pascale wowak photoblog

Is there anything this woman cannot do?!

Ah Julie.  A woman of MANY talents.  Apparently it wasn't good enough to design these incredible outfits from gorgeous fabric selections (and then also have the ability to skillfully photograph them as well)... Noooooooo.   Julie, an artist in the truest sense of the word, decided to DESIGN HER OWN FABRICS.  Yes, create and design her own fabrics.   I was in awe when she told me she was doing this and then beyond thrilled when I saw the results.   Ellie has declared this "tank style" dress her FAVORITE Julie creation yet.  I picked her up from school and we drove for a few minutes until I saw a dirt driveway I liked and VOILA.  We got busy.  :)

Julie is also in the early stages of opening up her own Fabric Shop on Etsy.  It will be the one stop shop to find all the gorgeous fabrics she uses, including vintage finds, possibly her own fabric designs and these AMAZING pre-cut sets to help the beginner seamstress get started on a project with a whole lot less intimidation.  This is going to be DANGEROUS for the likes of me.

The headband, since I KNOW y'all gonna be asking me, is the same sweet lady who designed that feather one she wore a while back at the railroad track shoot.  Blue Eyed Freckle.

I did a few shots with off camera flash just to play around with it a bit.  I am forcing myself to do at least a few images with that set up every shoot I can.  Ultimately, I always end up liking the natural light shots better but that's probably because I am just not as skilled with OCF as I'd like to be.  I dunno.  These were pretty cute though. :)

  

 

 

Then, back to natural light.  This is probably my favorite one of the day.  Although I've got about three that are tied up for that #1 spot!

 

 

Super cute!

 

 

Look at the back of this dress.  So simple and comfy and yet FULL OF VIBRANT STYLE!!

 

 

  

I did a slightly different processing on this next one, not sure if I like it yet.

 

 

She was having a blast running through the hoop!

  

 

 

CRAZY in love with this next one.  Soooo Ellie.

 
 
 AMAZING JOB JULIE!!!!!!
 

ZozoBugBaby and ZoGirl & NuxieMade Trunk Show!

My dear friend Kirsten and I co-hosted a trunk show for Julie (ZozoBugBaby & ZoGirl) and Melissa (NuxieMade) today.   Kirsten held it at her gorgeous home and spent the whole night and morning cooking up a storm and had the most scrumptious menu laid out for our guests.  I'm in awe of this girl's cooking skills. I think I spent most of the trunk show trying to sneak away into the kitchen to eat. HA!

The show was a huge success and I cannot wait for everyone to get their hand made custom dresses, outfits  and accessories!

I thought it would be a good idea to print some images of the models wearing the outfits on boards to display around the room so I had a bunch of images printed up on 5X7 and 6X8 board backing.  The other photographer who hosted a trunk show before me (I had the boards sent out early before the first show) ran with my idea and printed out a bunch of her own so we had a great collection by the time it got to me.  

Kirsten also scored a great garment rack from a friend (Hi Megan!!) and I brought some champagne and OJ to "seal the deal" with a nice little mimosa! Tee hee hee. :)

It was so great to see a bunch of my friends and meet so many of Kirsten's friends.  There were a bunch of little ones in attendance and I even got to cradle a sweet curly haired angel (Megan's daughter) in my arms and rock her to sleep (Sigh.....baby cravings......).

Here are a few pictures I took (I promised Julie I would take a few shots) and they are basically SOOC (straight out of the camera as I just got home after being away all day and want to hang out with my family now!)

ENJOY the images Julie!

If you are interested in hosting a show yourself, contact Julie for her availability.  I think she is booked solid through April but has openings after that.  You get some wonderful incentives for hosting a show!

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those would be HOME MADE scones AND blueberry muffins.  From scratch. Sooooooo yummy!!!

 
      
   
  

 

And these?  Homemade Strattas.  One vegetarian, one sausage.  Jealous, me?  Nooooooooo.

  

 

I'll just bring the booze and the OJ.  And the picture boards.  And my camera.  And.... my smiling face!? Yeah, that's my contribution....

