Living What I Love

Maddie's senior photos

Incredibly hard to believe that my little sister will be a senior in high school next year. I was home for a few days in between getting back from our big trip (more on that to come!) and our move to Seattle, so I shot seniors for Maddie and her friend Maria, whose photos I'll post tomorrow.

We had a blast and *the* most perfect summer day. We shot these around Williams Bay, which was fun since it's where I grew up. No matter where you are, there are always great photo ops to be found!

Sorry to brag, but my sister is so beautiful. See for yourself:

 

And also, hilarious. Giant glasses courtesey of the Dollar Store.

So proud to be your sister, Maddie! You're amazing.

 

 

Bon voyage!

10 countries in 52 days. Ready, GO!

Sorry for the radio silence for the next two months, but I'm off to travel Eastern Europe with my husband! Lots of photos + stories when we return. Have a great May + June everybody! xo - Kate

BC | KM Collabo 3: Faces

A third collaboration with Brett where we each chose five of our favorite and possibly unshared portraits.

I love photos of people (and puppies, obvi). This was a really fun collabo.

by KM

by BC

by KM

by BC

by KM (ppppssst.... this IS BC! ;)

by BC

by KM

by BC

by KM

by BC

preparation

Chad and I are prepping for our big backpacking trip through Eastern Europe, Greece and Turkey. We leave 2 weeks from Monday (!). Since Christmas when we handed over half of our life savings to REI for new packs, stuff sacks, and other ephemera, we've been slowly but surely collecting the "stuff" we think we're going to need over 8 weeks of traveling. We're allowing ourselves one mid-size pack each, plus a smaller day bag. This is tough for me, the notorious over-packer; I've been mentally planning my outfits and each piece of clothing I'll be able to take for months. Because that's the kind of thing *I* think about: how I want to look. If I really can get away with only two pairs of shoes for 2 months. If I'm bringing too much grey. Etc. Stupid stuff.

My husband, on the other hand, ever the logical and practical person he is, has been reading blogs and websites and asking friends what kind of "stuff" exactly we should bring in our packs to be sure all our bases are covered. I'm not really sure we're going to need 8 travel rolls of Charmin, but I'm sure Chad would have the last laugh if I got myself stuck in some Slovakian bathroom without any toilet paper to be found. So, thank goodness for planning, both Chad's kind and my kind.

Getting so excited!!!

This is one set of all the stuff we've collected. Meaning for a lot of these things, we each have our own. Luckily we won't be schlepping our packs for hours and hours on end; mostly just from train station to hotel/hostel. But still: I'm trying to practice NOT whining. I can be rather good at it so hopefully I can keep it to a very minimum on this trip. ;) So basically we'll be carrying the above, plus a small set of clothes, and 2 cameras.

My pretty pack, probably going to be a lot less pretty once we get back at the end of June:

2 weeks to go!

Just another day where I take photos of Dave Eggers.

Or more formally and lengthily (.... that's a word, right?) known as: 826michigan’s Spelling Bee for Honest Cheaters, Dirty Rotten Spellers and Mustachioed Heroes!

826michigan threw down with their latest fundraiser, which raised a whopping $23,000 for their tutoring and writing programs. Ah-mazing. This particular event was a spelling bee, pitting teams of two against each other with a few "cheats" thrown in. The more money each team raised for 826, the more opportunities to cheat they were granted. One of the cheaters' perks was also the panel of celebrity "helpers" ready to give assistance to those who might be spelling-challenged. Sporting a mustache (real or otherwise) also awarded you cheats. The esteemed guest panel consisted of: Davy Rothbart, creator of Found magazine, writer, and This American Life contributor; Phoebe Gloeckner, author, and Dave Eggers, author and 826 founder. Andy Garris of Woodruff's was kind enough to host.

Some shots from the (very fun) evening:

Oh, the wittiness.

If you can't grow one, draw one on!

Or, paste one on.

a whole family of mustaches!

Getting ready to cheer on the spellers

Andy, manager of Woodruff's

A contestant uses a cheat to get a little help from Dave and Phoebe...

Dave Eggers, penning his next book perhaps?

Davy Rothbart

Thanks for coming, Dave!

BFF's

This post is for wishing my very best friend Allison a happy 28th birthday today!

Allison and I have been friends for over twenty years. TWENTY.

Since:

Swimming lessons at the Y, ~1989

And definitely since:

Buckling up for safety at the pier on Lake Geneva, ~ 1991

Thankfully now we've both grown into those teeth and gangly legs, and have better taste in hairstyles and swimsuits:

Chicago visit, 2010

Happy birthday, Al! Love you, mean it, + couldn't imagine a better best friend. You're my lobster. ;)

four eyes

So, I wear glasses now. First timer. I don't need them all the time; in fact, I don't need them much at all. Reading on the computer was occasionally becoming fuzzy, and driving at night seemed just shy of crystal clear, so I saw an eye doc and was told that yes, I could use a little help on those two fronts. Being vain and snooty, I snubbed the offerings at Pearle Vision for something hipper - Warby Parker frames. I like that they're relatively inexpensive at just 95 bones a pair with prescription; I like that you can both virtually 'try them on' online + then get 5 real frames shipped to you at home to try before even committing to buying. And once you decide on a pair (which you will, they have tons of 'em and they're all awesome!), your purchase also means that W.P. donates a pair of new glasses to a fellow four eyes in need. (Like Tom's!) I get to look good AND be philanthropic?! Done.

