listen.

My inbox is cluttered with emails I’ve sent myself in the middle of the night in hopes that I would share them here. It rarely happens and I don’t know why but I’m committed to clearing out that mess and sharing some of the cool stuff I’ve found around the internet.

I mean it this time! No laughing.

• this sparkling wine looks so refreshing Jesus himself would bring it to your dinner party. no blasphemy. just truth.
• almost drove down to miami to get these sneakers. I think I need them.
• we’re buying a house. did I mention that? This sink (first one)? It will be in there. Or one like it. I need it in my life *Juvenile voice*
• Marjorie linked to this swimsuit and I can’t get it out of my head. I should probably buy it.
• how historical figures would look today in photographs. awesome.
• post workout snack ideas. after a six-year lull i’m pounding the pavement again (or the sandy shores). it feels great and these snacks look delicious.
• you already know how I get down with butter here is a nice how to on making flavorful compounds.
• honey chocolate chunk cookies? why not.
• one move, five-minute workout? no excuses.

Some pimping.

• eyeEm kicks ass and has chosen several of my photos for a few of its weekly missions. Love them and their exquisite taste. *wink*
• lensbaby featured on of my Paris photos on their Tumblr. Psyched!
• fun ways to enjoy photography with your kids
• more shameful mom confessions
• luxurious Mother’s Day gift ideas
• mother’s Day crafts for kids

 Happy Friday xo

I’m often asked about my mobile photo editing preferences. Speed, efficiency, and authenticity are my goals. Since I’ve upgraded to the iPhone 5 I’ve become a bit of a photo hoarder.

I shoot endlessly and then find myself overwhelmed with the number of photos I have to cull, edit, and share. It took me a year or so but I finally nailed down an editing workflow that is quick, easy, and matches my shooting style best.

unedited photo 

edit with vscocam | highlights: 1 | saturation: 2 | contrast: 1 | fade: 2 | preset: 5

The steps differ if the photo I’m working on needs an exposure boost or a little fill light but 99% of the time the steps above are what I use to edit my photos.

If I’m editing a portrait I usually saturate and fade less but that’s about it. I hope someday vscocam adds a save option so we can create our own presets and speed up the process a bit more but overall I’m more than pleased with the app.

What does your iPhone editing workflow look like?

One thing I truly enjoy about traveling is learning to work with different light. The intense midday Florida sun is lots of fun to play with. I walked past Cameron playing in her temporary bedroom at Great Grandma and Grandpa’s house and noticed the beautiful halo the sunlight made on her curls. I secretly photographed her for a few minutes with my DSLR and iPhone.

Finally, she noticed me. Cameron looked up, smiled, and went right back to playing with her brother’s fire truck.

She’s amazing. So full of laughter, love, and – yes – light.

Next up in the black and white photography blog circle is the lovely Carolyn. 

I’m trying my hardest to get back in the blogging/writing habit. We spent the past two weeks at a beachfront condo in Palm Coast, Florida. It was lovely. The kids swam in a pool for the first time (completely insane that I, a lifelong swimmer, let so much time pass before taking the kids to a pool) and absolutely loved it.

We’re taking it easy and enjoying it. We’re spending two more weeks in Florida and then road tripping back up north for my husband’s graduation and our subsequent move to Indianapolis.

I’ll be back soon. I’m in another one of my semi-silent moods. I share on social media here and there but sitting down and facing my laptop for extended periods of time seems daunting.

Hope you all are absolutely wonderful. I’ll be back soon. Maybe even tomorrow.

xo

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It’s “for the love of….” blog circle time and this week I’m sharing another one of my London loves. Cream tea, afternoon tea, high tea, it does not matter – I love them all. I’m a devoted coffee fiend but while living in London I switched things up a bit. I decided to give proper tea a sincere try. I was working on cutting sugar out of my diet and since most teas I enjoy don’t need much sweetener it was perfect during my transitional phase.

I enjoyed plenty of treats while in Europe but in moderation. It paid off, I lost a ton of weight while there (woot) but I have regrets. So many teas, so little time. I know we’ll be back but it doesn’t stop me from daydreaming about the teas that never were. Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop app has a London city guide with its own section for teas around the city.

I highly suggest you check it out if you’re traveling to the area (the app includes NYC and LA guides as well). Gwyneth has wonderful taste – obviously – but many of the options were a bit much for me. They either involved trekking across the city solo with the kids on the tube, wrangling children for three hours in an upscale venue, or spending hundreds of dollars on teas, pastries, and sandwiches we’d never be able to consume in one sitting.

My sister Vanessa came to visit me and there was no chance we weren’t going to enjoy tea together. Chilling with little kids is exhausting especially after international travel so Vanessa and I agreed to keep it local and check out a neighborhood spot. The Muffin Man Tea Shop was perfect for our needs. Kid friendly, a short walk from my flat, and perfectly delicious. We fell in love with clotted cream and scones.

Heaven.

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