This week is the third post in my series about food photograpy. Today I want to invite you into my world of inspiration. I'm inspired by vivid colors that appear in nature. I'm inspired by Julia Child and her infectious tenacity. I'm inspired by my grandmothers and the love and hard work they put into so many meals over the years. I'm inspired by the rushing, cascading beauty of a waterfall. I'm inspired by the calmness and serenity of gray skies. I'm inspired by the pure joy and energy that radiates from my nephew's laugh. Photo by Melissa Furniss I'm inspired by the bouncing bubbles in my...

Every morning when I wake up I make myself a hand brewed cup of coffee. I love grinding the beans, waiting on the kettle to warm up, and slowly pouring my cup. This ritual forces me to start my day slowly and intentionally instead of rushed. Slow intentional moments are a great time to take photos. I am able to focus and take it slowly, change angles, add more light, and try several different shots. Most evenings we prepare dinner at home. Using fresh fruits and vegetables is a priority for us and gives the bonus of playful textures and colors for photos. Food prep is a good time to take...

My name is Jessica and I take pictures of food. I take pictures of food when I'm at home drinking my coffee, I take pictures of food when I'm prepping dinner, I take pictures of food when I'm out to eat, I take pictures of food when I'm at the farmer's market. I'm inspired by the colors that appear in nature. I'm inspired by Julia Child and her infectious tenacity. I'm inspired by my grandmothers and the love and hard work they put into so many meals over the years. I'm inspired by waterfalls, childhood memories, gray skies, my nephew's laugh, the bubbles in my glass of champagne, and the...

I have been practicing meditation regularly for a couple of years now and I still have a lot to learn. Meditation requires patience and the willingness to be still for a few minutes each day. If you are like myself and have the desire to grow in your meditation practice, I encourage you to try guided meditations. These are meditations where someone talks you through a particular focus point and assists you in eliminating distractions. Oprah & Deepak free 21 day meditations are my favorite! They have a round of free guided meditations every couple of months, and if you love them you can...

Today we enter the last day of our Sarah Beth Yoga 7 Day Challenge on Gratefulness . I hope you have gained some insight and perspective in going through this practice. Today's challenge focuses on deep stretching for the chest and back. As a bonus, Sarah added an extra 30 minute back bending practice. I plan to do that one this evening as we close out the challenge. A big thank you to Sarah Beth Yoga for providing these videos on youtube. If you like what you have done so far, she has many more practices and challenges available on her channel. Thank you all for participating!

We are on our 6th day of the 7 day yoga challenge ! Today Sarah Beth will take us through some back bending to improve flexibility.

I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving surrounded by friends and loved ones. We enjoyed a lot of good food and hearty laughs yesterday. But, I was on my feet a lot and spent my night sleeping on a couch (a very comfty couch, but still a couch!). This lower back yoga was much needed. Today we continue our 7 Day Yoga Practice from Sarah Beth Yoga on Gratefulness .

I hope those of you participating in this gratefulness yoga challenge from Sarah Beth Yoga have been seeing some benefits. I love reminding myself to be thankful every day. It has brought me a lot of peace. Sarah Beth says about this third day " This power yoga workout for back strength is fantastic way to improve your posture, stand tall, and build a healthy back and spine to prevent back pain." Let's get moving!