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Tag Archives: audrey michelle
{rest in paradise, sweet callee girl}
11 Mayit is with a very heavy and woeful heart that i post this blog.
this past week, i made the very difficult decision to put my kitty, callee, down to eternal rest. she was my best friend, my sidekick, my companion, my love. she gave me purpose and something to look forward to coming home to. for so many years she gave me a reason to feel important, a love i have still never known, and so much appreciation in my heart for what a good girl she was. she did not bite or scratch people or furniture, she didn’t jump on countertops, knock stuff over, or most of the typical cat stuff. she was so loving and sweet and loved to be adored and petted. she was my little shadow… followed me everywhere. she “slow-blinked” at me all the time and just adored me. she was a “talker” as my best friend would say, she was vocal and a good listener, she was also a good learner and just an overall great animal and pet. i was overwhelmingly blessed to have her in my life for such a long time. i still can’t believe she’s gone. it will take me some time to grieve and move on. i used to think i would want another kitty immediately, but now that i’m here in this space and time, i realize i feel differently… i just know i need to have grace with myself and allow myself to take it all one moment and day at a time until i decide i may want to adopt again.
losing her is a great loss for me. it was a long time coming… she had been declining for about the last year and i did all i could to hold on and let her hold on… but in the last days, i knew she was ready to go. she was telling me every day and finally i had to make the decision in haste. i found a wonderful local place that was able to take her immediately and so graciously helped and comforted me through the very tragic and daunting process. i also had a tremendously wonderful friend help me through the entire journey, even long before the final day arrived. these people are important to me and i will be forever grateful to have them there during the painful and heart-wrenching procedure.
in her final days, she was a lot more affectionate with me. she was always so loving, but not much of a “lap cat.” but one day last week she came into my recliner with me and laid on my chest for what felt like days, although it was probably only a half hour. but it was the best gift she could’ve given me. she nudged her little head into my armpit and held me close. i will forever cherish that moment. days later, when we sat in the veterinarian office and i had made my last memories with her, she was calm and was purring and rubbing her head against my hand, almost as if to thank me. we both knew it was time. and i reminded her that although i was no longer going to be able to play the role of her mama on this earth, that she would be so warmly greeted and welcomed by my mama on the other side.
and believe me when i say this – SHE UNDERSTOOD THAT! ❤
so on this mothers day, which is usually a hard day for me anyway, i honour my mother, and also being a “mother” to my sweet kitty, callee. she changed my life, saved my life, and forever will be in my life… and in my heart.
thank you to all of you who have made sweet comments about my dear callee girl, and those of you who had the pleasure to meet her, pet her, hear her, know her, and love her.
i’ll most likely post another blog with more pics of her… but for now, i will close with this favourite foto of her from 2017.
I LOVE YOU FOREVER, CALLEE GIRL!
{happy 12th birthday to food and foto dot com!}
22 Marit’s my blog’s birthday today! 😀
WOOHOO!
it’s hard to believe that it’s been 12 years since i started this cute little blog and created my website!
it’s been such a fun journey and i have thoroughly enjoyed this artistic and expressive playground. not only do i relish in taking fotographs and eating delicious food, and rambling about random things, but i very much also delight in writing about said things and sharing it with all of you!
if you are new here – WELCOME! and thank you for stopping by!
here’s a little something i wrote 12 years ago about myself… so funny to look back at that time in my life. i remember exactly where i was sitting when i very first sat down and decided to create this space on the internet. a space to express myself, to share my passion for food and fotography, and to explore my storytelling in a personal way.
i pour a lot of my heart and soul into this space and what i love most about it is that i can be as creative as i want in how and what i share. i also feel like this blog holds me accountable in a way… as in, helps me set aside time to be creative. i don’t have a lot of social media and although i do try to maintain it, this blog and website has been and will continue to be my main focus. it’s personal. it feels different.
