Jessica's "Daily Affirmation"

Christen showed me this youtube video the other day and it really cracked me up.  I don't really feel like sorting through pictures from the last few days...we went out for Jaime's birthday last night and it's been a rough recovery day. I have literally done nothing today, in fact, I am still in my rubber duckie pjs.  Sometimes you just need to have a pajama day.

I showed Jaime this video this morning and had a little affirmation session myself.  It was pretty funny {but that might have been because either one or both of us might have still been slightly intoxicated}.  I really got started because we have a new piece of furniture in the apartment that we just decorated, and I am completely in love obsessed with it.

Now my whole house is great! I can do anything good!
I like my corner unit!
I like my picture frames!
I like my decorative balls!
I like my books!
I like my pillow cases!
I like my pictures on the wall!

Remember when I sewed these myself?!

I created this collage on Picnik with the three pictures we finally printed and hung over the couch.  The parking one actually came out too dark, so I think that will be replaced. Regardless, the pictures look awesome.  We printed them 11 x 15 and the frames are thick, so it adds a lot of drama with three big frames on those 12 foot high ceilings.


It took about 9 months, but it finally feels like we live here!
Now we just need to get the bedroom decorated.


xoxo
j

42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47/365

I'm listening to the Glee version of Katy Perry's Firework on repeat right now.  Jaime is not pleased.

But really... Glee is fantastic this season.

42/365: Happy Birthday

This might be my favorite picture of Jaime.  I love how the light from the candle illuminates his face {nope, there was no flash used here}. I love the plates off to the right, just waiting for cake, and I love the shadow that is coming off of the cake. 

43/365: Stairway to...the Path

I'm not sure what's up with that green lighting, I actually really don't like this picture at all. I don't want to talk about it, I just don't like it. I had terrible pictures from this day. Ugh.

44/365: The iPhone arrives. 
Jaime's arrived.  Mine came a day later.  It was only fitting that my picture of the day was the new phone.  It's the best.thing.ever.  Even though this picture is a little yellow-y.  I need to get better lighting in my apartment.

45/365: Smokin

 It's a little unnerving when you walk out of your building and see a plume of smoke.  Luckily, it was just some construction in the middle of the street.

46/365: iPhoneography

This is my first official post that includes a picture that was not taken with my Nikon D40 and I'm OK with that.  Apparently there is a HUGE cult-like following of iPhoneographers. Google it, I'm not lying. This was taken using an app called Hipstamatic. It's from the Forever 21 in Times Square.  I went there with Christen after work last night...they have a cab on the bottom {4th} floor. It's weird, I had to take a picture.

47/365: Blue
L.O.V.E.
Ok fine. If you click on the picture to make it bigger, the water tower and the building are both blurry, and there's a little bit of grain in there.  {istillneedtolearnhowtotakenonflashpicturesatnightitsnotmyfault}
BUT. I am slightly obsessed with water towers in the city, I think they make great photo subjects. I also really like the way the sky looks, and the interesting-ness going on with the light spots.  Open the picture bigger and you can see what I'm talking about in the upper left and then again with a line going down the right side.  Even though it's far from a technically perfect picture...it might be one of my favorites to date.

In other news, I booked a photography class for next weekend.  Yay.  It's run by Panasonic, and I actually bought it on Living Social {a Groupon-like site}.  It's three hours and it's on location at Grand Central.  I'm really excited. I think I can get some good shots and hopefully learn a little too.  I'll have a separate post that week to let you know how it goes!

xoxo

J

39, 40, 41/365

39/365: A Rainy-Icy Morning
On our way to work Wednesday morning, Jaime spotted this bike covered in ice and suggested I take it for my picture that day.  It was more than a little challenging because there were people trying to pass us on the sidewalk {which was a sheet of ice, half blocked my snow and half blocked by garbage - which you can actually see in the upper left hand side of the picture}. Jaime had to hold my umbrella over my head while I tried to crouch down to actually get the picture at this angle AND all the while trying to keep the camera dry.  This resulted in only two pictures - neither of which I loved. 
The reason I'm not really happy with this picture is the focus.  If you enlarge it, you can see that the icicles on the upper right hand corner are in focus, which is not what I was trying to do.  I don't know what it is about my camera {probably the fact that after 2+ years I still don't really know how to use it} but I have the hardest time trying to get it to understand what I want it to focus on.  Hopefully, my class this semester will solve my focusing communication problem with the Nikon.

40/365: Alice?

Thursday I was feeling really sick, so I stayed home from work.  I slept for a good part of the day, and was definitely not in the picture taking mood.  Right before bed I was all "S&^%, Jaime I need to take a picture!"  Are you allowed to curse on blogs?... Anyway, I took the camera and the first thing I saw was the doorknob on the front door. At the time I thought it was terrible, but now that I processed it in black and white I LOVE it. When I saw the finished image on a big computer screen I immediately thought of Alice in Wonderland, and to be honest I didn't really know why.....until I googled Alice in Wonderland door knob. It made me love the picture even more.

41/365: Tourist

This picture is pretty tourist-y but I don't care. I couldn't decide whether I liked it better in color or b+w, so I posted both.  The color in the sky last night was a really intense blue {no processing - this is the image that came right out of my camera} you also get to see the colors of the Empire State Building...but for some reason I also really liked the b+w.  What do you think?

