I am inspired by paris hilton.

I also considered calling this post: channeling my inner Jackie. You know, W*lls, not Onassis. :)

And, I never ever expected that thought to come into my head. Inspired by Paris Hilton. Damn.

But, um, it did.

So, I've been thinking about cutting my hair off shorter. Something with a shape to it, not a plain old bob. And with bangs. And I REALLY like her haircut in the top left. isn't that embarrasing?

I actually like them all (though I don't think I'm gutsy enough to go suuuuper short). I also noticed that most of these people have blonde hair, and blonde hair is not in my future. I have decided to bring back some of the red though--I've kind of been hiding the natural red tones in my hair, and I want them to return. :)


anyone have an opinion? my hair is getting loooooong and boring and annoying, and I think it's time for a change.

ps, this is a continuation of this post, thanks for your candor. :)

and then hell froze over.

um, sort of. ;)

so, we went to that wedding last weekend, right? for my dear friends courtney and derek. I put up a handful of pictures here, but there are quite a few more. I will show you soon! or, if you ask nicely, I will happily share my secret link to the photos I've edited so far. :)

well, the wedding was PRETTY! We'd had a long day--I gardened at my church in the AM and Matt played soccer. Then we went to a graduation party for our AMAZING friend Lisa (way to go!). And then we came home, got ready and went to Chapel Hill.

It rained and sprinkled and rained on Saturday, and her ceremony was outside. But fortunately, an hour and change beforehand it stopped raining, and the ceremony went on as planned. There were a few drops falling from the trees above, but other than that, nothing exciting.

It was a beautiful ceremony, and so pretty, and their expressions were amazing, and anyway, loved it! Here we are during the cocktail hour. Our loverly friend and driver, Gina, took this for us.. She did a great job! Especially since I think she thought my big heavy camera was a little crazy!

So, I could regale you about this or that or the other, but there are two things that were extra fun. :) 1. Their favors. Did you go look at that link? If not, go do it! See the favors? The soda bottles? *I* took the pictures!

And funny, thing...their photographer? SO talented. But kind of an ass. He's one of the top in the area though, according to theknot.com. Well, so when we got inside I went around and took a couple of pictures, and when I walked up to the table of favors, her photographer was there. I said he hoped he didn't mind if I took pictures (this is when he said that he didn't care what I did as long as I wasn't in his way, in a very rude british tone!) and then I noticed that *my* pictures were on the bottles. I didn't mean to tell him that, but when I noticed it I said "holy cow, how cool! I took those!"

He said "you took their engagement photos?" I said yes. He said "yeah, I looked through those. some of those were really quite good." Which, coming from him, was probably as nice as he knows how to be. Made me feel pretty awesome to have an established, well-known, talented photographer compliment my work. :)

So, thing 2: during the reception I *think* hell froze over.

It was time for the lovely tradition that is the bouquet toss. There were literally like six single gals at the wedding. At least four of them said "no way I'm catching it!" And then someone said "let Carrie catch it!" And once they all agreed, before I could say anything, Courtney threw the bouquet and guess what--it fell on the floor. And no one picked it up.

So, she threw it again--right at me. And of course I caught it. To be fair, I would have caught it the first time if I could, but it would have required leaping and reaching, and I wasn't doing that in my tall pink shoes.

Next up came the guys. There were probably just as many. I was commenting to the girls that it was fun that I caught the bouquet, but there was no way in hell Matt would catch the garter. His usual response is: if it rings the bottle of beer in my hand then maybe I'll claim it. maybe. And then, Derek did this. Turned around and pretty much bowled it right at Matt. Apparently they exchanged a little glance when this happened, but you can't see it here. It landed squarely on the tops of Matt's shoes. and he picked it up.

and I think that's when hell froze over. I'm just saying.

this is what I looked like.

So, we did the whole put on the garter thing. And it was cute. And I liked it.

Apparently the higher you put it on the happier the couple will be. Ha!

So, that was fun. I was glad he caught it. Oh and when the groom (Derek) came and grabbed me to have Matt put the garter on, he took my bouquet away! :( Let me tell you what, I definitely went and got that back so I could take it home. I was SUPER thrilled that it happened to contain my veryvery favorite flower (the ranunculus!) and pink ones at that!

