holgas at the park

Photos from a walk at San Pedro Valley Park and swings from a San Francisco park. I'm not sure what else to say, except that I'm really happy that I got my Holga! I hope you're all enjoying your last day of August- I'm off to the city for lunch with a friend and then to pick up my bike from the shop!

saturday sun and sea

This weekend I had one of the most fun Saturdays I've had in a while. I met my friend Emily, one of my Santa Cruz roommates, and her two Italian friends Martina and Francesco, and together we drove down to Monterey to go kayaking. Emily and I were really excited because we had done this before, but when we were out in the water we both thought, "wow I don't remember this being so hard." And then we remembered that the last time both of us had gone, we had been with our boyfriends... who were probably doing most of the work at the time hahahaha... go figure. But once we defeated the evil current that swept us out into sea and made it back to the kelp safe-havens, we got to see a lot of seals, otters and jellyfish!

I still can't get over how close this harbor seal came to our kayak!

(Although when he stayed close I almost had a Buster* moment).

*from Arrested Development, of course.

whole wheat apple muffins

I am a muffin person. I know that there's been a recent uprising for the love and adoration of cupcakes but when it comes down to it, muffins are my first love. I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen a little more than a year ago while I was a baker in my campus coffee shop and ever since I've tried it, the recipe has never let me down.

whole wheat apple muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 granulated sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk or yogurt
2 large apples peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream butter then add granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Add egg and mix until combined. Slowly add buttermilk* but be careful not to over-mix so that the buttermilk does not curdle. Add flour mixture. Fold in apples. Divide into muffin cups and sprinkle the remaining brown sugar on top.** Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees and then for 5-10 at 400 degrees until golden brown.

Eat. Fall in love.

*I've tried this with buttermilk and yogurt and both work perfectly (yogurt is cheaper)
**I used a little brown sugar and granulated sugar.

tonight

Tonight has been kind of lonesome, but that's not the point of this post. The point is, that this is one of my favorite pictures of David and Raine ever. This was her first time on the "big kid" swing and after I told her that she needed to hold onto the chains really tightly, she must have been really confused when she looked over and saw Uncle David doing this. The sweetness of it all is really overwhelming in the best kind of way. And, just like that, I feel better.

an unconventional beach trip

for the past few days, there has been an unusual heatwave here in the bay area. although other areas often get hot, the peninsula (where i live) hardly ever does. so what does everyone do during a heatwave? go to the beach, course. the only problem is that david and i hate the beach.

ok, so maybe hate isn't the right word. but after a while sand loses its appeal when you find it EVERYWHERE. on top of that, northern california beaches are frigid. (i didn't realize that swimming in the ocean could be warm until i was in greece last summer). so, instead of sitting in the sand and baking in the sun, we kept our shoes on and took a little walk along a trail that overlooks the area. it was lovely. the breeze, bench, and beach (at a distance) were perfect.

it's a photoswap! (and other thoughts)

this summer i participated in rhianne's photoswap. for those of you who don't know, a photoswap is where two people are paired together, take photos, and send each other their undeveloped film (for the other to later develop). my photoswap partner is anna, who lives in australia, and these are some of the photos i got from her film. she shot with her wide lens superheadz and i think that they came out perfect!

to see more film from the photoswap, visit the flickr group!

lastly, since i've been home i've thought about my blog name and wondered how i'm supposed to live up to my "wanderlust" now that i'm back from seven months of being abroad. i have a whole school year ahead of me which sort of limits how far i can travel. this thinking has helped me understand that having wanderlust doesn't necessarily mean that you always have to be traveling- i'm realizing that even at home i'm discovering new things all the time. so for now, i'm sort of in "wanderlust heart" mode- where though i'm not traveling very far, my heart is always discovering something new.

a day for sisters

yesterday i spent the day with my sister, nina, and it was tons of fun just hanging out. despite the random heatwave that has descended upon the bay area, we were able to enjoy a day of thrift store shopping, window shopping, eating at the crepevine (nina's milano crepe and my fish tacos), and sharing an oreo cookie shake. i know a lot of people are already going back to school because they're on semesters, but i still have 26 days left of summer!

the prettiest house in the neighborhood

whenever i pass this house i daydream a little. i would have never thought to put those two colors together but they work so beautifully. now, if only i could get a peek inside.

holgas at the pier

ever since i lost my fisheye camera on the train to brussels, i've wanted another lomography camera to replace it. luckily, lomography came out with the holga 135BC- meaning i can take holga photos without the inconvenience of 120 film. so, here are some from my first batch of pictures when my friend luke and i took a little visit to the pacifica pier one afternoon. it was windy and too cold to not have a jacket, but lovely to see how fishermen spend their days.

the cheesecake factory

this weekend was full of really yummy dinners. on saturday night david and i went to have a nice dinner in berkeley with his aunt. the night before that, i reunited with my roommates from uc santa cruz and we went to the cheesecake factory.

the cheesecake factory that we went to was the one atop the macy's in san francisco with a view of union square. it was a perfect san francisco night- meaning overcast and lightly sprinkling- but despite the cold it was wonderful to catch up with good friends again. i suppose the only downside to visiting a restaurant with at least 30 varieties of its trademark is the fact that i don't like cheeescake. yes, i might be the only person in the world.

turning 3

my niece, raine, turns 3 today!

it seems like just yesterday she watched elmo on repeat and was learning to walk.
now she's a "big girl" singing taylor swift songs in her disney princess dresses.

this photo is from when she was hardly one
and now she's so big! ahhhh!

happy birthday, my little raine drop!

my own little shop

as i was decorating my room last year with some of my photos from greece, i thought that it would be nice to one day open a little shop where i could share and sell prints of my favorite things while traveling. one year later, post-greece and post-7 months abroad, my little dream is coming true.

i'd like to introduce you to my etsy shop of travel photography!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/extracelestial

these images are some of my most prized possessions and i hold them very dear to my heart. right now i have 9 images in the shop, but in the near future i'm hoping to sell sets of photos from different regions that i've visited (tuscany, paris, etc.). in honor of my shop's opening, i'm offering an extra print (of the same, or another photo) for free to every customer for the next two weeks.

if there's a photo on the blog but not in the shop that you'd like, just let me know and i can print that up for you as well. thanks for all of your support and happy weekend!

sometimes

all you need is a cupcake and a swing set for a good day.