i just launched a new blogsite... this one won't be updated any more... please head to blog.brookelynphotography.com for all updates from here forward... see you on the other side! xo, brooke

- that was bono... and this is what i've been up working on...

On Saturday, my buddy matthew sumi and i headed to the seattle wedding show to get some free cake and kick it with about 3000 brides to be with their moms and sisters all checking out vendor possibilities for their 2010 weddings... treehouse point has got to be one of my favorite northwest wedding venues. and i was lucky enough for them to use one of my photos as their booth backdrops... if you're from seattle and looking for something woodsy, without being to far of a drive... i can't recommend this venue enough. sure, photography's a skill, but the environment makes half the picture sometime... and this is just about the most picturesque venue ever!

things have been a little quiet around here... well, not actually... it just looks like it on the surface. i had some pretty serious new year type goals and i'm pressing hard to make them work for me... little changes to make big changes in my productivity and management of my days... being more conscientious of how i spend time and what i do with the time i have... because i'm a bit of an artist... and my thoughts wander... and my time's squandered... people always say i'm so productive... but we're the gate keepers of our biggest secrets, and i know deep down that sometimes i only perform at about 50% of my capabilities... so here's what i've been doing...

• firstly, i quit facebook... one of the best decisions of my new year. honestly... it's so freeing. no more late nights looking at pictures of people i barely know or haven't seen in years... no more checking it when i'm bored... getting distracted from the much more important components of my day... apparently i'm not the only one. my sister sent me this hilarious link.

  "...a Dutch website designed to end users' social lives on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn in a spectacular way.

  basically you hand over your passwords, and they methodically delete all your info, put up a noose where your profile pic used to be, and change your login info so you can't get back in.. a little extreme, and no, i didn't go quite that far... but funny nonetheless. and by the way... just an fyi, when one deactivates their facebook account, it's not deleted... it stays there with your photos, contacts, and everything... indefinately.

• my other big focus lately has been better implementing the entrepreneurial time management systeminto my day to day life. i've talked about it and referenced it before, but i'm making a new commitment to abiding by it better. i made an enormous 4x5 foot blackboard, and have been sketching my week like on a calendar. weekends are computer free, and work free except for shoots... mondays are for running errands, meetings, bookkeeping, blogging, and setting up my desk for my three hardcore work days. tuesday, wednesday, and thursday are to settle in and really produce. edit, and finish jobs, submissions, web updates, image organization... and fridays are for more leisurely surfing, tying up the loose ends and winding down. this has been said so many times before, but being more conscientious about taking time away from work, has indeed made the hours i work more focused and more fulfilling... it's one of the hardest things to do, when you're working from home and for yourself to not work a little here and there all the time... but i stopped. because it was making me a little crazy. and i feel so normal, looking forward to my carefree weekend!
• things have been busy though! i'm gearing up for a couple national blog features, so i've been working behind the scenes to get my site into tip top shape. updating, reculling, and rehauling my weddings gallery is a time consuming process but i hope to have it up soon!
  • 8 limbs yogaand i collaborated on another shoot last weekend... and i'm shooting some gorgeous pieces for smersh jewelry designthis weekend...

• treehouse pointis an amazing wedding venue here in the northwest... so i've also been busy getting them together some albums (from this wedding)for them to promo at the seattle wedding show this weekend and beyond.

• meanwhile it's been dumping rain for what feels like is a week straight, and i'm trying to remember how amazing a seattle summer can be... and that this was just a few months ago and can happen again in just a few more...

• this next week is tax preparation, seattle imagery selections for some of theseoffices in d.c., and many more hours of editing and site updating... but honestly all i'm really thinking about are warm sandy beaches, sunshine, swim up bars, and cocktails with little umbrellas in them... the snow bird in me wants to fly south for a little bit... mexico, fiji, and hawaii are all on the brain... makes me tempted to sell a lens and buy an airplane ticket.... xo, brooke

i'll admit it... i'm totally on the foodie, eat local train gang. sustainable, organic, i think it started when my sis recommended this book... sure some of it was heady a little too scientific for me to wrap my brain around... but it was my only reading material on a long flight to africa, so i pummeled through it and landed in addis ababa, ethiopia with a changed thinking about how i was going to shop, cook and eat... then i happened upon this cookbook on a leisurely saturday afternoon shopping day at anthropologie. alice waters and the tenets of her quiet revolution completely converted me...

• Eat locally and sustainably

• Eat seasonally

• Shop at farmer's markets

• Plant a garden

• Conserve, compost, and recycle

• Cook together

• Eat together

• Remember food is precious

yep...minus the garden, i do 'em all... then i joined spud! at the recommendation of a friend... and get my organics delivered doorstep every two weeks. if you live in seattle, portland, los angeles, or san francisco sign up with these guys... i love them.. and the perk is, unlike a lot of organic delivery companies, you can sign up online and custom tailor your order to what you want specifically. price wise it's reasonable... and i don't mind throwing down a little extra to support my local farms... plus having it delivered saves me time and sanity. win/win right? just a couple things to think about next time you're at safeway buying strawberries in january... my next read is going to be another michael pollan bible of rules to live or rather eat by... and i think that apple advice is something everyone should abide by... don't you? xo, brooke

i started writing this huge post... and ran out of time, and have to run out the door... but check back tomorrow for it... i've been spending all day pulling out pics to update my wedding galleries... and this little beauty came along...

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will find them gradually, without noticing it, and live along some distant day into the answer.

• Letters to a Young Poet, Letter 4, rainer maria rilke (16 Jul 1903) trans. by M. D. Herter Norton (1993)