maybe it was the doors that so seamlessly led to gates, but anyway, here we are. whether its the rusty locks, color choices, or graphic elements i am finding some great gates here in the city.

long overdue update of some of my favorite instagram images. you can follow me @horseandfeather more to come soon.

and ps- im on twitter now too! follow me @mymissmonty

first of all happy new year! i can’t believe that this post took so long to get published, considering how excited i was to take these pictures. doors have kind of been a thing of mine for a while now and to visit another country this past year and to be able to open my eyes and photograph subject matter so familiar yet so foreign was such a treat. let this only be the beginning of my travels!

after 2 comercial flights followed by 20 minutes in a tiny propeller plane eric and i landed on an airstrip in Dangriga, Belize. we stayed at Belizean Dreams Resort in a little village south of Dangriga called Hopkins for a week of relaxation in paradise.

let me start by saying that Belize is amazing! no other place like it, not that i can compare it to anywhere else besides the US, as it was my first trip out of the country, but that seems to be the word on the street.

life was real rough while we were there, you know sunning ourselves, long walks on the beach, swimming in the sea every chance we got

the second day we were there we went snorkeling. i busted my knee twice on 2 different kinds of coral and eric swam like a professional fish diving under the water and coming up with all kinds of creatures and shells…

which we later ate. eric calls this picture “conch two ways” it literally is conch, two ways. first the shell we brought back from our snorkeling adventure and second the conch seviche the chef back at the resort made for us out of said conch.

this was followed by coconut juice directly out of the coconut, eric’s came complete with rum. we asked for a fresh coconut and they were happy to climb right up the nearest tree, machete in hand to grab us the loot.

the island resort, Coco Plum Cay, that they took us to for lunch that day was gorgeous.

the brightly colored villas were dotted across the tiny island. we practically walked around the entire thing after lunch.

towards the end of the day a pod of dolphins swam past our beach and got everyone off their feet to come take a look.

we could have stayed on Coco Plum the rest of the trip snorkeling and swimming and enjoying the isolation. but it was time to head back to the mainland.

the next day we borrowed some sweet beach cruisers and rode into town. we saw everyone riding bikes, locals and tourists alike bicycles were an optimal mode of transportation around the village. we saw so many kids riding bikes without even being able to reach the pedals and often riding two at a time

Hopkins is a cute little village. to give you an idea of how little, we found out they have only 2 policemen for the whole town.

please note the graffiti that says FASHION, they know whats up in Hopkins

a couple of Coca Colas later and we were ready to ride back…

the next day meant Mayan ruins. the trip to Xunantunich was about 90 miles and took us from the coast to near the border of Guatemala. the trip there was really an adventure. thanks to our amazing driver Ian we mobbed through the jungle with ease passing trucks and cars, pushing 80mph. we stopped along the way for soft serve at the one place in Belize that makes ice cream. we saw the Mennonites with their horse and buggy. and we had to cross 2 different “hand crank” bridges.

one of which eric cranked us across

once we finally got there we had to hike around before we got to the main event. and of course i had an easy time finding things to photograph

the Black Orchid is the flower of Belize.

finally we were there, what a breathtaking view

i could have stayed all day climbing up the steps and enjoying the view, i hope to go back to Central America to explore more ruins again. what you are actually able to see is just barely the surface. there is so much that is not excavated it blows my mind. i know there is an entire city under the ground…

thats me sitting on the first steps

my favorite thing was climbing to the very top and sitting on the edge with my legs dangling over the edge…

the picture above is my dads least favorite from the trip

finally it was time to leave the ruins behind and head into town to have lunch at Benny’s Diner. we had Pebil which is this delicious pork cooked underground in a banana leaf. the house salsa was made simply of onions, habanero peppers and vinegar. i walked around the little town after lunch to get some pictures…

the last couple of days were spent maxin’ and relaxin’

it was hard to even think about coming home…

so i buried eric in the sand to make me feel better…

well, it was really tough editing down all the pictures i took. i know this post is overflowing, but let me tell you we took over 550 photos while we were there so i think i did pretty good.

i’m so grateful to have been able to share this experience with my dear love eric, and a big thank you to him for taking some great shots of me too! this trip could never have happened without him. and also, my parents, thank you both so much for all your love and support.

you better BELIZE it!

the city is changing right before our eyes, pay attention to the details.

here is 777 tennessee from my previous post in September. which do you like better? they sure are different. i’m thinking i like the old 777 but i am also adverse to change. so, with so much ahead of me here’s to being open in 2012!

i think i smell a new years resolution…

here is a collection of a few images i have posted to instagram. it took me a while to get into this app, a lot of pleading from a friend about how much fun it is and so finally i joined. i really enjoy all the retro themes you can edit your images with, after all if you ask some of the folks i know they’d say i belong in the 70s (you can follow me on instagram by searching for horseandfeather) that last pic is of me and one of my dogs stella, my photo debut! more to come soon, of me and the dogs too. my boyfriend and i are headed to BELIZE in a of couple days for some fun in the sun. i can hardly wait to get out of SF and take some pictures to share with all of you. it’s my first trip out of the country! i am sooo long overdue, but too late is only never so…here we go!

often things are hiding, in-between other things, behind them, seemingly out of site and therefore out of mind. let’s take a closer peek and open our eyes a little wider and see what we can find …

san francisco, ca

clement street, san francisco, ca

just the beginning of a collection of street art photographs, specifically wheat pasted pieces.