Orange You Glad ...

We are in the deepest depths of winter here in PA. The weather has been brutal. We seem to get some snow every couple of days and the temperature has been in the single digits, hitting negatives at night and early mornings.  Personally, I do not like winter. Its long and seems never-ending in the midst of it. BUT, I've been trying to not let it get me down. I'm trying hard not to focus on it too much. I've been trying to exercise more regularly and eat better. Its a slower time for photos, so I've been reading and studying photography more. I planted a small rosemary plant as well as some rosemary seeds - having green, living plants indoors can help reduce stress and provide a feeling of well-being.  I'm all for that! I'm catching up on my nursing CEUs - I have to earn 30 credits every two years to renew my license, and have only earned 3 so far (due in October) - you could say I'm slacking a little bit in that department.  Finally, I'm trying to keep my family healthy through this winter season ... so far, so good. (knock on wood).

I've also been eating lots of clementines. They are about as sweet as candy with a little bit of a tang to them. They are juicy and a decent source of vitamin C. Also, they are orange; nice, bright orange. It's such a cheerful color ... "the happiest color", as Frank Sinatra said.

Looking on the bright side, January is almost over. February is a short month and my daughter's spring (yes, spring) track starts in March. That means warmer weather should be soon to follow. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

So here's to trying to focus on the brighter side!  :)
xo,
tish

French Onion Soup

I'm a little late on this post, but as promised, I'm sharing the French Onion Soup recipe I used last week. I adapted the recipe from allrecipes.com.  This recipe was easy and the soup was fantastic!! It makes a mild, somewhat sweet broth, not quite as dark as a traditional Onion Soup. We loved it, as it reminded us of the French Onion soup at one of our favorite little French Restaurants in NYC, Parigot, located in SoHo.

The ingredients I used include:
4 Tablespoons butter                                
1 teaspoon salt                                          
2 large red onions, thinly sliced                
2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced          
48 oz organic chicken broth                      
14 oz organic beef broth                            
1/2 cup red wine                                      
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce          
2 sprigs fresh parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
 salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4 thick slices French or Italian bread
8 slices Gruyere cheese, thinly sliced, room temp
1/2 cup shredded asiago cheese, room temp
4 pinches paprika



First, melt the butter in a large pot over med-high heat. Stir in salt, red onions and sweet onions. (I used a mandolin to slice my onions thin enough). Cook 35 minutes until the onions caramelize and form somewhat of a syrup, continue to stir.





Next, mix in the chicken broth, beef broth, red wine and worcestershire sauce. Bundle the fresh herbs, the parsley, thyme and bay leaf, together with twine and place in the pot. Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, continuing to stir. Remove and discard the herbs. Reduce heat to low, add vinegar as well as salt and pepper. Cover and simmer while bread is prepared.





Preheat broiler. Arranged bread slices on a baking sheet and broil for three minutes, turning once, until toasted on both sides. Remove from heat, leaving broiler on.



Arrange 4 large oven safe bowls on a rimmed baking sheet. Fill each 2/3 full with soup and top with a slice of toasted bread.



Thinly slice Gruyere cheese and place on top of toasted bread. Sprinkle 1/4 of the asiago over it. Sprinkle each with paprika.



Broil for 5 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Serve hot.



My crocks are small, so there was quite a bit of soup left over. I toasted extra slices of bread and stored them in an airtight container for the next day. I reheated the soup, placed the toast on top and added the cheese. I then placed them under the broiler and it made for an awesome lunch the next day! I hope you give it a try!!

have a fantastic weekend!
xo, tish

Staying Warm & Cozy

If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably already seen this photo this week. I received this most adorable red polka-dotted mug from my bestie for Christmas. I love mugs, pottery and anything with polkadots, so she completely nailed it! :) 

Anyway, we are slowly warming up from the effects of the Polar Vortex. It's been a bitter week here in PA. We've done everything in our power to stay warm including bumping up the temperature in the house, dressing in layers, wearing scarves to keep our necks warm, drinking warm beverages and eating soup for dinner. My husband isn't exactly a soup-lover and even he was on-board with soup for dinner! We made homemade French Onion soup for the first time ever. I did document the process, so hopefully there will be a post coming early next week. Last night I made a version of the Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana. That is one of our all-time favorites around here. I've made it several times over the last few years. You can find the recipe I used at TuscanRecipes.com.

