Friday 5 [Wenatchee photography + design]

1. Got a few new fonts from my favorite foundry. Letterhead Fonts are created by professional designers and artists. Most are authentic reproductions of period fonts with full character sets and beautiful kerning. Each LHF font is not only unique, but also versatile and practical. When I used to manage the Photoshop and Illustrator tech support teams for Adobe, one of our constant refrains concerning fonts was "you get what you pay for. Free isn't always free." A lot of tech support calls are necessary because of (bad) font issues. LHF fonts are NOT those fonts.
   
2. It's beginning to look (feel) a lot like Christmas! OK, not quite yet (it does feel like it though), but I was dropped smack into the middle of holiday spirit when I discovered my Sirius radio has a couple all-holiday-music channels! Channel 4 is classic holiday tunes (my favorite) and channel 17 is more contemporary. This photo, from last year, reminds that this season will come and go too quickly. My beautiful daughter and new son-in-law are getting to come home from Kentucky for a few days at Christmas and I am going to relish every. single. second. Going to do my best to live in the moment and soak in the season with them.
3. The above-mentioned beautiful daughter and son-in-law have a new baby. Meet Harlo. German Shepherd and possibly Husky mix, he is whip smart and quite possibly the cutest puppy ever.
4. Anyone who knows me knows I am a lip balm fiend. I don't have one. Or two. Or three. I am being totally honest in saying I probably have more than a dozen in assorted purses and locations, and more likely a couple dozen. I probably buy 1-2 a week. This Mentha Supreme by Bigelow (bought at Bath and Bodyworks) is my new favorite. The scent and flavor is amazingly fresh and it's just the right amount of shiny without being sticky. Now I need all the flavors!
5. Saw this on Pinterest and I'm sorry, but it slays me. I am a big fan of funny voices and accents (ask my kids how annoying it can be) and THIS is how I say "finger puppet." You can't say this without using a slightly creepy serial killer voice and this spelling NAILS IT!

Friday 5 [Wenatchee photography + design]

I totally forgot to post this earlier. Oops!

1. We went to Coeur d"Alene, ID for our 15th anniversary last month. One of our favorite shows is Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" and two of the restaurants featured on his show are located there. We ate at one of them THREE times, it was so good. Capone's in Cd'A (and they also have one in Post Falls, ID) was the bomb! So, SO good! Pictured below was the Black and Bleu burger with garlic fries. Seriously these fries were amazing. I felt bad for my hubby that on our anniversary I was eating garlic fries every chance I got. Lucky he loves me! The other place, Jimmy's Down the Street, was also delicious. It was more a breakfast place, so we only made it there once. The Pecan and cinnamon rolls were fresh  made every morning and about the size of your head. So good. The chicken fried steak was probably the best I've ever tasted!
2. The week after, we went to Boise, ID to visit my parents. I am a graduate of BSU and wanted to take my family through the campus. Man has it gotten bigger. Of course, I graduated, um, a FEW years ago. (cough...more than twenty.)
3. The next weekend we saw Bill Cosby in concert. So fun, he's still got it. A master story-teller! (photo from his website.)
4. What I drew on the cover of my new calendar for 2013. My motto for the coming year.
5. This summer was tough. I went up and down the same 5 lbs. over and over. But, this has become a lifestyle for me, it's not a "diet" that I am on. I cahnged the way I eat and the frequency in which I move, get serious exercise every day. Eventually those 5 lbs realized I wasn't quitting, LOL, and they gave up and let go. Now, on to the next 5...

Friday 5 [Wenatchee photography + design]

1. So, yesterday we had to say goodbye to our oldest daughter as she heads to her new life with her Army husband in the very far-away state of Kentucky. Easy to say it was one of the toughest days I've ever had. Of course, I am excited for her to "start her life" but I would be lying if I didn't say it breaks your heart when they finally go. We love you Shadey-shoe, more than you can possibly know until the time when you have babies of your own and experience that gut-wrenching emotional tie to another living being. You are amazing and a big reason why I am the person I am today. You were the first to make me a mom and it's totally honest to say I learned as much from you as you from me.
2. Linda Woods and Karen Dinino are two of my favorite authors. They write books about art and life and a lot about their love for cookies and Trader Joe's and, as sisters, for each other. Their latest book, You Rule: The Art of Taking Charge, recently came out and I was thrilled to create a piece inspired by it and them. Their stories of current predicaments and vivid memories of a self-described erratic childhood help share their wit and wisdom while encouraging us each to take charge of our own lives. They are big proponents of journaling as art and each of their books go further in helping you get out your own story in your own way. It was a great exercise for me to try and document a few of the "rules" that I try to love by. Things I've never really put into words but help guide me anyway, when I take the time to really listen to my own heart and head.
3. We got a new car. And by we, I mean, my husband talked me into it, but I get to drive it mostly and at first I thought it unnecessary and then we roadtripped in it and OHMYGOSH I LOVE IT. A Ford Edge in the most delicious magical raisin color. A red-brown-cinnamon-mexican-hot-chocolate-mole-sauce and fresh plum COLOR that I can't really describe without all those food adjectives. And the whole roof is one big sunroof that opens up and lets in the breeze and it has navigation and Sirius radio and when my cellphone rings it answers it in the car so I can just talk through the stereo and, did I mention I LOVE this car?
4. Just documenting my complete love for blueberries right now. They've always been my favorite fruit, but growing up but that just really meant "I love Betty Crocker blueberry muffins." We live near a pretty awesome U-pick blueberry farm and they are the biggest, sweetest berries you'll ever have. No kidding, look at these pics, they're as big as quarters!
5. Haven't had a whole lot of movement on the scale front for a while, bouncing up and down through most of the summer. I suspect that's because I've lost a lot and now is when it starts to slow down. I'm down 65 lbs and want to lose about 50 more. Still a lot of work ahead of me, but, since it's just a part of my lifestyle now, I have no doubt I'll get there someday since I'll just keep on keepin' on. 65 lbs is 25% of my previous weight, I have lost one-fourth of me!

