the reception started at 6 ish and didn't end until about 5am. that's how to do it! "tak" is the word for thank you. "hi hi" is used for good bye. everyone there speaks the most fluent english! we had such a lovely time with kyle and linn and their friends who were all so welcoming. we feel that we have made some real pals over there!

i really hope to visit again sometime sooner than later.

we head out to the woods soon. i feel pretty prepared to live out in the woods this time. last year was pretty miserable for me until about the last week because i wasn't sure what to expect and i didn't bring enough to do. this year i hope to make some cards and possibly a calendar, to truly finish my website content, to wear my hair in pig tails more often, to journal every day, read a few books i've been wanting to read and to back up all of 2009's digital photographs onto dvd.

goals are nice.

i'm off to letter write. iloveyoufriends.

i want to break free....

today is officially the last day of school (even though i played hookie, so technically tuesday was my last day of school)!!! i've had that queen song in my head all day long. i would put it here if i knew how.

don't get me wrong. i love school. this semester was pretty fun. i learned about descartes, humes, plato, freud, marx, speech giving, about cells and sponges, all sorts of art and what they are called and why they are called that, and a little bit the animals in finding nemo. a great semester in my mind, but the end of the semester always gets all muddy and you just can't wait to be done and for summer to come and wisk you off your feet!

summer. ah summer. most of you are probably enjoying spring days. 75 degree weather. sunshine on your shoulders. warmth. bike rides. lemonade drinks. iced coffees. strawberry pies. popsicles. picnics. kite flying. beach going. lake swimmin. river canoeing. my friends, it was 55 degrees and windy here in chicago. i feel that summer is just a myth. a long lost dream. all i know are chilly days and my good friends, the cardigans and hoodies in my closet. i need a break. i need summer! in chicagos defense, the tulips have arrived and the trees are no longer naked and cold and only wearing bags. so at least i have greenery to look at, if only i could be passing by it on my bike and sweating!

i haven't written in here in forever. over a month! shame on me. my husband would be happy that i was living real life instead of losing track of my online life. since i last wrote, we went to denmark to see kyle and linn get married and had such an amazing time. simply incredible. i loved copenhagen. i'll have to make a post complete with pictures dedicated to our trip. for now, summaries. after copenhagen i had some catching up to do with school and then a few weddings to shoot and then my mom came for a visit right in the middle of preparations for finals so it was a busy time indeed! we did a little bit of eating at delicious places, exploring chicago, seeing old friends, and redecorating. we bought this really cute porcelin/wood table from the 50's from a cool store called brownstone antiques here in chicago. i'll post photos soon. i love the new lay of the land in our apartment, although it wasn't any real major work. im still hoping to do that soon. it was such a joy to have mom here in chicago. she cooked up a storm of delicious puerto rican meals for us as well as spiced things up in all our days. although she just left today im already looking forward to her coming here again, preferably to live here!

school is over and although i'll be busy doing wedding work (exciting!) i hope to have more time to spend on personal projects and on being outdoors!

how are you all?

more later...i just had to debrief a little.

this weekend christopher trevor and i headed to grand rapids michigan for their aunt sue and uncle dirk's famous easter lunch. i spent quite a bit of time talking with our cousin tammi about photography and having a photo business. we are both just trying to learn the in's and out's of having a photo business. it was so fun to talk shop with someone.

all the kids are so cute! dancing around, great big smiles after the easter egg hunt and plenty of treats. uncle dirk and aunt sue's house was so adorable! aunt sue has a pink tea room! the air and sky in michigan were so clear and beautiful! it was like entering a different planet. today it snowed in chicago. IN APRIL. snow! what in the world?!

we were also able to spend some time with bill and uncle dave. although the day was incomplete without hannah and skeeter there it was a lot of fun.

we brought our little bunnies along with us and bought them leashes so we could let play outside during the easter egg hunt and this proved to be highly entertaining if not to anyone else, at least to christopher and i. the picture above is of christopher holding franny and zooey while uncle dave takes a picture of them. this is what a photographer whom i like very much, cary norton would call a poptpop or pictures of people taking pictures of people!

i am currently spring breaking although it hasn't felt much like a break yet. i had a doctors appointment today, have another one tomorrow & i'll be going to the guys' show, have some shopping to do on wednesday and will have a ladies night out (which is spring break worthy and i'm really looking forward to it!) wednesday night, thursday i will have coffee with a lover of the law and friday i finally have a day to breathe! i also should be working, this entire week, on homework for school that will be due the day after i return from copenhagen so i'm thankful that i have time before leaving to get all this stuff done and truthfully i enjoy being busy. it'd just be nice if it was at least sunny out to feel somewhat spring breaky!

i also have all the preparations for kyle and linn's wedding/our trip to copenhagen on my mind as well. i think it's excited/nervous anxiety! i can't wait to go and hang out with our friends whom we miss so dearly!

earlier today my mom turned my attention to this contest that apartmenttherapy.com is having for the coolest small space and it was both so inspiring and also depressing that after almost a year, we still haven't done anything to our room (mostly because we are hopeful of having a better room soon and can't make the decision to keep waiting or to actually start working on our room). i get so anxious to want to make our place, our place, and i have so many ideas i'd love to execute. this has been a real test on my patients and i think i've done pretty well. we'll just keep waiting.

this is turning into a rant. i am tired and need some chocolate milk and rest.

peace my friends!

my collection

my friend amy is having a show on a project about collections. she's collected friends over the years and is interested in the things that they have accumulated. my contribution and my favorite collection that i have is camera's. i couldn't really send her the 40+ cameras i have so i took pictures instead. i was so happy to be taking pictures and to play with my collection!

doing this project made me think about my other collections which i will list, because i love lists. if i could collect them, i would:
mc donalds toys (probably my first collection)
pez dispensers
barbies
cabbage patch dolls
star wars anything
monopoly game sets
pens
globes
at one point i had a growing collection of barbie and disney comic books (not sure if they are still around or not)
purses


cameras were the easy choice because they are my favorite and they are here in chicago with me.

time to figure out what to make for dinner. more soon as spring break begins today!

franny and zooey up above. they are so cute and growing! they are so big now! when we first got them they would probably fit in a food bowl, now they are 4 times that size! and so rambunctious. gotta love the idea of little animals as pets. i'd say that was easily one of the best ideas someone has had. right along with, cameras, instant messenger, globes, coca cola classic, friends, hello kitty, french presses, husbands, nesquik, and spaghetti and pizza.

today i worked on a little contribution i'm making to my friend amy's project on collecting. she asked that her friends lend her their collections. she lives in georgia and i thought mailing her my collection would be a little difficult and a lot expensive so i figured i'd take pictures of it instead. my collection is cameras. i didn't even remember how many i had until i started photographing them today. i'll post pictures soon, unfortunately i took some photos in the cold and banged my fingers up a bit without noticing too much because it is so cold outside. it hasn't been till i've been inside for a while that i've realized i've bruised my finger tips!

it was well worth it.

a warming shower awaits me. i hope everyone is well and busy!

xo