this one's for my field trippy friends

Cookie Crunch at midnight (Cereal From a Van you changed my life); expanding friendships that only existed online into a real live sisterhood (ahem Becky, Brooke, Ashley, Aunj, I miss you so much it hurts); making new friends (too many to list, though Wyn you are at the top with jazz hands); and bonding with three badass roommates who will always occupy a little corner of my heart stamped Cabin 243. Indie Film Lab got me well on my way to loving medium format film (totally nailed that focus on Yan's left shoulder, am I right?!) and Tim from Kodak kept my camera loaded with Portra 160. I pushed myself out of my photo comfort zone and almost exclusively shot film (with the exception of the last seven frames of this post, taken on the first day before I remembered my film goal). I'm not entirely happy with the results, but I'm re-learning this whole film thing, and I kind of love that I don't love them because that gives me a place to continue pushing myself. And a goal for next year.

The weather. Can we all just take a moment to talk about how much the good weather changed the whole vibe? I mean yeah, last year we were all in the muck together, and I'm sure plenty of you found joy in that (those of us from the PNW not so much). But that sunshine and warmth brought us all outside and you know what you do when you're outside? You talk to your neighbors, you meet new people, you ride a bike to the beach and get sun kissed shoulders, and you walk into the ocean at 7:00 a.m. in your pajamas because you "forgot" your swimsuit (you also don't ruin your vintage Frye boots because you absolutely refused to pack rain boots for a trip to Southern California).

There was also that evening we piled into Becky's van with bottles of wine and plastic cups and headed to the beach while Logan shouted "Mom's Night Out!" out of the window, and Yan fed my soul (and ego) by giving my a stellar teaching review. That night might have been my favorite.

I have some regrets, I didn't photograph enough people outside of my inner circle, I didn't even photograph everyone IN that magic circle. I didn't spend enough time with a few people I really wanted to connect more deeply with (I'm looking at you Angie S., Caroline G., Sydney M.), but overall Field Trip '15 was beyond expectations, and mine were pretty damn high after last year.

 And yeah, the highlight was teaching. Actually it wasn't. The highlight, just as it was last year, was human connection: a whole lot of chill time with my people without constant interruptions from my [beloved] child or daily responsibilities. But teaching was incredible and I'm going to blog about that in another post, because I think I've said enough for today. Also, I miss you all, Field Trippers, seriously, why can't we do this more often (and now I sound like my kid whining about birthdays).

Smooches, PQ