Hotel Andaluz.

[View from the 8th floor]

[All photos taken with an iPhone 4 + various apps]

I think I fell in love with Hotel Andaluz the moment we stepped into the lobby. We were only there one night, but we were totally impressed with the place. We were given a corner room which was quite spacious and had a great view of the city of Albuquerque and the Sandia Mountains. 

Once we got to the room, it didn't take me long to start taking self-portraits in every mirror in the place. Something I just can't resist doing when we stay at hotels. That and the carpet with my feet thing. Hotel carpets are always so interesting to me; they are either geometrically fabulous or completely hideous.

This hotel was obviously thought out with incredible detail. Even the elevator was gorgeous. And the Moroccan-style lobby was pretty mind-blowing, scary clowns and all. We hope to go back one day and hang out in one of the casbahs.

I was dying to take instant shots in the lobby, but I knew there wasn't enough light for hand held shots and I would probably just end up wasting film. Perhaps next time I will lug a tripod along with me.

The hotel has a restaurant and a rooftop bar which, sadly, we did not check out as we were not there for celebratory purposes. It just  happened to be very near to the hospital that we needed to be at very early the next morning. We did eat at the restaurant and it was quite good.

We're so used to staying at the likes of Comfort Inns when we're on the road so it doesn't take much to impress us, but this place truly was amazing. We had a little snafu with the billing after the fact, but it eventually got sorted out so we do hope to visit Hotel Andaluz again and live it up a bit more.

And if you happen to be visiting Albuquerque, I highly recommend this place. You won't regret it. It's right downtown and only a few blocks away from the train station. It's also the first Hilton Hotel that was built in New Mexico by New Mexico native, Conrad Hilton. (His fourth hotel overall.) I have to admit that I didn't even know the Hiltons had roots in New Mexico! A little more history here, if you're interested.

Five good things.

1. Snow! And lots of it. We desperately need the moisture.
2. Still feeling anxious but it's not totally overwhelming. (I threw up this morning. That's a new one.)
3. Dinner with the folks.
4. We have the sweetest kitties ever. They make me smile.
5. Watching love birds snuggle in the trees.

Bye bye May!

I can't believe that tomorrow is already the last day of May. I don't know where the time goes, seriously. No matter what's going on, it just flies by. So cliche, I know, but so true!

May was mostly filled with good things around here. The weather has been super nice and so early in the month, I started working on the garden a lot.

I used to garden rather recklessly, just buying whatever caught my fancy. But these days, I usually have a plan. It's so dry here and we have don't have the best soil so now it's all about finding things that work well in such conditions and planting a lot of perennials that hopefully will return each year. Last year was one of my worst gardening years ever, but so far things are looking good this year. Today I planted a billion seeds and except for some starter zinnia plants and dahlias for some of my pots, I am done planting. Fingers crossed that everything takes and does well!

The first weekend in May, Will played a few rock shows with some friends. Both nights were fun, although the second night was more enjoyable for me because the show started much earlier. So I actually got a little gussied up.

It was fun and the music sounded great at the venue. (Although apparently the venue didn't like it so much as they were told they would not be invited back. Go figure.)

That same weekend, I did a little photo shoot for Words To Shoot By.

The word was "chair" and I was quite pleased with the results. It was a lot of fun shooting double exposures as well! [All images were shot with a Polaroid Automatic 250 camera and expired Polaroid 690 film.]

The Impossible Project does this really great interview series called "8 Exposures." I was invited to participate in the series and man, I can't even tell you how excited and honored I am to have been included in it. It really made my day. For a lot of days in a row!



I am not super confident about putting myself out there so of course I agonized over each and every answer. I wanted to be true to myself without sounding like a total dork. And I had numerous friends proofread it for me. In the end, I felt good about it. It doesn't sound sophisticated and arty, but I guess that's not really who I am. I think it mostly sounds like me. I love instant film and I get excited about all the new films and cats and flowers and oceans and birds. And road trips.

Anyway, the interview came out on May 7th and you can find it here.

May also brings our anniversary, this year was our 8th! Eight years! Crazy. We both had to work all day and the weather was windy and cold so our original dinner plans didn't work out. Instead we had giant burgers at Rio Chama.

