Happy Almost-Friday! 😀
1. J left yesterday and I’m pretty sure my home is cleaner than it’s ever been as a result. Not because he was a messy house guest, but because I literally spent 4 hours deep cleaning each and every nook and cranny of my condo in a feeble attempt to keep myself occupied. Nothing like tile cleaner fumes to make you high lift you up when you’re feeling down.
2. On the bright side, at least I can comfortably eat broccoli again 😆
3. I did a very stupid thing the other day… I let myself completely run out of bananas, and when I went to the store to buy more, all they had were slightly green ones. I was in desperate need of a fix so I bought a bunch and tried to eat one anyways. Omigosh… 😯 😯 😯 … I’m sorry, but no — those things are not made for human consumption. I need ’em to be brown and spotty.
4. I also need Emoji to be available for computers. I mean… how am I supposed to accurately express myself in comments and posts if I’m lacking the kissie, lovestruck, and laugh-till-I-cry smilies!? WordPress emoticons are the pits 😥 🙂 😀 😆 😡
5. Advent calendars are a cruel joke. I love the tradition and buy one every year, but what.is.up with the microscopic chocolate pieces?!? Eating the daily “treat” only sparks a massive chocolate craving, and while I would gladly polish off the entire calendar in one sitting, I’m pretty sure that would defeat the entire purpose…
6. It’s nice to be able to sit down and talk to you guys again. Breaks are nice and all, but pre-writing posts just feels awkward when you’re publishing a post in a different frame of mind than the one you were in when you were writing it #bloggingproblems.
7. Speaking of blogging problems, food photography will seriously be the death of me. Props, composition, winter lighting… argh! I’ve learned a lot in the last couple of months, but I still feel like I have a lot more to learn… especially since FoodGawker has shot me down on more than one occasion — I’m never quite sure what to expect when I open their e-mails…
8. That’s why I finally bought Pinch of Yum’s Tasty Food Photography e-book. I’ve heard so many great things about it, and while I’m only about 1/4 of the way through, I can say that it definitely lives up to the praise. Talk about learning things I didn’t even know I didn’t know. I can’t wait to start trying out some of the new tips and tricks I’ve picked up.
9. Oh, and in case you were wondering how I spend some of my daylight hours, here’s a behind-the-scenes look at what I’m working with 😉
Please note the empty Macbook box acting as a light reflector 😆
10. I wanted to run an idea past you guys… Random thought posts are among some of my favourite to write and read, and I’ve been thinking about starting up a Thinking Out Loud linkup on Thursdays. I haven’t quite worked out all the finer details yet (whether there’ll be a theme/question/task etc.), but I wanted to toss the idea out there and get your guys’ input on it first. So whatcha think? Would it be something you’d be interested in seeing/participating in?
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Do you have an Advent calendar this year? What’s the theme? Frosty the Snowman for me.
If you’re a blogger, what do you find to be the most tedious part of blogging?
What do you think about the idea of a linkup?
While I don’t love the actual act of cleaning, I do love the feeling I get when it’s all done, especially if and when I’m stressed. So work is out of control; at least my house, kitchen, bedroom is ordered and clean. It gives me structure among chaos.
Food Gawker, the bane of my existence. Alright that’s a bit much, but they just rejected my latest Mac & Cheese photos and I was so proud of those babies. Don’t worry, I still am, but it should would have been nice to get an acceptance. Nowadays, I’ve barely been photographing my food because there’s literally no light when I’m home. Any pics I get are on weekends and since I was traveling for the holidays and pretty busy last weekend, those have even been nil.
I like your link up idea, although I usually take Thursdays offs. I have been thinking about switching that lately since it seems like no one reads blogs on Friday’s and attendance in general has been down. I’m guessing it’s the holidays; not me. At least I hope so. I will say link ups can be hard. I thought my Week in Review link up would eventually take off and the opposite seems to be happening. Somehow I don’t think that’ll happen to you though. You’re like blogging gold, so if you build it, they will come. Heck, I might even come. 🙂
Friday’s definitely tend to be one of my slower days as well, and this time of the year too. People too busy shopping and baking to bother with blogs 🙄
Hi Amanda,
I just came across your blog and I love it. This post is great and I think the link up is a great idea! That is basically how my mind works 24/7 —with that being said and as I am new to blogging, writing posts is tough for me sometimes b/c my brain jumps around so much. 🙂 In addition to that, I would say my interior photography is a flaw. I don’t think any of it is really tedious imo. I am loving it so far! I love your picture set up. I will have to try and set something like that up.
Thanks for sharing!
~Joshua
Canada is ruining my life right now. No daylight, green bananas, -50C, OMG. Have you noticed Save On Foods to be the worst for green bananas? WHY?!
Yes, you should definitely do a link-up Thursday! Love that idea.
My food photography is horrid… it’s from an iPhone… and yeah, it needs work. 😉
A Thinking Out Loud linkup sounds like it might be fun!
