What I Learned

Some things I realized this year:

1. I realized not to over think things, and to just do it. Do what you love or what you think you love, and show it to everyone. Only good things will come of it. I promise you.

2. I like to plan for things because that is how goals are made. But now, I also look forward to the possibility that something better could change my plan along the way.

3. If holding a camera specifically taught me anything this year, Henri Cartier-Bresson said it best.

“You just have to live and life will give you pictures.”

4. I learned this year that I really love sparkles and confetti. (and even better, sparkly confetti!)

I have been at this blog for almost 2 years, and I cannot thank you enough for welcoming me into this beautiful, warm and inspiring community of friends. Your support and constant encouraging words have been invaluable to me. Thank you for letting me share a little bit of my world with you.

2010 was full of surprises for me, and I cannot wait for what is in store in 2011!

(The pictures of me are taken by Jinny!)

Happy! New! Year! Friends!

a holiday picnic

One of my favourite things about the holidays is gathering with friends and family that come home from far far away. Yesterday, we had friends over for a potluck dinner, and not having a dining table big enough to fit all of us, we set up a picnic in our spare room with lots of candles.

There was plenty of delicious food and plenty to drink. At the end of dinner, we just stretched out on the floor with our very happy tummies. It was perfect.

As part of Jin's Christmas present, I also got him Japanese whisky to try. He is always looking to try new whisky and he normally gets the ones from Scotland. I was happy that he likes this one from Japan, and so did all of my whisky drinking friends. Some of you asked what whisky stones are for. They keep your whisky cold without diluting your drink. You keep them stored in your freezer. A true scotch on the rocks!

scenes from a Christmas morning

We woke up to our first Christmas in this home. We spoiled Mea and Mojo with treats again, and tried to get Mojo to do some ninja moves. This is something we need more practice on. He can usually jump quite high, but he might be camera shy today.

We opened the gifts under the tree, and the cats came to play with the string. Some presents I gave Jin were juggling balls, a remote controlled helicopter, and whisky stones to enjoy with his scotch.

We are off to see family for the rest of the day, I just wanted to drop in and say that I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

xoxo

new ornaments & new friends

As promised, I wanted to show you the ornaments I got at Bookhou. I allow myself to buy one ornament a year so that we will have a slow growing, and well thought out collection of Christmas ornaments over the years. This year, I bought two, to make up for not buying one last year! It was hard to pick from all the lovely handmade ornaments, but I finally chose the adorable ball-cat from Tai Kim, and the intricately embroidered ornament from Emily Hamill.

Last Wednesday was Mjolk's first birthday (hooray!)! To celebrate, they were giving out these amazing Moomin cookies made by Lindsey Bakes. I managed to get my hands on these two little guys, but you can see all of them here! I wish I had all of them!

I am so happy you all love our tiny little Christmas tree! You have convinced me to put it up again next year!

oh christmas tree

We haven't put up our Christmas tree in 2 years because we moved into this house two days after Christmas last year. It just made sense to keep the tree in the box.

I forgot how small it was!

I would like to try to get a real tree next year. A small one. But I still love how this one sparkles!

christmas ornaments

I had the most lovely day on Saturday with Yukiko. We didn't get a chance to see each other all summer so we have been making up for lost time this winter.

We dropped in at the Ornament Group Show at Bookhou. It was so good to see Arounna, John and Lliam and Piper again! We arrived before the show started, which meant that we were able to have Lliam's ginger bread angels while they were still warm. Delicious!

I will show you the beautiful ornaments I got for our tree at the show, soon.

I hope your weekend was nice. The Christmas season is in full swing, and I am really enjoying it this year.

dinner guest

Gabe and May invited me over for some pasta, but I didn't know we had to make it from scratch!

Gabe just got a pasta maker, and he was excited to try it out.

We made ravioli stuffed with ricotta, mushroom and sun-dried tomatoes. It was so delicious that I forgot to take a photo of it after it was cooked! Thanks guys, it was fun!

Gabe and May made Lobster Ravioli too!

cake & treats for breakfast

Yesterday, Juli and John came over for dinner and now we have chocolate cake leftovers, which I ate guiltily for breakfast this morning.

Mea & Mojo had treats for breakfast. They ate that guilt free I am sure.

Happy Sunday!

(The chocolate cake is from Saucier Foods, it was really delicious!)

The last one of the year

Remember this beautiful couple?

I asked Claudia if I could come along to Daniela & Sal’s wedding to help and observe. I sort of asked last minute, but everyone made me feel so warm and welcome! I met and hung out with Gee, who is such a talented photographer and was second shooting for the day.Watching Claudia and Gee work together was such a treat! And I was delighted to have the chance to see Daniela & Sal again, and to be part of their wedding. Thank you everyone for an amazing day!

These are some of my shots from their wedding. Don’t Daniela & Sal look like they came straight out of a wedding magazine? So beautiful! Go see Claudia’s post to see more photos from their wedding.

This was my first wedding with Claudia, and my last wedding of the year. 2010 was amazing, and I anxiously wait to see what 2011 will bring!

But there is still one more month left of 2010, I cannot believe it is December already!

Kate + Matt are getting married

When they make each other smile, I can see why they are perfect together. Like how peanut butter is perfect with jelly.

They met, they fell in love, and I get to capture their day of love next summer.

I am so excited to finally show you some shots of this engagement session I did a few weeks ago! Hanging out with Kate + Matt early on a beautiful fall morning was just the thing I needed to get me outside.

I love any photo with confetti, but I didn’t account for wind that day, and when Kate and Matt threw the confetti up in the air, the wind swept it up to the sky! It was funny, and I love the laughter in that photo.

Thank you Kate and Matt, for frolicking with me in the park and for being so enthusiastic about wearing a thin dress on a chilly morning! I love that you are so into the photo process!