Apple Bacon Salad

I decided to make a salad for lunch today, since we had a bag of lettuce that needed to be finished.  With standards set high from my last salad- a strawberry salad with homemade dressing- I wanted to make another easy, yet delicious salad.  I didn't have strawberries, but I did have Gala apples.  I also had almonds.  I checked Pinterest for dressing ideas that would taste great with apples.  I found one, but I did not have all the ingredients.  While checking for dressing ideas, I came across a photo of an apple salad that also had bacon pieces mixed in.  I had bacon!  I also had balsamic vinaigrette dressing that I decided to top my salad with.  It all worked so well together.  I liked it so much I had it again with my dinner!

Apple Bacon Salad:

Romaine lettuce

Sliced apples

Bacon pieces

Chopped almonds

Balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Strawberry Salad

Need a quick, easy meal?  Try this wonderful strawberry salad.  I got the recipe for the salad and dressing on Annie's Eats blog, which I also pinned on one of my Pinterest boards, entitled Even I Could Make This!  The sweet dressing is mixed using fresh strawberries, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, and champagne/white wine.  I used white wine.  The recipe also suggests using all spinach leaves.  I don't care for a salad with only spinach, so I bought mixed greens.  Top with almonds and fresh strawberries and enjoy!

Fisheye 2

I am so excited to start using my new Fisheye 2 camera Scott bought me for Christmas!  It has been a long time since I have used a plastic film camera.  Believe it or not, he actually bought this at American Eagle (not online).  In store, they had four plastic cameras to choose from.  I had seen them in the store before, but had not actually stopped to check them out until a few weeks before Christmas.  I decided that lomography would be a fun hobby and a plastic camera would be an interesting addition to my two digital cameras.  The cameras, including film, were 50% off that day, so Scott bought me a Diana Mini & Flash Petite Noire, which I will blog about soon, to open on Christmas.  The Fisheye 2 was a surprise on Christmas Eve!

The Fisheye 2 offers several features to enhance photos.  You have the option to turn on or off the internal flash.  There are three different exposure modes.  One locks the shutter; another takes a picture a set aperture and shutter speed; and the third setting is for long exposures.  An external flash can also be attached!

I can't wait until I use up my first roll of film and get it developed.  First, I need to get our scanner to work so I can share my lomography on my blog and facebook.

Crafty Christmas Gift



I made a second set of coasters as a Christmas gift for my mom.  My mom is very crafty and really enjoys sewing and knitting.  I happened to find a set of scrapbook paper (60 sheets) from Hobby Lobby called Yarn and Thread Emporium that I used for the coasters.  I chose four prints- two somewhat "busy" prints and two tone-on-tone type prints.  The set will be great for her to use in her sewing room as she crafts and drinks her sweet tea.

Bindi and Lillie



Both of these photos were taken with my Canon Rebel T3i on the automatic setting and with my Canon Speedlite.  The top photo shows Bindi- one of my aunt and uncle's cats.  Bindi used to be much larger and fluffier.  However, she is much smaller now and looks like a completely different cat.  The vet believes it is possible that she has pancreatic cancer.  Although, when this photo was taken, you wouldn't know she possibly had cancer.  She loved the attention on Christmas Eve and purred and purred.  I love the clarity of her beautiful blue eyes in the photo.  Look closely and you can even see her tongue sticking out.  The bottom photo is of Lillie- also one of my aunt and uncle's pets.  Lillie is a mix of Basset Hound and Beagle.  At first she was not so sure about the camera and flash, but soon got used to it and showed off her sweet, yet pitiful looking expression.

Dreaming

The kitties were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of cat treats danced in their heads.

I love the way the off-white sheets on the bed make Mia's cute face stand out and make the photo look dream like.  I used my Canon Speedlite and my camera's Automatic setting to take this photo.

Halloween Decorating

I was in need of a Halloween touch to our apartment, so I picked out a couple of small pumpkins.  I wanted to add some interest to them, so I painted them and added stickers and bows.  At Wal-Mart, I bought metallic silver and champagne colored craft paints in the Folk Art brand, as well as gold and silver ribbon and loose glitter.  I already had Mod Podge, sponges, and stickers.  Here are the steps to creating these cute pumpkins:

1. Apply paint to each pumpkin with a paint brush or sponge.  Add more coats for desired color.  Let dry.
2. Add stickers.
3. Apply Mod Podge to small area of pumpkin and sprinkle on glitter.  Repeat until whole pumpkin has been covered in Mod Podge and glitter.  Let dry.
4. Add bows.