Busy day!

I had a great but very busy day today in Chicago. I don't have a car here and am way too broke to take cabs everywhere so I use public transportation. Chicago actually has a great public transportation system. I was a busy little bee running all over the city getting things done and rode 5 different busses and went on the L (that's what the subway is called here because it is ELevated) 3 times!

By far and away my favorite thing I did today was "developing" some of my digital photos in the lab portion of my weekly photography class at the Chicago Photography Center. I take a class one night a week for 3 hours where we talk about the theory behind taking great photographs. In the lab portion of our class we get 3 hours with a trained instructor who teaches us how to manipulate our photos in Adobe Lightroom. So far, Lightroom seems leaps and bounds better than Photoshop (which I have used an itsy bisty bit before) if all you want to do is edit pictures. If you want to airbrush out a possible double chin or some speckling that suspiciously looks like cellulite then Photoshop is the way to go; but since I am gorgeous and perfect looking in every photo I think I will stick with Lightroom.

After finishing my work on my class assignments I had some extra time so I worked on a few pictures from Italy. I love love love they way they turned out and want to now work on ALL of my Europe photos on Lightshop!

Here is today's work!

** ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I can't find them on my memory card. Seriously? I spent like 3 hours on these guys. So annoyed. Maybe it's just a PC to Mac problem? I can find some but not the beautiful ones I was so proud of. Instead, here are some pictures from France. I'll track those photos down and WILL post them!

My absolute favorite hostel sign EVER. It was definitely a worrisome moment In Paris when I saw that before checking in.

I have a special love for church candles. I'm not Catholic but I still love them. I think it's the idea that each of the candles represents the wishes and hopes of individuals. The warmth and the light coming off of them are amazing in person.

And who can resist a Parisian merry go round?

I hope your all having great and productive days without lost photos!

xoxo,

M

Photo favorites

Hello love bugs!

I've finally uploaded, sorted, and began to edit my huge photo collection from my trip! There were almost 3000 photos from my three months in Europe!

Here are some of my favorites:

A swan in Prague

Graffiti in Berlin. I actually love these so much that I thinking about recreating them in photoshop and putting the up somewhere in my house... Thoughts?

Chris taking a look at the Alps at sunset in Berchtesgaden, Germany. I'm in super love with this photo. SUPER LOVE I tell you!

Ah, sweet sweet Paris

Another photo from Paris. I took this photo in the artists' square in Montmarte.

This is a giant bubble in London! While the picture isn't especially fabulous it reminds me of a great day I had with my friend Allyson walking around the Camden Market!

I'm not exactly sure what to do with all of the many many many many photos I have. I am thinking about creating a scrapbook on snapfish? Any ideas?

Pere Lachaise

On my second to last day in Paris I went to one of the most famous cemetaries in Paris, Pere Lachaise. Pere Lachaise is a gorgeous old cemetary; most people know it for some of the famous people burried there: Oscar Wilde, Edith Pilaf, and Jim Morisson.

I walked around the entire cemetary and was shocked when I wandered by Jim Morrison's grave. It was packed with people! There were at least 20 or 30 people hanging out there. I know I have the musical intellegence of a porcupine but I can't name a single song by The Doors. I saw so many beatiful stained glass windows, old grave stones, and met a 11 kilo cat names Fifi while there. I wonder how many people enjoyewd the cemetary or just went to take a picture with Jim and post it as their facebook profile picture?

For some creepy reason I actually really like cemetaries. I mean I also liked reruns of the Addams Family as a kid but that's a different conversation all together. There is something about the stillness that appeals to me. There is also an interesting cultural point about cemetaries; obviously someone cared enough about that person at some time to errect a stone but then over time they are completely forgotten. I don't really have an end conclusion to this point, but it´s something that I do think about while I am walking around.

I want to share some of my favorite pictures of the cemetary with you my loves:


Fifi the 11 kilo cat

My favorite picture of stained glass where you can see through the broken glass to the trees outside (turn your head to the side to see it because I can´t figure out how to rotate it on blogger, soooowwwwyyy)

And last but not least, my two favorite pictures I took the entire day:

The Paris Overview

Paris has been great. I arrived 6 days ago and have been really busy walking around the city, seeing the sights, and trying not to break my budget!!

Day 1
After taking the world's most expensive cab ride in the history of all cab rides my flight to Paris was perfectly smooth and I arrive in my hostel around 12. The first hostel I stayed in was in Montemarte so I walked through Sacre Coure Cathedral and the surrounding neighborhood. While I was walking I stumbled into some sort of French festival complete with French singers and some sort of renamactment.

Day 2
I went on a great free 3 hour walking tour provided by NewEurope. We saw all of the major sites and I definitely got a better lay out ofParis in my mind. I also walked around the Latin quarter. This area is where the prestigois French school Le Sorbonne is located.

Day 3
I saw Notre Dame Cathedral. The stained glass windows are beautiful; actually the entire church is mannificent. When I am in these churchesI always try to image what it would be like to be present in the church right after it was built. These were built before cranes, computers, and modern architecture and engineering. The construction just completely blows my mind. After Notre Dame I went to an area of Paris called the Marais; it's the old Jewish area of town and is filled with delicious falafel stands, amazing bakeries, and tiny winding streets. This night I also went out to bars with some Californians from my hostel and stayed out way too late.

Day 4
While battling feeling tired from the night before I went to my favorite museum in Paris, and I might dare to say the world, Le Musee d'Orsay. I treated myself to a giant bowl of amazing soup in the cafe and then spent the next 5 hours in the museum. I'm going to write more about the museum later.

Day 5
I went to the Louvre, l'Orangerie, and a really cool English bookstore called Shakespeare and Company. I then had a little dinner picnic in front of the Eiffle Tower

Day 6
I was going to go to Versaille this day but after a hostel crisis (note to self: do not leave booking a hostel until that morning!) left me scrambling for a place to stay until 12:30 I had to change plans. So, instead I went to Pere Lachaise cemetery where Heloise and Abelard; Jim Morrison; Oscar Wilde; Edith Pilaf and others are burried.

Today
Today I walked to the oldest still existing flea market in Europe, wandered around the stalls, and then just walked around Paris taking it all in.


I leave for Frankfurt tomorrow and will meet Chris and our friends Eddie and Allan there on Monday before we all head to Munich for Oktoberfest. I am so excited to see friends and to go to Oktoberfest.

I'll be sure to keep you updated about our progress along the way! I'm trying to upload photos as we speak but who knows how it will go on the hostel's computer. If not I'll fork out the 5 euro to have all of my photos downloaded to a CD just for you my loves!
Xoxo,
M