Photography Challenge: Week 3

Well hello, and how do you do?  We have been enjoying the long weekend, despite a few bumps in the road (my daughter slept for a total of about 6 hours last night, good times!)  The BART strike looks to be on at least a 30 day reprieve, and the 4th of July was sunny as it should be - all is well in the world!  This is week 3 of my photography challenge, and although I do seem to be getting more familiar with my settings, I'm still not very quick in fixing them.  My new ridiculous habit is to forget my ISO setting and so the first 10 pictures I take are so badly lit they are garbage. Then I realize UH DUH, I'm on ISO 100, inside the house, with practically no light.  No bueno.

This picture is Rosie and her dear friend Elise, who is so precious and I just adore her.  She looks just like a little doll, doesn't she?  Adorable separately, I think they are compounding the cuteness together.  I just want to kiss them both!  I wish I had increased the aperture a bit because Rosie is sitting up a little further than Elise and a teensy bit out of focus.  I should have chosen another photo, but it was so sweet.  Nevermind, I stand behind my choice!  I will keep trying, I will!

Style Crush: Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid

I've seen the movie Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid at least 649 times, honestly.  It's a classic, it has tons of action, humor, and young Robert Redford and Paul Newman - swoon!

(pictures 1, 2)

But the real scene stealer is Katharine Ross as Etta Place (you might recognize her from The Graduate.)  Her long brown hair, her big brown eyes, that serious look and adventurous spirit.  She's totally gorgeous, and I have a style crush.  A full blown western-maxi-skirt-heavy-eyebrow-wild-spirit crush.

(pictures 3, 4)

So here are a few items I think you might catch modern day Etta wearing, in all her Sundance Kid loving glory.  I just want to ride off into the sunset in that maxi skirt and bleached denim shirt, on the back of Paul Newman's horse would not be a bad day.  Giddyup!

1. The Transport Rucksack from Madewell // 2. Annie Bing Sleeveless Dress from Shopbop // 3. Brixton Tiller Floppy Hat from Zappos // 4. The Archive Boot from Madewell // 5. Vintage Maxi Dress from Etsy // 6. Braided Updo Tutorial from She Let's Her Hair Down // 7. 1969 Bleached Western Shirt from The Gap

A Rose By Any Other Name...

We named our daughter Rose Luella Lee.  We named her long before she was born, the minute we said Rose out loud we knew that is what she would be.  The name Rose has several family ties for me, first, I was raised in Roseville, Minnesota.  My grandfather grew roses and entered them in competitions, Rosie is my step-great grandmother's name and a favorite aunt's middle name.  I love roses, I have several rose tattoos and pink spray roses and garden roses are my favorite flowers.  Rose was also my favorite Golden Girl. 

Luella means warrior, and boy did we ever name Rose accurately.  What comes first though, the chicken or the egg?  Is she a warrior because of her name, or did we just guess extremely well with our little antagonistic daughter.  I sometimes wonder if we didn't bring her battling nature upon ourselves (and if so, should we name our next child Peace?)  No, I am not thinking about having another child, we have our hands full thankyouverymuch.

The name Lee means "plum tree" in Cantonese, the language of my husband's family.  They are from Hong Kong, and moved here when my mother in law was (unknowingly) expecting my husband Edwin.  The plum tree we planted when Rosie was born 17 months ago is already bearing fruit, way ahead of schedule and always pushing towards the sky - also so much like our young and tall warrior daughter.  We have been eating the fruit from the tree and it's sometimes bitter and sometimes tooth-achingly sweet.  Oh, you've met my daughter?  Sounds just like her doesn't it?

Sometimes I think the world is just full of meaning.  A few random musings for your Monday.  Hope you are surviving this ridiculously inconvenient BART strike, for those of you in the Bay Area.  I wish for you speedy commutes (or better yet, instant tele-commutes!)