I like that glasses are cool now - thanks Tina Fey! And I love these glasses. Still glad I don't have to wear them 24/7, but glad to wear them all the same.

P.S. It is still so weird to post photos of myself on my blog.

BC | KM 2

Collaboration the second with my friend Brett: color!

Top: my photo. A gorgeous coral/orange flower that seemed to literally jump out of all the green in my grandparents' side yard in Florida.

Bottom: B's photo. "A few weeks ago my friend Ned and I were walking around the city, commenting on how dull and bland everything looks after a long winter - and then we came upon the Loring Park fire station. The doors on the building are the craziest bold shade of red, I had no idea! I've walked by them a million times but never bothered to notice how fun and retro the doors are. Just a lil reminder to enjoy the little things, I guess."

So true. Even if spring hasn't quite sprung around your neighborhood, there's always something colorful to find if you look close enough.

vacash.

Ah, Florida. So sunny, so warm. Had an awesome time over three gorgeous days with my mom, sister, aunt, cousins, grandma + grandpa. Things we saw: dolphins off Sanibel Island. Things we didn't see: alligators (bummer!) Things we did: ate (had the best steak of my life, probably), chilled at the pool, played cards with my grandpa, shopped, watched the sun set over the Gulf, and listened to old stories while we looked through photo albums. Some of my favorite shots:

Back to real life, at least for another month. Then: two months vacash in Eastern Europe! That was probably an annoying thing to say, but I can't help it: I'm really, really excited for this next trip.

Up next: BC | KM Collabo 2!

Vacation, all I ever wanted

And it starts now! Okay, in a few hours. I'm leaving for Naples, Florida tonight for a long weekend trip. So excited! This has honestly seemed like the longest winter EVER.

I've been traveling to Florida since I was little to visit my grandparents, and it's always sure to bring lots of great breakfasts out, beach-going, shopping, and enjoying being outside without a jacket. I'm flying down with my aunt and we're meeting my mom and my sister who are there already on their spring break.

Here are a few photos from my last trip there, in 2008. Looking at them reminds me that my photography (and editing skills) have come a long way in three years! Looking forward to sharing some great shots when I get back. Here's also to hoping the thermostat warms up a bit (it's been in the 20s/30s in Michigan this week!) when I get off that plane Monday night! Happy weekend everybody....

 

Writing stories/writing songs

A few photos from a 2nd-grade fieldtrip and a middle-school songwriters' workshop at the fantastic 826Michigan:

Loved this guy's collared shirt.

This kid was droppin' some beats in Garage Band. PS remember the Hornets? I think their team was popular among my 7th grade (girl) friends because their colors were teal + purple. ;)

I <3 826.

Just a Wild Things robot helping write some songs, nbd.

 

minty fresh

In honor of St. Pat's, though I have not a single drop of Guiness-laden Irish blood in me, I thought I'd do another color study: GREEN.

signs of spring!

the squirrels in Ann Arbor are ridiculously trusting of humans; if I'd have had a peanut this guy would've eaten it out of my hand!

Every time I look at this color nail polish I want to get a Shamrock Shake. Which is why I'm taking it off... tonight.

downtown Ann Arbor - so pretty. Can you spot the green?

Oh hai, cute coat!

this last photo has absolutely nothing green in it. but since chocolate + mint are such a good combo:

aaaaaaaaaah! Wishing you puppies, green beer, and four-leaf clovers this St. Patrick's Day.

Erin Go Bragh!

My friend and fellow photo enthusiast Brett and I decided to try our hand(s) at challenging each other with concept-driven photo collaborations. For now these posts will be rather sporadic, but in the future I hope we get up to one a week! We'll both share both images on our own blogs, so be sure to check B's out, too!

For this week's inaugural collabo, we decided on "light". I chose it (so you're next, B!) because I liked its ambiguity and the many ways it could be interpreted. Brett's cool photo is on top; mine below.

About his photo, Brett wrote: "This pic is funny because the way lighting hit the grass and clouds makes it look like I was out in the middle of a field, but I was actually in my neighborhood right downtown Minneapolis. In fact, you can even see I-94 in the background! Love me some Loring Park." I love the moody storm clouds and how the perspective the photo was shot from is rather misleading - I'd never have guessed it was taken in a city park.

My photo was taken in January at a roadside A&W with friends on our way home from our ski trip in Northern Michigan. We'd never been to such an old-school place and got a total kick out of the ordering system (a dial-up telephone in each booth for you to phone-in your order to the waitress behind the counter which was about 8 feet away). Hot dogs + frosty rootbeers were tasty, but I was loving the way the late afternoon light hit the retro booths.

Stay tuned, lots more to come, especially now that spring is actually in sight and we can both escape the confines of our apartments, cameras in hand, more often...

Zingerman's Creamery

I remembered hearing from a friend that Zingerman's Creamery, where they make a few select soft cheeses from local milk, gives tours on the weekends. Since Chad and I are both kind of nerds about cheese (the cheese counter at Whole Foods is one of our favorite places, ever)... which is perfectly excuseable considering our dual Wisconsin heritage... we decided to make a reservation for a tour on Sunday. It's only $5 and you get a $5 coupon for each person to use in the shop after the tour, which makes it basically free. The girl who gave us the tour was really knowledgable about cheese and cheesemaking, and while she talked she made fresh mozarella from a starter rennet. It was kind of awesome to watch it go from a block of rennet, to a taffy-like product after hot water was poured over it, and then to those perfect half-pound size balls that you see in the store (she did this by hand). We got to try it fresh out of the salt bath and OMG, so delicious! Having skipped lunch, Chad and I promptly bought ourselves a ball after the tour, a fresh French bagette at the bakery next door, and some salami and scarfed all of the above at a little cafe table next door to the creamery. They also made vanilla bean gelato which we got to sample; it was tasty too but we were there for the fromage, yo. Overall a fun activity for a Sunday afternoon - I'd definitely recommend!

