This quote from the documentary "Art in the 21st Century" provided the simple yet profound observation for how I feel about many places in the world, namely Australia.

"But, why do we fall in love with a place? Sometimes its because its exotic and full of energy and other times because its huge and empty and full of possibility; the kind of place where almost anything could happen. I think we fall in love with places for the same reason we fall in love with people, and our reasons are irrational and passionate and hard to explain and sometimes when we fall in love with a place, it becomes part of us forever."

This was a small alleyway I discovered on my own in Melbourne. DeGraves Street brought me much joy, and though this shot is on my website, I wanted to share it as I am planning to go back to Australia in July once again to fall irrationally and passionately into the soul of the city.

... is a French word for a single bite appetizer, or hors d'oeuvre if you will :)
I am extremely fortunate to be on the photographic staff at the James Beard Foundation. This means that at least once a month, sometimes 3x a month, I get to shoot a fancy dinner, and eat it-- ahh one of the best gigs imaginable for a foodie :)

This shot was from the dinner put on by Mark Gallaudet and his crew from the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia on March 23rd. Every chef I've met has been incredibly friendly and kind- Mark was certainly in this category, and the food was of course delectable. I loved the garnishes they used for their amuses- so have just one bite of this Allegheny smoked trout, with crisp pear, and trout caviar :)

Once upon a time... in Honolulu, Hawaii... the best possible concert was dreamt up by the music gods. My sisters' fav band, U2, decided to play with my fav band, Pearl Jam. And all was well in the world :)

A bit fuzzy, but this moment was exciting to see Bono and Eddie on stage together- and yes this is how close I was :) Rock on with me! :)

Hello friends and family! I am back from all my traveling and am finally ready to continue with this blog- appropriately on the subject of ... TRAVEL for this entry :)

I had the incredible good fortune to be able to go back to my hometown of Seattle, Washington for about 5 days at the beginning of the month. I was visiting, while also preparing for my first group exhibition! It was an absolute dream of a trip and I am clamoring to go back as soon as possible. Seattle.... is like a person for whom I have an unwavering affinity for. Seattle is... my home, my roots, a beautiful city that I connect to and cannot wait to continue to discover it as an adult while reminiscing in the days of my youth every time I am there.

I was staying with my friend Amanda in Columbia City (which never existed when I lived there!) and I took the Light Rail and walked all over my lovely city while shooting to my heart's content. This was downtown near Pioneer Square, I couldn't help but turn this into a black and white photo. :) Enjoy my glorious Seattle !

Ahhhh there's no place like your 2 homes! I just arrived back in NY from Seattle for my first group exhibition! Seattle was particularly healing and soothing... we had a fantastic turnout for our show, and I connected with friends old and new. I always find it interesting when I experience reverse culture shock- and there was much discussion about the concept of "home" while I was soaking up the cuisine, my roots, and my undying affinity for the city I was born in. :)

I am following a pattern for this blog, which is: I began with a music image, and then decided to continue with my passions and post food and travel images as well. We land on food for today's entry- because my time in Seattle involved an incredible amount of discussion, cooking, shopping, and eating. While this shot is technically elements of food- I still loved shooting them. These are some lovely herbs and spices shot at my chef friend Rena's home in the Autumn. She has a fantastic sense of food styling and presentation, so I couldn't help but snap a few photos of this for her and for myself.

Does it bring you back to the glorious Autumn ?