A few years ago I purchased these stocking holders that were perfect for our little family - Matt, Mojo and myself. I chose “Joy” not thinking about the practicality of the three letters, but because it was my favorite word offered. Unwise, as this year we’ve had an increase in family members, and now Mojo’s stocking has nowhere to hang. Berlin’s stocking has taken his “Y.”

Luckily, Pottery Barn has plain stocking holders for sale in the bronze finish, so Mojo will get one of these. Unpersonalized. Are all first children shafted when the second comes along?

From Daily Daguerreotype

From Daily Daguerreotype

Here’s the triptych that Sarah painted for us to go above our bed. I am absolutely in LOVE with it. I sent her a photo of some other paintings we had in that room, and she matched the colors PERFECTLY as well as adding some orange to make Matt happy. I cannot recommend her paintings any higher. She does beautiful work and you can get original artwork from an up and coming artist for a great deal. Check out her site for more. Thanks, Sarah!

While in Bariloche, we decided to take the funicular to the top of a small mountain and look around because we just couldn’t get enough of the amazing scenery. For some reason, I was so excited to sing “Funiculi, Funicula” that I forgot about the fact that I’m TERRIFIED OF HEIGHTS. I can climb mountains and ride in airplanes; I just get very nervous when there is nothing but a pane of glass between my body and the rocky cliffs below.

The nerves set in halfway up the mountain and I started to feel quite ill. I didn’t want to admit it to Matt so I kept my nausea to myself until we reached the summit. I have never been so happy to get out of a little red cube and into the fresh mountain air as I was that day. I walked around the mountaintop enjoying the scenery but staying very far away from the edge and took this shot of a grisly plant that very accurately mirrored what my stomach was feeling at that very moment.

I basically kept my eyes closed the entire ride down.

From Daily Daguerreotype

From Daily Daguerreotype

My good friend John was dandy enough to let me borrow this gorgeous photo for use in Daily Daguerreotype. There’s a bit of a story behind it that I will attempt to recount.

When he was on his virgin voyage to Thailand, John was struck down with the notorious dengue fever. Having never fought this illness myself, I can’t quite relate to the misery that he must have endured. Regardless, he’s a bit of a wuss, and stayed indoors for the first few days until he was feeling better.

Finally, John emerged from his bungalow (with a clean pair of shorts) to do the crazy rock climbing above the ocean thing that only morons attempt. But he was so taken aback by the beautiful seashells on the shoreline, that he decided to delay his death defying stunts to take his D80 out for a spin - this photo is the result.

John has beautiful photos of not only his trips to the East, but quite a few award-winning shots of Chicago. He often has them for sale, and if you’re interested in viewing them or purchasing any, drop me an email and I’ll put you in touch with him.

Thanks, John, for the photo and also for suggesting I get a Nikon. And all the other good & bad advice you give… unsolicited.

A few weeks ago we took Berlin to our favorite park for a hike to get out some of her excessive puppy energy. We managed to pick the perfect Saturday as the leaves were starting to peak, so we spent the afternoon sucking in the clean autumn air and watching Berlin happily romp down the path.

Since then, the leaves have mostly fallen and turned a nasty shade of grey making our park rather unphotogenic. Not only that, but Berlin was groomed on Sunday, and because I neglected to say anything to the groomer before dropping her off, they gave her face a “poodle cut.” She looks like the most hysterical and embarassing creature to ever walk the face of the planet.

So this photo brings me back to a beautiful fall day when it was truly enjoyable to be outside, and my dog actually looked cute.

From Daily Daguerreotype

From Daily Daguerreotype

I honestly don’t know how someone who loves animals as much as I do can enjoy eating them so much. Especially beef… medium rare.

Basically the only thing on the menu throughout Argentina is beef, beef, more beef, and some pasta. They roast it, they grill it, they butterfly it, they marinate it. And it’s always delicious. Probably because the cows are all grass-fed and pretty much free-ranging.

So along our many beautiful drives through the Andes mountains, we often saw cows grazing right on the side of the road. Since their owners were nowhere in sight, I was constantly jumping out of the car with exuberant hope that I could pet one. Or two. OR ALL OF THEM! But for some reason they were all pretty anti-social and would walk swiftly in the opposite direction whenever I ventured close. So I had to rely on my zoom lens, and didn’t get to pet any of them.

My retaliation was to eat beef just about every night.