from film with love

it's been way too long since i've done a 'from film with love post' so i couldn't wait to get back some film pictures from the beach to use for this post!  we took four cameras - two of them film - so we aren't lacking pictures!  my favorite camera, hands-down, is my old (super old) olympus pen-ee half frame camera, so that's always the one i reach for when i go somewhere pretty!

no matter how expensive film processing may be, how difficult it may become to find places that process film, or how obsolete film and film cameras may become, to me, digital will never have the same novelty and surprise that film does!  do you use film cameras?  what kind(s) do you use?  and do you develop the film yourself?

the road trip song game

i thought that instead of the usual vacation photo dump, i'd show a few pictures, but focus more on a little game chris and i made up on the way home to keep from falling asleep while traveling 80mph down the interstate.  the game kept us awake, and has us playing even though we've been home for a few days!

we found the game works best with those awful, corny 80's or 90's songs that no one seems to like, yet radio stations continue to play.  it all started with this little gem by whitesnake.  so, the real lyrics go, "i made up my mind, i ain't wastin' no more time, so here i go again."  and to make it fun, we came up with new lyrics that meant the same thing, but sounded a bit smarter: "i've come to a decision, i will start conserving my time, once again i will start."

we did that for the entire song (don't ask me how we knew all the words), to queen songs (but we do like queen), and to pretty much any song we knew!  now i can't wait for the next trip!  do you have any games that you play to pass the time?

she collects seashells down by the seashore.

i really planned to post this yesterday, but after working my butt off on things for the shop, things for another shop, and a friend's website, plus spending time with my husband of 10 years (that's really odd to say), i just didn't have enough time! i wanted to show you a little sampling of the pretty ocean treasures i collected while stranded on an island...

like i said, this is strictly a sampling as it would have taken me all day to photograph all the shells and coral! the large conch shells (some of them are the size of my head) take up half of my deck, while the smaller shells and coral take up the other half! side note: i did not kill the sand dollars; they washed up in the massive waves of a hurricane 900 miles off the coast and were dead when i found them. didn't want you to think i was a murderous collector.

so since our anniversary fell on a thursday, chris and i decided to celebrate this weekend. we didn't do anything really extravagant, but we did go to dinner at a restaurant nicer and more pricey than we'd go to any other time, and i did a little tap dance (okay, two) in the parking lot for him to top off our night. i don't know where it came from as i'm not a dancer, but it seemed appropriate. we also did a little metalworking in the shop together which i always enjoy. all in all, a pretty quiet weekend.

how was your weekend? what did you do?

our time on the island

i really can't say enough about the island, and i'm already looking forward to going back! the only downside to going somewhere like that is having to return to reality. i can't tell you how much i did NOT miss checking my email, reading about stupid drama on facebook, listening to the cussing phone ring all. the. time., and being around people other than chris and flojo. like i said yesterday, we didn't get many pictures, but here are a few we did remember to take!

now, about the pictures... #1 is what we saw when we looked out of our camper door. and sunnies because i have to try and prevent as many wrinkles as possible! #2 and #5 show some of my seashell collecting. this is supposed to be one of the best places on the east coast for shells, and i can honestly say that i have never in my life seen so many shells, especially conch shells! the limit is 2 gallons per person per day, and we didn't meet that, but we still came home with quite a collection (pictures later this week). #3 is a jellyfish on the beach. i don't like thinking that i may be swimming around them, but i do think they're pretty. #4 we didn't do any surfing because the water was unusually rough due to a hurricane that was 900 miles off the coast. #6 our little camper home on our very own stretch of beach. #7 i don't know what type of crab that is, but it sure was pretty! #8, #9, #10 we met paula, a conservation officer, and helped her excavate a loggerhead sea turtle nest! because the loggerheads are an endangered species, sections of the beach are closed to preserve the nests and allow smooth sand for the hatchlings' journey to the ocean. we excavated one of the nests not knowing what we'd find; luckily, it was a very successful nest! there were nearly 120 hatched shells, 3 eggs that never formed a turtle, and one baby turtle that, sadly, didn't survive.

