My submission to Click It Up A Notch made the Top 12! Yay! Check it out here. I’m in great company with the other 11 gorgeous shots. Take a moment to vote too if you have time 
Here’s the photo again. There are more here from that day we spent playing in the streets and exploring the Mission Murals.
Hope you’re enjoying the weekend. We managed to squeeze in some family date night fun ourselves
*Photo Credit – Little Rex (my mini-me)
I’ve had lots of little projects I’ve been trying to get done lately. It feels like I’ve started or want to start so many but never find the time to finish them. Well I took one day this week to just stay home – no errands or outings with the kids. Just working on completing some of them. I did manage to finish this.
Since my kids are now in their own bedrooms, it’s been a fun few weeks of decorating and re-organizing their rooms. Pinterest of course has been quite an inspirational site for all the ideas I’m loving. One of them was this paper mosaic. So pretty. I thought my daughter’s room could use something like this as a centerpiece to decorate around.
I had picked up this 4′ square Audrey Hepburn canvas print at a garage sale a couple of months ago for $5. It’s been sitting in our garage while I tried to figure out what to do with it. In the end, I thought I would use it as a base for the mosaic.
I stopped at Michaels for some scrapbook paper in the colors I wanted. Grays and yellows.
I believe in the tutorial she cut her squares into 1″ sizes. Well that seemed like so much work. I made my 2″. It still took awhile to glue them all.
Instead of pasting the squares around the border I used duct tape to cover the edges
Yes I have all kinds of colored duct tape. It’s a little bit of a problem I have with colorful tape.
After every inch of the canvas was covered I sealed it with a Mod Podge gloss sealant. We’ve had a lot of sunshine during the afternoons lately so I decided to work outdoors. My little Jack-Jack climbed on my lap and sat there without even so much as a squirm watching me work. I love that I have these shots of her sitting on my lap watching me work on something that I was going to hang in her bedroom.
After it was complete I decided it needed a little more personalization. I had picked up this letters for $.50 each at Michaels (yes I love that store) in the kids’ initials recently. I used hers for this piece. I had to sand down the awful print that was on them and they spray it in the gray. Pretty easy process with Grizz’s electric sander and some gray spray paint I already had.
I glued them right smack center with hot glue. Ta-da!
It’s now hanging in her room above her crib. I will post pictures of that later as I have some other ideas on decorating around it.
I have been on a mission to get my 5yo to learn to swim before the end of summer. We take classes at the city’s favorite swim school for kids all the way on the opposite end of town from where we live. It’s a stressful morning trying to get the kids fed, dressed and out the door in time for class.
Well Rex earned his Rainbow ribbon at swim class this week
They’re very reward-oriented there. He has gotten a button, stickers and ribbon since starting and he’s only been there a month. This week they threw in free ice-cream!
It’s SF. It’s rare we think of ice-cream as a huge treat here but I figured I’d bundle them up and stop at the free ice-cream place for lunch. It turned out to be by the zoo in the coldest part of town. No wonder it’s free.
And since I couldn’t take a picture of the whole name without backing up into the street here’s part 2 of the sign. Ha. I’m so funny.
And after all that driving this is the moment I discover my son is an ice-cream snob! He refused to eat it complaining that it wasn’t real ice-cream. Apparently he will now only eat Mitchell’s or Bi-Rite. None of this swirly yogurt stuff from a machine.
So I try and feed them real food. Well you know how that goes.
Mushrooms? Not a fan. Obviously.
Giant cookies? Always.
By the way, I forgot to re-stock disposable bibs into my bag. These alligator clips sure are handy. I read on a parent hack post that they are useful to keep in your diaper bag. They were right.
Jack-Jack had a make-shift bib that I wasn’t constantly picking up off the floor. And it matched her dress! (Totally unplanned)
So that’s our big highlight outing this week since I’ve been trying to finish up some projects I’ve kinda let slide a little. Hey anything that gets us out of the house is a win in my books!
It does not seem like a month ago since I last picked my favorite. It does get harder each month to pick a favorite. I take so many photographs now.
Well after some digging around I finally decided on this one. I love how intent he was on figuring out that puzzle while sitting on a small alleyway curb in the Mission. I guess it’s because I see so much of his dad in him here.
Check out the link below to view everyone linking up for this contest. There are some amazing shots!
We really liked our Fathers Day T-Shirts we made so I decided to make us some Star Wars themed ones.
I had picked up this coloring book from Michaels awhile back for a couple of bucks and found it to be a great resource for pictures I could trace and cut from. Definitely better than anything I could find via Google Image search.