One anniversary tradition is getting dressed up and taking photos before we go out. This year, we just couldn't do it. Will didn't get home until 7:00 and by then, all we wanted to do was go out and get some food. So no dressing up and no photo shoot. When we got home, I did manage to take one shot of us.

We were both exhausted so it's not the best photo, but hey, we're happy! [Taken with a Polaroid Spectra camera + Polaroid Softtone film.] We still hope to get dressed up and go out at some point this summer.

And then...Meesh moved to Brooklyn! With his mama, of course. His mama was one of our tenants, and one of the best tenants we've had. And Meesh, well, I fell in love with Meesh. There were occasional skirmishes with our cats, but for the most part, they all got along. Meesh is so furry and sweet and he loved to watch us through our big front window. (Okay, so that was creepy sometimes.) I am happy for the adventures ahead for his mama, but very sad to see Meesh go. I still miss him.

But hey, we got a new table!

It's bigger than our other one (which now lives in the laundry room) so we could actually have a dinner party and seat 8 people comfortably. Now if only we had 6 friends to invite over for dinner, haha!



Will celebrated his 36th birthday on May 12th. We had a few folks over for a cook out and had a blast. I love this shot of Will and Rocky. Rocky LOVES to hang out when Will grills so it's a familiar sight. [Photo taken with a Polaroid SLR 680 SE + PX680 Gold Frame film from The Impossible Project.]

All the while, I kept gardening, running, running A LOT actually, knitting and working at the gallery some.

So of course I had to take a picture of my feet on some of the pretty rugs there.

And then came my sister's wedding and my youngest niece's high school graduation. Will and I went up to Albuquerque for the weekend and it was so much fun. All three of my nieces were home which was quite a treat. We don't get to see all of them at once that often anymore. And it's probably even going to be less as time goes on and they can't make it home as often. They are just the most wonderful girls ever. I love them so much.





My sister's wedding took place about 10 minutes before my niece's graduation party! My dad walked her up the pathway in the backyard, they exchanged their vows in front of the judge and that was that! I think it was actually a few minutes longer than our wedding at City Hall in Manhattan!

We're really happy for her and her husband, Mike. They seem to be just perfect for each other.

The next day we went to my niece's graduation ceremony. Only something like 6 more graduations to go! Good grief are those ceremonies long and boring. Sorry, but it's true. I spent most of the time giggling with my other nieces and playing Scramble with Friends. Yeah, I know, I should act like an adult. Haha!

Somehow I managed to lose my sunglasses at the ceremony. Perhaps my punishment for not paying attention to all the speeches. I don't know, but I rarely lose anything and it drives me crazy when I do. We went back to our seats and searched for them, but nothing. And I called the next day and nothing. I am actually more bummed about losing my sunglasses case than the glasses themselves. It's one that I got when I was in Spain in 2001 and it had a lot of sentimental value. Oh well. At least I didn't lose my phone. Or my wallet.

And now I have new sunglasses.

This past week has been more running, gardening, knitting, and playing around with this fun app, InstaCRT.

Oh, and Ben shaved his head!

I'm sure there are a million more things that I could share, but I think that's enough, yes? Yes! I still hope to get back to regular blogging because I do miss it. It's just so easy to get caught up in daily life...and while it does include being on the computer, it doesn't always include taking the time to blog.

All in all, things are good. There are things that could be better, but there always are, right? And I am working on some of them and crossing my fingers on others. And we're always dreaming of places that we'd rather be, but we're here and we're going to make the most of it.

Here's to a happy June!!

The road trip on Instagram.

The trip to Pittsburgh was awesome. Well, actually, being in Pittsburgh was awesome, the driving part was a lot of time in the car, knitting and listening to The Hunger Games trilogy. Driving east, the days were especially long and by nightfall, we usually just ate, found a hotel and conked out. (Two 10 hour days + one 6 hour day.) I always have such visions of taking lots of pictures along the way, but in reality, we usually have to push through without too many stops. So I usually end up just taking photos with my phone to entertain myself.

Here are most of the Instagram shots from the trip. There are some that I took in Pittsburgh, but the majority are from the road. And the majority are part of my "hotel carpet series."

You can check out all my Instagram photos here.

The train station.

We went out to Lamy, NM a few weeks ago to pick up our friend Stephanie who was arriving from NYC by train. She's doing a documentary about the Southwest Chief, a train that I have traveled on a few times myself.

