day 30

This is it... Day 30
The photography challenge has come to a close.
What have I learned....
That I have a lot to learn..... but I intend to keep working at it, as well as carrying my camera around with me more often to take in all that Cartagena has to offer.
An additional positive of the challenge is that it made me accountable for blogging {even though I didn't do it daily and clumped many days together}. Therefore I will be blogging more often with the random happenings of our Colombian adventure {I'm sure this will make our mothers very happy:)}

On that note...
30 days later, here is my 'self-portrait'


While we are discussing self-portraits...

This is a weekly 'periodico' otherwise known as a newspaper. That chica in the pink with the blue balls...
That's me.

Last week a photographer came to our pilates class to take photos for the newspaper... which lead to Sarah being printed.

The headline states:
Cual es el secreto del Pilates
Kate Moss, Madonna, y Melanie Griffith son algunas de las celebridades que lo practican, por que?
What is the secret of Pilates?
Kate Moss, Madonna, and Melanie Griffith are among the celebrities who do it, why?


I suppose Sarah McQuinn needs to be added to that list....

day twenty-nine & the 2 month mark

well, well, well, happy anniversary cartagena. 

You've been hosting the McQuinn's for a whole 2 months. 

How does it feel?

Somedays I think it has flown by
and then when I think of the reality
of being here for 2 - 3 years... 

only 2 months...
really?

We're just getting started and I know there is a lot more adventure ahead of us

Day 29: Black & White

While we camped up in the Hilton for our first month we sent our laundry to be serviced. You remember their lovely laundered shirts. Well, a draw back of that process {besides my lack of control} was this...

One every piece that was laundered that had a 'tag' our room number was inked. I totally understand the point, but there is something about slipping a shirt over my head {or even putting underwear on} and seeing the number 457. Do we really need to constantly be reminded about 'el hilton'?

Last night we skyped with Bella & The Schoenfelders....

it was just what I needed

{can you tell by my reaction?}

the simple things.

today I had a beach rondezvous planned with the girls

but

I awoke this morning to a red

& itchy chest.

Is it back?

Am I allergic to Cartagena?

Oh, how I wish I knew

Yesterday was a warm day and Alice and I spent a few hours at the pool

At one point she noticed my chest was red so I put some spray 

SPF 30 {Target brand from US}

just in that vicinity.

Alice thinks it is just sunburn.

I hope she is right & recognize

that I could be slightly

'kah-razy'

when it comes to this rash/skin situation. 

I have applied some lotion to it and hoping tomorrow it 

looks a whole lot better & 

slightly toned down.

My beach day turned into supermarket day.

I bought these to make me feel better.

Disney paper towels....

and you thought I was high maintenance.

day twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight

hi.
long time, no blog, eh?
It's Day 23's fault: Sunflare
See I was working towards something like this (found on pinterest)...

but it didn't work out like that.
My hesitation started when I could barely see the sun all week. We had a lot of rainy overcast days last week. And then my timing was always off... the sun was either to high or I missed it entirely and it was set.
Therefore I am moving on and keeping it as a future challenge. To get a sunflare....

Day 24: Animal

This theme proved to have its own issues. Particularly that when I hear animal, I think "bella" and immediately get sappy and think about my boxer baby. {who, by the way is recovering from a cold, but on the mend... thanks for asking!}
Then there is the stray dogs and horses and I could not possibly subject you to them. They break my heart. So, I would like to introduce you to another kind of animal... known as my Colombian pet...

I am under the impression that this Chilean wine is available in the United States... confirm or deny?


Day 25: Something Pink
I go through fruit phases. I truly love all fruit and eat a variety of them, but there is usually one that I am completely crushing on and can't get enough of....
Until, I fall for a different one.
A few weeks ago it was mango-madness.
In Houston, I was obsessed with oranges.
Currently I am worshipping the watermelon.

I think I mentioned before that they don't have 'seedless' watermelon here, so I do a lot of unladylike behavior, by spitting my seeds.

While on the topic of pink....
This picture went out to a few friends last week with the caption:
{Notice anything different about Colombian mannequins?}

Well, do you?

Day 26: Close up
Back to the fruit obsession thing I have. These are another one...

Frozen Grapes. I love. I seriously enjoy them more than 'thawed' grapes. They are a delicious icy treat, which is such a blessing on these warm Colombian days. If you've never tried, I recommend. Rinse your grapes, then throw them in a ziploc in the freezer. You will have a new fruity fascination.

Matt and I had another nice weekend. We are finally getting settled into our apartment. I wouldn't say it feels like 'home' yet necessarily, but we are very comfortable here. Sunday we practiced tradition and spent some time at the beach followed by a steak dinner and some red wine.
And so far, I appear to be rash free. This was my first time in the sand and water since I 'cleared' up.

