this summer, I stood

 on the streets of san francisco's mission neighborhood

in stall after stall at the treasure island fleamarket

in jen and bob's sweet backyard, with the succulents and the nasturtiums and yesh, a few chickens

on rocks with ward at the edge of the water, san francisco off in the distance

in the bathroom of a stumptown coffee shop, downtown portland

with a few people I love at kruger's farm, sauvie island

on alix and greg's spectacular back patio, oakland, california

in booth after booth at the alameda fleamarket

with alix and jenny on the streets of san francisco's japantown

in the middle of an oregonian desert

at the edge of the swimming pool

in the shallows of short sands beach at the oregon coast

on the island of port townsend, washington (last adventure of the summer, very very last)

it's been a good summer, folks. I'm thankful for that. and I don't take one second for granted, not even one teeny tiny second. 

habit (the art of)

I'm over at habit this month, posting photographs and words about my everyday. hop on over, if you like. it's a lovely little space, that habit.

saturday night

saturday night at the drive-in, y'all. that's what we did. with popcorn and twizzlers and shiny old cars and a trunk packed with pillows and blankets and old sheets and then bill murray and ghostbusters up on the giant screen and then a million stars in the wide open night sky. we are not swimming in money (not even close) but we know how to do saturday night.

if you believe in wonderful old cultural icons like the american drive-in and you don't want to watch them die off one by one then you should maybe take a look at this. I would surely cry happy little tears of joy if you'd vote to save one. preferably this one, but you know. just so long as you vote. by midnight tonight.

viva la drive-in, I say!

VIVA LA DRIVE-IN

photobooth friday

19th wedding anniversary, properly celebrated. with pretty drinks and fancy food and a trip to the photobooth. nineteen years. nineteen years. sometimes it feels like we are light years from who we were when we stood together in that church on september 3rd, 1994. and we are. but then sometimes it feels like no time has passed at all.

this time next year? twenty. and we've got big plans. big plans, friends. here's hoping we can pull it off.

paris in polaroids, part two

(pink buildings with xanthe)


(ava, laduree macarons)


(lovely lovely latin quarter)


(sweet little attic apartment, top floor left, unbelievably ours)


(pink, yellow, marche aux puces)


(place du tertre, montmartre)


(like candy, so much candy)

(paris in polaroids, part two of three, part one is here and heeeeey number 43 off the list)

(all images shot on impossible project PX 680 CP film)

instant lab FTW

a few months ago, the impossible project sent me an early version of their new instant lab to do a little testing.



and test it I did. I tested my little heart out, shot after shot after shot.



if you haven't heard, the impossible project has come up with a fantastic new contraption that seamlessly blends the worlds of iphoneography and instant photography together. people, it's like peanut butter and chocolate.



there she is. and lemme tell you, she's a beaut. if you're wondering how she works, you should probably look at this (since the impossible folks explain it much better than I ever could) but basically, you set your iphone in that there cradle at the top, open up the impossible project app, follow the directions and let the instant lab do the rest. when it's all said and done, an instant image shoots out there at the bottom. magic.



(above image originally taken with my iphone 4 somewhere in the great state of montana, while traveling by train, summer 2012, made into an instant image back in may with some PX 680 film and the trusty instant lab).




(above image originally taken with my iphone 3g at the portland junior rose parade back in june of 2011, enter the impossible project app, some PX 680 film, the instant lab and poof: an image forever preserved on instant film).



I'm telling you, it's the best of both worlds.



the possibilities are really quite endless. think double exposures, think different kinds of instant film, think images taken with any kind of camera.



but I think what excites me most is the way this will crack the world of instant photography wide open. all of the sudden, every image I ever wish I'd taken with my polaroid (instead of my iphone) can be preserved on instant film. in the above image, I can remember standing over ava at that hotel pool in san luis obispo. it was the summer of 2011, we were on our way back from los angeles and I'd run out of instant film. and I was standing over her, looking at the frame in my phone and I just knew. I knew it'd be so much better on instant film, so much better. never thought I'd get the chance to find out. as it turns out, I did.

like peanut butter and chocolate, friends. match made in heaven.

