amazing weekend recap.

photo via On a High Note

This weekend was chock full of good stuff!  Let me first start off by saying that the weather did not cooperate completely (so rude, when I asked so nicely) but it did give me the opportunity to wear my bright green puddle jumpers!  Score.  Okay, it's best to discuss this weekend in bullet form.  At least, that's what I hear.

Friday

• The boyfriend and I met up with a group of pals at a great new bar downtown.  They have a bunch of local beer on tap, including a delicious Irish Red.  Be careful though; it's more than 8% alcohol!  Ooeee.
• We ended up dancing at a bar called The Parlor.  It's not often we make our way there, but when we do, we get our groove on...or at least I and my lady friend do.  The boys weren't really into it.  Boring. ;)

Saturday

• Yummy bagel sandwiches for breakfast with the boyfriend.  
• Flea market shopping with a lady friend.  I found some beautiful plates.  $18 for the set of 8.  What a steal!  They'll be perfect for a lovely outdoor meal.  I'm envisioning it now...
• Met up with the boyfriend again and some other pals for the University of Wyoming's Biennial Keepers of the Fire Powwow.  The outfits, the singing, the dancing: it was all amazing.  It's inspiring to see how much preparation goes into an event like this and to witness a part of their culture.
• RAIN
• Later that night, we attended the House of Joy BBQ in town.  It was a fundraiser for the Laramie Plains Museum.  10 dollars for all the beer and food you could handle, plus 6 live bands all night.  It was so cool.  I don't think I've been to a better event in Laramie before.  We all had such a blast.  Aaaaaand you can't really go wrong with free beer. :)

Sunday

• From dawn til dusk, the entire day was beautiful.  Sunny, some clouds, blue skies.  Perfect! 
• The boyfriend and I had tea in a downtown coffee shop.  
• He organized a picnic, so we met our friends at a local park in the afternoon for sandwiches and frisbee.  It was the best day for a picnic and it was the first time I've been barefoot in the grass this season!  Ooh, and I took some shots with the Diana.  We had a lot of fun.
• After the picnic, we saw the movie Kick-Ass.  Loved it.  Violence isn't usually my thing (and let's be honest, I closed my eyes during the bad stuff), but the story was really good!  I recommend it.
• And what's the best way to top off an already perfect weekend?  With sushi of course!  It was delicious, as usual. 

I hope you had a great weekend too!  I might not be posting very often this week.  It's going to be a busy one.  Have a great week!

my own diana prints.

When I was in Fort Collins last weekend, I dropped off two more rolls of film from the Diana!  They'll mail them to me as soon as their done and oh boy, I can't wait!  The photos above are from my last roll of Diana film.  The next rolls will be in color.  I'm excited to see how they turn out!

peace and quiet.

photo by ~brrb via just be splendid

How lovely would it be to hang out in a tree for a while?  I'd bring a thermos of hot tea and a couple books.  And a wonderful dress like the one above just in case any passerbys want to capture the moment.  :)

art projects.

photo by -mrsraggle-

Creativity has been flowing through my veins lately.  Unfortunately, I've been too busy to put any of the ideas to the test.  Time!  I need time!  Hopefully in the upcoming weekends, I'll finally be able to get creative outside of my brain.  Not this weekend though...this weekend the bf and I are going to Vail to visit my cousin (and do some awesome skiing)! 

Back to the ideas.  Here are a few that I've been tossing around.

Photo series with the Diana

I've finally got an idea for a photo series (which I'll tell you about after I flesh it out a bit more) but I want Spring/Summer light instead of flat Winter light.  That means this project has to wait a little while longer.  Sad...but when it's finally time, I'll be ready!  I also want to try some basic portraits of individuals or couples, but again, I'd rather do it in Spring/Summer light.  Till then!

Painting Project

I've seen this done a couple times, and I'm ready to attempt something similar myself.  Here are the two links I've seen (here and here), both with a different take on the how-to bit.  Cute, non?  We'll see how it comes out!

P.S.  I just found this diy project and it looks so fun!  Maybe I'll do both!

Baking Bread

Some may say that baking bread is not a creative expression, but I say it is!  I'm of the opinion that baking and cooking are both artistic endeavors (or at least, they can be) and in the case of baking bread, for me it will be.  I have found the perfect no knead recipe but can't seem to find the time for the two rises it calls for.  Perhaps I should do the main rise on a Sunday and then the shorter rise the next day.  Hmmm...I think I'm on to something!

Those are the ideas I've been playing with lately.  Once I've completed them, I'll be sure to show them here!

oh diana.

photo by amyelyse

photo by occhichiusi

photo by occhichiusi

For a long while now, I've wanted two cameras.  Those were a Diana and a DSLR.  The Diana was a (perfect) gift from the bf last Christmas so that just leaves the DSLR on the list.  Well, as I was perusing the web (as I so often do), I read a headline essentially saying that demand for luxuries is down so the price for normally expensive cameras is too.  With that in mind, I popped on over to Best Buy's website to check it out.  And I saw this.  A Canon Rebel XS for 499?  Oui and Oui again.  But I still can't justify it as a purchase.  Why oh why can't I just spend money frivolously?!

On the plus side, I do have the Diana.  And I loooove her.  I'm on my third roll of film.  I've only had the first roll developed as of yet, but next weekend I'll be trekking to Fort Collins so I'll be dropping off my next two rolls.  I'm so excited to see how they come out!  Working with film adds a whole new depth to photography.  Instant feedback with digital cammies is of course lovely, but the anticipation of what your photos will look like is so fun.  I'll post some of my Diana shots as soon as I scan them in.  The images up top were shot from a Diana.  Lovely, isn't it?  I couldn't agree more.