Black & White

From a friend's pool party earlier in the year:

my cousin Gregory (Gator)







My handsome Matthew




Steve J.




Matthew




my cousin Jake (yes, he looked this thrilled the entire party)




Jenn J.





Gator






Suzanna from a shoot at Seven Sister's:





My sister and nieces :)


















And little tiny Addison from not so long ago:

Megan's Christmas List - 2009

Every year since I was little, I've made a Christmas list for my mom of everything my little heart desires (even if there's little chance I'll ever get some of those items). At her insistence, I am sharing that list with you this year.


1. Crayola 150-Count Telescoping Crayon Tower. $15 at Target (and it had been on sale for $10!)

I love crayons. They will never not be cool. The only thing cooler than crayons is a TELESCOPING TOWER of 150 of them.








2. Seven Sister's Big Dipper Coffee Pass (allows for one month of unlimited brewed coffee anytime of the day). $25

Because our money is so tight, Matthew and I haven't been to Seven Sisters in about 3 months (I know!) and I miss their coffee, treats, and company dearly. This coffee card (or a gift certificate) would be a dream.



3. The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity $20.47

Does this need an explanation besides "Because it's awesome"?









4. Aroma ADF-212 Smart Fry XL Digital Dual Basket Deep Fryer $69.99

Don't judge me for wanting a deep fryer! I promise, it would not be used on a daily (or even weekly) bases, but I have so many ideas on how to use this. I can safely say though, I would not go down the Paula Dean road and start deep frying my bacon. Never. Ever.




5. Canon Speedlite 580EX and PocketWizard $560.95 total

As long as we're dreaming...
I love shooting with only natural light, but it would be fun to experiment with lighting.




6. Blick Gift (or E-Gift) Card $5-$500

I've been getting 99% of my art supplies from dickblick.com for years. They have just about everything you could want or think of, great prices, and free shipping on orders over $50.




7. Netflix Subscription $8.99-$16.99/month

Another luxury cut from the budget quite awhile ago. I loved loved LOVED Netflix, though. Matthew and I are both major movie nerds and this is one sure thing from this list we'll eventually have.






8. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter $79/per ticket

I have been anticipating the opening of this Universal theme park for YEARS. Both Matthew and I are happily obsessed with all things Harry Potter, and while I can't imagine any park could live up to my day dreams, how cool would it be to walk through:

-Hogsmeade
-Olivanders
-Three Broomsticks
-& HOGWARTS CASTLE!



9. COSMIC DINNER TIME NECKLACE - STEAMPUNK ON A PLATE $45

I love all things steampunk and all things food related. This necklace is perfection!






10. A trip to Japan! $$$$

I think my curiosity with Japan began when I started watching Miyazaki anime. There's something I find completely fascinating about Japan. I'm going to try to learn some Japanese using livemocha.com in preparation for the day we get to visit.

A Very Merry Wine Bottle Christmas Tree

These are photos of the ridiculously awesome Christmas tree my mom (Tricia of ohsocrafty.blogspot.com) built several years ago.

Because she's allergic to pine as well as plastic artificial trees (as a result of her MCS), she wanted to come up with something to replace her traditional tree and so she developed and constructed her very own glass wine bottle tree.




It consists of a 4x4 wooden fence post, wooden dowels, 64 wine bottles (most given to her by a local wine shop), 13 beer bottles, ornaments, paper snowflake garland, Christmas lights, and a vintage lace table cloth for the tree skirt.

It is beyond cool.

























Now, I'm not sure if she was the first to invent this, all I know is she had never seen one before and came up with the idea back in 2007. After I blogged a photo of it that year we started seeing other versions pop up online (there is a very beautiful and huge version at Gaylord Texan Resort)

A new painting

Something small and simple to get back into the flow of working with paints. I really love how the colors turned out.

I was inspired by a magazine ad, of all things. It was a single page, white background, nine different products. One item was a lime green colander, another was a pile of beautiful bar soaps. And thus, this painting was born.


"Wash & Dry" 10x10 acrylic on canvas
available for sale at meganlee.etsy.com






(during the painting process)

Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

Sweet and simple.



Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies
(makes 24 cookies)

1/2 C butter, softened
1 1/4 C sugar
1 egg
1 TBS molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 C old fashioned rolled oats (NOT quick oats)
1 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream butter and sugar with a mixer. Add egg and blend then add vanilla and molasses and mix again.

In a separate bowl combine oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Add 1/3 of the mixture to the dough and blend, add another 1/3, blend, repeat with last 1/3. Chill dough in refrigerator for 10 minutes.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and add 12 teaspoon size balls of dough to each sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are lightly browned. Place on cooling racks and enjoy!