pb&j

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a little suspicious, but Callum claims he's never had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

The thing is, he's usually right about stuff like that. If Callum tells you something has or hasn't happened in his lifetime, you can bank on him remembering it correctly.

So I'm gonna trust him on this one too.

We made one after school yesterday.

Fresh jar of jelly.

He liked it.

boy-land

 Our neighborhood is over-run by boys. There are laughing children everywhere, but the gender bias definitely leans boy-ward. These beauties live next door to us, and our afternoons often intertwine. Elliot, the elder of the two, playing trains or cars on his front sidewalk while Landon, well, Landon is busy growing up adorable.

You may remember this darling from a few months ago. He's seven months old now.

His older brother is very busy in the rough and tumble way that all boys have. It's train tracks and cars lined up in rows and bike rides. He's got some fierce focus, that little man.

I don't know much about brothers. I'm an only child, and as you know, Callum is one too. So this affection is alien to me, this brother-love. Even rough and tumble, and expressed at four years old, it's beautiful to behold.

This was one of those lucky photography days for me, caught camera-in-hand, just at the golden hour. Gorgeous, willing subjects. I snapped shot after shot after shot. If all portraiture worked like this for me, I could do it for days! Still, I walk away feeling not skilled, but lucky.

I am lucky. I was lucky enough to see both these boys come into the world. I was there when they each drew their first breath. How lucky is that? Now I'm lucky enough to watch them grow up.

Lucky to have a camera for it all too.

five things, october 21st edition

1. I think I still have a lot to learn about writing and photography and who I want to be when I grow up.
2. I think I'm feeling very lucky these days.
3. I'm thinking it's time again for chicken and waffles.
4. I think I need a makeover, a glamour consultant and a photographer...STAT.
5. I think I really need to give my living room some love. Right now, except for my pink wall, I am not feeling it. I walk through it quickly to get to the back of the house, and I want it to be a room we want to spend time in again. I need furniture, but I'm open to suggestions. And donations. But only of gorgeous stuff.

P.S. Come and try the new line of teas that they're featuring at Simply Selma's!

sneak peak :: alberto parada @ simply selma's

You know, I really put my camera down this summer. I guess I needed to. It chafed at me though. My camera bag, sitting on the shelf, staring me down. I was equal parts need to breathe without its weight in my hand and restless agitation without it. It's not the best of places to be. It's hard to remember that there's much to learn in the in-between spaces. It's easy to be revved up. Teaming with thoughts and ideas and filled with abundant creativity. Learning in leaps and reveling in bounds. Those are the thoughtless, easy times. When the ideas fly in and the work flies out. But there's value in that space between. And it's easier to remember that value, when you're feeling good, I suppose. Not so much when you're in it. I'm realizing now, that I learned a lot this summer when my camera fell silent.

Things are clearer now for me that weren't before.

My friend Marianne has asked me to come in and take some more pictures of her store. I can't tell you how excited I am about this. You may remember when we did this before. Simply Selma's is a wonderful place, and I love being there. They need photos for a new website, and I'm beyond thrilled that they've asked me to take them. One of the things I realized this summer is that this kind of photography, still life, is among my favorite.

One of the things that Marianne asked me to photograph was a trunk show of Alberto Parada Jewelry they were having this weekend (before she was one of the owners, she was the jewelry buyer for the store...let me just say, you feel good knowing your jewelry options are in her hands!). Alberto Parada's work is stunning, and it's sustainable, which is pretty important in my book. I got to meet this special man, and see a lot of his jewelry. Not bad for a Saturday morning.

Bliss, actually.

I don't get out much. That's not a slam on Marianne or Meg and April (the other owners) and especially not Alberto and his wife Ashley, who were absolutely delightful. It's just that my work is mainly solitary, and I do it from home. So to spend the day with these lovely people surrounded by their laughter and their vibrant personalities was pretty much heaven to me. Oh, all that jewelry. And take pictures of it all? For me, it just doesn't get much better.

Here they all are; you can see how special they are.

I'm still editing like crazy, and the photos are really Selma's to share once the web site launches. I may post a few more here though, if they let me.

I left feeling like I still have so much to learn, you know? But that's okay. I also left feeling a lot of gratitude for such an amazing opportunity. And with the feeling that I really could do this thing. I know Alberto is the one smiling in the photo here, but there I am in the reflection. Can you tell how happy I am?

idea thief

As soon as I saw this post, I knew I had to make us some roasted garbanzo beans.

I have long been a devotee of the humble garbanzo bean. When I was growing up, all of my grandparents would try to visit us in Tennessee at the same time. My mom's mom and my dad's parents, traveling from Illinois and Pennsylvania respectively to spend some time. These visits were very steeped in ritual and tradition. At one point the grandmothers would go shopping, my grandpa driving them to the mall and returning home to wait for the call to fetch them home again. One night they would make Shake and Bake pork chops. My Grandma Mercedes (my mom's mom) would do some ironing for my mom.  Every time we went out to dinner, they'd fight over who'd pay the bill. On their first night in town, we'd almost always go to Shoney's for dinner. (The branches of this tradition continue to exist: whenever my mom or dad come to see us, California Pizza Kitchen is always our first stop.) One year my dad and grandpa and I sat in the parking lot of Shoney's in my grandparent's huge old boat of a car and listened to the final outs of a Mets/Astros playoff game while my mom and the grandmothers went in and got us a table. It was 1986, and things didn't get much more exciting for me than listening to that game on the radio.

Best part of Shoney's was the salad bar. It likely still is. I haven't been in awhile. And best part of a salad bar are the garbanzo beans. My salads were always heavily weighted down with garbanzo beans (And only when we moved to Central Pennsylvania did I learn that they were also called chickpeas or cecis. Go figure.)

And roasted? Hello, y.u.m. My first batch stayed in the oven a bit too long, but we ate them up quickly enough. The second batch I dusted with cumin, garlic salt and a little chili powder. They won't be our last.

Photo info:
Camera: Canon Rebel XSi
Lens: Canon EF 28-135 mm (Big Daddy)
Aperture: varying
Shutter Speed: 1/125, 1/200
Focal length: 47-85 mm
ISO: 100