Snow/Fall

See what I did there? It’s still Fall, but it snowed in NEPA last night. The roads are fine, but it’s super chilly today, so it’s sticking on the trees and grass. I came home from Brad’s to find our gourds covered in snow, and it was the strangest sight. I had to take some photos of this hybrid of seasons to share on the blog!

 

I have a love-hate relationship with snow, but it’s mostly verging on hate (like, 80%). It’s beautiful when it first falls, but it’s freezing, sloppy, a pain in the butt to drive in, and don’t forget the shoveling (not necessary today, but still) and car defrosting/cleaning (which did happen, especially since I left for work before 5 AM this morning).
Still, it’s beautiful for a little while, so I guess I can appreciate that!

Oh, and obligatory adorable Artie shot.

SoFresh/SoClean

 
A few weeks ago, Artie got a much-needed bath. I’ve actually never witnessed Artie get a bath, but I always imagined it would be funny because, well…he’s so cute and funny already! I missed the actual event, but I was able to grab the Rebel and take some photos of him
post-bath. I absolutely adore these photos, and I’m so glad I took them with my DSLR instead of the iPhone.
I actually had my fingers all tin-foiled up, removing glitter polish, but I still got some good pictures.
One day, I’d love to print one of these out and frame it or do something silly with it.

This Weekend

Last week was…bad. It just wasn’t my time. Work had me on edge, my Buick stalled on me again (I’m not going to be driving it for a while, methinks), I left my wallet in the office on Saturday night…it seemed like everything I hoped would happen meant that the opposite would occur. I gave up hoping. Which is stupid, but I haven’t had such a negative week in so long. I forgot what it’s like when pretty much everything that can go wrong will go wrong. And I kept waiting for the silver lining…it came, eventually. Brad made it home safe, the work week ended (with the prospect of a better one this time around, and a three day weekend come Friday evening), Valentine’s Day and my tax refund are mere days away! I’m looking forward to this week, and I’m going to keep my chin up because, despite how I felt last week, I made it!

Photos from the Weekend:
I came home Friday night to find this on the kitchen table. My mom made my week/life by giving me a little Amazon GC, which is one of the best gifts I could ever receive. Now I just need to figure out which books I want to buy with it!
Nemo was in town on Friday, and it hit right when I was coming home from work. My post-work duty is letting Artie out, and there aren’t many things cuter than his fluffy butt prancing around in the snow.
I don’t care, I love it. This song came on Sirius Saturday morning on the way to work and made me feel tons better.
Dana and I went to see Warm Bodies and we got our usual Blue Raspberry ICEEs.
Brad finally home on Saturday! Of course he had to play Dark Souls immediately while I read and relaxed with Cali. Brad is back from Vegas, but he got really sick while he was there. Sinuses, coughing, all the icky stuff. I’m playing nurse while he heals!
Cute Valentine’s cookies.

Here’s to a happy Monday and an excellent week in general!!

(Apologies for the blurry pics in the middle there)

Artie’s Close Up

As much as you try to plan or plot a photo, I ultimately believe the best pictures come down to serendipity. The right subject at the right place at the right time. As someone with as many cameras as I have, with a strong love for photography (especially admiring the work of extremely talented photographers and picture-takers), I’ve been slacking in the snapshot department. iPhone makes it too easy to leave my beloved Rebel at home, meaning a lot of potentially fantastic moments have to stay in the brain instead of on the page.
Luckily, on Monday, I had a lot of time on my hands. While I waited for Maria to prep for her outfit shoot, a golden glow poured through the deck doors of our house and little Artichoke (how young is he in those photos?!) decided to stretch out and enjoy the sunshine. I couldn’t help but get down as close as possible and take as many pictures as I could of this lovely little moment.

When in doubt…puppies.

Last night was pretty uneventful. Laundry, painting my nails, eating a humongous bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. Maybe a two hour nap in there… Anyway, the highlight was definitely dogsitting Artie. My sister and Josh went to a concert in Philly, so my family was left to care for our favorite long-haired chihuahua/dog in the world. Enter me getting a little snap happy with Instagram. He’s just so darn cute.

In other (good) news, today is my Friday! We have off for Veteran’s Day (I’m glad that banks/credit unions still honor these important  and oft-overlooked holidays), I don’t have work on Saturday, and my request for Monday off was a approved.
4 day weekend/mini-vacation, here I come!

Instax Sunday

We got back from wedding festivities in New Jersey around noon yesterday, so I decided to spend the remainder of the day with Brad (as I like to spend all my Sundays and weekends in general with him).

Beautiful day out.
Brad read Scott Pilgrim while I got ready.
I’m going to miss the leaves when they are gone.
Standing outside of Brad’s.
Caught Artie in a rare moment of relaxation.

Not included: Lunch at Panera bread, naptime, cuddles and kisses, Scott Pilgrim Blu-Ray special features, third episode of The Walking Dead.

1 day down, 4 1/2 more to go.

More Instax

I love my camera, when it cooperates with me. Still trying to figure out the best setting for darker situations. I’m confused…if it’s cloudy and shady, and I use that setting, it doesn’t really seem to work that well….

The Artie ones are quite fantastic. But would you expect anything less from one of the most adorable dogs in the world?