Cool Finds
Starting officially today, I will add this as a standard section in my blog where I will feature any "cool items" I find -- "boutique" or not, handmade or commercially produced -- so that my blog readers can check them out and enjoy as well... my way of "spreading the joy" or "sharing the wealth," so to speak. ;)

I have shared special finds here and most recently here, but from now on you'll be able to click on the tag labeled "Cool Finds" to see everything I have featured since the beginning of my blog. YAY!

So, for today I have 3 new "Cool Finds". First of all I'd like to share this amazing necklace that I ordered from Ann at swede-at-heart from eBay. I didn't get a chance to purchase anything from her at X-Mas time so I figured my mom's birthday was the perfect occasion to order some pretties from her store. Well... was I blown away when this arrived at my doorstep! Ann created the most gorgeous sterling silver necklace with the names of my mom's 3 granddaughters hand-stamped on it. My mom absolutely loved it but I couldn't share here earlier because it would have ruined the surprise. ;)



It came so beautifully wrapped too... we both just loved it and I cannot wait to order one for myself. Thanks, Ann!



My second featured item for today is my new set of MOO cards. I recently upgraded to a Flickr Pro account because I wanted to be able to have more than 6 sets and I wanted to be able to upload high res photos and what not. So, with my Pro membership came a pack of 10 FREE MOO cards, so I figured, what the heck? They're FREE. And OH MY GOODNESS, I am in love.



The image quality is superb, printing quality is excellent and they also came so beautifully wrapped. I just LOVE their "mod" packaging... it fits with my "image" just perfectly! ;)



I will be taking them up on their offer and ordering my pack of 100 cards for $19.99... what a deal! These will replace my current biz cards from Vista Print.

And last, but certainly not least, I will share... my lunch today. HA! I wish! (really, I wish I was eating this instead of pretty much anything I can find in my fridge right now!) I promised to take Sophie and Sydney to The Gingerbread House to pick out a couple of new educational toys. Sophie was being rewarded for making it to the next level in swim lessons and Sydney was being rewarded for putting up with one too many photo shoots for myself and Baby Gassy Gooma.



But, I digress... to my utter amazement they picked out these awesome fake food kits from a company called Small World Living. They were only $8.00 each (on sale) so I happily obliged (not only because of the affordable price but also because I couldn't wait to take them home myself and play with them! LOL!)

Sophie chose the sushi set. It came complete with a tray of the most delectable looking sushi & sashimi, some soy sauce, sticky rice, a pair of chopsticks and a little cup for your hot tea. It even has a little wasabi leaf. :) Soooo cute!



Sydney chose the dim-sum platter ... with the cutest little Chinese dumplings, wontons, egg rolls, white rice and even a fortune cookie that opens up to reveal a real fortune! This one also came with a take-out container and it's own set of chopsticks, tea cup and Soy Sauce. :)





Hope you enjoyed my "Cool Finds" of the day.

Like my photos? I sure do. I shot these with my "new/old" lens. I say "new/old" because I have actually had this lens for about 15 years (I got it as a gift from my parents when I first purchased my Pentax K-1000 film camera back in college) and I just didn't know if it was going to work with my digital SLR but ALAS it does! For you photo buffs out there: it is a Quantaray 28mm macro 1:2.8. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about... it means you can get really, really close to your subject... like I was literally 2 inches away from my subject for these pictures and you can still get amazing clarity and sharpness at your focal point and it'll blur the background beyond belief! Oooooh! I love it! :)

I also did apply one of my own Photoshop actions to these photos, so they are not straight off the camera, but pretty close. :)

And how does it do with people? Well, this is the only pic I got of Sydney before she ran off, but I was very pleased with the results. I think I'll keep it! ;)