Shutterbug Mama

Love Thursday--Finding Family

Published by Sarah-Ji on Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 12:58.

It's Love Thursday on Shutter Sisters, folks, and here's my submission. This is Cadence with her BFF Rudden. These two have been friends since before Cadence could walk, and their devotion to each other is deep and wide. Just try separating them when it's time to go home, and you'll know what I mean.

Rudden's mom is my very good friend Amy. She has been a source of strength and encouragement to me over the past couple of years, and I am so grateful for her friendship. We are learning together how to find family and community among people who were once strangers.

Last night, we did this by gathering together at our church and sharing a meal. We hope to do this regularly so that we may deepen relationships and spur one another on, whether it's to dismantle our fears or to share hope and love or to share in traditions old and new.

The simple act of taking time out from our hectic lives to cook and eat together, or to wash dishes together, or to play together--I believe these are things that will help me find family. And I am so blessed to have landed amongst a group of folks who are characterized by their arms open wide, just like their hearts, who delight in conspiracies of hope and love, who are overflowing with creativity, who make me happy simply to be...

Go soak in more love on Love Thursday at Shutter Sisters.

Labels: i.heart.berry.church, i.heart.my.friends, love.thursday, shutter.sisters

Best Shot Monday--Love Notes To A City

Published by Sarah-Ji on Monday, January 28, 2008 at 05:52.

Some of you are already aware of the Love Notes To a City project that started spontaneously by Krystyn Heide and Jen Lemen. You can read about it on Krystyn's blog here, here and see photos here. You can read about it on Jen's blog here and see photos here.

When I read about this, my heart let out a resounding YES! I've recruited some co-conspirators, and I'm hoping that we'll be able to do this here in Chicago in the coming days leading up to Valentine's Day.

Here's what I wrote for my friend Tim to post on Facebook to gather more co-conspirators.

"Loneliness. Despair. Hopelessness. Depression. War. Fear. We are surrounded and bombarded by forces that would rob us of our joy of life, our sense of community, our faith in humanity, our hope in love. But what if someone were to plant words of hope, small tokens of love, in our dreams and hearts and waking life? What if, as we picked up the cream at our local coffeehouse, or grabbed that can of chicken noodle soup at Trader Joe's, or looked through the Nick Drake section at the record store, we found a note--an anonymous love note--maybe with a piece of chocolate even, and what if that little note contained the words we needed to hear to bring us one tiny step closer to wholeness? What if people in our city started finding these notes in random places left and right?

Think of it as Guerrilla Art. Think of it as Love in Action. Think of it what you like. If this resonates with that secret chamber in your heart that longs for something more in this life, join in the Love.

You can do this on your own, with family and friends, or with strangers. Some of us will be making a concerted effort to leave these notes w/ some chocolate at various places in our neighborhood during a couple days leading into Valentines Day."

And for once, I will submit just this one photo as my Best Shot for the week. Feel free to join in the love in your own neighborhoods.

Go see more folk's Best Shot's on Tracey' Mother May I.

Labels: best.shots.monday, hope, love.notes.to.a.city

Date Night

Published by Sarah-Ji on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 09:25.

My mom came over Friday night to give Ted and me a break. I love my kid, but I can't even remember the last time Ted and I had a meal in a restaurant WITHOUT Cadence. It's been WAY too long, that's for sure.

Ted had just gotten a growler of homebrewed tripel from a professional brewer friend of our friends' the night before, so we decided on a nice BYOB restaurant called Los Nopales in Lincoln Square. I never thought much of fish tacos until I tried their tilapia tacos. If you live in the Chicago area, I HIGHLY recommend it.

As expected, the food did not disappoint. The ceviche was scrumptious. It's not as limey as most ceviche I've had. It had a bit of a sweet tanginess that was just right. At one point, I prepared to throw a fit when I thought our waiter was going to take that bowl of ceviche away while there were still a couple morsels of pure goodness left, but lucky for him, he was only removing our appetizer plates to make room for our entrees.

The entrees were a feast for the eyes and just as tasty. I'm pretty sure that the dishwashers have an easy job at this joint because everybody probably licks their plates CLEAN. I know we did.

It was nice to have an uninterrupted adult conversation for a change. Ted and I both have big dreams these days, and it was exciting to share each other's enthusiasm.

It's easy to get so swept up in the swells of the day-to-day busyness of life (esp. life with a rambunctious three year old) that you feel like you're barely able to come up for air every now and then. I think Ted and I really needed this evening together, to reconnect even just a little bit and to remind ourselves of each other's respective awesomeness. And having yummy food while we were at it was an added bonus!

Labels: around.town, family, teddy, this.busy.life

Love Thursday

Published by Sarah-Ji on Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 06:50.

