Five Things Friday: Inspiration from my Pinterest Boards

Five Things Friday is a regular blog post where I share a collection of things that inspire me each week. Some weeks are focused on a particular theme, while others are a hodge podge of random stuff from around the web.

Sharing a few fabulous finds that are currently pinned to my Pinterest boards. You can follow me on Pinterest here.

1. Photo Inspiration

Photographer: Fan Ho

2. COLOR

Color Wheel Umbrella from the MOMA Store.

3. Creative Inspiration

Dandelions by Jo Clark

4. Word Inspiration

Give your dreams their flight by Kal Barteski

5. I Love This

PHOTO: Robert Trachtenberg for New York Magazine TV issue May 2011

Plans for the weekend include attendance at the Portland Creative Conference (so excited!), date night with my husband (can’t wait!) and a even a little 10 pin bowling. But first, the cleaners are coming to make my house sparkle. Looks like the promise of a perfect weekend to me, even though it might be time to say goodbye to the sun(flowers) in Portland.

Happy Friday!

Newport, Oregon Day 3: A Special Celebration

We were privileged to have the opportunity to celebrate Karin’s 3rd birthday while we were at the beach. It wasn’t a big celebration, but it did include a pink princess crown which is likely the only time one of those will be present at an Ishida hosted birthday party. Although, I’m strongly considering buying one for myself next year…

Wordless Wednesday: Airborne

Quick note to say welcome to any new blog readers who stopped by after my Newport Aquarium post was featured on the freshly pressed blog. I loved reading all of your comments and hope you’ll come back.

Nye Beach, Newport, Oregon.

Confessions of a Three Year Old Superhero

Being a Superhero is 80% attitude.

There’s a lot of climbing involved.

Play equipment provides good leverage for takeoff.

You’re nothing without a sidekick.

Wait for the slow guy – it’s not his fault he’s a mere mortal. Besides, he may even be the originator of your super cape (we Superheroes believe in reusing and recycling, you know. Either that or our mums are too cheap to buy us a cape with our own super letter).

Superheroes must maintain good hydration (even if it means asking for a boost at the water fountain).

T-shirts? Not necessary. It just enhances the pecs.

The occasional smile does not undermine your power – in fact it could go a long way to winning over the ladies.

The front door could be your Kryptonite.

Don’t be afraid to hum your theme song wherever you go (it’s not at all annoying for others and adds much-needed drama) and always live to ~~play~~ fight another day.

Newport, Oregon: Day Two: The Aquarium

I had one specific outing request during our vacation to Newport, and that was to visit the Aquarium. I have lived in Portland for about 8 years now and, almost everyday, have been forced to look at billboards advertising the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It took eight years, but the advertising bombardment finally won me over and I can now happily say “been there, done that.”

Really though, it was a fun day. While this Aquarium was not the most spectacular one I’ve visited, (so far, the Melbourne Aquarium wins that prize, even if their website is a visual assault) our big group of 5 adults and three kids were completely satisfied with the variety of sea life that we were able to see and, in some cases, even touch. Of course I took enough pictures to make a book…

These two were too cute. My mum bought that backpack over for Karin and it barely left her back the entire time.

I’m not going to tell you how long I waited to get the following picture. Not sure if it was worth it…

This where we were able to touch the animals. Of course my children were a little hesitant while Karin almost jumped right in.

A favourite.

And, of course, despite the many amazing things that we were surrounded by, it was the playhouse by the bathrooms that they were most excited about.

The first time I’ve ever seen a puffin in real life and this one came within inches as it crossed from one pool to another. Incredibly cute.

I won’t mention how long I waited to take this one either. Let me just say that uncooperative sting rays and glass glare make for a difficult photo subject.

For some reason this next one cracks me up. I think it might be Thomas’ rock and roll pose. (Note: by some miracle, we managed to leave the two stuffed sharks in the store and escape with just a souvenir penny for each child).

Had just enough time for a quick ride on a porpoise before we came dangerously close to a full overtired meltdown – both kids and parents.

Five Great Phone Apps for Photography and Journaling

I think it’s safe to say that my iPhone and I are pretty much joined at the hip. In the twelve or so months since I bought my phone, it’s become my primary organizer, memory keeper and portable computer. Here are the five apps I find myself using on a regular basis to take photos, record memories and seek a little inspiration.

