Cool Capture: Nautical by Nature

Last month I took a glorious week-long vacation to Maine where I got to spend quality time with my niece, my sister, her husband and his parents. I got to catch up with some friends I spend all year long missing and reconnect with another friend I lost touch with many years ago.

I read a few really great books (highly recommend The Fault in our Stars and The Language of Flowers), took a lot of photos and completely disconnected from work. It was as relaxing and restorative as it sounds.

Thanks to GeekSugar for another feature of an Instagram photo I took and tagged with #coolcapture. I took this photo on August 10th while waiting for dinner in Cape Neddick, Maine. The 55-minute wait was more than tolerable when this was our view:

We used the time wisely taking photos as the sun set, but this was one of my favorites with the lobster traps, the pretty sky, the reflection of the house and trees in the water and the buoys. It was a beautiful night and a memorable wait and I'm grateful for the feature through GeekSugar. 

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Crayola Photo Challenge- Periwinkle

On Friday evening, I went for a walk with a friend and we made a slight detour so I could check out the waves. We've been experiencing some big wave action here in Santa Monica. Big enough to keep Steve-o out of the water and to close the Venice Pier on Friday.

When I looked over the railing, I saw something that put a big smile on my face.

On the eve of Labor Day weekend, one of the beach clubs had set-up hundreds of beach chairs and umbrellas. It was such a cool sight that when I got back home, I picked up my real camera and the twin to head back to get proper photos.

I set my alarm early for the next morning so I could go back to the same spot and take pictures in broad daylight and well before all the beach goers were up and at it. Once I was done getting pictures from up above on the cliffs, I jammed on down to the ocean, parked next to the beach club and got out and took a ton more pictures. The area is closed to members only, but because I was there so early, no one gave me any problems.

I was sure that I had found periwinkle in several of the beach chairs and umbrellas, but the color was just off slightly.

Luckily, my periwinkle comes from the twinkle of my beautiful niece Quinn's eyes. Which change colors often through any given day. And I was glad to be on hand in Maine to capture the sheer happiness she shares with everyone around her.

From Crayola Photo Challenge- Periwinkle

Taken in Ogunquit, Maine on August 14th.

More periwinkle images can be found here.

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Crayola Photo Challenge- Orchid

During my week long vacation in Maine, I got a chance to take out my camera quite a bit. I had a very nice break from almost all other kinds of technology (especially when my iPhone caught a wave in the Atlantic Ocean) and a great opportunity to take hundreds (literally) of photographs of my adorable niece, Quinn.

I was determined to get at least a few of my colors with Quinn as the subject and I got some super fun and beautiful photos of her.

Orchid was on the easy side because Quinn's cute shoes and her baby (stuffed animal) could both pass for this crayola photo challenge. I ultimately chose the one below because you could see Quinn's face. I love the sassiness she displays in it! And those eyes. My god those eyes!

From Crayola Photo Challenge- Orchid

Taken in Oguinquit, Maine on August 17th.

To see more of orchid, click here. I really wanted to put up the close-up of Quinn's shoes next to her Dad's but obviously chose a different picture!

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Check Out and Chill Out

I've had an incredibly relaxing time on the east coast. I'm ready to go home, but this time away has provided me with a great opportunity to to check out and chill out. I haven't done any running while I've been here. Even though it's been insanely hot and humid with record highs, if I was being honest with myself, I don't think I'd have run anyway.

I'm having another one of those checking out moments where I'm checking out and eating poorly and not working out. This one is lasting longer than I'd prefer. I think tomorrow it will be two weeks since my last run. But I don't feel terrible about it. I was talking with my friend Nikee and she said maybe my body needed the break. I don't know enough about my body to know when it actually needs a break. I mean I do, but, I think I'm still to easily persuaded just because. But I do think the break is doing good things for me.

The wedding I attended in Maine was absolutely amazing. It was beautiful and relaxing and peaceful. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of where I was:







I sat out by the water. I got bitten by mosquitoes. I thought about my father. I saw a shooting star. I ate ice cream. I picked up a hitchhiker (I won't be doing that again). I ate lobster. I ate a lobster roll. I've had more Dunkin Donuts hot chocolate than I know what to do with. I stayed up late, I woke up late.

I know it's a really tiny thing, but I had so much fun eating the ice cream cone. I can't remember the last time I had to race to eat the ice cream on top of the cone so it wouldn't melt all over my hand. Things like this remind me of growing up in New Hampshire and it's really not something that I can remember experiencing during my time in Los Angeles.



One of my most favorite things about this trip is how much time I got to spend with some of my most favorite people that I don't get to see as much as I'd like. I had such a fun time with Julio, Lindsay, Mark, Leah, John, Marisa. I laughed a ton and just felt so happy. I really have loved the time I've gotten to spend with everyone.







The fact that I got to be one of the few among Katie Grant and Jordan's wedding guest was the topping on the cake (or the blueberry pie in this case). Jordan and Katie Grand did a wonderful job at putting on a kick ass party and wedding that was truly them and so unique to who they both are. Their wedding ceremony was touching and loving and I felt so honored to be there.









At the end of all this, I hope to go back feeling as relaxed and centered as I did when this picture was taken.

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Funky Town

I'm trying to shake my funk, but I'm not being very successful. While I had a great trip with my mom, it kicked off a week long food fest which I'm also having a hard time shaking. On top of that, I only ran once last week and this morning all I could muster up was a 2-mile run.

Yesterday I woke up in a foul foul mood. When I don't eat well or treat my body well, it absolutely affects my mood. So that's been fun to deal with. As a result, I committed to doing at least one thing to make me feel better. Luckily I managed to do lots of things that made me feel better including getting a manicure, pedicure and waxed. I also went to Double W (up .8 lbs in two weeks, I'm not complaining) and I went to Trader Joe's. (And bought a bunch of food that I haven't event touched yet).

I decided to go to Double W because I haven't given up on this. And I knew it would have to make me feel better. I arrived late and ended up getting a seat practically out the door away from everyone else. I couldn't help but think as I sat on the outside of the meeting, that it was representative of how I've felt about my attitude and approach towards Double W- I have very much felt like I'm sitting on the outside looking in. When I absolutely know that in order to make this work, I cannot be an outsider.

I'm going away tomorrow for almost a week. One of my favorite people in the world is getting married in Maine and I'm honored to be among the very few wedding guests. I also get the chance to see some of the people I've missed the most since moving to the west coast. Although I hate being away from my home, I am looking forward to the space and change of scenery. I'm hoping that the time away will provide me with a good opportunity to get my head back in the game.

In the past three weeks I've gained 1.6 lbs. When I weighed in for Double W my second week, I was definitely bummed that I gained "a whisper" but I was having a hard time with all the activity I was doing and didn't eat all my food points. So I knew I had some adjusting I needed to do. The following week was Memorial Day, so I skipped weighing in entirely. And then knew that no matter how poorly I ate the previous week, going to weigh myself yesterday would make me feel better in some way.

I wish this wasn't so hard. Part of what's bumming me out about all of this too is that I don't feel like I can talk with Steve about this. We always end up arguing because I can't ever articulate what I need or want from him, other than for him to not come across as judgmental. When I told him I wasn't feeling that great about myself, his first response was, "Oh, I wonder why." Totally not helpful. Then we go back and forth about how I want him to say stuff sometimes, but not others and then we just don't talk about it, or anything, and it's just a shitty feeling on top of an already shitty feeling.

I told you, funky town.

Here's what I know. I'm running that f'n marathon no matter what. I can and will do this weight loss thing. I'm not giving up, I'm just going through a rough patch. And everyday I will just work and work until I get this right.

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