Frozen

Frozen, a photo by YF [ yffoto ] on Flickr.

Man have I been a BAD blogger ... I guess I should be thankful that it means I have been living life offline, but I miss blogging.  I think a lot of my problem is that I'm not getting out and taking photos either ... must do better.  Must.

Hot chocolate at Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate at Hot Chocolate, a photo by YF [ yffoto ] on Flickr.

FINALLY! I frequently dine at Mindy's Hot Chocolate in Bucktown, and for some crazy reason I have never had the hot chocolate! What the heck is wrong with me? Anyway ... today I finally had some of their hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows and have to say it completely lives up to the hype. I got the dark - 72% rich dark french chocolate - and also got a taste of the candy cane, both were perfect! Simply perfect! I even picked up some of their mix and marshmallows for home!

look up

, a photo by YF [ yffoto ] on Flickr.

This is what I do while waiting for my colleagues for meetings in the city. I'm a punctual girl ... can't stand being late. And on the rare occasion that it does happen, I make sure to let those that might be expecting me know... Anyway, to pass the time I wonder the city streets, just looking up. I don't think I will ever tire of Chicago architecture.

Side note:  Very excited to see Teitur on Wednesday!!

365 : it's a wrap!

I am very happy that my photo a day challenge is now over.  I certainly lost steam as the year went on - did very well through July, where I missed my first photo.  I had some crazy idea that doing this challenge would somehow better my photography ... that didn't really work because I decided to keep it all iPhone.  I love my iPhone.  I love taking photos with my iPhone, but does it make me a better photographer - nope.  I need to make it a point to pick up the DSLR!

That said .. what I do like about the iPhone 365 is that it's a visual journal of what happened throughout my year.  So here is my Flickr 365 set from 2012.  The good, the bad and everything in between.

5

5, a photo by YF [ yffoto ] on Flickr.

I have been taking my 365 photos but got behind posting them ... since I am only a few days away from the end I am just going to finish out the set over on Flickr.

I have to say, it's a lot harder to take a photo per day than I thought it would be - even with my iPhone. I ended up with 355 of 365 and I figure that's not at all bad. I give mad props to people who can get through the 365 selfies!

30

I can hardly believe I am only one month away from the end of my 365 project!!! Sunday night = journal and The Holiday. Oh Jude!

31 meat market scouting

Spent the afternoon with Barbara, Steve, Terena, Fernanda and more in the Fulon Market area brunching at The Publican and scouting for Barbara and Steve's upcoming wedding dinner at the Publican Quality Meats.  It's a fabulous little butcher shop and eatery.  The perfect place for the foodie couple!

 

spotted this on the way home and had Barbara snap a quick pic - too funny

32 to 35

Lucy loves to sit under the tree ... and I need to start wrapping the presents under the tree :)

My all time favorite - A Charlie Brown Christmas!

wedding photo research and tree light bokeh

morning tea - always

39 BACKUP

Learned a huge lesson today that I thought I'd share here.  I have to say, I have been preaching the importance of "backing up" data for a while now.  Ever since I started doing all the IT stuff in the office as well as the design and project management parts.  You only have to loose something one time for this to really hit home.  But, no matter how much I ramble on about this, people just go about their business and fail to follow the advice.

Well, here's another example of why it is SOOOO important to back up your data!  My boss and his family were traveling over the holiday and on their way back to the airport decided to stop for lunch.  In the short time they were eating, someone broke into the car and stole every single piece of luggage in the car.  Imagine how that would feel.  And, unfortunately, one of the laptops they had with them had never been backed up.  It had a few years worth of family photos that had never been printed or uploaded to an online service.

BACKUP!  BACKUP!  BACKUP!!

And if you have a Apple product, make sure you have iCloud and "Find my Mac/iPhone/iPad" enabled, as well as requiring a password upon startup or sleep mode.  This will ensure you can cut any access that thieves may have to your information and data.

37 38 decorate

Now that Thanksgiving is done, time to start embracing the Christmas season.  I pulled out the decorations and decided to change things up this year.  I put the tree in a new place and decided to swag the garland from the mantle.  And I have to say... I kind of like it!

If only I could figure out how to hide the electrical cords...