Green, Sweetness, and Heat

What do these three things have in common?  Well, they were the three themes of my 365 Photos this first part of the week.  I took some great pictures today, but I'll wait till tomorrow to share those, as it is getting late and I want to write more about them.

So Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday...Monday, I finally got around to plucking enough basil leaves from my basil plant to make a batch of pesto.  This was my first real harvest. I've been growing this basil for months, and there just never seemed to be enough leaves for me to go picking enough to make pesto.

Monday, June 20th was the day and I combined the basil with some spinach to make a wonderfully delicious pesto.  I tossed it with angel hair pasta, some feta and peas and enjoyed a DELICIOUS dinner.  Check it out...

Tuesday, June 21st was an extremely busy day. However, in between running back and forth to work I was able to spend about an hour with my niece, just holding her while she napped. What a great way to unwind. I did eventually leave to go back to work, and just before I left I snapped this picture of her waking up.

And Wednesday, June 22nd was the first day of Summer, or at least it felt like it. Oh my goodness was it hot!!! And I've got the picture to prove it.

Yes, the picture on the left was taken in my car and the picture on the right was taken at home and the thermometer is underneath the shaded patio. Seeeeeee, it's HOT!

Come back tomorrow to see my tale of the ladybugs, you won't want to miss it.

Ready, Set, SHOOT! - First week of 365

So I've been successful so far...for all 3 days. :)  It's been something that I've really had to be conscious about.  I've already found that I actually have to keep my camera out.  One of the impediments to taking photos has been the inconvenience of getting my camera down from the closet in my bedroom. I was just too darn lazy to go and get it when a photo opportunity arose.  Now I just keep it out on my desk and it's easy to grab.

So here are a few of the photos from my first week.  And it's obvious that I've got a lot of improving to do!

Friday, June 17, 2011 -- I took the theme "Purple" and looked around for something to match the theme.  I appreciated having a theme to inspire me otherwise I'd be looking around for the normal things I take pictures of, and I've got way too many pictures of the normal.

Anyways, my niece was over and playing with the fridge-magnet alphabet letters.

And it's officially summer because we've had more than 5 days in a row of 100+ degree temperatures.  The munchkins were over to go swimming on Friday. (nothing to do with purple but loved his expression)

Saturday, June 18, 2011 - A CRAZY day.  I was going from 6:30am - 10:30pm, non-stop.  My nephew was baptized on Saturday, so it was definitely worth a few pictures.  I learned on Saturday, that there is a time and a place for taking pictures.  After the baptism we all went over to my brothers house for lunch and it was just so darn crowded that it wasn't really practical to whip out the camera.  Besides that I was hungry and so I chose a plate of food over my camera. :)

Here's my brother with his son.

They barely stood still long enough for me to take there picture. Can you tell which ones are brothers?

The little girls stayed still longer, but weren't any happier to get their picture taken.

This was my favorite photo of the day - my parents.

Sunday, June 19, 2011 - Today was Father's Day.  I have the best father in the whole world.  He has been and will continue to be my hero!  This evening we had a family dinner to celebrate Dad.  I made a delicious roast and we had along with it a few of dad's favorites.

My youngest brother and my dad.

One of my dad's favorite desserts - german chocolate cake.  I even made the frosting from scratch and boy, oh, boy what a difference.  It was delicious.

365-days of photographs -- DAY 1

So I've been thinking about setting some goals to improve my skills.  Some times I feel like I dabble in a bunch of things, but really haven't become an expert at any of them.  Sooooo, I decided that the only way to become an expert at anything is to practice.

Practicing photography, a skill I would like to vastly improve upon, means that I have to take more pictures. And hopefully, as I analyze what I take, how I take it, and then refer frequently to the experts, I can improve upon this skill.

This in mind, I've decided to take the 365 challenge.  I am setting a goal to take at least 1 photo a day for 365 days.  I would prefer that this is a "good" photo, but any photo will do.  My goal is also to share them with you.  I'm not saying that I will be blogging once a day for 365 days, but at least a few times a week in order to share with you what I've captured.

I found out more about this 365 challenge from the "CaptureYour365" website.  They explain this whole "thing" so well...

365 is about your life. It is about capturing, documenting, and preserving all that is important to us. People come to this project for so many different reasons, with so many different motivations. 

 I thought about starting this off as a New Year's resolution, but who cares when I start this goal.  Whether I start today or on January 1st it will still be 365 days and I need to get over my tendency to procrastinate (another one of those improvements I need more practice with).  I'm also hoping this will end up being a good photo-journal of my life, not just the "events' but the day-to-day living.

So today marks the start of my 365 - A Photo A Day Project.  And my first photo is

The soda cans sitting on my desk right now.  I'm in love with the Black Cherry Fresca.  I know, not necessarily a monumental work of art, but it's late and I'm ready to go to bed.  I'll shoot a better subject tomorrow.

Gourmet food truck lunch - First Friday with Phoenix Street Food

Sunshine and Spices-
tacos and samosa

I'm a self-proclaimed foodie.  Not only do I enjoy cooking and baking, but I'm always looking for new and interesting places to eat.  I've been watching EatStreet on Cooking channel and lamenting the fact that I never see any good food trucks around Phoenix. I do see the occasional roach-coach, but what they serves doesn't count as "gourmet food".

In my search for food trucks in Phoenix I came across First Friday and event in Phoenix, held, of course, on the first Friday of the month.  During lunch a bunch of "gourmet food" trucks gather to offer lunch for the hungry masses. Phoenix Street Food helps to get the word out about all the vendors. Jack pot!!!

I actually took today off of work, not just for the Phoenix Street Food lunch (but mostly).  I needed a break and today seemed like the perfect day to take it.

Kiki, her two youngest and my mom joined me for a little field trip into downtown Phoenix.  The weather really wasn't too bad. It's June, in phoenix, so we were expecting it to be at least a little warm.  Finding the Phoenix Street Food location wasn't too difficult.  All the trucks were at the southeast corner of 1st Street and McKinley in downtown Phoenix.

A covered parking area was converted into an outdoor eatery complete with misters and outdoor air conditioning units.  Fortunately we got there early enough that we got our food before the rush of people arrived.  By the time we left, the place was packed.

We had one rule - we all had to order our meals from somewhere different.  This way we were able to try several different things.  Of course I took a bunch of pictures.  You'll have to check out my pictures and read to the captions to see what I thought of the food.



Bottom line...loved the food at the Phoenix Street Food event.  If you get the chance, check it out.