111/365 Truffles

I used to love making Christmas baskets for our family members, but this year I decided to do truffles instead.


This one was my absolute favourite (white chocolate centers coated in crushed, candied pecans).  It turned out to be one of those confections that makes me feel truly sorry for anyone allergic to nuts.  My husband voted for the white centers coated in white chocolate, and Gabrielle was fairly indifferent (she'll take any type of chocolate whenever she can get it).

These are so yummy and very easy to make (they also make great Christmas gifts).  I made five different types but they were all adapted from this recipe.

110/365 Christmas Experiment

When I first saw this chocolate covered Christmas tree in a cafe in the mall, I knew I wanted to try and make my own.  It doesn't look quite like the one in the mall, which was at least a foot high, straight as an arrow, covered in perfectly smooth chocolate, and complete with little white icing icicles.  Even though it's not perfect, it was still very fun to make.  I think it might just become a new Christmas tradition around here.

Instructions for making your own chocolate covered Christmas tree:

1. Bake a bunch of star shaped sugar cookies of various sizes

2. Melt at least 400 grams of milk chocolate on the stove in double broiler (or stainless steel bowl over a pot of hot water

3. Wait for the chocolate to cool a bit and dip the cookies in the melted chocolate

4. After the chocolate on the cookies have firmed a little, stack the cookies from largest to smallest, alternating the points of the stars

5. Decorate with different types of M&Ms.

108/365 Visit With Santa

Our visit with Santa yesterday didn't go quite as planned.  By the time Santa came back from his break and our turn came around, it was a little too close to nap time and she was already getting droopy eyed.

Gabrielle waiting in line with Gran to see Santa

I thought some introductions might help, so I sat down beside Santa myself, with her on my lap.  She took one look at him and burst into tears.  A hug from Gran usually helps, and she was able to work some magic yesterday as well.  Gran's lap was a much better place to observe Santa from.

She even warmed up to him a little bit by the end and got a candy cane for being such a "good girl"  (anyone who gives her food usually gets into her good books eventually).

Apparently Gran behaved herself very nicely as well, because she got a candy cane too.

It wasn't quite what I had in mind, but at least she got to see Santa.

This week's Small Style:

Blouse: Thrifted and gifted from Gran

Jumper: Gymboree

Shoes: Maggie and Zoe

107/365 Oh Christmas Tree

We finally got our Christmas tree up and (almost) decorated today!

And here's a quick Christmas self-portrait, just for fun.

106/365 Countdown to Christmas

Christmas has been sneaking up on us this year.  I'm surrounded by all the familiar signs of Christmas the minute I step out my door, but I'm ashamed to say that we have yet to put up a single decoration inside our home.  I do have some fun Christmas projects in mind that I'm dying to try however, so the next two weeks are going to be very busy.

Even though we haven't been quite on the ball this year, we have been attempting to prepare Gabrielle for the occasion.  She has been completely enthralled with all her new (to her) Christmas stories, although the one below has definitely become a favourite.  She loves looking for Mitzi the cat on every page.



And of course the story wouldn't be complete without a kiss....

and a hug for Mitzi at the end.

105/365 Missing The Moments

I've been missing a lot of moments lately in the name of bad lighting, a boring day, or a dirty face. Somewhere along the way I've become a little too concerned with attempting to make every shot better than the one before and I've forgotten that the whole purpose of this project is to document our every day.

Our every day now includes a lot of time spent like this...

In this case, it means, "Mom, I want to see the baby on the camera" , but other common evening requests include cuddles, stories, cookies, milk, a Muppets DVD, and skyping with Oma. She is definitely learning how to exert her will but the good part is that she's using more and more words, and less grunting, pointing, whining and other lazy baby language to express herself (which makes it so hard to resist when she asks for a cookie, even though requests like that come all day long!).

104/365 Absent

I had to put this project on hold for a while this week because my little babe has been sick.  It started with a runny nose, and then turned into a fever and cough.  She's okay now but it's been quite a week!  We can't complain too much since this is only the second illness she's had since birth (more than a runny nose) but still, I'm so glad it's over.

Today we ventured out to the mall to have a date with Oma and begin our Christmas shopping.  There was pizza and gelato and lots of hugs and kisses from Oma.  I love that she's still young enough that I can take her shopping for her own Christmas presents, and know that she'll forget about them by Christmas.  Apparently it was all too much fun for her because she passed out in the car on the way home within about 5 seconds.

103/365 Soccer According To A Toddler

When I saw this little soccer ball at Toys R Us the other day, I just couldn't resist.  I love that it's soft and light enough to be used inside, yet durable enough to be used outside as well.  Gabrielle caught on to the game pretty quickly for a toddler, and had lots of fun kicking it around the yard.

102/365 Cutie Pie

The three of us visited a brand new baby cousin today.  This little girl is only three weeks old, and such a sweetheart!  We were all in love.

