We had some fast fair food – burgers, fries and some poutine I actually enjoyed and then I started taking pictures of everything: the rides, the people, the Ferris wheel and the colourful food stands.

I love carnivals, they’re so full of bright colours, and always make me think of the 1950s, my absolute favourite decade. I was actually wearing something that resembled an outfit from the 50s: high-waist pants and a nice red scarf tied in a bow over my hair. I wasn’t going for a mid-century thing but the guy at the lemonade stand said this is what my look reminded him of, and he liked it so much that he gave me a lemonade at half price. Oh yeah!

At six o’clock they started inflating the balloons (which was a show in itself and a reason for a lot of picture snapping). I tell you, seeing hundreds of balloons up in the air is so fairytale-like, so surreal. Much like a picture you would see in a children’s book.

Unfortunately the rides were too expensive so we had to be happy with just seeing the balloons fly over our heads and disappear in the distance…

Have you ever taken a ride in a hot air balloon?

Check out other cute shade-inclusive photos at I Heart Faces.

Before you say anything, I know my last post dates back to the first Ice Age. My mind has been in so many places lately, divided between bits of thoughts and worries and various stress causes. And the blog has been neglected. But, BUT! not abandoned. See?

Actually I must thank my sister for pushing me to write. I’ve started writing this because she wrote me a message today asking to please write something on this blog of mine because she’s getting so bored and is in need of something to read.

Well, I’m not exactly in the mood for tale telling, but I know I’ve promised you guys some pictures from the South of France. So here they are, some belated photos from one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

First of all, Nice, where the sea is a greenish blue so saturated that you think it’s been photoshopped.

There’s a certain charm to the city which urges you to leave your troubles behind and invites you to just stroll down the streets and enjoy the salty air. I wonder what it would be like to live in one of the apartment buildings on Promenade des Anglais and to see the Mediterranean outside your window?

Also along the coast is Marseille, which I found dirty and crowded and so un-holiday-like. But I admired its buildings and wished I could stay longer to visit Chateau d’If and remember my childhood readings about Edmond Dantes.

We then headed North, towards the heart of Provence and its old capital, the city of Aix where people speak French with a funny accent we couldn’t help but imitate. We strolled along Cours Mirabeau, a busy boulevard lined with tree arcades and bought lavender sachets from the merchants in the market. We then ventured into the intricate street maze that is the Old Aix. I could have spent hours on end photographing every street corner and every fountain we passed by.

The most beautiful of all was Place d’Albertas. With its decrepit fountain in the middle and the classic pastel buildings in the background it’s so picture perfect.

Another small detail I love about France is the merry-go-rounds that pop up when you least expect it. A whirl of color that invites me to hop on for a ride… and take out my camera of course.

After we left Aix, we headed to the plateau of Valensole, a truly amazing place, where the air is heavy with the scent of grass and lavender. And where as far as the eyes can see there are olive trees and purple fields.

On our way back we passed through a small town in the Alps where you could take a ride in… you’ll never guess it…

Sadly our trip lasted for only ten days. Much too short, yes. Who would I have to talk to for a redo?

The thing is I don’t have the flare for finding the best price for a certain gadget, I can’t say if A is better than B just by reading the specifications and I most definitely don’t have the patience to look for the best deal on tens of websites.

So this year I stuck to T shirts. From Threadless, the Mecca of all tees. And now he is the proud owner of these babies (images lead you to the T shirt page):

(My favorite of the four is the last one, The Cloud Menagerie, because it reminds me of when I was a wee lass and at my Grandma’s house in the country I would climb on a haystack, and stare at the sky, trying to find shapes in the clouds. I’m sure we all did this when we were kids…)

A few weeks before Christmas I saw this card on Etsy, in Able&Game’s store and just had to buy it because it fits so perfectly!

And while I was busy checking the mailbox everyday so that D wouldn’t find the package from Threadless, he was busy telling me that the package he’d just gotten from the Post Office and containing my present was “nothing, just an antenna”.

… obviously a big fat lie because what it really contained was a POLAROID CAMERA (a vintage one from he 70s)!!! And film!

Do I need to tell you how excited I was? and still am? Now I can start working on this little project of mine…

What was your favorite present (given or received) this year?

Grand Central Station with the amazing ceiling. I didn’t see the spot left uncleaned though…

Souvenir shop window.

Somewhere on 8th Av (?). Loved the gritty-looking buildings in the back.

Times Square by day.

5th Av @ 50th St. near St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Flatiron Building.

Katz’s Delicatessen. I guess you know this, but this happens there.

Snowflakes on Saks Fifth Avenue building.

The Brooklyn Bridge. It was so hard to take a good picture with so many people blocking the view.

This would have been a lot better with no people in it. You have to admit.

Some big store on 5th Av. Can’t remember which though…

From Top of the Rock.

Subway.

Brooklyn Bridge bokeh from Manhattan bridge.

And it was all yellow…

Welcome to NOHo

Loving the fire escapes. ZZZ…

Tiles commemorating those who died on 9/11.

I have this 365 set, where I’m posting a new image each day.

I haven’t been completely honest and sometimes I will take the pictures and then post 3 at a time. But it’s better than not photographing anything for weeks.

So here they are, my first 30 pictures.

You can view them from my blog, in the right hand sidebar.

So? What do you think? Do you like them? Any comments on what I should improve about my photographic skillz?

So the blog may be down again.

In the meantime, if by some miracle the servers hold their positions, let me tell you how much I love this Indian summer thing. Oh boy! A lot. I love it a lot!

It was so sunny today! Crisp and sunny. My kind of weather. The crispiness wakes you up and the sunshine makes you happy

Speaking of waking up, it still amazes me how despite my degree of TIRED! yesterday, I still couldn’t sleep like a normal person. I blame it on the heat. You have no idea how hot our apartment is! Nerve-wrecking hot! And you can’t turn the heat down. And, AND! the bedroom window is stuck. I’m beginning to understand why my plants don’t make it to more than 3 weeks inside… I can’t wait to move from this apartment.

Oh, listen to me me babbling and whining! Arghhhh! Somebody bring me back to coherence!

Ok, here we go. Which one of these 3 Photoshop outputs do you like? I can’t decide.

The way the images look in the collage from my Favorites page, makes them seem even nicer. Like colored beads in a necklace.

My favorites set is here.

Have a great day!