I had Rex pick out his favorite ones and got to work
It was pretty easy to trace through the freezer paper since only one side is wax. Soon I had my finished art to start cutting out
The cutting was a little time consuming but I would do it during Jack-Jack’s nap times and while Rex was having a snack or something. Finally I had my stencils done and ironed on ready to be bleached
The sun was shining that day so the bleach grabbed fast. It actually started bleaching my black shirt faster than my little guy’s.
After peeling the paper off and a wash and rinse we have our finished shirts! I love mine so much!
When MY Rex saw how cool mine looked he was upset he had chosen the helmet for his shirt. Of course I had extra shirts. I know better by now. So I let him pick another design and started working again
The second time around I knew I didn’t have to trace every single detail of the picture. I just needed the outline and some minor details that I could cut out to give it shape and structure. It went by much quicker.
This time I decided not to hang it to reduce that “dripped” look that comes from the bleach dripping down when the T-Shirt is hanging. I just laid it down on a flat surface and sprayed the bleach on.
After the wash and rinse we have our new Captain Rex T-Shirt for my fickle 5yo. He’s much happier!
I’ve decided I’m gonna make one for the babe too! I’ve already got the T-Shirt. Now to pick the design… Stay tuned! 
When we hit the farmers market on the weekends, it’s usually the one at the Ferry Building. Once in awhile we venture over to Noe. We NEVER go to the one just down the hill from us. In my opinion it’s the least pretty.
Lately though I’ve been feeling a little “done” with how the Ferry Building farmers market is so over-run with tourists. It’s always crowded now even when it’s cold and foggy. When the city gives us a sunny Saturday morning, well you better be ready to deal with long lines and no parking at the Ferry Building.
This past Saturday we decided to stay local and stock up on our produce at the market closest to home. Wow. I was pleasantly surprised at the selection and prices. Forget the Ferry Building. We’re sticking to a 2 minute drive from now on.
The flowers were everywhere. And they sure seemed taller than average.
The selection of produce was amazing. We picked up some of the corn and bbq’d them later in the evening and it was sweet as honey.
It was crowded though. But definitely a non-tourist kind of crowd. Everyone there probably lived up the hill on Bernal or in the Mission and were just out grabbing their greens and fruits for the week. Like us
The kids kept themselves entertained. I love that my son pretty much entertains his sister just by entertaining himself. I guess that’s what they mean by playing together. But at 4.5 years apart they don’t really “play together” quite yet
And then he always takes it one step too far. I’m pretty sure I had to break it up right after this shot
Oh and I can’t forget to mention the bread. We stopped to purchase some focaccia. The baker (I’m guessing he had a hand in baking this since he was so proud) had watched me photographing random stuff around his little “bakery stall” and said to me “I got something you’ll want to take a picture of”. And then pulled this out.
Seriously. This thing could feed a small town.
And he had more
Well all that fresh food made us hungry so we stopped for some taco truck goodness
Jack-Jack is not into tacos yet so she had her own special meal – Sandbox Bakery’s Bacon Epi. Doesn’t the name of it just sound so wrong? In such a right way? Trust me, it tastes just as good.
Well our jaunt to our neighborhood market was definitely a success. It may be a little less regular that you see a post from me on the farmer’s market at the Ferry Building.
By the way, have you checked out my Project 365? It is now live on a separate blog. You can link to it here if you’re interested in keeping up with me more!
My baby Jack-Jack turned 14 months a few days ago. Yes my 14 month post is a little late. But I didn’t do a 13 month one so I’m already better off this month than last.
She’s my second. It’s so different the second time around. I have much less time to focus on just her and celebrate in all the little milestones as I did with my first. My saving grace is that I have a renewed interest in photography so I end up “accidentally” documenting many of them just because of my new hobby.
Simple things like climbing up a step stool for the first time
Learning the slides
Discovering simple wonders like bubbles
Watching the ducks swim
Learning we have to be invited to the party before we can actually go in
So many of these moments I’ve managed to capture of her because of my new obsession with the camera. I’m grateful for it. Because otherwise my little SF original would never have even half the pictures I have of her older brother.
I DO wish she would smile just a tad more often for the camera though…
But smiling or not, my baby girl is going to have lots of pictures of her childhood. Maybe even as many as her older sibling. Which is not something every second child can say.
Happy 14 months baby girl. I love you.
Nope not my loud kids. Although if not hearing how loud they are sometimes because I’m so used to it counts as embracing noise than yes.
I’ve been playing around with the camera on pool nights as you know. I’ve been mostly frustrated at how the low-light conditions make most of my shots grainy since I have to bump my ISO up to compensate for the poor bar lighting. I’ve thought of bringing a tripod to reduce shake (which doesn’t help the noise) due to slower shutter speed but put that idea on the backburner when I got laughed at by my loving supportive Grizz! I guess it’s funny enough I lug around the big old DSLR and my cue into a dive bar in the Mission. I’d really be attracting some attention if I added a tripod to that mix.
