Day 7: January 7, 2013
I had grand plans to take an outdoor photo for Day 7, but unfortunately that didn't happen. Instead, I took this photo:
Look at all that Bob's Red Mill!!!!! WHAT?!?!?! I stopped by Ralphs (aka, Kroger, the big chain grocery store in my area) and only walked down the baking aisle to get to the back of the store. I just happened to glance to my left and I think my jaw dropped when I saw bags upon bags upon bags of different Bob's Red Mill baking products! WHEN DID THIS GET HERE!?!?
I was in Ralphs on Christmas Even to get baking flour and I DO NOT remember seeing this. In the past I have only been able to find Unsweeted Shredded Coconut and possibly one or two other items. I usually have to go to Fresh & Easy to buy Gluten-Free Baking Flour (because it's way cheaper than at Whole Foods) and then hop on over to Whole Foods to get the crazy stuff like Flaxseed Meal (I still don't know why I bought this) and Xantham Gum. I can't remember how much Whole Foods charges for all these things, but I am 99.999999% certain that Ralphs is cheaper. I can't wait to start experimenting with different baked goods! I was seriously way too excited about this discovery! It definitely made my day....until I decided to buy Mint Chocolate Its-It for dessert. THAT made my day.
Day 8: January 8, 2013
A view from my "office" window.
I put office in quotation marks because I really sit in a cubicle that is adjacent to a floor-to-ceiling window (**not to brag or anything**), but it feels like a real office because it is kind of secluded from the rest of my coworkers so I have a lot of privacy. Not gonna lie, this view is pretty awesome. First of all, "Hello, Staples Center!" When the Kings have a home game, I can see the LA Kings banner draped across the front of Staples Center.
The freeway is also fun to look at. We can see accidents that back up traffic for miles (see photo above), crazies that threaten to jump off a bridge onto the freeway, high-speed car chases, motorcades, military helos that fly by and shake the building, etc. This spot had a decent view of the space shuttle that flew over LA and, on a good air quality day, we can *just* see the ocean (if we squint hard enough).
In case you are wondering, the photos from Days 7 and 8 were taken with my Sony DSC-T200 digicam (I do not recommend it.....but who the heck buys compact digital cameras anyway) and then touched up in PicMonkey using AutoAdjust.
Day 9: January 9, 2013
My external flash arrived!! Woohoo!!! It's a Canon 430EX II. After I ordered it and was waiting for it to arrive I kept thinking what a frivolous purchase it was for an amateur photog. Just as I was beginning to regret buying it, the flash arrive and OMFG I really love it! Here's a SOOC shot of my kitty!
Sure, the photo is a bit overexposed, but that's because I'm still trying to figure out what exposure compensation to use for my flash. I think I have it set to +2/3 and I bounced the flash at a 60 degree angle. But, seriously....I love this external flash! Even when I set my camera's light setting to Tungsten and manually shoot to capture a correct exposure I still have to do a white balance adjustment to get the coloring right. All because the lighting in my apartment is absolutely terrible.
Because I'm so excited I am going to add one more photo of my cat. Look, even Bailey is excited! He's practically dancing!
I had grand plans to take an outdoor photo for Day 7, but unfortunately that didn't happen. Instead, I took this photo:
Look at all that Bob's Red Mill!!!!! WHAT?!?!?! I stopped by Ralphs (aka, Kroger, the big chain grocery store in my area) and only walked down the baking aisle to get to the back of the store. I just happened to glance to my left and I think my jaw dropped when I saw bags upon bags upon bags of different Bob's Red Mill baking products! WHEN DID THIS GET HERE!?!?
I was in Ralphs on Christmas Even to get baking flour and I DO NOT remember seeing this. In the past I have only been able to find Unsweeted Shredded Coconut and possibly one or two other items. I usually have to go to Fresh & Easy to buy Gluten-Free Baking Flour (because it's way cheaper than at Whole Foods) and then hop on over to Whole Foods to get the crazy stuff like Flaxseed Meal (I still don't know why I bought this) and Xantham Gum. I can't remember how much Whole Foods charges for all these things, but I am 99.999999% certain that Ralphs is cheaper. I can't wait to start experimenting with different baked goods! I was seriously way too excited about this discovery! It definitely made my day....until I decided to buy Mint Chocolate Its-It for dessert. THAT made my day.
