autumn13

I'm sitting outside on one of the most beautiful fall days, taking in deep breaths of the cold autumn air. I watch Tyler run in his little boots...back + forth across the fallen leaves. Our dog is sitting against my legs as I pat her side and rub her ears. My husband is standing in the doorway, smiling at me from across the yard where I'm sitting, wrapped in my favorite grey sweater under the birch tree. I'm reminded of this quote, "I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'" -  Kurt Vonnegut 

This...this is nice. xot

 

Pdx ace hotel session

I thought it might be time to share some photos from my Portland trip. I'll start off with the photo session I had with a friend, her mom and her 2 beautiful daughters. We ended up doing the majority of our session in the room Jamaica and I stayed in at the Ace Hotel. I grabbed a bouquet of bright orange ranunculus from a local organic grocery store + a cheap white posterboard from Dick Blick to use as a reflector. (man, I wish we had one of those here) The room didn't need anything else but the energy of this vibrant family.

I had such a good time photographing at the Ace. I plan on returning to Portland in the fall (September or October) and doing a couple more sessions. If you're interested, email me lifelovepaper@gmail.com.

xot

Meet Max

 

Last week my husband tells me he found us a puppy. Totally out of the blue. My first reaction was not of joy. We only just lost our dog a month ago and I just wasn't ready to have another.

But. We always said that we would know when we found "our dog". It had happened with the last 2 and it was always by chance. My first, mama bear (official name Crystal) was given to me by my brother when he was in high school. I had already moved out but never desired to have a dog. It was pretty much love at first site when I saw her crystal blue eyes, hence the name Crystal. She was a little crazy but protective and fiercely loyal to me. She passed a few months after I was pregnant with Tyler. I'm sad he never got to meet her.

Then our second, Butters (official name Jesse) was the runt of a Catahoula litter. A person was trying to give him away at a garage sale. He definitely looked the part....so scrawny next to his brother who was already set to be adopted. She said no one wanted him. Well that was our sign. He was extremely skittish but a cool dog who only wanted to be loved. He passed last month.

Now our third....Max. Half Husky, half German Shepard. His litter + mom were rescued from owners who couldn't afford to feed them so they were a little starved. He's pretty chill which is nice since Jesse was always so alert and nervous. He reminds me a lot of Crystal....the German Shepard is what attracts me to him since she was half GS.

It took a few days for me to adjust to having another dog in the house other than Jesse or Crystal. He's a cool litle dude though.....his charms are slowly creeping there way into my heart.

5th times a charm

It took me five tries to finally get this carmel sauce right and honestly, it still wasn't perfect. The final batch still has some sugar crystals and I could have let it cook for a minute or 2 longer to get more of a rich amber color. I tried 2 separate recipes 2 times each, both MAJOR FAILS. Oy.

1st attempt with this recipe and a big lesson learned. DON'T WALK AWAY FROM THE KITCHEN AND FORGET YOU'RE MAKING CARMEL SAUCE. What a mess. 2nd attempt with this recipe. Lesson learned? DON'T STIR THE SUGAR. I ended up with rock candy. 3rd attempt, same recipe above. Apparently lesson wasn't learned because I got impatient and stirred again. Don't ask. 4th attempt, first recipe. I f!$&king burnt it again. !@($$&#($*(!!! Jeff proceeded to ask why I just didn't go out and buy a jar of carmel sauce if I was craving it that bad. That comment was followed by an evil glare. He didn't say another word. 5th attempt, this recipe but added butter and vanilla. Success! I didn't walk away. I didn't stir. But I was too afraid I would burn it again so I was premature in adding the cream and butter. Still had an excellent flavor though. Delish over my favorite vanilla ice cream. The second day I used it as an apple dip. Victory is mine!

XOT

Continued Construction

Still trying to get things updated around here. Please excuse the mess. :)

On another note, I got some pretty mail last week that I forgot to show. It's a new "paper kit" called Olive Box. I wasn't really sure what to expect but with the introductory price of $15 I thought why not. I subscribe to her Retail Recipes newsletter. Pretty informative and motivating if you're an entrepenuer looking to have your goods in a retail setting. I don't know all the details about the creator but she does own a stationary store in NYC so I knew there would be some pretty paper items included.

The box is beautifully packaged and I was delighted to see items from the Rifle Co. Seeing my name handwritten on a card was a nice touch as well.

 

I personally opted to not subscribe to this paper lovers kit. The cost isn't in my budget at the moment which makes me sad. That said, these would make great gifts. I have a few people in mind who would love to receive a box of pretty stationary and unique finds.

xot