 

Can't stop eating: avocado toast

The great Maddie G turned me on to this incredibly delicious snack/meal and I can't stop eating it. Once a week I troll the aisles at Kroger for perfectly ripe avocados so I can make this and eat it immediately. If they only have unripe avocados, I get really cranky. Try it, I promise you'll love it. I make 2 slices and it's dinner.

Avocado Toast

need:

2 pieces bread (fresh bread is awesome but if you just have your regular sandwich loaf that's okay too)

1 ripe avocado, mashed up (like you're going to make guacamole)

extra virgin olive oil

sea salt + fresh ground pepper

crushed red pepper flakes

Toast the bread. Slather on the mashed-up avocado. Drizzle with a little olive oil, sprinke a few dashes of sea salt and pepper, and dust liberally with crushed red pepper. Stuff in face. Enjoy.

I want it again!

from the archives

Finally finished re-vamping and sprucing and OCD-ing my way through my iPhoto and piles of photos from 2004 to present. The large majority of them I've looked at dozens of times, posted to Facebook, seen on my screensaver, etc.

Except for these two little gems. I have no idea who took this shot of me, waving like an idiot at the top of some Russian Hill hill, Transamerica in the background circa 2007. Or who I was with, or what we were doing. But I kinda love it and the mystery only makes it better. This was almost immediately before realizing it was time to start highlighting my hair if I wanted people to still call me a blonde, after landing my first real job post-college, and not long after moving to the great city of San Francisco. This photo makes me happy just looking at it because it reminds of that feeling you get when you move to a new place that's full of interesting and beautiful and scary and funny and weird things to discover.  Plus, I'm wearing this exact same sweater today. Serendipitious? I think so.

This photo also reminds me, simply, that I'm really glad I cart around a camera almost all the time. Even if it is, sometimes, a crappy point and shoot with improper exposure and a little grain. It's so worth it.

Without that old Sony banging around in my purse, I never would have captured this little sidewalk art gem, either. Isn't it the greatest? Taken that same mystery San Francisco day back in 2007. I just looked down and there it was.

I love you, photography.

reverse psychology

First, apologies for the radio silence lately. A few days after my birthday I got really sick, took a few days off of work and spent all last weekend doing my best J.D. Salinger recluse impression and I *still* have this stupid cough keeping me up all night. Winter. Bleh. Over it.

In an effort to psych out the weather into turning springlike a little early (just a little? Tomorrow is March, when people in normal climes enjoy at least a bout of days in the 50s or 60s...), I figured I'd post a few last winter photos. These are from a ski trip Chad and I took with friends from school at the end of January up to northern Michigan. Beautiful snow but oh, so cold. We put to good use our cabin's fireplace and comfy couches, though, skied, ate greasy food at the lodge, and played some kickball in the feet (upon feet!) of snow.

So, here it goes: I love winter! I never want it to end! This gray crusty leftover snow making everything look post nuclear fallout is so..... interesting! (Did it work?)

View from our bedroom. Cozy.

happy day of love!

wishing you lots and lots of it today. =)

In my bag

I've always loved the set on flickr called what's in my bag, so about a month ago I emptied out my trusty carryall and shot what's in mine. There's something really fun and voyeuristic about seeing inside someone's bag... it definitely gives a slight inkling of the person who carries all of those things, and feels somehow a little bit sneaky, too. This is one of my favorites. Clean and pretty-looking essentials (even the Muji pens... I still love to color). Anything that's organized neatly with a side of OCD gets my vote. 

The contents of my bag won't shock or surprise, but this is generally a version of the things I lug around every day:

:datebook (I'm oldschool and still prefer to write everything down, with a pen), minty gum (never cinnamon or fruity, ew), my iPod touch (lots of Robyn), my little point and shoot (though this cute little orange one is r.i.p...), my phone, a Pilot Varsity pen, MAC lipgloss + lipstick, chapstick, wallet, and my little Moo card holder for my photography biz cards. If you catch me in the morning, I've also got my to go tea mug filled with green tea to get me through the day.

And my bag? My trusty, uber-durable and utilitarian Timbuk2 tote:

It's definitely not sexy, but I'm finally at peace, in my wise age of nearly-28, with the fact that I am not a purse girl. I can appreciate a Coach bag just like any girl (are those even still cool? I can't keep up) but I tend to need a bag that fits my shiz, looks smart, and that I can wear on my shoulder day after day. Timbuk2 bags and I have gotten along for about seven years now, and I'm sure I'll stay faithful to this relationship for a long time.

Hope you enjoyed the peek! I showed you mine... now what's in yours?

 

Accidental Collector: Stripes Edition

Remember that post about my crazy tea stash? Yeah, well, turns out I have a *crazy and unwitting amount* of something else, too, this time in my dresser drawers: stripes! You guys, I swear I never realized the magnitude of my stripe-hoarding. Observe:

Fifteen! That right there is fifteen short-sleeved t's, long-sleeved t's, sweaters and sweatshirts.

