the rest of SF.

Besides the food, we had a great time exploring SF as temporary residents. Our friends J & C came down for the weekend and we explored the wharf and enjoyed the Saturday day morning Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building. We also got together for dinner with N & L!


Some of the highlights include SURPRISE tickets to Wicked and an impromptu trolley ride back from church on Sunday.


Check out this great skyline shot I got on the way home when I flew over LA. The sun was just starting to set, but it was a little smoggy.

foodie.

My friend Bob is a foodie, and I just spent 2 weeks in "his" city (San Francisco) for work. The goal was to never eat at the same restaurant twice. I nearly succeeded, with a few exceptions during the noon hour. The most interesting cuisine featured an actual sea urchin stew served in the shell-it was purple! (Anchor & Hope)


Here's a list of the places we hit.

1. Anchor and Hope
2. The Daily Grill
3. Wipeout Bar & Grill
4. McCormick & Schmick's
5. The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen
6. O-Zone Thai Restaurant
7. Don Ramon's
8. Maya Restaurant
9. Boudin Bakery
10. Nova Bar & Restaurant
11. Jillian's
12. Local Kitchen
13. My boss' house (does that count?!).

My one regret, I was steps away from the Giant's stadium and we didn't make it to a game. Next time!

a perfect summer surprise.

While in Minnesota visiting family, we had some extra time to kill so we hit the Como Zoo. Just moments after we entered the gates, we came across the butterfly tent. Normally I wouldn't splurge on something so frivolous (at the MN State Fair they charge at least $20 a head for those gimmicks) BUT...the wonderful thing about the Como Zoo is that it is FREE! I just had to walk through or I'd never live it down, so we waited in the short line. I was a little nervous because I'm not really a bug person, but my curiosity won out. Boy am I glad we did this! (And for the record, we DID leave a donation. I'm not that cheap!)

There were so many different varieties, and the colors were so vibrant! One landed on my hand, but flew away before I could snap a picture.

back on the horse.

So, you've noticed... I stopped blogging! There are many reasons for this. In a nutshell I had other priorities including training for a half marathon, applying to graduate school and studying for the GMAT, and some extra travel for work (and play).

Although I haven't been posting, I actually have been taking pictures. I just wrapped up some fabulous trips to LA, MN, MI, and SF that I am really looking forward to sharing. I also did some portraits of a brand new babe and of my very own extended family.

To get back into the swing of things, here are some lovely peonies that I purchased at the farmer's market for a whopping deal of $5.

the capital grille.

Is delicious. A friend tipped us off to this great place, and we tried it out over the weekend as part of the Devour Downtown. Citrus salmon, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes, lamb chop, creme brulee, and flourless chocolate cate. What's not to love!


image from tripadvisor.com

merry christmas.

Metamora, IN

d-troit.

In October we traveled to Detroit to cheer on my bro in-laws at the Detroit Marathon. Their course was incredible, traveling across several bridges, into Canada, through a tunnel, and on an island. They started the race in the dark, and let me tell you, it was cold up there! We did a fair amount of jogging ourselves, bringing sustenance to our runners and cheering them on.

No way I'd do a full marathon, but we're doing the Indy Mini in May!

gameday.

Guess what we're doing today...
My blogging sabbatical is over. Promise. I'll be back with images this week, as well as some shoots from the archives!

image from rootzoo.com

so many places, so little time.

In looking forward to the coming year, there are so many places we want to travel! Some we've never been to. Given the choice, which places would you travel to? Which ones would you skip? Which seasons are best to visit these places?

• Atlanta
  
• Texas
• DC
• New York city
• Disney World
• Seattle
• Minnesota

image from www.epa.gov

the gateway to the west.

I've been in Indy for almost 2 weeks now. It's gone by fast! I had every intention of documenting our trip, but of course, we were in such a hurry, I didn't have time to photograph everything.

Highlights include:

• Driving through Nebraska. All 9 hours of it. JUST KIDDING.
• Buffalo burgers at Cabela's.
• Seeing the Plowman's in Kansas City
• The St. Louis arch
• Steak and Shake
  
• Honking at every state line. (all 8 of them)

1,692 miles later, we are home.

the afghan girl.

