an ode to east coast fog

I haven't lived on the east coast since 2008. From the time I was in 8th grade until five years into my marriage, I lived in Virginia. And it wasn't until I moved away from Virginia and across the Atlantic Ocean to Spain that I really started to miss what I never really appreciated before. The trees. The change of seasons. Leaves the color of fire. And not just in Virginia -- Pennsylvania too, where my husband's family lives, and where we visited often.

I think what I miss the most is the moody, foggy weather that those two places can bring. Especially during the fall. Living in southern Spain for three and a half years, and then southern California for the past four, brought me plenty of sun and palm trees, dry heat and 70 degree winters. But sometimes I just want to be surrounded by some moody weather. By trees transitioning into the colder weather. A layer of low-hanging clouds that make you shiver and leave your skin damp.

East coast fog, I miss you.

bits of life // november

1 // My 52 weeks project is still going on, and even though I'm a few weeks behind, I can't quite believe it's nearly over. Above is my week 41 photo. Once again, I seem to be forever drawn to merging skin with nature.

2 // Speaking of skin, I was so excited to have some of my recent photos included in the latest issue of Clear Nude Magazine. It's a fantastic quarterly magazine that celebrates the nude form in art, and it looks even more beautiful in print! My cat clearly approves.

 3 // Back in September I went on a little road trip with two other photographers to Yosemite National Park, and it was seriously just what I needed. Fresh air, nature, magical golden hour light, and so much photo-taking. I'll have to do a separate blog post soon on just the portraits alone, and how geeking out with fellow photo nerds makes my heart so happy.

4 // I also went to the east coast recently for some family bonding time, and of course all the fall foliage and foggy mountain mornings were just begging to be photographed. As much as I love living in southern California, I really do miss the more moody weather sometimes (cause it's 90 degrees today in San Diego, and I have so many mixed feelings about that).

:)

this old house

I thought I'd share some snaps of my home that I took the other day. Neighbors have told me that when the previous tenant lived here, the front yard was so overgrown that it was almost impossible to see the house from the street. I've also heard that he had over 500 potted plants and was even growing grapes in the backyard! (I actually wouldn't mind if the grapes had stayed behind, but oh well) 

The kittah is spoiled as all heck here. A huge fenced-in yard to run around and stalk the local lizard population (if she brings one more cut-off lizard tail into the house, I'm gonna lose it), and as seen above, plenty of outdoor scratching posts. Living the life I tell you. If I believed in reincarnation, I would totally want to come back in my next life as a spoiled rotten house cat.

Reason #478 I love living in an old house? Mature fruit trees! And we've got four! This is the avocado tree on the side of our property. What a beautiful, glorious thing that is. The only downside is that we have to bust out our ladder to pick the avocados, because they're usually way up high. And see that twisty, Tim Burton-looking tree in the back right corner? That's our persimmon tree, even though it's not looking so pretty right now. When we moved in, it was bearing leaves and fruit, but I'm guessing it's out of season now? At least we had the chance to pick and taste them. I had to do a little research though, to find out that our persimmons are the astringent type, which means that they'll turn orange and look ripe long before they actually are. So I picked some off when they were still firm, and let them ripen on my kitchen counter until they were soft and squishy to the touch. Then they're ready to eat!

Other odd quirks of this house: Some of our windows have to be held up with bamboo sticks. Some people might find this annoying and inconvenient, but I don't really mind.

And glass door knobs! How awesome are these? We've got a few of these around the house, on my bedroom closet door, and in one of the bathrooms. They add a nice vintage touch, if I do say so myself.

local gem // the neighborhood

Dear Neighborhood, you are a pleasure to live in. Your tree-lined streets and historic, pre-1940 structures are a treat. Cookie-cutter neighborhoods and homes are for the birds. Every time I take a walk, I discover something new. I love hearing the sound of the trolley in the distance. I love seeing my neighbors taking their dogs for a walk. Today, while I was taking a short walk, I heard someone practicing an instrument inside their home. From another house, I heard deep bellows of laughter. I came across one of the neighborhood cats on my walk, a black and white tuxedo cat like my own, but way more friendly and social to strangers. It's the little things really.

finding home

So the Mister and I have been in our new home in California for a little over a month, and I still can't believe how much we lucked out in finding this sweet rental that we get to call "home." Although I wouldn't say luck was the only factor....before we had even left Spain, we were scouring online rental listings in the San Diego area for a solid two months, trying to make sense of all the different neighborhoods and what they had to offer. Oh we did our homework. We researched online. We talked to friends who had lived there.

I will say this: God bless Craigslist.

We were cooped up at the Red Roof Inn for a little over a week after we arrived here. When we weren't visiting open houses, we were in that tiny hotel room with a pissed off cat, using my old laptop and the hotel's Wi-Fi to keep tabs on the rental listings we had bookmarked, and to search for new ones. We looked at a few houses that were nice, particularly in the University Heights area (where we wanted to be), but either the rent prices made us balk, or it didn't have enough outdoor yard space. We like to entertain friends outdoors, so that was important to us while we were looking. We looked at another house in a different neighborhood that had a great open layout and gorgeous backyard space, but I got a sketchy vibe from the area that I couldn't shake. 

And then it happened. On a day when we were feeling particularly frustrated, I looked up rental listings in the La Mesa area to further expand our search. I found one that boasted a newly landscaped yard, multiple fruit trees, two garages, more than reasonable rent, and located right by the Village shops. Once we saw the home in person (as well as the neighborhood), it was too good to pass up; we signed the lease two days later.

Here's a photo I snapped with my iPhone right before we moved in. The landscaping wasn't quite done yet, as evidenced by the dirt on both sides of the walkway.

That archway! Plus, I love that the exterior has a Spanish feel to it...it's like I get to bring a little bit of Spain with me to California, complete with private fenced-in yard.

We're still waiting on our household goods to arrive from Spain (good lord I miss sleeping on my own bed!), so I'll hold off on interior photos until I've done my fair share of nesting. But here's a few I've taken of the outside.

A previous tenant or owner must have painted the mailbox. It's not something I would have done, but I kind of like it.

Dear aloe vera, I am glad you are part of my front yard. Sincerely, Me.

I'm not sure what type of plant this is, but it's pretty. I like pretty.

Free lemonade. Free drink garnishes. Free lemon meringue pie. It's the tree that keeps on giving.

I have plans to re-pot these as soon as we get the rest of our things. 

pretty bougainvillea from one of our trees. I seriously can't get enough of this yard.

I took this self-portrait a few weeks ago as part of my 52 weeks project.

I will leave you with one photo of the interior that I took shortly after we moved in. This is what a cat looks like after she's traveled 6000 miles, kept in a kennel for two weeks, stuck in a hotel room, and then cooped up in a new house before she can explore that glorious front yard.

Her eyes pretty much say it all: "Let me out or I will sleep on your face and suffocate you." She's so dramatic.