I guess you could call my obsession... patriotic? I do have a lot of the red/white and blue/white variety. America!

The final blow: even my camera bag is striped.

Stop loving stripes: I can't! The heart wants what it wants.

Sunny Friday

The sun is shining today in Michigan, making me suffer *marginally* less from S.A.D. than usual... but I still feel like I could use some cheery imagery to kick off the weekend. And anyone living anywhere but California or Florida will probably agree. 2 feet of snow? Your car's still buried under a drift the size of Jay-Z's yacht? Three days after the blizzard and your Sorel boots are still no match for the piles of slush? These are for you:

Big Sur, California coast. This was in February, too, I believe, about 4 years ago.

Look at that dog, lovin' life. Dogs have it good in CA.

Green! Remember that color?

My husband, the gymnast.

Feeling a little better? Me too.

Happy weekend, friends!

 

Before

Before this:

and this:

there was this:

and this:

(above: the first time we ever hung out, outside of ballroom dance class that is. Devil's Lake State park hike, fall 2003. Man, we were young here!)

which is why I came home on Friday to find these from my husband:

who I've been with now for six (!) amazing years. Somehow, they just keep getting better, too. Gotta love a man who remembers both the official day you became "Kate and Chad" and the day you became "Mr. and Mrs." Also, that daisies and irises are so much more me than roses. I do. =)

Wolverine vs. Buckeye

A few weekends ago, some friends who inhabit an apartment known as the "Cali house" (since most of them hail from that fine state) invited us over for a wine tasting party called Wolverine (University of Michigan, ie wine costing around $20...though in my opinion the fine wines should have been called the Badgers) vs. Buckeye (the University of Ohio, Michigan's sworn enemy and the below $10 bottles). Every guest had one glass and a score sheet numbered 1-12. In teams of two, we were asked to taste a little of each of those twelve bottles and try to determine which was the "nice" wine and which the "cheap". The bottles were all covered and opened, so you couldn't cheat by looking at the label or cap.

A fine idea for a party, and good times were had all around, until scores were tallied and it was divulged that Chad and myself, California residents for 3.5 amazing years, guessed the least amount of Wolverines and Buckeyes correctly. Wah-waaaaah. Ah, well. After the third sip, they all taste the same! (And most people didn't fare that much better than us.) Former California residents or no, I never said I didn't appreciate a little Two Buck Chuck now + then. ;)

it's the weekend, baby.

Yeah!

Even if it doesn't make you jump for joy like my friend Erica, I hope you all have a good one! My husband, a bunch of friends and I are heading up north to ski a "mountain" (a Michigan mountain anyway...), hang out, drink warm drinks, and maybe even play some Bananagrams. And for me: shoot some cozy indoor wintertime photos. It's been awhile.

back to the start

Finally: my iMac is safely back on my desk and after a semi-nervous breakdown, all my photos, music, documents and various other files are in their rightful place(s). Here's to hoping the new hard drive runs like a champ for another year at least, after which I can hopefully get a new iMac. This baby has been working hard for me for five years now, and we've had some good times. Though it was a major pain to manually (yes, manually) re-organize all my photos, it was also kind of a trip to go through old files.

It also reminded me of how I got the whole dSLR/real photography bug to begin with: my friend Richard. He and I had worked together for a bit in San Francisco, and after I left to start my full-time job, we stayed friends and found out we had a lot of common interests, photography being one of them. He'd bought himself a Canon Rebel XTi, and after a few days of playing around with his camera, I was hooked. I saved up and a few months later, bought myself the same camera. Richard is monstrously talented and was (is!) always five steps ahead of me, but it was so fun to have a friend who shared my passion and who could teach me a few things, too. Under his enthusiasm and unassuming guidance I got the confidence to get out and shoot more, buy better lenses, and even book myself a few first gigs.

One of the best things we used to do was get together for spur of the moment photo walks. San Francisco is a treasure trove of different neighborhoods, people, cultures, geography and views... views for miles. On this day, we schlepped our gear out to Sea Cliff, home of the rich + famous, and capture SF at its foggy best. Richard now runs a super successful and fun company out of SF and LA (Project Photobooth, hire him!!), but he and I still geek out over photography via gchat all the time. Here's to friends who share your passion, encourage and inspire.

 

 

twenty eleven

Welcome back, hey!

Happy new year, friends. I'm back in Michigan after a great week off work and time spent with lots of family, friends, and puppies. =) The first few days of 2011 entailed some slight setbacks, namely the failing of my iMac's hard drive (replacement being installed as we speak, and a full backup completed before the crash so here's to everything loading back up as it should!) and the new year's eve-related dropping of my little point and shoot Canon. Ooopsies. Remind me to from now on *walk*, not drop or toss, my small camera to the group-shot-taker. Yeah.

As the above are merely material things and, for the most part, fixable or replaceable, it's all good. I'm looking to this year with happy anticipation, as it will soon be filled with lots of excitement and change. The next few months will be de rigueur, but come May 2nd - whew! So many good things! My husband and I are embarking on a 2-month adventure through Eastern Europe, Turkey and Greece, returning to the States to hop a plane to San Francisco for a good friends' wedding, and then packing our car back in Wisconsin for the road trip out to our new home city - Seattle, Washington!

