Best Nine Photos 2017 - Personal Picks
I just shared the photos that Instagram picked for me this year as my top nine photos here,
but I wanted to go through and pick things that maybe weren't as popular but that mean something to me- because of the combination of the art + the story behind them.
Nine - Summertime rooftop sunsets
This one is the only one that made my Instagram top pick and my personal picks, because I mean.
Look at it.
I've been re-watching/binging Mad Men and I have the distinct feeling Don Draper is trying to sell this scene about 9 out of 10 pitches.
Friends + beer + BBQ + warm nights + endless views +
Not to make this any harder on you,
but
there was Big Mac Sauce.
My bestie Hannah used to live here, and her cousin moved into her old suite which means that I still get to experience one of my favourite parts of the city - watching the sun go down and having Kyle tell us all about the orbiting satellites and tracking them on his phone, while we eat Costco potato salad, listen to Kanye West and laugh into our beers at him. You know. Because he's a nerd.
Eight - Minimalist Beer + a Bearded husband
KJH + I were talking about the highlights of the year and we both picked this weekend getaway - where we just went to the Sunshine Coast for 2 nights. Sometimes you don't have to go very far if it's with someone you love.
And we had really good fish + chips.
seven - sunset fishing outside the mangroves
I rolled into the New Year in Nicaragua with my bestie Erin. It was a wonderful trip, we saw volcanoes + did yoga + traveled to the mountains + dipped in the ocean + explored the Mangroves. We drank so much rum.
We released baby sea turtles into the ocean. And then we saw the sunset and fishermen leave extras to the birds.
We set our heart's intentions for the New Year.
Read more here.
Six - chai flatlay
It turns out that doing flatlays is serious art form + it requires some very fun acrobatics + willing Instagram husbands to make it work. I really only have one table top, but I do have a few pieces of wood and a Kyle who's willing to lay on the floor while I hover over him balancing on a stool. I hope I'm not shattering any image you had of me. All of this shit is slightly fake.
I mean the chai in this photo is really good (you can get the recipe + some poetry about my trip to India here.) And I drank it all out of that mug. But I don't actually drink chai with fennel seeds + cardamom pods sprinkled all around it. But let's pretend I never told you that.
I tried my firstlay in November with my friend Claire showing me the ropes, and this photo was the first time I felt I was able to make a flatlay turn out how I imagined it would. And now, this is a big part of my life, and I kind of love it.
five- the great escape
We. Bought. A. Car.
Holy shit I didn't think that would happen, but I got a job that required one, and while I really believed it would only be nice and not at all a necessity we fucking love it. We bring our dog out to the beach. We visit my grandma. We head to the forest! [but we don't go to hike, don't be gross. You can see why here. ]
And I finally got to head over to the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge, just on a whim, one day after an afternoon party. We just. Went.
Freedom.
four - fuck cancer
Last year my grandma was having trouble swallowing. We finally got her to the doctor and they found a tumour in her throat. It was cancer.
She's coming up on her 90th birthday, so, you know. We were worried.
She went in for surgery but they couldn't get it. So she had to go for radiation. After a few months of radiation she went for a cat scan. And. There was no more cancer. It was gone. She was cancer free. What kind of an 89 year old beats cancer like that? Mine does.
We headed over to her house to celebrate, we had sammies + champagne and Marie proposed a toast
fuck cancer
And no one was more pleased with the sentiment than that wonderful grandma of mine.
Then she and my mom danced in the kitchen to Willie Nelson.
three - rooftop yoga
When I got home from Nicaragua I was very inspired to find my soul through the ability to touch my toes, and so I signed up for 30 day challenge pass at a yoga studio + I basically finished it. I had a glorious 2 months of being able to say "I do yoga."
Now I just, you know, sometimes, well, I have a yoga mat. And I'm 99% sure I can still touch my toes. And I'm being a little self depreciating, but I would like to increase my practice again, and place it as a higher priority.
One thing about writing about my yoga challenge was that the feedback I kept getting from people was they love how honest I am and how I say things that "we all think, but none of us say." The thing I loved about that was, I didn't realize those things were secret! I just figured we were clearly all suffering + worrying + our minds were drifting + we were falling over + slipping + finally nailing that pose + then never getting it again + I didn't realize that we were supposed to pretend to be cool about it.
You can read about my foray into yoga and stretch puns:
Namaste In Bed - My Yoga Challenge - Week 1
Getting in the Mudra - My Yoga Challenge - Week 2
What a Poser - My Yoga Challenge - Week 3
A Bit of a Stretch - My Yoga Challenge - Week 4
two - tulips two hearts
If you have an Instagram account you must have headed to the Abbotsford Tulip Festival this year. It was a very, very wet spring and my boots are still covered in mud, but oh my, the flowers were pretty spectacular.
This photo didn't win anything but it's my favourite one. It's the first non-wedding photo I put as a lock screen on my phone.
But some of our photos did win something! Abbotsford is fairly conservative, so we were very happy and thrilled to see this photo of Marie + her partner as the grand prize winner for the couple photography contest, and I mean, it was pretty nice that Kyle + I came in as a runner up. Love is love.
one - california dreaming
I had a weekend to California this year and it was a huge highlight. With my best girls + the best food + the best music. And the best light.
The light in California.
It changed my entire photo editing style - I'm not sure if you noticed, but I suddenly just wanted to do everything in brighter everything.
And this photo might be my favourite of the year. This is my bestie Jessica, and her garden. She's a water conservationist who works for a company that turns California gardens into natural habitats so they don't increase the drought that's had California on fire all summer + winter. We only have one planet and love her very much for part for helping to protect it.
I've almost never seen anyone as proud of something as she is of her garden. On my last day she asked me to photograph it for her. She doesn't like to have her photo taken, but somehow I got one.
And it's my best one.
And I couldn't actually limit it to nine
I couldn't help it. I got to the end and there were no photos to show off my new jobs. I get such different and wonderful things from both of them.
ten - djing with the beans
I work at a youth space, helping the young people (whom I often call beans) to realize their goals, and it's rad AF. A few of them call me "mom" which when I first heard it I was like, hell no but then I realized they meant it like Lorde.
“Omg haha ok so. time to explain this. i ...wrote ‘MOM’, which among the youthz is a compliment; it basically jokingly means “adopt me/be my second mom/i think of you as a mother figure you are so epic” ”
eleven - table settings
I also work as a wedding planner over at Filosophi - and now in 2018, you can even hire me as a Lead Planner [shit am I ever proud of myself]! I spent my summer wearing black + a fanny pack + taking photos of table settings. That shit is straight up my jam.
2017 you were very, very busy + still managed to be full of beauty.
2018 I guess I'm ready for you to bring it.
Hannah + I left our tiny town for Montreal + met Jessica on our first night there. Spending time with them now, no matter where we are, brings me back to those magical first mornings when you wake up + realize you live on your own + life can be so full of wonderful.