Side note re: I ♥ Faces

Okay, I know the point of I ♥ Faces is for photographers to have fun, learn something, and get eyeball on their photos. So, I should probably be nice. But this has been brewing for a few weeks, so I have to say something.

The instructions for I ♥ Faces' weekly challenges are pretty simple. Create a new blog post with ONE picture that goes along with the challenge for the week. Include the I ♥ Faces button, or a link to the site. Oh, and make sure your photo shows at least one face.

Not too tough, right? Well, every week I make sure to click on as many entries as I have time for (keeping the blogger karma going) and comment on the ones I really like. I can't tell you how many posts:

1. Don't have any faces shown. Hello people, it's called I ♥ Faces, not I ♥ Pretty Scenery.
2. Don't link back to the original post. Come on, these people are providing us with a great site, you can't oblige them with a linkback?
3. Ignore the challenge rules. Like this week, the description clearly states: "If you'd like to incorporate a "blue" expression on the face, that would awesome as well, but please make sure that the color blue is a strong feature of your photo as well." Well, apparently to some people, those rules don't apply. Because I saw at least one black and white photo with a picture of a person who looks sad. Not the kind of blue this challenge was going for.

I know, I need to get over it. But it's been one of those days, and I just needed to vent. Vent over now :)

I ♥ Faces - Week 38 - Blue

Well, it's a good thing for I ♥ Faces, because it's the only posting I'm doing these days. I was hoping to take a new picture for this week's challenge, but I ran out of time.

So, I'm going to submit this shot of my favorite little model, Jack. This was taken a few months ago, before he was walking, when his favorite thing to do was to climb up the stairs. He'd go up, someone would carry him down, and he'd go up again.



I figured this works for the blue challenge since he was rocking his ADORABLE blue plaid shirt. What a stud.

Check out the rest of this week's entries at I ♥ Faces!

I ♥ Faces - Week 37 - Completely Candid

This week's I ♥ Faces challenge calls for "Completely Candid" shots. After doing a bit of browsing through my Flickr account, I came across a picture from a friend's wedding that I posted about earlier this summer.



I know it's not the best picture out there (or even the best one I've taken), but I love that she's so into the music and dancing. I've never seen a bride get this down and dirty on the dance floor -- it was so fun to watch!

Check out all of the other entries from this week on I ♥ Faces!

I ♥ Faces - Week 36 - Contemplative Faces

This week's I ♥ Faces challenge is for "contemplative" faces. As soon as I saw that, I knew which picture I wanted to post.



I took about 30 different pictures of my cousin's son Jack devouring his little cake at his first birthday party last month. Looking back through the pictures was so fun. Some of the pictures showed pure joy, some showed nothing but his face stuck in the cake, and a few, like this one, look contemplative.

Why's everybody staring at me - can't a man just eat his cake in peace?

Why are the making me wear this stupid hat? Is this a punishment? Hmm, what have I done wrong lately?

I wonder if this cake is going to give me a tummyache...

How am I going to get that icing out of my ears and nose?

Oh, to be able to listen to the thoughts of small children!

Big birthday weekend

Happy Monday everyone! This past weekend was pretty crazy, because my mother's birthday was on Friday (yes, September 11th) and my mother-in-law's birthday was on Thursday. So, we had to try to figure out how to see everyone to celebrate. And the fact that my husband had Phillies tickets for Friday night didn't help.

So Friday night consisted of me and him sitting in raincoats and under ponchos at the Phillies game, a game that they luckily won. On a side note, the guy who has the season tickets next to ours wrote a book about the 2008 Phillies and included a picture of us after they won the World Series last year. Can't wait to see the book, but I hope this doesn't count as my 15 minutes of fame.


(Here's us at a much sunnier game, since I didn't take pictures on Friday.)

On Saturday morning, we drove out to Jersey to spend the day with my family for my mom's birthday. There was good food, lots of laughter, a serious game of Taboo, and of course presents. Then my poor husband had to sit (read: fall asleep on the couch) through yet another round of "Who's the latest high school classmate that's pregnant/in jail/married/still living at home." It's a game that my mom and I seem to play quite a bit. There is no question where my love of gossip comes from!

We headed back on Sunday morning so that Geoff could get back for his first softball game of the season. Being a delinquent wife, I stayed at home and took up residence on the couch since I was tired from being up so late chatting with my parents the night before, while Geoff snoozed on the couch. I caught bits and pieces of the Eagles' game, and then topped off the weekend with a fabulous dinner at Legal Sea Foods to celebrate Geoff's mom's birthday. Wine, seafood casserole and chocolate mousse all in one meal = a happy Jessica whose pants are a bit too tight.

Good times, but once again it's Monday, and I'm exhausted. On the bright side, fall TV is back in full force, and tonight I get to indulge my inner 14 year-old girl with Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill! It's the small things that get me through the day...

Wrapping up the summer

Summer may not officially be over for another two weeks, but it certainly feels over today. Although, as my husband wisely pointed out last night, summer doesn't have quite the same appeal after college graduation, unless you're a teacher. And let me tell you, if I saw one more Facebook status update from a teacher friend who was traveling to Europe during their vacation, I was going to lose it.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be posting more regularly now that the crazy summer is over.

While Geoff and I seemed to be the only people in the Philadelphia region who didn't trek down to Avalon or Sea Isle City this weekend, we still enjoyed the gorgeous weather. And we hosted our first dinner for more than four people last night! Both of our sets of parents, as well as my aunt and Geoff's younger brother came over for dinner last night. It's amazing how a relatively simple meal becomes quite a bit more complicated when you're making it for eight people. However, dinner was a success (largely thanks to my helpers -- both moms and my aunt) and Geoff only had to be sent on errands twice (one missing ingredient and an empty propane tank). Overall, I consider it a success.

Sadly, no pictures to share -- I was too busy directing everyone around the kitchen and making lime margarita cupcakes. Mmmm. Email me if you want the recipe!