I LOVE cleaning when I’m stressed/upset/anxious. It calms me down. I have a love-hate relationship with putting away laundry.
I think you should definitely do a thinking out loud link-up! It sounds so fun!
Cleaning is my therapy of choice too. The minute I’m left alone I feel the urge to clean until I restore my inner balance. When I’m angry too – I can clean nooks I’ve never touched before xD
These chocolates are tiny indeed! They didn’t look like this when I was little. I must be glad something else caught my attention before I reached the calendars. I bought a box of Irish cream thins and if I have to be honest, some days they are actually too big for my chocolate craving.
I’ve tried bananas that are too green when I’m in a bind and I seriously think they are inedible at that stage lol. It’s doesn’t even taste like anything but bitterness!
I’d love to join in your Thursday thoughts link up what an awesome idea lady 😉
I love your photo set up, I’ve been making an effort to make my pictures better but I’ve not been game to submit any of them to Food Gawker as I’ve not felt any are good enough yet. I need to learn more maybe I should invest in that ebook too! I have an expensive camera but always have it set to automatic as I seriously have no idea about the settings…oops.
I always clean too when I’m upset or not sure what else to do with myself, I find it a stress release sometimes.
Nick decided to overbuy bananas this week so I have the opposite problem, too many overripe bananas. I had to make a banana bread as I didn’t want to throw out bad bananas but I still have 2 super ripe ones left that may or may not last till tomorrow.
The custom settings on a dslr can be overwhelming, eh? That’s totally how I felt about mine as well. The best way to learn is to just start experimenting. Play around with the settings and take the same shot under a whole bunch of different ones to see how it affects the end result.
I always clean when I’m upset about something 0r need a distraction! And I’m not talking a little sweeping and mopping…I’m talking on my hands and knees, scrubbing like I’m Cinder-frickin’-rella!!
Bananas HAVE to have spots or I will not under ANY circumstances, ingest one! Luckily I just bought some at the beginning of the week too, because after 48 hours of having zero appetite, scrambled eggs, bananas, and toast have been all I could handle. I’m totally with you on the emojis! I can’t tell you HOW many times I’ve wanted to use one of those things in a post! Haha! Ohh, and now I’m curious about that eBook before I ask “Santa” for the Plate to Pixel book! Oh and I just want you to know that I totally bought my sister the Naked 2 palette for Christmas…she will soon be another Sephora croonie under your spell! Lol
I totally feel your pain with foodgawker problems. My heart always skips a beat when I open their emails. It’s pretty lame, actually. Lindsay’s book was a huge help too. I wish I could afford Photoshop because I think that really helps as well. With white balance, primarily, which is the death of me right now. Foodgawker loves that bright white look.
I think the link-up sounds like a great idea! I can’t quite commit to link-ups on a regular basis but I would definitely join in a time or two. I know, again, I’m lame. 😉
I was wondering about their take on white balance — sometimes I feel like things are WAY overexposed, but they seem to dig it. The biggest thing I struggle with is composition… I still haven’t quite mastered putting a good shot together, and I guess a lot of my pictures end up being taken from way too close.
Cleaning is seriously my NUMBER one therapy! I LOVE IT! I am so in awe of this photography book!! AHH I need a good camera!
We used to get advent calendars every year filled with those little chocolates. So fun but yeah, they were pretty microscopic! We have one now that has boxes for each day that you open and they too are pretty small. Makes it difficult to find things to put in them for my little man.
“those things are not made for human consumption” << Heck to the YES! Green bananas are not edible in the slightest. My stomach is screaming NOOO just thinking about it. If you still have some green ones I read that if you place them in a paper bag with an apple overnight they will get riper faster. You can also bake them, let them cool, and they will taste riper as well.
I've never had an advent calendar before, but I usually pick up my church's advent devotional to look through. I forgot to this year– I need to remember this Sunday!
I think the most tediuous part of blogging is staying caught up on commenting on other blogs, and then responding on your own blog. So much time.
when i get in the mood to clean, watch out. the hours just disappear and i feel so self-satisfied afterwards.
I haven’t had an advent calendar since high school. When I got them I’d usually end up forgetting to eat the chocolate except once a week or so and then I’d get 5-6 pieces!
I totally wish I had the time to improve my food photography skills! My house has terrible natural lighting, and since it’s cold and dark out all the time now, I can’t take pictures outside.
As for the linkup, I would so love that! I also enjoy writing and reading random thoughts posts because it just gives insight on LIFE. I’ve been thinking of starting my own Thursday “Behind the Scenes” series over on my blog, but with school, I can’t always get the post up (like this week :P). Nevertheless, I think the linkup would be fun!
