A Few Months on Film

Here are some of my favorites from my second and third rolls of film. You can see the first roll here! I am having a good time playing with my dad’s old SLR but wish I had more things to photograph. My third roll took six months from the first shot to the last, which is pretty awful. I’m hoping to shoot much more this year! Though I will definitely need to find somewhere to develop–spending $15/roll at Walgreens is just not going to cut it. Please send me any recommendations you have!

Photos featuring myself, Joseph, a few family members (niece, sister, & my sister-in-law and her boyfriend), and my lovely friend Asma.

Christmas 2011

This was our second Christmas in Texas but the first time we put up the Christmas tree. I was afraid the little five-footer would look silly in our (typically Texan) oversized living room, but I really liked it! And it was so, so easy to put up that I’m going to be sticking with this little tree in the future.

I decorated in the same way I did last year but added the tree and a couple other little decorations I picked up along the way. I also knit Christmas stockings for Joseph and myself, but you’ll have to wait until next year to see them!

Joseph is such a good gift-giver, especially when it comes to jewelry! He gave me this double-stranded pearl bracelet for Christmas

He also gave me this amazing owl bookend! I’ve been owl-obsessed for a few years now, and this is the first time Joseph has given me anything having to do with owls. Normally he just scoffs at what I pick out, so I was shocked. And this bookend is SO cute and also so funny to me.

A couple days after Christmas we drove to Joseph’s grandparents house to meet that side of his family. Serious Scrabble-ing ensued.

We wanted to keep the Creepy Couple Picture tradition going, but we didn’t quite top last year’s. And no, Lerin is not pregnant–that was a balloon hidden under her apron.

Though Lerin’s edit was pretty great.

Joseph’s dad and step-mom gave me this beautiful jewelry tree! I have always wanted one, and this brushed nickel is perfect!

And Joseph’s mom & co. gave us a set of personalized embossers! I’ve always wanted some of these too!

Prompted 365: Days 223-238

I have really let this project slide, both here at Wobby and on Flickr. I took a hiatus (or two) because my schedule became really demanding both mentally and physically. This 365 is so much more difficult than I ever imagined. I’ve come out with some photos that I really like, but interpreting prompts, finding time (and light) to take a photo, working towards a good photo, and editing takes a lot out of me. I am exhausted.

But December 31 marks the end! Overall I’m grateful I did this project, but I am more than ready for it to be over. I’d rather transfer that energy to projects I can stay excited about; forcing myself to take a photo every day made me kind of resent picking up my camera at all. That definitely wasn’t what I was looking for when beginning this, but I’ll be proud of myself when it’s over and excited to expand my photography in another way.

I am trying to go out on a positive note so need to share my photos with you again. I will be jumping around and showing you only my favorites rather than every image, so I should be able to catch up pretty quickly.

11 August: Stretch

15 August: Beautiful
Working in my favorite shopping center is not good for my wallet. I had an early lunch and wasn’t hungry so headed to Banana Republic to check out their new Mad Men line. I fell in love and returned to my shift with beautiful white lace and an empty stomach.

16 August: Stripes

17 August: Open
Joseph refuses to open these! He interrupted me in the shower so that I could open this while he hid in another room.

18 August: Waiting
I waited and searched and waited for months until finding the perfect chair for my office.

20 August: Tea

21 August: Foreign
My Italian kitty! He even has a little passport.

23 August: Cozy
Leonardo loves the new chair as well.

24 August: Nest

26 August: Layers

Thanksgiving Photoshoot

I hope all my fellow americans had a great Thanksgiving! My parents visited again this year, and I think we are all still feeling lethargic from so much turkey and dressing.

They brought my nine year-old niece Avery who I have really missed up here. She told her mom she wanted to see our house and “get to see Alyssa, Joseph, their cat that pees in the toilet, and their crazy dog.” Our toilet-using cat and crazy dog are pretty much what we’re known for, but she did forget about Lazar Wolf!

We had so much fun with her. We talked about crushes (she did a fairly disturbing unintentional Sex & the City impression when she hopelessly sat back in a chair and complained, “I’m always single!”), tortured kitty Leonardo, took funny Photo Booth pictures, and she introduced me to iCarly. Much of her time was spent playing with Joseph (or watching him play Skyrim)–he told me she at one point said, “Uncles are fun! Aunts can be kind of annoying…”

The day after Thanksgiving I drug her to clearing behind a nearby neighborhood to play Hannah Montana. A few pre-teen boys showed up after a while, and Avery ran straight to the car in embarrassment. But I think we got a few good shots while it lasted!

