New toy(s) to play with and a lovely visit..
Every once in a while you have to give yourself something new and exciting to play with and in fact I got two new toys today. But then you know I have no self control to speak of so that must be the reason… π I was meeting Julia and Dan for lunch today in Amsterdam. Julia (Always leave room for Dessert) and Dan are from Canada and I met Julia almost a year ago now during the fabulous Plate to Page workshop. I heard they were coming to Amsterdam for a couple of days so I persuaded them to have lunch with me at restaurant De Kas.

Julia and Dan (look in the window!)
Julia is a fun and lovely lady and I was excited to meet her again and meet Dan as a bonus. De lunch was lovely and in fact we had so much fun that we sort of didn’t notice that the restaurant was already closed… They are too polite to send people away apparently and we lost track of time. Anyway, Julia had this fun new toy on her camera, called a lensbaby. I’ve been wanting to get myself one of those for a pretty long time, but either forgot or had other stuff to buy and I had already planned on going to the camera store and get myself a 50mm 1.4 this afternoon. But then, here comes Julia with the lensbaby and I was sold. Just love the little thing and it is so much fun to play around with.
I already have the 50 mm 1.8 which is a fantastic little lens for the cost involved but the 1.4 is sharper at full opening and well, I can always use a little extra light. We will be going on a fun little visit to Brugge with our Belgian friends soon and this is the only lens I will bring (plus the lensbaby to play around with!) Love to travel light!

Gotta love the special effect of the lensbaby!
So this post was all about making you jealous of my new toys and the fact that I got to meet the fabulous Julia and Dan for a fantastic lunch and I’ll leave you with one last shot of Gizmo taken with the new 1.4.

Do I see a bird over there moving in the bushes?
You got some nice toys, congrats! 50 mm 1.4 is my favourite lens and lensbaby is so much fun to play with. Sadly, I don’t use lensbaby often enough. Which just reminded me I could take this toy for a little walk. π I love the picture of Julia. Looks like you guys had lots of fun!
For now I consider it to be more of a toy then a serious lens although you never know what use it might bring in the future!
You got some nice toys, congrats! 50 mm 1.4 is my favourite lens and lensbaby is so much fun to play with. Sadly, I don’t use lensbaby often enough. Which just reminded me I could take this toy for a little walk. π I love the picture of Julia. Looks like you guys had lots of fun!
For now I consider it to be more of a toy then a serious lens although you never know what use it might bring in the future!
I love those shots of Gizmo! He is such a cute cat and a great photographic subject.
Lovely toys! Wow.
It is always very enjoyable to meet other foodies!
cheers,
Rosa
Great photographs…there is so much to learn from such great bloggers like you!
Thanks so much Nina!
Gizmo is so beautiful!
You have great toys, need to look into that lens baby π love toys!
Yes, she is a pretty little (old) lady and that lensbaby is just a fun thing to play with!
Hahaha Gizmo is just hilarious!
So now you have a lensbaby too? I have one myself – haven’t played with it for a while but your post makes me want to play again π
Oh and I am envious that you got to meet lovely Julia again!! Hope yall had fun! π
O yes it was a lot of fun Astrid! Lovely lunch, great company; what more can you want, right? And yes that lensbaby is just fun… I’m gonna play with it some more before I get the hang of it I think!
O yes it was a lot of fun Astrid! Lovely lunch, great company; what more can you want, right? And yes that lensbaby is just fun… I’m gonna play with it some more before I get the hang of it I think!
Yes, she is a pretty little (old) lady and that lensbaby is just a fun thing to play with!
Thanks so much Nina!
Yes I love meeting other foodies and Julia is always fun to meet… π
50 mm 1.4!!! Wow!! and Gizmo!! those pics of him are so neat! i love cats and dogs, and my own chocolate brown lab is my fav fav person in the whole wide world! (ok, along with my mom and dad, and my sister and my nephew and my husband… :P) or maybe not… π
lens jealousy. beautiful images and bravo for keeping your P2P friends close to your heart.
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Oh Gizmo is the postergirl for “hope Springs Eternal”!! Love her π And how fab to see Julia – looking stunning as ever π Now curious to see what a lensbaby can do…