My Edit.

I have always loved double exposure photography. When I dabbled with manual photography I loved the accidentally- awesome mistake when the film would stuff up and expose two images on to the one frame. Sometimes it would ruin the photo and look terrible and over-exposed, but sometimes, it created a bit of a masterpiece (usually mine were the former, to be honest). So, I decided why not do the same, but with a bit more control, to some of my favourite digital images? The first photo is one Tim took of me in Halifax, which I put some pretty autumn leaves over, because I love leaves! That first one was just using an image off photoshop, but in the below ones I used two images I had taken myself to create the effect.

This was a bit of a fave of Tim and I on the ferry from Sausalito over to San Fran Sisco. I decided to try two different images on top- the first one an American Flag graffiti we found, also in SF, and below, some magnolia flowers from the same trip. Not sure which I like best, but in the first one both images are pretty strong so maybe they're not that balanced.. but I like it anyway!

Then I decided to turn my pretty flower Nicola into a pretty flower!! Hehe I love this one, she looks so cute. The flower pic was one I took on a recent trip to the Pialago nurseries.

I used Adobe Photoshop Elements, and this awesome tutorial, so I'm not going to bother to explain the process (which is actually really easy), if you want to do it yourself, go here!: http://www.bubbyandbean.com/2012/07/tutorial-create-artistic-double.html 

This past weekend was filled with fun events, dancing, gallivanting, camping, bonfires, beach babes and lots of laughs, so I'll have more good photos coming soon that I may just play around with as well!

x

Happy accidents

Our trip ended much like the rest of it went- in a blur of happy accidents. We were planning to have our last few nights in a nice little bed and breakfast in San Fransisco, as a little treat and change from our standard hostel accommodation (which there is absolutely nothing wrong with, most of the time, by the way!). So, with the generosity of Tim's wonderful Mum who gave him a voucher from here (which let us pick a bed and breakfast pretty much anywhere in Canada/US), Tim booked us into a place called Zaballa House.

 It was absolutely adorable. BUT. It was not in San Fransisco! Ha! Which we only realised a week or so before we got there. You see, this place had two locations. One- in San Fransisco near Castro district. The other- in a sleepy little beach town about an hour away, called Half Moon Bay. I guess you can figure by now which one we accidentally booked!

We are so glad we did. Even the bus ride through the rocky, stunning coast was stunning, only to pull up in this adorable little place teeming with hospitality, warmth and relaxation. It was pretty magical.

The town Jail! I presume they don't have too many criminals?!

Most delicious pumpkin and cinnamon-spiced cream cheese cookie of amazingness!I was pretty into it.

Eucalyptus invasion everywhere in the San Fran area!! 

Pleased to see more sun!!

The night before we left we spent at the local brewery, which was simply awesome!! They had a local grass/blues band playing who was so, so cool, and the beer was delicious! I actually think American beer was much better than I thought- lots of great local breweries around!

Tim sipping on the deadly but delicious wine-like stout.

I liked it too, apparently

Our last day was spent wandering around this sweet little town, passing the local farms and little shops and strolling the beautiful beach.

And eating more pastries. I may have fallen a little in love with the amazing bakery round the corner!

How weirdly awesome are these giraffe sculptures casually hanging out in someones front yard?! I kind of want one!!

Love. I loved Half Moon Bay. I loved the west coast of America with it's relaxed lifestyle and funky cities. I loved the West of Canada with its rugged mountains and stunning nature. I adored the East of Canada and all its unexplored treasures and amazing people. I revelled in the hustle and bustle of the East coast of the States with it's fun, hectic metropolitans. I had the time of my life exploring the beauties of Northern Europe- both familiar and foreign- visiting old homes and cherished friends and family, as well as exploring amazing new territory. I laughed, ate and drank too much in the UK and only wanted more. I laughed so much, and was humbled often by the beauty, simplicity and sometimes overwhelming nature of life in South East Asia. I did it all with my best friend and love of my life, and we met some unforgettable people, and made friends for life.

