Thursday, November 19, 2009

Halloween Costume Final Results

I'm finally getting around to posting the results of my massive Halloween crafting surge - my costume turned out so well it's scary... no pun intended. I spent about 2.5-3 hours on my hair and makeup, which really paid off. Unfortunately I don't have a better photo of my garment, but it looked really nice. Let me just say - three cheers for eyelash glue - it was practically holding my face together.

I've decided to save this costume for next year, as I didn't get much of an outing with it this year. Husband was out of town, and many of my friends weren't participating in festivities. I did look good sitting on the couch though!

Harvest Muertos!






Please see this previous post for more info about my costume inspiration. I had a lot of fun with this project, and I hope to use this costume for various activities in the coming year. Why don't people have masquerade balls/dances anymore? It's not an activity that's confined strictly to the Halloween season, and I suppose I could be the one to host a masquerade event... but that probably won't be happening anytime soon.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Honeymooning at the Rockin' B Ranch

I've finally started working through our mountain of wedding and honeymoon photos. I've decided to create a hardcover portfolio of our photos using Blurb - such a cool company offering a wonderful service! I'm also planning on designing two smaller wedding books for our Moms, which I know they'll really appreciate!

Here's one of my favorite images from our wedding, shot by Eddy Price:





We have always wanted to take a great American trip together, so we decided to hit the rails and see the great American West on our honeymoon. Our trip on the Empire Builder took us northwest from Chicago, through North Dakota and Montana to Glacier National Park, where we stayed for a couple of days. Talk about some hardcore adventure driving! At one point, all I could do was close my eyes and scrunch down in my seat while Ryan navigated some of the more suicidal treacherous curves on one particular mountain road. Sheer rock face on one side, sheer cliff on the other - I nearly had a heart attack.

We finally made it to the Glacier entrance, and we were both absolutely floored by the beauty of the region. Words and photos can't describe such a glorious and pure place... truly the Crown of the Continent. I highly recommend that everyone take a trip to Glacier NP at least once in their life, it left me speechless at many turns. Just a few of my favorite photos from our trip to Montana:

















W
e did continue on to Seattle from Glacier, hopping aboard the Empire Builder on it's daily East Glacier stop. We took a beautiful dinner in the dining car, watching for goats and other wildlife as we crossed the Marias Pass and made our way towards Idaho and Washington. The next morning we awoke to a gorgeous sunrise in the mountains of Washington; and as we creaked down the rails, the fresh sunlight treated us to a view of waterfalls and ancient trees. Again, breathtaking. I don't have quite as many photos from that leg of our trip... maybe none at all. The scenery is still so vivid in my mind that I really don't recall picking up my camera at any point. Just one more reason for Ryan and I to explore Washington again! Seattle was lovely, we had a great time - but my heart lies in the natural beauty we witnessed on our gently-paced journey across the continent.