I love going out to the train station. It's the original station which was built in 1880s. And there are just so many things to photograph out there.


Old rail cars.


The train tracks and the mountain views.


And watching the train arrive still makes me excited. It also makes me want to go somewhere by train myself!



I should probably go hang out at the train station more often. It's always so inspiring.

[Ha! I see that I said practically the same thing three years ago!]

What's been going on.

More here.

Steelers football.

Back in September, when we were in Pittsburgh, we went to a Steelers game with our friends CC and Dana. It was an awesome day. The weather was perfect and, well, we went to a Steelers game!



We parked downtown and walked across one of the bridges to get to the stadium. (One of my favorite things about Pittsburgh is all the bridges.)


[CC and Dana]


[Our view.]

We sat way up high in the corner of the stadium. The stairs were so steep, they were a little vertigo-inducing. But no matter, our view of the field was good as we could pretty much see everything that was going on.


[CC and Will]


[Me and Dana]

Look at all those Steelers fan. I was so excited when we first got there, I almost started crying. Will and I had been to one game while we still lived in Pittsburgh so it wasn't our first time, but there was something about being at a game, with our friends, after being away for so long that felt extra special.

Watching the home games in Santa Fe, the aerial shots of Pittsburgh and Heinz Field always make me miss Pittsburgh so much. So to actually be there, in Pittsburgh, at Heinz Field, was the best thing ever.

And we won that game (vs. the Seahawks) which made the experience all the better.

Going to another Steelers game in the next couple of years is already on my dream list!

Some beach favorites.

Shot with my Pentax K1000 + expired Kodak Porta 400VC film.



We stayed at the house in the middle. It's tiny compared to the houses on either side! And those are tiny compared to some of the mansions on Ocean Boulevard. Crazy.



The clouds! Oh the clouds. Isle of Palms always has the most amazing clouds. They revival the beautiful clouds that we get here in Santa Fe.



This shot is one of my most favorite from the trip.



Again with the clouds.

I'm really pleased with the photos I took with my Pentax K1000. The photo lab even made images of the ones that I screwed up by shooting 400 ISO film with the camera set on 1600. Ooops. They're super grainy, but I was so pleased that they came out.

If you follow me on Flickr, you are probably getting tired of all the beach pictures! I am getting tired of posting them. But I am almost to the end and I am excited about the photos from Pittsburgh! At least the instant ones. I haven't gotten the 35mm film processed yet.

I know most of my beach photos are very similar. It's in part because when I take more than one camera, I always end up taking the same shots with all the cameras! And it's also in part because when we're at the beach, it's all about the ocean, the view and the palm trees! So that's what I shoot. Over and over and over again! I find the differences between cameras and films interesting, but I know for others, it probably gets tiresome. "Oh look, it's the view from the bedroom! AGAIN."

Lately I've realized that I really miss taking pictures of people. It's something that I used to do a lot when we lived in Pittsburgh, but since we moved here, it's all been cats and flowers and mountains. I need to figure out a way to remedy that and work on shooting some portraits.

Now I'm off to get on with this Saturday. I'm going to be sewing together flower hair clips with the television going in the background. Of course.

Cheers!

Snow covered zinnias.

Or more accurately, snow dusted zinnias.

First snow of the season in town. It was barely anything at all and was gone by mid-morning, but I still count it as the first snow.

I'm grateful for any moisture we get here, but I'm still not ready for winter. Our house is already filled with the cold that won't leave until sometime next spring. Such is life in old houses with no installation. I guess it could be worse.

It all could be worse, right? That's what I keep telling myself as I deal with some difficult things. Trying to convince myself to feel grateful instead of tortured. It works, sometimes.

Here's hoping for a good weekend for all of us!

Birds.

I love watching birds at the beach. In Isle of Palms, there are always seagulls, of course, the little sand pipers that scurry along the sand, never standing still long enough for me to capture a close up, and my favorite, the pelicans.

This year, we hardly saw any pelicans which seemed rather strange to me as usually there are lots of them, swooping down into the ocean to catch fish. So every time I did see one, I got super excited. Pelicans!

One of the most exciting bird sightings though, was not a marine bird, but a red tailed hawk that settled in on the roof of the house next door.



