Monday, February 28, 2011

Weekend in Photos

We had a wonderful, busy weekend. Of course the highlight of the weekend was Kaden's 13th birthday, but it was also filled with swimming and a concert. METROS, the Montgomery County/DC/NoVA public and private school swimming championships was this weekend. It began Friday night with the 400 free relay which Kohler was a part of, so we took the new ICC highway to get out to Germantown. It was pretty cool to drive a brand-new highway, all shiny and traffic-free (no tolls for the moment too!).

Saturday morning Kohler had practice in Germantown before METROS, so all of us minus Kieran (who had wisely stayed with a friend overnight) left the house at 5:00 a.m. to get there on time. The meet began at 8:00 a.m. and was so much fun to watch. I brought a bunch of magazines to read, and didn't even open one. There was tons of school spirit and the best swimmers in the area to watch which made for a great show. Kohler and his school did well, although not as well as he had probably hoped. Both relays he was in made finals, which meant we needed to come back in the evening.

We went home for a mid-day break. Kohler napped over three hours which I worked on my photography class (taking photos) and Stoehr took the other two boys hiking. At 4:00 p.m. Kohler and I headed back to Germantown. His relays did well, placing 11th and 13th overall, and we left the pool around 8:00 p.m. We stopped in Gaithersburg for dinner: sandwiches from the Corner Bakery and a dozen cupcakes from Lilly Magilly's. Both were super delicious! The cupcakes may even rival Georgetown Cupcakes, although there weren't as many flavors to choose from.

Sunday morning was early again, getting the younger two off to swim practice. It was also Kaden's birthday! We took 4-dozen doughnuts to his practice to celebrate. In the afternoon family came over to celebrate with us. Kaden picked Chinese take-out from his favorite restaurant and an ice-cream cake. Lots of fun gifts were opened--I think he got everything he could possibly want.

In the evening we picked up his best friend and headed downtown to the Verizon Center to the Bon Jovi concert. This was actually my third Bon Jovi concert (I fear I'm becoming a groupie!) and maybe the best. We had good seats and luckily there was no opening band, so we were home earlier than I had hoped.  They played all our favorites and during the third encore song we booked it out of there and made it to the metro ahead of the crowd. Definitely the highlight of Kaden's birthday!














Debbie Carlos: Photographer

Debbie Carlos is an amazing photographer with both a shop and a blog. Her large size posters have a dreamy sometimes vintage look and her food photography is spot-on sharp and delicious. Check out her shop here and her blog here.



via At Home At Home.

(images by Debbie Carlos.)

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Teenager in the House!

Happy Birthday to my new favorite 13 year old! Kaden is finally a teenager, and we couldn't ask for a better teen. Here's to hoping the next 13 years are as easy as the last 13 have been! We plan to spend the day celebrating with family, Chinese take-out, an ice-cream cake, and a Bon Jovi concert. Happy Birthday Kaden!

Fave New Blog

Check out this beautiful blog I just discovered, At Home At Home (why oh why have I never noticed it before?!). Laura Joliet is not only an amazing photographer, but a stylist, writer and decorator as well. Her photographs are lovely as is her sense of design. Definitely a must-read to add to your blog list.





all images from At Home At Home.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Secrets from a Stylist

I just heard about this new show, premiering tonight (February 26) on HGTV at 9:00 p.m. It's a home makeover show where host Emily Henderson and crew style people's homes. For those that loved Domino magazine, this promises to be a must-see!

via Oh Joy!


(photo from HGTV)

Spotted

Blog posts that caught my eye this week:

Simplify your lifestyle spotted on Pretty Mommy.

Jora is committing to eating a healthy breakfast spotted on Domestic Reflections.

 I would love to devote one day a week to a shared family activity spotted on Adventure in Progress.

Awesome photo tips spotted on Design Mom's Girls Photography Getaway put on by Adobe.

Some great food photography tips spotted on At Home At Home.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Weekend in Photos

yes, it's almost the next weekend and I'm just posting photos from last weekend. Oops! Time kinda got away from me somehow. I've been lost in the world of vacation planning which is a great time suck.

Last weekend was a long weekend with a Monday holiday which finally gave us a day to sleep in! Friday night, after swim practice, Kohler went downtown with friends to see a movie (which will remain nameless but starts with "Justin"). Back home we carried out pizza and watched Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Very cute movie actually!

Saturday morning Kohler was off to the pool early for practice before the Counties meet. He swam the two relays plus the 50 free and 100 free and did well. Not the 22 seconds he was hoping for, but a good time. I had open house at my preschool so was there until noon. Came home and did a couple things before heading to the pool with Kaden for his qualifying meet. He swam the 200 breast, 50 free, and 400 IM today, and actually cut four seconds off the 200 breast for a qualifying time! So he now has a 13-14 time cut for JO's, and he's still 12! Very proud of him. The 400 IM was a killer, but he got a decent time and now has experienced it.

We didn't get home until after 6 p.m., seeing Kohler for the first time that day. Since we had all been different places during the day we decided to go out to eat as a family at our old favorite: Thai Derm. Even though we hadn't been in a while the waitress still remembered us and didn't bother to bring us a menu--we ordered our usual: chicken satay, Tao Hoo Tod (fried tofu), Tod Mun (fish cakes), two orders of Pad Zei Ew with chicken, yellow curry, and the scrambled egg Stoehr loves. Yum, yum!

Sunday morning I was back at the pool early with Kaden for the qualifying meet. He swam the 100 breast and 200 IM. He was done early so we zipped home, got the rest of the family, then headed to DC to the Family Science Days, sponsored by AAAS. The convention was very cool. All the major scientific organizations and companies were there with booths set up with lots of pamphlets, swag, and information about what they do. The boys were fascinated by all the possibilities. Kohler spent lots of time talking to someone about nuclear fusion while Kaden was more interested in robotics. We came away with bags full of information to read, and lots of pens and other goodies. It's good to see what's out there and imagine the possibilities.

After the convention we headed over to Chinatown for an early dinner/late lunch. We went to our favorite noodle restaurant, Chinatown Express, where we filled up on fresh noodles and dumplings. Back home for the rest of the evening, we almost finished the Battlestar Gallactica series before bedtime.










Recipe Wall

Beautiful idea, using recipes as wall decoration. I wonder if I could pull it off?!



image taken from The Style Files.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Chalkboards

I absolutely love chalkboard-painted walls. I would love to paint a wall like this in my house, maybe in the kitchen or breakfast room. It would be great for lists, recipes, or just doodling.

Here are some chalkboard walls I just love:

image from here.

image from here.

image from here.


image from here.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Photographer

Photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand spent five years traveling six continents taking large scale aerial photographs. Many of the sights are familiar, but seen from this viewpoint become even more astonishing. His collection of photos can be seen here. What an amazing project!

Favelas in Rio de Janeiro

 Pigeon Houses Mit Gahmr Delta, Egypt

Military cemetery in Verdun, France

Epicenter of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, Japan

Boat Houses in Lagos, Nigeria

Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa

Machu Picchu, Peru

all images taken by Yann Arthus-Bertrand