Photos Archives - Page 20 of 63

Happy Weekend!

September 21, 2012/0 Comments/in follow friday, Photos, web /by Megan

Hi everyone! I’m posting this from fabulous Las Vegas, where I’m engaging in hilarious antics with four of the most awesome friends a person could ask for. Last night we celebrated the anniversary of my birth and today (after much greasy food consumption) we are headed to the Cirque du Soleil Beatles LOVE show. Did I mention how much I love being here with my four best friends? Oh man, I’m a lucky girl.

Here are some fun links to get you through your weekend:

– If you haven’t entered our awesome giveaway yet, there’s still time! I’m taking comment entries until Sunday at midnight (see post for more details).

– The Cool Mom Picks Pinterest Page is always full of great ideas, but their Halloween page has really stepped it up a notch. I suppose it doesn’t hurt that Halloween is my favorite holiday. Bring on the zombies!

– One piece of advice you wish you’d known in your mid-twenties.

– Design Mom’s annual “What to Wear to School” series has always been incredible. But now that she and her family are living in the French countryside, it’s gotten even better. Here’s what her daughter is wearing to 8th grade. (And yes, I’m coveting the wardrobe of a 13 year old.)

– Ben Folds Five is back! And they made a music video featuring the Fraggles. Best virtual birthday present ever (from a band that has never heard of me…DO IT ANYWAY!)

– I’ve been looking for a way to incorporate my Instagram photos into my home, and these stickies might be the ticket!

– I watched this documentary this weekend, and it was wonderful! I can’t wait to share more.

– Deep dish, sun-dried tomato pizza…this is on my menu for next week!

– Musical swings on the streets of Montreal. Lu would flip if we had anything like this near us. Such beautiful art.

– Have you heard of Anna’s Second Wind? It’s the story of an amazing woman struggling to breath through every day. I have tweeted and Facebooked this, but hadn’t posted it here yet. You should check it out.

– True love in only 22 pictures. (And an update here.)

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Here are a few Instagram shots from our week. You can follow our fun over there at @crazy_bananas!

First grade girls playing #soccer = colorful socks

Vegas prep...and incidentally, the weirdest pedicure ever. Bodes well, I think.

Lucy has a singular objective when attending her cousins baseball games. Treats.

Wine tasting at @laneodle's...I'd say we enjoyed them all :) #onefunthing

The office just presented me with a wad of cash and birthday wishes. I am now crying. #awesome

Happy Weekend!

September 14, 2012/5 Comments/in follow friday, Photos, web /by Megan

Hooray, it’s Friday! Today is my niece and nephews’ 12th birthday, so I plan on prank calling them and posting endlessly to their Instagram feeds. That’s what annoying almosty-30-year-old aunts are for, right? We celebrated their birthdays last weekend because we’re all so busy this weekend we knew it wouldn’t work out to get together. We have soccer games and grandparents in town, and they have baseball, football and dance all weekend. (Just writing that makes me want to take a nap.) Regardless, I’m so proud of them and the little almost-teens that they are becoming. I’m a lucky aunt, I do declare.

Here are some fun links to get you through the weekend. I recommend reading with ice cream cake at the ready. Mostly because ice cream cake is awesome.

– Are you as excited for the premiere of The Mindy Project as I am? I watched the pilot on Hulu and immediately feel in love. I read Mindy’s book last year and loved every, single second, but I never realized that while the book was climbing the best seller list and her show was getting picked up, her mom was dying of cancer. This amazing article on Vulture was the first I’d heard of her personal life, and it just made me love her more. And cry a little too. Okay, cry a lot.

– Two of my favorite bloggers, Joanna Goddard of A Cup of Jo and Reagan Baker of Hairdresser on Fire, have teamed up to do a series of cute, little girl hair tutorials. First up, heidi braids!

– Lucy eats lunch at 10:45, so I totally relate to this article on Today.com. What’s with the early lunches, schools? And if you’re going to make the kids each lunch in the middle of the morning, maybe they should be allowed to have a snack during the day. Just a thought.

– Photographer Candice Milon put together this awesome collection of outfits from iconic films throughout history. I could figure out about 4…how many can you guess on first sight?

– Things I Learned at the Democratic National Convention? “The best way to save your seat is with your giant, homemade American pride hat.”

– Things I Learned at the Republican National Convention? “Mint Romney is a brilliant name for mint lotion.”

– Make someone happy.