in 12 years i have been fortunate to have over 1800 of you wonderful readers subscribe to my blog and take the time to read and engage… and for that i humbly want to express my GRATITUDE. especially to those of you who have been with me the entire time… from the start… encouraging me, supporting me, being my personal cheerleaders! THANK YOU! my hardcore fan, ANT – you know who you are! thank you for your unwavering dedication to supporting me and for your amazing friendship! i wouldn’t be here without you.
this year i am focusing a lot on maintaining food and foto dot com in a more consistent fashion. when i first started, i was blogging up to 5 times a week – whew! and for a little while, i wasn’t blogging at all. now, i believe i have found a healthy balance. my life has taken many twists and turns in 12 years. you’ve seen me living in a tiny house, traveling to new york, cooking yummy things, drinking yummy things, growing yummy things, and writing about all kinds of things like astrology and the moon… and of course, my kitty. sometimes i’ll look through my old posts and i think to myself, “wow, did i really just say all that on the internet?!” haha. but most of the time i laugh at myself and realize that in 12 years, a lot is bound to change… this blog, the world, life, ME…
{then and now} – wow!
and some things haven’t changed… i am a creature of habit and my “look” and “style” and overall marketing within this space is something i have not wavered from… i put a lot of thought and attention-to-detail into my blog, my business cards, the food i cook, my greeting cards, my art, and everything that is food and foto dot com – the aesthetics, the representation, the feel – all of it! this blog is an extension of WHO I AM… much of which is consistent, reliable, and faithful… and some of which is ever-changing, ever-growing, and ever-impermanent. and i celebrate all of that! 😀
so i’ve learned to have patience and grace and appreciation with myself over the years…and mostly – have a little fun!
and i hope you have a little fun while you’re here – click on some things, learn some things, teach me some things, share some things… and remember to keep it seriously simple!
AND! this is still hands down one of my favourite fotos of all time :
also – this one is a classic :
{it’s true!}
❤ ❤ ❤
nom nom click click!
{first portrait session of 2024}
26 Janthis was one of my favourite sessions ever! mister LT was just so much fun to work with. he was immediately confident and comfortable in front of the camera, and he made it so easy on me while i had the privilege of playing behind the lense. those are my favourite type of sessions!
he is a very talented singer and artist and overall awesome human being! i am so thankful we met!
here are some of my favourite images from our morning in the brisk january air…
{p.s. – how handsome is he?!}
{HBD, J}
29 Sepi love this picture so much! i also love calendula flower so much! {that’s why i grew some this year!} 🙂
celebrating the birthday of a loved one today! ❤
and also celebrating the practice of letting go…
“the end” of something isn’t alway a bad thing… some things need to “die” in order for new growth to occur… i am pretty confident that we can all relate to that in some way…
not to say that loss is easy… but letting go is different.
plants are the best teachers that offer us the chance to channel the connection within the cyclical nature and patterns of life! they remind us that impermanence is part of essentially everything… they also remind us to be present in each now moment… to embrace and enjoy and relish in that which is before us, as we do our best to dance the dance we experience each passing day on this earth.
love those you love with all you have! but also remember – to love yourself first and foremost!
❤
{belated full moon post}
19 Febi took some pretty pictures of the moon a while back and never got around to posting them. since we recently experienced a full moon, i thought i would share some of those images here with you.
also – my favourite quote :
“to be nobody but yourself in a world that is doing its best to make you something else, is to fight the hardest battle you are going to fight… never stop fighting.” – ee cummings
{new garden season!}
15 Febhey y’all!
it’s a bit early in the year for such things, but this area in the northeast offered some nice weather this past weekend, so i was eager to get outside and get my hands in the dirt! as you know, there isn’t much that makes me feel happier than being in nature – and especially, being in a garden!!!
