happy birthday to me!

It was my birthday on the 26th...

And I had a really great day!
It started out with breakfast at one of my favorite coffee shops, Sally Loo's, with a good friend...

Then a 2.5 hour yoga session followed by a glass of wine and bowl of soup with my mom!

For dinner, I met up with my brothers and sisters-in-law

(solve this one for me: sisters-in-law or sister-in-laws ???)

Grant, me, Tyson, Angela, Sharai!

We had dinner at The Ranch in Santa Margarita.

Have ya been?

It is really good. Probably one of the best restaurants in SLO county.

muscles, wine, conversation, photo taking, fun

My brothers with their mini glasses...

They are giants (if it wasn't clear).

Creme Brulee!

Beautiful Angela!

After dinner, we went to the new Galaxy Theater in Atascadero...

pretty fancy!

Champage at the VIP theater.

And the movie, Limitless, was good.

Seats were roomy and comfy.

Oh and assigned seating...

Overall a great movie experience!

And a really great birthday.

Thank you to all who contributed with calls, texts, fb messages, cards, packages, etc etc etc!

I really appreciate it- this year probably more than others!

xoxoxoxo

Olive and Brooklyn outside

My cats are my babies.

And since I am a photographer, and I think my cats can be very photogenic, I often take photos of them! Lately they have been loving sitting outside on our "landing" when it is sunny...

Especially Olive. She loves to chase the leaves and bask in the sunshine.

She will stand on the table next to the door and paw at the door knob and cry until I let her out.

I wish I had more to offer them for an outside experience besides the landing, but for now it will have to do!

Basking in the sun... oh it feels so good!

Olive loves sitting on the railing...

She also loves it when I join her outside.

Brooklyn isn't as anxious to get outside like Olive, but he does enjoy it (I think!).

Sweet Olive.

challenging times call for stopping to smell the flowers

The last month has been a very challenging time for me.

But one thing that I have tried to do to keep myself grounded and present is to, literally, stop to smell the flowers.

I mostly always walk to/from work and yoga and there are such beautiful flowers in my neighborhood! And though they are right there, hard to miss, it is easy to just walk right by.
Well I have been trying to make it a point of stopping to gaze at their colors. Or smell their nectar.
In one spot, there is the most amazingly sweet floral smell! I can not figure out its source, but every time I walk past (which is often), I stop and breathe in.

Here are just a few of the flowers in my neighborhood that have been capturing my attention!

Poppies!

Can't help but to love them.

This cluster of flowers is down my alley way.

The flowers just had to reach out to get to the sun!

This yard is beautiful... On this day, the home owner came home while I was taking photos. She was really sweet and told me that soon there will be the most beautiful bulbs blooming.

Can't wait!

This tree has been blooming for a while and I often take photos of it.

So how about you?

Do you notice the beauty in your every day?

Do you stop to enjoy the simple things?

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday.
Happy Birthday Dad!
I was thinking about birthdays and him and got a smile on my face when I thought to his birthday a few years back.
For those of you who know me well, you know that I like to make people feel special and I love birthdays!

So a few years ago, when I was living in NYC, my stepmom Jenny and I were in cahoots to plan a surprise visit for my dad.

And it was a total surprise!
I flew in to Billings, MT the day before my dad's birthday... Jenny picked me up from the airport and we went grocery shopping as her cover up. She had been stellar on not telling him that I was coming... which is pretty good! If you need to keep a secret, Jenny is your gal!
When we drove up to their house, my dad came out to help Jenny with the groceries.
Jenny said something like "there's something heavy in the back seat, will you get it for me?"... of course that was ME! Thanks to tinted windows, my dad had no idea that I was sitting in the back seat.
So out I jumped!
My dad was so surprised and I could tell that he was so happy and amazed and confused.
I don't remember exactly what he said in that moment, but I know it was something that combined those three things... Excited amazed confusion.

It's one of those moments that you can't make up in your head...And when it came into my mind the other day, it put a big smile on my face.

To finish the story, I had a nice visit at my dad's and was happy to be able to celebrate his birthday with him in person, something I had not done in 10 or so years!

Love you Dad!

Dad and Jenny