Also, as everyone and their dog informed us, this garter has a tradition. I'm pretty dang certain Matt's going to break it, but I'll share anyway...apparently the Matron of Honor wore this garter at her wedding--and Courtney caught it, and Derek caught the bouquet. Within two weeks, they were engaged. I think you all get what they were getting at with this story, hmm?

:)

Then there was dancing and drinking and cake and fun and pictures and poppers and WOW! Very fun wedding! And I'm super excited that I'll be shooting another wedding there in July!!

and now, the garter and bouquet are at home. I am drying the bouquet, and the garter is hanging from our dining room light. Matt put it there. :) I relocated it for some pictures, but it's now back in its place. :D

I'll let you know when I finish with the wedding photos (only three more mini photo shoots, an hour shoot and then del and betsy's weddings to go!) but soon, soon. Thanks for reading our little tale. (and ps: thanks, Nicole, for being such a shutterbug and capturing so many pictures!)

giving up on the devil

that devil, by the way, is high fructose corn syrup.

I have posted about it before, and I have tried before, and I have decided I'm going to try again: to further reduce my intake of hfcs. Some of this is gonna be EASY--I participate in the CSA and I have a love affair with fruits and vegetables.

but most days I drink soda at lunch.

and I like candy. and granola bars. and the like.

step 1: switching to iced tea. sweetened with local honey. trying that at lunch today, wish me luck.

oh no! I think I might be a grown-up.

so, I'm in that group of twenty-somethings at my church, right? I mean, I'm sort of in the group. I basically help with the community garden and attend when I feel so inclined.

on saturday the girl who sortakinda heads it up asked me to please try to come to our meeting today because we are going to talk about the new worship service they're thinking about adding. at 930. geared toward the same group, which is pretty much the twenty-somethings without children.

now, if you know me, I am not a morning person. I would argue that a significant percentage of twenty-somethings without children would rather sleep in until 930 and get up for an 11 oclock service than wake up earlier.

couple this with that fact that our email distribution list is like fifteen people, and you have a problem. obviously they don't expect us to be the only people there, but they do want us to kind of help mold the service and they plan on catering it to us.

which is nice and all. except it's at 930 in the morning.

now, I'm sure some of you are thinking "but 930 is late!" Or "Carrie, it's just you." but I am definitely not the only one, and I'm not in the minority. Plus, they tried to start a Sunday school class (at 930) for the same group, and no one attended. And most said? Because of the time.

and yes, plenty of churches have successful 930 services. however, currently my church has like 2% of its membership in the twenty-something range. For the longest time I thought there were only FOUR of us. Yes, really. We have a HUGE number of children (~35% of our congregation is under the age of 18, and most are like 6th grade or under, I believe) and a lot of very established members who won't be attending a "contemporary" service.

so, the part where I felt like an adult?--was when I said "okay, so I have ZERO intention of being a part of a 930 service (except at Easter and Christmas since I'm already there for choir). I want to tell them I think this is a mistake, BUT...I am afraid it might be a done deal already, and they're only asking for our input about the content, not the time. also, I realize we have a space issue, and this is their attempt to rectify it."

so. I called the person in charge of our group and chit-chatted with her about it. She isn't really sure what is and isn't decided, if this is just an idea or concept or a plan or what. And she is one who agrees with me about the 930, but I already knew that.

and now, I have a call in for someone "in the know" to give me a call back about the service. If the 930 part of it is a done deal, I won't be attending the meeting tonight. I don't want to be a negative nelly, and I know that my feedback will all be negative because I believe the service will be poorly attended and will not cater to the target group. I also know that if I go, there's no way I'm keeping my mouth shut.

so: if the 930 is a done deal? I'm not going. I'm not going to be a source of negativity, and I'm also choosing not to be a part of something that I will find upsetting. (eg, if I go, even if I say I don't think it's a good idea, if the 930 happens, they will want our group to be a part of it, and then I will feel bad if I'm not supportive, blah blah. this way I can just keep away from it entirely)

anyway. this is my morning. yeesh.

"it's good....good...guinness!"

~me!

