I missed the first half of the week. I was busy wrapping up a couple of projects before some family came in town for the weekend.
I managed to get a few projects done around the condo this weekend. I finally put up some temporary blinds. Not only do they look better than my bedsheets, but now I can put clean bedsheets on my bed since they are no longer hanging on my windows. Win-win!
I’m most excited about the deck furniture I bought. I’m so ready for warmer weather so I can sit outside. I’ve never had outdoor space before and now I have space large enough for a sectional and some plants. I’m looking forward to putting this space together over the next few weeks.
Thursday, April 25, 2019 (day 115/365). Laundry day with Rose.
Friday, April 26, 2019 (day 116/365). I’ve been seeing butterflies everywhere the past couple of weeks.
Saturday, April 27, 2019 (day 117/365).
Sunday, April 28, 2019 (day 118/365). Sneak peak of the color scheme for my deck. How great is that flamingo pillow??!
I finally had some free time to do some research this week on post-production techniques. I haven’t perfected my process yet, but I found a few tips to make it a more organized and efficient process.
Monday, April 15, 2019 (day 105/365). I was trying to do dishes, but Elliot decided he’d park his butt on my drying mat.
Tuesday, April 16, 2019 (day 106/365).
Wednesday, April 17, 2019 (day 107/365). This is my favorite picture this week. Her face is so cute it makes my heart hurt. Thursday, April 18, 2019 (day 108/365). Rose likes to make it as difficult as possible for me to leave in mornings. This particular morning, she made herself comfortable on my bag.
Friday, April 19, 2019 (day 109/365). View from the 66th floor of the Sears Tower.
Saturday, April 20, 2019 (day 110/360). I still haven’t gotten around to getting window treatments, so I hung a bed sheet over my bedroom window. I feel like I’m in my college apartment. Sunday, April 21 (day 111/365). It was so warm out today that the ice cream vendors were out in full force.
I’m keeping it short and sweet this week since I have quite a few photos to weed through and edit from a birthday party I attended last week.
Monday, April 1, 2019 (day 91/365).Tuesday, April 2, 2019 (day 92/365). I don’t know what it is about Elliot, but every picture I take of him is out of focus.
Wednesday, April 3, 2019 (day 93/365).
Thursday, April 4, 2019 (day 94/365).
Friday, April 5, 2019 (day 95/365). This is my home office and my office assistant.
Saturday, April 6, 2019 (day 96/365). I was reading up on how to photograph interiors and one of the tips was to shoot on your knees. I’m not sure if I like the angle or not.
Sunday, April 7, 2019 (day 97/365). I felt like a total stalker taking this picture. It was a rainy day so rather go out in the rain, I sat on my couch and took pictures of people as they walked by. I wonder if anyone noticed….
I was saddled with a head cold last week. How can a person simultaneously have a stuffy and runny nose? The sinus pressure had my eyes watering like I had just watched a Nicholas Sparks’ movie and my nose was so raw that I took to just shoving tissues up there rather than suffer the agony of having rub it.
Just as I was finally starting to feel better, I woke up on Saturday morning to Rose stumbling around. She had either gotten into the wine or had another ear infection. I spent the afternoon at the vet, who assured me that Rose was not drunk and probably had an ear infection. She sent us home with ear drops and anti-nausea pills. Both are super fun to give a cat who does not want either medicine.
Monday, March 25, 2019 (day 84/365): Green tea with lemon. The only thing I drank all day in an effort to stay hydrated and ward off the shivers.
Wednesday, March 27, 2019 (day 86/365): Grocery store sushi. I figured now would be as good as time as any to try sushi from the grocery store. I already feel like crap, so how much worse could this make me feel?
Thursday, March 28, 2019 (day 87/365): I love a moody interior. I’ve had to sleep practically sitting up this week, so the moodiness of this picture matches my general mood this week.
I’m looking forward to some spring like weather in Chicago this week and hopefully, a healthy household!
I’m doing my best to get back on track, hence the two weekly wrap-up posts in a week. This wrap-up post is for the week of March 18-24.
I ran out of space on my memory card last week, which thew me for a loop. I haven’t figured out a decent workflow yet, which means that I don’t have a clue which pictures I’ve downloaded and I certainly haven’t figured out a good way to organize them either. All of that is to say, I missed a couple of days last week because I hesitant to delete anything to make room for more pictures. Live and learn.
