local gem: La Mesa's hidden stairs

Not long after the mister and I moved into our house, we met this cute old lady on our street one day while she was out for a walk. We started chatting about how great the neighborhood is, and she told us about these "walking stairs" just up the hill a bit, and that we should definitely check it out. The stairways were installed several years ago to help facilitate foot traffic through the different neighborhoods. I was intrigued, but it wasn't until yesterday that I decided to grab my camera and check it out for myself.

Okay. So I already knew that this would be a bit of a workout; lots of locals use the stairs for exercise, and I had read somewhere that there were 248 or so steps to the very top. So I was prepared to sweat. What I was not prepared for: HOW OUT OF SHAPE I AM. No joke. My thighs burned. I wasn't even walking at a brisk pace, and I had to take a break halfway up the second set of steps to catch my breath. Obviously, I could use a little more exercise in my life.

So I took my sweet time, but I made it to the top. Which is just another residential street, but happens to be one of the highest points in La Mesa. I walked down the street a bit, and found another set of stairs going down. So I decided to take this way back to my house.

Don't be fooled by these charming-looking steps. They're steep, they seem to go on forever, and your legs will hate you if you're out of shape like me.

But the walk down? Oh so sweet.

now this is my kind of kids photography

This series by Julie Blackmon is so up my alley. Un-boring, fun, and whimsical kids portraits. I love all of it. And definitely something to consider for my own future spawn. No Sear's portraits for this gal.

photoshoot: downtown cleaners for Mode Lifestyle Magazine

If you follow my facebook or flickr, you've probably already seen these images from my latest fashion shoot, but I figured I should share them on my bloggy blog.

I shot this back in January, and naturally I was super excited to share these images online, but because this was shot for Mode Lifestyle Magazine for the March/April issue, I had to wait until the issue officially came out. I can't wait to see the actual issue in print; it's my first 'real' published editorial of any kind!

Here's what the cover page of the editorial looks like:

And of course, the creative team I worked with has a huge part in this shoot's success! I worked with several of them on my last fashion shoot. Which made things a lot more relaxed and comfortable, in my honest opinion. Here's a quickie group shot of all of us, after we finished the last shot of the day!

From left to right: creative director Nick Mansfield, model Georgie Santos, hairstylist and makeup artist Badri Kermani, stylist Sarah Barger, and yours truly!

Here's some behind-the-scenes I shot during the day:

And lastly, a big thanks to 7th Ave Cleaners for letting us shoot in their space! They were super accommodating and pretty much just let us do our thing.

Mad Men!

{via}

Oh, March 25th, you can't come soon enough. I've been waiting a year and a half for this new season. I need my fix, and I need it now.

I've been soaking up all things Mad Men over the past week or so, and last night, I came across this gem:  an 8 bit Mad Men/choose your own adventure game!

 

Too good. The music takes me right back to the days when I'd play around on the 'ole Nintendo. And I just about died when I saw the reference to the riding-lawnmower incident (if you watch the show, you know what I'm talking about).

Two more days. Just two more days.

flashback: Camden Town, London

I can't believe it was only a year ago that I was in merrie London town! I was traveling there with my good friend Latella, and while I was there primarily for a photography workshop, we were also there to attend the London Lomography Store launch party. Good, good times.

Anyway, I feel like reminiscing. So let's reminisce together, shall we?

We spent a lot of time in Camden Town. Probably because of all the sensory overload, which we both thrive off of. Everywhere you look, there's something to see, smell, taste, touch, and take a photo of. And scooter seats. You can't beat a good scooter seat.

And food. So much food. So many street food vendors packed into one place, it's fantastic. Indian food? Check. Thai? Mexican? Spanish? It's all there.

I reallly regret not packing an extra suitcase for that trip. Once you got past the usual touristy merchandise, there were some really great vintage and antique shops that I easily could've spent hours poring through.

Jamie Oliver's restaurant! Okay, this wasn't in Camden Town, but I'm adding it anyway.

You know why I love big cities? People-watching. And in this case, baby-on-a-traffic-light-pole-watching. Even though I was well across the street when I shot this, I'm positive that kid was staring right at my soul. Look how hard he's mean-mugging me. I forgave him though, he had cool shoes.

Speaking of people-watching, one of my favorite parts of Camden Town was going up to perfect strangers and asking if I could take their photo. I had never done this before, and I was kinda nervous at first, but everyone I asked happily obliged. It has since sparked a desire to keep on with the 'stranger portrait' series now that I'm in San Diego. Must. Do this.

Here's some of my film photos from the trip, taken with my Diana Mini.

/reminiscing. Sigh.

this week's Bringers-Of-Happiness

These are the things that made me happy this week (and the week before, if you wanna get technical):

Okay, I'm still getting used to all this southern California weather. And even though I just came from southern Spain, whose weather is nearly identical to here, for some reason it felt "normal" over there and now feels foreign over here. But I'm not complaining, I swear. Give me sunny and 80 degrees every day of the year, and I'll die a happy woman.

I've been wanting to try the whole brightly-colored-pants thing for a while, so when I saw these at Forever 21, I snatched them up, tried them on, and bam. Instant mood-lifter. The only downside is now the rest of my closet looks depressingly lacking in color next to these bad boys.

Oh neighborhood walks, you surprise me yet again and fill me with joy. While walking home from a coffee stop one morning, the mister and I found this. Behold this epic (plastic?) rhino guarding his turf, complete with rusty chain to ward off any thievery. And now it makes me really curious to know more about the people who live at this house. Surely we would get along?

What's better than watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off? Watching it poolside at The Pearl Hotel's dive-in theater night! A very spontaneous date night, I must say, but so fun.

Wolfram Hahn’s "Into the Light"

I'm a sucker for a good portrait series. Wolfram Hahn approached real people in his hometown of Berlin via social networking to ask if he could re-create the moment that their own self-portrait was taken. He sought to keep all the details the same: clothes, place it was taken, and light.

“The digital camera and the computer allow the possibility of shutting oneself away while simultaneously maintaining contact with others,” says Hahn. “I began to ask myself, what is behind these moments … how does it look when somebody is taking their photograph at home and alone?”

You can see his entire series here.

this week's Bringers-Of-Happiness

These are the things that made me happy this week:

{at Gingham!}

 {yep, Gingham again}

 {from Austin Kleon}

 {friends I met in Spain, who now live in Texas. I love when friends visit!}