shine as brightly as the sun

9 December 2012

When was the last time I’ve written a “deeper” post? Unknown, so why not throw in one.

On the bus back from NYC, the windshield wipers squeak at a rate I didn’t know was possible, and iTunes provides me with a cover to the incessant high pitched moments. Sutton Foster pours through my headphones…have I mentioned how much I love her. So, today’s feature is Little Women: the Musical and, as if I could have really forgotten my love, remembered it again.

Now nothing feels the way it was before
And I don’t know how to proceed.
I only know I’m meant for something more
I’ve got to know if I can be
Astonishing

This week I’ve been thinking about Georgetown. I would say I’m not sure why, but I do and I blame the Alumni twitter feed asking what moments made Georgetown…well…Georgetown for us. Images ran through my head at such a fast pace it was hard to keep up with them. Flitting images of cookie baking, smuggling a cake from the cafeteria, flag football on Copley Lawn. Chicken Finger Thursday in Leos, the big three movies of freshman year (Love Actually, Finding Nemo and Mean Girls), GUGS, and 400 little freshman faces that would torment and delight me for an entire year. I take a deep breath and I close my eyes and it feels like it was yesterday. I still think it was yesterday, it was 9+ years ago. I normally can’t explain to people why I loved it so much because it’s so much. It’s the professors that made my life better: Alyssa Webel made French so hard and so good; Diane Apostolos-Cappadona taught me about religious art, societal assumptions and was willing to take on a crazy Jewish Civ student and her thesis on Jewish women in literature; and the ever wonderful Amy Leonard, who made me write more about the church and sexuality (in early modern Europe) then I ever thought I would. As someone once said, I may have graduated with a degree in the best cocktail hour talk ever, especially in D.C., thanks for that Georgetown. Thank you for amazing friends, a Hall Director that fixed a little part of me without every knowing it, and a community that couldn’t and wouldn’t die.

There’s a life
That I am meant to lead
A life like nothing I have known
I can feel it
And it’s far from here
I’ve got to find it on my own

I look back at 17 year old Whitney, a freshman, 3,500 miles from home. But somewhere inside there was a fire and a zeal to make it work. Two months in, I fell off the path, I wanted to go home. Because my parents are wonderful, they let me…for 5 days…and then they made me go back. Thanks for making me go back to the people, to the place, to the experience. Without them I would have missed our run to the Final Four in ’07, the joy of regular trips to the Tombs and taking Studio Art, just because. I look back at it all, and the great bit is that I can look back. My little Canon point and shoot never left my side. I can relive our first snow of Freshman year and the last week, Senior Year, that we all had to spend together. I get to see it over and over again.

So when I explain Georgetown, I can tell it through photos that are apart of me, because of the ability to look back at the good and bad, to remember the moment and the feelings. To look at an image and be transported to that time and everything that you thought then. I look at the picture above and I like home, I think standing in line for a burger, I think of midnight conversations with pints of Ben & Jerry’s on the steps. So when I talk about why a girl with a degree from Georgetown wants to take pictures for a living, I think of my photo skills and I feel the goodness of such a decision roll over me. I send out engagement and family sessions and I love the joy that is expressed in such a thing. I love my clients. They make my day. Even as I am editing, I am drawn in by their emotions and expressions. Thanks, Georgetown for making me think that Cura Personalis was the most pretentious thing I had heard…then for making me believe in it whole heartily. The care of the whole person. Body, mind and soul. A moment that will live on forever.

A life of passion that pulls me from within,
A life that I am making to begin.
There must be somewhere I can be
Astonishing

let’s go // ephesus

21 November 2012

deb + pumpkin doughnut muffins

14 November 2012

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So date may be a stretch of the word, but it wasn’t as snappy to write “the evening I listened to Deb Perlman talk about her book and then stood in line for two hours so that I could meet her, have her sign my book, take a photo with her and give her a pumpkin doughnut muffin” on the photo. But needless to say, it was pretty much the greatest moment ever and it means I can cross #13 off the bucket list. Have I mentioned that it was awesome and she was great. Amy and I had a blast, of course ran into people that we knew (hi Erin!) and my foot isn’t too much worse for wear. But really, I feel like I just had a mini life victory, I also like that I’m setting my life victory moments on a manageable scale.

And of course, cause I am me, I decided to bring Deb my newest baking obsession…the pumpkin doughnut muffin. Since I have taunted people on instagram and twitter for the past two weeks about their goodness, I figured it would be a great time to give up the photos and recipe. They are amazing. Run, don’t walk, to make these. I’ve made them twice now and I really can’t get enough of them.

