Hope

“Hope

Smiles from the threshold of the year to come,

Whispering  'it will be happier'...” 

-Alfred Tennyson

Just a quick note,

its been a busy weekend

here at Gal's house....

I hope you enjoyed 

your weekend!

Thanks for all

the traffic here - 

its always appreciated!

Breakfast

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said.”

--A.A. Milne

Golden

 “Dare to love yourself

as if you were a rainbow

with gold at both ends.” 

-Aberhjani,

The River of Winged Dreams

Tanned

Just a quick Good Morning!
It's a busy holiday weekend
and my girls are visiting --
we spent yesterday afternoon
in the pool....
can you tell? :)


I hope you're able to enjoy
your weekend too :)

Two more

Love is a great beautifier.

-Louisa May Alcott, 

American novelist

Two additional photos

from yesterday,

it's been quite the week....

is anyone else ready

for a weekend???

Joyful

Just a little

joyful dance

after a

good workout day!

BooBs!

“Boob, like the object it identifies, 

is such a well-rounded word. 

It’s as if “Bo” represents the left breast, 

and “ob” represents the right breast.
”

-Jarod Kintz

One challenge in photography is to take a picture of the same object 50 times.  The object of the task is to get to know your subject inside and out, see how different light and angles affect your photograph.  I tried that this evening -- but the difficult part lays in the fact that I can't see what I'm photographing, so I'm left with surprises after the fact.  *giggles*   (And sometimes they just don't want to cooperate and "sit still".)

Thanks to everyone who stops in to see my posts... 

loving the extra traffic here lately  :)   ~Gal

Hippie Fence

 Here in the Valley of the Sun

concrete block walls are

what many houses have.

My house is no different.

two of my back fence walls

are the same color, this third

wall was a dreary grey and

doesn't match the 'desert tan'

of the other two.  So I

brainstormed, and decided

to paint the fence with stripes

for a festive look!

With my girls coming for

a visit next weekend,

I wanted to have it finished,

so here I am, 6am and getting

the last few stripes painted....


While the photos themselves

aren't really artsy, I decided

to share them anyhow :)

Never pretend to a love 

which you do not actually feel, 

for love is not ours to command. 


-Alan Watts

Denim Jacket

I can remember seeing this denim jacket in the Spiegel catalog back -- way back -- probably the late 80's (if my judgment of the shoulder pads era is correct! haha).  It was "love at first sight" -- there was nothing to dislike about the lines of this jacket.  It had matching pants as well.  And I ordered it.  Wore it often -- until I outgrew it.  But I kept it.  Part of that "some day I'll wear this" thinking.

I moved this jacket with me from Calif to Ohio to Arizona ... and today when I was cleaning out, I slipped it on and ... this is a first ... its technically too big for me now!  While that makes me overjoyed, I'm also ticked off with myself.  I could have been wearing this as a jacket through our 'winter' here -
and looking good!

I admit, I didn't have the heart to put it in the Goodwill bag.  I am going to try and take a couple of seams in....  :)

Old Clothes

For a year now, I have put off cleaning out my closet.  Every gal (and guys, too!) keeps things in their closet, thinking 'some day' they'll fit into those skinny jeans, a fav shirt, a summer dress ....  and plus size gals go the other direction too -- keeping 'fat clothes' just in case.  And I'm no different.  I've got clothes in there that I haven't worn for several years, but kept "just in case..."

But no more. 

So I delved into my closet before 7am, with a very determined attitude, and pulled out 4 garbage bags full of things that I never want to fit into again!

Weird, though, I really liked some of the things I had ... and even though I never wear this sweater because its too big, I've kept it all these years because I liked it, wearing it felt feminine.  So before I tossed it into the Goodwill bag, I thought one last picture of it for old times' sake .....





Here are a few thoughts that I read this morning on my SparkPeople page on the topic:

No one should allow the size of his or her clothes to determine their self-worth.

Only after you let go of the past can you learn to accept yourself in the present with self-confidence and a sense of empowerment.

By focusing on the positive and looking forward, you build greater confidence, which can increase your chances of success.

Today, I encourage you to open your closets and drawers. Gather everything that doesn’t fit you TODAY, especially clothes that are too small, and free yourself from the past and the silent criticism.

When I finally let go of my old clothes, 

I realized that I was not the clothes 

and the clothes were not me.

In the Pink

I had to look, I've used these in a post before, (August, 2011)  --but I didn't tell the story behind them.

I wore these once on a date.  I met someone in chat, he was from Florida, and a good 10 years younger than I.  In a random convo during our friendship, I told him that I had a pair of lace up panties...  *giggles*

Now I'm not sure what he thought -- maybe that they laced up the back, all the way like a corset does?  So that was a running joke between us for the longest time....

When his business took him to Ohio, we decided to meet up for dinner and a salsa lesson, as I'd never danced a salsa, and he definitely had.  We dined at Bahama Breeze, and gentleman that he was, he didn't ask about my "lace up panties" but I think he was wondering the whole time we were eating dinner.  After, we went back to his hotel for some personal salsa lessons.  He dug out his iPod and dialed in some hot salsa music.  Awkwardly, we stood and tried out a few steps; dancing the salsa is done in close proximity to a partner, and his arm slipped around me.  I've never been good at following dance steps, but he was patient and taught me a few basic moves.

