Ten Steps to a Happy Easter Weekend

1.  Start with a trip downtown to listen to talk, listen to live music,  and slide on a giant slide.

 

2.  Take a trip to the park and be silly.

3.  Try to do a back flip out of a swing.

 

4.  Make cake pops and a bunny cake.

5.  Dye eggs.

6.  Play a game of basketball.

7.  Enjoy nature.

 

8.  Eat a delicious meal with your family.

9.  Go on an egg hunt in the yard.

10.  Don’t forget the special meaning behind today.  :)

(Photo Source: http://media.heraldonline.com/smedia/2012/04/08/17/18/9PLlY.St.6.jpg)

What Would YOU Make with a Cardboard Box?

Guess what… I got my hair did!  Wanna see?

Here’s the work in progress…

and the finished product.  I decided to go a little lighter with some highlights.  Now that it’s spring, I thought it was time to lighten up!

It looks like I am standing in the doorway of Heaven or something here, doesn’t it?

Thank you, Salon Namaan!

Now… any guesses what I made with the cardboard box???

If you guessed it was a light box, you were right!  I have been wanting to make one forever to help me take better food pictures, and today I finally had a few minutes to do it.

I took a box.  I cut a big hole in the top and on the right and left side, leaving the front open.  I covered the holes with white tissue paper.  Then I attached three lamps.  The tissue helps to diffuse the light so it looks natural. 

I wanted to try out a test shot right away, so I used this nice, ripe tomato for my first photo in the light box.

I used 60-watt daylight bulbs.  I think I may try some brighter bulbs later on, just to see which “formula” yields the best results.

But here are a few dinner pics, so you can see the light box in action.

Some fabulous potatoes from Trader Joe’s.  They are sooooooo good! (And this is my favorite dinner photo! Completely un-edited!)

Props to the hubby, who made this meal when I was on the way home from teaching Zumba!  Potatoes and crispy Tilapia!

I think I need to get some nice white and black fabric for the background.  And maybe some other fun backgrounds.  I’ve got a lot of food photography stuff to learn—I am no no means a pro at all!  But I have a great photographer cousin, who has been sending me helpful tips!  (You should check out his blog, Occasional Glimpses to see some of his wonderful photographs!)

OK, friends!  Have a great night!

Sunday Garden Fun

Hello, friends!  I hope all of you are having a fabulous weekend!  We have had a wonderful Sunday!  We just got home from an afternoon in Glencairn Gardens, here in Rock Hill, South Carolina.  Our city has a festival every spring called “Come See Me.”  It lasts about 10 days, and every day there are different featured activities.  This weekend was the first weekend of Come See Me 2011. 

Today was one of our favorite events: Sundaes with Glen and Mother Goose.  (For those of you who are not local, Glen and Glenda are the Come See Me Mascots!)

The weather was beautiful and the gardens were gorgeous with flowers blooming everywhere.  This garden has been here forever, but in the past few years, it has gotten a makeover.  Everywhere you look, there are fountains, swings to relax in… it’s the perfect place for a picnic.  Maybe during spring break, we can come back for a lunch.

 

 

We started off with the ice cream.  Sadie chose chocolate and Ryan chose vanilla.

And then we were off!  We were so excited to run into the Coccias!  Heather was like Sadie’s second mom for the first two years of her life!  We miss her so much!  And it was so good to see how much Ethan and Samantha have grown.

 

Then it was time to explore the park.  Sadie decided she wanted a flower painted on her face.

… and we planted a tomato plant!

 

Then look who we ran into!  Mother Goose!  Sometimes Sadie is shy around new people, but you should have seen how excited she was to jump into Mother Goose’s lap!  It was like she’d known her all her life!

Then, it was on the the Animal Hospital.  We adopted a Minnie Mouse with a broken leg, and then the doctors helped us fix her.  Sadie was so happy to bring Minnie home to live with us!

And there was lots more to see.

After all that activity, a girl gets tired!  At one point, Sadie plopped herself right on the ground to rest.  We knew that meant it was probably almost time to go. 

So we made a quick thank-you card to send to some of our Troops overseas, posed for a few more pictures, and headed home.

About 2 minutes after we left the Gardens…

… someone was sound asleep!  :)

Happy Sunday!