Dancing statue

Not sure what to call this one (and feel that "dancing statue" doesn't do it justice). Any suggestions for a new title? This picture along with "Cactus & hidden window", "Casa Rodena Winery" and "Idle Thoughts" were all recently picked up by Hallie's Garden in Cambridge, MA. They should be available for purchase there in the next week or two. Enjoy!

El cielo

Ah...el cielo. It's one of my favorite words in Spanish (meaning "heaven"). The inside of the store was like heaven to me, full of comfy beds, bath gels, and terry cloth robes. But since I couldn't afford anything inside "cielo", I walked outside and took this picture. I love the way the sky & tree branches are reflected in the glass above the store's sign. That and the fact that the door to heaven was wide open. We can only hope...

Western Wildlife Art

I love this photo for its shabby/mangy feel. Notice the crazy roots climbing the wall at the bottom of the photo, the rudimentary homemade sign, and how everything seems to be off-balance. While this wasn't done intentionally, I think the picture seems to effectively capture the "wild" in the Wildlife Art.

Poco a poco...

This spot was in Old Town, Albuquerque. I love that "Poco a poco" ("Little by little") is painted over the entrance to the stores. Like the bronze statue (see below), there are things around town to indicate that life is just a little slower down in New Mexico...in a good way. People take their time there; I found it to be a good reminder to us New Englanders who rush around so much, stressed out that we're not moving fast enough, working hard enough, or making enough money. "Poco a poco" reminds us that things happen as they should.

Casa Rondena Winery

Within the first 24 hours of being in New Mexico, my father insisted that we stop at a winery. The first day at the winery was great (who doesn't love to do a little wine tasting at noon on a Sunday?) but when he decided to revisit the same winery a few days later, I decided to go out back and take some pictures of the owner's property. This structure (which looks like something you might see in Rome) is in the vineyard owner's backyard. Pretty nice.

Cactus & hidden window

This is a relatively simple image that captures the ubiquitous cacti of New Mexico. I also like the fact that the tree is obstructing the window so that it's not clear what's inside.

"Idle Thoughts"

This is a picture I took during my recent trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I was struck by the beauty of this statue (there are bronze statues all over the city but this one caught my attention because of its somewhat controversial nature). The statue was a series of three --the other two said "Faith or Fear" and "Truth or Illusion"-- but "Idle Thoughts" was by far my favorite. I also like how the picture unintentionally captures the statue pointing to the wooden chair in the background as if to say, "Take a load off and just chill out".

Getting off track...

The blog theme lately seems to be all things Maeve-related so I thought you might enjoy checking out the website for this cool Chicago restaurant: www.maevechicago.com.

More pictures coming soon!

Warm Sunny Hawaii

I don't know about you but I have a hard time dealing with the bitter cold New England weather. It's the kind of cold that penetrates your skin right down to the bone. On some of the coldest days, I find myself staring at my thermostat in disbelief, wondering how it can possibly read 68 degrees when I'm wearing my hat and scarf indoors. It doesn't feel warm in my apartment yet if I touch the radiator, I could quite possibly burn the flesh off of my hand. Poor insulation is a age-old Boston architectural dilemma, I suppose. It probably doesn't help that I have frostbite in my left foot, an old skiing "accident", and one that was exacerbated by spending the night at my old Somerville apartment after my landlord decided to stop paying the heat bill and instead, use the money to take a Hawaiian cruise with his wife. Which brings me to the photo of this beach...I took this one when I was in Maui for a friend's wedding in June of 2004. The bride held a yoga class on this beach before the "big day". It was by far, the best wedding I've ever been to. Just looking at this photo makes it seem a little less cold outside.

Colorful Yarn

This image caught my attention simply because the shop owner decided to hang yarn on the wall outside of his shop. I considered the bundles of yarn to be a work of art all by themselves but I especially loved the juxtaposition of the sunset-colored yarn and the green plants in the foreground. The graffiti on the wall behind the gate and the various shadows at play add even more dimension and texture to this photo.

Inishere, Ireland

Here's a photo I took of Inishere, the smallest of the Aran Islands. The ferry that took us to the island that day got tossed back and forth like a plastic toy in a kid's bathtub. Seasickness aside, this caused huge waves to crash onto the deck and soak the passengers. Unfortunately for my mother, the waves always seemed to hit the deck right where she was standing. Once we got to land, my mother had to take off her socks and wring them out.

Parliament at dusk

I took the photo above right after getting off of the London Eye. It was a matter of perfect timing. For information on the Eye, go to: http://www.londoneye.com/.

Butterfly Car

I found this car while walking down a side street in Rome (June, 2005). I'm pretty sure it was right around Campo de Fiori, the daily market where they sell fresh flowers, fruit, vegetables and fish.

Cliffs of Mohr

This is one of the most impressive and breathtaking sights you will ever see in your lifetime. It was extremely windy the day I took this photo and I remember seeing a man standing precariously close to the edge of one of the cliffs looking down at the rough water below.

Windows in Ireland

I know they say the Irish people are small, but the one with the thatch roof really was the tiniest window I'd ever seen. Were they designed this way out of necessity or for security?
I found the second window interesting not only because of the geraniums but because of the reflection of the sign from the store across the street.

Telephone Booths

This is a photo I took of bright red twin telephone booths in London. Why two? And do they still function in this day and age? While a friend pointed out that this makes a great Valentine's Day card, I love the solitary feeling of this photo and the way you can see the shadow of leaves against the building.

Rocky Beach

This is a photo I took of the beach on Galway Bay. My family stayed at a friend's cottage across the street from this beach in Fanore, Ireland, in August, 2003. (Fanore is such a small town, it's not even on the map. It's home to about 80 people and the one pub in town, O'Donohue's, is always full of locals, gripping their pints of Guinness and spontaneously singing to no one in particular.) Our little cottage was made even more unique by the fact that its only working bathroom was actually an outhouse (but a really nice one, as far as outhouses go). Even still, it was difficult for the five of us to share one bathroom. I also wasn't crazy about the silverfish that slithered up the shower drain, threatening to touch our bare feet.

Fruit Stand

This is a photo I took of a fruit stand in London while I was there visiting my brother in 2003. If you look closely, you can see the cashier looking at me through the window, wondering why on earth someone would want to take a picture of fruit. I think what makes this one unique is the way the baskets are wrapped in bright pink tissue paper.