101/365 Vegan Cooking Day 2: Three Bean Chili With Sweet Potatoes

I made the mistake of showing my husband some of my pictures of today's meal.  Specifically, I asked him if my photos of this chili made him want to eat it.  His response?..."No, it looks like a heap of barf.  How could anyone make it look good.  It tastes good though".  As you can see, he really has a way with words.  In all seriousness though, he really did enjoy his dinner today.  This chili is really easy to make and is great for an iron boost (and it really does taste good, I promise).

100/365 Vegan Meals

This is my 100th post of my 365 day project, and for the next 30 posts I'm going to be doing something a little different.  Most people who know us know that we had to switch to a vegan diet six months ago.  We've been slacking a bit lately, but now we need to get back on track.  People we know often have a lot of questions regarding what a vegan diet is, and what we eat.  During the following month, I'm going to be posting our meals for anyone who may be interested in following along.  Food photography is not my forte, but hopefully I can work on that.  Today's dinner was simple and delicious!

Ginger Soy Stir-Fry With Millet

Gabrielle seemed to enjoy it too.  She doesn't follow our diet, but she certainly enjoys some tofu now and then.



99/Birthday Party Snapshots

Gabrielle just went to her first birthday party this weekend, and she had a blast!  Shooting in this setting was quite a challenge (indoors at night without a flash, and no natural light) but it was still fun to document the event.  Here is the adorable birthday boy.  He just turned one and he's such a cutie (Gabrielle completely adores him).

His mother made the best cupcakes, decorated like Sesame Street characters.  The kiddies loved them of course.  Here's the birthday boy enjoying his treat.

This pool full of balls was also a big hit.  I was playing around with the ISO expansion feature on my camera for this shot  (ISO 25600), hence the grainy quality.  Gabrielle was having so much fun that I couldn't resist, even though I knew the light was really bad.

98/365 Fall Waves

97/365 In The Evening

Today we had a beautiful sunset...

And I got glared at by a swan.

Only two of the reasons that it has indeed been an interesting day.

96/365 High Park

95/365 November Skies

94/365 Alone Time

I had some wonderful alone time down by the lake, with just me and my camera.  I didn't have my usual model with me, but this little guy let me get so close that he almost seemed like he was modeling for me.

I also stopped to take a closer look at something I've walked by a million times.

In the middle of the city is what looks like someone's personal houseboat.  I can't imagine someone living on this, but I think someone actually does.  This image makes me wonder what that person's life must be like.  Whoever they are, they seem quite innovative. 

92/365 Hiding

She was in a hood-wearing mood today.

Before and After Using Digital Photo Professional

There has been some talk on one of the photography Facebook groups I belong to about the differences between Adobe digital editing software such as Lightroom and Digital Photo Professional (the free editing software that is included with the purchase of Canon DSLRs).  At the moment I use DPP for all my editing, and so I thought it might be fun to post a before and after example of an edit using this program.

The first image below was shot in RAW, converted straight to JPEG, and posted without any adjustments.  The second one has been edited as a RAW image in DPP before being converted to JPEG and posted here.

Here are the steps that I took to edit this image in DPP:

1. Opened Adjustments and used the Tone Curve Assist-Standard tool

2. Opened the Tool Palette under View 

3. Adjusted contrast

4. Adjusted saturation

5. Increased sharpness

6. Adjusted exposure

7. Clicked on White Balance Adjustment and changed white balance using the Kalvin scale

For anyone interested in using this program, I hope this helps.  In my own opinion, it doesn't even compare to Photoshop in terms it's editing opinions, but it is useful for the initial processing of RAW images.

91/365 Mr. Potato Head

Gabrielle had her first encounter with Mr. Potato Head today at Gran's house.  I thought she did pretty good for a one year old (19 months) and actually managed to get the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears in the right spot a few times.  I think she just might be getting one for Christmas.

90/365 First Workshop

I'm very excited to be taking my first CM photography workshop.  I've been wanting to take one for a long time, but couldn't decide if I wanted to do it as a study-along or full participation member (in the end I opted for study along).  Without going into too much detail, this week's assignment involved shooting in different types of light.  Gabrielle occupied herself long enough with the neighbour's pile of leaves to act as my model for the first set of pictures.

Inside, I found it much easier to practice on her toys (if anyone knows how to persuade a 19 month old to cooperate by sitting just right in the best lighting conditions, please let me know).  The only problem was that Gabrielle kept trying to steal my models back.

Ninety percent of the time I love practicing on my little munchkin, but sometimes I'd really love to have a model over two years old.

89/365 Rained Out

I tested out a new camera today (I won't say which for the sake of my own pride because I don't think I can do it justice yet).  Gabrielle and I drove down to our favourite place by the lake for some experimentation with it, but unfortunately we got rained out after about 5 minutes.  This is all I managed to snap before the waterworks appeared.

By the time I drove to McDonald's for a caramel latte (my consolation prize) and then home, the rain had stopped, and we did get to spend a little while outside.  Poor Gabrielle has been couped up inside more than usual this week because I've been sick, and just seemed happy to be out in the fresh air.

This week's Small Style:

Vest: Joe Fresh

Mittens: Hand-me-downs from a cousin

Sweater: Old Navy

Leggings: Oshkosh

Socks: Oshkosh

Shoes: Maggie and Zoe