Quick breather.

I'm starting to get in a groove of things at work. I can't believe how different the environment is at the new place. It's so much more laid back & "chillaxed" than my previous job. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined a work environment where people are actually nice to you. I guess so far you could say that this job totally kicks my other job's ass! I hope it stays that way.

This. Is. Amazing.

NYC - Mindrelic Timelapse from Mindrelic on Vimeo.

Oh busy bee me.

I've been slacking. I have a good excuse though. I started my new job on Monday so this week has been jam packed with orientation duties. From taking a gazillion tests to reading 4+ hours worth of policies and procedures, I've been more than exhausted after a long day. I'm hoping that in a few more weeks I'll get in the groove of things and feel less overwhelmed about this change.

Until then, no mass photography :(


Oh Junie...

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole"

- Roger Caras

Meet Udon. She's my hubby's former dog who now lives with his parents. She's an adorable little thing... well, little wouldn't be the most politically correct term for her. She's a BIG dog. Big, cuddly, fluffy, too cute for words. These were taken when we went over for Thanksgiving dinner. All the dogs were banned to the backyard during dinner so they were all crowded around the door, begging to be let back in. Poor Junie, she was the most stressed out... being in the company of her cousin's really didn't help. All she wanted was to hang out with her mommy :)

It's time to celebrate, boys and girls!

First off, YAY!!! I developed my film today and they turned out MUCH, MUCH better than previous pictures. I'm a lot happier with this batch than the previous ones. With a little persistence and inspiration (thanks Alice!!), I'm starting to get where I want to be. I have quite a ways to go but it's comforting knowing that I've made at least some progress.

These are from La Madeline. I'm not gonna lie, I'm not the biggest fan of this place. Everyone always raves about it, but for some reason, every time I go, I always order something I'm not too fond of. That day I ordered a house favorite... the chicken parisien. It was okay. Nothing spectacular. I felt that it was a little too heavy, too early in the morning. I only ate half the sandwich :( Fortunately, we ordered the tomato basil soup, which never disappoints. All in all, it was an okay visit. This place is slowly, emphasis on slowly, growing on me. I'd still rather go somewhere else for food.

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The second food stop of the day was at The Chocolate Bar. Ever since the last cold front came through, I've been DYING for some off the hook hot chocolate. So the funny thing about the hot chocolate is that it comes in this teeny, tiny cup. 4 oz. to be exact. When they first gave it to me I thought that they had mistakenly given me a sample cup. But I slowly realized that the hot chocolate that they make is so rich that 4 oz. is MORE than enough. I barely finished it. And to top it all off, we ordered some turtle cheesecake. It was really good at first but the more I ate it the more I felt like I was eating butter. The cheesecake literally melted in my mouth and it felt so fattening. I'm ashamed to say this but I only ate like 4 bites. I still love this place. It's the chocolate go to location here :)

Let's keep rollin'

I FINALLY finished my roll of film today. EEEEK! Gonna take it to get developed tomorrow. I can't wait to see how they turned out :))

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So today I was out having lunch at Ruggles in City Centre. City Centre is like this big outdoor mall type place with loads of restaurants and a few scattering of stores. It's where the rich go to mingle and hang out. I felt a little underdressed wearing my jeans and oversized jersey-like shirt, being surrounded by all the snobbery. After eating, we walked around for a bit. Being a photography nut that I am, I spotted some awesome orange leaves on this tree with gorgeous lighting. I snapped 2 or so pictures. Immediately afterwards, a security guard pops out of nowhere on his vespa and tells me that I'm not allowed to take pictures on the property. I was surprised... not completely, but I was a little thrown off by the statement.

I do realize that most stores won't allow photography. I also know that usually you need a permit (read: money to spend) to shoot in certain areas, but this is mainly for commercial photography, i.e. models, monetary compensation. But I was standing in the street... taking pictures of a tree. A tree. Maybe he thought I was taking pictures of a really expensive car. Those rich bitches don't want us common folk to photograph their shit. But... A TREE!

The world isn't friendly to photographers. We're viewed as pests, nuisances, and must be disposed of quickly. I've heard stories of photographers being called terrorists, threatened, and kicked out. We're only trying to capture beauty, to create art. What is so wrong with that?

I currently hate security guards... and trees :P

I will always love my burgers & fries

Barnaby's Cafe. God I love this place. If there is even a remote, miniscule chance of going here, I'm down. I've covered Barnaby's in an earlier post but this time I visited the original location. It's located in the quaint Midtown neighborhood surrounded by bars and houses. The restaurant is small and a little run down but it exudes so much personality. From the rainbow colored walls (the restaurant was founded by a gay man) to the pictures of a sheepdog (the restaurant was named after the owner's childhood dog), this place has won my stomach & heart.

As per usual, I ordered my awesome cheeseburger and fries (with extra seasoning, please!). There's no picture of it because it was too massive to fit into the frame, hehe. Besides, pictures take time & I was ready to tear that burger to pieces.

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So lately I've been in a photography stump.. well, more like an editing stump. I can't seem to find my niche in editing. I feel like my style is too eclectic and it bugs the crap me. I feel like I should be more stable in the way I process my pictures. Every time I edit a picture, I always doubt myself. Most of the time I find myself going back and re-editing a picture that I just got done with a few hours ago. I wish there was a simple solution.. like an all around, amazing photoshop action that will take care of all my pictures :)

I guess I just gotta keep trucking. It's a frustrating journey but I'm not giving up. I want to continue learning and growing. Good luck me!

Let's do something new & exciting...

I woke up pretty excited today. Like a kid on Christmas day, I jumped out of bed looking forward to what the day would bring. Of course, it sounds silly now what I was excited about; regardless, it was nice to have something to look forward to... besides the usual: getting out of work. Well back to the story, I was excited about hitting up the park in downtown Houston, Discovery Green. Because it's located in the heart of downtown, I rarely ever go there because of parking issues as well as dealing with all the one way streets. Today they had the farmer's market (which by the way was pretty pathetic... there were like 6 stands total. Only one of which had any fruits/vegetables) and the outdoor ice skating rink. It was fun walking around, taking pictures. I wish there was more stuff though. One of these days I'll make it to a REAL farmer's market. I just somehow got to convince myself that it's worth waking up at 7am on a Saturday. Good luck to me.