I'm still here.

I haven't posted in almost a month.  But, in my defense, I've been kind of busy.  With like, camping.  And, like, other stuff.
I've been lazy.
Here are some pictures of the Perseid meteor shower from the middle of August.  It was beautiful, and as much as these pictures are kind of neat, the in-person was way neater.  It was awe-inspiring and humbling to watch; they made me feel so small.  There are so many things we don't know about the universe, and a part of me likes this.  Some little part of me truly enjoys looking at the sky and wondering.
I plan to really work on this - see if I can take better and better pictures of the sky.  It's definitely a fine balance to be able to expose long enough to get the stars to show up (and the GALAXY!) but not expose so long that the stars start to move, and then still be able to see a meteor here and there.  But if you look close, they are there.  Those little dotted lines in the sky... see them?  They're shooting stars.  Don't they make you wonder?

It's A Boy!

Riley James Gallagher was born on July 17.  He's been here for just about 3 weeks, and I can't believe it's been that long already.  I know, everyone says that about a new baby, and I'm sure his parents feel that way even more than I do.   I'm a little ashamed it took me so long to get these photos together.  He's already so much bigger!  I'll be following up with more family photos after I get back from vacation.  I need to keep up with this stuff better!

Memom's Roses

My parents live in the house that my grandparents bought in 1964.  Every year, for just a few fleeting days, my grandmother's roses bloom.  

Isaiah, 1 Year

Baby Ze celebrated his first birthday a few weeks ago (I've been extremely behind in the editing process!!) at his grandparents house.  He spent the day surrounded by friends both big and small, eating lots of treats, and pointing out every ball, balloon, and shoe he could see.  He is so alert and observant!  And in the weeks since I took these pictures, he became a true toddler.  It's crazy to see his mother's pictures and realize that he is now dancing, when he was just taking a few hesitant steps at the party.  But that, I suppose, is the only downside to childhood - how fast it goes.

The week before his birthday party, there was a driving rain storm, and as I was making my way home from work, I suddenly remembered another storm, less than 2 weeks before Ze was born.  Hilary and I met for dinner on a very hot, humid, rainy day.  She was uncomfortably pregnant, and having a hard time dealing with the weather.  And she had that funny look about her, that beauty that comes over someone before they are about to completely change.  She was ready for motherhood, although she was nervous.  I am so proud of her for the job she's done so far, and I think the photos prove that she, Gabe, and Ze are making quite the fantastically beautiful family.

These are just a few of the photos I took... there were too many to post all.  So you get my favorites.

Happy Birthday, Isaiah!  You are loved.

A Shower for Megan!

For those of you unaware, my brother is having a baby!  Well, his girlfriend is having a baby.  He's just waiting for the little guy to arrive.  And that means that our family is about to become bigger by one tiny little guy, and when he is born, so will be born a Nana, a Poppy, 3 aunts, one daddy, and one mommy.  Every one of us is about to change.
We held Megan's shower 2 weeks ago at the Haverford Reserve, which was a lovely venue for a lovely day.  Our families mingled for the first time, having come together to celebrate the coming of Riley James Gallagher, who will be here in a just a few weeks.  Becky made the cake, and she did such a beautiful job!  I made all the paper flowers, Mom set up the rest of the decorations, we collaborated on the food and the little washcloth thank yous.  We asked everyone to bring a book instead of a card, so as you can see, Riley has a lot reading material, enough to last at least his first few years.  That doesn't mean I'll stop buying him books.
In the end, I think the day was a success.  The new parents received lots of much-needed items, and now, all we can do is wait for baby to show up!  I know Megan and Tim are going to be great parents, and Riley is going to be showered with so much love!  I can't wait to meet him!

I Heart Blogshop

In May, I attended a Blogshop class, taught by Bri Emery from Designlovefest and Angela Kohler of Angela and Ithyle.

I've had Photoshop/CS5 for about 2 years, and learned more in the 2 days of this class than I did teaching myself and using at-home tutorials the whole time I owned the program.  I took a class in high school that taught Photoshop, but let's be honest, I'm old, and that was a long time ago.  The program and the world have changed dramatically since then.  (And, really, so have I, but that's beside the point.)  What I'm trying to say is: it was really, very worth it.  Also, we got some awesome swag.

It was really quite an experience to be in this class, taught by people who are so obviously talented and successful.  All the classes I've attended in the years since college have been taught by corporate dummies spouting ridiculous, meaningless phrases like, "legendary customer service."  (Tell me, in which legend did this bank and its customer service originate?)  The girls, teachers and classmates, were enthusiastic, and it was so interesting and inspiring to be in a room with women who were all interested in learning the same thing.  Bri and Angela were incredibly informative and encouraging.

The second day of class was hard for me, because I am really uncomfortable with photos of myself.  I know this sounds silly, but I rarely appear, in a photo, the way I think I will.  I'm always disappointed with the way I look.  Angela took incredible photos of all of us on the first day, so that we could work with them the second day.  I was really embarrassed looking at a photo of myself, and even more embarrassed because I didn't want to look at it.  And then I was embarrassed for being embarrassed, and worried that I had offended the person who took the photo in the first place, because my issues are all in my head, and had nothing to do with her.  And Angela was gracious and lovely, and I was acting like a crazy person.  In the end, I am posting the photos here, as a lesson to myself.  I need to learn to be more comfortable with who I am and what I look like.  And I also need to learn to get past my insecurities.  This is the only way I will grow and become more like the person I want to be.

In the end, it was a success, and I only hope that Bri and Angela loved our city, though I can tell Bri was far more inspired by her visit to New York a few days later.  PLEASE come back again girls, I know you'll love it when there's sunshine and more time to explore.  We have great food, and we'd really like to learn video!

Wow, I bet you didn't expect this to be such a personal post, were you?  All ten of you reading this came to see the photos.  Don't worry, there are more flowers.  Here they are :)

The flowers were provided and styled by sullivan owen, the venue was a photo studio on Hancock St. in Kensington-ish.  You can see all the swag and some more photos here!