  

And, last but not least, some freshly brewed java.  Mommy's little helper. :)

 

Thank you Kirsten for being the hostess with the mostest.  I could NOT have done this without you.  YOU ROCK!

 
 

 
  
   

Courtney Courtney's *new* style!!

Courtney had a little contest on her blog a while back and this new bubble silkscreen print won the competition!  She asked me to do a super mini shoot on a white backdrop so she could announce the winner on her banner.  So Ellie and I quickly got down to business and cranked out a few shots.  It took longer to set up the lights and backdrop and all the equipment than it did to do the actual shoot! HA!

Here are a couple favorites.   LOVE this style.  I've always been a big fan of dots and stripes!

Courtney's dresses are hard to come by (they sell out within a nanosecond the minute she posts them on her Big Cartel website!) so I consider myself very blessed that I get to photograph them on a regular basis!

ENJOY!

I'll start with my favorite shot of the shoot.  Ellie bellie in her gloriously happy self!

  

PDN "faces" contest

I never submit my images to contests but was very drawn to this year's PDN "faces" competition. After all, portraits are my thing! But when it came down to trying to pick just one image I just couldn't do it. I was overwhelmed by the "weeding it out" process.

 Fortunately, one of the categories in this contest is "pet portraits" and I had about five stellar images of kooper to pick from. Much easier to narrow down from just five rather than 500! Ha! It came down to a final two show down and I ended up picking one that was less technical but more humorous.

 The contest is decided by an elite panel of judges and some of the entries I've seen so far are mind blowingly good so I'm not holding my breath. Having said that, there is a "people's choice" option where anyone can vote for their favorite! If you'd be so inclined, please click on the link below to vote for my entry! Thank you so much!

 And while you are there, check out some of the great portraits by many other photographers!

  CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO CONTEST ENTRY 

 Happy Friday everyone!!

 (by the way I'm blogging this while in the waiting room at urgent care for a nasty sinus infection that has been tormenting me all week, how's that for multi tasking?!)

Interesting Article on owning a Photography Business

I enjoyed reading this.  I certainly made a few of these mistakes myself when I started out.  

CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO ARTICLE.

A little problem solving goes a long way!

I've always considered myself a problem solver.  I think it's why I was so drawn to Law Enforcement.  I get to solve lots and lots of problems!  Other people's problems! Wooohooo! Except of course, the people whose problems you are trying to solve usually don't want your help but hey, as a rookie, I was very idealistic and truly believed I could save the world.  

Regardless, that innate desire to solve problems rather than sit around and complain about them never went away.  It seems every time I am faced with a problem my first thought is: "OK, how can I fix this?"

Ever since starting back school after the the Christmas break, it's been getting harder and harder to get the kids ready in the morning.  Mornings are rough.  NONE of us are morning people (except Kooper....sigh) and we are all mildly unpleasant at 7 am.  Actually, honestly, we are all total cranky pants in the morning.  And I have very little time to get two kids, one puppy and one mommy out the door.  So, mornings were fraught with whining and crying and tantrums.  Most of it from the kids. Hahahahahaha.  :)

I do as much as I can the night before, I have their clothes laid out, their lunches packed and the breakfast stuff all laid out ready to go.  Still, mornings have gone from bad to worse lately.  I thought about it and realized that the biggest issue was that the kids had little motivation to get out of their warm, cozy beds and get ready for a long day at school.  I can't change the fact that we would rather be sleeping in til 8 am (or later) or that mornings are a hectic flurry of activity.  But I figured I could introduce a REASON to want to get up.

I needed something that wouldn't cost a penny, would be a good motivator for BOTH kids, and not be a huge investment of my time at night when I've already got enough on my plate to deal with.  And thus was born the idea of the "Morning Message Board."  Yes, we like to name things in our family, can you tell?

So, every night, before crashing into bed myself, I take literally TWO MINUTES to write a morning message to the kids on their art white board (purchased at Ikea many years ago).  It's usually a simple message that greets them, lets them know what the day has in store and reminds them how much I love them.  Something cheery and happy.

