I don’t mean end of days as in it’s 2012 and we should all be scared.

I mean, I’ve been having a lovely end to my days. Last week, the weather was so nice that I spent many of my evenings looking at this view. Hanging out on the deck, either out there working on my laptop or just relaxing. This is why I live in Austin. Being able to do this in January is heaven.

Here’s the thing about being a photographer.. a lot of times you’re working on projects that you can’t share for awhile, no matter how much you want to be able to! I’ve been jetting around the city, doing a lot of different food shoots, but unfortunately will not be able to share for a really long time. We’re talking about probably over a year before you get to see these photos. Total sadface. I REALLY wish I could post them! There are so many restaurants and chefs in this city that create innovate, delicious food and I’d love to give you a peek into that. But, we will all have to be patient.

So instead of sharing the things I’m actually getting paid to do.. here’s a few photos just of my life. At home, walking around the city, etc.

This last week before Christmas always sneaks up on me. I think I have so much time, and then I’m like.. oh shoot. I wind up spending the whole week working and have to squeeze in last-minute present shopping and wrapping. Luckily, I have been doing soooome Christmas stuff. There is now a tree, decorated, in my living room, and I actually put on all the lights myself while the doggie supervised. This is a big accomplishment. I never am quite sure how to string them up there and make them look evenly distributed without winding up with them tangled around me. I also tackled making Christmas cookies!

The extremely talented Natalie Davis asked me to take some photos for the Canoe Winter Lookbook. Being a HUGE fan of Canoe, the Miss Natalie line, and Natalie herself, I was so happy to do so! She also got an amazing model who brought his own axe to the shoot! Completely perfect.

Btw.. if you are in need of a gift to give that special guy or a guy wanting to buy yourself a present, I highly recommend checking out Canoe. Very amazing stuff. Also, Natalie put together an amazingly-curated gift pack for the holidays. The last day to order for the holidays is December 19th!

Below are some of my favorite photos from the shoot:

I’m not sure why.. but I just haven’t gotten into the Christmas spirit yet this year.

In Texas, sometime we have the problem of it just being too warm. It can be hard to feel Christmas-y in 70 degree weather. But that hasn’t been the case lately. The high for today is supposed to be 47, and we’ve been having cold and rainy weather. So that’s not it.

Maybe it’s because we haven’t gotten our tree or decorated the house yet?

Maybe it’s because I am too busy with work to start thinking about Christmas?

Well, whatever it is, I WANT to be in the Christmas mood. I was going through old photos yesterday, and found these that I took three years ago in Seattle when we still lived there. They are helping me get into the Christmas spirit.. a little.

It’s a good start.

1. Sydney has been cuter than ever

2. Some new dish photo props courtesy of my brother and his fiance moving and cleaning out their kitchen

3. Burgers and fries at Hopdoddy

4. Gorgeous evening light

5. Cloudy, rainy days

6. Staying indoors and keeping my raincoat and an umbrella handy