April's Best {for me}!

At the end of each month, I face a conundrum. Part of my 101 in 1001 is that I want to select my favorite/best image from the entire month's worth of photos and add it to my own personal gallery. Why? Because it is an amazing way to gauge my own progress as a photographer. It helps me see that my shots are, in fact getting better.

I know I've posted this image before, but I really love the color, clarity and bokeh in this shot and I'm really proud of it! Right now Click It Up A Notch is hosting a linky for everyone to share their favorite photograph from the month of April! There are so many wonderful images- stop by, look around and join in yourself!

Remember this?

Several months ago, I decided I wanted to move from a dorm room-esque bed situation to something prettier more mature. I was thinking something like this bed from Ana White's blog.

From Ana-White.com

If you were with me back in January, you might remember that getting all the wood for this queenly project nearly outdid our poor little Civic.

Oops.

I will definitely do a project review soon, but for tonight, I'm just so excited to share the pictures of this project. Yes- the lighting is awful. Yes- I'll do better later this week. However, I owe several people images of this, so here you are, my lovelies {mostly just you, roommateo!}.

You might notice that one of the pillows has a distinctly dog-ish shape to it. *sigh* This simply means that Mr. P and I are suckers. We've kept Chowder off of the bed when we are in the room no matter what- we wanted to keep the bed a bit neater, keep Pepsi's food out of reach (it sits on the stand to the left) and... I dunno, I'm sure we had other reasons.

But look at this face.

Well... maybe not that one. How about this one?

He is so happy to be sharing the brand new fancy bed with us! Cuddle doggy, cuddle!

Well, believe me, he is excited. Very, very thrilled.

Stop back later this week to see a full project review {with better images}!


Also check out the DIY Show Off- there are a lot of great project inspirations on there!

 

And if you think that completing this bed finishes up 'Project Master Bedroom', then you are severely misled. We still have a reading nook, a litter-box hiding cabinet and artwork to address! To see other projects in progress, stop by Ma Nouvelle Mode!

Shameless Plug

If you have ever wondered about how to create some of the delicious foods I've featured on this blog, please stop by my personal chef's brand new blog- he'd love your support!

Plus you get to see more pictures of food. Who doesn't love that?

Another week of hunting...

For photos, of course. I don't think I will ever go 'real' hunting- in all likelihood I would end up shooting myself in an extremity- ouch.

Anyways.

Once again I'm linking up with Ashley for Scavenger Hunt Sunday at Ramblings and Photos. It happens weekly and is a wonderful way to get yourself out and taking pictures that aren't the same old same old. Stop by, share some comment love and join in!

1) Reflections- Over at Captivus she has created a photo challenge for using PS to give a photo a reflection. I spent literally hours trying to make this work, and I'm fairly happy with the results. I will definitely be trying this again soon- I think it would be awesome for a landscape!

2) Guess what this is...

Have you figured it out yet? How 'bout now? Anyone?

Fine! These are onion flowers! Did you even know onions had flowers? Neither did I. But they are gorgeous, fragrant and taste like really spicy onions! I love local farmer's markets- where else would you find something so unique!?

3) What's Inside- Mr. Pony has become a fan of modernist cooking (and we have a copy of Modernist Cuisine on its way to us- 50lbs. of mad scientist cookbooks that we got on super sale!). Thus we have unique meals on our table more often- this image is of a modernist grilled cheese (he did something different to the cheese- don't ask me) with an egg (cooked in an immersion circulator) inside and on the top (it was kinda like cheese). The pasta was actually roasted potato pasta, so it was basically grilled cheese and fries. Delish.

4)Playtime- I used this photo earlier this week, but I can't help tossing it in here again! Mr. P thinks it looks like Chowder is photo bombing the frame, and I like how he is *almost* in focus, even though he is running his little puppy heart out!

5) Lawn & Garden- I love all the growing things of spring, and I honestly couldn't pick my favorite for this prompt, so you get two shots!

Join in next week- the prompts are:

1) Architecture
2) Rimmed with Light
3) Toes or Feet
4) This is my favorite...
5) Shade(s)

Signs of Spring

The glow of spring makes getting out of work a little early that much sweeter.

The bushes are showing unexpected flower-y things.

Chowder is acting like a nutcase at the slightest prompting.

The yard develops spiky, angry bits to make me mow.

Our mini-garden experiment yields results.

And I finally break out the bermudas.

Life is so blooming good!

Psst- did you see what I did there? *giggle*

Over the weekend, Mr. Pony made tacos al pastor (with homemade refried beans and avocado sauce!). Delicious.

To make it even better, he made me {after some cajoling on Chowder's part- I was totally innocent of any pestering} a pineapple margarita! Talk about a fantastic meal!

My belly was quite happy!

I'm also happy because I've had a bit more time to play with PhotoShop recently, and I am having so much fun! My trial is about out, so Mr. Pony says that we'll be getting it shortly- yay for {another} birthday present! I did a bit of cropping and color editing on this next shot (hence the PS comment).

These charming little barn swallows have built a nest (see- it fits the ABC challenge!) right outside our back door! They are pretty annoyed with us every time we open the door, but so far we have not been dive-bombed by them. I'm hoping I can get a ladder and take some shots of the eggs soon! You can almost see momma bird sitting on the eggs- just her tail is showing. Adorable!

I also got to edit a shot from last week- I ran PW's Boost twice on this shot and then did a quick edge burn and lowered the opacity to 30(ish) percent. I like how it came out!

SOOC:

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

 I love this weekly challenge! I hope you follow the link over to Ashley's blog and join in! Without further ado- this week's prompts!

1) Time- Sometimes it is important to remind yourself to stop and smell the roses petunias. These lovelies are greeting me every morning now, and the smell reminds me of springtime as a child- my mom and grandma always planted them because they are pretty and hard to ruin, but they bring back happy memories:).

2) Poem

To see the Summer Sky
Is Poetry, though never in a Book it lie -
True Poems flee.
~Emily Dickinson

3) Outside- Only outside do the pups get to enjoy this much of a tumble!

4) Zoom!- What do you get when you combine 5 older dogs and a 5 month old Boxer puppy? You get zoom!

5) Isolation- This is one of the few pups who would stand still for me to get shots of her- thanks Scout!

Next week's prompts are:

1) Reflections
2) Guess what this is...
3) What's Inside
4) Playtime
5) Lawn & Garden

Since the air smells like springtime, I couldn't pass up these glorious purple petunias at the store today! Happy weekend!