Little Miss Drama Pants

a hot asiany mess

Tag Archives: Christmas

Charlie


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The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Not that kind of gift, you perv! The best Christmas present I’ve gotten in a very long time has been my new DSLR camera. And it’s kind of like the gift that keeps on giving in that I keep getting things for it. Last night, my MIL gifted me with a new lens. She got me the EF 50mm F/1.8 II. I’ve been playing with it all morning and I really get why it’s so popular.

Here are some of my favorite shots so far.

Charlie I Love This Dog LOOK! Bobbing for Toys Sulky Chloe Concerned Chelsea Ornament #1 Ornament # 2 Ornament # 3

I still have LOADS to learn about white balance and capturing colors better. I did a little editing in Aperture with some of these photos, but I need to learn how to use that better as well. Luckily I’ve signed up for two classes on how to use my camera better with Chimpsy. One class in February (intro) and another in March(intermediate). I’m really looking forward to both of them. After that, maybe I’ll probably sign up for a class for Aperture.

Now, I really need to get my ass in gear and go bake some cookies.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Ornament Wreath


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Christmas Comes Early

The other day B received a package from Amazon and wouldn’t tell me what it was so I had to assume it was for me. Today, he asked me if I wanted my Christmas present early. I opted for yes. I mean, who waits to open a present when you get the option to open it now?

Also, my family (read: baby sister) and I are notorious for calling each other and going, “Do you want [fill in the blank] for Christmas? Yes? OK. Don’t buy it. I’m getting you that.” Does anyone else do that? Or is it just us? I’m sure some people think we’re taking the fun out of gift giving, but we’re really not. We’re just building up anticipation without the worry of a tragic let down. I’m sure this is a side effect of getting a lot of bad clothing as gifts when we were kids. I mean, how may pairs of lacy fold down socks can one self-professed tomboy get? One pair is one too many.

ANYWAY. I digress.

My sweet husband got me something I’d been wanting for a really long time. A camera upgrade.

I love taking pictures. It’s a side effect of being kinda asiany. It’s in my blood. And, well, I like capturing moments of life. As soon as I saw this camera, I did two things. Well, three things.

  1. I kissed my husband soundly. Several times. Wouldn’t you?
  2. I started charging the battery.
  3. I read the Pioneer Woman’s What the Heck is Aperture series.

And once my battery was charged, I tried out my new camera around the house.

Charlie on the Steps

Charlie on the Front Steps

Ornament Wreath

Ornament Wreath in Natural Daylight

Alert Puppeh

Cody Chilling on the Sofa

Chloe Paw

Chloe Doing What She Does Best

Christmas Lights

Festive Lights

Chelsea

Do you know how hard it is to photograph a black cat?

Christmas Tree

Of course I took another photo of the Christmas tree

B’s reasoning for giving my Christmas present early was so I could get used to using it before all the family get-togethers started so I’d be able to take pictures like I like to do. I think his reasoning is sound. I’ve got so much to learn. And I’m so excited about it!

B got me the kit that comes with the EF-S 18-55 IS II lens. I will be purchasing the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens shortly. And I’m thinking about getting this camera bag insert to go in my Namaste Cali Malibu purse. I mean, why buy another bag when I have one that will do it all? It’s the mother of all kitchen sink bags and it’s purple! One of my favorite colors.

So here’s my question for you guys. What are your favorite photography blogs? Canon lenses? Other must have accessories? Workshops that you love? Your favorite trick for taking photos? I’m all ears. Eyes? Either way, I’m ready to learn more. Lots more.

Tinsel Tree


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December Already?

This year has really flown by! And now it’s that time of year again. When it gets dark at 4:30 in the afternoon and it feels like 10 pm when you get home. I don’t love that part of this time of year. And I hate  the commercialism that accompanies this time of year. But there are some things that I really like about this time of year. I love spending time with family and baking ridiculous amounts of cookies and other tasty treats.

I love putting up the tree and decorating it with B. We got this tree last year and I think I love it even more this year.

Tinsel Tree

The only trouble we’ve had with the tree is coming up with a tree topper that we like AND that will fit on the tree. Our tree is about 7-7.5 feet tall. Our ceilings? A measly 8 feet. So this gorgeous 13 inch tree topper that we bought for it last year?

Tree topper

It doesn’t fit. We were…more than optimistic that we could make it work. I may have suggested raising the ceiling just for this tree topper. I still think it’s a valid option. But until then? No way it’s gonna go on top of that tree. We’re still stumped as to what to do for a tree topper. If you have any ideas, we’d love to hear them!