Eventually his hand rested on the small of my back, and his fingers felt the strings.  He stopped the music, and looked me in the eye, "You're wearing your lace up panties, aren't you?"  I blushed, then grinned,"How could I not?" We chuckled, he turned me around and took a peek at the little bit of lacing, and was disappointed.  "Pulling the string doesn't mean they'll fall off of you, does it?"  We laughed together, finished our salsa lesson, talked a little while, and I left after a few kisses -- but I left with a really great memory!

Shades

Photography is a way of feeling,

of touching, 

of loving.

What you have 

caught on film

is captured forever...

it remembers little things,

long after you have

forgotten everything.

-Aaron Siskind

   

 

"Life is like a good 
black and white photograph, 
there's black, 
there's white, 
and lots of shades in between."

-Karl Heiner

Brave

"Don’t run,
stop holding your tongue

Maybe there’s a way out
of the cage where you live

Maybe one of these days
you can let the light in

Show me how big your brave is"

Sara Bareilles' new song

called Brave

 

The last line really spoke to me

on my way to work one morning.

Because with this blog, 

I feel as if I have truly grown.

Not just in photography ways, 

but in ways I never expected, 

a new way of looking at myself, and

feeling better about who I am 

than I ever have.

How many of us can 

look back at our past

and see places where 

we should have

been more brave???

I sure can.

PS:  I really liked the unexpected reflection

in the glass door here :)

Amazing

More in a series of

black and white work ....


A lot of times,

music inspires me -

or maybe its the words

themselves

either way,

a lot of what makes

up a part of me and

my pix come from

inspiring words --

On the radio today,

I heard Bruno Mars'

"Just the Way You Are"



"... cuz girl you're amazing

just the way you are... "



Sometimes us gals forget

that even our imperfections

are perfect just the way they are -

it's what makes us unique!

Don't you agree?

Leggs!

"She's got legs, 

she knows how to use them....

the girl's all right ... "

That was ZZ Top's word

on legs back in 1984.











I decided to do some 

work in black and white

because it appeals to me.

Other than some cropping,

I don't often edit or process 

my b/w works because

I feel as if the camera catches 

all the little nuances.

 

Happy Mother's Day!

I spent my morning on a long walk with my pug, Sadie, 

and stopped off for a well-deserved treat:  

A Venti Green Tea Frappuccino from Starbucks!  

and it tasted heavenly!

The rest of my day will be spent doing the usual chores that need

to be done on a weekly basis, but I won't spend a lot of time

on them - just enough to get me through the week :)

Mother, the ribbons of your love are woven around my heart.  

~Author Unknown

Peeking

 It's fun to peek

into other people's worlds

and see

how they 

go about doing things.

-Norah Jones

Sunshine

There is nothing

more pleasant

than the feel

of sunshine

on your skin










I like this series

a lot ... as always,

if there is a ray of

sunshine, I like to

take advantage

of it, see what

comes out in my pix.

Light

Gorgeous

glowing

ray of light......











Sometimes it is the

simple pose,

a little light,

and nothing else

that "makes"

a picture

Cleavage

“First rule of cleavage: 

it's not how low you go, 

but where and when you show.”
   -Elisabeth Squires

Be Fearless

 







“Be fearless. Have the courage to take risks.
Go where there are no guarantees.
Get out of your comfort zone
even if it means being uncomfortable.
The road less traveled is sometimes
fraught with barricades, bumps
and uncharted terrain.
But it is on that road
where your character is truly tested.
And have the courage to accept
that you’re not perfect
nothing is and no one is — and that’s OK.” 
~Katie Couric

Sunset

Just had to share our beautiful sunset today!

The Sun

The sun 

is but 

a morning star.  

~Henry David Thoreau,  

Walden

Early morning

is my fav time of day.

The hours between 5-8

are so quiet

and beautifully blissful.

Cinco de Mayo!

Red 

is the color 

for beauty 

in many 

languages.

Hope everyone

is having a 

terrific

weekend!

Happy 

Cinco de Mayo! 

Mr. Phx.

Forgive me for being tardy,

but its been a very busy week,

no time to be creative....

but here's wishing Mr.Phx

a very happy (but belated)

Birthday!!

Hope it was a good one :) 

Huggs from ~Gal !

Vintage

As a photographer

(of amateurish status)

there are clubs and groups

who present themes,

which helps focus your

mind's eye on seeing things

in a whole different way.

This week's theme is

self portrait and vintage photos

so I combined the two

 (I like how there's a reflection of me
in the mirror in the background!  )

This is the front porch of

a neighbor's house for

the theme "close to home"

where pix are of things 

within a mile of home.

Rocker

Relaxing after a

long hard week,

I worked 11 days

in a row, 80 hours

from start to finish ....

and it makes me batty

could you hear me

mumbling to myself??

*giggles*

At Rest

It's important to be heroic, ambitious, productive,
efficient, creative, and progressive,
but these qualities don't necessarily nurture the soul.
The soul has different concerns, of equal value:
downtime for reflection, conversation, and reverie;
beauty that is captivating and pleasuring;
relatedness to the environs and to people;
and any animal's rhythm of rest and activity.

Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852)