I walked away from this project with super glue on my fingers and a glue gun dripping on the table. Signs of success I always say! I made these yarn letters for our master bedroom closet doors (the first room to be decorated in our house … I’ll share as soon as it’s done), but they would be really cute as wedding decor, too. Beware though, if you have a difficult letter (cough, Nathan, cough), it may take you a lot longer than anticipated!

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One of the best things about traveling, but also one of the things I’m not very good at, is meeting local people. I appreciate hearing about the city/country from an insider, but I’m not the type of person that will strike up a conversation with a stranger. Luckily, my dad is.

About halfway into our trip, we happened across this little market/cafe in.the.middle.of.nowhere. Really, I don’t think we could find it again if we tried. Once inside, we noticed Major League Baseball pennants lining the wall. Remember, we were in Portugal where, we assumed, MLB wasn’t popular.

We found the Cleveland Indians pennant, and my dad pointed and told the store owner, “We’re from here.”

You would have thought that guy had won the lottery.

“Omar Vizquel,” was the first thing he said.

A little bit of conversation later and we learned that he was from Venezuela and had come to Madeira to give his family a better life. But he still loved his baseball, and Omar, who was born in Venezuela, was one of his favorites.

While we ate, the store owner (we never learned his name) candidly talked to my dad about baseball … and his eyes were lit up the whole time. We learned that he played baseball in Venezuela and rooted for the San Francisco Giants after Vizquel left the Indians.

Later, as we drove away from the cafe, we looked over to see the owner and his family waving a San Francisco Giants jersey out the door. We honked, waved and drove away knowing that we would remember that coincidental meeting for the rest of our lives. I like to think that the store owner will, too.

We took cable cars to a garden at the top of the island.

Our hotel pool.

The local drink … Poncha. Restaurants give this stuff out like it’s water.

Natural swimming pools. It was a little too chilly for swimming, but my dad wanted to try.

There’s the cafe owned by the baseball-loving Venezuelan.

As we were driving in the countryside, a ton of goats ran across the road. Naturally, we followed them into the woods to see where they were going.

You get olives and this pita bread-like garlic bread at every meal.

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When we were in Madeira, Nathan and my grandma talked about having chocolate cake almost every night. I don’t know why chocolate cake was their fixation (Nathan prefers white cake with chocolate icing), but after we got back I decided to make him one. And what better time to bake a cake then Valentine’s Day?

OK, so I have a confession. This cake wasn’t actually from scratch, but I’m counting my 101 in 1001 anyway. The cake was from a box but the icing was from scratch! And it was DELICIOUS. I might have eaten a few spoonfuls after I iced the cake. Here’s the recipe:

1/2 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup baking cocoa (I used Ghirardelli, which was probably why it was so chocolaty)
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
2 tbsp brewed coffee (I left this out because I forgot to get it, but I bet coffee would have made the icing even richer!)
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp almond extract (THE secret! Almond extract makes everything better)

After decorating this cake, I realized that I definitely do not have a career as a cake decorator in my future. I would lose on Food Network’s Last Cake Standing. It kind of looks like the cake has a bowl cut from those strawberries. I’m pretty sure the judges wouldn’t think that was cute. Plus, half of the strawberries fell off the top.

The good news? It still tasted delicious.

This last weekend, Cleveland got some snow. I definitely can’t complain because this winter has been so mild, but it’s just a little ironic that it finally snows and gets frigid the weekend I have an engagement session. Melissa and Mike are super laid back though and decided to do a quick at-home engagement session so they can get their save the dates out. We’ll be doing a longer session when it’s WARM and hopefully SUNNY, but for now, enjoy these two. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Those eyelashes!

Thanks, you guys, for being so awesome!

A couple days before our Madeira trip, I got nervous about the travel. We had so many layovers, we were flying overnight and were going to be exhausted before we even got there, and … we were flying standby. STANDBY! So many things needed to go right for us to make it to Madeira on our schedule.

If you haven’t flown standby before, you should know that it can be really, really great … or really, really bad. Nathan’s dad is a pilot for Delta and we’ve used his perks quite a few times (thanks, Tim!) to get where we wanted to go at a fraction of the cost. Sooo great, right?? Not if you get stuck in Atlanta and opt to DRIVE back to Cincinnati because it will be faster than waiting to get on a plane.

Basically, you get a “seat request” and if the plane isn’t full, you get on! And the best part is that if first class isn’t full, you get the seats. I had never gotten that lucky but this trip? My luck changed!

Oh yes, Nathan and I nabbed first-class seats on our overnight flight. As soon as we found out we were sitting in front of that blue curtain, we tried to act cool. Like we sat in first class all the time. Like I knew exactly what to do with that hot towel they gave me when I sat down. Like I knew exactly how to pick my three-course meal (seriously…) without even looking at the menu.