Day 8: January 8, 2013
A view from my "office" window.
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| Hi Staples Center! Hi Freeway! |
The freeway is also fun to look at. We can see accidents that back up traffic for miles (see photo above), crazies that threaten to jump off a bridge onto the freeway, high-speed car chases, motorcades, military helos that fly by and shake the building, etc. This spot had a decent view of the space shuttle that flew over LA and, on a good air quality day, we can *just* see the ocean (if we squint hard enough).
In case you are wondering, the photos from Days 7 and 8 were taken with my Sony DSC-T200 digicam (I do not recommend it.....but who the heck buys compact digital cameras anyway) and then touched up in PicMonkey using AutoAdjust.
Day 9: January 9, 2013
My external flash arrived!! Woohoo!!! It's a Canon 430EX II. After I ordered it and was waiting for it to arrive I kept thinking what a frivolous purchase it was for an amateur photog. Just as I was beginning to regret buying it, the flash arrive and OMFG I really love it! Here's a SOOC shot of my kitty!
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| If we had more cats, Bailey would definitely be their King |
Because I'm so excited I am going to add one more photo of my cat. Look, even Bailey is excited! He's practically dancing!
And now you know where I store my Swiffer, broom, and spare fan....
Today's Hump Day! Only 2 more days till the weekend!!
Holy smokes -- your office view is AMAZING. If that was mine, I'd never get any work done. Ever. (I also have a very secluded and private cubicle, and it's really something a person should never take for granted. We're lucky peeps, yo.)
ReplyDeleteSecond, your grocery store intrigues me. All Bob's Red Mill is one thing, but this "Its-It" phenomenon is baffling me. I want to try Its-It! But I've never even heard of it before now. I think living on the East Coast might be undermining me right now.
And third, Bailey would SO be the king of all cats, if only there were more cats to be king of. He's so handsome, with his extra-tall boots and that wide cummerbund of tabby! And your flash is awesome. We've had one for many years, but I could never figure out how to really apply it well. You might be inspiring me to dust it off and see if we can't improve our cat portraits with it. (I hear you on the lousy lighting front. Our house is just impossible to figure out white balance.)
Oh man, you've never had an It's-It?? I shouldn't be toos hocked though because I only became aware of them maybe a year ago. They're big in Northern California. It's basically just a huge ice cream sandwich, but the cookies are oatmeal cookies dipped in chocolate! They have four flavors, but I've only seen vanilla and mint chocolate in stores in my area. I just went to their website and apparently they're mainly only carried in grocery stores west of the Rockies. BUT, you can overnight express them if you're so inclined --> http://www.itsiticecream.com/order/index.cfm
ReplyDeleteWe've contemplated having a kitty playdate with my brother's cats, but I'm concerned Bailey would immediately try to be the alpha male and go nuts.
On Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 6:12 AM, Calmez-Vous!
Wait, they're OATMEAL cookies? Hm. I'm beginning to think I might be better off without them... :P
ReplyDeleteI'm SO jealous of your office view! My office looks out over a school playground that's just a big empty lot (there was a building on it that burned down a few years ago) covered in woodchips. Today the view was unusually exciting because for some reason there was an enormous pile of fresh dirt in one corner that all the schoolkids were climbing on. It looked shockingly fun. I wanted to ditch work and go over and climb up an enormous pile of dirt.
ReplyDeleteThe cookie sandwich part is oatmeal cookie, but it doesn't taste like normal oatmeal cookies. Instead, they taste amazing! especially since they're dipped in chocolate. It all somehow goes really, really well with the ice cream.
ReplyDeleteThe only downside of my area of the office is that it is really hot in the afternoon because the sun is shining directly into the window. It's routinely 80 degrees in the afternoon despite the AC (supposedly) blowing full blast and often I wonder if I'm prematurely experiencing hot flashes. I think working near a school playground would be so distracting! I would probably want to join them during recess everyday! Ohhhh, recess....we should have those at work.
ReplyDelete[...] took a photo during the day of the view from my office on Day 8. I decided to take a similar photo, but in the [...]
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