Good Night Chicago - Museum of Science Industry

As you know, it was Mia's 2nd birthday last week. We ended her special day with cupcakes from Molly's.

But just like last year, we started the day with pancakes. Same time last year comparison!

I tried to get creative this year...

Last year we took Mia to Navy Pier for her birthday. This year we took her to the Museum of Science and Industry to knock out one more page of my DIY Goodnight Chicago book.

Just like last year at Navy Pier's Children's Museum, Mia loved playing in the water area at MSI.

For Doug and I, the model trains were the highlight of the day! The mini city was so cool!

I was in awe of the buildings and trains in this little model city just like I am of the real city!

(Side note: I canNOT wait to show you my latest from the A-Z photography challenge!)

I was amazed by all the details. I spotted Lasalle and the Board of Trade and the river and bridges just like in real life!

 I waited excitedly for the el and Metra trains to go by.

Choo! Choo! There go the model trains at the Museum of Science and Industry.

Thank you, MSI for a wonderful day!

Only 5 more pages to go!
     Good morning, Lake Michigan. (There's a lot: May 2010, May 2011, July 2011, and many more not blogged about!)
     Good morning, Chicago Harbor Lighthouse. Are we ready for a wonderful day? (Not sure this will ever happen.)

     Greetings, Navy Pier and Ferris Wheel.
     Greetings, Chicago River and bridges.

     Hello, great Chicago buildings, reaching up into the sky. or here

     Hello, kids and kites in Lincoln Park. 
     Hello, fantastic fountains.

     Good afternoon, gorillas. Isn't it fun to visit the zoo? 

     Good afternoon, sharks, fish, turtles and mammals at the aquarium.     
     Wow! Look at those dinosaur bones at the Field Museum of Natural History.
     Choo! Choo! There go the model trains at the Museum of Science and Industry.
     It's nice to see you, art.
     Hello, historic Water Tower on the Magnificent Mile.
     Good luck, Chicago Sports Teams, you can do it. Can they??  (ETA - summer 2012)

     Just listen to those blues and jazz musicians. (This'll be something new for Doug and I, too!)
     Good evening, star gazers at the planetarium. Have you ever wished upon a star?

     Goodnight Chicago, sleep tight. Thank you for a wonderful day!

Here's Mia with her first camera! She totally wants to be just.like.mommy. And even took my stance saying, "Mommy do that." The Vivitar camera cost just as much as a Fisher Price camera, so I figured I might as well get the real looking one! She even said it looks just like Grandma's. Then she posed Daisy for pictures J

I'll be having wine & cheese flights on the Mag Mile tonight, followed by the Luminous Field at the Bean! Then Monday is a restaurant week dinner, mMmmmM! Have a great weekend!

Learn How to Shoot in Manual Mode

You’ve heard me mention Misha Media time and time again. And rightfully so! Aside from capturing my engagement and wedding photos, if it weren’t for Michele and Andy’s Photography 101 class two years ago, I wouldn’t be photographing the way I am today. I also wouldn’t be on Facebook (*gasp!*) if it weren’t for Michele. Michele insisted that it'd be a good idea for me to join so I could post questions/photos to continue learning through a (private) MishaMedia101 FB group. I gave in and Michele and Andy have been my mentors ever since.  I cannot thank them enough for their encouragement and willingness to teach! Michele and Andy are passionate about what they do and it shows through their work - truly an inspiration!

I often get asked if I know any good resources to learn the basics of photography or how I learned to shoot. And my answer is always MishaMedia! I finally rounded up enough close friends and family to host a MishaMedia 101 class. Michele and Andy enthusiastically and patiently taught eight of my close friends and family the basics of photography and how to GET OFF AUTO from their DSLRs and shoot in manual mode!

It’s a lot to take in for five hours. But after studying their camera’s manuals, figuring out what all those buttons do and learning how ISO, aperture and shutter speed relate, my friends and family are eager to shoot and apply all that knowledge!

If you’re in the Chicagoland area and want to get your money’s worth from that expensive DSLR you bought, contact MishaMedia to host a class with your friends or have a 2-on-1 personal lesson. You'll be photographing at a whole new level, promise!

Flames to Jingles

The other day my friends asked me "So what letter is today?" And I was caught off guard that people were actually paying attention to my A-Z challenge! I'm trying to embrace the challenge of photographing subjects that I normally wouldn't and to be creative with the letters. As a result, my images are kinda all over the place! Oh well, it takes time to find one's photography "style" and creativity has no boundaries, right?