There were actually two of them, soaring high in the sky and then sitting perched on the roof, looking out toward the ocean.



We stood on the second floor balcony for a long time, just watching them. Hawks are such majestic creatures.

Wish you were here.

And I wish that I was still there!

This was our view from the second floor balcony which was so conveniently located right outside of our bedroom! I could have sat up there forever, just looking at the ocean. And in fact, I did spend quite a bit of time stepping out on the balcony, breathing in the ocean air and watching the waves.

The moon was full while we were there so at night, we had some incredible views of the moonlight reflecting off the water. It was magical. Really.

Sigh.

I miss the ocean.

[A total aside here, but one night, Will and I took a walk on the beach. He asked me if I would get in the water. I said no, of course, because I have seen Jaws a million times and it has totally instilled the fear of sharks in me. I used to get scared of the drains in the deep ends of swimming pools. Seriously. So getting in the water at night? Under the moonlight? And maybe making out? That's just asking for a shark attack.]

Cerrillos, New Mexico

I keep telling myself that I am going to post here on a regular basis again, because it is something that I really enjoy doing. And while I am not a great writer by any means, at least when I write here, it makes me think about my words a little more and I think that's good for me. But then weeks go by and there just isn't the time.

Anywhere, here I am now and I am going to share some iPhone pictures that I took two weeks ago when I went on a little day trip to some parts outside of Santa Fe. I had hoped to stop and take lots of pictures along the way, but sometimes things don't work out quite the way we planned.

My original thought was to drive out to Madrid and hang out there. I headed out on Highway 14, also know as the Turquoise Trail. Once I reached Madrid and drove through the tiny town, I realized it wasn't really where I wanted to be. A nifty place for sure, but I wasn't feeling it. So I turned around and went to Cerrillos instead. I was rather enjoying just driving around so I wasn't sure what I really wanted to do. Then I saw signs for a turquoise mine museum/petting zoo/trading post. How could I possibly resist that attraction? I followed all the arrows and ended up at the Casa Grande Trading Post, Cerrillos Turquoise Mining Museum & Petting Zoo.

It's a crazy, lovely place filled with tons and tons and tons of stuff. Every kind of rock and crystal that you can imagine. Cheap turquoise trinkets. Windows lined with old bottles and insulators. A completely random selection of postcards. Dream catchers. Just everything. And that's just the Trading Post.







Beyond the second room of the trading post, there is the museum which costs two dollars to enter. It is filled with an incredible amount of someone's beloved collections and totally random junk. And by junk, I mean lovely junk, but still junk. And a lot of crazy, old antiques and more old bottles and insulators and mannequins and then more rocks and crystals. Oh and skulls and cardboard cut-outs and a ship in a bottle. It was mind-boggling and amazing. I was delighted to have stumbled upon this place.



A tribute to John Wayne and Kiefer Sutherland. (Young Guns was filmed out there, something that I don't think I knew back in the day when I *loved* that movie.)









Smokey AND a surf board. Go figure.





There was a helicopter flying overhead the whole time I was out there and as I was buying a couple of postcards, one of the owners started telling me how this time of year, there are always low flying helicopters flying around, looking for weed crops. He said, "yeah, that's how everyone makes a living out here, growing weed."

I had no idea.

On my way back to Santa Fe, I decided to drive through Galisteo just because I was enjoying driving around. There was a storm coming and the lightning was pretty awesome to see in the distance. It's so beautiful here in New Mexico and I really don't take the time to get out of Santa Fe often enough.

In Galisteo, I came to a "T" intersection and decided to go right since there was no signage to tell me which way I should go to get back to Santa Fe. Of course, almost immediately upon turning, I realized I was going the wrong way and in fact, I had no idea where I was going if I were to keep going that way. (I would have ended up hitting I-40 near Moriarty.) All I had to do was turn around, but it was a two-lane highway and there were absolutely no pull-outs for miles and miles. So I just kept driving and driving in the wrong direction. I was vaguely distressed, but not really, and it was so incredibly green out that way. I could hardly believe it. I took a lot of pictures in my head while I was driving and that was good enough for me.

I was finally able to turn around and made it back to Santa Fe without a hitch. All in all it was a pretty awesome day and I really need to do things like that more often.