– This blog post had me in tears. And not just a drop or two…more like the Oprah ugly cry. All moms of kids 5 and under must read.

– Have you heard of Armommy? It’s a great website with pretty much everything you need, from meal plans to awesome printables to health advice. Score!

– Have you ever wondered what happened to Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez? Well, he’s a hot fireman now. No joke.

– Elise of the Elise Joy blog came out with new stamps this week! Snatch them up before they are gone! (And trust me, they will be gone quickly…)

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Here are some Instagrams from this week. Follow our fun over there at @crazy_bananas!

Some new Dallas Clayton inspiration for my board at work. #onefunthing

Tate begs for me to hold his hand while we're driving. He is such a sweet boy.

Making happy things with my @elisejoy stamps.

Found this one wearing my floppy hat singing "Hello, I'm Megan and this is my beautiful dress..."

Found these 3 hiding behind the trashcan, "spying on the teachers" at the Sonic school fundraiser.

Cleaning out my old planner...old life remnants.

My New Baby

September 13, 2012/4 Comments/in Photos /by Megan

Guess what everyone? I have a new baby! She’s beautiful, so new and clean and gorgeous…okay, so, she’s a camera. But she’s still my baby!

Playing with my new baby. #onefunthing #60D #canon

For those of you that are totally lost, let me give you a little backstory. Way back in 2005, I was gifted by my generous, new (at the time) husband a refurbished Canon Digital Rebel XT DSLR camera for Christmas. Man oh man, how I loved that little camera. I was about five months pregnant and was nesting like a madwoman, and this beautiful camera provided me with the outlet I’d been searching for. Within months I’d memorized the entire user guide and was spending my free time watching You Tube tutorials on photography. Within a year I’d accepted a few paid photography gigs for friends. And about two years in I shot my first wedding. I was in love. I’d always felt like an artistic person, but as someone who can’t paint or draw or sketch or knit to save her life, I assumed I just wasn’t meant to be a creative. My new camera finally gave me a way to express all that creativity that was bottled up inside. It was liberating!

But digital cameras aren’t like their film predecessors. They don’t last for twenty or thirty years. They are basically tiny computers with lenses, and about four or five years in, my little guy just died. Sure, I kept taking photos with him, but by this point my knowledge and training were at the point that my camera just couldn’t keep up with what I wanted to do. I became pretty bogged down even knowing I’d have to be taking photos of anything. I knew they wouldn’t be like I envisioned in my head, because my old guy wouldn’t be able to perform like I needed. I pretty much stopped taking pictures at all, save shots taken and edited using the iPhone.

I researched and budgeted for a new camera body, knowing that even if I bought the cheapest option in the Canon DSLR line, it would be worlds above what I was using. But I could never find a great deal on a refurbished body and I pretty much gave up on the whole idea. But then my sister called earlier this week and told me her local camera store was going out of business, and everything was up to 40% off. I headed down there not expecting anything….and left with a brand new Canon 60D!!! I still can’t believe I actually bought it.

I’ve only had the new camera for a little over a day, but already I feel like a spark has been reignited. By the time I got home with my loot, there was no time to charge the battery and get any shots, so I charged it up overnight and grabbed it as I headed out the door for work. This is the first photo I shot (straight out of the camera, with no Photoshop):

Are you kidding me?! I would have died for that shot from my old camera! DIED! And here it was, the first shot I took. (I guess it doesn’t hurt that my subject is so adorable…)

I had a meeting downtown this afternoon, and when it was over, I decided to go on a 20 minute photo walk and take my new girl for a test drive. Bear in mind, I haven’t looked at the manual or done any sort of training on this model yet, so I still have a ways to go, but you guys…I think I found my passion again. For real.

Happy Weekend!

September 7, 2012/2 Comments/in follow friday, Photos, web /by Megan

Hello, Friday! You are looking super cute this morning. And after this short, dramatic week, I could not be more excited for the weekend. To all of you who read, commented, tweeted, liked or emailed me regarding my post from yesterday, THANK YOU! Your support means the world and it’s so wonderful to know I’m not alone, even when things are horrible. You all get a gold star.

As your reward, here are some fun links to get you through the weekend:

– Parents of twin babies on their first airplane trip handed out little favors to all the other passengers to apologize in case they were a nuisance. Such a good idea. I may have do this next time I fly with Tate, except I’ll pack the gift bags with mini bottles of whiskey.

– Photography tips for bloggers from Liz over at Say Yes to Hoboken.