It's Love Thursday over at Shutter Sisters, and this is my submission. I absolutely love how Cadence's hair swirls into delicatle curls during bathtime. Melts my heart every time. See what else folks are loving over here.

Labels: love.thursday, photos, shutter.sisters

How to Dismantle Fear

Published by Sarah-Ji on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 23:39.

I recently saw this on my beloved inspiration Jen Lemen's Flickr stream, and it hit me like a timely prophetic word. Dismantle Fear. DISMANTLE. FEAR. Yes, THAT is what I need to do. Take apart my fears one by one, render them powerless in my life. And maybe in doing so gain some hiddens morsels of insight as to who I am and where these fears have grown from and how to transplant courage and hope and trust and joy into those places where fear once had its roots.

Obviously, this will be no overnight task. You see, I am a woman of many fears. Spending your most formative years in a fundamentalist cult, being hurt in ways no child should ever be hurt, failing at relationships that you thought would last forever, watching your dad waste away before your very eyes. These are things that tend to plant seeds of fear in a person, seeds that eventually grow into stubborn weeds.

Well, I've started my personal process of Dismantling Fear, and I've decided to begin with the Fear of Not Being Worthy Of the Company I Keep. The lovely and talented Tracey of Mother May I presented me with the perfect opportunity to do this by inviting me to contribute to a new online community blog of women photographers called Shutter Sisters. When I looked at the list of amazing women who had already joined forces with Tracey, my first reaction was, "There's no way I'm good enough to be one of them. I'm just a cheesy mommyblogger!" I began my email to decline Tracey's offer. But then I realized that I have avoided being a part of anything that would potentially push my limits a bit and maybe, just maybe, make me GROW a little. I've always been so afraid of not being good enough. And yet, I knew from reading the blogs of these women that while they are intimidatingly talented, they are also kind and supportive and encouraging. So I said Yes to Tracey! And now I'm a Shutter Sister!

I am giddy with the prospects of collaborating with these women and other Shutter Sisters from all over the world, cyber and real. Please check us out! Better yet, join us!

Labels: about.me, bloggers, friends.who.rock, photography, random.thoughts, shutter.sisters

Best Shot(s) Monday--SuperCadence

Published by Sarah-Ji on Monday, January 21, 2008 at 07:10.

I may be a little biased, or I may be a little too interested in the show Heroes, but I just happen to think Cadence is pretty Super. Just look at that smile! I do believe it could melt a heart of steel.

And that jump! I do believe this little sprite knows how to fly.

See more folk's Best Shots at Tracey's Mother May I.

Labels: best.shots.monday, cadence, photos

Sew Therapeutic

Published by Sarah-Ji on Monday, January 14, 2008 at 22:40.

Some of you may remember that I caught the sewing bug some time around last Christmas. To be quite frank with you, I didn't do much more with it after the holidays. Until this past Christmas. I had this idea of making gift sleeves for mix CDs with felt, and it actually turned out to be a lot of fun.

It's been a while since I've used the buttonhole stitch. I'm talking 25 years plus. So it took me forever to figure it out, especially because I didn't know the name of the stitch to search for it on google.

Once my fingers remembered what to do, however, it was pure contentment. I like sewing in straight lines, as there is a meditative quality to the repetitive movements. Yes, I've got callouses on my right thumb and index finger, not to mention more needle pricks that you can count, but it's all good. And I've even gotten a little more ambitious...

I found me this totally awesome vintage shirt at the Salvation Army on Christmas Eve, and I thought it would look pretty rad as a bag with those pockets and the stitching and all. I wasn't sure how to proceed, but I found a very simple pattern for a lined tote bag which I modified to include a zipper.

It's far from perfect, but it was definitely a worthwile learning experience, and I can't wait to make another one, if I happen to find the right shirt.

I won't get into my little journey into felting wool sweaters and making mittens just now, as I haven't got any photos (because I haven't got anything worth photographing). Maybe one of these days I'll be able to salvage that project...

Well, I don't think I'll be getting a booth at the DIY Trunkshow or Renegade Craft fair anytime soon, but it was fun to make something with my hands for a change, instead of just pushing buttons on a keyboard or a camera.

Labels: me.so.crafty

Best Shot(s) Monday--ACTION!

Published by Sarah-Ji on at 12:26.

Anyone who knows Cadence in real life (or virtually) knows that she is little ball of TREMENDOUS energy. It's probably why I'm so tired all the time.

As you can imagine, we start suffering from cabin fever right around this time of year. A 2 bedroom condo is not the best place to unleash the power of the force that is Cadence, so I signed her up for a few classes with the park district, including basketball. Hence the new kicks.

