So Excited

Thank you all for the wonderful birthday wishes for my daughter.  She was so thrilled to see your comments on her photography and of course the great birthday greetings!

I hope each of you is having a wonderful weekend!  I know I am....it's absolutely glorious fall weather outside, time to pull out the fall decor and shop for pumpkins, gourds, and everything the season has to offer!

But before I head out the door, I want to show you a few gifts I recently received!  My dear friend Connie, from Hartwood Roses, sent me this gift!  I got home very late one evening last week, and I was so excited to find a package from her in my mailbox.  

She knows how much I love anything crab related, and when she heard about my rough week, she thought of me and sent me these wonderful little crab placecard holders from Pottery Barn!  Aren't they too cute?!

Connie is always busy...this weekend she is off selling her beautiful roses in Richmond, Virginia.  I hope she has a wonderful sale!

But even with all she has going on, she took the time to mail me something she knew I would treasure!  I'm not surprised though, she is just like that and I'm so lucky to be able to call her my friend!  Thank you Connie, I can't wait to use these cute crabs with my crab plates for one last taste of summer!

I also wanted to share with you something else wonderful that was sent to me this week!  The other day it was cloudy and rainy here and when I stepped out on my back patio to let the dogs out, this is what I saw in the sky!  I was so excited and ran inside to grab the camera.

Call me crazy, but my friend Dan clearly sent me this little heart shaped cloud from above...I have no doubt!  And even though it is a bit of a broken heart, if you look closely at the upper left hand corner of the cloud, you'll see almost a perfect outline of a whole heart...so symbolic and so like him to let me know that he is happy and for me to not worry or be sad.

As it slowly drifted over the field and off across the water, I couldn't help but smile, even on such a gray and dreary day, knowing that those we love really are never that far away from us!

And last, but certainly not least in my book, I was over the moon last night when I stopped by my local Giant grocery store and saw a copy of this...the new issue of Romantic Country Magazine!  It's packed with wonderful articles and great decorating ideas for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas!  

And there on page 34 was my name...Kat Warren, the author of the story on designer Dena Fishbein's gorgeous home!  And on page 16 is even one of the photos I took of Dena's beautiful bedding!  Now I know it's silly because I've been published now for 12 years in regional magazines, but I was giddy with happiness to know that I am finally in a national magazine.  Thank you Fifi for taking a chance on me!  And now my friends and family can just go to their local store and pick up a copy...so exciting!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Cards, Crabs, and a Flash

I hope all of you mothers out there had a wonderful day surrounded by those you love!

I sure had a great day today, from sunrise and counting...well maybe from 9 am anyway since I slept in!  I actually got way more gifts than I expected.  We aren't big present people except for birthdays and Christmas, so when I had 2 boxes to open I was so excited! 

First Mr. Tide bought me a very cool piece of camera equipment, a bounce flash!  A bounce flash allows you to bounce the light off of the ceiling, or almost anywhere, so that your photos are much brighter but don't have that harsh light which is often created when using a flash.  When shooting interiors of homes, or at dimly lit events, having a good bounce flash is critical.  I got the chance to try my new flash out on Saturday (he let me open it early so that I could use it for my two shoots on Saturday) and it made a HUGE difference! 

I took the picture above without using the bounce flash.  You can see how light the area around the window is, but the further you move away from the window the darker the room appears.

Here is the same basic shot, but with the help of the bounce flash the lighting is much more uniform.  Both photos were sharpened using PS Elements and the second one was lightened slightly, but you can see what a difference using a bounce flash can make.  This was such a great present and will make my photo shoots much less dependent upon the weather, and I can now shoot in low light as well as bright light!  *Happy Dance*!!!  Oh, and if you didn't already know (and no, I don't get compensated in ANY way), if you buy camera equipment from B&H Photo in NYC, be sure to do it through Kate, from Chronicles Of A Country Girl so that she can get a little pocket change out of the deal!  She has a button for B&H on her sidebar, that's what Mr. Tide used, and I know Kate greatly appreciates the support!

Today, I was served a yummy breakfast which included pumpernickel toast, bacon, walnuts, and fresh organic strawberries... yum!  And then it was time for me to open the present from my son and daughter!  They both admit that now that I am a blog-a-holic, buying presents for me has gotten a lot easier.  

And they also know what an addiction I have to dishes, so they gave me these gorgeous melamine crab plates from Pottery Barn!!!  I love anything with crabs on it, I'm a native Marylander after all, and these plates are perfect for summer dinners on the back patio overlooking the water eating corn on the cob, fresh peaches, and what else but...crab cakes, of course!  Thanks Bugs and Angelfish!

They also each gave me a beautiful card with the sweetest handwritten messages inside.  They make me tear up every single year, no matter how old the two of them are!  Mr. Tide tried to buy me a card a few weeks ago, but I insisted that he give me a back rub instead, and I think I won out in that deal!

So there you have it, my wonderful Mother's Day 2010, surrounded by the ones I love the most and lavished with presents, good food, and warm wishes, can you really ask for more than that?!

Oh and did you notice that sweet changing table in the "bounce flash" photos above?!  Well I'll be showing you lots more pictures of that darling nursery one day this week!  It is too sweet, and you won't want to miss seeing it!  

Until then my friends, enjoy your week ahead!