First arboretum trip of the season!

In my last post I mentioned my visit to the arboretum, one of my favorite places on Earth. 

I seriously love that place!! Perfect scenery, lots of different plants, flowers, and trees. 

Looking through the pictures today and finally uploading them to this blog, I thought of a quote my sister wrote in my birthday card:

"We lose ourselves in the things we love. We find ourselves there, too."

I love photography of all kinds, but my most favoritest is flower photography. :)

Purple tulips... and still in bloom! Whaaaaat?

 

White lilac and blue skies. ♥

Dark red apple tree blossoms. These are just decorative apple tree blossoms though. 

 

Oh and lilac. A whole bunch of sweet sweet smelling lilac. A perfectly located bench!!

More decorative apple tree blossoms...  Oh my!

Blue and white forget-me-nots. :)

Oh my bleeding heart...

SUNSHINE!!!

Horse chestnut blossoms ALWAYS remind me of candles on a tree.

And a buzzy bee! 

Our path through the arboretum was to where my hubby's boat was waiting. 

Here's a sweet Queen Anne's lace along the path.

 

And fern right by my hubby's row boat.

 

We took the boat out to the garden, about a half hour away. The lake was perfectly calm, but it was chilly out there!! I love this rippled mirror reflection, it's really something. I don't think even the best picture in the world could come in close to seeing it in real life!

We ate our "picnic" sandwiches out on the boat and had some coffee from the thermos. :)

Oh summer. 

How I do love thee. 

I have finally finished the editing of all the wedding pictures.

Went to another great wedding, but didn't even take my camera!

Finished my 6 day work stretch.

Had one day off (slept 12 h!!).

Been to Ikea, only to find out they didn't have the curtain fabric we went there for...and they won't be getting it until next week! Argh!

 Today we cleaned the house, went to the dog park with friends, and went to the garden to pick weeds!

 Oh my wonders the progress the garden has made!!

 (Pictures to follow soon!) :)

One more day off. 

And it's going to be a rainy one!

Hope your week is off to a good start! 

See ya around!

Birthday blues

It's my birthday!!

It sure doesn't feel like it though. I have to work today (shouldn't it be illegal to have to work on your birthday?), but at least I have an evening shift, which means I got to sleep in. Wow, 9 o'clock feels late. Lol!

Unfortunately, the sun is shining. Which makes me wish I could spend my day outside doing fun stuff. Argh.

I did have a wonderful day off on Monday though. It was kind of like a birthday celebration, or like last year's birthday anyway. I went to the arboretum to take pictures, then out on the boat (and I took pictures), and then finally to the garden. It was a superb day off. 

Here is just a quick photo, one of my many favorites from the day. 

Don't you love when bees show up and make your picture that much cooler? Yeah, me too.

Thanks little bee. I love all you little pollinators! Pollinate away!

I've been busy with the wedding photo editing. 

Busy with work.

Busy with the day to day. 

And trying to take it easy while doing all the above. 

Can't wait for my next days off! :)

Hope you're having an awesome Thursday! 

Sail boat wedding

We got back this afternoon after a busy day and a half of wedding business. 

My friend's wedding finally rolled around --- it was beautiful! 

The weather was dismal but at least it didn't rain as much as the forecast predicted. 

Sail boats are cool by the way. Just thought I'd throw that out there. :)

Here is just a sneak peek photo... I had to share somehow, somewhere. I was the official-unofficial wedding photographer and I really really enjoyed myself. It was stressful (especially since my equipment isn't really up to par for dark boats/conditions/weather etc) but I had a blast and I was really pleased with the photos. For what I had to work with, I can toot my own horn and congratulate myself, lol!

Can't wait to edit them all (well the best out of 900+) and share them with the happy newlyweds when they get back from their honeymoon. :)

Ah, the bride...she was gorgeous.

My wiser than most sister says that a woman looks her best on her wedding day, it is so true. There is just a certain glow, I think. Or maybe it's the dress. ;)

Off to bed to think about lighroom presets I should look into. 

Ah. Photography. ♥ Weddings ♥ Lightroom ♥

And seeing your friends so in love. 

♥♥♥

 

Lily of the valley

I've had this vase of lily of the valley on my nightstand and have fallen asleep with the sweet scent for the past two nights. I finally got around to taking some pictures today and had to share them immediately, couldn't even wait to lightroom them. 

To all lily of the valley lovers out there, enjoy. :) I know there are two in the family, my sister and my mother-in-law. Miss you gals!

 

Tallinn

Last weekend was spent in Tallinn, Estonia. 

I had never been before and it wasn't really on my agenda (or in the budget), but my dear soon-to-be-Mrs-friend arranged her bachelorette party to be a spa weekend getaway. I couldn't say no! 

We were blessed with GORGEOUS weather and we had a blast together. It was just 5 of us, the bride included. We arrived late morning on Saturday, spa'd it up in the afternoon (I had my hair trimmed, others had facials, manicures, massages, and highlights done). After the spa, we went out to the fanciest dinner I've ever eaten...like the portions were little works of art. For someone who usually just slops a whole bunch of food on their plate...it was fancy! Then we watched a bit of the Eurovision, had a few drinks, and then went out to a crazy-ish club to dance. I was exhausted by then, quite frankly the one vodka drink I had while watching the Eurovision literally put me out, but I think we had a nice night anyway. At least those with more energy kept the party going! Lol!

