1. it's thanksgiving break.

And I could not be any happier. I'm so, so thankful for this reprieve from the craziness that is school. The principle of the online school where I take a few of my classes asked the teachers not to give us too much homework so we could enjoy our time off...I love him. :)

2. a little bokeh tutorial.

After I shared my Chocolate Bokeh On Cloud Nine photo, I got so many questions asking how to achieve bokeh. It's really very simple. On my SLR, I focus on some light and purposely make it as out of focus as I can (I usually manually focus for this). Then, I just click the shutter and there you have it! If you have a point and shoot camera, you can sometimes "trick" your camera into giving you bokeh. Try putting it on the flower, macro, or close up setting and take a picture. There's no guarantee that it'll work, though...on my point and shoot I was never able to coax it into taking a bokeh filled photo.




3. chocolate ice cream with frozen raspberries.

This is one of my favorite desserts...and it's even better with whipped cream on top. So yummy. Try it sometime! You'll definitely love it. Unless you don't, you know, like chocolate. Or raspberries. That might be a bit of a problem.
What's your favorite afternoon pick me up dessert?

4. harry potter.

Am I the only one who isn't head over heels in love with this series? I don't hate it, but I don't exactly love it either. With part one of the seventh movie having just come out, it seems everywhere I go I run into it...oh well, I'll live. ;)

5. let's talk shoes.

I'm such a sucker for cute shoes. Like these adorable pumps. Swoon. Although, let's face it. I could never walk in them. I'm clumsy enough as it is...I really couldn't handle a five inch heel. Heck, I can barely handle a three inch heel. But a girl can dream, can't she?
What do you prefer when it comes to shoes? Do you strive for comfort? (No pun intended...) Or are you all for cute shoes, no matter how painful they are? I'm somewhere in the middle...although I don't have any shoes that are super painful.



6. so pretty.

I was out in our yard a few days ago when I came across this little pink shoot growing from a dead bush. I was drawn in by the color and snapped some shots. Does anyone know what kind of plant it is? I'm kind of in love with it :)

7. pages.

I've changed some of the pages at the top of my blog...I rewrote my photography page and updated the page with my favorite bloggers. I also reworked the URLs for each of the pages...it was really bugging me that the URLs didn't match with the titles. Yeah, I'm a bit type a. Why do you ask?

8. speaking of type a...

I have other examples if you're not convinced yet. For example, I can't stand it when there are black marks from the lead on pencil erasers. And I hate it when the eraser is rounded instead of flat on top. My sheets can't be wrinkled when I go to sleep. It bugs me to no end when they are. Oh, and if I go to bed without brushing my teeth, my skin crawls. But oddly enough, I like having a clean room, but it doesn't bother me too much if it's messy. Weird.
Do you have any funny quirks?

Happy Sunday!

-carlotta