1. Hipstamatic
The first camera app I downloaded after I got my phone, and still my favorite. Although there are many camera apps that add special effects to photos, Hipstamatic forces me to make a decision before I take the shot. It’s likely the closest I’ll ever get to shooting film.

2. Incredibooth
This photo app is just so much fun and is made by the same company that created Hipstamatic. The kids will happily sit with me for a photo booth pic, which is a rare thing these days, and the pics are a great fun addition to my annual photo book (although I’m two years behind, so I’m not sure if I can consider it annual at this point). The different lens options add some variety.

3. 360 Panorama
For those moments when you need to capture the BIG picture. The app is easy to use and the resulting images are a wonderful way to capture scenes that might be limited by the regular phone lens.

4. Momento
A brand new discovery thanks to a blog post by Ali Edwards. I’ve only been playing with it for a week but I love how it pulls all of my social media content together from Facebook, Twitter, the blog and even Instagram. It also allows me to add more private content that I may not want to share online. My dream is that they release a desktop app so I can type with more freedom. I’m excited to play around with the archiving feature and see how I can use the content for my annual photo books.

4. Life
This app provides a mobile version of content from the Life website. I often find myself browsing through photographs on the site – old and new – for inspiration. The stories behind the images are what makes this app really special.

So there you have it. By no means a complete list, but a snapshot of the apps that I find myself coming back to again and again. Please feel free to share your own favorites in the comments. I have some credit on my itunes account that just needs to be spent.

Hope you have a great weekend. We’ll be spending ours trying to stay cool thanks to the promise of a VERY late summer heatwave. Off to blow up the wading pool.

On This Day Six Years Ago…

Six years ago this morning, I found myself eagerly anticipating the birth of my first born (well, after the Epidural kicked in anyway. Before then I was eagerly anticipating a little pain relief).

What we experienced over just a few hours was a ton of excitement, then worry, then deep concern, then surgery, then immense joy. It seemed appropriate that, from the moment he was born, Thomas started us on the roller coaster that I’m sure will continue well beyond his teenage years.

A few facts about Thomas at six:

He changes his toy obsession from moment to moment. Right now our house is being overrun by Super Heroes. Lat week it was Cars and Wonderpets. Makes it difficult to shop for his birthday.
He is currently going through a stage where he will sing everything to me, opera-style. It’s really sweet for the first 10 or so minutes. (blame Wonderpets)
He is incredibly sensitive and often surprises me with his empathy.
He is smart – and getting smarter every day (and I’m only a little biased).
He has grown so much over the past year. From learning to ride his bike to blowing us away with his ability to learn everything from Math to Japanese, this kids amazes us every day.
He will NOT be celebrating his birthday with a cast on his arm.

Happy birthday baby (I’ll still be calling you that when you’re twenty). We are so proud of you.

Just Getting it in Under the Wire…

It’s still the 7th in Portland so it’s not too late to wish my Dad a Happy Birthday. Hope you’re celebrating it in style in the UK. The grandchildren miss you already (and, OK, I do too). Have a wonderful day and don’t party too hard.

Wordless Wednesday: Nye Beach Silhouettes

The Outtakes

I was going to come on here to share a few wonderful photos of my children on their first day back at school – and then share some of the outtakes just for fun. But then I looked through my photos and realized that the outtakes were the norm and that, really, our life is just one long series of outtakes these days.

The first day back went as well as could be expected. I only had to leave one screaming child in the arms of a caregiver (Samuel) and was able to peel Thomas off my leg within 5 minutes, so I consider that a successful drop off.

Thomas’ first day of Kindergarten (that’s Prep, for my Aussie readers) was just an orientation so they only needed him for an hour – just enough time for me to grab a coffee and read a few emails on my first day back at work before I had to go and pick him up for his assessment. He did extremely well at assessment and declared himself to be “possibly the smartest kid in the whole school.” So I guess his confidence level is right up there with his math and reading scores.

Excited for the rest of the week – a birthday to celebrate, a real first day of Kindergarten to prepare for and a whole lot of work to do. Two weeks of vacation doesn’t do any favors for the inbox.

For now, enjoy some of our first day ~~outtakes~~ photographs.