But then we discovered the chairs. Ohhh baby, those CHAIRS. They recline to sleeping position. They have a foot stool. They come with a down pillow and comforter. I can guarantee that as soon as our fellow passengers took one look at us playing with the chairs, they knew we weren’t regular first-class riders.

And, if for some reason THAT didn’t tip them off, I’m sure the fact that I snapped 23 pictures of my chair … my hot towel … my complimentary wine … my leg room … did me in.

There’s that leg room!

We stayed at the Golden Residence, not too far from my brother’s apartment and right on the water!

I can’t believe I’m showing you that fish picture (I’m sorry). Very ugly, but scabbard fish is a huge part of Madeira’s cuisine and they were selling it at the market. Photo op, right?

And, of course, the reason we were in Madeira in the first place … my little brother (back there with the ball. Hey, I’m not a sports photographer. )

The perks of being a professional basketball player. In case you can’t read those neon letters on the side of the car, they say “BE BOP.” So funny!

Best.dessert.ever. Profiteroles!

This pretty much sums up my relationship with these guys. Love them both. (P.S. Do I look 2 feet tall next to Barry? Please tell me I don’t.)

That’s a real, live swan! It was posing for us.

My whole family was lucky enough to go on the trip together.

My sweet grandma. And some Madeira wine and pop (soda?) on the right. Along with scabbard fish, Madeira is very well known for its wine.

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UPDATED: Because I haven’t heard from last week’s winner, I decided to pick another name. Lauren Myers, the iTunes gift card is all yours! Please e-mail me at lane@lanebaldwinphotography by 1 p.m. EST on Saturday, Feb. 18, to claim the gift card.

It’s Monday. Yes, I said it. And I’m especially feeling this Monday because it’s my first one back after vacation. Ugh. I do have something, however, that will brighten your day. Take a look at the video below. I dare you not to smile at Brooke Fraser‘s “Something in the Water.”

AND, second thing that will make you smile: I’m giving away a $15 iTunes gift card so you can buy the song for yourself (plus, quite a few others)! The only thing you have to do to be entered in the giveaway is “like” Lane Baldwin Photography’s Facebook page. If you’re already a fan, you’re automatically entered! Random.org will help me randomly (imagine that) select a winner on Wednesday, Feb. 8. So, that means you have until noon EST on Feb. 8 to become a Facebook fan.

Good luck!

I remember my dad calling to tell me that Barry had signed a contract to play professional basketball in Europe.

“He’s going to Madeira Island,” my dad said. “It’s like Europe’s Hawaii.”

I hadn’t ever heard of the Portuguese Island, but it sounded pretty amazing to me. Temperatures between 65 and 80 all year long? Surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean? Quaint towns and rolling hills? Yep, that’s paradise.

Now, having visited Madeira, I know why I had never heard of the island: It’s not at all an American vacation hotspot. There were lots of British English-speaking tourists, but we didn’t run into another American the whole time we were there (minus the couple Americans on Barry’s basketball team). To me, there’s something liberating about that. Knowing you’re visiting an area where you’re in the minority. Seeing a truly foreign place out of wide eyes. It does something for your soul and your mind…

Lots more pictures will hit the blog later this week and next, but for now I hope you enjoy this sneak peek of the island from our hotel in Funchal (Madeira’s capital). This was right at sunset. Gorgeous.

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I may not be 22 anymore, but I still absolutely love this quote. I’m headed to Madeira Island to visit my brother, and I’ve decided to go unplugged the WHOLE trip. That means no computer, phone, Facebook, Pinterest, blogging, NOTHING! I’m not sure I’ve ever gone that long without technology, so this will be good for me. Lots of reading, visiting with family, sightseeing/picture taking, and living in the moment! As of tomorrow, Jan. 26, I’m out of the office until Feb. 4. All e-mails will be returned the weekend I return.

Sunny, 65-degree weather, HERE I COME!

Photo credit: www.madeira-web.com

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I decided I wanted to use pennants in my wedding decor at the last minute. Little piece of advice for you: I don’t recommend making last-minute decisions when you’re at your most stressed-out time! It’s not pretty. The great thing about this DIY project is that you can do it well ahead of time, which leads me to my next piece of advice: I do recommend doing as much ahead of time as possible. And, even if you’re not planning a wedding, these favor bags are great for bridal showers, baby showers, birthday parties … you get my drift.

(Thanks to Just Something I Made for the stamp inspiration.)

Voila! The finished product…

We used these as dessert bags at our wedding. The bags shown above are lined in wax paper so buttery sweets don’t leak.

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