Samantha's Winter Stroll

My friend Jane's cousin Samantha Parkington (she's also a student here at FMSG) is just loving the wintry weather here in Florida. Sam was born and raised in New York where the temps can reach below zero during the holiday season so the chilly weather was very familiar to her. She just loved modeling her new evergreen winter coat and elegant velvet hat as she strolled through the FMSG campus. Luckily, Sunny had her camera handy and was able to take some beautiful photos of Sam in her winter wear.

Sam looks just lovely in green. It really brings out her brown eyes and hair!

It was a cloudy day today but the colors of the late fall greenery and the damp soil below made great contrast for photography.

All of these photos were edited using Picnik's Orton-ish effect and the text effect. Since the weather was overcast, the lighting wasn't phenomenal so editing helped a lot- especially to bring out the rich colors.

I can't wait for the holidays to arrive! What do you guys plan on doing over the Thanksgiving and winter breaks? Any family traditions you love? What's your favorite thing about the holiday season? Let me know in a comment- I'd love to hear what the holidays mean to you!

Cali***

We need a little Christmas now

Hello, everyone, and happy holidays! Today's the first day of Thanksgiving break for us dolls here at FMSG. This not only means a whopping 9 days off of school and the start of the Christmas season but also more time for posts!

Sorry I haven't been posting as much lately but, with the arrival of break, I'm hoping I'll be able to post more often. Maybe even everyday!

Anyways, since it's Thanksgiving break Sunny's been preparing us dolls in our holiday finery for our Christmas portraits in front of the Christmas tree. My dress is brand new and it's just dazzling. I can't wait to model it in my portrait! Once we get every doll's portrait taken, we'll post them here and also in a special holiday album on our Flickr. If you want to know what we've been up to in the past weeks check our Flickr. We update that often, even when we don't have time to post here on Crazy For Cali.

Check back here for more posts soon! :)

Cali***

Brrrrr!

Yes, I said it. Florida, land of the palm trees, is cold. REALLY cold. Like 30 degrees cold! Some of you who live way up north probably think that's warm, but to us Floridians that is unusually cold. Actually, reports of sleet and snow flurries have been sighted in the Tampa Bay area. SNOW!!!!! I have never seen snow in my entire life so I've been really excited this morning, waiting, hoping it might flurry, even for a moment. Unfortunately, it hasn't snowed yet...

Anyways, Sunny took me outside this morning to enjoy the cool (okay, freezing) weather. She took a few photos of me outside but these were her favorites. The third one was photo-shopped to look like it was snowing. Hopefully, it will snow later and Sunny'll be able to get some real photos of us in the snow. =) However, the second picture is of frozen dew on a pine tree in our backyard. It is probably going to melt as the day progresses, but I thought it was cool anyway. Okay, enjoy the pictures!

The frozen dew is hard to see, but if you look closely at the tips of the tree you can make it out.

Once I was done with my winter photo shoot, Sunny made me a cup of hot cocoa and a muffin. Yum!

Cali***

P.S.- Even Sunny's dogs were cold this morning. LOL!