Tag Archives: gratitude

{happy 12th birthday to food and foto dot com!}

22 Mar

it’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!

 

{“hobo hands”}

15 Mar

i have some of the best friends ever! mainly because they are TRUE FRIENDS, but also because they give me the best gifts. many of which are homemade and/or handmade and/or practical and/or purposeful… all the things i appreciate… always given with love and thought behind it. true treasures, just like the friends and people that they are!

case and point : these fabulous fingerless gloves that a dear friend sent me for christmas last year. her sister made them and i think they are just fantastic! coincidentally, i had recently been looking for a pair of fingerless gloves to replace the pair i had for decades that finally unraveled. then these appeared and – !!!!!! they are so much better than anything else i was finding in my search!!! 😀

AND! they are in my food and foto colour! 😀

even though spring is approaching, i still wear these often because they keep my wrists nice and cozy!


THANK YOU, S & K!!

 

{always look for the silver lining}

1 Jul

just a lil’ reminder 😉

 

and also, i had the best intentions of updating this blog more…

and i still do…

and i will again…

and i thank you all for your patience and for showing up, even when my presence is a little more vague and sporadic than usual as of late…

and it truly means so much to me that you continue to choose to follow along in my journey, and read my blog, and engage…

 

and i’m thinking of my sweet cousin tony today… ❤

 

and that is all… for now…

{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!

 

{summer’s final moon}

28 Aug

i 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.


{1500 followers!}

10 Jul

New York City

i am so humbled to have recently welcomed my 1500th{+} follower on this cherished little blog of mine!!

thank you to all of those who have stuck around all this time. and thank you to the newcomers – i want to extend a warm welcome to all of you who chose to hit that ‘follow’ button and come play along as we talk about yummy food and pretty things, whilst taking pictures of it all!

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as a reminder, if you don’t already – please follow me on instagram for the most recent updates on all things food&foto related. {you can also find me on facebook and pinterest.}

i appreciate all the love and support i’ve received over these last 6 years of blogging. i look forward to more adventures to come!

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the most sincere appreciation to all of you, from the bottom of my heart.

—–

 

{happy birthday to me!}

22 Nov

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looking forward to a healthy year… mind, body, and spirit.


i want to take a moment to sincerely thank you all for being a part of my life. for taking the time to read what i write, for enjoying my fotos, for your emails, your comments, your jokes, and your love. i appreciate every word and interaction and cherish each one dearly. some of you have been along for the ride since the very beginning… and it just means so much to me to have you here! ❤

{“good friends are like stars; you don’t always see them, but you know they are there.”}

15 Feb

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thank you {again} for the lovely flowers, D.A.! 🙂

{“you can learn a lot of things from the flowers…”}

27 Jun

… “especially in the month of june…”

{alice in wonderland}

———

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my roommate brought these gorgeous flowers home from work recently and i gasped with glee when i laid eyes on them… then i immediately grabbed my camera, of course! actually, i waited until about 6:00 the next morning, then took them out on the balcony and sipped my iced americano while snapping images of these amazing beauties. i just love mornings… and i LOVE morning light… especially this time of year!

such pretty tulips, orchids, peonies, and greenery!

i am inspired by LIFE. not necessarily by the world, and the way we live, but by LIFE itself. these flowers are alive, just as we are. i was inspired by the stillness of these flowers, the stillness of nature… how nature just IS. the sole purpose of these flowers is to simply be. if anything, they just long for us to look at them, to bring awareness to them. and i believe when we “stop and smell the roses”, we can connect with them, with nature, in such a way that can offer stillness and peace to our own lives. after-all, i do believe we are just as much a part of nature as nature itself.

i love what eckhart tolle says about nature :

“Even a stone, and more easily a flower or a bird, could show you the way back to God, to the Source, to yourself. When you look at it or hold it & let it be without imposing a word of mental label on it, a sense of awe, of wonder, arises within you. Its essence silently communicates itself to you and reflects your own essence back to you.”

eckhart’s words resonated with me and i’ve carried them in my heart over the years. when i felt the glee i did upon seeing these flowers, i was reminded of that quote… and i thought i would post some pics of these gorgeous flowers along with some of my favourite quotes regarding stillness, spirituality, or love.

i hope you enjoy and i hope this brings some stillness to the mind and a warmth to the heart.