And it TOTALLY WORKS.  At least for now it does.  I'm sure it will eventually grow old.  But right now, it's saving my mornings.  Or at least, partially saving them.  There's a whole lot less dragging of the feet when it comes to getting dressed and coming downstairs to see the message.   Ellie can generally read most of it on her own and the parts she can't read, Gavin helps her out with.  I also add little mini pictures to illustrate the sentence a bit and help her out.

Has it eliminated the whining, arguing, crying, fighting, tantrumy outbursts completely?  Heck no.  But it's gotten their little butts downstairs without ANY of my usual harping on them to GET>OUT>OF>BED>FOR>THE>HUNDREDTH>TIME stuff I had to do in the past.

Here's this mornings display.  Like I said, it didn't make mornings suddenly blissful from beginning to end but it sure did help.  And I'll take anything I can get! :)

 
 

New Gratitude Journal Entries

Just wanted to post a few recent entries from the kids in our family gratitude journal (for more info on this, scroll down to two posts back).  

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I am enjoying this.  Everything from the gleam in their eyes when they excitedly say: "Oh! I just thought of something I want to add to our Gratitude Journal", or, the focus and attention they put into their drawing and thoughtfulness in their text.  Or, even, just sitting down at the end of a long day and sifting through all the entries so far and how it warms my heart every single time, no matter how many times I've looked at it.

Seriously, if you aren't doing this yet, you just gotta do it!  It is immeasurably rewarding! :)

 




 

This last one of Gavin's just kills me.  The one solitary little "black cloud" in the sky.  But the sun is still shining.  The colorful houses.  The fact that he is holding Kooper's leash.  Something he is not allowed to do on walks yet (Kooper is WAY too strong) but clearly something he aspires to do down the road.  The smiles on our faces.   All of it.  Love.
 

Canon G11

For Christmas I received the Canon G11 from Santa.  I had wanted another back up "real" camera body but it wasn't realistic so I gratefully settled for a nice, solid little Point & Shoot.  I have grown weary of taking my big camera with me every outing we  go on and had gotten to the point where I simply wasn't bringing anything in lieu of having to worry about the logistics/practicalities of having my big camera and big camera bag and big lenses and so on with me all the time.  SO, the result was I wasn't taking any pictures of MY family!  Then again, I was in the throes of my absolutely busiest season when I made that decision and quite honestly just didn't feel like taking pictures on my "day off."

I talk about that phenomenon with my other pro photographer friends.  We got into photography because we absolutely LOVE everything about it and we are so incredibly PASSIONATE about it and there's nothing we enjoy more than taking pictures, especially of our children (which, for most of us, is what started our careers) etc... but, come November and December every year we start feeling a tad bit of photographer burn out.  And it depresses us because we don't WANT to feel that way.  The saving grace is knowing and understanding that it is perfectly normal and temporary. :)

I've had an unexpectedly long break since my last "real" shoot the last week of December.  January was a complete wash due to me being so incredibly ill the entire month but now February has had a couple shoots rescheduled due to the rain and (with the exception of a handful of commercial shoots), I have had a nice, long, legitimate BREAK.  And I can feel that spark again.  And I'm so grateful for it.  

It's the reason why all the pro photogs I know take most, if not all, of January off after the holiday season rush.  When you work in an artistic field, you need that time off to feel inspired again.  To be filled with ideas and concepts and visions that re-ignite your passion for what you do.

My schedule is booked from April to December 2010 so I am not worried about the work that awaits me in the near future.  I am fully enjoying this downtime and trying really really hard not to think about how seriously the lack of my income is affecting us (which is pretty seriously...) Sigh.  Bottom line: I really needed this break.  Since starting my business 5 years ago I have not had more than two weeks away from work ever.  This was a much needed "recoup and regroup" time. 

Besides, with Kooper's arrival in our lives late December I am considering this time as my "maternity leave."  HA!  SO there!  Puppyhood is truly JUST like having a baby again, really!!!  (All the new "human" mommies out there are probably wanting to throw something at me right now....)  But, the reality is, there is no way I would have been able to be a good mommy to my human or canine charges if we had gotten Kooper during my busy season so it has been an incredible blessing for us to all get that quiet, fun, bonding downtime with him as we all adjust to our new lives with the commitment that is puppy ownership!  Have I mentioned that he is the best dog ever?!  :)

Ok, so I totally went off topic there.  Typical me.