Last night my husband and I watched a program entitled 'The Afghan Girl.' If you're familiar with National Geographic, you may remember this image from one of the famous covers of all time:

I've always wanted to be a photographer for National Geographic, so the story fascinates me. The original image was photographed in 1985 by Steve McCurry. Decades later, he couldn't get her out of his mind, so he went back to find her. Check out the full story.

image from National Geographic

en route.

Today we're en route to Indy...for good.

I'm documenting the road trip!

image from 50states.com

wallet envy.

Nearly every time I'm at the store and I take my wallet out to pay, people ask me where I got my wallet. Secret's out, I got it from Etsy.

THE fair.

Today I visited THE fair. The Minnesota State Fair.

Highlights include:

• 1 husband
• 2 cousins
  
• swine judging
• 3 lambs, 2 calves, and a plethora of piglets
• a 1300 lb boar (the largest ever)
• a 1090 lb pumpkin
  
• field corn judging
• seed art
• 1 twist cone at the dairy barn
• 1 bloomin' onion
• 1 bucket of Sweet Martha's Cookies & a glass of milk
  
• 1 pickle dog (pickle wrapped in pastrami and cream cheese)
• 1 capresse salad on a stick
• 1 fried mac-n-cheese on a stick
  

Pictures coming soon!

gone fishin'.

Actually, houseboatin'.

I'm going to be chilling on a houseboat this week with my husby (who I haven't seen in 2 1/2 weeks) and his family. No posting while I'm gone, but I'll be back on track when I return!

farmer's market friday: park city arts festival

My Farmer's Market cards are all packed away, so this week I'm featuring Park City Arts festival, which we attended last weekend. If you've never been, it's totally worth it, it's one of the largest arts festivals in the country. We went to breakfast at The Eating Establishment (after huffing it up the Main Street hill) and then coasted back down the hill to see all the vendors. Our favorites were:

• strategically selected book titles reinvented into functional wall hangings (key hooks, bookshelves, etc.)
• the coffee table that doubles as a marimba
• found object sculptures

If you're interested in any of these vendors, leave a comment, and I'll dig up their contact info from among the boxes!

big news.

This wasn't the original big surprise, but now you'll know why I've been absent from blogging!

I don't often post personal things on this blog, but since we're leaving the state, I thought people might like to know :) Comcast has offered my husband a position in Indianapolis, so he is leaving on Thursday...yes Thursday of this week. It all went very quickly, and we only just found an apartment last week. I will stick around for another two months to continue working, finish up photoshoots, and say goodbye. Along with my husband, our entire apartment is being packed and moved this week. I'll be moving in with a friend (more on that later) who has graciously agreed to put me up for a bit.

Although I'm really excited to move closer to family and to be back in the midwest, I will actually miss some pieces of Utah, such as...

1. Farmer's Market (although we did find one in Indy already)
2. The view of the mountains (is being traded in for lots and lots of trees)
3. Our sweet 'landlords' (friends) who have kindly rented their basement, and their yard to us for the last 2 years
4. All the fun families/babies/couples I've photographed and gotten to know
5. Temple square
6. Access to family history libraries
7. Working in the office with my team (I will work from home)
8. Evening walks around our cute neighborhood
9. Our close knit church community
   
10. And most of all, our wonderful friends. We feel like we just didn't have enough time!

I'm grateful I have 2 more months to drink these things in before I move to Indianapolis.

We are excited to be closer to family, nearer to some friends we haven't seen in a while, and to be in a place that has thunderstorms again.

rode-o.

I'm not so into rodeo culture, but a tiny, tiny piece of me imagines what life is like in a traveling rodeo. Like running off to join the circus.

We went to the SF rodeo on Wednesday (2nd rodeo EVER) and had a great time people watching and animal watching. Loved the 'lil cowboy sitting behind us. There was no shortage of hats & boots, princesses' sparkling tops, tight jeans & vests. Got to love rodeo fashion.

caught.

While at the beach last week with my fam, I took some time to photograph cousins and family members I don't see nearly enough. It's not often that I'm actually in the picture. My sneaky aunt caught me during one of these moments. She's quite good herself!

on holiday: the atlantic

A few short weeks ago I was on the Pacific pond. This week I'm going to the Atlantic for more palm trees and sand. Can you guess where I'm going?


I may post sporadically...or I may not. We'll have to see! I'll for sure come back with too many pictures to count.