Whoohoo! Over the past few weeks, after attending PPA's photography convention here in Phoenix, I have been ordering products like a madwoman. Now that (almost) everything's finally here, I wanted to be able to showcase them. So here goes!

Canvas gallery wraps. These are awesome to put up on your walls at home. It's art, but more personal if you or your loved one is on it. Samples please? Ok.

I love this 24x38 of cute little Alexis. It just had to be big.

From Products

A 16x20 of Jennifer.

From Products

And for my own personal pleasure, 9x9's of some images I took on our Argentina trip.

From Products

I love the wrap around so that every side of the exposed canvas is covered.

From Products

Next up is the Luna album. This album comes in a black leather box, has thick pages, and is completely seamless so there's no gap between the photos when you want to do a panoramic. Most excellent!
I have silk albums for samples, but it also comes in a variety of leather as well.

From Products

From Products

The seamless pano I was talking about.

From Products

Another new album I'm carrying is the Shiva. It's got the same thick, seamless pages

From Products

From Products

Coffee Table books are a great affordable way to get the magazine layout look inside (where you have multiple photos laid out on a page). The pages are thinner than the albums, but they're a fun way to show off your photos.

From Products

From Products

And finally, calendars! I've been searching around forever for a vendor who would make a good quality calendar. There have been quite a few misses (bad quality photos, cheap paper), but I'm happy to say I love everything about the calendar that this vendor makes. The photos come out great and the pages are thick.
Here's the front cover:

From Products

An inside page. You can personalize dates for each month.

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The back cover.

From Products

And that's all for now! I hope you all make good use of the photos you love by displaying them proudly somewhere instead of keeping them locked up in your computer where no one can see them. =)

Having lived here for 7 months now, I have a newfound appreciation for the desert and all its unique plants. The heat, however, is a different story- and I'm so dreading its return in May. Aaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!! But I digress.

I went to the Desert Botanical Garden a few weeks back to get my fill of cacti, but what's so awesome about the place right now is that Dale Chihuly's glass artwork is displayed throughout the grounds. Chihuly's (I love his name!) work is at places like the Met & the Smithsonian (and he's even been showcased at the Louvre!). How lucky are we here in Phoenix to have his work enhance our desert garden?

Here's a few images of the spectacularness that is Chihuly:

From Desert Botanical Gardens

From Desert Botanical Gardens

From Desert Botanical Gardens

From Desert Botanical Gardens

My best friend from high school, Cristina & her husband Artin, were with us. We had an awesome 3 day weekend together (went to the Suns/Warriors game, played beer pong) and this was their last stop before they headed back to California.

From Desert Botanical Gardens

We all thought this sign was hilarious:

From Desert Botanical Gardens

From Desert Botanical Gardens

From Desert Botanical Gardens

Silly tree huggin' Californians. ;)

From Desert Botanical Gardens

From Desert Botanical Gardens

From Desert Botanical Gardens

From Desert Botanical Gardens

From Desert Botanical Gardens

From Desert Botanical Gardens

From Desert Botanical Gardens

From Desert Botanical Gardens

Mendoza was our last and best stop in Argentina. We stayed at the most beautiful place called Finca Adalgisa in the small town of Chacras de Coria. The place was surrounded by green. Grass, fruit trees galore, and grapevines since they have a small winery there and served their own malbecs.

This is right outside our room.


The finca's grapes were ripe and ready.








We biked to Alta Vista winery on our first day.




If you ever get a chance, try their Torrontes. It's a delicious white.

The next day, we had a choice between hiking in the Andes or going to another winery. We were invited by the winemaker, Dollium, to have lunch at his place. Being dumdums and not thinking, we opted for the hike, because we were there and HAD to hike the Andes. How can you not? (We still beat our heads against hard surfaces for turning down an invitation to lunch with a winemaker though!)

Anyways, we went to the highest peak in the Americas (and apparently, the highest mountain outside of Asia), Aconcagua. Here it is the the distance, snowcapped.







Just pretending. I wish my mind could be still enough to meditate.



And now, a short feature film of Drew's highlight of the day (a must see!):


Puente de Inca. (Puente is bridge in spanish.) The yellow color is from sulfur.

There was a hotel built back in 1925 for the rich to come and enjoy the natural hot springs in the area. It was destroyed by an avalanche a few decades later, but the church nearby still stands. (See it in the background?)

After a long day, all Drew & I were looking forward to was this when we came back to the Finca. (They have an excellent restaurant there!)


The inside of their restaurant. I love that tree in the middle of the room.








Yeah, we liked hanging out there for long periods of time. Good food and good company -can't beat that! (The staff & guests were all great to talk to.)


Sadly, we had to head back to Buenos Aires the next day. Our last full day in Buenos Aires was cloudy and rainy, but we still ventured out to their La Boca district for a short visit. Definitely couldn't pass up all the colors in this hood.








And I'll end with something we see all the time when we travel to other countries, but never here in the States.


The End. If you ever wonder where you should go travel...I'd highly, highly recommend Argentina!!!