All this to say I got my Canon G11 for Christmas and NEVER GOT A CHANCE to play around with it until just recently!

My mom and sister (Auntie Seraphine) came down for a visit this weekend and we went to the beach Saturday morning to enjoy a break in the weather and some fun in the sun.  I decided to bring along the G11 to finally play around with it a little bit.

The first few shots were taken by my sister (who is here visiting from Spain while doing a temporary teaching gig in the Bay Area for a couple months!) and then the rest were taken by me.  I was distracted by so much going on so we put the camera on AUTO mode (GASP!!!!) and clicked away every once in a while without paying much attention to anything we were really doing.  Besides, between trying to hold onto Kooper's leash and keeping an eye on the kids and scolding my mom for digging a mile long trench WITH A BROKEN ARM.... the picture taking was truly secondary!

Also, I did minimal Photoshopping.  

 

Family Gratitude Journal

I was having one of those days last week.  The kind where you wonder exactly HOW MUCH bad news one person can handle in one day.  I was starting to do that whole poisonous "why me?" self talk and felt that negativity entering my brain like a toxin.  I needed to get rid of that bad attitude and quick.

I decided to concentrate on all the things I have to be grateful for.  A cliche, yes, and hard to do in the throes of challenging times, but wholly necessary nonetheless.  As I was going through my mental checklist of "Things I Am Grateful For", I thought about how nice it would be to get the kids involved in the process.  I went to the Rite Aid, picked up a very specific journal I was looking for that has pages divided with the top half blank for drawing and the bottom half lined with clear delineations for beginner writers to follow.

I came home and declared this our new Family Gratitude Journal.  I did not create any rules regarding contributing to the journal.  I just filled out the first page with my own entry and told the kids they could take the journal down from its accessible spot in the kitchen anytime they wanted to write in it, whenever they felt inspired to do so,  I didn't want to make it "homework-like".  

Last night my mom and sister (who is here visiting from Spain for a couple months doing a teaching gig in the Bay Area) spent the night and we all hung out together.  My sister added a contribution to the journal, as did my mom.  And after seeing the grown ups participate in it, the kids were then really excited to add their own contributions to the journal. 

As the book begins to take life and fill up page by page I am realizing exactly how cool this will be once it is completely full (which will certainly take a while).  

First of all, it will be so much fun to look back and see all the delightful, charming and heart warming things the kids came up with for their declarations of gratitude.  Second of all, it will be so sweet and tender to see their transformation and growth over the course of 2010.  Ellie has already blown me away going from not being able to read or write at all when she entered Kindergarten this past September to reading and writing really simply phrases and words.  It just BLOWS me away.

I'm so glad a really dark day turned into such a bright new tradition in our family.

I took a couple quick pictures this afternoon with my point and shoot (forgive the quality) to show the first few entries.  I *highly* recommend doing something like this.  It's nearly impossible not to have a smile on your face after adding (or reading) an entry.  Such a great way to maintain perspective and gratitude in your head and in your heart, especially during trying times.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend!!

Ok so, disclaimer, I cannot draw to save my life.  The drawing skills in our family, descended from our maternal grandfather who was an AMAZING and well known artist, all went to my mom and my two sisters.  I cannot draw a stick figure to save my life.  So, yes, my entry looks like a 5 yr old drew it.  I'm OK with that.  Really.  I am.  :)

  

Later that night, Auntie Seraphine filled in her entry.   When my mom and sister arrived last night we cranked up the stereo and all danced our hearts out in the kitchen.  It was so much fun!  Yes, she drew this in about three minutes.  I hate her.