#farmeraudrey
it pleases me to say – that i finally found a community garden that is only about 15 minutes from where i currently live. i am so excited about it! i was also pleasantly surprised to discover that the plot i adopted is about 3 times the size of the last one i took care of in north carolina! this gives me so many ideas on what to plant, and i am feeling so grateful!!!
please stay tuned… as there will be more updates to come… but for now, here’s a brief overview of the work i did this past saturday when the temperatures were in the high 50s!
before…
during…
after…
the person who took care of this plot last season planted lots of beautiful garlic and onions… which apparently are mine now! and although i am very grateful to have them, i will have to figure out what to do with some of the crops since ultimately i will need to have access to the foundation before it’s time to harvest them…
also – i feel like it doesn’t look like i did much {haha}… and i still have a lot of work to do… but i was there for about 3 hours and i was able to clear out a lot of weeds, etc… i also brought a souvenir home, in the form of a slight rash on my arms from all of the random things i was pulling out of the ground and off the fence line, in my attempt to start prepping the soil {haha!} but fret not, my body and skin are just fine now… that said – next time, i ought to consider and/or be more conscious about wearing longer sleeves… sometimes i just get right into the thick of things, without thinking much… 😉
are you prepping for a garden this year? please comment and share what you plan on growing and any tips you may have! i love to hear from and talk with fellow gardeners! ❤
also – please follow me on instagram for more updates!
{thirsty thursday – homemade komucha on tap}
22 Jul
i totally need to make a detailed post about this very soon.
i have been making my own kombucha for about 3 years now and i love it so much!
my favourite flavour is ginger, which is what is pictured in this batch.
are you curious about kombucha? it’s so easy to make and it is a wonderful health tonic full of minerals, amino acids, and gut-supporting probiotics. i’ve been consuming kombucha for almost 2 decades and a few years ago i finally started making my own.
stay tuned, and i’ll post more about my scoby {lovingly named “scooby”} and all of the other fun things that go into brewing kombucha at home 🙂
{homemade greeting cards by food & foto}
1 Jan
happy new year, friends, family, and readers!
2020 marks the 8th anniversary of foodandfoto.com! thank you for following along on my journey during all this time! it truly means so much to me to have you read, engage, comment, and support! i have loved hosting this blog and of course taking the fotos that go along with it. fotography is and always will be an outlet that offers my creative spirit tremendous amounts of joy!
i have missed you and missed blogging! sometimes time has a way of fooling us to believe that we are too busy to do things that really matter to us. i have been feeling this way over the last few months, and the holidays seem to have a way of exacerbating that feeling. in the spirit of the new year, i have been wanting to reconnect with my love of blogging and so i decided to start fresh today!
as you may already know, i make my own greeting cards which highlight some personal favourite images my eye {and camera} have ever captured. i have done this for years and enjoy it so much! it has been another fun way for me to continue creating, and people tell me they love to receive them as gifts for any occasion. in todays fast-paced world laden with gregarious social media, instant-gratification-induced text messages, perception-deceiving emojis, and the like… i find myself wanting to go back in time. perhaps i ought to use my typewriter to construct meaningful letters and perhaps one of those cool wax stamps with my logo on it, sent “snail-mail” style. my soul has always felt connected to a “simpler” way of life and that is why i still, to this day, send out greeting cards as a means of sending a simple “hello” or “thinking of you” to a loved-one.
don’t get me wrong, i love being able to blog and share things through this platform, but don’t you think there’s something to be said about a different means of correspondence?! for me, i believe it’s the idea of putting time and effort into something meaningful. i love hearing from anyone i care about via email, text, letter, face-to-face contact, smoke signal, or whatever… but i guess what i’m trying to say is i think the greeting card is something that should be appreciated and celebrated and that is why i continue making them. plus, it’s fun for me! ❤
though i am not generally very rigid about such things, as one of my new year’s “resolutions” i wanted to sort of “promote” my greeting cards a little better. i have never really done anything like this outside of selling them at art fairs. so, it is with {my introverted} humility that i ask for your continued support and consider investing in my art by purchasing some.
currently, i am offering my greeting cards as :
$6/each or $15/3-pack + $3 flat shipping cost
mix-n-match {pick your favs} or grab-bag style {let me curate for you!}
most of my collection includes some of my all-time favourite images and there are also some of my famous “door” images in the lot. some of my greeting cards are not yet featured, and if you choose to let me curate the package, you will receive some very special choices.
you can see some of the samples of my greeting cards at this link : greetings.
please contact me via email when you are ready to purchase and/or if you have any questions.
thank you so much for your love and support! here’s to the best year yet in 2020!