(for more instant lab information, start here and then read fellow instant photographer jake messenger's terrific piece)

paris in polaroids, part one

(from the trocadero)


(montmartre)


(marche aux puces)


(ma fille)


(more montmartre)


(more marche aux puces)


(le marais)


(eiffel tower bride)


(treats)

paris in polaroids, part one of three. and number 43 off the big list. number 43: shoot polaroids in france. which I sort of can't believe I actually did. but I did. and it was pretty stinkin spectacular.

(all images shot on impossible project PX 680 CP film)

hi

I'm officially off my game. as in, the words aren't coming. as in, they're hazy and lazy and just out of reach. the images are there but the words caught the first bus for the coast. or, somewhere I am not. to be fair, it's summer. and I will tell you that I wrote that manifesto and then I dug my heels in, kids. I dug my heels in deep. I will be the last one holding onto summer, fists clenched, gaze set.

I am no stranger to the ebb and the flow (I am maybe the queen of the ebb and the flow) but something about this feels different. I can't put my finger on it exactly but it has everything to do with change. and the deep-rooted need for it. what that means, I don't know. but change is in the air. nothing to do but open my arms to it, as deep and as wide as I can manage. nothing to do but brace myself for impact.

this party is not wanting to end

because I don't know what I was thinking with a five-day super happy 2-for-1 sale when I am so clearly a seven-day sale kind of girl. seven is my number, seven is my joint. so three more days for the unofficially annual summer super happy 2-for-1 sale, which will (seriously for real) end at midnight (PST) on tuesday, july 30th.

I don't know about you but I like summer.

how bout some super happy

unofficial annual super happy 2-for-1 summer sale, folks! well, because it's summer. and I think you all know how I feel about summer.

buy one print, get one free. buy two, get two. three, four, five and so on and so forth. to further sweeten the pot, new prints have been added, with love, with so much love. here's how it works: order the print (or prints) you'd like and then, in that super handy 'message to the seller' box, tell me which print (or prints) you'd like as your freebies. special runs five days only-- today, july 23rd through saturday, july 28th. 

fyi, I have been known to slip a little extra summer somethin in with the super happy sale prints. just sayin.

week of the polaroid

aka 'roid week: I get out, I shoot, I share. and then I get lost in the 'roid week pool, image after image of instant spectacular. I'll tell you, my flickr favorites have never been so happy. inspiration for days! exclamation point!

comes but once a year, friends. feels like the last bastion of true internet community.

(my offerings for the week are here)

list forty-five: a summer manifesto

(as inspired by one of my favorite list makers, the incomparable mollie greene)

I will play records in the backyard

I will pick berries til my fingers are stained

I will bake things with said hand-picked berries

I will take walks with my husband

I will hang my sheets outside to dry

I will wear my skirted bathing suit with pride

I will take the kids to the drive-in

I will watch scary movies with ava

I will watch action movies with ezra

I will have money stashed for the occasional ice cream truck

I will share jars of flowers from my garden with my friends

I will play two square with ezra for longer than five minutes

I will get up early to hit the yard sales with ava

I will paint my fingers and toes varying shades of aqua

I will jump through sprinklers

I will ride my bike during magic hour

I will read books outside

I will cross a few things off the list

I will insist on the cherry snow cone

I will insist on the cherry-dipped ice cream cone

I will help ava transform her room

I will not cry when she turns thirteen

I will talk into fans, I will pretend I am darth vader

I will make room for small adventures

I will say yes to bubbles

I will say yes to water balloons

I will always say yes to the park

I will always have popsicles in the freezer

I will stop worrying about things I can't control

I will put it in his hands

I will dream about lightning bugs

I will swim in the ocean