Since my home computer is out of commission at the moment, I don't have a lot of photos to share but did snap a few quick shots of one of my favorite Christmas gifts this year. My mom made me a copy of this great old photo of her paternal grandparents, Magdalena and Justin, standing in the branches of an apple tree in their orchard in Illinois. I saw the photo earlier this year and loved it; it tells such a story on its own but leaves me wishing for more information, too. Old photos always have that great air of mystery. I've already framed it and put it up on my wall. Someday, when I have a house, I'm picturing a large wall, maybe a hallway, filled with framed family history photos. I think it's important to recognize and remember your relatives, even the ones you never got the chance to know.

current living room wall art, clockwise from l to r: not sure of the artist, but it's from Velocity in Seattle; "Ice, Iceland" print from tomfowlks on Etsy, Warm Wishes Swedish Dala horse letterpress card, my beloved San Fransisco's Golden Gate Bridge print (by me), and my new family history print. Happy with it. For now. I like to use this wall as a rotating gallery.

With all luck I'll have my computer back and re-loaded in a few days. Until then, enjoy the snow and as always, take lots of photos!

the glöggbööth

a few weekends ago i planned my office's holiday party, and like last year we went with a swedish glögg theme. glögg is basically a mulled red wine served warm and traditionally enjoyed in tiny mugs as it can be rather strong, and meant to be savored. i had to make the glögg via shortcut and more cheaply than my family's recipe (which has all sorts of crazy stuff in it!), so i found a great winery in vermont (boyden valley winery) that sells it by the bottle and ordered a few cases. to that i added a little vodka and brandy, along with almonds and golden raisins and heated everything up in a few crock pots. i think our party-goers enjoyed it as all 18 bottles were gone by the end of the night. evidence below in the glöggbööth. ;) 'god jul', btw, is 'merry christmas' in swedish. ridiculous accroutrements courtesy of our prop closet. 

 

 

Katie + Nathan Get Hitched: part two

The main event + party pics!

Katie + Nathan Get Hitched: part one

A lovelier couple than Katie and Nathan you would be hard-pressed to find. It's so nice to shoot a wedding as both photographer and friend, and these two made it incredibly easy on me. They are warm, welcoming people with huge hearts and an evident love and respect for each other. Their wedding day over Thanksgiving weekend in Franklin, Wisconsin was beautiful and I truly had so much fun working with them. I have no doubts theirs will be a long and blissful marriage. Congrats, you two! Thank you for letting me be a part of your day.

6 questions

i was tagged by my friend brittney at hush n wonder to answer a fun and quick little survey. i haven't done any of these yet, and since it's snowing outside and i'm finding myself having a relaxing, lazy sunday i thought it'd be the perfect time to fill this out. i hope everyone in the midwest is enjoying the snow! it looks so pretty outside of my living room window.

1. what were you doing ten years ago?

hmm... ten years ago i was seventeen; a senior in high school all excited to go to college in madison. i had my first serious boyfriend and was driving and going to concerts and taking the train to chicago and feeling very grown-up and ready to take on the next phase of my life. =) i was playing volleyball and softball with my friends, and going out for early-morning breakfasts before school at daddy maxwell's. i was loving the tv show 'friends'. my bedroom had light pink carpet (ha!).

2. what are 5 things on your to-do list today?

-make it out of my pj's and out of the house

-get to the grocery store and the gym

-get outside to enjoy the snow. ever since i was little, i've really enjoyed taking a walk by myself in the snow. there's no quiet or peace quite like it. it's first big storm of the season and it's those perfect big, fluffy flakes.

-edit photos from a recent shoot

-celebrate a close friend's departure for three months in argentina at a dinner party this evening.

3. snacks you enjoy?

-any kind of fruit

-salty chips

-baked goods: donuts, chocolate croissants, or a piece of fresh baked pumpking or banana bread. preferably with a chai latte in accompaniment. ;) if these things were magically healthy, i would love to have a proper swedish 'fika' every afternoon with a friend at about 2:00 with a small baked good and some chai or coffee. i think it's such a cool tradition.

4. places you've lived:

-williams bay, wisconsin

-madison, wisconsin

-elkhorn, wisconsin

-san mateo, california

-san francisco, california

-ann arbor, michigan

and soon: seattle, washington!

5. what are 5 things you would do if you were a billionaire?

-build a cozy but modern house on lake geneva and have all my family and friends there to visit me every summer, with lots of big dinners outside by the water

-buy my mom her long dreamed-of bmw and a little writers' cottage in new hampshire

-have a horse, which has been a dream of mine since i could form coherent thoughts. =)

-fund as much m.s. research as i could - two of my aunts have it and it's a disease i would really, really like to see eradicated in my time.

-be able to travel back to sweden once a year or so. maybe a little pied-a-terre in stockholm, too. ;)

thanks for tagging me, brit! that was fun.

beginning to look a lot like...

christmas! not sure about you, but i love the holidays. everything about it. it's only a few mere hours past thanksgiving and i'm ready to string twinkle lights, fire up some candles, and play my favorite christmas albums (vince guaraldi's charlie brown christmas, nat king cole, and some newer stuff...).  i so look forward to dressing up for parties, making some swedish glögg to share with friends and family, wrapping presents (i'm ocd and i shop early, and mostly online - thanks amazon prime!), baking and cooking. it's only two weeks into december but i already have some fun holiday-esque photos to share. lots more to come! now all we need is for a little snow to stick...

downtown marshall, michigan

lindy checking out my aunt's awesome vintage store, amazing grace antiques, in marshall

little gracie, aunt deb, my cousin danielle (and grace's mom!) + me

aunt deb's window display - so cute!