It’s hard not to laugh when Avery is around. In the left photo she was doing a bizarre robotic dance, and in the right she was pretending to be a cranky old lady.

Her Aunt Tori joined in on the fun!

Then I handed the camera off to Avery, who easily bossed her aunts around.

I will leave you with this photo of Tori and me looking incredibly beautiful.

Beautiful Things in Las Vegas

Say what you will about Vegas, but the city does not take the easy way out when it comes to design. It’s like Walt Disney World: absolutely contrived and profit-driven but incredibly detailed. That’s something that I couldn’t help but fall in love with. I love the details. I love that these hotels will display huge fountains and mounds of flowers just because they can. Who in the world decides, “Why don’t we cover our ceiling with 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers? Let’s not make anything easy.”

Sure, their motivations aren’t for aesthetics alone. But I am a frequent complainer (much to the annoyance of my husband) about sky-scrapers. I hate imposing glass walls with nothing to them. I only want the precision of details no one else cares about. This absence was actually a huge adjustment for me when moving back to the US last summer after four years in Italy.

But the level of design in Vegas helped me like the city more than I would have otherwise. Without so many beautiful and intricately-designed things to look at, I think the consumerism would have killed my spirit.

First, Dale Chihuly’s Fiori di Como in the Bellagio lobby. I love this. The glass flowers burst from the ceiling like some kind of beautiful disease (is that too gruesome?).

Just past the lobby is Bellagio’s botanical garden and conservatory, dressed up for fall.

A beautiful glass leave hanging from the conservatory roof. I didn’t even take photos of the beautiful flower displays set up throughout the hotel and behind the check-in desks in the lobby.

My other favorite hotel was Wynn Las Vegas. This hotel is gorgeous and, of course, expensive. I’d recommend anyone on the strip walk around, even if it’s further down the road than the others and is lacking in loud tourist attractions. The light is took dark (in every hotel/casino) to do the photos justice. The Wynn has the most beautiful and unique design–a mix of contemporary cute and classic sophistication. I was dying over the carpet and wallpaper, both of which I neglected to photograph but very badly want for my home office.

This is the Wynn Buffet, where Joseph and I had dinner with my friend Sarah. The meal was delicious, and do I even need to mention this room? It’s straight out of Alice in Wonderland.

Las Vegas: The Strip

Neither Joseph nor I are big on gambling, but of course, we were in Vegas. There’s really not much else to do. We stuck with the slot machines and actually came out ahead, but it still terrifies me!

This machine was set on tormenting me. This happened TWICE. Notice neither row is actually on the line, making me a loser. Ugh.

I ate a crepe for breakfast at the Paris buffet, and then we sat down for a bit of gamblin’

Everything on the strip is so nice and so beautiful! I couldn’t help sneaking a few pictures of bathrooms.

Photo at the Bellagio. More on this later! That is such a beautiful hotel.

I’m really excited I got to meet up with my friend Sarah, who I met online a few years ago and who happens to live in Vegas. Isn’t she beautiful?? We had a great lunch at the Wynn, which offers a lot of Vegan options for her (another seriously beautiful hotel–more on that one later too!)

Just a corner of one of the shopping centers. Seriously beautiful!

New York New York:

Our hotel, the MGM Grand:

As for shows, we very sadly got our dates confused and missed the one we were looking forward to–The Lion King. The tickets were nonrefundable, of course, and they are leaving at the end of the year. :( We did get to catch Cirque du Soleil’s Ka but were extremely disappointed in it. They held it at an absolutely incredible theater with an amazing moving stage, but there was almost no acrobatics. We were looking forward to seeing something like Downtown Disney’s La Nouba, which we really loved. Ka had one ribbon dance (which honestly wasn’t incredibly impressive considering what I saw at La Nouba), a one baton twirling act, and a segment of shadow puppets. Like, shadow puppets you make with your hands on the wall illuminated by light. This was not at all what we were looking for, and I found myself wanted to walk out (which I have never done at any kind of performance).

That kind of put a bitter taste on the night, but it was still overall a great trip. I just should have done more research because it seems other people who didn’t like Ka were also hoping it was more like La Nouba.

Las Vegas: Nature First

Joseph and I just returned from half a week in Las Vegas. It was kind of a strange destination for us considering the places we normally travel, but we needed a relaxing vacation and a break from school and work. Vegas requires very little thinking or planning–it fit the bill perfectly.