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“the earth laughs in flowers.” ~ ralph waldo emerson

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“the intuitive mind is a sacred gift, the rational mind is a faithful servant. we have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.~ albert einstein

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“we need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. see how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… we need silence to be able to touch souls.” ~ mother teresa

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“there is a voice that doesn’t use words… listen!” ~ rumi

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“if we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.” ~ buddha

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“after women, flowers are the most lovely thing God has given the world.” ~ christian dior 

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“the best teachers are those who show you where to look but don’t tell you what to see.”                                      ~ alexandra k. trenfor

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“yesterday i was clever, so i tried to change the world… today i am wise, so i am changing myself.” – rumi

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“and when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” – fredrich nietzsche 

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“be kind whenever possible. it is always possible.” – dalai lama

 ———

enjoy the weekend! ❤

 

 

{words to live by}

27 Nov

thankfulsnow-1

——–

I’M SORRY

I LOVE YOU

PLEASE FORGIVE ME

THANK YOU

———

today, and every day…

{happy anniversary, food & foto!}

25 Mar

celebrating two years of nom-noming and click-clicking!

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thank you – all one thousand and twenty-eight of you! {as it stands, as i write this…}

i am inspired by you, encouraged by you, and grateful for and to you. i am already doing a giveaway in honour of you… but in honour of food & foto’s anniversary, i’ve decided to up the ante.  i’ll be giving away TEN prints by the end of april!  stay tuned…

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this blog has been one of the healthiest things i could’ve done for myself.

i want to take this time to thank my friend michele for encouraging and inspiring me to start writing and posting about my passion{s}.  the simplest gesture like just saying, “you should start a food blog…” has taken me to places that i may not have ever dreamed of going.

🙂  xxoo

 

{new year’s eve 2013 – goodness, it sure has been an eventful 12-months!!}

31 Dec
sunrise - snowmass village, colorado © audrey michelle 2013

sunrise – snowmass village, colorado © audrey michelle 2013

it really has been a very very eventful year!  personally, i’m kind of glad to be saying good-bye to 2013.  i always say you can start over ANY time in your life, you don’t need an event like new year’s eve to make resolutions, start fresh, or even kiss a stranger 😉 but i’m still looking forward to wrapping up one year and starting a new one… i have been releasing a lot of old “stuff” over the last month… and i’m ready to welcome in the new!

i just really feel good about bringing in 2014 this year… things feel a little more peaceful in general, and that is great!

it’s been exactly 3 weeks

however, since my entire life changed in one single {terrifying} moment… i completely survived my car rolling twice on the icy highway roads on monday, december 2nd.  not a single person was harmed nor animal or lamppost involved… no semi-truck in the way, no major abrasions, pain, trauma, or overall inconvenience other than losing my awesome car, shelby the subaru. but like everyone said, “you can replace a car, you can’t replace YOU!”

i’m still shaking my head at how it even happened and most of all HOW i survived… walking away totally unscathed and mostly just in shock. the bizarre twist to all of this is that i have found many blessings come out on the other side of it all. i’m even going to write about the event, as it really did change my life. any event like that shakes up a person’s whole being… and when it’s “over”, it’s kind of impossible to claim to be the same person afterward. Continue reading

{happy nom-nom-idays!}

21 Dec

nom nom… i just love this time of year.  the holidays are also all about eating, right?!  and sharing… 🙂

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like this homemade peanut brittle from a friend’s mama in michigan and homemade caramels from my wonderful neighbours -50 yards away.

my goodness they are both SO AMAZING! i completely savoured each one, and still am. it’s that kind of treat – when someone takes time to make something so incredibly delicious like this and then shares it… THAT is the true meaning of the holidays… or, the nom-nom-idays.  i think we should start making it more about food than “gifts”.  afterall, i believe food is one of THE BEST gifts you can give… and receive 😉 Continue reading

