Blogger Tip – Picasa and Flickr Limits on Pictures

When I tried uploading pictures to my blog the other day, an error message popped up saying I was about to exceed my Picasa storage limit of 1GB (1024 MB). Umm I didn’t even know there was a limit! It is always advised to resize your pictures for the web because it is unnecessary to post huge files and it slows down your site when loading.  I never listened to this piece of advice because I figured I don’t post that many pictures.  Well now I realized I should’ve listened! 

Google suggested I could purchase additional storage (20GB for $5/year, 80GB for $20/year, etc). But since I want to keep this hobby as free as possible, I’m not going that route. Darcy at Life With My 3 Boybarians has a good tutorial on how to resize images for the web. So going forward I’ll resize my blog pictures with picnik (free) before posting.

I’m also considering uploading to flickr and getting the html from there to post in my blog, but I'm not sure I’m going this route yet. While uploading 100+ party pictures to flickr last night,  I got a warning message saying I was going to exceed the monthly upload limit of 300MB worth of photos each calendar month. GRRR! Nobody told me about that limit either! Also note that your upload limits are reset to zero at midnight in Pacific Time Zone on the first of each calendar month. You can't recover any of your monthly allowance by deleting photos. BOO! L If you have a free account, you'll see your limit on the upload page. And just like I learned the hard way, flickr suggests to: resize your images to be more "web-friendly" (like 300KB instead of 5MB).

Annnnnd that would be what’s holding up this Winter One-derland recap!! Sorry, it’ll be up before spring comes, I promise! No really though, hopefully this week…I’m workin’ on it!

Last Minute Valentine

Doug and I don’t expect much on Valentine’s Day. Well actually, I'd like to be surprsied with at least flowers or a little note, anything! But this year he told me “You’ll be lucky if I have time to stop at Jewel after work.” So romantic.

I ordered Girl Scout cookies from a co-worker a few weeks ago and they were delivered to my cube today! J Loooove Samoas and Thin Mints! So I decided to wrap a few thin mints up with a note as a cute little last minute "gift". valentine's day schmalentine's day.

**Update** He is sweet afterall! He got me some roses and sweets from Rolf's!

 

Good Night Chicago - Navy Pier

In the summer I decided to recreate Mia’s Good Night Chicago book by taking pictures of her at all the Chicago landmarks.  For her first birthday we took her to the Children’s Museum at Navy Pier to check the “Greetings Navy Pier and Ferris wheel.” page off of our list.  I think we’ll have to revisit this one when it’s warmer out so I can actually get Navy Pier and the Ferris wheel in the picture.  But this will do for now.

There were awesome snow sculptures outside but the 5 degree weather didn’t allow us to take a long close look. L But Mia had so much fun walking around and exploring the museum. Since it was a weekday, it was nice and empty and she could roam freely. I think she had the most fun when there were other kids around that she could make friends with.

 Our little girl is getting so big L As Mia passed out in her big girl car seat on the way home, I scarfed down a bag of Garrett’s popcorn mMmMM J 
 

Mia's Birth Story

As with most birth stories, this post could be TMI for some of you. Consider it your warning! Oh, it’s also long.

04 What They Wear

Mia's birthday outfit...pretty head band by Mia Couture and bib by BobalooKids as seen in the Prudent Baby newsletter.

{1/500s, ISO 400, f/2, cloudy}

Winter One-derland 1st Birthday Party: Inspiration Board

Mia’s first birthday party was this weekend and we are EXHAUSTED.  I can’t wait to go to bed at 9pm every night this week and get a massage on Saturday.  It was a long month of shopping at Michael’s/Joann and crafting, but everything turned out just how I wanted and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat! I’m actually thinking about next year’s party already J

My vision -  

When I was 38 weeks pregnant, Doug and I watched the weather as usual, and Jerry Taft said there was a big snow storm headed our way. So Doug told Mia (in my belly) to wait until the storm passes before coming.  Sure enough, the one day that we get 10 inches of snow, Mia arrived!  So for her 1^st birthday party, I thought it’d be perfectly fitting to have a Winter One-derland. And, since her birthday is after the holidays, I knew I’d score awesome wintery deals. J Also, since Mia isn’t in love with any one thing in particular yet, I figure now’s my chance to do a party how I want J Come next year, I’m sure she’ll have a full blown personality with clear likes and dislikes.

When I told my sister in law (the gracious hostess) the Winter One-derland idea, she asked if there were going to be snowflakes plastered all over her house. Nope! I wanted to create a cozy wintery atmosphere without a single sign of a snowflake.  I also wanted to stem away from the traditional girly pink and envisioned a white, silvery and lavender color scheme. 

A few weeks prior, I walked Doug through the house with papers, lists and drawings in hand.  I explained what I was going to do with each room and he said “Wow, you look like a real party planner.” I squealed with excitement! What a compliment J Maybe I can do this!

It’ll take some time to go through my pictures and pick out the ones I want to show you.  So in the mean time have a second sneak peek by checking out my inspiration board of just a few ideas that were furiously running around in my head all month. I’ll try to give credit to the sources the best I can recall. Check back later this week for full party details.

{click to enlarge}

Invitations: PaperCulture

*LOVED. You can customize. They email you proofs. You can edit the proof. You can  add personalized messages on each card. They mail them out for you. The turn around is fast. The cardstock is heavy. And they plant a tree J

Dress and cardigan: Baby Gap/Gap Kids

Wafer cups & Highchair : Hostess with the Mostess  

Napkin flowers: House of Smiths

Doljabi Table: Rebecca’s dol at Korean First Birthday

Headband: etsy shop MiaCouture

Ice wreath: How Does She

Faux fireplace: Sara's Party Perfect
Sweater pillows: Brassy Apple

Dot strings: Grant’s dol at Korean First Birthday

“Snow” tablescape: Joyful Weddings and Events
Fabric leaves: etsy shop JaneJoss as seen on Design*Sponge

03 Then and Now

This was an easy one. Not particularly inspiring photography wise, but definitely shows how she's changed from 1 week and 51 weeks old. Even if you don't want to upload and share or even do the prompt every day, you should consider signing up for the Joy of Love if you want quick daily photography tips.    

1 week old - before I took MishaMedia 101 {1/25s, f/4.8, auto, ISO 3200}

51 weeks old - {1/50s, f/3.2, cloudy, ISO 400}

linked up at the willette blog