Jennifer and I went to this AMAZING wine bar in Durham last Thursday. AMAZING. It is called SIX PLATES, and it rocks my socks. The food was so so so good, on my list of top ten meals I've ever had in my whole entire life, and the atmosphere and bartenders and decor and everything were top notch. It was trendy but mellow and funky and fun. We LOVED it. We even spent way more money than we meant to, I mean WAY, and we did not regret it even a little bit.

We each had a tuna tower, which was practically a meal in itself. And the we shared scallops and this melt-in-your-mouth sirloin over little asparagus bits and potatoes. They were so fantastic I didn't even remember to take pictures. And then had strawberry shortcake, a cheese plate (mmmm cheese) and splurged on some gelato. the flavors were crazy, and we picked mora, thai basil and guinness, and we could not have been more pleased with the outcome.

see: yummy.

i woke up crying in my sleep last night

I had a dream last night that Matt and I were going on a trip. We were in a foreign country somewhere, and I think maybe it was a flight connection. For some reason we were up a counter, and the people told me "you can only have on carry-on."

I had my backpack and my camera bag.

I told them I'd put the camera bag in Matt's duffel bag, and as I went to clear room they took my camera off of the counter and set it where I could not reach it.

and refused to give it back to me.

and by then, Matt wasn't there anymore. I'm not sure where he went, but wherever it was he couldn't get back to me. (when I told him about this, he said he must've been taken by security, or he wouldn't've left me like that!)

So, I asked for my camera bag.
I begged.
I pleaded.
I tried to sneak around the side and grab it.
I never yelled though.

And I wanted to go get a security guard, but knew that if I did, by the time I came back my camera would be long gone.

As the time of my flight approached, I got more and more agitated. I couldn't afford to buy another ticket if I missed it. But I was taking my camera to do a job, so I couldn't show up without one. I asked if I could take my camera bag instead of my backpack. No. Could I please have it? No. Why not? No. You have no right to hold it, I've done nothing wrong. No.

It was out of control. And I was so upset. Missing my flight, my camera sitting right there but too far for me to reach, and strange men taking perverse delight in torturing me by taking it away.

I was NOT happy.

and when I woke up, I realized where I was and that everything was okay, but I also realized I was crying. like, a LOT.

it was so, so bizarre.

and vivid.

I think I prefer not dreaming to dreams like this. Oh and? In my bad dreams I am ALWAYS taking a trip. Always. Always.

yeesh.

"[gree-ee-ee-eee-een, green green green green]"

hi. this is me talking about green stuff. whew!

so, I kind of want to apply to be a part of The Green Effect. It's a partnership between Sunchips (who are coming up with a compostable bag to be used in 2010!) and National Geographic. It's a contest for 20k to help green your community.

but if I could green my community, what would I do? recycling bins in all city parks? promote graywater usages for irrigation on public lands? change city lights to being solar powered? provide 20k worth of baggus to people who promise to use that bag instead of getting them at the grocery store? Outlaw putting batteries in watches on the shelves?

It's gotta be something attention getting. And Raleighwood appropriate. Suggestions welcome. And you should apply too!

Also, Aveda is doing something awesome! They did a test run last year, but now they're doing it all the time-recycling plastic bottle caps! They will be repurposed into Aveda packaging, and kept out of the landfill (if you didn't know, they cannot be recycled in conventional recycling facilities as they usually contain more than one type of plastic). TOO COOL.

That plus Origins taking their cosmetic containers? And Payless releasing an eco-friendly line? AMAZING! High fives all around. :)

Support these businesses, bring your own bag and go visit your farmer's market, k? And then give yourself a pat on the back from yours truly. :D

wbw: once upon a time

I was a littlelittle ballet dancing girl. I think I was threeish. (yes really) We learned to do a kick called "the donkey" and anna and I got to be angels in the nutcracker, and anyway, adorableness, see?

"and this long line of cars is all because of me."