Friday 5 [Wenatchee photography + design]

1. We have a new Army Infantryman to be proud of. Shade’s boyfriend, Eric, graduated from basic training last week and is headed to his first post in Ft. Knox, Kentucky. I’m a Navy brat by birth and a long time ago I was an Air Force wife. I know the life of a military family can be full of equal parts pride and fear. We are thinking of you and all your brothers and sisters serving on our behalf.
2. Been hiking a couple times a week and seeing views like this, literally, in my own backyard, makes me so grateful to live in this valley. The best decision I ever made on my own was quitting my job in Seattle and giving “two weeks notice” so I could move here. I didn’t even have a job, but somehow it all worked out.
3. Our little valley lost a super young man this week. I did not know him personally, but both of my older daughters were close with him and I’ve heard many funny stories over the years. JD, you are loved and missed by SO MANY PEOPLE.
4. Funny thing about Larabars. I tried one a couple years ago and didn’t like it. Then I got mostly serious about eating right (I try to follow a paleo lifestyle now) and after awhile it’s like my tastebuds reset themselves. Foods I would never eat before (most vegetables) are now delicious. My sweet tooth, GONE. Like many of you, I thought that was impossible, a genetic joke I was born with (baked goods and ice cream were the best tasting things on the planet to me,) but I can attest that it can change. I don’t crave that stuff anymore and am rarely tempted, indulging only very infrequently (and often feel sick afterwards.) I heard about Larabars and thought I’d give them a try again, because they are (usually) made from only 2-4 whole food ingredients, like dates, nuts and fruit. Maybe they changed their recipe? I don’t know, but they have a lot of flavor varieties and I’ve loved every one I’ve tried. Apple Pie and Cherry Pie are my favorites. (ETA: Unrelated to this, but related to Paleo, I just found this AWESOME story at Mark's Daily Apple, a main paleo blog. This young man's story is so inspiring: A Primal Comeback.)
5. Things are clicking for me right now and weight loss has seemed almost effortless (almost.) I don’t get how I can do the same activities and eat the same foods and then suddenly it seems to melt off, when earlier weeks went by with hardly a budge. The human body is a big mystery to me, but I’ll take what I can get while I’m gettin’ it. Fifty-five pounds is now in the rearview mirror and 60 is fast approaching.

Friday 5 [Wenatchee photography + design]

A few days past Friday, but not too big a deal, I'm thinking.

1. Instagram comes to Android devices. So happy to have this now, been waiting a long time. I'm posting shots daily, so if you wanna' follow along, please follow me at "TonyaDoughty." I'd love to follow you too!
2. Did you know you can grow your own green onions from the ones you bought at the grocery store? After you chop the greens off, set the bottom white part into a glass of water. Keep them in a sunny windowsill and they grow SUPER fast. My daughter used a dry erase marker to mark the height on the window and we regularly mark it, go to bed and wake up to 1/2"-1" taller onions. I've heard of some people keeping them going for months, but for us, we usually get about 3 full "uses", ie: Cut them all down to use (we freeze them if we don't need them immediately), put them in the water, wait for them to grow a good length, repeat until they dont seem to be growing well anymore. Not that green onions are expensive, but every little bit helps, right?
3. A certain cool magazine might be using a piece of my art in one of their issues. Cool!
4. Totally Rad actions used one of my "recipes" (I named it Peechy Keen,) on their site. I've talked about them before, they truly make post-processing not only easier, but more fun.
5. I am doing really well right now. I can only attribute the new found success to the change in my diet (the word diet meaning the way I eat, not a short term thing,) which is about 80/20 paleo. I TRY for 100% paleo, but don't always get there. 80/20, plus my normal exercise routine, is really working and I am loving the results. I am already close to 50 lbs as I write this, hoping to be able to say that next week.