grocery store inspiration (grocery stores bring so many ideas.)

floating
food

//and wheat//

this is my favorite food,
guaranteed. asparagus.
soo delicious.
any other asparagus lovers?

So what are you having for dinner today? (friday).
I'm going to my favorite restaurant of all time,
Nova Express with my friend Denise.

Share your food brilliance with the group!
This can be the recipe, food inspiration part of my blog.
I made a new category.

Help it shine
!

CLASSIC. {moments from disneyland}

she's way too perfect. this isn't real.

come on now cinderella. come on.

from up high.

reading is sexy

blythe had the best birthday party last weekend.
it was on this terrace thing outside of Peets coffee where she works (THE BEST COFFEE EVER!!). Yellow balloons marked off our little section, and the birthday girl.

i love this sequence of her blowing out the candles.
she is so lovely.a few reasons why blythe rules.
one, she makes checkered cakes.
SHE MADE THIS! i know!

2, the details of her party made me smile.

three, she has great friends.
this is riley, her bud from Seattle

Blythe has a reading is sexy pin,

and the brilliant riley and his friend
john-paul wrote her a song about it.see the line that says
sexy means blogging your thoughts? eh?

Read-ing is sexy no matter what they say
So read me, please read me

dayna linds me blx monica & samira!

they had a dance party afterwards,

and since i hate dancing i headed out early
but, i did get to witness blythe doing the robot,
reason number four that she rules.

blythe your party was fabulous. :)

Pixel2Canvas. I love them.

I love good businesses.
LOVE.
i LOVVVE good businesses.

for example,
Anthropologie, Peets Coffee, Nordstrom...
and my latest fave: Pixel2Canvas!!

I'm a great procrastinator, and I needed things printed for a critique in my photo class on Tuesday. I called Pixel2Canvas on tonight at 8pm, not expecting an answer, since it was Sunday night. At 8pm.

Roxanne cheerfully answered the phone, told me how to get 20% off, and said that my prints would be ready by MONDAY AFTERNOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could put a thousand exclamation marks I am so excited!

I thought I'd have to go to class with prints from WalMart (which are surprisingly good, actually!), but now I get to have amazingly beautiful art prints. It's kind of like canvas, but smoother.

Here's what I got:

Series one, titled
AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

series 2, Ben and Lisa. these ones are going to be huge.
16 by TWENTY FOUR inches.

series three. each of these will also be 16x24".
this series makes me smile. i loved Joy and Michael's wedding.

so, I'll post photos when I get them! I'm stoked!!

I've posted a thousand times in the past 24 hours.
A lot's happening. Rainbows, birthdays, Art Prints...
whew!

there was a rainbow in LA

i was driving when i took these
dangerous, especially if you've experienced me+driving.
(more driving art if you click here: a slideshow from the time i was intrigued with the street lights)

i can't decide which i like better. the rainbow,
or the blue shining through in the mirror

LA has some beauty days.
i love it.

little to no photoshop was used on these.
i know the rainbow is subtle, but hey.
and, yes--the sky really did look like it was about to
explode

my dad's FIFTY TODAY!

here are some photos from his surprise birthday party my mom threw him a few weeks ago.

He had the best surprise face!

haa. i love my sister!

THIS IS MY DAD'S COLLEGE ROOMMATE!!! Jeff!
El and Hol-- fiftieth birthday attendees? promise??
Retelling the story of the time Jeff put a cat in my
dad's bed to try and cure him of his cat-phobia.
my rad brothers.
i cant get the underline to go away.

they were in charge of the music.
and here's my beautiful mom
who planned the entire thing :)

she thought of everything, down to the water spray fans and sunscreen since it was going to be the hottest day of the year. (this was a few weeks ago, for the Californians who are currently experiencing our BIG INCREDIBLE STORM, which is really drizzle.) (underline, why do you like me so much??)they're in Hawaii right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i hope they're not reading this,
and lying (laying?) on the sand instead.