 

Then my mom filled in her entry the next morning while eating breakfast.  There is a funny story behind this one....  So, as my mom was tucking the kids into bed she turned off the bathroom light (which is between the two kids rooms) and Ellie jumped out of bed, went to turn on the light, and said: "Mamisha, we leave the bathroom light on or it's too dark."  My mom said "Oh, I'm sorry."  And Ellie replied, in the absolutely sweetest and nicest little voice: "Oh, it's OK Mamisha, you didn't know, you're just a little old grandma, you don't know these things!"  I literally fell off the couch laughing.  You'd think my mom was borderline senile after a statement like that but she is the most vibrant, energetic, productive person you will ever meet.  The original Energizer Bunny.  Which is why that was sooooo funny!

 

Then, later today after a trip to the beach with everyone, Ellie filled in her entry.  It says: "I am grateful for nature" and features a picture of all of us playing at the beach.

 

Gavin was the last one to fill in the journal today and he drew this.  It says: "I am grateful for my family, house and friends."

 

Since then, there have been three new entries that the kids have filled in on their own, suddenly, it seems, inspired to share and document the many things they appreciate in life that make them happy.  And I could not possibly be any more grateful for that.  :)
 

Courtney Courtney "star!" dress + MCP ACTIONS = Rad.

Oh me Oh my!  When Courtney asked if I could *pretty please* do a shoot with my white backdrop for her I said "why yessiree bob!" Ok, I didn't actually call her bob, but you get the idea. 

Those of you who have been following this blog for a while know that I RARELY do studio shoots.  It's just not my thing.  Natural light, outdoors, with a pop of flash or a well positioned reflector is much more up my alley. 

But, with all this rain and me feeling the need to get at least *some* use out of all this indoor equipment I invested in a while back, it's been good to experiment and play around. So, I've done two back to back this week. Ha!  

I was especially excited to do this shoot for a couple reasons.  The first being that Ellie loves the 1 on 1 time with me and Courtney's dresses are so fantastic that any opportunity to get my grubby little hands on a CC dress... well, you get the idea.  Basically, between Courtney and Julie, Ellie is pretty well taken care of in the clothing department!!  Love. :)

Secondly, my friend Jodi of MCP ACTIONS sent me this KILLER action set that I just HAD HAD HAD HAD to play around with.  How's that for emphasis?   This action set is THE BOMB.  It allows you about a billion (technically 35 but it feels like a billion) different options on how you can frame, round, band, display your images on your blog.  There are so many features to this action set it's almost unreal.  You can also use the "color picker" feature to custom select the color you want to use to frame/brand/border the image based on the colors within your image.  It's insane how easy this set is to use.  And the options, oh the options!!  The best part about this is that she offers it for Photoshop AND Elements so all you digital scrap bookers out there can totally use this set as well.  The possibilities are endless.  I tried to use as wide a variety of the options as possible while getting creative to show you how many different ways this set can be used.  It's REALLY cool.  You can keep it really classy and basic or use your imagination and get really creative.  It's totally up to you!

So, I did the shoot with my little Ellie superstar, who, coincidentally, was pretending to be a star the entire session based on the little stars on the shoulder of the dress.  She was absolutely cracking me up.  She likes to be in "character"....

Additionally, oh yes, there's more, I used one of the incredible tubs I got from Brody & Ma.  Emily is making a WHOLE LOTTA tubs in a WHOLE LOTTA sizes for me and this was one of my first batch I picked up from her this week.  Be prepared to see a whole bunch of these amazing tubs in my upcoming shoots.  I picked out so many different sizes and patterns.  I cannot WAIT to see them!

OK, so yeah, I seriously multi tasked on this shoot! I had so many things I wanted to do and include and play around with!

Ellie started out pretending to be a "delicate, shy star" (her words)...

 
Then, a "happy star"...

 

Then. "a shooting star"...

  

A "sleeping star"...

  

Just a regular ole star...  :)

 

a "scared star"...

 

I made her laugh....

 
    

 It was her idea to pose on the tub like this, pretty smart cookie that one, it looked great!

 

  

I used Jodi's actions in combination with Vol. 25's OVERLAYS here for a more Valentine-y feel.

 

She is such a funny girl this one.

