Art Inspiration: kids without candy

This morning I stumbled upon this series called 'End Times' by Jill Greenberg and had to share it. It is a series of photographs where children have been given candy, then the candy was taken away, and Jill started photographing. Obviously when you take candy away from a kid they are going to cry, and that is the exact reaction Jill got. At first when you look at the photographs you think it is some kind of cruel joke. Then it just becomes funny. Funny in a not so funny way. It is definitely a strange series of photos to take, but that's what I love about it.

 (The rest of the pictures have a level of humor to them, but this one is just plain heartbreaking!)

Leaving the Bay Area...

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

-Lewis Carroll

And the time has come for us to leave the Bay Area. (Yes, the poem above is completely random, I just like it.) Leave the Bay you say? Why yes, Virginia is our home and we have made the decision to move back.

The decision to move back to Virginia has been a difficult decision that we have mulled over many a night. I wrote this post a while back about constantly comparing California to Virginia, and about how our decision was made from the desire for adventure. And let me just say, it has been one awesome adventure!

Our move and adventure to California was inevitable. It was the thing we had waited years for, so we had to do it. It was our opportunity to try something new, live in a different place, be different people, and experience new things. Through moving here and doing all of those things we slowly began to realize that it was not for us. Our life here in California has never felt permanent. When the future was brought up we could never envision ourselves here, and when talk of having kids started we most definitely could not imagine it happening in California.

We gave it our best shot, but somehow the core of our being cannot let go of Virginia. Neither Andy or I had a childhood in Virginia, we both moved there when we were 12 years old. From that point on though, Virginia shaped who we were through middle school, high school, and then college. Those green rolling mountains of the Shenandoah Valley molded us into the people we are today. It wasn't until we left that, that we discovered how important it is to us.

Yes we are young, and yes we will still have many adventures, but at this point in our late 20s we just want to be in a familiar place surrounded by our good friends. California has taught us the importance of home, community, family, and friendship. These above all else are the important things in our lives and we don't want to waste another minute away from them.

So...California- it has been grand, but Virginia awaits us!

(*We start the long drive back at the end of the month, so blog posts will be spotty for the next few weeks.)

A Haircut

Well...I got a haircut! Does your hair ever annoy you, make your head tingly, and you think "gosh, I just have to chop this off". Mine does, so I gave it the chop! It has been time for a haircut since last fall but I was never motivated enough to do it. I am not attached to my hair, it is just convenient to tie up when it is long. Yes, I am lazy. Recently though, my scalp was itching for a haircut so I finally did it. I was curious about the Aveda Institute student haircuts, so I booked an appointment.

When I arrived at the San Francisco Aveda everyone was friendly, they even served me tea while I waited. When I met my hairdresser she explained that she would be asking her teacher for help throughout the haircut and that it may take longer. Then she proceeded to give me a scalp massage with scented oils. Um wow! After that, we picked out a shampoo together and she shampooed my hair. Then I showed her a picture of what I wanted and she called her teacher over to get a few tips on how to proceed. She was very careful and meticulous with my haircut. Ever so often she would call her teacher over just to make sure that she was doing everything properly. I appreciated that. The haircut took about 2.5 hours...yes it was long, but totally worth it. At the end of it all I only paid $17. Really, it was such a deal and a fun experience overall. Now if I can just learn how to style my hair the way she did...

*Sorry for the poor quality photos, I used the camera on my phone.

Ocean Beach!

Ahh, Ocean Beach, San Francisco. Andy and I picnicked here a few weeks ago and it was wonderful! We are on the constant search for good beaches in the Bay Area. Not that there are beaches that are not good, but some have better perks than others. Some allow fires, some don't, some get crowded, others are abandoned, some allow dogs, others are strict with animals, some are blocked from the wind, others are warm...and it goes on. Ocean Beach is one that we have put of visiting due to the fact that it is actually in San Francisco. We figured it would be crowded and over run with people, not to mention cold and windy. Surprisingly though, it was none of those things.

Ocean Beach runs about the whole length of the western side of San Francisco. It stretches pretty far and because of that there is plenty of space to spread out. We went on sunny day and it actually got hot! We didn't wear bathing suits because the Bay Area beaches are far too cold for that. We were tucked away in the grassy bluffs out of sight for most to see us, so we stripped down to our underwear and basked in the sun. (Simply divine!) Not only was Ocean Beach warm, but we saw plenty of dogs and I think beach fires are even allowed. This seems like a beach win for the books!

New Years Goals Recap

Now that we are half way though the year I figured I would do a recap on my New Years Goals (not resolutions). Most years I will think of 1 or 2 goals over New Years Eve before the clock strikes 12 only to forget them days later. This year I decided to make a few goals and really stick to them. Having a blog makes that a lot easier, yay motivation! If I put something out there on the blogosphere I feel like I have to stick to it. It is a great way to hold myself accountable. :)

Goal #1: To live a minimalist lifestyle
I am happy to report that I have been fairly successful on this goal! Andy and I have whittled down our belongings to less than half of what we moved to California with. The more I minimize, the better I feel. It is more freeing than I thought it would be! Read more about it here, and find tips on how to do it yourself here.