{a little fun at sunset}
15 Julwhere i live, there are many trees that often block the horizon line at sunset. i have been eager to get to a good vantage point in the evening to watch the sun setting.
recently i took a stroll with a friend at a park nearby that overlooks the city. it was a lovely summer evening and the hike to the top was worth it.
we captured a few images while also getting immersed in the beauty of the evening.
i love this picture because it looks like there is a line dividing the sky… do you see it?!
i love jumping shadow pictures.
fun times.
{DIY bath soak – with himalayan pink salt!}
4 Deci love a good soak in the tub!
… it’s so relaxing and comforting. i especially love to enjoy a hot bath when i have sore muscles or if i want to fight off icky feelings possibly related to a cold or germs, or LIFE, etc. i make time to enjoy a hot bath at least once a week, but i prefer to do it twice a week. it’s a crucial part of my self-care routine, and one i look forward to enjoying as frequently as possible.
i’ve been making my own bath soak for a while now. i choose to use himalayan pink salt because it is extremely mineral-rich. sometimes i add in epsom salts or magnesium salts for additional benefits.
soaking for about 20 minutes in a rich salt bath has many rewards. of course, it’s very relaxing but it’s also detoxifying and soothing to both the nerves and the skin.
i like to play around with different ingredient mixtures depending on the season or how i am feeling. sometimes i will make an oatmeal bath for extra moisturizing.
it’s very simple and easy to make your own bath soak, and you can get creative with the ingredients. there are a lot of different recipes out there, but this is my favourite go-to that i’ve been making for quite some time now.
——
- 2 cups himalayan pink salt
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 8-10 drops lavender essential oil
- 2-3 drops vetiver essential oil
optional ingredients :
- ginger powder (for detoxification)
- dried lavender (for relaxation)
- dried flowers
- dried sage
{foto friday : cool cabbage}
12 Octthe details on the leaves of plants such as cabbage completely fascinate me!
{summer’s final moon}
28 Augi just never tire of experiencing the ocean… the sight, the smell, the sound… the feeling, the energy all around!
i also never tire of experiencing the moon… equally as much wonderful energy to behold!
i went down to the shore over the weekend for some {much needed} vitamin sea and to admire and enjoy the ocean and the full moon. by the time i got to the beach, the moon was just coming up over the horizon… and some hazy clouds initially obstructed the view.
still… breathtaking, right?!
it wasn’t long before the moon peeked out of the ombre sky and shared her beauty with us one again, in her final appearance of summer.
i walked around for a good hour or so, gazing in wanderlust as the moon took place high in the sky, illuminating all it touched…
… listening to the crashing waves, my senses engaged with the salty air, my toes wiggling in the soft sand…
feeling humbled and grateful for all that has been before me and all that is around me now. for all that will be, for all that i am, for all that i have, and for all that i have yet to experience.
{old school typewriter}
12 Feba friend of mine generously donated this {fully functional} old-school typewriter to me a couple years ago, and it’s mostly just been in storage. lately i’ve really been feeling the desire to use it and express my feelings on paper.
in today’s world of over-stimulation and instant-gratification, it’s kind of funny that i feel the need to put it in “reverse” and go back to classic ways of communication… like letter-writing. sometimes i think i’ll end up writing my memoirs on this typewriter. it seems a little odd {especially in today’s world} to have only ONE copy of something versus saving it to the cloud or a usb drive… but for me, that’s the basis of its appeal. i love the idea of only having one copy of something… seems to make it more romantic or sacred.
i can’t wait to find a place to have this tuned up so i can use it!