I hope your last question was addressed to readers as well, and I highly support it!! I love reading these kinds of posts, you should def host a link up! After Wednesdays and the excitement of WIAWs I find relatively few bloggers posting interesting posts on Thursdays .. And btw that’s insane that you would be refused by foodgawker! I always found your photographs amazing :O
It was definitely directed at readers as well! Thanks for your input Angela 🙂
As much as I love viewing beautiful photography, it’s definitely the most tedious part of blogging to me. I’m one of those people who visualizes beautiful photos in my head (seriously, I just walk around and think, “that would be a great photo”) but can’t actually translate the vision into reality. Maybe if I had more time during daylight hours and owned a DSLR it would be different. 🙂
Oh, and I’m with you on the bananas. Green = bleh.
Completely, 100% agree with you about bananas, the more brown, the better! Super sweet, just the way I like them!
I was just thinking the same thing about advent calendars! Is it just me, or have the pieces of chocolate gotten a lot smaller in recent years? I swear they were bigger when I was a kid!
Photography is definitely the most tedious part of blogging. I really WANT to get better at food photography… and my dad has a DSLR camera I could use… but it requires so much time to learn! Time that I don’t have right now and probably won’t have until I’m done this internship in July. Maybe then I’ll put some solid effort into it. 😛
😆 I’m pretty sure everything seemed bigger when we were younger. I remember going back to my high school a handful of years after I graduated and not being able to believe how much smaller everything looked.
I despise not-ripe bananas. They make me gag. The texture, the flavor…just, bleh. I’ll take my bananas extra yellow with lots of beautiful spots, thank you very much. (:
I admire you for putting so much effort into your food photography. It’s such an art! And, considering your photos are already beautiful, I can’t imagine how they’re going to be as you learn more!
xoxo
HaHa – I always think the same thing – why are emoticons only for phones?!
I’ve never had an advent calendar, but it sounds great! I’m impressed that you are so devoted to food photography. Maybe if I had a really nice camera and a lot of time, I would be too. Actually, scratch that. It’s not that I have a lack of time, it’s that I have a lack of daylight hours. I cook most of my creations at night and then the light sucks. And what am I going to wait until morning to EAT it so that I can photograph it? Not this girl. Anyway, if I can ever figure out a solution to that problem, I’ll be happy.
You could always build yourself a light box! Good way to kill a couple hours if you find yourself bored and in need of something to do 😆
Four hours? And suddenly any of my cleaning efforts seem antic. No matter how long, though, cleaning is most definitely a form of therapy. Especially if I get rid of this and that lying around while I’m at it. In a way it feels like sorting out my mind, too, and I feel ‘lighter’ mentally if that makes sense.
My advent calendar is by Lindt and Christmas market themed. It’s filled with mini chocolate balls in five different flavours three of which mimic classic German Christmas treats. And the amount really is pitiful. That’s why I see it less as a treat but simply as an excuse to eat chocolate before breakfast.
Yes to a ‘Thinking out loud’ link-up! Thursdays are difficult for me to post on, though, so maybe you could keep it open for a little longer?
Agreed. [Food] photography is the part of blogging that takes up most time and planning. I’ve actually shied away from posting many pictures lately because once I get home from work the tiny bit of light that graces these days is long gone. And posting dark and unappealing pictures pains me.
Did you pack up those bananas in an airtight plastic bag and put it on the heather yet? I can deal with slightly green bananas if I’m using them in oat bran only but not -that- green. Sorry for you!
Not on the heater, but in a bag on the counter with an apple. The vents in my home are kind of awkwardly placed, but I probably should have just slapped them on a baking sheet and tossed them in the oven. Next time!
Seriously we need to petition for advent calendars to be of decent proportion. Lets just say its the 6th of December today and its already finished. Mine HAD elves and trees on it lol.
That is so smart about the mac book box as a substitute- I *think* I still have mine- hopefully! thanks for the book suggestion- Its something I made a goal for November to work on my photography so I should get onto it! Although I’m a huge fan of your photography already! That is a tedioud part of blogging though!
You know my thoughts on the link up- no need to think out loud to tell you 😉
PS Come clean my place please.
😆 You seriously finished the whole thing? Epic. I keep backup chocolate bars on hand to curb the craving. And to be honest, I probably WOULD come clean your place 😛 Although I might have to charge you for travel time…
Haha! Foodgawker is such a hit or miss. They always shoot me down but I just keep sending in the same recipe with a different photo until they accept it. But sometimes I just don’t understand what they see in one picture versus another!
You should have seen me today trying to photograph a new recipe, I don’t really have a work surface near a window so have to use an old shelf! I might have to take a look at that e book!
#3 is SO me. I seriously get slightly depressed when I go to the grocery store and see green bananas and I don’t have any backup ones at home. It’s tragic. And you are right…green bananas are AWFUL!
At least there’s always the option of sticking them in the oven and baking them for a while to get them to ripen faster.
I have the Tasty Food Photography e-book but I have yet to open it :/ #bloggerfail Someday, someday… preferably a day with more daylight hours than what we’re currently experiencing.
P.S. I love your condo. It looks like it has all of the gorgeous features I want when we buy a home – wood floors, character… maybe we need to buy in Canada 😉