Though if I can find a base for it that will make it stable, I want to add this tree topper to my mantle. Which speaking of…

I love decorating the mantle.

Mantle

Thanks to Pinterest, I got some great ideas on how to decorate my mantle this year. I used all the decorations we had last year, but instead of having them spread throughout the house, I put them all on the mantle and I like it a lot better. Thanks, Pinterest! Oh yeah, and it turns out that we still had the wreath from last year after all. But I like it better over the mantle instead of the front door.

This weekend we’ll string the lights on the outside of the roof (weather permitting).

I think what makes the early dark bearable this time of the year is all the outdoor Christmas lights. The good ones and the… other ones.


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Olive Sandwiches

First of all, how is it that my blog turns up in a google search for olive sandwiches?

Second of all, the recipient of the Jayne Cobb hat is very pleased with his cunning hat. Check out his shirt. Too cute, right? Patrick’s wife took this picture for me. Thanks Shanon!

Patrickhat

And because I’m a sucker for a hat (and a friend who wants a hat), I’m going to be starting on snow devil very shortly for Shanon. First I need to finish a sock (4 inches left and I can’t seem to make it to the end). Let me just say this about Shanon. She is very cool. She found the snow devil hat on her own and purchased the pattern so I would knit it for her. She’s not a knitter, but she apparently likes the knit blogs. I think she might be a knitting fan.

As for my Christmas, many good things happened.

  1. The Fa Ra Ras didn’t show up at my parents’ house. I was both relieved and disappointed by this.
  2. My parents behaved themselves.
  3. I got to play dirty santa at B’s mom’s family’s Christmas shindig and won a very cool full body massage pad to go in a chair. I’ve got just the chair for it too.
  4. I taught Little Man how to knit. (I also got hims some quad skates, which he promptly put on and skated around the house for at least an hour.)
  5. B loved his Christmas presents.
  6. B got me the greatest present ever. Behold:

Dscf1882
30GB Black iPod. Video capable.

Back in September, I mourned the death of my iPod Mini.After a suitable mourning period, B felt it was best to bestow this beauty upon me. I was absolutely speechless for at least 30 seconds. I then proceeded to carry the unopened box around the house until such time as I recovered from the shock of receiving such a thoughtful gift and tore into the plastic wrapper to to touch the iPod.

I have since downloaded a movie (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) and two games (Sudoku and Zuma). I’m debating on which seasons of what TV shows to download. Oh yeah, and I renewed my Audible subscription.

I heart my iPod.


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In Which I Will Never Understand. Never.

My parents are not the traditional sort of parents when it comes to holidays. (Morals are a completely different story.) They’re not big on fixing a big dinner at Thanksgiving and having family over. They don’t put up a Christmas tree or decorate in any way or anything like that. Getting together is a last minute kind of decision. More like, “Hey, are you free Christmas Eve? Wanna come over? I don’t know what time. What time’s good for you?”

When you’re coordinating with more than four people (in more than one family) as we are this year (And I don’t even know how many families. Maybe 6, but I’m not sure), it can get a little hectic so I forced a time from my dad. He’s all, “Six or 6:30 will work, how does that sound?” And I’m all, “Six is great. We’ll be there at 6.”

The first time my dad called me about this, I was recovering from trying to puke my insides out to see if my intestines are really the colors they show them in anatomy textbooks, and I was a little out of it. He may have mentioned “caroling” and maybe “Chinese students” or something of that nature. I was agreeable. I mean, I thought I was dying and it wouldn’t matter one way or the other because, you know, I’d be dead.

Well, it turns out that my mom’s ESL students were invited to the FAMILY Christmas Eve dinner. WTF, right? I put the kabosh on that, or so I thought. Turns out, my evil darling little sister got them invited again. And there’s a 95% chance that they will sing Christmas carols with my mother. She’ll probably be playing piano and directing them like they’re a choir, because that’s what she does.

You know what’s going to happen, don’t you? They’re going to sing Deck the Halls, because how can you have Chinese people over to your house at Christmas time to eat ham and drink wine and sing Christmas Carols and you don’t sing Deck the Halls? It’s mathematically impossible. I’m pretty sure Einstein wrote a scientific law about it. Google it. You’ll see.

So you’re probably wondering, “What’s the big deal?” Well, the big deal is that I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be able to keep a straight face. That’s what the big deal is. Ever see A Christmas Story? It’s going to happen. In person. At my parent’s house. Let me give you a preview.

Anyone have any idea how I’m supposed to not laugh while they sing?

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