~cake

There are no pictures in this post so you'll have to use your imagination.

short version:
hit piece of wood in middle of highway. BIG piece.
goodbye, air in tire.
phone dies while calling for help.
taylor and katie save the day.
cause traffic backup while traveling at rapid clip of 40mph on I-40.
consume alcohol at wine tasting.
take car to shop in AM.
can't get tire to replace until FRIDAY.
cry. insert a few more crying episodes in there, for good measure.

long version:

Yesterday: It is ~610pm. I have gone to get my spider bite antibiotics and another medicine that you don't want to know about, and things for the TAP Wine Tasting (PS, I'm President again). I check out, get a call from my dear friend Jennifer who needs me to bring a knife, and I return to target, purchase it, and leave.

I head on 540, and see something in the road. It is a piece of wood. In the split second I realize I cannot avoid it and I cannot get over a lane, and I end up hitting it. I pull over "just to check" and find my right front tire completely flat. (which also make me think of "his tires were bald, they went flat, so did our love and that was that"--name the movie?)

I call Jennifer, who calms me down a bit.
I begin to call EVERYONE I can think of that might have a boy at their house. I know how to change a tire, but there's no way I could generate enough torque to get it off and on again. I probably called, oh seven people, maybe? Including my friends who had a baby last Thursday. Yes, really.

And I couldn't call Matt because he was at a soccer banquet. I knew he wouldn't be able to answer the phone until he was done, and even if he did, he couldn't leave.

Also, while calling people? My phone died.

yes, really.

thankfully I have a car charger, so I plugged it in and turned the accessory on. and Taylor and Katie came to save the day. thank goodness.

It happened to someone else too (stupid piece of wood!) and we are both fortunate--he didn't have a jack, so I loaned him mine, and I needed a wrench to get the spare tire out since it was still factory installed.

Did I mention I've never had a flat before?

So, once it was on I sloooooowly drove to the TAP thing. And sang this Cake song in my head, as I went 45 in a 75. Rock on.

This morning, when I took it into the shop they told me it would be FRIDAY before they could get me a tire. FRIDAY. Did I mention I bought these tires in February? EXACTLY three months ago? Or how they didn't ask me if I wanted hazard insurance when I bought them, and that would've gotten me a whole new tire?

oh and I forgot my badge this morning. I'm feeling a little like a train wreck. you probably don't want to sit next to me, ride in my car, or anything else, I'm just saying...

i like.

blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.

~camille pissarro

yeah, hey, about that blogging thing.

oh right. I'm supposed to type on this. like, regularly. oopsie.

I had a busy weekend, alright? six mini shoots and one hour shoot, and OMG they were aaaaaaah-maaaaaa-zzzzing. Such awesome, fun, enthusiastic people, love it. AND a repeat customer. AND someone who said at the end that they really liked working with me and could I please just tell them how much it would cost for me to do the rest of their photos while their little one grows up because they will just pay it.

and I booked a big family shoot. (20 people, three or four generations not sure)
and a wedding.

and yeah.

Also, I am sorry I have been talking about photography a lot. I kind of feel like a mommy blogger. Except about photos. :) [no offense mommy bloggers. or kat.] It's kind of my baby though, and I have put a lot of effort into it. I had one of those moments of clarity yesterday where I KNEW I was doing the right things, and that's helpful.

I mean, you expect me to talk about being green too, right? Well I'm working on that post, and it will be up shortly. Additionally, I've got some other ideas cooking, and I'll let you know when I have 'em for sure. EXCITING.

okay, time for lunch. and then I shall go to the doctor for my spider bite. rock. you should be so lucky.

oh AND speaking of lucky? on saturday I got hives ALL OVER MY STOMACH. little baby, blotchy, red, random, raised spots. stupid hives. from the sun. I've never gotten them somewhere the sun didn't even TOUCH before. this does not bode well. and yes, I wore sunblock. and yes, I got a little burned. and no, I'm not going to stop taking photos because of it, I'll figure it out. :)

greenness soon. now time to quell the hunger.

"why would you lie about how much coal you have? why would you lie about something dumb like that? why would you lie about anything at all?"

~vampire weekend

The song is called oxford comma. And as you may know, I kind of detest the oxford comma. If you didn't know, now you do!

So, yesterday wasn't a very good day. I was grumpy. People were bad drivers. And I got water in my purse and sat at a cursed table. I felt MUCH better after I laughed so hard I cried, though.