Before I flood you with photos from the bright city, I’ll share our first day. We flew in early and spent the morning hiking at Red Rock Canyon before driving for a quick tour of Hoover Dam. It was kind of a last-minute decision, and I’m really glad we spent the early part of the trip this way.

I’m normally not a fan of this dry landscape (I love and miss my Dolomites), but it really was incredibly beautiful in person.

Hoover Dam:

One of the best parts of the day: stopping for lunch at In-N-Out! We got our very first one here in Fort Worth a few months ago, but it had been too crowded for me to try. When we realized the chain was in Nevada, we immediately knew where we wanted to go. It definitely lived up to the hype, but I felt like a dork ordering everything off the “secret menu.”

The Cat in the Window

Leonardo has always been interested in the world outside our walls, but actually going outdoors is just too overwhelming. So he spends a lot of his time gazing out windows.

This was one of his favorite spots in our apartment in Italy–the big window in the kitchen. It was frequently open to release the kitchen’s heat, so he got to smell all sorts of nature! Plus, he could see into our neighbors’ yards and watch them walk in and out of their houses.

Before buying our house here in Fort Worth, we stayed in a hotel for a few weeks. Our room was right by the front entrance, and I often came home to find him staring right out this window. I’m sure all the hotel occupants knew of him!

Now he has a quite different view out the back window.

Although definitely not friends, they like to play together through the protection of the glass windowpane. They do this multiple times a day, beginning at 6:50 every morning.

I took this photo to show off the wreath I made last year and then noticed Leonardo’s little face in the window. Every time we check the mail, we come back to find Leonardo right there with his mouth moving frantically and his meows muted by the door. I laugh every time.

Joseph got a ladder to put Leonardo on the windowsill above the front door so he could watch the birds outside.

Prompted 365: Days 213-222

I’m struggling with my school and work schedules, so I apologize my blog has fallen behind! I need to habitually set aside time for my dear Wobby.
I’ve been falling behind on my Prompted 365 project for a couple months, and I have to admit recently hardly any of my photos have been taken on the actual day they were supposed to! I just can’t find the time, but I’m committed to this project and won’t be giving it up this so along.

1 August: Money

2 August: Permanent
Some little bird deemed our tree worthy for their nest! I am strangely honored.

3 August: Familiar
Our buddy Lazar Wolf a few new decorations in his home, including a waterfall and fake plants (he moved the purple one himself, which is why you can see the weight sticking out of the gravel).

4 August: End

5 August: Sharp

6 August: Far
My new planner traveled all the way from South Korea!

8 August: Soft

9 August: Clean
A few new bowls, straight from the dishwasher. I picked these up at Anthropologie for less than $4 and really love them! They’re the perfect size for snacks and fit perfectly into my mismatched cupboard (I have a penchant for dishes).

10 August: Key

Prompted 365: Days 202-211

21 July: Sunlight

23 July: Annoying
I at first wasn’t sure how to feel about my birthday falling on the prompt “annoying.” Is that a serendipitous hit on my personality? I realized shortly, though, that it’s pretty fitting. I am incredibly annoying on my birthday. I use my “Birthday Week” to get out of doing anything I don’t want and also celebrate my Birthday Eve and Birthday Boxing Day. I don’t think it’s as self-centered as I make it sound here–I wish everyone would celebrate their birthdays just as much! It’s a fun day.
Oh and the gifts featured above, because I know you’re curious: an ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer, a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream recipe book, and diamond earrings (disguised in the large central box). And yes, that’s Leonardo you spot in the back eyeing my presents.

25 July: Forever
I go through phases of wearing my grandmother’s old wedding ring. It pains me to see a symbol of so many happy years of marriage hidden in a closet, so I pull it out. The ring is a size 4 and doesn’t fit anyone else I know, so my grandmother gave it to me when I got married. It has no use for her since she’s remarried, so I consider it my duty to keep it alive.

26 July: Spiral

27 July: “Can you hear me?”
The universe makes me so small.

29 July: Robot
Magical, wonderful machine.

30 July: Fur
I like that this week’s pictures features gifts from each of my grandmothers: this vintage coat was given to me many years ago by my paternal grandmother.

31 July: Yellow
I haven’t mentioned my Anthropologie obsession here. It’s bad.

My favorite photo from this week was “sunlight.” What about yours?