one year ago today {photographs}

happy easter!

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happy earth day!

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one year ago today {photographs}

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quote of the day {Laurence J. Peter}

Speak when you are angry- and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret.

- Laurence J. Peter

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2011 Annual Stephen C. McCullagh Fund Dinner + Silent Auction

In 2006 I founded the SCM Fund with a small group of friends in honour of our friend Stephen, who was tragically taken from us when he was struck by lighting while leading the local boy scout troop on a 210 mile trek.  

Stephen was one of my closest friends + confidants and hardly a day passes where he doesn't cross my mind for one reason or another.  It breaks my heart that my son, whom I know Stephen would have adored, never had the chance to meet his Uncle Stephen, but T knows who he is and every time that we see a Monarch butterfly we say, "Hi Uncle Stephen!"

Each year, on or around Stephen's birthday, the SCM Fund hosts a dinner + silent auction to raise funds which allow us to present an annual scholarship to a graduating senior from the Saint Helena High School as well as make sizable donations to other organizations that were close to Stephen's heart and/or aligned with his passions + beliefs.

Please take a look at this year's event information below, share with friends, buy some tickets + come enjoy a really special + fun evening full of great food, fabulous wines + stellar silent auction lots.

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WHAT: 2011 Dinner + Silent Auction

WHEN: 18 June 2011, 6:30-9:30pm
dinner will be served at 7:30
silent auction will end at 8:30

WHERE: Terra Valentine Winery
3787 Spring Mountain Road
Saint Helena, California 94574

Please join us at the magnificent Terra Valentine winery for this year's dinner + silent auction. The evening will include tasty bites + a family style dinner, an open bar offering an array of fabulous Napa Valley wines + more!

Tickets are $100.00 per person or $700.00 per table (8 people) + must be purchased in advance. Please click here to purchase your tickets.

If you would like to donate an item to the silent auction and/or make a monetary donation to the fund, please contact Jack Oliver at jack@rboco.com.


Please click here for more information about the SCM Fund.
Hope to see you all there!! 

quote of the day {Sophia Loren}

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.

- Sophia Loren

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{self portrait}

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one year ago today {photographs}

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quote of the day {Terri Guillemets}

If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower 
in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.  

- Terri Guillemets

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miette {tasty treats}

yesterday i spent a wonderful day in san francisco + came home with several tasty treats from  the spectacular cake maker + confectioner,  miette.  everything about this sweet little pastry shop screams fabulous + their fleur de sel caramels are to die for.  i'm already looking forward to my next visit!

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one year ago today {photographs}

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{my muse}

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one year ago today {photographs}

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bud break {vines}

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jules melange {wines}

jules melange is a fabulous new brand offering some seriously tasty wines.  be sure to get your hands on at least a few bottles of each varietal before the current vintage sells out as the production is very small and it's selling like crazy!

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on the menu tonight {food + photography}

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it feels like summer in the napa valley today + warm days always make me want to cook these tacos!

spring in the vineyards {part one}

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TWE vineyard equipment {photographs}

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Langston Hughes {quotes}

Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

– Langston Hughes

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Leon Levinstein {quotes}

I walk, I look, I see, I stop, I photograph.

- Leon Levinstein 

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{this image makes me smile}

mustard {part two}

There are always flowers for those who want to see them.

- Henri Matisse

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Albert Einstein {quotes}

The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before.

- Albert Einstein

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Buddha {quotes}

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; 

you are the one who gets burned.

- Buddha

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daffodils + barbed wire {a napa valley scene}

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.

- Confucius

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yesterday i was driving along on a beautiful country road on my way to a shoot when i spotted a strikingly  gorgeous patch of vibrant yellow daffodils.  it wasn't the beauty of the daffodils however that actually caught my eye, it was the juxtaposition of these lovely flowers against the entangled rusty barbed wire fence of which they were growing alongside. i didn't stop as i was en route to meet clients, so i just soaked up the beauty and acknowledged how lucky i truly am to live in such a naturally inspiring and beautiful place- that i should see such a scene while simply driving from one destination to another. hours later, driving home in the dusk light, this scene once again caught my eye and i had to stop and capture it.   

mustard {part one}

Earth laughs in flowers.

 - Ralph Waldo Emerson 

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the newest addition

If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience.

- Woodrow Wilson

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important to remember

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happy birthday, dr. seuss!

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you'll get mixed up of course,

as you already know.

you'll get mixed up 

with many strange birds as you go.

so be sure when you step.

step with care and great tact

and remember that life's

a great balancing act.

just never forget to be dexterous and deft.

and never mix up your right foot with your left.

- oh, the places you'll go

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come on! open your mouth and sound off at the sky!

shout loud at the top of your voice, "I AM I!

ME!

I am I!

and i may not know why

bit i know that i like it.

three cheers! I AM I!"

- happy birthday to you!

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the more that you read,

the more things you will know.

the more that you learn,

the more places you'll go.

- i can read with my eyes shut!

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it's a troublesome world.

all the people who're in it

are troubled with troubles

almost every minute.

just tell yourself, duckie,

you're really quite lucky!

some people are much more...

oh, ever so much more...

oh, muchly much-much more

unlucky than you!

- did i ever tell you how lucky you are?

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i meant what i said

and i said what i meant...

an elephant's faithful

one hundred per cent!

- horton hatches the egg

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hot cheesy sandwiches {my latest obsession}

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i received several inquiries about my recipe for this sandwich so here you go!

-preheat oven to 450

-spread mayo + dijon mustard on two slices of untoasted sourdough bread

-layer sliced roasted turkey on one slice of bread

-cover the turkey with sliced tomatoes

-cover the tomatoes with sliced provolone

-put the other slice of bread on top and put on baking sheet and place on the center rack in oven

-once the cheese starts to melt i flip the sandwich until the top slice of bread turns golden then flip one more time to lightly brown the other side.