The Venice Canals (of LA)

The Venice Canals of LA. A cute little place in the middle of a big city, with walkways and bridges along multiple little canals. The houses are cute and colorful. The reflections in the water are the best part. :)

Venice Beach

A walk around the "boardwalk" of Venice Beach reveals lots of color, lots of people, lots of cool graffiti, and lots of interestingness. 

Christmas Morning

Our little Christmas morning... Zoe got new toys, of course. :)

Zoe is all tucked into a corner, on a shelf of the bookcase, ready to open presents! :)

My wife discovered a secret package that appeared on Christmas morning, with a note warning her and Zoe to keep their paws off. They respected the note until it was time to open, and then she found herself owning a pretty little globe.

She also got a sneaky present from Zoe. A St. Louis Cardinals hat that she has been wanting, from our St. Louis kitty. :)

Zoe inspects the piles of stuffing that come with Crate & Barrel dishes! And my cool new t-shirt.

Zoe pondering the possibility of writing us a note on the new typewriter. Or possibly just being blocked from getting in our way while cooking breakfast. :)

My wife (completely) surprised me with a new set of dishes that we've wanted since our wedding. We went out the next weekend and got a few more pieces for the set. It's so nice to have matching dishes in the cabinet.

The remnants. A good Christmas, with lots of recycling. :)

Zoe the Cutest

There is too much cuteness in this furry creature that lives with us. It has to be shared. Here are Zoe's Christmas portraits for 2014. :)

And, as always, she provides an adorable out take. :)

Candy Cane Cookies!

We got crafty in the kitchen this winter and decided to make some home made cookies. A certain recipe caught my eye in an issue of a magazine that somehow landed in our house. This Martha Stewart recipe is a winner. My wife loves candy canes, so I know she would most likely be a fan of these cookies. Basically, they are made of sugar cookie dough, then you roll them in coarse sugar and crumbled up candy canes. The best part is beating up a bunch of candy canes into dust and crumbles. :) We are affectionately referring to them as Candy Cane Cookies and I'm sure they'll be made in future years. Now I just need to get the recipe for my grandma's Crackle cookies, and we'll have Christmas cookies settled!

Instant Bunnies & Beach

We found a sculpture park. (We found a sculpture park!) 

With a view of the ocean. (With a view of the ocean!)

And our new Polaroid and new Impossible film and some Fuji peel-apart and my old Polaroid got some mileage.

Post bunnies and sculptures, we headed down to the ocean to stick out toes in the sand. The water was pretty cold, but it was bringing in all kinds of shells. Then the sun started to fall and the colors got quite nice.

And I "accidentally" made a double exposure of a palm tree and the sunset... and I kind of like it.

A New Polaroid and Some Impossible Fun

We finally made our way over to a little film / camera shop nearby. Shutter + Light is a hub of all things instant. Todd is the guy of Shutter + Light and he was so flipping' helpful. Not only did he give us a good deal on a few packs of film and a cool bag to put them in, but he was quick to offer tips and advice. Including setting me straight in regards to a camera that I had totally given up on. Our cute little rainbow One Step, that my grandma bought for me at a yard sale, became a member of the "cute cameras we never use" club. Todd helped us along to the right information, gently in the midst of my shame. :)

He also stocked us up on some film to put in the one thing we purchased on our Orange Circle exploration day. We got a new Polaroid camera, that comes with its own story. We thought it was broken, but it actually had a broken film pack. 

Now we have a pretty nifty little camera that we love and the rainbow yard sale camera that we love again. 

We're coming to the conclusion that we were born in the wrong time. This is a dark photo, but my wife recently got a subscription to The Wall Street Journal and she loves reading it. Right next to my typewriter. What year is it?

Zoe checking out my cool little typewriter... *sniff* *sniff* *sniiiiiff*

Toast flipping, breakfast making, wife!

And the queen bee. :)