Goal #2: Learn to drink my coffee black
This goal has been a big old FAIL. I had great intentions in January, but I just don't enjoy drinking black coffee. I desperately love to load up my coffee with milk and sugar...lets just call it my guilty pleasure. I have been successful with exchanging my morning coffee for green tea though. During the week I will drink green tea rather than coffee. On the weekends when Andy and I make breakfast together I'll drink a big cup of fully loaded coffee. Yum!

Goal #3: Lose 10 pounds
Yay, I have lost the 10 pounds and even a few more!! I knew it was possible, I just had to get my head in the right place. After a year of owning and running a chocolate business I had packed on 10 extra pounds. (10 pounds of delicious chocolate!) So I worked hard and diligently to re-work my calories and add an exercise routine. I am not a runner or a biker or anything crazy, I just like to walk, so that's what I did. 10 pounds doesn't look any differently on my 5 foot 7 body frame, but it sure does feel better! Read more about my weight and food stuff here and here.

Goal #4: Pick up a sport
This goal has yet to be thought about or put into action, unfortunately it has gone by the wayside. We live next to a lake that has rowing and I would really like to try it, but it requires passing a few swim tests at a pool that is not nearby. (Hassle!) On the upside, Andy and I have joined a gym and we work out together, so maybe that is good enough?

Goal #5: Write a book
I am working on this one right now. I had another book idea that I was going to work towards (something top secret), but decided to put it on hold to write a chocolate truffle cookbook. While running my business as a chocolatier, I developed over 100 recipes for unique chocolate truffles. I don't want the recipes or all the great chocolate information that I learned to go to waste. So a chocolate cookbook it is!

Goal #6: Eliminate processed foods
This goal has happened in phases. For the first two months of the year I did not eat a single processed food, yay! Since then a few processed foods have slowly worked their way into my mouth. It happens mostly when we are traveling and I have decided just to go with it. As long as I stay mostly processed food free then a few things here and there won't hurt.

Overall I would say this years goals have been successful and even encouraging for me. When you set your mind to something and work towards it great things can happen. It has been a fun process for me to clean up my life and make it healthier. Now that I have begun these things I think the good habits are here to stay. What a fantastic feeling!

Art Inspiration: Self Portraits of a 14 Year Old

"FiddleOak" (Zev) is a 14 year old boy from Massachusetts who uses photography and editing to create photo manipulations. A lot of his photos involve a self portrait of him in some type of fairy tale land. His older sister (Nellie) often helps him. Check out his website/blog for more of his projects. (And flickr for just the photos.) If you read through some of his stuff on the blog you will quickly see that FiddleOak is quite the smart humorous guy. It is SO exciting to see younger people exploring art...and being great at it none the less!

Alcatraz!

It is my strong belief that when you live somewhere you should explore the area in depth, and know not only the cool things to do, but the history as well. It always saddens me to hear of someone having lived in an area for 5-10 years and still not knowing about the history or cool things around them. Having said that, Andy and I put our tourist shoes on and went to Alcatraz!

Alcatraz was so neat! I am not a huge history buff or even one for enjoying overly touristy things, but this was COOL! It was as touristy and history filled as you wanted it to be, which I appreciated. We took a boat out to the tiny island and upon getting off the boat we could do whatever we wanted. We had four hours of time on the island, of which we could take a boat back at any time. Time on the island could be spent following a tour guide, doing an audio tour only in the prison, following a pamphlet walking tour, or just wandering around on your own.

Andy and I decided to skip the tour guide and do our own thing. We were pretty excited to see the inside of the prison so we went straight up to the top of the island where the prison sat. There, we did an audio tour which guided us through the prison telling us stories and bits of history. It was VERY interesting, I loved it! I wish I could remember all the cool facts that were given, but alas I cannot. You will just have to experience the audio tour for yourself.

(Inside an Alcatraz cell)

After our audio tour of the prison we decided to wander the island on our own. Aside from the wardens huge house in ruins, we happened upon beautiful gardens. The gardens on Alcatraz surprised me the most. I had no idea that it was such a beautiful little island. Most of the time you think of Alcatraz just as a prison, but this island was so much more. It was a small town of sorts where all the prison guards and their families lived.

(This picture is an interesting contrast of beautiful gardens and the prison in the background.)

Andy and I had so much fun on our Alcatraz tour and now we know even more about the Bay Area. It was such a fun trip and I would recommend it to everyone. During the audio tour we heard something about the mess-hall being famous for serving spaghetti, so when we got home we made spaghetti and watched the old 'Escape from Alcatraz' movie. It was a great way to end our day visiting Alcatraz.

(Not sure exactly what this was, but it doesn't look like fun.)

(Checking out prison cells on the audio tour.)

(The outdoor area where prisoners could exercise and/or play games. It looks sunny, but was windy and freezing cold!!)

(Solitary confinement. They shut us in there for 5-minutes, it was blackout with no sound. Kind of crazy.)

(A view of San Francisco from Alcatraz.)

(Beautiful gardens with exotic birds roaming them.)

(Unfortunately Alcatraz is falling apart. Most of the island is in ruins.)

*If you decide to check out Alcatraz for yourself dress WARM. It was windy and freezing cold on the island. We were warm enough, but left early due to having the chills.*