approaching joy

blog crush :: galadarling.com

via galadarling.com

I just *stumbled across this site and may have found a new favorite!! Style, self-love, and sequins - yay for alliteration and pretty Gala Darling!!
*People always say stumbled but when was the last time you accidentally clicked something and actually stayed on that site? A better description is "fell into the rabbit hole that is the Internet and softly landed here".

Also, check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFXHYtY9ag8&feature=youtu.be
Happy Wednesday friends!! 

tasty tuesday :: a discussion

When I first started blogging I was SO excited to talk about food.  

A little back story: My mom is a great cook, but she was also dealing with two whiny kids, a husband who was working out of town, and some major time constraints so I grew up on canned... lots of things.  Pasta was occasionally spaghetti-o's and occasionally something that ended in "-roni".  I didn't even realize that people ate asparagus that wasn't fresh out of the can and wasn't smothered in Velvetta. I can even say that I've eaten Spam and lived to tell the tale.

So when I "fell in love with food" after college, it was because my eyes were opened to a whole new dimension of food that I had not preveiously known existed.  And then I fell in love with a man who also knew about the wonders of good (fresh, non-processed) food and it was just natural that I wanted to share this overflowing love with everyone.  So I did.

But then I got uncomfortable simply re-telling (re-blogging) other people's recipes. I mean sure I could blog about the 20% of meals that we have that start with an idea in our heads, get worked out in our kitchen, and end up like this:

(i.e. the best steak EVER)

But most (70%) of our meals start in someone else's head, get perfected in their kitchen, get published on their computer, and then get tweaked (for better or worse) in our kitchen, like this pasta from Dinner A Love Story that we had last night:

 (i.e. super yummyveggie pasta that the picture doesn't do justice to)

 For those of you counting, the other 10% looks like this:

And that's okay too.

I guess my question is: What is "okay" for a non-chef wannabe food blogger?  Where is the line between my very slightly adapted recipe and someone's original recipe?  What gives me the right to share someone else's hard work?
Also, please know that I'm not questioning any other bloggers out there, just myself.  Maybe it's too many nights staying up to watch Chopped but I know that I am only occasionally capable of making a cacaphonie of flavors appear out of the contents of my refrigerator.

What do you think?
If you're a blogger- Please share how/what you choose to post when the original idea isn't yours to claim.  Let the rest of us know what you use as "guidelines".
If you're a non-blogger- What do you think when you come across a recipe that says "adapted from + link to another page"?  Do you ever go over to the other page?
To anyone- Am I weird in having this conundrum?? 

and now a word about letting life happen...

image source :: http://www.dorothyjeannegoods.com/ found via Creature Comforts

As my regulars noticed, I stepped away from the blog for the past week.
In the beginning, it wasn't purpose. As I got into bed Monday I thought, "oh crap I didn't post today." But as Tuesday turned into Thursday and I was swamped with both personal and professional obligations, I made the conscious decision to refrain from posting anything instead of posting something that I couldn't put 100% of my effort toward. 

It was while following this train of thought, I realized that if I don't have at least a full hour a day to write, edit, & re-edit I don't feel comfortable about posting. THIS, my friends, is ridiculous. I blog because it's my space to tell my story.  By "forcing" myself to tell a story that feels strained or overly produced, I don't stay in-line with the genuine person I strive to be. 

To counteract this self-imposed feeling of pressure, I came up with a few stress less / keeping it fun, while keeping it real tactics.  Sometimes this may mean lots of pictures and no words while other times this may mean only a few pictures and only a few words and sometimes I'll give you the whole shebang.  I'm going to be concious about not being as long winded.  And I'm going to make sure that when I blog it's because I have the time and desire to blog... not just overwhelming need to take it off my to-do list.

 

Thanks for joining me on this ride so far.

p.s. I mentioned a big project that is happening with my new job a few weeks ago- Head over to the Benfield Photography blog AND the Shoot Your Kids Workshop blog to see what's been keping me so busy the past few weeks!

create.edit.share :: beautiful lips

This is part two of three of my Audrey Hepburn series.  Check out last week's here.
Other than that: Happy weekending.  This weekend is looking absolutely lovely with it's absence of large plans and I hope to take full advantage of the free time. 

I hope our weekend it equally as free and amazing.
p.s. Does anyone understand what I mean by "large plans" or it that just a term that makes sense to me??