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins
taken from Martha Stewart
Prep Time 20 mins, Total Time 1 hour, Yields 12 muffins

For The Batter
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cups pure pumpkin puree (from a 15-ounce can)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs

For The Sugar Coating
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter and flour 12 standard muffin cups.

Make batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and allspice. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions pumpkin mixture, and beat to combine.

Spoon 1/3 cup batter into each muffin cup and bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon. Let muffins cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Working with one at a time, remove muffins from pan, brush all over with butter, then toss to coat in sugar mixture. Let muffins cool completely on a wire rack.

Just because, some of my Smitten Kitchen Favs on Throwing Cake:
Homesick Texan’s Carnitas
Ranch Rugelach
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe EVER
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Buttermilk Ice Cream
Blueberry Crumb Bars

foodie friday: turkey // eats

9 November 2012

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One of the greatest parts of travel is the food, and I can easily find myself snacking waaay too often while on vacation. I’d say that Turkey was no exception, except that we were almost too busy to indulge in the greatness. I said almost. I personally had plenty of my favorite food groups, cheese and bread. And every now and then, I managed to squeeze in a vegetable, some fruit, baklava and one night, we worked in the greatest Indian food that I have ever had and I forgot to take a picture of said meal. The spices were unreal.

All of the elements, the spices and the fruits and veggies, were amazing to see. The prepared meals and meze were just as wonderful. And nothing could top the adorable Turkish man on Heybeliada who pulled us over to the glass counter filled with pyrex dishes as he held his list of the meze options in English. He would point to an item, say the word, and point to the English word on the page while saying it aloud. My personal favorite was him pointing to an item, looking confused and then going with aubergine, everything else was a spot on translation, so we with it, because the french (and foodie) side of Ann and my brain clearly got that it was an eggplant dish.

Also, if you don’t love tea…prepare a great response ahead of time, because people are going to offer to give you a lot of tea.

Next in the Turkey adventure, let’s get on a plane and see something great!

life break.

8 November 2012

prince islands // heybeliada

6 November 2012

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Care of a little bit of facebook stalking, I discovered the Prince Islands. Located off the coast of the Asian-side of Istanbul, they are a chain of nine islands that offer a quiet change of pace, made easy by the fact that the main form of transport is horse and buggy. So, with a little bit of research (read: food blogs and the main desk guy at the hotel) Ann and I set off to use public transport, find the ferry and cross the water to Heybeliada. It was amazing. We strolled up and down streets, avoided getting run over by buggies and found the Naval Cadet School and the Halki Theological School. And we stopped to take a few photos.

Back to Istanbul we went in the afternoon and with it came Ann’s favorite ideas of the day, let’s go to the Galata Tower! As we learned care of the internets the tower is “one of the city’s most striking landmarks, it is a high, cone-capped cylinder that dominates the skyline and affords a panoramic vista of Old Istanbul and its environs.” So despite my extreme issue with thoughts of potentially dying from a fall, I let myself be dragged to a tower built in 1348 A.D. and then on to the 360 degree balcony I went.

It took me a few minutes to convince my stomach to not revolt and I made sure stay as close to the wall as possible, but the views, however, were amazing. As the sun went down, the city became dark and the lights went on I forgot about how high I was off the ground. Istanbul, you are beautiful.

Next time, Ann and Whitney see something really old…like 300 B.C. old.

istanbul // topkapi palace + a turkish man

18 October 2012

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Sadly, the Turkish government doesn’t allow you to take pictures of all the fun things in the Topkapi Palace. We lost count of the number of times a guard yelled at a cruise ship tourist, “no photo, no photo.” So pretend like you see photos of glass boxes with emeralds the size of limes and swords that may or may not have been about five feet long. No seriously, it was almost as tall as me. Besides the amazing things insides, the grounds, the intricacy of the tiles/inlay/etc and the views were amazing. Also great were the reminders not to touch the artifacts on the side of the road.

The Patterns. I can’t say enough about the patterns. I couldn’t stop myself from repeatedly saying “oh my gosh how did they do all of this…oh wait, forced labor.” But beautiful nonetheless. The tiles! Everything was tiled. The walls, doorways, ceilings, everything!

And what is a palace without a harem. Because does it really feel like home if you don’t have enough space for your wives, concubines, their children, and…oh, your mother. Awkward turtle. But at least it was pretty.

And then there were those views, amazing, but from the male-only side of the palace…can’t give those women a good view, they could rise up in revolt. Turkish Spring. Too Soon? Maybe.

