Things to Do - Project 52, Weeks 1 and 2

In 2010 (which seems like forever ago), I undertook a 365 day photo project - in which I took and posted one photo a day throughout the year. On the upside, I loved that this project made me a better photographer - more likely to notice details and capture routine moments in creative ways. On the downside, I hated how unbalanced the final results were - some days I had so many good photos that choosing one seemed impossible; whereas other days I was picking through garbage - trying to come up with anything worth saving.

Basically, all of the culling stressed me out.

So I waited 7 years before attempting a similar project, convinced that my acquired skills would help with decision-making. But within the first week I found myself in the exact same quandary from before - why one day was I trying to make bad photos look better, while ignoring the heaps of wonderful photos taken the next day?

So I'm changing the rules. This year, instead of a 365 project, I'm undertaking a 52 project. My goal is to still shoot my/our personal life every day. But rather than look at the daily results, I'll look at the weekly results. And then post on this blog 7-10 photos that best capture our week. And, although they might all be from different days, I'll attempt to make them from different moments or time periods (so there will never be 10 photos taken at the same place at the same time).

Of course, even with the new parameters, choosing photos is always hard - what if it is a good photo of a so/so moment? or a bad photo of an excellent memory? I can never decide, so for now I'm taking the middle ground - with a little bit of everything. So don't judge too harshly (culling is tough!!).

Wish me luck! Happy 2017!

WEEK 1


















(1) Afternoon light outside Longbranch Nature Center; (2) F working on homework; (3) The first 5th grade girls' basketball game (they won); (4) Family dinner; (5) At the dog park; (6) Errands on a snowy Saturday; (7) The first 4th grade girls' basketball game (they won); (8) T reading Captain Underpants.

WEEK 2















(1) A sunny day at the playground; (2) The upstairs of the preschool I work at; (3) F on Musicly; (4) The kids at Hillwood Estate (after this photo, T fell/submerged himself in the pond and we had to leave); (5) The Washington Post; (6) Snapchat; (7) the kitchen at night.

Things to Do - Random Links & 5 Hours 'Til Bedtime

Happy Friday everyone! We've had a crazy warm week (so lots of afternoons at the dog park), I don't really miss the cold but the kids are bummed, they keep wishing for snow.

Don't forget to check out this week's awesome on 5 Hours 'Til Bedtime.

RANDOM LINKS:

* My goal this summer is to finally take a family backpacking trip - and these hikes look amazing - 10 Best 2-3 Day Virginia Backpacking Trips On The Appalachian Trail.

* 17 books that inspire travel.

* 75 books for the next four years.

* I'm totally obsessed with this Orlando vacation photo shoot.

* Isn't Kim Keever's artwork mesmerizing?

* Blue feed/red feed - whatever your political beliefs, you really need to look at this.

* 12 five ingredient dinners.

* I wanted to see the world.

Things to Do - Best of 2016

BOOKS
* The Neapolitan novels by Elana Ferrante (i.e. my favorite books ever)
* Joshua Ferris's short story, the Breeze (in Best American Short Stories 2014)
* Kate Atkinson's A God in Ruins
* Doris Lessing's The Fifth Child
* Edna O'Brien's The Country Girls Trilogy
* Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook
* Emma Cline's The Girls
* Waiting by Ha Jin
* Cities I've Never Lived In by Sara Majka (short stories)
* Jerusalem by Guy Delisle

TV
* How to Make a Murderer
* Better Call Saul, Season 1
* The Heavy Water War
* Togetherness, Season 1
* The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Season 2
* OJ - Made in America
* Stranger Things
* The Night Of
* Binge-watching Shameless, seasons 1 through 6
* Odd Mom Out, Seasons 1 and 2
* Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Season 1

MOVIES
* Bad Moms
* Wiener
* Arrival
* La La Land

FAMILY MOVIES/TV
* The Peanuts Movie
* Watching 80s movies as a family - Overboard, Tootsie, & Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
* Malcom in the Middle
* ET in the neighbors' back yard
* Kubo and the Three Strings