tomorrow, i'll get back to the regularly scheduled blogging with wishlist wednesday! but, i'm going to skip the what i've been working on post this week since, obviously, i haven't been working on anything while i was away from home!

we're back from our island

i don't even know where to begin. we had such an amazing time and discovered such a gem, that i can barely process everything i want to tell you! let me just say that it was absolutely gorgeous; an island that hasn't been excavated, or built up with hotels and restaurants, and is just pure, natural beauty for as far as the eye can see. i'm not sure of the exact number of people that were on the island while we were, but i can tell you that we pretty much just saw the same 8-10 people maybe once a day each day we were there, so it definitely feels like you're on your own private island!

we went down a day early so that we could explore beaufort, nc and morehead city, nc before we took the 1 hour ferry ride over to the island. sadly, we barely took any pictures or videos (i think it's because we were so busy conch shell collecting, birdwatching and sleeping), but here are a few from our day on the mainland.

chris and i have already decided that we're going to make this our new vacation spot, but because of the undiscovered and uninhabited quality of the island, and the fact that the people who have been going there for 30 years like to keep it hush hush, i can't say too much about it! once the rain passes and i can see sunlight again, i'm going to try to get some pictures of the treasures i came home with!

i hope you've had a good week since we last chatted. have you done anything exciting or taken any trips lately?

can you keep a secret?

chris and i had originally planned to go to florida for our anniversary trip, and visit several places in our week there. because of some issues with chris' job, we weren't sure we could still make the trip, but we wanted to do something for our anniversary. i mean, it's 10 years, and that's a big one! so chris did some researching and found a relatively unknown gem...shhhhh! cape lookout national seashore in north carolina is probably the last beach on the east coast that isn't commercialized and overrun with crappy tourist shops and hotels...

images from google

aside from a lighthouse and an abandoned historic colony that dates back to the 1600's, there is no sort of civilization on these islands. what is there: wild horses, shorebirds, dolphins, humpback whales and three species of sea turtles! the time we'll be going is right at the end of the baby turtles making their way to the ocean, so fingers crossed we'll see some! seriously, could this be any more perfect for me? uninhabited islands full of animals? it's too good to be true! so chris and i will pack up the camper and drive the 5 or 6 hours there, then we have to get on a ferry that takes us a few miles across the sound until we reach our island. i seriously cannot wait!

in other exciting news... remember how i told you about going to get ice cream on sunday at one of pop's favorite places? well, while we were there, i saw someone get a dreamsicle soft serve cone, and i swear i must have been foaming at the mouth. i love anything orange flavored, and i've been about to die to go back and try one. today, i made it my lunch. and it was glorious!

california, again.

Okay, before I go any further, I'm gonna warn you, there are a lot of pictures! I thought I'd finish showing you everything from my California trip in this one post, but there's seriously no way that's happening. It was hard enough to choose which pictures to use without overwhelming you, but I also figured that I should finish telling you about my blogger meet up fun before I introduced you to Haley, the friend (who isn't a blogger) that I stayed with for the second part of my trip. Haley pictures will come tomorrow. Now, without further ado...

On Friday we spent much of the day at the beach, and I must say, it was breath-taking! And yes, of course I took a picture of a bird!

Lauren and I took a picture of one another taking a picture. Kassi looks cute as always, and Brandi poses for our pictures. Chris loves her mirror sunglasses. I wish Kelly could have come, too!

Kassi's kids were our company and entertainment for the day. Tannyn and Tayli were our photographers, and Tyler left us to girl talk while he surfed. It must be said, Tyler is any mom's dream. Seriously, he's the most respectful and helpful 12-year-old boy I've ever had the pleasure of meeting!

We went to Brandi's friend's store Pretty in Pink in Costa Mesa, CA and I fell in love with so many things. I ended up only getting a double finger ring, but there was a tank top, a pair of pants, a few shirts and a dress that i really wanted! Then we went to the fair for my last bit of time with my three favorite bloggers before it was time for me to leave and go stay with Haley.

I had a great time with them, and I can't wait to do it again. I don't know if the next meet up will be in another state, or maybe at my house, but either way, I'm ready!