And my fortune was something about finding the silly in the serious and how that would get me far. I like.

yesterday I was actually in such a bad mood that when I went home before dinner I had a summer shandy (they're baaaaack!) and took photos of my flowers with my new camera because I knew it would cheer me up. it did.

I took pictures o' the beer which matt had so kindly purchased for me, and then I noticed the light on my curtains. these puppies are from france. my granny had them just hanging in her house and gave them to me when we were on our roadtrip. they aren't what I originally had in mind, but I LOVE them.

and then I went outside and took pictures of the pretty pretty flowers. and I liked it. see?

tomorrow: mini photo shoots. six of 'em. at duke gardens. they assured me that graduation won't interfere with parking there. I hope they are right.

and sunday I have two shoots.

and then I am taking a little photography break. don't get me wrong, this is AMAZING, but I need some Carrie time.

and today I thought of this bear. it make me happy. it's still at my granny's, but I love the picture. I miss my grandparents, and I am looking forward to seeing my granny in July.

aaaand...time to work for another half an hour and then I'm leaving to go to the fabric store near crabtree. anybody wanna go with? :)

tonight I catch up on grey's and private practice. stupid DVR didn't record it. THANKFULLY, the internets are magical, and can bring them to my laptop. and since I have a Carrie laptop and a work laptop, I can watch and edit at the SAME time!

the good, the bad and the matt. (who, by the by, is not ugly)

I swear this is the last post o' the day.

the good:
-yesterday, matt cleaned the kitchen. it desperately needed it. it and the half bath are now the only "clean" parts of the house. he unloaded the dishwasher, did the dishes in the sink and cleaned the counters off and then actually cleaned them. :)
-matt always gives me a kiss when he's leaving or arriving or I'm doing one of those. I kind of love it.

the bad:
-matt is at ANOTHER bachelor party. oh. em. gee.
-matt called me a cat lady last night. and he meant it.
-matt seriously considered murdering both gobi and hazel this week. hazel I am not surprised. gobi was surprising. but when he knocked a whole bowl of jellybeans off the counter, well...what did you expect?
-matt has been having fun with my new camera. what that really means is: "matt has taken it upon himself to pick up my new expensive camera with its new expensive lens and pretend like he's dropped it. he has also held it upside down with two fingers only on the new expensive battery grip."
-last night matt did a "test." the cats were sitting near me on the couch--gobi right behind my head and hazel on the arm, both sleeping. he made me say "ouch." and pretend to cry. and pretend to be startled. just to see what the cats could do. we concluded that gobi is worried about my health and hazel just wants to know what the fuss is all about.

the matt:
is overall fantastic. ridiculous and silly and all sorts of other things, but also fantastic. just fyi.

totally a long time ago thursday?

er, um, or my late wbw.

this is my, eh, probably junior year I'm guessing. it might could be sophomore, but I think junior. that's my awesome miniscule, adrienne in the middle (we refuse to call each other "big" and "little" except we did in a skit, but that's IT) and then the fabulous del.

ABSOLUTELY two of my favorite people from college, hands down. (others of my favorites from college are reading, I know. I love you too. you just aren't in the picture!)

I have no idea how I would've made it without them. No idea. Especially 'cause they did things like help me celebrate my birthday, and we took a cool roadtrip to chicago/crystal lake, and we hung out and anyway. fantastic folks, I tell you.

Here we are at Adrienne's parents house. We are are getting ready to carve pumpkins. It was a splendid break from the daily grind, let me tell you.

I don't want to go back to college like some people do, but DAMN I missing seeing my friends every single day. It's hard having to actually schedule time to see people instead of just being near the. The three of us lived in the same suite for a bit, and anyway. Oh, college.

Oh, the stories I'm thinking of right now.

Oh, how I am so not going to post them on a public forum.

but oh, how they would make you giggle. or perhaps shock you. one or the other. :)

this is what actions can do.

you might've noticed recently I've been mentioning the term "actions." and you might've been wondering what the heck that means.

actions are used in photoshop. they're a specific series of instructions that manipulate a photo in photoshop. you can make your own, there are free ones on the internet, and you can also purchase them.

