I've been working on familiarizing myself with my new camera and improving my skills. One of my favorite photo blogs is Laurence Kim's. A Seattle based photographer, his blog is geared towards both the technical and business aspects of photography. In my photo shoot this weekend, I focused on composition (applying the rule of thirds) and isolation. (See Laurence's post on 11-18-2009 on Isolation)

My good (and very photogenic) friend, Nicole, was my fearless model. Thanks, Nicole! Here are my favorite photos, straight out of camera (SOOC).

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Something to do while you count down the minutes until the weekend. How many differences can you find?

NOTE: let me know if you like this so I'm not wasting my time!

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Finally! The long awaited (by my mom) NY post(s). This is the first installment of three picture-filled posts about NY. (To be posted on Travel Thursday) Last September I had the good fortune of being selected to attended the National LGBT Conference in Brooklyn, NY. Though it was only for a short period, four days, I saw almost everything I wanted to see AND attended the conference events. This was my first trip to NY (and the East Coast), and on top of that, CWSL paid for the flight, conference fees, my king suite, and food! I've never been picked for anything, and quite frankly, if this was my due, I'm glad I got picked for this! On top of that, Jeff had a business trip to NY the following month, so I tagged along on that trip too. Here are my photos from both trips.

My first trip was from September 9-13th. Best time to be in NY in the fall! I enjoyed the beginning of Fashion Week and went to Ground Zero on 9/11.

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Apparently, in the blogging world, Wednesdays are reserved for "Wordless Wednesday". Bloggers post a single picture that speaks for itself. (With the exception of this post) No words.

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Who doesn't love fresh cold fruit covered in warm, drippy, dark chocolate sweetened with coconut creme? This is one of my favorite chocolate fondue recipes. It's quick, easy, and a chocolate lover's dream! Even if you don't like coconut, the depth of flavor of the rich dark chocolate is the real star.

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I wish my Decatur had a video production class back when I was in high school! Check out these videos by the students of Shorecrest High School (Jeff's alma mater) and Shorewood High School.

Shorecrest's challenge:
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Shorewood's answer:
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This was shot backwards!

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First trip to the beach for the summer! It was a gorgeous day, the water was warm and the beach was generally not crowded (except for the rude group that settle a foot and a half from us despite all the open space). My cousin, Robbie, and I played a little water frisbee, which turned out to be a great excuse for not running after a stray disc. I guess it really has been awhile since I've been the beach. My back is a nice bright shade of red, and for now, it's comfortably warm. Now worries though, I'll get back into the summer routine soon enough!

Me and Robbie

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Baby animals are the best. I mean that in every sense--they're cute, they're sweet, they're tiny, and they squeak! My last trip to Colorado was bittersweet, definitely not a trip for pleasure. Here are some pictures from the sweet parts.

Dinner with the family: Mitch, Tiffany, and me.

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Congratulations to Neha and Adam on their pending nuptials! I finally received their elegant, bright, and large invitation. As I've mentioned before, I love receiving snail mail. Especially for something as significant as a wedding, an evite, or Facebook invitation just won't do, that includes using such sites for gathering mailing address. {Quick tip: use google docs here to gather mailing and contact information from friends and family to save time, this fills in a spreadsheet automatically as your guest respond.}

Neha opted for the classic ivory and gold scheme as a base for her collection of documents, but added bold colors to the actual invitation.

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About two weeks ago, Jeff celebrated his 26^th birthday at Turf Club with me, Nicole, and Brooks. The Turf club is an old school, 1940s bar with an attached restaurant, though still 21 and over only. You pick your meat and cook it over an open flame grill adding sauces and seasonings to your liking—basically, perfect for Jeff. The drinks were good, steak and garlic bread are two of his favorites, and most importantly, our friends were fantastic. Can’t wait to do it again, hopefully, we won’t have to wait for another birthday.

I had a Grasshopper (front)

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