Friday, September 30, 2011

foto friday: our little plant.

Aurora and I have gotten those little seeds from the dollar store time and time again. Sadly, I don't have a green thumb at all. I kill almost all plants that I come in contact with. I love plants and I'd love to have more around and someday when we have a house again I'd really like to have a big garden. I'm not sure that will ever happen but we finally got out little seeds to take!



Yay! This has been very exciting for Aurora and I. They are sun flowers and I'm not really sure what to do with them now. I know they are out growing their little home. If you have any tips please shoot them my way! I'd hate to see Aurora's little flowers die.

On a side note I found a new camera app for my phone! Weeee! I'm still playing with it. I'm not a huge fan of how blurry it can be but my DSLR camera and I are seeing eye to eye at them moment.

Have a great weekend ya'll!!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

donut date with the girls

Sometimes it's nice to just kick back and relax with the girls. We only have one car right now so when I get the chance of have it I jump at it! We can get some serious cabin fever after a few days of being at home.

After my doctors appointment yesterday we went to Dunkin' Donuts for one of my favorite treats; strawberry frosted donuts with sprinkles! YUM!




What's your favorite kind of donut?

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

DIY Round Up: Hello Baby!

With having a three year old and a new baby there isn’t really much time in my life to craft. That makes me kind of sad because I really do love to make new things. I love searching around and finding tutorials I’d love to try, they tend to just stack up in my favorites tab and I never actually get to work on them.

I’m going to try and live vicariously through you! I created a list of some of the tutorials I’m dying to try but just don’t have the time right now. If you do make any of these lovelies I definitely want to know what it!

{Pamplemousse1983} Maryam always has really cute and super easy tutorials. I’d love to make a little headband for Carolina.


{The Doe or the Deer} Okay, so this one really isn’t really for “baby” but I think it would be a super cute nursery décor idea!


{Janae Hardy via A Beautiful Mess} Hm, yeah these little shoes are just way to adorable and perfect for Arizona weather.


{Janae Hardy via A Beautiful Mess} I had to put another one of her tutorials on this list because this dress looks so easy to make and it so cute. We all know my challenges with the sewing machine!


{Create Loves} I love the musical modile we have now but I adore the look and feel of a DIY modile.


I really hope I get to try these out soon. Please, do share if you make any!

Lots of love!

Call for Sponsors!

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to throw it out there that I’m currently accepting sponsors! I joined The Bartering Blogger Ad Swap list and I’m pretty jazzed about it. I know I haven’t been blogging in a while, but trust me I have some great things planned for the future. I have a few series that are going to be coming into play in the next month as well as some great tutorials. It’s going to be great, I’m tellin’ ya!

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Please check out the Sponsor page for more information. Contact me at withachanceof {at} gmail {dot} com if you’re interested. I’m excited about October, how about you?

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

A to Z: why not?

I've seen the A to Z of me of a bunch of different blogs and I figured why not do it myself! I'm still trying to get back into the swing of blogging and why a better way to re-introduce myself.

{Yeah, you wish you were cool enough to play dress up with my three year old!}


A. Age: 26
B. Bed size: Queen but recently I’ve been falling asleep on the couch >.<
C. Chore that you hate: putting away dishes and laundry.
D. Dogs: Piston the boxer who has major anxiety issues.
E. Essential start to your day: Coffee and a nice long shower.
F. Favorite color: Light pea green at the moment.
G. Gold or Silver: Silver
H. Height: 5'5"
I. Instruments you play: I played percussion in high school and I’ve been attempting to learn the guitar for years.
J. Job title: Just mom.
K. Kids: Two Carolina, 1 month and Aurora 3 years old!
L. Live: Phoenix, AZ
M. Mother’s name: Janice
N. Nicknames: sometimes my husband calls me Kathryn, which is my real name but it feels more like a nickname because no one calls me Kathryn anymore!
O. Overnight hospital stays: With both of my girls and once for a head injury, I’ve had 7 concussions in my lifetime.
P. Pet peeves: the sound of chewing… it drives me INSANE!
Q. Quote from a movie:"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." Moulin Rouge
R. Right or left handed: right
S. Siblings: None, yes I’m a “spoiled” only child.
T. Time you wake up: Lately 4am sometimes I go bad to sleep till 6am though.
U. Underwear: Yes! I prefer Hanes.
V. Vegetable you hate: hm, mushrooms…
W. What makes you run late: my own lack of planning!
X. X-Rays you’ve had: probably every part of my body… I’m pretty accident prone.
Y. Yummy food that you make: scrabbled eggs and hash browns, I’m really not a good cook at all!
Z. Zoo animal: Wolf!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Lomography: An English Paper.

For my most recent English class I had to write an informative paper. I typically struggled on a topic for papers but I thought of the perfect thing to write about for a chance. I wanted to share the information about Lomography. I love taking photos but Lomography is a really fun way of making a simple snap shoot something super special.