I have yet to make one of my own (I tried, but I realized what I was trying to do was way too photo-specific) but I have some free ones and some I've purchased. Some people are WAY against purchasing. some think it makes sense. I'm inclined to agree with them. There are some awesome freebies out there, but it's kind of like anti-virus software--if you want the good stuff that covers everything, it's probably worth shelling out for it.

But, something better? Is getting those actions for free. And IHeartFaces is doing just that. There are a couple of examples on their post of what actions can do. And I really like the one of the model! And here are some things I've done with actions, just to show you how fun they can be. :)

actions don't make you a better photographer by any means, but they make it so much faster to bring pop to your photos, and give you edgy elements that most people (myself included) either couldn't accomplish by themselves, or that would take them ten times as long. :)

oh, the mail.

quite a while ago I took some maternity pictures for a coworker of mine. precious, precious, right?

and mothers of newborns or people who are emotional should probably just stop reading here. no, REALLY. I am not kidding. Not even a little. I might sound like I'm being sarcastic, but cross my heart I am not.

so.

consider yourself warned.

*************

if you're sure you wanna keep going...

so, the baby was born at the end of february, a little girl. I had never sent her the cd (though I sent her the actual pictures quite some time ago) and I finally managed to burn a disc and put them in the mail yesterday at 247 pm.

the mail gets whisked away at 300pm.

at 524pm yesterday we got an email saying something terrible and tragic and awful and sad in ways that I cannot describe happened yesterday--her little girl died. they don't know why or how, at least not yet. they went to wake her and she did not wake.

at 525pm I walked to the mailroom and yes, I had made it in before the pick-up, and that mail had been taken away.

long story short: I have it back now, it is not on the way to the mother. I think getting her maternity pictures on a cd so soon after, well, would be an awful, horrible reminder. but man oh man was getting them back the craziest spectacle ever. I think it took eight people.

-last night I was told they'd retrieved it out of the mail that hadn't been picked up yet, and it was on its way back to me.
-it did not show up with any of today's mail, which was scary, since it should've been here first thing.
-when I called the mailroom this evening the guy basically accused me of making the whole thing up. to his very slight credit, when I told him the mom is an employee of our company he at least made a little more effort.
-I was told no one knew about it, no one was there last night and the people I thought I talked to were all out of the office or on vacation.
-and ultimately, the mail was put in the drop box on the first floor instead of taken to the third floor. it was sitting there, and it was going to be taken from the first floor over to main campus, where it would have been sorted and then brought back over here and finally given to me. I would have gotten it by tomorrow afternoon or friday morning. but I was SO not going to handle that wait well.

the mail situation is trivial in comparison, of course. I would just hate to be a source of more pain for a family that is grieving. She was a little over two months old. It is just so sad, and my heart goes out to them.

now taking suggestions...

so. saw this a few days ago. I get these suggestions, y'see, from cool people care. (I think I need one of their shirts, by the by) and this one kind of struck a cord with me.


this year I have been really, really blessed. my photography business is booming. and my tax return was much, much more than I anticipated. for that I am quite fortunate. I have some debt I've paid off and I put some in savings, and I definitely still have more debt to pay off (hello house? car? dental bills?) but I also feel like I need to do something to help others with a bit of it. I am SO thankful, and I wanna share a little love.

so. I don't think I'm giving 10% because, well, because of a lot of things, including that I've already given some away, but I want to give $100. and I'm not sure to whom. I really like the heifer foundation. And I know about oxfam, and the people who make those filter straw thingies that make water okay to drink for people who live in third world countries.

But I've given to heifer. And I've given to oxfam. And to the Komen foundation. To Prevent Child Abuse America. To the March of Dimes and all sorts of places. And I want to find something new.

so, suggestions? where do you support, or wish people would support?

thanks, ladies and gents.

listen up, nose.

this is NOT okay. you are designed for breathing. my mouth is not. I'm sorry you're feeling "congested" and I'm inhaling irritants all day, but cut the whining, this is your JOB. you have hairs specially designed just to get the icky stuff out.

and y'all don't EVEN want to know what happened after I stood up from blow-drying my hair upside down. ew.

about 530 yesterday my allergies started kicking in full force. in a previous life I kind of rolled my eyes when people said they had an allergy "attack." allergies don't attack you. you have 'em or you don't. you experience symptoms or you don't.

