Some Personal Images and an update...

Hi Everyone!

We made it halfway through the week!

I don't have much to say today.  I fell in the parking lot yesterday going to my car.  In my defense it was slippery because it had been raining and made a sheen on the pavement, but yes...I have a dirty secret, I am a huge clutz! 

So, neurosurgery 10 weeks ago and falling on your face should never be said in the same sentence!

That means I stayed home from work today to ice my neck like crazy and hopefully have a good day tomorrow.

So to make myself feel better I am going to post some photographs of my own photography that I have taken through the years.  Some film, some digital.  When I look at pictures I have taken they can transport me to another time and place. 

I kind of need that today!  So enjoy!

Until tomorrow,

Love

Jess

Macaroons (Macarons) and other Things

It's Wednesday!  It's Wednesday!

Happy second night of Chanukah to those of you who celebrate, Merry almost Christmas, and Happy Holiday's to everyone else!

I have been busy making presents today and will have pictures soon!  We are poor but it doesn't mean I can't make some heart felt things for the people I love!

I have also been rethinking me etsy shop.  Some questions I have been asking myself is:  What do I really like making?  What kind of images do I want to put out there in the world?  What can I see myself doing and making in a year, in five years, in ten?  What do I want to share with people and what do I want them to buy that they will want more of?

I like the name of my shop, love it actually, but I just feel like I need to figure out some core things about what kind of artist I want to be and what I enjoy making (when you enjoy it I feel like it shows through in the work, when it is painful to make or difficult I think you can feel that too).

Onto, the last part of the post.  As those of you who have been reading the blog know, I love images.  I like eye candy and pretty things, and beautiful images make me happy.

One of the images I love on all of the wedding blogs is this:

Image by Simply Photo

Macaroons!  They are so pretty and I love the colors and the shapes, and lately I have been seeing this eye candy all over the web.

La Mie Bakery, Des Moines, Iowa

Now, I have pinned some of these beauties on pinterest and can I admit a secret?  I have never eaten one before!  I don't even know what they are made of!

So if anyone else has this dirty little secret, this is what I found out in my searches on the web today.

First, I have been calling it a macaroon, most people seem too, but if you look on Wikipedia it is actually spelled Macaron.  What I found out is this treasure is a meringue based sweet made with egg white and almond flour.  The base of the word is from the Italian word maccherone meaning to crush or beat which is referring to the almond powder.

This sweet is considered primarily a french confection, but the Italians would beg to differ saying the french started making it when Catherine de Medici who married Henry II of France brought over her Italian cooks with her.

Traditional macarons were raspberry and chocolate, but now they come in a variety of flavors and combinations and the fillings can be jam, buttercream, or ganache.

The possibilities of flavors are endless!

I hope if you were uneducated like me about Macarons which Wikepedia said most North Americans consider it synonymous with Macaroons, but most Europeans differentiate, that you learned a little something!

Until tomorrow...I'm off to dream of beautiful pastries,

love,

Jess

Found on the blog Mumu, source unknown (if you took it, e-mail me!)

Blogs I love, Gift for Christmas, Wednesday Musings...

Hello Everyone!

Happy Wednesday!  I actually really love Wednesday's and I know not a lot of people do.  I feel like Wednesday is a day full of possibilities.  You can start to think about the weekend because you only have two days left of the work week!  You can congratulate yourself for working hard for three days and only having two days left to go, and I like to think on Wednesday that the week is still full of possibilities!  Not always easy, but since my neck surgery I have been trying to think of the glass as half full.

So that my lovelies is my Wednesday musing.  On to a christmas gift I bought Meridyth!  Meridyth and I are both artists.  I majored in black and white photography and fine art in college, and Meridyth minored in art and majored in Computer Science.  So, she needed/wanted a new pencil case because she loves to draw with graphite pencils.  I have been looking everywhere for a pencil tin with no luck.  I tried all the major chains and ebay and art stores.  Then I realized I didn't look at etsy!  So silly.  So I looked last night and found a man who sells handmade wooden pencil cases.  His name is Dallen Wright and his shop is Rexburbia.  Here is what I bought for Mer last night.  She was really excited!

Now onto some blogs that I follow pretty religiously.  One photographer whose blog I love reading is Katie Jane Photography.  I found her a few months ago because I love looking at elopement photography online.  Something about two people running away together and tying the knot just makes me swoon!  Well, she is a great photographer out of New York, and does a lot of elopements.  If you want some eye candy and people in love, I would definitely check her out. 

Another site that had me actually laughing out loud last night was The Knotty Bride.  I had never known this blog exsisted until last night and now that I do this is going to be a regular read!  She is sassy, and witty, and also talks about weddings!  Not for the meek of heart but I am a little bit in love.

Hope you enjoyed my musings for a Wednesday!  Until tomorrow...

love,

Jess