 

I wish I had been actually looking in the viewfinder when I took this one but Ellie and I were having a conversation and suddenly she looked up and said "I'm wishing on a star" and I just snapped knowing the moment would be gone if I took the time to look and compose etc...  So the crop is not what I would have preferred but I still like the shot. :)

 

 

 

So here I started singing along to the music I was playing for us....  and she pulls this move.  Thanks alot, kid....

 

and lastly, my little star.  

 
    
   

Absolutely brilliant.

People like this never cease to intrigue and amaze me.  BRILLIANT.

CLICK HERE to view the video.

Bidding For Good

My friend Julie set up another Charity Auction where all the proceeds go to charity (she amazes me with her constant generosity!).  For this one it's set up as a bidding.  She is offering ANY THREE ZozoBugBaby or ZoGirl dresses OF YOUR CHOICE!!  Each usually retails for between $32 and $58 depending on the dress.  The best part is you can pick any three of your favorite dress styles in any size you want!  I love Julie.  

Go ahead and check it out RIGHT HERE.  Happy Bidding!!

Dancing Queen

A while back Ellie and I made this "thank you" dancing video for Courtney.  A friend of Courtney did an amazing job "jazzing" it up a bit by adding all kinds of snazzy little features and his own composed music!!!  I thought I'd share it here.  Her friend is singing "let's dance Ellie let's Dance!"  SUPER cute!

courtneycourtney "dance ellie dance" droplet dress from courtneycourtney on Vimeo.

Kelly Moore Bag Charity Giveaway Courtesy ZozoBugBaby!!!

My dear friend Julie of ZozoBugBaby is doing an awesome CHARITY giveaway on her blog for one the most coveted new "goodies" out there in the world of Photography Accessories, yup, that would be the Kelly Moore Bag!  I met Kelly last year during a private "Give Me Moore" session in Louisiana and she is a really cool chick.  The bag was just in the beginning stages of its creation then so for me to watch her pursue this dream and make it happen makes me so incredibly proud of her.  These bags are fabulously stylish and yet completely practical and sturdy.  A MUST HAVE.  100% of the proceeds of this raffle giveaway are going to the Red Cross.  Every last penny.  SO, you can feel good about knowing the funds are going to those who need them most!

And to help showcase these awesome bags I enlisted the help of my little Ellie Bellie.   It was 6pm and the boys were gone at the weekly puppy training classes and it was pouring rain and pitch black outside and I was racking my brain trying to think of a way to creatively support Julie's raffle while also showcasing my new purple to-die-for KM Bag and suddenly it occurred to me that I, duh, have this whole, duh, indoor light set up!   SO, I put up my white backdrop, slapped my 580EX into my softbox, geared up my wireless triggers and BAM!  We were good to go.  

Ellie picked out the dress she wanted to wear. She was DYING to get her hands on that purse of mine so it was an easy sell to get her pose with it.   I even painted her little toenails purple to match the bag!  I put some fun hip hop tunes on and she was rockin' it out like she always does.  That child is just *too* much.  

So, without further ado, here are some pictures of Ellie showing off my brand spankin' new purple KM Bag which is the exact same one that is being raffled off in the giveaway.  Your next stop should be Julie's raffle site which is linked below!  GOOD LUCK!!!

JULIE'S BLOG HERE

RAFFLE TICKETS HERE

I'll post my favorite shot first because I am just so utterly and completely crazy about it.  Ellie has this "please don't take away my Kelly Moore Bag!" look to her.  It's hilarious.  I love how she is totally clinging to it!  Hilarious!

 
 

 


 
 
 

 
 


 

A little Courtney Courtney flair to brighten your day!

Yes! A real post! With real pictures! Wooohoooo!

I surprised Ellie by picking her up early from after care at school today and taking her out for some 1 on 1 time with me, including a fun shoot photographing two utterly irresistible dresses by the always innovative Courtney Courtney Designs.  I just ADORE these two new styles!  One is the necktie and the other is the pompom.  Just beyond stylish if you ask me! 

Ellie was in rare form just posing up a storm for me and we got both dresses whipped out in about 30 mn of shooting time.  She is SUCH the little rockstar that girl!  Then, off to our Starbucks reward which consists of a highly caffeinated hot drink for me and a hot cocoa with whipped cream for her.  She was DELIGHTED to say the least and totally earned it!