She's only had one class so far, and there was only one other boy her age, and I hear she was more interested in pushing some cart and something about a monkey than in actual basketball, but as you can see, she's a natural.

Now if only I could convince her that our couch is not a trampoline...

See other folks' Best Shots on Tracey's Mother May I.

Labels: best.shots.monday, cadence, photos

Doin' the 9-to-5

Published by Sarah-Ji on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 12:29.

I'm going into work 5 days a week for the month of January cuz it's the crazy month, and with my boss out on leave, it's even crazier this year. I apologize to all my bloggy friends as I'm frightfully behind on all your posts. This has seriously been the longest week of my life; after 3 short weeks in a row due to the holidays and vacation days, working five days in a row (and some of those days longer than usual work days) has wiped me out. There were days I was too busy to even make it to the bathroom.

Anyhoo, that's the situation around here. I sure could use a cookie and a teddy bear. And a latte. Metropolis latte.

Labels: this.busy.life

Best Shot(s) Monday--Proof that Cadence is Hipper Than Moi

Published by Sarah-Ji on Monday, January 07, 2008 at 11:58.

Proof #1--Crazy bedhead hair. I could NEVER get MY hair to do that.

Proof #2--Totally cool flamin' hat.

Proof #3--Notice the flannel snap button shirt beneath her Threadless Tee. And that look of bershon. While holding a balloon.

Proof #4--She always travels with an entourage.

Ok. So all this really has nothing to do w/ hipness. But in my estimation, Cadence has mastered the hip and cool like I never could as a kid. I hope she masters the way of love and compassion and justice as well.

See other folks' Best Shots on Tracey's Mother May I.

Labels: best.shots.monday, cadence

Let It Snow

Published by Sarah-Ji on Friday, January 04, 2008 at 12:31.

When my family moved to the U.S. from Seoul back in 1978, we couldn't have had a harsher winter to initiate us into life in Chicago than that first one we experienced, which just happened to include the infamous blizzard of '79 that fell in January. This was the snow storm that booted the incumbent mayor out of office due to the transportation nightmare that ensued. I remember loving the snow as a kid. I guess all kids do, huh? My friend Ruthy and I must have spent hours playing in it. I don't know how we stood the cold.

I haven't played in the snow in a while, but it's kind of unavoidable if you a) have a kid and b) live in Chicago. This is the first winter that Cadence hasn't been scared of the white stuff, and now she really loves it. She even helped me shovel when it was our unit's turn to be on snow duty for our building. She is happy to just sit at our window and watch the snow come down, down, down, but what she REALLY loves is playing in it. It's one of the few times she is cooperative getting all her clothes on--socks, babylegs, undershirt, sweater, snowpants, scarf, coat, hat, mittens, and boots.

I have to say that seeing her rosy-cheeked, beaming face is totally worth freezing my butt off. Really, joy doesn't get any purer than this. I suppose some day Cadence will be old enough to go out and play in the snow by herself. But I hope I'll be the kind of mom who'll go out and make snow angels or build a snowman or snowfort right alongside her.

Labels: cadence, memory.lane

Happy 2008! And Welcome!

Published by Sarah-Ji on Tuesday, January 01, 2008 at 09:34.

Welcome to the new domain, y'all! This is my first official post on shutterbugmama.com! Hope you guys are as bright-eyed and bushy tailed as Cadence on this first day of 2008.

We had the most boring New Year's Eve possible in our home. Ted and I both had headaches (his was beer-induced, mine was a migraine) all day. Poor Cadence had to fend for herself. I had wanted to take her downtown on the train (it's what she wanted), but my headache didn't go away until around midnight (just in time for 2008!). We stayed in and watched The Straight Story, which is a sweet movie and all, but about the most boring movie you can watch on New Year's Eve. Yeah. We're a dull bunch around here.

That's alright, though. We had enough excitement on Sunday night when we hosted a chili party for (mainly) our Berry Church friends. It was so exciting I didn't take any photos pretty much the whole night, unfortunately. Actually, I kind of feel stupid taking photos at parties, probably because I hate having my own photo taken, but my friend Amy tells me that most folks like seeing photos of themselves afterwards, so now I regret not taking more photos.

Anyhoo, we had around 40 people show up, and Ted made JUST enough chili. It was a lot of fun, and of course the homebrew flowed like we were in the Promised Land. Cadence had a blast, as her friends Fischer, Ada, Rudden and Baby Jack were there, and I was happy because their PARENTS were there. I wish I had taken photos. Did I say that already? Oh well. Next time.

There's a fresh layer of snow on the ground calling our names to be turned into angels, so I gots to go now. Have a wonderful 2008, everyone!

Labels: blogging.schmlogging, friends, i.heart.berry.church, i.heart.my.friends