Winter Wonderland

This last Sunday Steve and I checked out the Christkindl Market in Daley Plaza and then headed over to Lincon Park Zoo for the ZooLights exhibit. Both provided great photo ops that will hopefully give you that warm & fuzzy holiday feeling!

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas surrounded by those you love!

Christkindl Market Photos:


That's Steve on the right, my husband and somewhat reluctant photography subject.






Not sure what these are called, but my Grandma had one and I loved it - it was a little tricky to get the fan part spinning as I recall.


Something about the shot above reminds me of the last Batman movie.



So I didn't intentionally take this shot, but I love the way the lady in the fur looks and it is kind of a good example of the thirds principle.




I have this thing about lambs - I just think they're really cute - thus the shot above...



We got a bite to eat at the market - brats, potato pancakes (dripping with butter - no wonder, I saw the cook literally take a pitcher of butter and pour it over the potatoes while they were frying - and yeah, I ate it anyway - yum) and Glühwein.




Lincoln Park Zoo (ZooLights):




It really did look like someone went all Clark Griswold on the entire zoo, which gave me the perfect opportunity to play around with my shutter speed and ISO - just to see what would happen (above are a couple of examples of this experiment).








more experiments...




Picture credits: © 2009 Suzy Rohan

Week In Review

So I've been MIA from blogging this week, but with good excuse - and that means an extra long blog post to make up for it! Here's what I've been up to...

1) Submitted my SOAR! Video entry. A lot of you know (especially those of you who have been subjected to being my photography subjects) that I've been trying to build my photography portfolio - so that I can eventually offer photography services in addition to design. I was contemplating the number of years it would take me to actually save up for all of the equipment when Me Ra of Me Ra Koh Photography announced an amazing opportunity. She is going to give three women scholarships, which include photography equipment, websites and business coaching (as well as a ton of other cool stuff). To enter you need to make a 2 minute video - be as creative as possible and convince them that you have what it takes to "SOAR!".

Here's what I came up with... oh, and I want to thank my little brother for helping me - it was really fun working on this project with him:



2) Finished up with designing holiday cards for friends & family. Here are the ones that I worked on this year...










3) Edited the pictures that I took of my friend's newborn - Nolan James







4) Made my first apple pie. It was surprisingly easier that I thought it would be - I think it was because I used an apple peeler/corer - that thing was amazing - next to the light bulb, the wheel and fire, I'm pretty sure the apple peeler/corer is one of the best inventions ever made.




5) Had a couple of friends over for a Christmas cookie party. It was a lot of fun - I never realized how many cookies you can make in a really short amount of time when you have two other people helping you!



6) Worked on a couple of logo designs - one of which required painting the perfect dot. I'll unveil the completed designs when they're finished...




That's it for this week - today Steve and I are off to the Christkindl Market and ZooLights at Lincoln Park Zoo...

Renegade Craft Fair | Great Gift Ideas!

Here are the latest finds from my visit to the Renegade Craft Fair a couple of weeks ago. There were so many great gift ideas and I was amazed by the creativity and talent that was there! I'm hoping just an ounce of the creativity of the exhibitors will rub off on me just a little...

My first stop was to the rinse bath & body co. I had visited Heather's booth at the last Renegade Craft Fair in September - needless to say I was back for more... these soaps literally smell so good, I almost wanted to eat them (that's weird I guess, but true).




Kirke Handmade Lighting And Furniture was such a cool booth (and the only one like at the fair). I was pleasantly surprised to find that his prices were really reasonable...




Tartella had a really cute booth that showcased a plethora of goodies. I love how the design of all of the items revolved around food - the tea towels and the napkins would make great house warming gifts, and the letterpressed stationery items just might show up in someone's stocking this year...





I am not a knitter (there, I've finally admitted it). Hands + Notions Fiber Goods had me wishing I was though... all of the yarn is washed, spun and dyed by hand. Also check out the Hands + Notions blog...



You know how when you travel you always seem to come home with one earring instead of two? Not anymore - I love this handy travel wallet by Carrie Girl Handmade...




I purchased a few of Laura Berger's illustrated cards at the last Renegade Craft Fair and was thrilled to see her holiday themed cards & illustrations at this one. Her illustration style is part adorable, part fantastical...





The little BIG pants booth was one of the last booths that I visited. I had a great time talking to Terra about her work and trying to convince her to write a children's book based on all of her little characters. Check out the little BIG pants blog, where Terra shares her process & thoughts...





I particularly loved crazy Aunt Birdy and all of her "contraband"...




That's it for now...