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    Then & Now | Valentine’s Day at Yosemite National Park

    A look back at our first Valentine’s Day in 2008, spent in one of my most favorite places in the world: Yosemite National Park. We had been dating for almost a year by that time and were still living on opposite coasts. For my birthday a couple of months prior, Sly gave me my first digital SLR (I still have and use that thing as a backup camera) and I was anxious to go somewhere outdoorsy to experiment. What better place than Yosemite? PS: Note all the tell-tale signs of someone with a new camera: macro photos of water droplets, Ansel Adams-inspired black and whites, reflections, long exposures without a tripod, fast exposures to capture motion, etc. All that’s missing are some close-ups of wine glasses. Oh  wait, there’s actually a few close-ups of a mug of hot chocolate. Check!

    Most importantly, check out the ORIGINAL S.I.T.H (sun-in-the-hair) photo! Since then we have taken a million or more SITH pics and we have no plans of stopping!

    Included are some excerpts from my original blog post.

    yosemite | our first valentine's day yosemite | our first valentine's day

    Sly and I planned our Vday together–weekend in Yosemite with dinner on Vday at the Ahwahnee Lodge. It wasn’t anything we hadn’t done before, but getting away from the city, and having a nice quiet dinner in a low-key atmosphere, really was the perfect way for us to spend the day together. Sly bought me a vintage amethyst heart necklace (the story was that it once belonged to a Vegas showgirl who married a big band leader and collected vintage jewelry pieces like this) that was unexpected and beautiful. We were lounging around in the lodge. I was lying down, watching tv. And next thing I know, there was a necklace dangling over my head. Apparently, Sly kept the necklace in his pocket the entire time, afraid I would somehow discover it on my own while packing things for our trip. I love it, but mainly I love it because it came from Sly.

    My gift to him, on the other hand, was pretty stupid. I gave him a book of poems and a little pez dispenser. Continue Reading