I left off with E for Elephant from last week. So here's F through J. I think my best of these are the first and last. What do you think?

F is for Flames

G is for Graffiti

H is for the Human Heart

Spotted at the Museum of Science and Industry (more to come on that soon!)

I is for Insides of a Yellow Honeydew

I was desperate at this point in the night and thought it was an unusual sight.

J is for Jingle Jangles

A friend actually suggested this since nothing was coming to my mind.

*sigh* love love love hearing Mia's bells and seeing those chubby toes! She's worn the Thai anklets (on her second pair now) since she was 1 month old. Speaking of love, have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

linked up here:

P52 {6} - Drink Up

Ok, so this may be your first, second, third, fourth sneak peek into Mia's party by now. But it was fitting for this week's Project 52 theme of Drink Up!

I'll have the full party post for you soon, I promise!

linked up here:

Pink and Grey Striped Birthday Party: Sneak Peek

Last week I told you about my A-Z Photography Challenge and showed you the inspiration behind Mia’s pink and grey striped 2^nd birthday party. Here’s a sneak peek (and A-D) of some more DIY birthday party decorations me and Mia have been working on. She’s such a good little helper (I do all the cutting before I let her help) and wants to be just like mommy.

A is for Apple Juice.

While wrapping juice boxes, Doug asked if they were the party favors. After I replied no, he said, “But you’re using such nice ribbon!” *sigh* He does love me! He's sad that the ribbon will go in the trash and cares about pretty ribbon just as much as I do ♥ Striped paper from Sprik Space (FREE!).

B is for Bottles with Balloons

I designed the water bottle label wrappers myself (FREE!). I would write you a DIY tutorial, but picnik.com is closing in April!! Such sad news for a lot of bloggers.  However, the striped paper I'm using throughout the party is from Sprik Space, so definitely check out her wide variety of free pattern pieces in tons of colors.

C is for Cans of Crinkle Paper.

Soup cans = Free!

Newspaper stuffing inside to support centerpiece (instead of foam) = Free!

Crinkle paper that happened to be enclosed in my Shop Sweet Lulu shipment = Free!

180 yards of baker's twine  = $9.00 from Pick Your Plum (but will be used throughout the party)

D is for Daisy the Dog. Mia's very best friend. After me of course!

And this is the craziness that Doug has to live with for a few weeks.

Thursday we'll be knocking out the Museum of Science and Industry from our Good Night Chicago list. Friday I'll be cooking and packing away for the party on Saturday. The venue is only giving me 30 minutes to set up! Talk about a quickfire challenge! It's stressing me out just thinking about it!! See you next week!

linked up here:

P52 {5} - Shadows

I tried killing two birds with one stone this week: P52 shadows and E for the A-Z Challenge.

E is for Elephant.

Like an African Safari. Or Lion King? What do you think? It's like the inverse of this elephant.

And here's my setup:

I played around with Mia's circus toy, 2 foam boards and a flashlight. I noticed that the elephant's shadow was sharpest when the flashlight wasn't pointed directly at it. The shadow was more crisp with the center of the flashlight off to the side. I played around with placement of the flashlight, elephant and foam board until I got tired, considering it was 2am! And it was extremely post processed just for fun, because it was a silly subject anyway.

Come back tomorrow to see letters A, B, C and D!

linked up here:

Pink and Grey Striped Birthday Party: Inspiration

My baby girl is turning two this year!  When brainstorming 2^nd birthday party ideas, this design from Social Butterfly Ink's Spa Party kept coming to mind.

Source: karaspartyideas.blogspot.com via Mindy on Pinterest

I didn’t want to use commercial characters and Mia’s not into any particular one. To make Mia’s birthday party theme unique to just her, I wanted to incorporate her first (stuffed animal) friends. Meet Bradley, Lenny, Daisy, Thumper and Piggy!

When thinking about who should design my invite, these cute little guys from Marissa De Leon immediately came to mind. Aren’t the animals on her website adorable!? From just the two pictures above, Marissa did an amazing job recreating Mia’s friends and capturing the essence of the soft pink, grey and white striped birthday party I wanted!

Marissa even designed a backside where I could write personalized messages for our friends and family. I had 40 double sided 5x7 invitations printed and cut at Minuteman Press for $30. I was really happy with the thick non-glossy, smooth, white cardstock and super quick turn around.

Mia surely recognized her friends on the invite. When she first saw it, she said "Piggy waving to Mia!"

Most of my decorations are in the works, so there should be a sneak peek next week! You already caught a glimpse here.