{whatever wednesday – happy thanksgiving and a shout out!}

27 Nov

yay-you

to YOU!

that’s right, you.  the reader reading this blogpost right now.

the lady with the latte in one hand while her nails dry…

the guy with the messy hair who just woke up and has his dog nipping at his leg, begging to be taken outside…

the teenager who thinks i’m cool because i keep it real…

the mom who wandered over to my blog and was inspired to create something different for dinner…

the girl who’s my age and who takes comfort knowing she’s not the only 30-something without a husband or kids…

the athlete who loves my smoothie recipes…

the family who wants to hire me to take their portrait. {just email me! :)}

the fellow blogger who appreciates artistry…

YOU!

all of you.

i wanted to shout out to all of my 700-plus readers who take time to stop in and give validation to the things i say and the things i share.  as an introverted artist, it takes a lot for me to “put myself out there” {ugh, i even don’t like the term} however, it gives my heart so much comfort and joy every time someone clicks that “follow” button.  i appreciate you all following my blog, taking time to read the wacky things i say, and taking time to comment and share.  this wordpress blog forum has really been an amazing outlet for me and i feel such a strong sense of community among bloggers i’ve met.

i am just so grateful to each of you – words won’t really be able to express {remember my natal mercury retrograde?! ;)} but i had to do something to show my appreciation.

this thanksgiving, i’m thankful for so much, as usual… but today i want to focus on being thankful for support.  THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart!  you inspire and encourage me, just by reading and engaging.

🙂

{some thoughts about love, transformation, and mercury retrograde}

5 Nov

hey friends.  how was your weekend?  i took a long one, and spent some time in denver visiting a few loved ones.  my goodness was it a rich weekend.  i am so blessed to have some truly amazing people in my life. they are generous and giving and never turn their back on me.  i am blessed to have such loving friends!

i had every intent to write “mercury monday” as promised yesterday, but i just ran out of time.  i start a new job today and had to tie up loose ends in other ways and just get mentally prepared for the day.  i’ll be working in glorious aspen… it is going to be a great season!

so here we are, in the final week of mercury retrograde.  how have you been feeling over the last couple of weeks?  personally, it’s been an emotional rollercoaster.  i mean, i know i mentioned that mercury retrograde periods are when i feel most alive and articulate, and that is very true and still applies {hence the reason i have started journaling more and even started writing a book, finally!} – however, that doesn’t mean i am immune entirely to the energies that come along with it.  Continue reading

{foto friday} — blog award nominations, stats galore, a thank you, and MORE SNOW!

8 Feb
x marks the spot - snow is on the way to colorado!

x marks the spot – snow is on the way to colorado!

i’m looking forward to making a snowman this weekend.

i also want to thank those of you who have nominated me for an award.  i’m not that familiar with how the award system goes here on wordpress, but i’m beyond humbled and grateful for the recognition!  unfortunately, i can’t keep up with the nominations {there’s not as many as it sounds, i just don’t have time to respond right now!} but i wanted to extend an extremely warm thank you to lesley and juliem this time for the liebster award nominations – and i want to encourage you all to keep reading! i’m so grateful to have almost 400 followers, a whopping 10,000 views, and over 200 posts in less than a year.  you all keep the fire lit under me and inspire me every day to do more and to be more.

a very sincere thank you. enjoy the weekend!

thanks!

22 Sep

right around july this year, my blog really took a turning point. i have fine-tuned what it is i want this blog to represent.  i have collected some dedicated readers, and i’ve also created a dedicated set of specific blogs i post each corresponding day of the week.  it feels nice to have some structure.

if i had time, i’d post 7-days a week.  and hopefully very soon i will be able to do that.  my “day job” is going great, and my foto job is starting to take a turn as well, for the better.  i am digging all the positive change happening in my life lately.  i’m so beyond grateful…

and since march when i began this blog – i’ve created a cool 127 posts, stacked up over 250 followers, and graciously received over 1,000 likes.

so… THANKS! 🙂

i appreciate you.

and you know what else i appreciate? Continue reading