Sunday morning we went out for breakfast and then stopped by the liquor store (alcohol is so much cheaper there than in Finland) and then hopped on the boat home. 

I had a really wonderful time and made the executive decision that my mom and I are going to take a mother-daughter only trip to Tallinn at the end of May next year. It was gorgeous and there is so much she and I would enjoy to see together! I hope it works out!

Anywho, enough blabbering!

Here are some snapshots from the trip!

A fellow cruise ship. I love the blues in this picture! :)

We happened to be there during the "old city's days" and there was an outdoor theater performance with this dragon creature eating various actors and then moving across the square and climbing up a building. It was a bit crazy and confusing but probably made more sense if you could understand Estonian. :D

 

Then at some point these amazing tight rope riding folks came out and threw silver confetti into the air. It wafted down in the most beautiful way, truly breathtaking for a glitter obsessed girl like me!

 

And then when the beast was won (I think, lol), confetti was exploded into the air...also beautiful! 

 

This was a little lane by where we stayed. I loved the old architecture.

 

I could have spent my whole life right here. Honestly, if I were Estonian, I would consider this as a career option. Surrounded by flowers all day? Um yes please!

 

Puts our lily of the valley to shame. Hahaha...

 

We surprised the bride-to-be at the spa with some sparkling wine. 

 

And we bought her this flower. I couldn't not take a picture. I really like how it turned out!

 

All the decorative doors...wow what inspiration! This one was a pink, salmon and yellow door. Yes, please, and thank you for my future farm!

 

Gorgeous blue building, candy colored striped shutters...

 

Here is a bit of the cityscape as seen from the harbor on the boat. 

 

Ah, bye bye Tallinn! Thanks for being a great first experience!

 

I was surprised how pretty it was, at least in the "old town" bit. I would love to go again soon, too bad it's not cheaper (and I'm not richer!) :)

 

Ferns and such

On my way to school last week (and this week) and actually all spring (!), I've been admiring this patch of ferns and all the photo glory they behold. I have seen them in morning light and afternoon light...wishing I had the camera each time. The definite downside to owning a DSLR is the fact that it's bulky and the proper bags are so ugly. I always put our bag inside another, lol. Anywho, I finally took my camera with me on my second to last day of school. Pretty funny, right.

The ferns. Love! 

Here's another shout out to the best sister ever! Keeping me photo-inspired ;)

This one is my favorite. I love vertical. I love light through leaves. I love close up, I love detail. 

I think I'm developing a style as far as flower/nature photography goes...

 

Not only did the ferns catch my eye, but I've noticed the blueberries were blooming. I think they have such a pretty little bell flower. So dainty!

 

The growth of this woodland patch of lily of the valley was something I've been following all spring... Crazy how much pollen has fallen on these leaves!

 

This picture makes my heart leap!!

♥♥♥

I've seen it so many mornings and wished for my camera. I realized the tulips are starting to wilt, so it was another reason to carry my camera along to school... had to capture the beauty while I could!!

 

The same day as all the photos above (Wednesday), I went to my parents' to help my mom prepare for some US guests. In fact, my dad's cousin and his wife. I made roasted veggies that we served over cheesey, creamy pasta and some chicken on the side (there was a vegetarian among us!). As a side dish we ate a salad with a homemade lemony vinaigrette. And dessert, well dessert was fabulous. More on that in a minute!

This side table is something that my parents are super proud of. My dad, being the amazingly talented carpenter he is, built the table and then covered it mosaic style with all the (accidentally) broken cups and such that have come to be over the years. In fact, this has been a project in the making for at least a few years. Careful collection of broken items and items to be broken! ;) 

I hate to say it, but I think Kissa was a great inspiration, seeing as she is the one who broke most of the key pieces while living with my parents for a summer...

Naughty kitty!

The rest of the items have been given by friends, relatives, and have been flea market finds.

I think it's beautiful! 

Oh and here is the fabulous dessert. What else but pavlova?! Lol!

Me and my meringues...

But seriously, it was PERFECT! I served it topped with a rhubarb compote made the night before, just the right amount of tartness. And the sweetness was provided by whipped cream. 

Oh my...I drool even now at the memory.

Come to find out, I wasn't the only meringue fiend in the bunch. 

And there wasn't much left. ;)

Always a good sign!!

The picture isn't the best, but I was too busy drooling and wanting to eat it NOW than mess around with the camera. Sometimes, snapshots will do.

One thing I learned after making the compote, is that when not using "forced rhubarb" which have that beautiful dark red color, you can make a color syrup of sorts by boiling one small beet and sugar together. Once you add your normal green rhubarb it'll be prettified!

It's definitely something I'd like to try!!

Well, my work week continues. 

At least weekends equal a little bit more money.

But all I really want to do is lay in bed with my furry babies and listen to rain outside. 

It's so calming!

Hope you have an awesome weekend! :)