Here’s my paper clack full of Lomo information:

Happy little accidents and double exposures are two of the key components to Lomography. Unlike typical art photography the more blurred and overexposed an image is the more powerful image could be. Every hipster in your neighborhood probably knows exactly what Lomography is. They probably walk around everywhere with their junky looking plastic camera around their neck taking photos of the most random things. A lot of people probably don’t “get it” but a lot of people didn’t understand a lot of art until long after the movement was already over. To understand Lomography you have to understand where it came from and its basic rules.

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In 1982 the Russian Government got its hands on a small plastic camera from Japan. Realizing what they had they started mass production of the “toy” camera. By 1982 the camera was spreading across Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Cuba. This was an important move for the future. In 1991 Lomography got its true start when two students in Vienna, Austria came across one of the cameras. They took up randomly snapping images without even looking through the viewfinder. When they brought the camera home everyone they knew wanted one of their own little toy cameras. The two founders of the style started heading into Russia to collect the cameras and bring them back to the growing number of requests for them. In 1994 they decided to start the Lomographic Society International. They were granted space in Vienna and sold over 700 cameras. Unfortunately in 1996 Russia decided to stop manufacturing the camera somehow the Society was able to convince the owner for the factory to continue to manufacture the cameras. Lomography overcame many different obstacles and low times in its past. With the rise of the internet Lomography.com gained international recognition. In 2002 the Lomography World Congress took place and the society was able to display work all over the world to grow Lomography awareness. Continuing popularity of the art allows the Lomographic Society to introduce new and exciting cameras and options for their customers.

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When the Lomographic Society International was created the founders also set up the 10 Golden Rules of Lomographic Photography. These 10 rules state what the photographic style is all about as well as how to do it. Rule number one is “Take your camera everywhere you go.” Lomography is all about documenting your life as you live it so you need your camera with you to capture important and interesting moments. Rule number two is “Use it anytime – day and night.” Different lighting will give interesting effects on Lomographic film so it’s always good to experiment with time of day images. Rule number three states “Lomography is not an influence in your life, but a part of it.” Like rule number one state’s Lomography becomes a part of your daily life. Rule number four is “shot from the hip.” Get down and dirty with your photography and get angles that you wouldn’t expect from you camera. Rule number five is “Approach the objects of you Lomographic desire as close as possible.” With Lomography you are almost investigating your life and the world around you so you really need to get personal with the photos you take. Rule number six is “Don’t Think.” This rule is all about letting go of your one sided mind and just having fun with your photography. Sometimes it important to through everything out the window and let the wind carry it. Rule number seven is “Be fast.” Capturing movement is a great in interesting part of Lomography. You can tell a story in one image of a truck racing by or athlete in motion. Rule number eight is “You don’t have to know beforehand what you capture on film.” Lomography should just be an unconscious act, you shouldn’t have to think about what you are capturing, you just capture. Rule number nine is “Afterwards either.” This rule means that you don’t even have to know who or what you see in the pictures you took after your develop them, they can be powerful anyways. Last, but not least, rule number ten “Don’t Worry about Any Rules.” This might be the most important rule of all. Rule number ten is all about staying true to you as a photographer. In Lomography it’s important to forget everything you’ve ever learned and enjoy taking the pictures you take and just believe in yourself and the photos you are taking.

Lomography is a personal statement that the photographer takes into his own hands. It’s about shooting from the hip, literally, and not thinking just clicking. The more abstract the photo is the better. Sometimes it’s the rare forms of art that no one really understands that bring a whole new wave of creative people into existence. With Lomography anyone can be a great photography and really enjoy what they are doing.

For more information and examples check out the website: Lomography.com

Friday, September 23, 2011

foto friday.

I’ve decide that I’m going to start a photo series every Friday. It’s a chance to show off my (adorable) girls and have fun taking some snap shots. Hopefully it will also jump start me into blogging again!


Carolina at one month! I can’t believe how much she’s grown in a month. Her hair cracks me up. After a bath it poofs out into cute little fro and then gets all spiky, it gets even more spiky it the dog licks her.

I’ve become obsessed with the Polaroid camera app on my phone again. So, I’m sorry if you get over loaded with crappy cell phone pictures!

Have an awesome weekend!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

time flies.

Ever suddenly feel like time is slipping away from you? That completely happened to me yesterday. We’ve been working on getting a routine down and figuring out how to manage two kids and all that stuff and time just seemed to get past me somehow. I was checking my e-mail yesterday and when I glanced down at the date at the bottom of my computer… oh my gosh… it was already September 13th! When did that happen! A few things occurred to me right then.

One: I had missed meeting up with a friend that day.
Two: I had missed the Phoenix Hanson concert.
Three: Carolina was going to be a month old soon!

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I can’t help but wonder where the days have flown off too. It’s funny to think about because most days I just can’t wait for Marc to get home to get some extra hands, but now I’m wishing time would pass by more slowly. On top of everything else I don’t think I’ve turned in a single homework assignment in on time for my current English class… oops.

I keep saying that I’m going to use my time more wisely and have better time management. I guess that will come with time. Wow, does that seem redundant. What are some tricks you use to help you stay on track? Are you big on digital calendars? Or are you a list person? I’d love to hear ideas! I’m just going to try and enjoy the time I have with my family for now and work on the rest as it comes.