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

26/365: Paint

As I was reading through some blogs this week I was inspired to try "light painting."
I started with a flashlight, but it ended up being too bright for me to create a shape...although I do kind of like this circle.

Since I couldn't think of anything else that lights up, I just used my cell phone to draw this next picture. Please note: you can make out the keys in the corners of the star. I think it gives some character.

Did you know...there is currently snow in 49/50 states? Guess which state screwed it up? Nope your wrong, it's not Hawaii.

See you tomorrow in a snowy NYC!

xoxo

24, 25/365: Rain!

We have had a nice change from the snow over the last few days.  It has actually been too warm in my apartment.  This could potentially be due to the fact that Jaime and I discovered the knob that turns on our radiator in the living room.  Add this new-found heat source to the above freezing temperatures and the inability to control the heat in our bedroom {there is no knob or on/off switch of any kind} and you get an inferno.  While I was excited to finally have heat in the living room it has made me realize that I can either be too hot or too cold during the winter, and right now I cannot figure out what is worse.

In other news, we had a bit of a scare at work today.  As you all know, I am working in midtown and we have had our share of false alarms and close calls over the last few years...but this story has to take the cake.

You can read about it here, but the short version is:

• an Israeli bank received a suspicious package
• no less than half a dozen fire trucks, and the bomb squad showed up at the building next door
• employees were evacuated from said building
• false alarm
• it was a Hallmark greeting card

At least I know those security guards aren't slacking on the job. 

Now, on to the rainy pictures!

24/365: Keep me Dry

I couldn't decide if I like this in color or black and white. What do you think? {click to make it bigger}

25/365: stay.

I love.love.love this picture. The orange umbrella makes the rainy day seem so much better.

Everyone should be required to carry brightly colored umbrellas in the city.  It would make the dodging pointy edges of umbrellas, inevitably getting hit and getting wet and slipping seem... not as bad....even if just a little. While we're at it, we should also be required to learn at least one song and dance that we could jump into at any second.  Let's be honest, if Gwyneth can do it can't we all?  I truly believe if we lived in a world where we could break into song and dance at any moment, I'd be a lot happier.

Goodnight all!

xoxo