and I'm at home, about to experience our new hot tub, which i am beyond excited about. hot tubs rock my world.


dad, enjoy soaking in the sun, your favorite thing, on the day you were born. i wish we could have coffee together in the morning! or italian food for dinner!!

ahh!
when you get back

felt&thread craft

There were 3 B-birthdays within a week. Blaire, Blythe, and Brady.
Kind of stressful being the friend who has THREE good friends to celebrate!!! Ahhhh!!!
I made these little dealies for the Bl's:

they hold polaroids.
or money
or cell phones
or happiness.

:)

fun craft:
its just felt with embroidery thread and some fabric sewn on the front. the fabric has little cotton squares inside of it, incase you need a travel pillow (for a doll).

happy birthday to all the B's in my life.
!

our patio garden

go explore!

process is really important to me.
over the past few years i've discovered its beauty,
and this series was so key in helping me.

i feel blessed to have been chosen for Jesh's contest,
and I am so glad that so many of you have been inspired
from seeing all of the amazing work.

i want to thank you all for taking the time to vote,
(i got second!)
but more importantly-- I'm excited that your eyes
got to see such creativity and authenticity.
I think that all the images have a certain quality about
them that reaches inside of the viewer and connects.

dont you think so?
what connected with you?
for me its hard to put words there...
but, something made me want to look for a long time.
i think i went back to the website about a billion times,
because so many of those photos are so lovely.

i got a few questions about my process for the photo I had in the contest. It was done by layering two slides-- my friend Evan and I went out shooting together, got the film developed, and then experimented by using different materials to manipulate the images. We used fire, lipgloss, markers, paint, dirt, tape...
whatever we found :)

the whole thing was kind of done on the fly.
we didn't have a specific goal, our goal was just...
to experiment and see what happened.

thats why i love embracing the process.
i dont think that image would have happened if i didn't experiment. it didn't exist in my mind before i started... i just had to let go and look and shoot and play and relax

so, back to the details.
its two slides layered together:

the first is the green with the sink. It was taken at the LA flower market, and the green was created from the flourescent lights.

the second was a cool moment-- some friends and i were at breakfast at the Biola cafe, and I looked up and saw all of those branches. I remember pointing my camera up and clicking-- and since it was film, had no idea if it turned out. When i got the film back, i loved the composition, and loved the way it mixed with the starkness of the green one.

So, now they're friends.

There are about 100 more in the series-- some done by me, some by Evan, and I picked my 20 favorites to print. The green one that I entered in the contest is my ultimate favorite, and here's a few more:

lipgloss, fingerprints, shadows

ooooo. underexposure. love it.

this one has wire woven through it, and that vignette is from using a DSLR lens on a film camera.

For even more, and to learn more about the process, click here


Once again, what an honor to be able to share my work among such talented people.
And thank you friends for taking the time to go vote :)
I do appreciate it. thank you.

Now, take the time to go look at the world you live in-- record it in the way that makes the most sense to you. For me its photography, but maybe you could cook, write, paint, talk about it, or just simply look and enjoy. :)

enjoy today,
go explore a little,
and i hope your heart is lifted.

love
shan

Explore Awards: take a minute to vote for me!

This mix of branches, windows and hot-green was
accepted into a photography contest focusing on
explorations
experiments
& images that inspire

Take 2.5 seconds to VOTE FOR IT!
The contest is being held by Jesh de Rox,
a photographer whose work makes you
feel like you're wrapped up in a cloud.

So, click click click!. go vote!
It's in the third category, number Six.
YOU HAVE TO VOTE BY TOMORROW!! :)

the Sanchez Family

I love San Juan Capistrano!
I met the Sanchez's down there
last week for their family photos.
They love black and white photos,
so for a change I let go of the color!

Moriah, Teagan, Evan and Morgan:

I love this one!Fred and Lynn!