LOCAL EXHIBITS AND PERFORMANCES
* Josh Ritter at the 9:30 Club and in Charlottesville
* The IMAX National Parks movie at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
* Collected Stories (the play) at Four Mile Run theater
* Edward Sharpe's concert at Wolftrap
* The Cure concert at Merriweather (the parking situation was a nightmare, but the 3 hour show was pretty incredible)
* Lord Heron and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats for date night at Wolftrap (plus there was a rainbow!)
* Paul Simon for date night at Wolftrap
* Bob Dylan and Mavis Staples with our friends at Wolf Trap
* Icebergs and the Dollhouse exhibit at the Building Museum
* The Washed Ashore Exhibit at the National Zoo
* Attending Cirque De Soleil's Kurios with F and P
* Taking 7 cool kids to the Hirschhorn's Ragnar Kjartansson exhibit
* Taking the kids to see Raina Telgemeier at the National Book Festival
* Attending YanFam Way Photography workshop

NEW PLACES (LOCAL)
* Rose's Luxury for my 40th birthday
* Chipotle Picnic at Hains Point
* Camping at River Run campground for Dan's birthday
* Taking the kids to Water Country USA the week before school started (it was empty)
* A gorgeous afternoon at the Maryland Renaissance Festival
* Camping at Prince William Forest Park
* The newly renovated Eastern Wing of the National Gallery of Art (especially the Photography Reinvented exhibit).
* Visiting the African-American History Museum (an excellent addition to the National Mall)

VACATION PLACES
* The Awesome (photography) Workshop
* A weekend in Chicago with Dan and seeing high school friends
* Our third annual Memorial Week beach trip in Nags Head, NC with neighborhood friends
* Our five week road trip to CO and back - highlights include:

** Touring the Biltmore, esp. the gardens (Asheville, NC)
** The Country Music Hall of Fame's Puppet Show (Nashville, TN)
** Graceland & the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel (Memphis, TN)
** Tubing in Arkadelphia, AK
** The Chihuly exhibit at the Oklahoma City Art Museum (OKC, OK)
** Cabin camping in Palo Duro State Park (Palo Duro Canyon, TX)
** Tinkertown (Alberquerque, NM)
** Hiking Rinconada Trail in Petroglyph National Park (it was crazy hot, but pretty) (Alberquerque, NM)
** Horseback riding in Santa Fa Forest (Santa Fe, NM)
** MeoWolf (Santa Fe, NM)
** A 24 Hour Rafting Trip on the Rio Grande (NM) ("the rafting unicorns")
** Camping in Mesa Verde National Park and hiking the Knife's Edge trail at dusk (CO)
** Waterworld!! (Denver, CO)
** Women of Abstract Expressionism & Why We Dance at the Denver Art Museum (Denver, CO)
** Great Wolf Lodge (Kansas City, MO)
** Laumeier sculpture park at dusk (St. Louis, MO)
** City Museum (St. Louis, MO)
** Visiting great grandma in her nursing home (Columbus, OH)

Places to Go/Things to Do - Let Your Voice Be Heard - Women's March on Washington

So MANY people (500,000 plus) and so much love. What more can I say?

THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!!!























(This was my favorite. Along with "Free Melania" which I couldn't get a photo of).

Things to Do - Snapshots of October through December

I feel like I'm finally coming out of the craziness that was autumn and Christmas.

Over the weekend, I edited personal photos from October through December. And now I've got some new projects started for 2017 that I'm hoping to share soon.

Anyways, even though these were all taken months ago - here they are - snapshots of our fall:











More shots from when I took the kids to Blue Hill Farm to test out the light for a wedding I shot there (the wedding photos are up on my professional blog - here).



F's birthday book pile from her annual Barnes and Noble shopping spree.







A few photos from our camping trip at Prince William Forest Park.





Exploring Old Town Alexandria before a wedding I shot there at the Hotel Monaco (so pretty!!). I still need to blog the photos.





Halloween 2016, another year of "homemade" costumes (all credit goes to the kids, I did nothing) - a cat burglar, a spy, and Ms. Peregrine.



My awesome friend highlighted P's hair. Blue (of course).



Touring the National Gallery's newly renovated east wing.





Ragnar Kjartansson's Hirrshhorn exhibit with the kids and their friends.



Lazy mornings.





My mom sent us an old family boardgame, perfect for December nights.









Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.







Warm days at the dog park.







Around town.



One last nerf gun shot.