There's An App for That!

I was just recently introduced to two new awesome photo apps - StickyGram and Postagram. StickyGram allows you to turn any of your Instagram photos into magnets! Wouldn't they make great gift ideas? Or even affordable, personalized little Save the Date magnets?

As for Postagram, it turns your Instagram photos into postcards that you can send to anyone with just a few clicks on your smartphone. No need to worry about these anymore...

(...although isn't that a beautiful stamp? It's a little sad to think about all the lovely stamps out there that will never be used!)

Everlasting Love...

In all my twenty four years, the longest love affair I've had thus far is with...books. While probably not the juicy answer you wanted, it's one-hundred percent true! As much as I love photography, I don't think I'll ever love it as much as reading. Though I've read a few books on my iPad, there is still nothing quite like curling up on the sofa with a glass of red wine and a big fat book and diving right into a story.

So, imagine my delight upon discovering Type bookstore's video "The Joy of Books". Since being published two days ago, this stop motion video has gone viral. Not only is the video beautifully done but you can only imagine how much time and effort went into this project! The characteristic effect of stop motion is created by stringing together individually photographed frames of objects that are moved little by little in each scene. Coupled with the music choice, "The Joy of Books" perfectly captures the wonderment I always feel when browsing the selection at my neighborhood bookstore.

Enjoy!

p.s. - the book title at the end is worth watching for!

p.p.s. - what was the last truly great book you read? I just finished Julian Barnes' Talking It Over and I can't stop thinking about it!

Block After Block

Happy New Years!

Hope that you had an amazing holiday weekend surrounded by family and friends, or at least spent it somewhere warm.

After a wonderful Christmas dinner in Northern Virginia, we headed up north (!) for New Years. While most of our families were celebrating the holidays much closer to the equator, we decided to usher in 2012 in New York. And the weather was surprisingly pleasant. So much so that we walked practically everywhere, including across the Brooklyn Bridge (my first time!), and I was able to get some snaps without the threat of frostbitten fingers.

We kept warm by tucking into cute stores, cafes and shops around the Upper East Side (where we were staying courtesy of Pem's generous sister and brother-in-law, thanks guys!), the East and West Villages and Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

We certainly didn't neglect our tastebuds either as we embarked on a semi-spontaneous tour of NYC's best vegan/vegetarian restaurants. Boy, did we get our fill. You know it's good vegan when it takes two days before you realize you haven't had any cheese for the last 6 meals. Let me tell you, for my Frenchman boyfriend, that is rare. Hell, even for me it's rare.

Our NYE was spent at a fun, relatively low-key bar in the East Village with some friends and well-made cocktails. I couldn't have asked for a better way to greet 2012. 

I still have some installments from my November trip to Sri Lanka on their way but couldn't wait to share some shots from our New Years trip!