I have become a real beach bum this summer... dunno why, but I am glad I am finally taking advantage my proximity to the beach. I especially love it when the wind is coming in over the lake, makes waves that look and sound like the ocean. It's a really great "second" if you know what I mean... 
saint louis art museum
A few weeks ago I was in St. Louis visiting my friend Jennifer where we spent the day taking a few of the touristy things I had not done on previous trips. First up was the Saint Louis Art Museum. They have this beautiful new wing that was just added and house a pretty darn good collection of art!
Funny thing when I was telling someone I had been there, they commented on how bad the signage was... Well you know that made my ears perk up. Come to find out, not the wayfinding signage, but the information about the works of art. They are very low contrast and are often on backgrounds that match the paint color of the wall. Now, I know this is because they want to keep from distracting from the art, but it does pose a problem for legibility. Jennifer and I had spotted magnifying glasses in each of the rooms and thought it was funny ... guess we know what we were supposed to use those for now huh..
by train
Have you ever taken Amtrak? I embarked on my first US train trip this past weekend from Chicago to St. Louis - the Lincoln Service. I was very excited for the adventure - something new and different. It's about the same amount of time to drive, but so much cheaper! The price of the round trip ticket is the same as ONE tank of gas in my car. And, I can get up and move around, read, watch movies and surf on the free wifi! Win win, right!?!
I took the Metra commuter train from Evanston downtown - stopped in the French Market for yummy snacks. This was only my second ride on Metra - I would totally take it if I had to commute downtown daily, so much nicer than the L - minus the somewhat bossy ticket guys. 
Walked a few blocks over to Union Station - it's such a beautiful building, but just not well kept. I feel like it could be so much more! They have this big amazing grand hall with a few benches in it - nothing else. It's kind of an appendage to the area where the trains actually queue and depart. Once you get into that area it's a hot mess! People with all of their luggage all crammed into one small room with a few super crappy seats. You REALLY have to listen for your train to be called and they try to pull some folks up first (seniors and business class) and there is no PA system - it's just a guy standing in a door yelling above the crowd. I have to say I was kind of surprised by this whole process. Train travel has been around for so long, you'd think they would have a perfected system in place. 
I chose to pay for the upgrade to business class ($20 more each way) and I am SO glad that I did. The business car is spacious, quiet and you get a free USA Today and beverage. Now that's all superb till there's a delay on the train and the run out of water. So get your beverage early! And since the car is the first car behind the drive car, you really hear the whistles. And they are required to blow that thing anytime they cross a intersection. It's much louder than I would have ever imagined. 
What I did love about train travel is the view! I sat and took a ridiculous amount of photos - if only the windows had been clean. I loved seeing little kids standing in their back yard waving at the train, buildings painted with memorials, corn fields and industry. 
We rolled into St Louis just shy of 11 PM - right on time. Would I take the train again, yes, I suppose I would. But still don't think I'd love it for long trips. It will not replace my air travel, but it was a fun adventure and great alternative to driving myself!!
moleskine + milk = fabulous
So I got my second photobook from MILK, the Moleskine Photo Book - and this one is just as fabulous as the first one I got! I made a 2012 in review book and love it! It's got the same flexibility as a Moleskine, same type of smooth paper and image quality is superb. Oh and it's even got the signature pocket - perfect for holding tickets, cards or any kind of memorabilia from the year! I am still hoping they will get a larger variety of templates, but think this may be my annual book of choice! 
MILK photobook
Photobooks are the new scrapbooks and I kinda dig 'em. Now that I shoot all digital, I love making photobooks. I have tried about every company, but when I spotted MILK + Moleskin books on Fab, I snapped those up! I didn't love the interface to make the book and I didn't love the limited page templates, but I DO love the end product! Seriously was completely wowed when I got the first book I made, the Milk Photo Book. The linen is beautiful - the box that holds the album is well constructed and the button closure super cute. The quality of the paper and images is outstanding! As good, if not better than any of my previous books. For a really special occasion, this book is superb! 
work peeps
I had to bring the camera to work today to get some head shots of a few of my coworkers. I was not at all "on my game" ... was kind of rushed and haphazardly shooting. I got what we needed, but as I was editing the images out of the camera I was feeling like these faces look a little different to me. You know when you see someone every day, you don't notice the little things? We discovered Marcey (bottom) has a lazy eye, so I had to swing her to the other side so that didn't seem so obvious. I love capturing people, but in their natural state - portraits just put people in this completely unnatural smile. I hate that fakey smile. 
I did get one photo of Brad that completely captures who he is. It is the perfect photo of how I see him. That's a rare photo to get!! If you can't tell, he's kind of a smart ass, but in that genuine, funny kind of way. This is a 'look' we see quite a lot!
blown away
Have you downloaded the new VSCO Cam app? Holy smokes did they do an A M A Z I N G job with the design of this app. I used the previous version pretty much daily to process my photos - but not as a camera. Now that they have the ability to touch focus and expose from two points like the SmugMug Awesome Camera app, I am all in! 
I am seriously blown away by the amount of presets - almost too many to choose from! The user interface is so easy - with everything within reach even though there are a LOT of options! And it's fast! Super fast shooting. Super fast editing (if you know what you want to do) and great speed on saving to camera roll too!
I was slightly disappointed when I downloaded the new bundle of presets (you know I gotta have it all) that I wasn't seeing anything that looked like the presents in the original app. Then tonight when I was playing around, I decided to open the old app and compare. To my surprise, they gave previous users a bundle of presets for free that match the old Cam app line up - YAY!
I do have one tiny request future updates - please allow me to save the original shots as an album in my photo album on the phone so I don't have to export every time I snap a pic. Oh and if I could take a video and apply your presets I that would be truly dreamy!!!!!
Bravo VSCO team! Bravo!
the new flickr
Do you Flickr? What are your thoughts on the redesign?
I'm slightly on the fence. I do like the layout of my photostream. I do like the larger photos of my contacts, but ... it seems a little clunky to me. It is some kind of merge between Google Plus and Facebook. The social aspect - comments and such - is pretty much gone because the interface is awkward to actually comment on a photo. I have been a member for a long time and have seen very little change in the interface, so I like that they are forward thinking, but ... with all the other photo sharing sites that have come to the web since Flickr, they need something awesome. Flickr was really the first site of its kind. I loved the early days of Flickr. It was a real community, no funny business. Now, not so much. I continue to upload photos, but was blocked from "explore" years ago - so it's really only for me, but I have to admit I am not a regular like I used to be ... What are your thoughts on the redesign? 
P.S. I seem to have a thing for flowers ... Spring has gotten to me!
Yellow
Was the most beautiful day today.
napa : phoned in : people
Just a quickie to share the iPhone photos from my lovely weekend in Napa with the girls... Such a beautiful area! We loved every second of our trip and I cannot wait to go back! Maybe we should make this an annual trip... just sayin'