Wednesday, February 23, 2011

das Colors

I'm trying something new here. I want to get more comfortable with color, especially combining different colors. It's really never been my strong suit. The Man can send me pillow covers he found at a street bazaar in Iraq and they will match perfectly in whatever room he says to put them in - a room that he hasn't seen in months. Me...? I can leave my living room, go straight to Ikea and come home with things that don't go at all. Mostly, I'm happy wearing 47 different shades of brown. So, here begins a new feature that I'll keep going...well, as long as I feel like it.


via

Still a lot of browns in there...baby steps, you guys.

Technorati tags: color, photography

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Weekend Pics

We took a quick, three day trip up to Garmisch, Germany this weekend. It's a small ski town on the German/Austrian border, where the Alpine Ski World Cup 2011 just happened to be underway. It was a lovely little jaunt out of town and, though we didn't ski this time, we all had a blast. We wandered around the quaint little town, ate lots of delicious food, swam in the hotel pool, met up for dinner with a big group of friends one evening and walked around the beautiful and frozen Eibsee lake.

There are more pictures in my Flickr stream, but here are a few of my favorites.

Garmisch, Deutschland

Eibsee (Lake near Garmisch, Deutschland)

Fillisee (Lake near Garmisch, Deutschland)

Eibsee (Lake near Garmisch, Deutschland)

Eibsee (Lake near Garmisch, Deutschland)

Ice hole in the Eibsee (Lake near Garmisch, Deutschland)

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Taking It Waaaay Back

A while back, I fell in love with and purchased an old Bilora Bella 66 medium format film camera. The body itself is so pretty and I love the retro look captured by the camera. Using brand new film and completely modern developing techniques, the pictures look like they were taken 50 years ago! Love that.

I took these pictures back in August. I know, I know. I scanned them in September! Not sure why it took another 5 months to post them but here we are.

Burg Kalteneck in Holzgerlingen, Germany

Burg Kalteneck in Holzgerlingen, Deutschland

Barn doors in Holzgerlingen, Deutschland

Grape vine in Holzgerlingen, Deutschland


I picked up some color medium format film and shot some pictures on our recent Sunday afternoon excursion. I'm hoping to drop those off for developing today!

Monday, February 14, 2011

My Valentine

Cheeseball and I put together valentines cards for her classmates yesterday. I don't think most of the kids at her German kindergarten will understand what Valentine's Day is, but nor do I suppose most of them will be too concerned about it once they realize candy is involved.


El NiƱo spotted boxed cards about a month ago and wanted those. While I'd prefer we put together handmade cards, being most likely unable to execute lenticular robots myself I didn't push the issue. Cheeseball, on the other hand, is a ♥ handmade kinda girl. We used designs from this lovely printable class valentines set, put out by the fantastic party resource blog, One Charming Party. I pulled out the two left-most designs and shrunk them down then addressed each to "Mein Freund" while Cheeseball signed them all with a flourish.


To help her differentiate between the teachers' cards and the kids' while she was passing them out, we used these totally modern and pretty valentines tags from Draw It Modern for her teachers' treats.


And, next year - it's always next year! - I really want to make this beautiful garland to hang up in the house. I found the DIY I Love You Garland tutorial on Lovely Indeed via Creature Comforts.


Maybe I'll make it this year in pink to hang in Cheeseball's room year-round...

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Weekend Pics

We had such beautiful weather this weekend, that we had to get out and see something new. So, on Sunday, we took a short drive over to a cute little town called Rottenberg am Neckar, walked by the river, sat outside at a cafe, drank beer, ate cake and watched the kiddos play in the sunshine. It was lovely!

I took more pictures with my old Bilora Bella medium format film camera. (Can't wait to get those developed!) But, I snapped a few with the new school camera, too.

IMG_1088-1

I'm not sure why the bunting was up, but I loved it.


IMG_1090-1

It was such a beautiful day, the reflection in this small drainage creek was amazing.

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Oh, no not cats!

Maybe cats that pray for Deutschland wins are ok.


We've long noticed Deutschland's love of dogs, but - not being cat people ourselves - had no idea on the local feel for felines. A new acquaintance called their hotel before their recent arrival to make sure it accepted pets. Oh yes! We love pets!, he was told. So, he and his family showed up on the doorstep, cat and carrier in hand. Oh, no! Not cats!, he was told.

But, you said you allowed pets...?

Yes, we do! But, not cats.

Imagine his confusion. A common acquaintance with German family roots explained. Cats aren't pets. Consider them more like farm equipment! And, you certainly wouldn't move your oxen or your tractor into your hotel room, would you? I mean, sure, your oxen serves a purpose but it does not sleep by your bed!

???!?!?!?

I found this hilarious.

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Urlaub in Berlin, Tag Zwei

^Holiday in Berlin, Day Two

Oops, I took too long to post and now I'm losing steam. Day Two in Berlin was what we were calling Super Fun Kid Day. I'm not sure why, but giving things Engrish style labels makes them even more awesome.

We started out at the Berlin Zoo, where it was so pretty, fun for the kids, and ohhhh so very cold.

Berlin Zoo

Berlin Zoo

Berlin Zoo


Then, we headed into the Aquarium where it was much warmer. El Niño is really into that type of thing. Cheeseball is more into surprise relaxation spots.

Berlin Zoo


Hours and hours and hours later Mom hijacked Super Fun Kid Day to drag the kids to the KaDeWe department store. It claims to be the biggest department store on the European continent and I think that's probably about right. It was ridiculously huge. I actually just wanted to pop into the Idee craft store, housed in the department store. But, that crafty El Niño hijacked my hijack and spotted the Lego Berlin store on the way.

Lego Berlin
Pretty stoked.


After that, we headed to the flea market where my pictures came to a crashing halt, because you know...propietors, goods...I have a thing. But, I did pick up some vintage buttons and a sweet pin to embellish some pieces for the store.

Day Three I can roll up in one sentence: swim meet. Actually, that's not even a sentence. We spent the entire day at the pool. I was hoping we would make it out of there in time to hop over to (what I heard was) an even cooler flea market. But, the meet ran long and that was that. Next time!

We had a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to another trip to Berlin sometime. For now, though, we're thinking about Spring Break and what we want to see then!