Day 27: Distance
Today was a Colombian holiday. There is a lot of holidays here. I believe 18 total. Unfortunately, Matt works all of these holidays, but they are observed by many people... so the beaches were filled with 'happy holidayers'.

See those yellow tents up and down the beach. Those are set up each morning by some vendors. They provide you with some chairs to sit under {I don't sit under the tent as I prefer to soak up the sun while oceanside} and you pay to 'rent' the tent per chair. I believe it's approximately 2000 - 3000 Colombian pesos per chair, which is $1.00-1.50.

Day 28: Flowers

Yes, I was that girl and worked ahead. I figured it was the least I could do for being such a slacker lately.

day twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two

These clusters of days are beginning to become a habit. 


I know your probably growing tired of seeing Sarah shots, so Day 20 went and mixed it up a bit. 


Day 20: Faceless Self Portrait.
different, eh? 
so was my take on it...
It has been established that I like shoes... so they were part of my portrait. 

Shoes and my scarred knee from a traumatic bicycle incident that occurred in my younger days. Then occurred again within the same week. Hence the 'gnarly' scar. 


Day 21: Bokeh
I'm not going to lie. I had no idea what this was...
so I googled it, as any logical person would and discovered that it was not a strange plant species, but a photography term {shows you how much I have yet to learn}

"Bokeh refers to the aesthetic quality of the blur produced from a 

shot with shallow depth of field"

Well that made sense. But I had a difficult time coming up with a shot. 

So I just went with it and made it happen {or else this blog post would have taken forever to appear}

Day 22: Hands

We've developed a bit of a routine around here.

I have dinner ready when Matt comes home around 6:15-6:30.

Let me just state for the record this is so much easier to do when you are not working full time. We did a lot of sushi & Subway last year as we both worked long hours. Now I go to the grocery store approximately twice a week, plan my meals for the week (what!) and have dinner ready when my hard working husband arrives home.

We eat & clean the kitchen (did I mention we don't have a dishwasher... that's a fun fact)

Then Matt reclines our "reclinable" couch to some degree,

grabs his i-pad,

and

starts reading.

This usually leads to him passing out.

Tonight..

7:30

Not sure he made it through that article.

day seventeen, day eighteen, day nineteen, and day of the father

guess what?

I am writing blog posts from our bedroom while I watch television. That's right folks...

We have entered the modern times in Cartagena.

No more little wireless connection that could. 

We are now working with  the 'Mateo' connection. Literally.

Which brings me to...

Day 17

Theme: Technology

Friday, my Directv amigos came and checked me out of rehab and pushed me off the wagon by providing me with television. I am in a very happy place.

Saturday, the internet providers came and gave us our own little wireless signal that CAN. 

Although there were lots of Spanish speaking strangers in and out of our home words can't describe our happiness.

Day 18

Theme: Shoes

I took the shoes from my side of the closet in the master bedroom {the rest of my shoes are in the guest room, I did bring an entire suitcase of shoes people}

These are the shoes I wear most often, lots of flip flops and wedges. My feet are pretty happy with the Latin American lifestyle as they have not been sacrificed for fashion in a while. 

Day 19

Theme: Something Orange

Now that I am beginning to settle into my new home 'nesting' is setting in {can this happen to non-pregnant woman? If not, this is not an announcement of any kind} 

The decor details of the apartment tend to take over my brain. 

The biggest detail: art

The art work that the owner provided in the living room really isn't our style and to be honest it is completely random. The color scheme and concept has nothing to do with anything else in the room. {look at the link here for previous pictures of the living room}

I saw this little project on the Young House Love blog and decided since I had some time on my hands I'd give it a go. 

It has many imperfections {especially up close} but that's a part of art, right?

It is a very different color scheme than I am used to, but when in Colombia, change it up. Matt is a big fan of orange. 

At 885, he convinced me to paint the office an orange hue because he researched that orange stimulates the mind and would be perfect for an office space. The office was orange for approximately 24 hours. Total.

The scale is a little off so I am thinking of doing some smaller canvas' on the side. It is still a work in progress.  I apologize for all my rambling. 

The bottom line: it's better than the fuchsia plant. 

Dia de Padres

Dads.

They're the greatest.

And Matt and I truly have the greatest. They are always available for us and help us solve problems from miles and miles and miles and miles away, just like they did when we were under their roofs.

Cheers Dad.

We love you.

Happy Fathers Day.

day sixteen

theme: long exposure

there is an underlying theme here as well: human error

Basically a long exposure is a long duration of shutter speed which blurs movement. {photography buffs, please excuse my horrible explanation of long exposure, thanks in advance}

Now, when that shutter speed is open for an extended period of time movement affects the finished product. A tripod is highly recommended for this kind of shot, but Sarah's photography 'career' {hahaha} hasn't made it to the big time yet and she is working sans tripod.

Now, that I have provided an excuse I present you with day 16.

bing.

bang.

boom.