A Little Bit of This...

and a little bit of that is probably how this post will turn out.

It is so hard to believe that my daughter is the same age I was when I graduated high school and began my first full-time job. She came home yesterday wearing her new class ring and will be visiting colleges soon. To my relief, she still has one more year to go before she takes off on her own. I need to soak up every minute that I still have left with her before she does leave. 

This picture of her was taken years ago during one of our trips to the beach. I played with it on my phone using the Instaframe app. That and Aviary are my go-tos for quick mobile processing. What I need though is photo editing software for my desktop.  I'm not sure whether to get Photoshop or LightBox but am thinking about trying out the limited version of LightBox first.

Speaking of photography, I really want to save up for a mentoring session with Caroline at NoWordz Photography. Her photos and processing are absolutely gorgeous and I've often wondered how she creates her soft, dreamy images. She's offering one-on-one mentoring via Skype, or you can have one or two friends join you for a group session. If anyone is interested in a group session, let me know! I'm absolutely positive that it will be a great experience. If you'd like to see some of her images, click here.

Did I mention like 1,000 times already that I saw Ellie Goulding in concert recently? My daughter and her friend wanted to go, and I figured if I went with them I wouldn't have to worry about her being on the road late at night. (Yep, I'm that kind of worrier.) So I drove. And after letting the two out of the car to get in line, I promptly drove across a sidewalk and right off the curb to get to the parking lot on the other side.

You do start to realize your age when you stubbornly decide to stand in front of the stage with the teenagers and 20-somethings, so you can be in the midst of the excitement. After an hour or so of being jostled a bit by the eager fans, I was looking up at the balcony seats with a little longing. But it was fun. Afterwards, we decided to step next door from our hotel for a late night dinner at a Waffle House. The valet at the hotel assured us that it was safe. "They have security," he said, "and we're right here." Maybe the fact that they needed an armed policeman at the restaurant was a sign.

Oh, and the opening act, St. Lucia, was pretty amazing, too. They reminded me of Tears for Fears. Remember them, or did that just totally date me?