A comment my lovely and talented photographer friend @tecgirl made about noise removal when I went to her for software recommendations got me thinking that maybe I should try and incorporate the noise as part of the story I try and tell via my photos.
So instead of over-processing the shots to try and remove the noise, here is my first attempt at embracing it.
I used the fabulous B boys as my test subjects
Well them and the bike they rode in on
J1 pondering over his choices
J2 and Grizz trying to figure out the score
We ended up 2-3 for the evening but still very much in the race for a final playoff spot with 2 weeks left in our season.
I’d love to hear any critiques on these as they are definitely outside my comfort zone in terms of what I’m used to shooting – 2 small children running around in lots of natural light!
On a photography-related note, I’ve finally put my Project 365 up. It is on a separate blog that you can link to from here or the page link above. It’s only a little over 2 weeks old but I’m happy I started it as it helps me look back on our day-to-day lives in a simple way.
We do this ALOT. All the typical tourist traps around the city are great for the under 5 set. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve ridden the cable cars, double decker buses, bay quakers etc… My son loves them all. So when a Groupon for the Bay Cruise popped up on my radar late last year I bought one for us. Unfortunately the weather has not been working in our favor and schedule. Until this week.
Sunshine. Lots of it.
We left the house the moment I could get them all packed and in the car and headed to my least favorite of all tourist traps – Fisherman’s Wharf. That’s where our boat departs
If the sun is shining and you’re hot in shorts in Fisherman’s Wharf you know it’s sweltering in SF. So of course everyone else decided it would be a great day for a boat ride too! It was so packed my son refused to be anywhere on the boat but the lowest deck – with yucky blue tint on all its windows it made all my shots blue. I did my best to fix them PP but oh well.
By the way, I’m making more of an effort to be in the shots with my kids. I look back on so many blog posts and it makes me sad I’m in so few with them. Yay for remotes and long arms!
Not much else to do on the lower deck but eat and look out the window so they dove into my bag of snacks I brought. She didn’t like what I made her so he shared his PB&J. So adorable to watch.
Well after the cruise we wandered over to the Wharf. My son was not impressed though. Is it silly that I’m just a little proud he’s turning into an SF snob?
So we splurged on lunch at one of the overpriced seafood restaurants overlooking the water.
He got tired of eating…
So I let him play with the camera a little. I’ve found a third option in being in the shots with at least one kid – My Rex is now old enough to handle the DSLR! I just put it in full auto when I let him shoot.
One more with the remote!
It was a fun sunny day out with my kids <3
I’m so grateful to have a cute little wine bar just a 5 minute walk up the street from where we live. It’s not just any wine bar. This one is special because every week they have a happy hour catered specifically for people like me – MOMS. It’s called the wine and whiner happy hour and they are extremely baby-friendly!
Because let’s face it. Some days are just longer than others. And by the time 4pm rolls around, and there is no sitter or husband in sight, you just need a little bit of this…
And this…
To get you through the home stretch to bedtime.
Where they serve toys with food
And don’t care which one you eat
And let you leave behind a mess without so much as a dirty look
After just a quick 45 minutes there I’m just a tad more relaxed and even my kids start looking cute again!
What I'm working on - finding beauty in the ordinary... #cmglimpse
Leopard party for the 3yo officially in the books. Time to take off the ears, yeah?
So this was going on in our house today. Yeah.
Americano's.
Golden hour on the east side of San Francisco
Got out for a rare happy hour outdoors in the city this evening
This kid . God I love her.
Morning light.
![](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7283/8740344302_c1ee791ff4_m.jpg "Had my baby girl play right "in the middle" of the pretty light. #cmglimpse")
Had my baby girl play right "in the middle" of the pretty light. #cmglimpse
Started a creative workshop this week. Already finding inspiration everywhere...
Her last few days of terrible-twos. She turns into an angel at age 3 right?
My morning so far... ❤
The only way we watch an #sfgiants game at home.
Dining al fresca with this munchkin.
Date night happiness. That is all.
We had to leave when we were down by 1 in the 9th. Walked back in when we tied it up because of these 2. Look at them. I couldn't be a prouder #sfgiants mama.
Bribed them with a trip to the dugout store for this shot *sigh* #sfgiants
Sunshiny days at the yard with this kid are back. ❤ #sfgiants
Teaching my baby girl that there is more than one kind of diamond to love. #sfgiants
Guess where we're headed? #sfgiants