Anyway, we are finally on an upswing. Today is actually suppose to hit 35-degrees which seems much more bearable and temps are suppose to be up in the mid 40s tomorrow! It will be a nice reprieve from all this bone-chilling cold we've had lately. Sending warm thoughts your way! 

xo, 
tish

Linking up With:

Thursdays Favorite Things Blog Hop  Little Things Thursday  The Long Road to China Serendipity is Sweet

A New Year

Happy New Year to you all!

Our family likes to ring in the New Year at home with our girls. For several years now too, 

we've celebrated with our besties. It makes for some fun times and great memories. 

This year, I had the idea to use my black backdrop and create a photo booth. I am so

glad I did too! We had a blast!! I found these adorable New Years Printables over at I Heart Naptime by Erin of Strawberry Mommycakes. I printed them and the girls did an 

awesome job of cutting them out and adding that extra touch of sparkle with glitter.

The photo booth added a new level of excitement to our NYE celebration. As an added bonus, we captured some great memories. I think we found ourselves a new NYE tradition!  

I used my tripod and remote to capture a group shot as we rang in the new year. What I didn't expect to see was Miley Cyrus photo bombing our picture!! We laughed hysterically and still find this so crazy!  

A NYE must: Ringing in the new year with a family kiss. 

So, from me to you: I wish you a happy, healthy & safe New Year. May it be full of joy and all the best for you and your families. 

“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” 

— Oprah Winfrey

Happy New Year, 

xo, tish

Taking a few minutes out of our busy holiday schedule to
wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!
Amidst all the hustle and bustle, remember to cherish the time with your
family and friends and also the true Reason for the Season.

       

Merry Christmas,
Love,
The O'Connors

{Frame This} Photography Workshop Part II

I am short on words this week, but as promised last week, here is the second installment of photos from my {Frame This} Photography Workshop with Lisa of The Long Road to China. Every model was just gorgeous and did an awesome job. It was so fun to have such a variety of models to pose and shoot.



Please take a minute and stop by Lisa's site and check out her post from last week. She featured a few of our photos we shot and edited from the weekend with links to our blog sites. Be sure to stop by their blogs and give them some love. They all did incredible work! 

I hope you all had a great week and enjoy your weekend! I'm looking forward to our first free weekend in awhile!!

Happy Friday,
xoxo,
tish

{Frame This} Photography Weekend

Well, hello there!! 

It sure has been awhile since I've done a blog post! I decided to take the summer off and I'm so glad I did. I actually don't know if I would have had time to blog anyway. Our summer was wonderful ... loaded with lots of family visits, a trip to our beloved Wrightsville Beach, a trip to Hampton Bays, NY, a few day trips, swimming, sports camps and just a lot of fun. Why does summer have to go so fast? Hopefully sometime in the future I will be able to share some of our summer adventures. 

But, I couldn't wait to start sharing some of the photos I took at a recent workshop I attended, the {Frame This} Photography Workshop hosted by Lisa of longroadtochina. About 1-1/2 weeks ago, I made the trip to Bethlehem, PA. This was not a far drive for me, but quite a trip for most of the other ladies that attended. They traveled from as far as Utah, North Carolina, Chicago, Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, etc. The weekend was just fabulous. Lisa thought of everything, right down to the cutest little detail. We had workshop time where she spoke about the business side of photography, a review of some photography techniques and her editing process. We spent all of Saturday out shooting. Lisa had a total of 9 models lined up for us to photograph throughout the day including some tween girls, a teenage couple, a teenage girl with a pink Schwinn bike, a gorgeous middle-aged model and sweet little triplets. The models did amazing with all 17 of us holding our cameras in their faces!! We wrapped up Friday and Saturday with dinner at two fabulous local restaurants and capped off each of the nights in Lisa's suite. Oh the stories and laughs we shared!!! 

I wish I could take time to tell you about each and every one of the ladies in our group. I am just so happy to have had this experience. I had gotten to know some of them through blogging and it was awesome to finally meet them in person. I loved all of them. We had so much fun together, we bonded quickly and I have come home with so many memories, fun stories and new friendships. 

I learned so much from Lisa over the course of the weekend! I couldn't wait to get home to upload my photos and start editing!! Here is just a small sampling of the photos I took. I took sooo many, I will probably blog them in three separate posts, ending with the triplet's shoot in the apple orchard. 

If you're curious to see more pics from our Workshop Weekend, we shared photos on Instagram with the hashtag #framethisweekendworkshop. I'll also be adding some photos I shot and edited there. My user name is tishoconnorphotography.

Thanks for stopping back in! I have missed you all and blogging!! 

hugs, 

tish