Kat Eye Studio

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Cupcakes with a Cherry on Top

Did you know, that frosting doesn’t exist in Italy? At least not the yummy butter cream frosting we make in the US using lots of confectioner’s sugar. In most stores you only find small little packets of confectioner’s sugar, like the size of taco seasoning packets, for sprinkling a little bit on top of your sweets. So we were happy to find cupcakes with yummy frosting in England. We stopped into this tea room in the afternoon for a spot of tea and a sweet. Mmmmmm….

And today I have another “sweet” to share with you. Earlier this week my friend Karen gave me a Cherry on Top blog award. How sweet of her! I loved being honored in that way on her blog, and I want to continue the good vibes by fulfilling the requirements of the award myself.

First, thanks go to Karen! Stop by her blog and say hi. She is a wonderful photographer and a talented papercrafter. She is one of my longer-term online friends, we’ve been sharing our love of photography together since taking an ecourse in 2007.

Second, I am supposed to list three things I love about myself. Why is this so hard to do? Let’s see, I love my positive outlook on life, that I make the most of opportunities that come my way, and that I am a good learner. That last one has served me well over and over again in life.

Finally, pass the award along to bloggers you love. This is the very best part, because I’ve been wanting to share with you some of the amazing inspiration I see every day here in the blogosphere, and this has given me the motivation. I can’t list them all, but here are a few that have enjoyed reading on a regular basis.

Gina of Here and Now. I found Gina through the Creative Every Day challenge (which deserves a nod of its own) and have enjoyed getting to know her through her blog of photos and travels. It is her admitted love of chairs, and the fact that I enjoyed seeing her periodic chair pictures, that made me realize that others may not get bored if I post more than one window picture or doorstep picture. In fact, they may even like it. It doesn’t all have to be about variety, it’s ok to have a “theme” that you are inspired to capture and share. That realization has been part of my creative journey and finding my eye photographically. Thanks for that Gina!

Patty of Nomadic Notebook. I connected to Patty earlier this year through the Flying Lessons e-course, and I love the images and words she posts on her blog. Her words always remind me to live consciously, in the present, and her passion to help others connect with their true selves really resonates with me! I am inspired by what she is doing.

Veronika of Notes to Self. I think I’ve run into Veronika online in various venues, but I remember specifically finding Veronika’s blog because she was commenting on my Croatia photos. Croatia is her home country, and I wanted to see who this was commenting. I was captured by her illustration style and have fallen in love with the words that she adds to them. They add a twist on the image that never fails to captivate me!

While I normally don’t participate in chain letter-like emails or notes on Facebook, and this blog award is similar, I couldn’t pass up the reminder to say “thanks” to a few of the people who have inspired me with their art or their words.

I hope you all enjoy your cupcakes today, with a cherry on top.

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Fresh and Juicy

So red. So fresh. So juicy. So delicious. I’m not usually a big cherry fan, but even I like these cherries. We picked them up last week, while driving through the hills outside of Vicenza. We just wanted to see the countryside, and it turns out we were in a region that grows cherries. And they were ripe. And we saw a roadside stand. So, since Patrick loves cherries we did a u-turn back to it and bought their minimum amount for 10 Euro – 3kg (for us Americans, that’s 6.6 lbs). That’s a lot of cherries!

I took this photo for a photo challenge with the theme of “fresh” and it makes me smile. Maybe it’s the color. Maybe it’s the story. Not my usual shot, but at least they are Italian cherries!

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Mmmmmm….

Have I mentioned food lately? Living in Italy and travelling in Europe has been such a sensory experience, a delight for the tastebuds in addition to the eyes. It’s often difficult to capture the beauty of the food – the lighting, the crowd of people, reflections of glass – but this window display in Assisi let me capture it beautifully. All I can say is – Yum!

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Sunday in Milano

Sunday we went into Milan for a short jaunt… I wanted to see an art exhibit, I chose “Goya and the Modern World” and Patrick and Brandon wandered a little bit. It is fun to go into the city, there is such a different energy. I still find myself self-conscious of taking pics in some places, like on the Metro. I need to get over that. Repeat to self: “I am a photographer. I can take photos in any situation. I do not feel self-conscious. I will never see these people again.”

Corso Vittorio Emmanuele II, one of the big shopping streets. (OK, there are quite a few big shopping streets in Milan.)


Spring fashion!

We love the Metro. Such a big city experience for us small town folk.

I wanted a picture of me in my simple Italian style (jeans tucked into tall boots, black wool coat) with some of Milan behind me. After a bit of direction, Patrick got it for me!

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It’s the Real Thing

Coke. And thankfully, it’s the European thing, since we don’t like Pepsi. I like this image from Pavia for the overall composition, and the image of the Coke logo (which is everywhere here) along with Patrick studying the map (which is a regular occurence as we travel around). Just kind of symbolic of our time here.

I almost forgot the update today! Patrick just reminded me. Darn those earlier meetings at work, messing up my mornings. 🙂

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