PHOTOGRAPHERS RETREAT – PARK CITY, UTAH

by Sara on November 2nd, 2009

So glad my friend Wynona invited me on a weekend retreat with other talented (and photogenic!) female photographers. Not only was it fun, it was informative too. I always enjoy camera/photography talk.

Also awesome? Wynona shared her special mountain with us. She works magic on this mountain with her camera & subjects.

Wynona Robison, Mindy Johnson, Becky Kimball, Heidi, Jefra Starr Linn, and Crystalyn Nilson.

UTAH – MAY 09

by Sara on May 16th, 2009

Dick and I flew to Utah last weekend to see my sister Julie graduate from the University of Utah. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a single picture with my camera during the ceremony or during the party that followed (my battery was dead! Grr).

I did manage to capture a few other highlights of the trip:

First up, Dick, giving me a little sewing lesson. Well, more like an embroidery lesson using his mom’s fancy machine. His talents are endless.

We were able to spend Mothers Day with my mother-in-law, Janet. Isn’t she a babe in that pink top? The family chipped in and got her a new ipod and speaker deck. I love that she has become an audiobook junkie like her son.

I hung out with my photographer friend, Wynona Robison, a couple times. We saw Phoebe In Wonderland at the Broadway theatre, and I gave her a haircut in exchange for a Photoshop crash course. Lucky trade for me as she’s a processing genius.

The weather was divine; coming home to 100 degree heat was a little rough. The good news is Eleanor is here visiting while her parents vacation in Rome and Athens. I’m sure pictures of her will follow shortly.

SCRABBLE

by Sara on March 21st, 2009

My new favorite Friday night activity: playing Scrabble on the outside patio at Pita Jungle in Chandler. Even better? Great company, perfect breezy Spring-like weather, and well, what you would expect from Pita Jungle–delicious food (think: red bell pepper hummus!).

Mindy and Dick are Scrabble extraordinaires — I aspire to be like them one day.

As a rookie, I did a little research this morning to get to know the game a little better. Here are some cool Scrabble terms I learned:

Balance Your Rack:
Making a play that allows you to save the letters on your rack that will most likely help you score well next turn. This often means leaving an equal number of vowels and consonants.

Leave:
The leave is the group of tiles left on a player’s rack after making a play and before drawing new tiles.

Phoney:
Any unacceptable word. An unacceptable word is one that is not found in the OWL (Official Tournament and Club Word List). Or, if it has more than nine letters and the word is not found in the Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition. If a phoney is not challenged when it’s played, however, it will stay on the board for the remainder of the game.

I may or may not have been guilty of attempting a few “Phoney” plays. Must run in the family… (If you’ve played games with my immediate family, can you figure out who I’m referring to? His [hint, hint] name starts with a ‘T’ [and it's not my dad]. )

Interested in playing Scrabble (or any other games)? Let us know because we’re interested in playing with you.

POSTAL PARCEL

by Sara on March 18th, 2009

We received this package in the mail from our friends Dann and Jenn.

The card is so clever. It says:

“No New Years day to celebrate
no chocolate covered candy hearts to give away…
But what it is… these three words I’ll say to you
we just (sent this) to say we love you!”

It’s so awesome looking, I had to take pictures.

CELEBRATING MLK DAY 2009 – EAST COAST STYLE

by Sara on January 26th, 2009

My computer time is limited lately, but here are some photos I stole from our friend Aaron Snow. He took these with his iphone while we were visiting him, his adorable wife Adrienne, their most perfect baby Elise, and good friends Daron Gardner and Peter Baumann.

Partying at Aaron & Adrienne’s place in Middletown, Connecticut.

Snowy Central Park. We walked here from the Whitney Museum after seeing an exhibit of my favorite photographer, William Eggleston.

Dinner at Veselka with (me), Dick, Pete, Chris & Scarlett Lindsay. Chris & Scarlett live in Brooklyn. We stayed with them for a while back when we moved to New York. They are great.

Regretfully, I didn’t take many photos of my own. When I get a chance, I’ll post the few I took. It was hard coming back to the real world and I am super busy and super stressed out over all sorts of happenings (some more fortunate than others).