The best part of the palace included another crazy Turkish man who like all started his conversation with “are you from the states?” After a yes, he responded with the normal follow up of where, we said DC and he asked where. That wasn’t the typical response. So I just go with NE DC, and he announces his son is at GWU. Over the course of our short interaction we learn that he is a rug wholesaler, he and his wife live in Florida, and that he can give us advice on buying a Turkish rug. I laughed and just said, well I can’t actually afford a Turkish rug but they are great. He suggests that I put it on credit, but then came the best suggestion. “How old are you? No, you do not look that old. Do you have a boyfriend? He can buy you a rug? No boyfriend? It is sad that you have been single for so long. Can I set you up with someone? I know men in Washington. Not the kind of men you know. They are older, they have money, they buy you Turkish carpet.” Oh my lord all I could think was yes that really just happened.

Next time, Ann & Whitney get on a boat, run around an island and face Whitney’s horrible fear of dying from a tall place.

istanbul // a mosque + some tales

16 October 2012

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Our first glimpse of the Blue Mosque happened the first night we arrived in Istanbul. Ann and I made it to our hotel after overnight flights and a wild, nausea inducting shuttle ride, so the need to stretch our legs was great. It should be noted that we arrived in Istanbul sans a Turkey Guide book and, well, we won’t note that I only had about $75USD due to a bank fiasco…clearly planning wasn’t on my side for night one. Thus, we set out with the decision that we would only walk straight down the road with the tiny postcard sized map from the hotel in hand so not to get lost on our first outing. After about five minutes we emerged onto a square and poof there was the Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque right in front of us. It was an amazing and well-illuminated site.

Fast forward to our first full day and we had lots to see which included a trip to the Blue Mosque and meeting by far one of the funnier Turkish men (in comparison to the annoying ones that inspired lots of Minnesota niceness and even more California annoyance…I’ll let you guess who was who).

So in addition to finding the Blue Mosque, we also picked up a friend while searching for the visitor’s entrance. A mini tour of the Blue Mosque, photos and the line “let me have your camera and I will go where visitors can’t go and take special pictures” later (we clearly gave him Ann’s camera as I held his shoes as a guarantee), he led us to Jennifer’s Turkish Towel shop. Jennifer the Canadian. My English speaking soul sang with a joy that can’t even be imagined. Shopping! Textiles! English! I think Ann may have laughed at how gleeful I was. My bank account left a little lighter.

Oh, and there was mid day break for lunch and some tea. I’m telling you, tea…everywhere! Epic fail when you’re the girl that doesn’t really do hot beverages. Needless to say, every waiter loved Ann and was annoyed with me, or that could be my complete inability to put up with the offers to have someone “teach me turkish”…
I may not have see Taken, but I know how this whole “teach you the language” thing goes, it’s called you go on vacation get and kidnapped/offed. Maybe. Back on topic now.

Next up, Ann and Whitney go to a palace. And maybe do some more shopping. (It’s me on a vacation, do we expect anything less).

istanbul // aya sofia + a cool cistern

10 October 2012

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Picking my favorites from this trip was way harder then I than I thought it was going to be. But you know, for the good of the blog I persevered, you can thank me never, I mean later. From 700 photos down to 200 and then down to what you will see over the next few days, starting with the aya sofia and basilica cistern. Enjoy!

I wonder what fun sites of Istanbul I will come up with tomorrow? Maybe a few sweeping views of the city.

blogshop // video + a turkey teaser

2 October 2012

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At the beginning of September, I got to go on a trip. No, not vacation, although I did that too. Nope…I went off to the magical land of blogshop. A wonderland created by Bri Emery and Angela Kohler to teach people, in two days, the greatness that is photoshop. After spending a day with them in LA as a part of Feet First, I jumped at the chance to head up to NYC for a one-day learning adventure into the new video editing features in CS6 and of course I couldn’t miss out on taking a photo or two or twenty to capture the day.

A few of my favorite instagrams from the day.

Needless to say, after an awesome day with an equally awesome group of people, it was time to take my newly developed skills on the road. So I hopped on a plane and flew to Turkey that very night (convenient how that worked out, isn’t it?) So here is a little teaser of a week in Turkey with Ann, brought to you by the photoshop skills learned at blogshop.

*Also, as an aside: blogshop is hosting a contest for the best video of our group, and knowing how competitive I am you can have no doubt that I am in this for the win. Also, this video is my official entry for the blogshop photoshop contest. Wish me luck!

throwing cake

Category Archives: Life

shine as brightly as the sun

let’s go // ephesus

deb + pumpkin doughnut muffins

foodie friday: turkey // eats

life break.

prince islands // heybeliada

istanbul // topkapi palace + a turkish man

istanbul // a mosque + some tales

istanbul // aya sofia + a cool cistern

blogshop // video + a turkey teaser

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