—
isn’t it cool?!
{seriously obsessed with spices}
5 Febeveryone knows i love to cook.
for the most part, i keep it super simple when making meals. and my philosophy is :
quality in = quality out.
in other words – if you start with good ingredients, you generally end with a good meal…
i have only recently begun experimenting with spices in my cooking. i have been collecting spice jars over the last few years, as i was gypsy-ing around the country… and when i settled in a place i feel at home in, i felt super excited to finally display my spice jars.
i received these cool 3-tiered bamboo spice racks as a christmas gift, and i was so eager to get my spice jars out of the cabinet and onto the counter.
it’s the little things, right?!
something about seeing this beautiful rainbow collection of spices just makes me feel so happy inside. and it’s really been fun to experiment with the different aromas/flavours.
of course, in true audrey michelle form, i alphabetized my spices.
here’s what is in my collection :
- some kind of awesome spice my friend brought me from argentina
- all-spice
- bay leaves
- celery seed
- chives
- cilantro {homegrown and dried}
- cinnamon
- comfrey
- coriander
- cumin
- curry powder
- dill {homegrown and dried}
- garlic
- ginger
- herbs de province
- kelp
- lemon peel
- marjoram
- nutmeg
- old bay seasoning (can’t live without it)
- onion
- oregano
- parsley
- paprika
- pickling spices
- rosemary
- sage
- sesame seed (black)
- salt (black)
- tarragon (LOVE THIS STUFF!)
- turmeric
- saffron
- vanilla
{what’s in my refrigerator}
28 Jan
on sundays i like to do my meal-prepping for the week. i have lots of containers and jars for storing my dry goods as well as my make-ahead meals.
here’s what i created to eat last week :
- raw spinach salad
- hard-boiled eggs
- sautéed veggies for an asian-inspired dish
- blanched broccoli
- citrus baked salmon
- roasted garlic israeli cous-cous
- my famous mashed potatoes
- raw celery sticks
- curried lentils with ham and veggies
- sauerkraut (not homemade)
- garlic dill pickles (homegrown and homemade)
- roasted tomato soup
- homemade beef bone broth
- potstickers (to go with asian dish)
- turmeric tea w/ coconut milk
do you like to make your meals ahead of time? batch-cooking has been something i’ve adopted into my lifestyle over the last few years and it’s really helped me save money and keep my diet in check.
{homemade soap}
24 Jan
i made soap for christmas gifts last year. it’s so fun to make! the soap block, which i got from michaels, was made with mango and shea butter – super moisturizing! these soaps create a nice, rich lather. they would also be perfect for a bubble bath!
i made a few different kinds :
- fragrance-free oatmeal
- orange cinammon w/ rose petal flakes
- lavender oatmeal
- lavender rose
- orange peppermint
people go nuts over the soap whenever i give it as a gift. 🙂
have you ever made your own soap?!
{snowy tessellation}
19 Jani remember this being an assignment in one of my classes during college… creating a photographic tessellation.
at the time, it seemed so difficult… but today i have a different understanding of the digital composite images. when i was a photography student, the digital / social media world had not yet become what it is today… and a lot of my colleagues and i were not too keen on the idea of switching from film photography to digital photography. we were purists in love with the romance of black and white film photography and ansel adams’ zone system… and we also thought it was lame and pointless to do anything digital. it took a lot of convincing from my professors to get me to invest in a digital camera… but i finally {begrudgingly} bought one just before graduation. another hilarious truth – when i purchased my first apple laptop, they asked if i wanted to add built-in wifi and i remember being like, “ppffttt, why would i need that?!”
ha! – it’s wild to think about how much has changed in such a short time.
anyway, i think this snowy tessellation turned out pretty cool – what say you?!
i am audrey michelle
i am a minimalist
food & foto 