Tuesday, March 19, 2019 (day 78/365): My sad sack lunch. I recently read an article about people who eat the same lunch everyday and thought that that sounded like a great idea. I used to get so stressed out trying to plan out a variety of lunches that I would often just end up going out for lunch instead. Now my grocery shopping is easier and my meal prep time is negligible. A big win in my book!
Wednesday, March 20, 2019 (day 79/365): My little shadow loves to get ready with me in the mornings. I must not have been wearing my glasses when I took this because it’s pretty blurry.
Thursday, March 21, 2019 (day 80/365): Rose drinks water from the faucet while I brush my teeth. This usually means that I have to finish brushing my teeth in the kitchen sink since she occupies the bathroom sink.
Saturday, March 23, 2019 (day 82/365): I had friends over on Saturday for dinner. I didn’t remember to take any pictures since I was cooking and playing hostess. I remembered only after I finished cleaning up the kitchen so I snapped a picture of the recipe for the chicken I made. Ina’s chicken recipes never disappoint!
I woke up on Sunday morning with a gnarly cold so I decided knock myself out with some cold meds and stay in bed.
If you have a workflow or organizational system that works for your photography, please share! I need to get myself organized.
Time is flying by – I can’t figure out how I’m a week behind. These photos are from the week of March 11th.
Day 70/365: My bedroom is quite a bit smaller than my previous bedrooms so my old bedside tables don’t fit. Until I can find new tables, my kitchen chairs will have to do.
Day 71/365: The start button to my dryer. It was pretty exciting to do my first load of laundry, until I realized that it took about 2-1/2 hours to dry a load. I guess I need to get the dryer vent cleaned!
Day 72/365: I’m loving having a thermostat. I haven’t had one before. My choices were sweating it out or freezing. Now I can find my perfect temp!
Day 73/365: It’s always challenging to figure out what new traffic patterns will emerge when you move into a new home. Clearly I need an entryway table. I’ve been using a box for the past few weeks, but I’m sure there’s a more attractive option.
Day 74/365: I’m not the only one obsessed with the washer and dryer. Rose can’t stay away from it. She’ll sit in front of the closet and meow until I open the door and she can hop up on the washer.
Day 75/365: I finally got a coffee table for the living room and before I could style it, Rose made herself at home in the tray. I guess I’ll wait to set out my candles.
Day 76/365: Miss Curious always has to involve herself in whatever I’m doing. She’s checking out the clean clothes before I transfer them to the dryer. I guess I’ll wait to do that too.
I’m back! I had to take a couple of weeks off to get packed and moved into the condo, but I’m more or less settled in and trying to get back into the groove of things.
Day 63/365: Jade plant and Apple TV. Pray for this plant. I’ve killed every plant I’ve ever owned.
Day 64/365: Lemon halves.
Day 65/365: Trying out a new color palette in the condo.
Day 66/365: I’ve had this poster since high school. The Phantom of the Opera has always been and will always be my favorite musical.
Day 67/365: Rose is a weird one. Right after she chewed on the bowl of fruit, I caught her hugging a bag of baby carrots.
Day 68/365: Another photo of Rose. It rained all day on Saturday so I was stuck indoors. I’m looking forward to warmer weather so I can get out and start exploring my new neighborhood with my camera.
Day 69/365: The birthday boy! We celebrated Randy’s birthday with a brunch and bunch of drag queens.
I have a confession: I’m surprised that I haven’t quit this project yet. Especially since I spent January getting ready to close on a condo and now most of February decluttering, cleaning and packing. I’ve still managed to find time every day to take a photo. Some days are harder than others and I’ve missed a couple of days, but for the most part, I’ve stuck with it. This project tests my patience, creativity and time management skills.
I don’t know if it’s making me a better photographer, but I am learning to let go of my perfectionist tendencies. I have days when I hate the pictures I’ve taken and I’m tempted to keep trying until I’m happy, but then I think that may never happen and I’m tired (or cold or hungry or frustrated or bored) and I just want to move on. So I do, hoping that tomorrow will be better.
Day 35/365: Packing up my beloved books.
Day 36/365: I was feeling very uninspired, so I took a picture of my cats’ food rather than my dinner.
Day 37/365: Silverware in the dishwasher. I hate putting away silverware almost as much as I hate doing laundry.
Day 38/365: Jewelry. Each piece was purchased on vacation somewhere. The necklace and earrings are from a shop on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy. The gold ring is from Costa Rica and the silver ring I bought while on a hiking trip in Minnesota. The jewelry box was a Christmas gift from my parents well over 20 years ago.