went a little nuts with the craft paper, stamps and jingle bells on sunday, but i'm happy with how the gifts all turned out!

hope you're all finding joy in the little holiday things, too. =)

 

sneak peek: katie + nathan

a few shots from the beautiful thanksgiving weekend wedding of katie + nathan in franklin, wisconsin... more to come soon!

hot lips.

i was recently inspired by two fellow bloggers (anna at door sixteen and jules at pancakes and french fries) to rock a lip color other than my usual, boring sheer-ish gloss. and a lipstick at that. lipstick! i.e. what i falsely assumed only my grandmother (her favorite: clinique), j.crew models, and drag queens wore. though i wish i had the cojones to wear a great red with the aplomb of anna and jules, i went with a rather shocking pink instead: lustering by mac (the best). i kind of love it. excuse the grainy mirror-reflected self portrait; i am luckily much better at photographing *other* people than i am at snapping shots of myself.

the moral of this story: ladies other than j.crew models and lady gaga *can* rock bright lips. you just have to put it on and own it. ;)

the simple things: light

i'm starting a new post category - the simple things. sometimes i think i let the day slip by without stopping to appreciate those very simple and easy things in my life that catch my attention. tonight, i glanced for one extra second into the depths of our coat closet and saw, on the top shelf, a tangled-up strand of white christmas lights. they looked lonely in there so i put them to good use.

a few minutes later and they found a new home for the winter: inside one of our lamps, making a glowing bowl  of twinkle-y, cozy white light.

amazing what a strand of lights can do for the mid-week blahs. a little rosemary clooney christmas on the ipod dock and some hot tea didn't hurt, either. ;)

let's take a fieldtrip

...to 826!

826michigan hosts their own brand of field trips for local elementary school students, filled with brainstorming, writing, drawing, and finally waiting in agony to see whether or not the elusive and picky dr. blotch will 'accept' their stories. (miraculously and without precedent, *all of the stories* were accepted this time!) to which the kids celebrated with great jubliation, obviously. that dr. blotch is one tough critic.

tracie + scott

a coworker who is a sometimes-photographer asked me to fill in for him when he was unable to shoot his cousin's wedding, kind of last minute. (1.5 months out). brides, you can attest to the fact that this is something that you might get a little worked up about - having your photographer bail last minute. luckily tracie, the bride, was quickly on board and so much fun to work with. she and scott also had *the* most perfect october day i've ever seen. yellow leaves, golden light, and green grass made for some great photo backdrops. congrats tracie + scott!

planes, trains, and automobiles.

i meant that quite literally.

chad, my dad and stepmom and i visited the henry ford on a rainy saturday afternoon when they were in town a few weeks ago.

that h. ford collected some very random things. the highlights: the bus rosa parks first protested in. the last car jfk ever rode in. the most giant train i've ever seen. and, on a lighter note, the oscar meyer weinermobile. hot dogs for lunch were thoroughly enjoyed post museum tour. america!

who knew henry appreciated great mid-century modern design? the eames chair: mmmm.

giant dot candy! 

*the* bus rosa parks sat in. pretty cool.

jfk's last ride: sad.

narrowly escaping becoming a train sandwich.

ross got talent

the U of M ross school of business hired me to capture their beginning of the year event (ross got talent) a few weeks ago. this year,  it was a southern-style bbq behind the school followed by a pretty hilarious (and often rather vulgar) variety show in the auditorium, put on by the incoming first year students.

the students had all been given the night prior to split off into their sections and come up with some kind of impressive 'show' to be performed in front of a panel of judges (including the dean of their school). most of the skits were great; some even required quick escape maneuvers on my part to avoid a high-kick or two. the last shot was one of two variations on 'west side story', one of my all-times faves. but alas, they were not the victors....

off to capture another wedding tomorrow afternoon. can't wait!

gimme shelter

last weekend, i had the privilege of photographing a lovely benefit dinner and auction for alpha house. alpha house is a nonprofit here in ann arbor that provides counseling, childcare help, meals, and temporary housing to homeless families. it truly is a great organization - they help so many families get back on their feet every year - it's pretty amazing. "gimme shelter" was a smash success, thanks to the careful planning of alpha house's staff, a bevy of great items and services donated by people all over the area to auction off, and a bunch of volunteers who helped the night run smoothly. the food and cakes were amazing, the short presentation inspiring, and the washtenaw community college's jazz band kept the mood swingin'.

thanks to my friend lindy,  who works at alpha house and did such a great job getting volunteers together for this event (and every week at the shelter!), for asking me to come take photos. it was an honor and i had so much fun!

if you'd like to learn more about alpha house, or be a super cool person and donate your time and/or money, go here.

one of three beautiful cakes; this one by zingerman's bakehouse.

so ppppst: not only does my friend lindy run the throngs of volunteers a.h. gets, she also is a super talented jewelry designer. she donated this piece for the auction - it got a lot of attention!

a former alpha house family, back on their feet and doing great.

lindy and kris

 

a whole new level

a few posts ago, i wrote about tea: how much i love it, what kinds i drink when, and how my cabinet is overflowing with tins and boxes of it. thanks to the magical powers of the internet, a representative from pg tips tea contacted me and thanked me for mentioning their brand in my post, and would i like to try some of their new green tea? SURE i would! free stuff to try, all from blogging? i could get used to this.

needless to say it was only a few days until a fedex package arrived at my office with my name on it, complete with the tea as promised and a nice note from the woman who contacted me. so fun! and the tea *is* very good - a nice, clean green tea that comes in pg tips signature triangle tea bag that i understand helps the tea breathe better while it's brewing. makes sense.

i certainly don't plan on name-dropping brands or products in the future just to try to weasel my way into more packages at my door, but it was an interesting lesson in how my seemingly inconsequential posts reach all sorts of people and places. to blogging!

color capture: yellow

the happiest color, i think!

