‘We’re going on a what?!  A road trip?  No. Way. Serious?  I love road trips’,  so says my 3lb dog.  Okay, technically she didn’t speak, but we do understand each other quite well, a telepathic conversation of sorts or projecting but either way it seems we are on the same page.

By the time you read this– myself, The Fancy and our two fur babies should be on the road.  If we are not, please note that there are swear words and objects being hurtled through our flat. I plan on being on the road by 8 a.m. and even that seems like a late start, but alas, I shall not be such a nagging Nelly (for at least the beginning of the trip). I will reserve my neurosis for later in the day, when the Fancy tells me to ‘make it official and hop in the back seat’.  Sorry, I get nervous as a passenger, I think I have a right to pump non-existent breaks and point out that he is invading someone’s ‘space cushion’. We’re on our way to San Francisco and I couldn’t be happier, we haven’t gone there together for about six years too long. I was gifted two free nights at a posh hotel in the city and we were planning to save them for later but the Fancy’s Gran hasn’t been great so we figured we would plan a vacation + visit. Originally  we were going to visit a baby hippo in San Diego this month but I don’t think I could forgive myself if we did that and things weren’t great with Gran. Of course I shall be Tweeting my heart out like I did on my last trip and I am hoping a few people will pipe up about what we should do as I don’t have this trip planned to the ‘nth of it’s life like I did for the baby hippo excursion.  I am not known for my spontaneity, but life doesn’t always follow my best laid plans.

I think it’s an amazingly good feeling when you look at your shop inventory and think, ‘I’d buy that’. I am completely over the top obsessed.  I mean I should be, the name of the company is Besotted, which is English vernacular for being head over heels, completely beside yourself with infatuation. That’s why the words ‘Truly. Madly. Deeply’ hover above the logo on the brand. It’s how I want to feel about the offerings and how I spend most of my days (when I don’t drive myself to the vapors and need my fainting couch). I like to fall in love everyday with something or someone (do you have any idea how many blog crushes I have?), I am constantly motivated by my love of life, not in a Pollyanna way, but in my way.  I love the whole discovery part, example– when I planted chives and they bloomed flowers that resembled violet sparklers.  I was over the moon by this surprise and chuffed with myself for having grown something from scratch.  But I digress, back to my inventory. I think the above old fashioned number stamp is perfect for styling your photographs for your next blog posts (just look how cute that little nest is above with it), great as decoration for your next party or shower or ??? Being that you are not only beautiful, smart but wildly creative I am sure you will find something fabulous to do with it right?  Okay then, while I am away sign up for the launch notice here.  I have been begging my dear friend to fix the glitch in the html email campaign so I can make sure that those lovelies that have signed up are privy to goodies that won’t be offered to those that don’t (totally playing favorites). I have to run, if you miss me you can find me here.

I had the pleasure of visiting a butterfly pavilion early last month.  I had never been to one and I was quite excited by the prospect.  I have to say my imagination is much stronger than my ability to do simple math, because even after I knew the size of the space I was still taken aback by how small it was.  It was a cramped little tent with netting as a ceiling, for some reason even though I was aware that the whole “pavilion” (now that’s a misnomer) was basically a space made of breathable material I still felt a touch (or more) claustrophobic.  I’m good like that. I witnessed more caterpillars than butterflies (not as cute as I remembered), but it was still worth the adventure.  The butterflies I did see were magnificent and very fast.  I have about 1,000 blurry photo’s and the one in focus photo above  was snapped at the less glamorous gift shop,  but heck the lighting was nice and the subjects were very cooperative.  Bonus, they were in a color palette that I can appreciate. Sometimes less is more.

I didn’t think I would be able to top Buster from last Monday but Maurice is a mean contender, just look at those ears and eyebrows. To die. Maurice was captured by photographer Kate Paneros, a former Souvenir Foto student.  Kate is so talented, her travel photo’s are beyond impressive and even caught the eye of a huge magazine that asked her to shoot for them.  She’s like the Cinderella of Flickr without the evil step sisters. I can’t believe she didn’t immediately send me an email with Maurice’s mug in it, but alas I stalk her so Maurice was bound to make an appearance eventually.  Happy Monday to you all!

Last weekend I was successful at snagging the last bundle of Zinnias at the Farmer’s market.  I usually don’t get so colorful in my floral choices, but the Technicolor petals were calling my name.  I also got some Dahlias but I’ll save those images for another post.  The flowers were surprisingly inexpensive, especially since I bought a muffin and scone for $8! Yes, eight U.S. dollars! I was distracted by the stand I was procuring the bake goods from charming branding and wasn’t paying attention until the moment it came to turn over my hard earned cash, but that’s another story, let’s get back to the Zinnias shall we?  I knew I had a roll of color Impossible Project film at home ( a gift I had been saving for a special occasion) and I figured the bright colors could be subdued by the dreamy film.  I think in theory this would have been great if any of my shots would have turned out.  I haven’t had any luck with Impossible Project film, which makes me wonder if it’s not the film but my camera (you see how I conveniently assume it just can’t be me?) I just haven’t had success with my SX70.  It was my beloved and now dead 680 Polaroid that I bonded with.  It was a flea market steal and now you can’t find one for less than $200, which is so not in my budget (come on, I started this post off complaining about spending $8!) I did do some test shots with my digital camera (see above) prior to check light, exposure and composition.  I am glad I did as these photos made me much happier than my instant film versions, which made me want to hurl my camera at the wall (that film is spendy). I want to let you know I didn’t do much to these shots but fix the white balance (which was more of a blue balance), I still can’t believe how vivid these flowers were and how sharp I shot (that never happens).  Here’s to happy accidents, have a wonderful weekend!