"P52-Sunshine"

Sunshine behind the Storm

While out driving today with my husband I was lucky enough to catch this moment.  It was storming all around us and over to the side was this break in the clouds with the sun shining creating a pretty glow behind the storm clouds.  When I snapped this photo I was in the car, moving 70 mph.  No, no, no don't call the police I wasn't driving.

"Summer Show-Off #3"

When looking around for a picture to edit today I ran across this cool one from Hollywood Studios.  We took a huge trip to the Magic Kingdom (for New Year's Eve), Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios.  After our day at Hollywood Studios we boarded the Disney Magic for a 5 day cruise!  *Best Trip Ever* 
While at HS we all took turns riding the really cool Speeder Bikes in front of the Star Wars Ride.  Unfortunately the ride was closed for updating but that didn't stop us from having some fun.  I thought this picture was the perfect candidate for doing a 3d-popping out-of-bounds picture.  I have never done one before so I went in search of a tutorial.  I found this site which walked me pretty much through the steps.  Although the tut is a little old I was able to fill in the blanks.  Before I started the tutorial mentioned above I first cropped my picture, sharpened, and adjusted the levels.  I think the man cub looks cool on his speeder with his Indiana Jones hat on.  Although I would not use this all the time it will come in handy during my yearbook editing that I do for work. Let me know what you think!

"P52-Movie Night"

Movie Night Fun

Movies and popcorn go together like peanut butter and jelly or like peas and carrots.  The kiddos love to make popcorn anytime we watch a movie at home.  Tonight the treat de jour was butter popcorn with white cheddar sprinkle on the top.  Other nights they love to make the caramel popcorn that you actually melt a huge slab of caramel on top of and then mix it all together.  KK and Itty Bitty were falling over laughing while trying to catch their popcorn in their mouths.  They are both really really good at this.  Most inportantly we all had a really really good time.  On the technical side I had a hard time with the inside light.  I turned on several lights in an attempt to raise my shutter speed enough to take the picture and somewhat freeze the action.  That still wasn't enough to get a well lit picture.  As a last resort I upped the ISO to around 2000.  Although there is a bit of noise in the photo I was able to capture a fun shot of my girls having a great time.

Hello Kitty Egg Cup for my Bento

Hello Kitty Tamago cup

School is almost upon us so I am ramping up my search for new and kawaii items for our bento packing.  While Itty Bitty and I were out shopping we found a Sanrio Shop at one of the malls.  Although it was small it was exciting to be there because the Sanrio that was in our local mall closed several years ago.  While looking through the kitchen items I spotted this gem hiding and forgotten.  There was Kitty waiting to find a new home, which she did.  I was looking at buying an egg cup online but was thrilled when I found this instead.  I  usually take an egg every other day and don't always have time to shape them.  This is *perfect.*  I am now looking for another bento box for my lunch but am limited to what I can find online.  Most of the people in my small town have never even heard of a bento box. In addition to my egg cup I have a set of Hiragana cutters that my lovely Motorcycle Man brought me back from Japan.  I am working hard to learn Japanese and to use my Hiragana cutters.

"Summer Show Off #2"

Last week my Summer Show Off Picture was of my awesome family at the Golden Gate Bridge.  This weeks picture is from the same trip and is of my adorable little cousin.  They were kind enough to let us stay at their house and while we were hanging out one night I started snapping pictures. 

Miss Cutie Pie After

Miss Cutie Pie Before

Here are the steps that I took to edit this picture.  I first decided that I wanted a larger canvas  to fix the composition and I wanted to edit out the knee that was in the picture.  Once that was fixed I focused on the color by doing a levels adjustment and adjusting each layer individually.  Next I added a sharpening layer.  I wanted to bring out her pretty eyes so I used the action bright eyes from coffeeshop actions. Finally I used the spot healing brush to remove some of the stray hair from Miss Cuite's face. I was very excited to see my photo last week got the most votes but was sad that I wasn't featured or a favorite.  Oh well... at least I'm learning.

"Summer Show-Off #1"

My After Edit at The Golden Gate Bridge

My Before Picture at The Golden Gate Bridge

I chose this picture to edit because I really loved the shot but was
disappointed with the washout of the background and my family.  I was hoping to bring some of the blue back into the sky but no matter what I did to the picture it looked fake, so I gave up on the blue sky that was there and focused on the bridge and my family.  I first added a hue/saturation layer and upped the saturation to bring the colors back into everyone and to show the sun shining on everyones hair.  The Golden Gate looked anything but golden so I added a color balance layer and adjusted the mid tones to the red side until the correct color was achieved in the bridge.  I then painted the layer black and used white to revel just the bridge.  Finally I added a levels layer and darkened up the photo just a touch.  That is where I stopped.  I did consider removing the lens flare, but decided that I liked it and left it.  I like this picture so much more now that is edited,  What a cute family I have! 

"P52-Summer Treat"

While visiting this week we decided that our summer treat would not be ice cream or shaved ice but we would go non-traditional and get some cheesecake from The CheeseCake Factory.  We don't have one close to us so we took the opportunity to eat there.  Itty Bitty chose to get the Kalua Coffee CheeseCake and loved every minute of it.  I got my favorite the Tiramisu Cheesecake, and The Motorcycle Man got the biggest slice of Red Velvet CheeseCake.  It was really good.  Happy Summer, I'm sad that it is slipping away.

Clean Out the Fridge Quiche

I was really hungry this morning but we needed to go to the grocery.  Instead of going out I decided to make a "Clean out the fridge Quiche"  Pictured is whats left of the quiche after the 5 of us got after it.  Here are the ingredients:

1 TBS Olive Oil
1 tsp. butter
2 green onions
1/8 onion
4 oz white mushrooms
salt and pepper
2 orange mini bell peppers
9 eggs
1/2 cup bacon bits
1 TBS Pesto
1 cup Oscar Meyer grilled chicken strips
1/2 cup broccoli leftover from beef stir fry
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup of feta cheese

Process:
1.  Preheat oven to 375
2.  We were out of cooking spray so I brushed the olive oil on the inside of the pie plate to make sure there wasn't any stickage.
3.  I then put the butter in a small skillet on medium heat to melt.  Then added the onions for about 4 minutes.  Next I added the green onions, mushrooms, salt, pepper, and bell peppers.  They cooked until the mushrooms were a golden brown.  Add more butter if needed.
4.  While the veggies were sautéing I beat the eggs, bacon bits, pesto, chicken strips, broccoli, and and both cheeses into a mixing bowl and combined.
5.  When the veggies are cooked and somewhat cooled add them to the egg mixture.
6.  Pour the mixture into the pie dish. (no crust needed)
7.  Cook for about 25 mins or until eggs are set up and the internal temp is 160.
8.  Let stand for about 10 minutes.
9 Enjoy with an afternoon glass of white wine of your choice.

*if we were in school and there were any leftovers this would be perfect to include in our bento box :)


                                   

"Epiphanie Picture It July Contest: Independence"

"Epiphanie Picture It July Contest: Independence"

In the middle of the town square where I grew up is this statue of the Marquis de Lafayette.  He was a French soldier and statesman who was a supporter of independence during the American Revolution.  All across America there are statues in memory of the Marquis.  

"P52-KaBoom"

After laughing and laughing about the prompt for this week, I resisted the urge to take a picture of my laundry KABOOM! Instead I am posting a picture of 4th of July Fireworks which go kaboom.  You can faintly see my daughter in the picture.  The display was awesome it was 30 straight minutes of "grand finale" fireworks.  That did make for a ton of smoke in the sky.  Happy Birthday America.