– The iPhone 5 is coming next week!!! Ahhhhh!!! Here is what it will probably look like.

– The adorable Kristen over at Hey Paul Studios created an embroidery challenge on Instagram! Such a good idea! Now I just need to learn how to embroider something…

– This is some good internet.

– This video of ducks crossing a busy highway in Canada had me screaming at my computer screen. “No, baby ducks! Don’t die!!!!” (It has a happy ending.)

– Excited for Fall TV?! Well, me too, but with the loss of cable in my casa, I couldn’t even remember what shows I like to watch. Thank goodness Lane did the work for me with her Fall TV Preview.

– These photos of San Francisco from the 1906 earthquake mashed up with photos from today are breathtaking. It’s crazy to imagine that much damage in a place that barely has a scar these days.

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Here is some of our Instagram fun from this week. I am still playing #onefunthing over there (and also on Facebook and Twitter) and have loved seeing people join in! You can follow along at @crazy_bananas.

Gave the baby a chocolate ice cream cone. #onefunthing

I live in #kansas (in case there was any confusion). #sunflower

I don't think I've ever been happier about a piece of school work. #iheartneil #spacecamp4life

Apparently Trent and I missed our calling as professional axe throwers. (Mine are on the right of the board)

Trying to get Tate over his rain fear by running in and out of it with Daddy. It worked :) #onefunthing

Instagrammers to Follow

September 5, 2012/1 Comment/in follow friday, Photos, web /by Megan

I think it goes without saying that I love Instagram. I mean, I guess it could go without saying, but since I say it every week, I think it’s fairly obvious. I love Instagram for a lot of reasons, the most important of which is I feel Instagram is like Twitter was a few years back. In terms of my real life loves, it gives me quick and poignant glances into their daily lives. Many of my best friends live pretty far away, so seeing these little images, whether it’s a shot of their lunch or their kids or their sunset, makes me feel just a little bit closer.

But there is a whole other section of people I follow on Instagram, those I’ve never met in real life (and for all intensive purposes, probably never will), those whose shots pull me in and cause me to catch my breath. Sometimes they are simple and sometimes they are grand, but they almost always inspire me to do better. So, in no particular order, here are five people you totally should be following on Instagram:

Ryan Marshall was the mind behind the brilliant blog Pacing the Panic Room, which I loved and read for many years before he shut it down this summer. Ryan is a professional photographer and videographer, but his Instagram feed mostly covers his life with his wife, daughter and step-son. This summer Ryan did a #warriorsofsummer series, and the entire thing was breathtaking. I love how he makes his supposedly ordinary life look magical.

I’ve talked about Rebecca Woolf on this blog before, regarding her incredible blog Girls Gone Child. She just joined Instagram in the past few months, and since then, my feed has definitely been a happier place. Rebecca is a mom of four based in L.A., and her photos make me think I could totally handle two more kids (sidenote: I totally couldn’t). Her photos manage to take a life so full, I’m sure, of chaos and craziness, and show a simple calmness. The best thing she does is photograph the relationships between her children. Watching a family grow into themselves is pretty fantastic.

Bri Emery is the mastermind behind the amazing blog Design Love Fest, and co-creator of Blogshop. Her Instagram follows her throughout her life’s journey, from client meetings to photoshoots to dinners out with her boyfriend to concerts in L.A. (where she is based). She is obviously a fan of color and bold type, which she takes care to share with everyone in her images. I think I have a major girlcrush here.

Jared Chambers is someone I mainly started following because Ryan Marshall mentioned him and I’m so, so glad I did. He is the creator of the hashtag #smallpeoplebigplaces, a series in which he takes photos of people in massive circumstances. His work is mainly based on the west coast, which is my happy place, so I crave his images of seaside fog and gigantic rock formations. He is a true artist of Instagram, whose images are solely created on the iPhone (which is rare these days on Instagram), and is an absolute must follow.

James from Bleubird is someone I’ve mentioned here a few times for her incredibly inspiring blog, and if you’re not following her on Instagram, you’re missing out. Her feed is full of her beautifully simple life in Texas. She homeschools her two older children, and watching them on their journey has completely changed my mind about what homeschooling can be. Her photos convey a sweetness and a great love for her family, which always make my day.

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Do you follow anyone on Instagram who makes your day with their images? Please share, I’m always looking for inspiration! And as always, you can find me on Instagram at @crazy_bananas. Happy snapping!

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