Have you seen the blue trees?

Sacramento is known as "the city of trees," but recently we've become the city of blue trees. Twenty trees near the Convention Center have been painted bright blue from trunk to limb by Australian artist Konstantin Dimopoulos and local volunteers. The project has visited four other cities across the globe and began locally with the "Why Not Here?" column of Sactown magazine's June/July issue (go team!), quickly gaining momentum when the Sacramento Tree Foundation raised $25,000 in just a week's time to make it happen. But it doesn't just look really cool --like a page from a Dr. Suess book-- it serves a purpose. Read why HERE.

I walked by last week when the painting was just getting started and saw locals and tourists alike strolling by, scratching their heads and coming up to volunteers to ask, "what's going on here?" It's a project that instantly spurs curiosity and has caught the attention of the Sacramento Bee, the SF Chronicle and Fox40. The paint will only last several months, so go check it out now! 

The space shuttle visits Sacramento

When I was a kid, I stood on the side of a road at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California with my mom and brother, watching the space shuttle return from a mission and land on the runway. Years later, I watched the space shuttle retire...

It was definitely unlike any Friday morning at the office. We climbed up the narrow staircase to the roof of our building and stood waiting, scanning the skyline.

On September 21, the space shuttle Endeavor made its final flight through California. I was one of the thousands of people across the state who watched in awe and reverence as it flew overhead on the back of a modified 747. And I mean RIGHT overhead. It was incredible. But my favorite part of the morning was seeing through my zoom lens all the others who gathered on the rooftops and parking structures with their cell phones and binoculars or just their coffee cups in hand to watch as well. Sacramento truly stood still that day. I knew instantly I wanted to collage the images. So, here they are...

Here it comes...

And there it goes....right over the Capitol!

A brief haitus

Life advice: water and laptops don't mix. Ever. 

Yup, I drowned my loyal MacBook -- where I had all my notes and to-do lists and tidbits of writing for work and life and this blog and the wedding plans, all my photos, my email...EVERYTHING. I've gone three whole weeks without my laptop. In that time I've realized how much I rely on my technology, how frustrating it is to be cut off from it, and even how easy and sometimes refreshing it is to live without it for a while. 

Would you, or have you, ever given up your computer? Your smartphone? Your TV? Everyone should try logging off once in a while. Just don't do what I clumsily did and give your thirsty keyboard a sip of water, k?

I'll be returning from my blog break shortly...and bombard you with a slew of new posts that have been locked up on my hard-drive drying out. :)


*Wall art from Etsy. Made me laugh!

RIP library timestamps

When Andrew brought home a Stephen King book from the library, I picked it up from his nightstand and immediately flipped to the inside page to find that cute little card with the due date stamps.

Then he gave me his, oh-you-silly-Tori face.

“They haven’t had those for ages!” he said. “It’s all computerized now. They just scan it and give you a receipt.”

“WHAT!” was my reply.

I couldn’t believe it! I was deeply saddened by this news. Call me old-fashioned, but I loved checking those inky numbers to see the history of people who had read the book before me. How did I miss this technology leap?? Do some libraries still have the stamps? I'd like to believe so.

Maybe I need this library kit from one of my favorite online stores, UncommonGoods…or this funny shirt. Lol.

The first beer I ever liked

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m a wine girl. Anything bitter and hoppy usually makes me pucker after one sip. BUT...that was before I went beer tasting (for the first time ever!) with Jeanne and Kim at Mammoth Brewing Company over Labor Day weekend and tried their Double Nut Brown ale. The brown porter ale has subtle yet sweet hints of dark chocolate and coffee, with a crisp roast finish. 

It won me over at the mention of coffee and dark chocolate. Plus, the beer won a gold medal at the World Beer Cup this past May. So it's officially a winner in my book. 

Their tasting room is in this big warehouse-type building right across from the Mammoth village with its string of high-end shops and eateries. Happily, tastings here are just $1 each!

Next time I'm down in the Mammoth area visiting Kim, we'll have to go back and pick up some more! (And try their celebrated root beer, which ran out that day.)

All in all, the discovery gave me some hope for my beer taste buds. Cheers!

Tatoos

Would you ever get a tattoo? I've thought about it. 

The coolest tattoo I’ve ever seen was on a girl who I used to work with in college. She had this beautiful nature-inspired leaf pattern on her foot that looked more like henna colors than the usual tattoo dark green.

But I think after a while, I’d get sick of seeing the same design on myself. Plus, I’m not a huge fan of anything--anything!--pertaining to needles.

Do you have a tattoo? A feather on your foot? A star behind your ear? A little anchor on your wrist? Or are tattoos taboo to you? They’re such little mysteries and works of art.

*Photos courtesy of bestsoylatte.blogspot.com.

Alphabet photography

With more of my friends joining the “Mrs.” circuit, finding wedding presents that are personal and more heartfelt than the usual bath towel or casserole dish registry picks can be a challenge. But anything handmade has always been my idea of a great gift.

So when my friend Nicola married Mark earlier this year, I went back to my photography roots and put together an alphabet frame with their last name, Faires, which fit perfectly into a six-opening photo frame I found on Amazon. Most last names with four, five or six letters will fit into a collage frame for either 4x6 or 5x7 photos, but longer names like Sheldon (now the last name of my friend Emily, who married Jeff back in July) required individual frames.  

Finding the letters was the fun part! I went outside and explored. Anything that looked loopy or curvy or interesting, I captured. A piece of rope became an "R", the legs of an old wooden chair became an "F", like a little scavenger hunt! I printed the photos at CVS (alas, I no longer have access to a darkroom to print film the old fashioned way) and wrote a personalized note on the back of each frame to the couple.

Hopefully, they can be hung up somewhere and serve as a loving reminder of their foundation and new lives together. :)

You can find frames similar to the ones I used HERE and HERE. 

Recipe for the ocean

A few weeks ago, Andrew and I visited the ocean, near the town out on the coast where we will marry. Here's what we found: 

Flats, of course, weren't the best idea for walking along the beach, but I couldn't resist. I miss living closer to the ocean. There's nothing like the big, beautiful, raging, calming sea to put life in perspective. :) Happy Friday, everyone. 

Echoes: photography

Dorothea Lange, the photojournalist pioneer most famous for her "Migrant Mother" portrait, once said:

"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera."

I like that. If you've never explored her haunting photographs from the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, you can view more here. This one is my favorite--so beautifully haunting. 

Craving fall

I love summer, but I'm officially craving sweater-and-boots weather. It even rained this morning on my drive to work...such a tease! 

Happy September, by the way. I spent Labor Day weekend visiting my best friend Kimmy in her new house in Bishop. We ate pastries, went beer tasting and floated down the river. (Pictures to come!)

The weekend felt like summer, but now I'm ready for leaves and pumpkins...bring on autumn. :)