Day 39/365: Rose making her herself comfortable while I’m trying to write.
Day 40/365: My friend and her son.
Day 41/365: A quick snap of my new neighborhood on a snowy afternoon.
Last week’s polar vortex wasn’t the first one we’ve dealt with in Chicago. We survived one in 2014, though it wasn’t as cold as the one that blew through last week. I remember having to walk in the extreme cold to the train, wait for said train and then walk from the train to the office because the firm I worked for at the time didn’t think the cold was dangerous enough to warrant closing the office.
This year my firm took pity on its employees and ordered us to work from home on both Wednesday and Thursday. Though this polar vortex was colder and more dangerous, it didn’t seem as bad. Probably because I didn’t have to go outside this time. Plus I got to sleep in because my commute was all of 30 seconds (my bed to my couch) and I never got out of my pajamas. As an added bonus I actually got to snap a couple of pictures using natural light since I wasn’t stuck in a windowless office.
Anything Goes: Rose was mesmerized by the falling snow.
Food: Roasted vegetables.
Indoors: My windows face the east so I was able to get a cool shot of the light coming in through my bedroom windows.
Personal: More books. I absolutely love true crime. I’ve read countless books on crime and the criminal justice system. My phone is full of podcasts like My Favorite Murder, Stranglers, Serial, and Dirty John. You’ll see shows like Homicide Hunter, Forensic Files, and Making of a Murderer in my Netflix queue. I’m fairly certain that I’m the only person who actually wants to be called for jury duty and is frustrated that I’ve never been called.
Instead of a picture of the cats, I thought I’d switch it up this week and post a picture of my friends’ adorable dog, Hazel. She’s the absolute sweetest.
Portrait: My friends, Maria and Rhiannon, and their dog Hazel. Does this picture seem out of focus or is just me?
Urban landscape: A favorite brunch spot in my neighborhood. It’s hilarious to us that it’s a pancake house and a bar, but the pancakes are really good.
There were a couple of interesting articles about the polar vortex in Chicago. We had what they were calling frost quakes, which I hadn’t experienced before. You can read about them here. I never felt any rumbling, but I did hear the loud booms. I have to wonder if the frost quakes will have any effect on our roads come spring.
The CTA also set the train tracks on fire to keep switching mechanisms from freezing. If only this would also solve the rest of the mechanical problems that the CTA faces daily.
I woke up early on Saturday morning to an incessant tapping noise. At first I thought it was just Rose doing something she’s not supposed to be doing. When I got up to investigate, I realized my pillow was wet. The tapping noise was the sound of water dripping from my ceiling. It was raining in my bedroom and my apartment was FREEZING.
The lack of heat and water logged ceiling took over my weekend and colored my perception of the week. It wasn’t until I started putting together this post, that I saw I actually had a pretty great week. I made a Turmeric Chicken Stew on Tuesday and it was really, really, really delicious. In fact, I loved it so much that I’m thinking about making it every week. You can find the recipe here.
I’m also reading the book, Neither Here Nor There, by Bill Bryson. It’s one of the funniest books I’ve read in a long time. He’s from Des Moines and the book is all about his European travels. Nothing ever goes the way it’s planned when you travel and his anecdotes and musings are laugh out loud funny and so very relatable.
Reviewing my photographic diary made me realize that only Saturday morning really sucked . The rest of the week was pretty great. Sometimes I just need a little reminder.
Anything goes (aka Pictures I Take of Random Things at 10:00 pm Because I Procrastinated): Fire hydrant. I like the red and yellow colors against the white snow.
Food: Turmeric Chicken Stew. It’s not the most attractive dish to photograph – the turmeric turns the chicken yellow and the eggplant turns a brown color, but it’s super delicious. I like the orange of the sweet potatoes.
Indoors: This is my typical view of the television. I’m just grateful it’s not the other end in my face.
Personal: Two things I love – books and travel. A book about travel? Yes, please!
Cats: An out of focus picture of Elliot. Usually when one of my pictures is out of focus, I’ll convert it to black and white to help mask the focus problem, but I love Ellie’s orange fur so I kept the color.
Portrait: Last minute self-portrait.
Urban landscape: The Sheridan “L” stop. I have a liquor store, a coffee shop, a bodega, my bank, and a Walgreens available as soon as I get off the train. I’ll miss this station when I move.
Chicago is bracing for three days of sub-zero temps this week so I’m guessing I won’t be outdoors taking any pictures. Probably lots of pictures of the cats (sorry).