Old photo love v.1

Sorting through my boxes of photos today (remember when people printed their photos?), I came across a stack of photos I've been meaning to share for awhile. I don't know how or where these photos came to be in my possession, but I treasure them and have grand plans for a family history wall someday when we have more wall space and I have the full collection of both sides of Chad's and my families.

I am fascinated by old photos. My answer to that question, "If you could have a superpower, what would it be?" has always been time travel, hands-down. There is nothing more intriguing to me than learning about my ancestors and hearing bits and pieces of my personal family history. I would give anything to go back in time and ask my great-grandparents why they were deciding to leave Sweden and Germany and the Netherlands. Were they the first to leave? Did they like it here? Did they miss home? As time travel isn't exactly on the horizon just yet, I'll have to settle for looking through these great old photographs and making up stories of my own. I love the formality of them, too - no such thing as digital photography or snapshots, a photograph had to be planned for, often paid for, and the result is so lovely. Bowties and dresses, Sunday best. I love it.

I do know enough to narrate these a bit. My dad's side of the family all came from Sweden in the early 1900s. My great grandfather, Oscar Kullberg, came from central Sweden and landed in Rockford, Illinois, with his brother Henning. I know that Henning eventually moved back to Sweden from a letter I was lucky enough to have translated to me from Swedish to English last summer while visiting relatives in Sweden. My grandfather was then born in Wisconsin and eventually became a watchmaker; a trade he passed on to my dad, who has owned and run Kullberg Jewelers since my grandfather became unable to do so in the early 1980s. Without further ado, the Kullberg Family:

I'm not 100% certain who this lovely lady and little boy are; I know they're somehow related to me, though! And I adore the moon; I think it's genius.

My great-grandparents, Selma Svensson and Oscar Kullberg, with their three children. My grandfather Walter is in the middle.

My grandfather Walter, so handsome! The back of this photo is labeled, "June 16th, 1929." It must be right around the time he and my grandmother Dorothy Tekla met, because the following photo of her has the same thing written on the back.

My grandmother Dorothy. What a cute smile she had!

Proof that photobooth photos are forever great. Hi grandpa! I think this was around his watchmaker school years.

This guy with the impish grin, looking like he's up to no good? My dad! No date, but I'm guessing this is around 1960, when he was about 6 or 7.

My dad on the left with his big brother John, around 1959. That's Williams Bay School in the background - their and my alma mater. =)

I love this photo. Check out those boots! And that hair! It's taken from such a cool vantage point, too. Props to the mystery photographer who shot this one. My dad could build, take apart, and rebuild a whole bunch of things from a young age, from dirtbikes to Volkswagon Beatles.

The early 1970s, man. My Uncle John, grandma, grandpa, Aunt Mary, and my dad on a pier over Lake Geneva. Groovy outfits + hairstyles, and the camera around my grandpa's neck makes me smile. Miss you, grandma, grandpa, and Uncle John!

That's all the family history I have for now. Stay tuned for a future post about my mom's side!

....so....

...i went to get something out of the cupboard last night and suddenly realized i have a little bit of a tea 'thing':

yeah. looks bad, i know. however, i bring a thermos of tea every single morning to work, and often have something decaffeinated at night, so i do drink it all, and often! still, this is bordering on obscene.

there is just something about a cup of tea, though. i've never liked coffee much; there are the occasional times when an iced caramel macchiato from starbuck's tastes really good, but usually the caffeine in coffee leaves me feeling weird. a nice cup of green tea in the morning makes me feel both alert and healthy, and i like the tradition of tea drinking that goes back so far in history and crosses so many cultures.

my favorite out of all those tins and boxes? anything by the republic of tea, especially their green teas. i'm really into the matcha green tea right now. when i'm sick, there is nothing better than a mug of throat coat by traditional medicinals (thanks, katie stub! she taught me that freshman year of college). the super cute white tin with the ice cream cone is a homemade tea i bought at the diy fair last fall called frosty almond by herb + ginger , which is awesome for fall and winter. and the far left one, pg tips, is apparently the uk's #1 tea. so if the queen of england should stop by, i'm able to serve her a proper british tea! though admittedly i'd be more excited to serve a cuppa to helen mirren as the q.e. instead, love her. 

so, obscene or not, this is what hides in my cupboard. any other tea addicts out there?

my FAVORITE time.

fall!

for many reasons, but mainly for the cooler weather, for the apples, pumpkins, and cider donuts, toasty drinks, and because i can finally wear my BOOTS. brown leather boots, they're where it's at, ya'll. the most perfect september day today, and some friends and i celebrated with a little trip to a nearby apple orchard to pick us some apples, dodge the bees, and grab a few donuts to go. days like this, i love living in michigan. get back to me in a few months when it's -12. but for now, it's lovely!