I found this stage with these awesome wood boards as the backdrop and decided to use it for the plaid pompom dress.  I liked the way the stripes and boards all worked cohesively together.  I just let Ellie do her thing.  My job is just to snap the pictures basically. :)  I had a final tally of about 80 keepers but narrowed it down to these few for the blog post.  ENJOY!

 








 
 

Then we decided to go for a Little Parisian Girl look for the next dress and I picked this staircase in the hopes of emulating a stairwell in the streets of Paris.  Yeah, I know, I wish... anyways, that was the goal.  Ellie was cracking me up with all her moves and poses.  She is such a riot that girl!

 









Then we picked up Gavin from school and off we went to their once a week Tap Dancing classes and as we pulled into the parking lot Ellie reminded me that we had forgotten to get shots with the sunglasses we had set aside specifically for the second dress!  EEEK!  So, we quickly went to the nearby hillside and grabbed about 10 shots of which I loved every single one.  I kinda like the "technicolor" feel to these as well.  We weren't even late for class that's how efficient this girl is! :)

 





 
 

Baking

I was talking to a friend today and telling her how much I have enjoyed this unexpected month off.  It's allowed me time to really connect with my kids, downtime in the evenings to relax and read or watch mindless TV and veg (something I normally cannot do because I am holed up in my home office from 8pm to past midnight editing every single night) and enjoying long, leisurely daily walks on the beach with Kooper.   This is a pace of life I am not accustomed to at all and even though it felt really foreign and awkward at first, I have found that I am finally starting to really ENJOY it and take full advantage of it.  I know my schedule is going to get really hectic soon enough and rather than worry about the bills piling up (OY!), I am appreciating this post holidays, rainy season lull.  It's almost like I was gifted with a "maternity leave" for Kooper's arrival!!  I have been able to spend loads of quality time with him and the kids and able to actually chill out a bit for the first time in years.  It's been quite the blessing in disguise!

One of the activities I have been able to get back into thanks to this time off has been baking.  I LOVE to bake.  I don't like cooking quite as much but BAKING, ah, yes, baking is my thing!  I have a bit of a sweet tooth......

I wanted to share the kids current FAVORITE new snack/dessert that I have been making very regularly.  It's surprisingly healthy and nutritious despite being absolutely delicious and super kid friendly!

It's a variation on plain ol' Banana Bread, with loads of add-ons to boost the flavor and nutrients!

So, start off with your basic simple plain Banana Bread recipe (or make this even EASIER on you and get Trader Joe's boxed Banana Bread mix which is what I do).  Then add:

2 cups of fresh blueberries

1 cup dried moist cherries

1 cup diced apples

1/2 to one 1 cup chocolate chips (depending on how much chocolate you want in your kids!)

1/2 cup of ground flax meal (at Trader Joe's)

1/2 cup almond meal (at Trader Joe's)

1/2 cup oat bran or wheat germ

You can add 1/2 cup applesauce if it looks too dry/thick.

Stir it all up and bake per usual.  I swear my kids GOBBLE THIS UP like it's the best-est, yummiest desert on the face of the planet.  I usually give them a piece when they get home from school and it's really actually VERY healthy what with all the fresh fruit and flax and oat bran etc..  I certainly enjoy a guilt-free piece along with them! :)

A quick "plug" and request

I know I probably don't deserve this, especially considering my long lull here due to illness and rain, but I would be OH SO GRATEFUL for anyone who can take the time (just takes a minute) to vote for me in the Santa Cruz Weeklies Goldie Awards under the "Portrait Photographer" category.  I would really appreciate it soooooo much!  The link is below and the Portrait Photographer thing is on the 4th page under the heading "Best Shopping & Services."   Be sure to vote for all your other favorites too if you wish!!  I had fun filling it out with all my many local talented friends' businesses and services!  So great to be able to give recognition to those who work so hard to be the best at what they do.  I have so many incredibly talented friends and am blessed to live in an area that has so much appreciation for artistic realms.  So cool.  :)  

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!!!!