I'm pretty damn lucky, and I'm grateful for every moment I had in the last 7 months- it was a happy, crazy, amazing whirlwind. x

Iconic

After our first day of exploring pretty much the whole of San Fran on foot (up and down about a million hills, might I add), we decided to switch up our mode of transportation for a day exploring a certain famous bridge and an equally iconic creepy little island.

 We were told SF would be grey, cloudy and rainy at all times. Yet- we had the most glorious few days!! This was the warmest, loveliest day we had seen in about 5 months- damn was I glad to see some sunshine and not have to wear my puffy snow jacket!!

 Pale little ghosties!

 Badass fo sho

 We cycled across the golden gate and over to the little neighbouring town of Sausalito- a super gorgeous, sleepy little seaside town where we had the most delicious salami sandwiches (which I ate so fast I didn't manage to document), and of course- a bottle of wine to go with it (don't worry- we were done with riding by this stage, so we didn't drink and ride!)

 Ice cream for dessert was necessary, clearly! Especially in the delicious sunshine!

We caught the ferry back to the city rather than attempting the (extremely uphill) ride back- gorgeous views of the city included!

 In the afternoon it came time for another ferry ride. Out to... Alcatraz!

 We went on a night tour, arriving in the late afternoon. It started off with a little walking tour up to the main prison, where we were told a bit about the island's history and political significance. Particularly interesting was its history as a place of occupation for native indian protesters during the 60's

Seeing some of those faces and hearing the stories was pretty creepy- some of them were truly quite disturbing. However it interested me greatly that a lot of the people held on Alcatraz weren't necessary the most hardened, sick criminals- some were simply young boys who had been caught on petty offences and subsequently attempted to escape from a different prison, and thereby sent to the 'inescapable' prison island. Of course, some were of the truly nasty category.

One of the scariest inmates

 It was an almost eerie beautiful sunset from the island. Luckily we managed to escape...

x

Flowers in your hair

Our second last stop on our epic trip away was one of the places I had been looking forward to all along- San Francisco! I had heard so many good things about the city from so many people, so I couldn't wait to check it out for myself.

Boy- did it deliver!! I almost instantly fell in love with the place. The weather, the people, the music, the bars, the surrounding nature- it really is pretty special.

We had a (HUGE) wander on our first day. Seriously. We walked pretty much... everywhere!!

We were staying in the famous and very central union square, and from the first wandered down through China town! Which was pretty cool I thought- quite clean (for a China town- in my experience!) and long, with lots of different (well, let's face it, most of the knick-knacks are exactly the same) shops and things to see.

Then we moved into Little Italy, where we stumbled upon this rather impressive church! Incidentally, this is where Marilyn Monroe married Joe DiMaggio!

Of course we had to walk along the waterfront. I always love a city with a good harbour. Having grown up in consistently dry and drought-plagued Canberra, I really appreciate what a waterfront can do for the vibe of a city. The whether, the activities, the atmosphere- it's almost guaranteed to be happening along the water!

Ahhh shhit this was a bit ridiculous- there were like 200 sealions sun baking, squealing, playing dead, roaring and pooping on the wharf- it was the funniest thing! But it was almost even funnier seeing all the tourists (well.. we were included in this for a while..) scrambling to to see them, they were seriously almost falling in/ over each other for the best spot to see the (rather smelly) creatures.

Just a little lollypop ;)

So much awesome street art everywhere! In fact, so much art generally- we perused many a corner art gallery! So much creativity going on.

I thought this was a good background for an impromptu photo shoot. Because I'm just that glaaam! Ha!

The painted ladies. AND a film being shot behind me! Who knows, maybe I'm in the backdrop of something famous.

Mac and Cheese in Castro district! Was actually so yuuummo!

Tim doing as he was instructed! (Yes. He is dancing. Not pretending take a shit. hahaha kidding, babe- you're a great dancer!)

You've seen a lot, I can tell. Wise looking man in a street of murals- really awesome place.

If you're going to San Fransisco... you know how it goes! <3

SO this barely touches on San F- I have so many more photos! So I just might do another post on it! Being that it was definitely one of my favourite places, I think it deserves it!! X