on road trips (and side of the road stops)

last weekend, chad and i drove up to the sleeping bear dunes area with nothing on our agenda but climbin' some dunes, swimmin' in some lakes, and maxin' + relaxin'. happy to say we accomplished all of the above. road trips are so fun, no? good tunes, good conversation, plenty of candy and a few hours later, you're there, man.

we were especially blown away by the color of the water in this part of lake michigan. this mighty great lake has many sides; the one both chad and i are used to seeing is from the milwaukee/chicago viewpoint. from there it's always pretty, but a much deeper cobalt blue and not exactly the most inviting for swimmers (who knows what's in the water over there...). in northern michigan, though, there aren't any nearby big cities to invite runoff or chemicals or otherwise nasty things in its waters, and the water is SO clear you almost think you've landed in the caribbean instead of the upper midwest. behold:

after we had sunned, swam, and eaten ourselves silly for two days we decided to hit the road back south-bound. (or, as we overheard some local folk at a gas station call us, 'down-staters.') it wasn't long into our drive that i saw a bright blue antique chevy truck with a flatbed full of firewood and a sign propped against it that read: "morels + firewood" morels?! as in, the mushrooms i'd read so much about and always wanted to try, but not being an educated mushroom hunter myself, unable to sample? (and somehow the bag of dried morels at whole foods i saw once wasn't very enticing, especially since it was .5 oz for about $21, i think).

anyway, since my husband is awesome, he pulled over right away and we moseyed over. from the other side of it came two slinky, wary-looking german sheperds. hmmm. not exactly inviting. but then we spied a set of dirt-and-age-gnarled bare feet under the truckbed and this amazingly gnome-like off the grid woodsman guy stepped out and said, 'howdy, folks!' he was probably 5'6" and 110 lbs, late 60s, had a long gray beard and wore sunglasses, a winter cap, rolled up jeans and a blue button up shirt that looked like it had stood the test of many, many years. i was immediately intrigued. we told him we were interested in his morels, and he proceeded to educate us on not just the mushrooms in questions and the best ways to cook them, but his various inventions (wood burning stoves that heat his whole house off the grid; a variation of rose that looks like it was splattered with four different colors of paint) and the trials that followed (damn the man - patents are expensive!). i have no doubt that he worked on that truck and kept it running himself, too.

we paid up for our one ounce bag of dried morels (which we can't wait to try ground up like pepper over chicken and baked, like he suggested) and *tried* to be on our way, but the guy was so intent on sharing stories with us that we didn't end up leaving for about fifteen minutes. after we'd thanked him and gotten back on the highway, i was immediately bummed that i hadn't asked him if i could take his photograph. because guys like that are not a dime a dozen, and he certainly wore his adventurous and unusual life on his face. what an interesting man.

i do, however, have a photo of our spoils:

morel mushrooms with a side of storytelling. you never know what you'll find on a road trip! just have to keep your eyes peeled.

the weekend.

driving home to wisconsin, we caught this sunset. an upside to chicago traffic!

i got to spend time with my mom and my sister maddie, who has very stylish tom's and very beautiful red hair =) :

we stopped down at the george williams pier, where i whiled away many a day getting a tan (and getting paid for it) - lifeguarding summers in college. also known as one of my favorite places, ever. lake geneva is the prettiest around 6pm in the summer.

the night before we had to head back to michigan, we made last minute dinner plans with some good friends of our and then stopped by their house to see their daughter. she is SO cute. moves a bit fast even for my f/1.4, but i got a few snaps in:

Upgrade ya

I have to share that not only did my husband bring himself back from Seattle this weekend, but he also brought me THIS:

the Canon EOS 7D camera. As in, what I've been lusting over for about 1.5 years now. Compared to what I was shooting with, my very introductory bottom-of-the-line Canon Rebel XTi... I can't even describe. Picture driving the used Honda Civic you've had since high school (trusty, runs great, you kind of have a soft spot of nostalgia for it but leaves much to be desired) and then suddenly someone drives a brand new AUDI A6 with a big red bow into your driveway and says, "Here." This is going to make my upcoming projects so much sweeter, and so much more fun.

Awesome!

today

i get my husband back. he's been gone all summer at his internship in seattle. let's just say i'm pretty excited for his flight to get in tonight!

smiling faces

To start your weekend on a happy note: check out these beautiful kids! I was out shooting for 826 tonight at a local nonprofit and although I was supposed to be taking photos of other things, my lens kept turning to the kids instead! Have a great weekend everyone + remember to smile, whenever possible. It just makes things better.

 

Okay, so, not a kid. But if you don't also think this puppy is pretty dang adorable, you might not be allowed back onto my blog.

Liz + Mark

I had the pleasure of working with Liz and Mark, who is the younger brother of my college roommate Eva, in July for their La Crosse, WI wedding. These two are kind of old news, really - they've been dating almost ten years! ;) He's on his way to becoming a doctor and she is a masters' holding librarian - how cute are they? The sun shone, the Mississippi sparkled and the golfers even gave us room to have a little post-dinner photoshoot fun on the green. A great day all around, and I think it's safe to say my official first wedding, and the day, was a smash success!

What a beauty!

That's my college roomie and dear friend Eva, lookin' all gorgeous, too.

And the longtime happy couple, going on to many, many more years of married happiness. 

I kind of love this shot.

Marks surprises Liz (and everyone else) with a mid-recessional kiss...and a big one at that!

I'm pretty sure she was into it.

 

La Crosse is so pretty.
 

And with this great final image, I'm out. ;) Pics from my upcoming Chicago weekend to come!