Happy Weekend!

Hope you're planning on some good times for your weekend, or at least the good kind of trouble, as Gizmo is clearly doing here. :)

Tonight we're heading out to see John Pinette at the local Improv and I couldn't be more excited. He's one of those comedians I'll see every time he's in town. So good!

I'll be getting photos taken by my shutter sister Nancy (for reals this time, had to reschedule last weekend) and making my monthly trip to the shelter. Hooray for an all-photography weekend!

xo

The Dog Beach

A few weekends ago, we took dad out for some fun before he went in for surgery. It was an easy choice - lunch at Angelo's, followed by a trip to the dog beach. Naturally. :)

We just love it there. It's so relaxing, so gorgeous and seeing all the dogs ecstatically playing is good for the soul. That day was kind of hazy, but I couldn't resist shooting anyways.

Anja is so twitchy and still a puppy, so this was the only shot I could get of her looking at me!

It was only Anja's second time there, and she already does better in the water than Dante. Of course, it helps to have a thicker coat and weigh about 40 pounds more!

I can't say I blame him for wanting to stay out of the water, though, it's damn cold this time of year!

Dad is holy - who knew?

Yet another reason you gotta love living in SoCal - going to the dog beach while half the nation is being covered in snow. I really feel bad for you guys... ;)

xo

The Search For A New Collar

Dante is turning FIVE next month. I can't believe it! I plan on getting him a new collar since the current one is dying a slow death.

My main criteria for Finding the Perfect Collar are: 1) it's small enough and not too thick to overwhelm his tiny neck, 2) soft enough on the inside that he won't get a rash or irritated skin, 3) clip-release buckle because he hates me fiddling around his neck, and 4) manly enough of a print for him while still being cute. :)

Problem is, there are so many super cute options out there I'm having trouble choosing for myself. Can you help a girl out and vote below?

Option 1:

This super cute leather collar can be sized to Dante's measurements and I can choose from a variety of leather and stitching colors. Love having his name and phone number already stitched on - one less tag to jingle!

Option 2:

A very cute and simple robot collar. I just love the pattern!

Option 3:

This one from Silly Buddy is probably my running favorite. Love the pattern, the buckle is curved to fit his neck, everything seems to be of great quality.

Elsewhere in internet-land, I found the following contenders...

Option 4:

This cute lime green one from Cheengoo.

Option 5:

I'm in love with the pattern and backing on this one from Mimi Green (it just wouldn't be personalized).

Option 6:

This one from Wonderdog is tres chic (the blue version)!

So you see my conundrum? Please let me know your vote in the poll!

xo

Happy Weekend!

So it looks like dad is coming home from the hospital today - huzzah!

He wanted me to point out his red glowing E.T.-style fingertip. :) He was flirting with the nurses the first day and began brief physical therapy sessions the day after surgery, so he's doing great!

Here's a few awesome blogs from this week:

~ Felicia Day's list of things she's enjoying has some great stuff!

~ These vintage photos from the Sydney Police Museum are amazing. Real people, the way they really dressed.

~ I abhor Valentine's Day (being told when to express my love just grates on me), but I think I might save this adorable DIY for later. :)

Have a great weekend! I'm getting my portraits taken for my website by the ever-awesome Nancy and spending some quality time with Mr. Same Same.

xo

My Project 365 Blurb Book

This time last year, after I finished my first year of Project 365, I wanted to have hard copies of all my work. There's something about having your photos in hand, you know? So I took advantage of a deal for Snapfish printing through Flickr and put them in albums from Aaron Brothers, hand writing my notes for each day.

Bad idea. The prints from Snapfish were absolutely terrible - I should have known better from the cheapo pricing! They weren't even all exactly 4x6!

So this year, although I still favor the idea of having it all in my own writing, I decided to do something different. I tallied up the cost, and by going with a printed and bound book from Blurb I saved quite a bit of money over last year. I've made several books through them now and absolutely loooove the quality and ease of use. Far and away better than Shutterfly, in my opinion.

I used their Booksmart program to design it, because I wasn't feeling up to the challenge of doing it in Photoshop or In Design. :) But the great part about the program is you can use their templates and tweak them however you want, and you can use your own fonts. I went with smalltypewriting (one of my all-time favorites) for the page numbers and titles, and Pea Ninh for the day's description. That way it at least felt handwritten, even if it wasn't!

And because it's a whopping 251 pages, I went with a soft cover, which I hadn't tried before. Love the results! I also didn't opt to have the logos taken out, but if I ever wanted to sell books through them I could do so.

I had a free shipping coupon from a Christmas gift order, so that's why I went ahead and ordered it already. And I'm SO glad I did!

The grand total came to $62.95 + tax. A steal, if you ask me. I feel like a professional or something! ;) And I'm really considering going back and doing one for 2009. I think it's worth the investment.

What do you guys think? Any questions? Have you had success/failure with Blurb or another printing company?

xo

P.S. You can see the entire year of photos on my Flickr, and you can preview (and order, I think, if you're that crazy) the whole book here.