37, 38/365

37/365: At the tip of my fingers

...well, not my fingers, Jaime's.  I did some edits in photoshop to turn this b+w and it ended up grainy... I don't know why.  Also, as I'm writing this I noticed that Jaime looks like he's giving me the finger a little with the left hand.  Maybe he is subconsciously telling me that he's tired of me taking pictures of him for my 365 project? Who knows. 

38/365: I love to read

I didn't bring my camera to work today and I had trouble finding something to take a picture of in the apartment.  I remembered a picture like this that I saw on flickr, and thought it was a great idea.  I took a bunch of pictures of the book like this, and I decided that I really liked the one where I put the focus on the inside of the pages.  At first glance it's a little dreamy/blurry looking, but if you look hard you can see some of the words on the inside in focus. 

{If you're wondering...this was the last book that I was reading before I moved last year, but never finished it.  It's called the Happiness Project, and what I did read I really enjoyed.}

At some point this past weekend I was playing on the computer and came across a YouTube video for a flash mob wedding.  It was kind of weird because they get married in a mall {Robin Sparkles anyone...?}.  I don't know why I love flash mobs, but this makes me happy.

Goodnight xoxo

J

33, 34, 35, 36/365

I have four days of pictures to post, but I'm pretty tired tonight so this post will be short.

33/365: Snowy Street

34/365: Wine and Chocolate
Two of my favorite things :)

35/365: Washington Square Park

 36/365: Abstract
 This is a picture of a wall that Jaime and I found today near our apartment.  I manually {un}focused the camera.  This really looks like a painting.  I think it would be a fun print to frame.

Goodnight!
xoxo
J

30, 31, 32/365

30/365: Daisies on a Cold Day

Jaime brought home some flowers on Monday, so of course it was my picture of the day.  I processed this on a free online site called Picnik {I used the Lomo setting}.  I'm sure my Photoshop could have produced the same results, but Picnik lets me do it with just one click.  If you haven't tried it yet, I would highly recommend it.

31/365: Mac <3

I'm not crazy about this picture, but I really like the concept.  My MacBook laptop has a white apple that lights up when the computer is opened and I thought it would make a good picture...the flowers just happened to be on the table. At the time, I thought they added something in a blurry/dreamy/background kind of way...but now the more I look at it the more I think that I should have turned all the lights off and done just the white apple - with an all black background.

32/365: Eerie Sky

I took a lot of pictures after work today.  Considering it was blizzard-ing all day, it was fairly warm outside when I left the office.  The city amazes me sometimes.  It snowed and snowed and snowed all day, but when I left work there was nothing on the ground.  When we're not getting 28 inches of snow, the subways heat up the ground enough so that it all melts away.  The wet ground made for some fantastic pictures with reflections {particularly in Times Square on my way to the subway}.  Even though this makes snow storms much more manageable in the city, it poses a different set of issues.  If you do not wear proper shoes, you end up stepping off of the curb expecting to hit the street but actually step into a puddle up to your ankle.  This has happened to me multiple times, and it is extremely unpleasant. 

Then I got my trusty black and white polka dot rain boots.  No matter how little precipitation is in the forecast, my rain boots are on.  I love them.  In fact, I was wearing them on my walk home tonight just thinking about how much I love them, and how silly these UES women are who wear high heels and have to prance around the puddles while I happily walk right through them.  Then it happened...not even two blocks later.  I stepped off of the curb into a puddle that was easily past my ankle, and my polka dot boots failed me.  As I walked a few more blocks to my apartment, squishing with every step, I swear I thought my toes would be frost bitten by the time I got home.  Time for new boots...tomorrow's trip to work should be interesting.    :(

Anyway...the picture I chose for today is looking south on Lexington Avenue.  The sky looks pretty creepy, but I really like the way the street lights all reflect on the road and that building that's way downtown in the distance. Somehow the creepy light just fits this picture.

That's all for tonight. 

xoxo

Jess

27, 28, 29/365

It was nice to be at home this weekend to have some of Dad's cooking and see my Guncles {who just taught me this word}. There was a lot of Monopoly {iPad and old-school versions} and a lot of wine which made for a fantastic weekend :)

27/365: More Snow.
Took this on my walk to work on Friday.  This house is on my block, but then I had to put the camera away because I almost fell on the ice.  Clearly this taxi did not try to shovel out to get to work.

28/365: Apparently I Can Sew
Jaime and I are already sick of the throw pillows on our couch and in my endless quest to be frugal I decided that I would make new pillowcases.  Since the Guncles were coming over, I figured at the very least my interior decorator Uncle Terry would be able to offer some tips.  After an intense game of Monopoly and at least 6 bottles of wine between all of us, the night ended without any thought of making pillows.  Little did I know what I could create drunk at 1am. The pillow cases came out GREAT, and I will have to post proper pictures once I get around to it.

29/365: What...am I NOT supposed to sit at the table??
Charley often thinks he is a lap dog.  In most scenarios this is quite funny since he is as tall as me when he stands on his hind legs and weighs at least 70lbs.  His newest behavior - jumping up onto one of the kitchen chairs - cracks me up.  I'm sure my mom does not appreciate me keeping him up there so I can take pictures, but I think it's hysterical.

It is supposed to feel like -5 degrees below zero tomorrow morning - I better not freeze on my walk to work.
xoxo