Upgrade

My old camera has reached its official retirement! It served me well for the past 5-8 years (not sure how old it is, its that old!) and has battle scars to show for it. Hopefully, from now on out my photos will be better. But even though my new camera is an upgrade, that might be wishful thinking. As Dustin pointed out to me, bad photos (as in my case, or good photos as it seems everyone else is taking) are often more the result of the user than the camera. I always blame poor lighting and the season (it gets dark obnoxiously early this time of year), but now I realize it's probably me. So I commit to actually reading the camera manual this time. I want to be a good photographer. Maybe that's asking too much. Do you ever wonder if you're just not meant to have certain talents? Like you were given some and others were withheld- only in fairness of course. So we shall see...!

I also want to learn Photoshop. I hear editing photos can really help. For now, mine are au natural! But if I can get my hands on Photoshop there are a world of possibilities that await me! (If anyone knows a lot about photography or Photoshop I'd love some pointers!) Can you get great shots (especially close ups- a.k.a. food) without professional skill and dropping big bucks on high-tech equipment?

The old camera (taken with my new camera):

And introducing my new camera (taken with my old camera):

Be Mine...D.C. '09

We celebrated Valentines Day with a weekend on Capitol Hill this year! We started our trip with a stop in Old Town Alexandria for dinner Friday night at the Fontaine Creperie. We had savory main course crepes followed by the most amazing Strawberry Nutella dessert crepe!

A Saturday morning view of the D.C. temple...

I was most excited about browsing the Eastern Market! It's a year-round farmers/flower/artisan/meat and seafood market located (luckily) within walking distance of the Capitol. We tried the famous Market Lunch's crab cake sandwich, which exceeded all expectations! The most phenomenal crab cakes in the world!!! The line is long and the seating limited, so we devoured them on the curb, but oh my goodness I'd put up with anything to have another one!

After crab cakes and browsing we trekked back to the Capitol. They recently open a new Capitol visitors center and you can make online reservations for a guided tour.

Dustin outside the Capitol...

Inside on our guided tour...

(Note the obvious red lines my camera was contributing to our photos.)

Library of Congress outside...

And in...(It is my favorite building in D.C.! So beautiful and ornate. And I love books. If only it was allowed, I could spend hours perusing those shelves!)

The Supreme Court...(We didn't make it inside.)

Goofing off inside the hotel room... (Why is taking pictures through mirrors so irresistible, even though you know they won't turn out?!?)

Saturday night (Valentines Day) we dined at Mar de Plata (Spanish cuisine). Dustin ordered traditional Spanish paella and I had shrimp and scallops over a lobster sauce risotto. (We decided I have a major seafood obsession!)

The couple next to us was taking pictures of their food and, being slightly embarrassed, told us they were very "into" food. I laughed and thought, "you have no idea!". And of course as soon as our entrees arrived we pulled out our camera! (Our vacation planning now revolves around what and where we will be dining!)

After dinner Dustin surprised me (which I give him credit for-it's hard to do!) with a brand new digital camera! You have probably noticed by now that the quality of my photos is not stellar. (I can't even remember when I got my current camera- somewhere around 10th grade sounds about right.) I'm ecstatic- especially to take recipe blog photos- and am hoping that now our food won't always be cold because it was taking me 20 minutes to take a decent picture of it!

We owe our fabulous weekend to my Dad who generously shared his Hyatt points and made our trip possible! (Although he didn't warn us about the nightmare that is parking downtown!)

Feliz Cumpleanos a Mis Padres

Mom and Dad have turned a year older and we celebrated with our own Mexican Fiesta dinner this weekend! (Following a PF Chang's Chinese feast the night before.) Brooke and I (with some pie guidance from Mom) created a four course menu starting with Dad's favorite (I'm assuming) gift this year- salsa from El Rey Tolteca! Following the mezze was Strawberry Avocado Salad, then my Tortilla Soup and Corn Souffle, and finally a Lemon Meringue pie for papa and chocolate frosted brownies a la mode for Mama! It took entirely too long to prepare, but luckily there were minimal casualties (only one wasted pie crust)! I'm so exhausted that I might never cook again (kidding Dus). And Brooke will never again offer to help me (things get a little crazy in the kitchen). But dinner was a success (although I'm not sure Amber ate anything but the ice cream)and as soon as it was over I ran for Richmond leaving Mom with a monstrous pile of dishes (Happy B-day)!

AND Katelyn's gift... a giant tower of cookies:

Future Nursing Student

I've been accepted to VCU's Accelerated Master's and Bachelor's Nursing programs! Now I have a decision to make... although I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the bachelors (RN)! Classes start May 16th... and I will graduate in December 2010!

Pictured above is the new nursing school (right across the street from Dustin's dental school)!