Life is Living

Life is Living is an annual festival in Oakland that celebrates the arts, culture and all that is beautiful in our city. It's one of those events that you attend and immediately feel at home. This is my tribe. These are my people. This year, my husband cut a couple's weekend short so that we could attend the festival with our children (and this year we brought Grandma along). And here are some of the images I took that day. As you can see, I was most fascinated by the skateboarders :)

Week 20- 365

Ahh...life. It's so full twist and turns and ebbs and flows.  The last few weeks have been full of wonderful new happenings- an exciting new job opportunity in my field of public health, a renewed commitment to a 5:30am workout routine that also necessitates an early bedtime (no more late night editing sessions), and lots of fun family fun marking the start of summer. It's been a great few weeks, but busy as all get out. As a result, I've fallen a bit behind on the daily posting of my 365. And because it would take a bit of effort at this point to post all the pictures individually, I've decided to post weekly instead of daily. So here it is: my first weekly 365 post.  

129/365: "Mom, while you're making breakfast, I'm going to make a book."

130/365: Hittin' the deck.

131/365: Spying.

132/365: In transition.

132/365: Business lunch.

133/365: Finding new obsessions.

134/365: If there is a heart to be found, this one will find it.

Oakland Photographer- 10 on 10- Let them eat...Pie!

I don't know anyone who loves pie more than my husband, EJ. That man LOVES pie, especially if it's cherry and peach cobbler. So for his birthday, I decided to get him a sweet treat from one of the best bakeries in San Francisco- Mission Pie. I love Mission Pie not only because their pies are divine, but because of what they stand for. They make a point of hiring young people from the community, helping them to build a strong professional foundation.  Mission Pie's commitment to the community is best illustrated in their own words, "We invest in our staff’s growth and compensation and hope that they will be ambassadors of health, fairness, and competence in future jobs. In addition, we collaborate with non profits that seek to reduce barriers to employment by hosting their clients as interns. Interns gain transferable job skills while working on our team, while our staff develop mentorship and leadership skills."  Mission Pie also buys their produce directly from local farmers. It really doesn't get much better than that.  My only wish is that more businesses would adopt the same values.

On the eve of EJ's birthday, I raced from work over to Mission Pie before heading over the bridge to Oakland. I had no intention of taking any pictures, but as soon as I walked in, I couldn't resist. The bakery was so bright and airy and colorful and happy.  If only I could have captured the smell in a photograph.  I had to fight against the urge to order myself a slice of apple goodness, a hot chocolate and a seat at the table by the window.  Alas, I took the shots you'll see below, ordered EJ's pie, and headed on home to enjoy a slice with the birthday boy.

After you've gotten your fill of pie, head on over to check-out Michele's 10 on 10 and see what's she's been up to this month.

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