uh, yeah. about that. they can attack you. one minute you're peachy keen, and the next you're wishing to goodness you could find a more appropriate word to describe how your head feels than "swollen." or "stuffed."

sakes alive.

and this morning? I got to work and someone said "do you have allergies?" I said yes, how could she tell. She kindly said "um, your eyes are kinda red?" Yeah people, she wasn't just talking about the whites of my eyes. Underneath my eyes are red. And swollen. From allergies.

rocktastic. just rocktastic.

why do elephants paint their toenails red?

that is one of my favorite jokes EVER. If you don't know it I'd be happy to tell it to you.

this weekend was a good one. a smidge less busy but a LOT more tiring, for sure.

friday night amy, jennifer and I met at a hole-in-the-wall bar in durham to do some twelve ounce curls and enjoy each other's company. and oh yeah, I was supposed to play sand volleyball. I waited as long as I possibly could to change clothes, and kindasorta was a terrible sport and flat out refused to practice until we knew if we were actually having a game or not. I've been burned by this league enough, my friends were there, I had a cut on my toe and quite frankly I didn't want to get dirty!

and, just as I expected, the other team did not show, and we didn't end up playing. so I put back on my jeans and non-sports-bra and hung out with jennifer and amy some more. :)

saturday AM was a trip to the durham farmers market and a work day at church--we're starting a community garden! and I was soooooo excited that the farmers market still had ranunculuses. I've never seen ones like this--they look like they belong in a bridal bouquet! they had some GLORIOUS poppies, but I was afraid they would wilt in the car. :( but the ranunculuses were even better! here they are outside...


and here they are captured with my lensbaby. can you see how the background is all little hearts? cool, huh? (ps, the funky blur is part of the lensbaby charm, just fyi!)

then I came home and got ready for yet another wedding, and it was TOO cool. outside and nary a peep about "God," which was different, but I had fun with my coworkers that I knew and my coworkers that I met for the first time--both of the people who got married work where I work, but the groom is in a different department. we got to talk shop about photography too, and I made TWO good connections!

AND today I booked another wedding. :)

yesterday I also did two photoshoots and I had dinner with the lovely megan, came home to watch dollhouse with matt who was just back from a bachelor party, and then CRASHED. well, read a little bit of my new book, and THEN crashed. the book is good so far, by the way. sometimes I'm disappointed when they don't mention things that I think "go" (eg, when talking about organic food and its benefits I thought they should have mentioned that the best thing of all, by far, is LOCAL organic food) but it seems they'll talk about that later. yay!

okay, back to work.

"take another picture with your click, click, click, click camera..."

~bishop allen

how do we feel about songs on websites? namely, my photography website? do vote, please. the song I listed above is the one I'm thinking about adding to it...there are a few other possibilities, but this one fits so well!

poll by twiigs.com

my new camera is in memphis! on its way to me, of course! this is what it looks like. except I went with a non-kit lens. because it is WAY awesomer.

I got to buy it from one of my all-time favorite camera stores EVER, a little fabulous place on Harvard Avenue also known as Apertures. I am happy to support them from afar--they are amazing and must never go out of business!

I also invested in some more memory cards, spare batteries and a battery grip. and now I must let my pocketbook recover. Thank goodness for bookings and tax returns! I have...lessee...not counting my mini photo shoots I have as few as five and potentially as many as eight sessions plus a wedding to photograph. Crazy! But enough about photography...

As of Tuesday, school is OVER. Speaking of which, we already have our grades!! I am quite happy with my B+, thank you. I kind of wonder if the professor just "guessed" what he thought we would get...

Also, so that picture of Anna and me in the post below? Sorry Charlies, and good job to the rest of you--I am the little girl on the left, the one with my mouth open. :) Fun game, yes? More twin pictures to come, I've a feeling.

wedding 4/10 this weekend. AND some gardening at my church. I'm looking forward to both, though I'm a little nervous about the gardening. Something about carpenter bees being there and since I've never been stung by a bee and I'm allergic to so many things, well, I'm anxious. So let's hope no sting-age, okay? cross you fingers.

have a fantastic weekend, ladies and gents. high five to all of you who guessed the picture right!