I just love this little clutch- especially the fabric she used! Check out the tutorial here, on elm street life.
On Saturday we shot a wedding that lasted 12 hours (!!) from hair and makeup to the bride and groom's exit from the reception. We started our last prep at 10am (and triple-checked everything!) and left our house at 12:15 to meet the bride, her mother and the bridesmaids at the hair salon where they were getting their hair done. Then, we went to their makeup appointments. Then, we were supposed to be taking photos of the groom and his guys bowling, but they decided not to go, so we headed over to the groom's family's house instead.
At 5:00, the bridal party arrived at the church to get dressed and take photos. We did the bride and groom's first look, a heap of family portraits, and then got ready for the ceremony. It was a wedding mass at a Catholic church, and the bride had sent us the exhaustive brochure of rules for photography that the church sent out, including a schematic of the eight locations around the sanctuary we were allowed to stand. Just before the processional started, the priest pulled us aside and told us he had decided we were not allowed to use flash during the ceremony, even though that had not been presented as part of the official rules. Ack! We scrambled to get everything re-set with no-flash settings. Luckily, we managed it in time.
The mass itself lasted over an hour, and then we drove across town to the reception site, where our lovely assistant Jillian was waiting for us. We usually work sans assistant, but since the longest wedding we had shot before this one was only eight hours from start to finish, I knew by the time the end of the day rolled around we were going to need her. (I was totally right. JILLIAN IS MY HERO.)
The reception was a blast. The bride and groom are both such lovely, laid-back people, and had also hired a day-of coordinator- and you could tell. Everything seemed to go off without a hitch. The first dance, father-daughter and mother-son dances were sweet; the toasts made me a little teary-eyed; the food was a rather spectacular display and the band was fantasic. The line to the open bar moved right along, and the dance floor was packed for most of the night.
By the time hour 10 or so rolled around, I was extra grateful for the things that made working such a long-haul wedding even possible:
-Lindi, because I absolutely cannot imagine doing the work we do on my own. She's my partner in every way, and we've been photographing together for so long that we mostly know what the other person needs before we even say it out loud.
-Jillian, because her help was invaluable.
-Comfortable shoes, because without them, I would have been hobbling around like a 90-year-old by the end of the night. (My feet were sore, don't get me wrong- but I can walk today without wincing!)
-These protein bars, which are WAY expensive and, in this case, WAY worth it:
-Water. I think I drank about six bottles of water by the end of the night.
-Those ten-minute breaks we had in between things as we drove from one venue to another. They were pretty much the only time we sat down the whole day!
-The band at the reception, because they were so good, it kept my energy up even toward the end when I started to feel like I was going to fall over! Plus, dancing photos are our FAVORITE, and we got some really great ones.
Now we have about 2500 photos to sort through and roughly 20-25 hours of editing between the two of us to do! The truly hard part, though, is over. Editing is a lot of work, but we can do it cozied up at home with a cup of tea and Law & Order: SVU on in the background!
At 5:00, the bridal party arrived at the church to get dressed and take photos. We did the bride and groom's first look, a heap of family portraits, and then got ready for the ceremony. It was a wedding mass at a Catholic church, and the bride had sent us the exhaustive brochure of rules for photography that the church sent out, including a schematic of the eight locations around the sanctuary we were allowed to stand. Just before the processional started, the priest pulled us aside and told us he had decided we were not allowed to use flash during the ceremony, even though that had not been presented as part of the official rules. Ack! We scrambled to get everything re-set with no-flash settings. Luckily, we managed it in time.
The mass itself lasted over an hour, and then we drove across town to the reception site, where our lovely assistant Jillian was waiting for us. We usually work sans assistant, but since the longest wedding we had shot before this one was only eight hours from start to finish, I knew by the time the end of the day rolled around we were going to need her. (I was totally right. JILLIAN IS MY HERO.)
The reception was a blast. The bride and groom are both such lovely, laid-back people, and had also hired a day-of coordinator- and you could tell. Everything seemed to go off without a hitch. The first dance, father-daughter and mother-son dances were sweet; the toasts made me a little teary-eyed; the food was a rather spectacular display and the band was fantasic. The line to the open bar moved right along, and the dance floor was packed for most of the night.
By the time hour 10 or so rolled around, I was extra grateful for the things that made working such a long-haul wedding even possible:
-Lindi, because I absolutely cannot imagine doing the work we do on my own. She's my partner in every way, and we've been photographing together for so long that we mostly know what the other person needs before we even say it out loud.
-Jillian, because her help was invaluable.
-Comfortable shoes, because without them, I would have been hobbling around like a 90-year-old by the end of the night. (My feet were sore, don't get me wrong- but I can walk today without wincing!)
-These protein bars, which are WAY expensive and, in this case, WAY worth it:
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| Image from here. |
-Water. I think I drank about six bottles of water by the end of the night.
-Those ten-minute breaks we had in between things as we drove from one venue to another. They were pretty much the only time we sat down the whole day!
-The band at the reception, because they were so good, it kept my energy up even toward the end when I started to feel like I was going to fall over! Plus, dancing photos are our FAVORITE, and we got some really great ones.
Now we have about 2500 photos to sort through and roughly 20-25 hours of editing between the two of us to do! The truly hard part, though, is over. Editing is a lot of work, but we can do it cozied up at home with a cup of tea and Law & Order: SVU on in the background!
Our music recommendations for the week: 1. The Killers - Read My Mind
2. Alela Diane - The Rifle
3. Band of Horses - The Funeral
2. Alela Diane - The Rifle
3. Band of Horses - The Funeral
What a fun way to spend a little bit of a surprisingly warm afternoon!
This morning I got up an hour earlier than I usually do (so, very early... it was still pitch black outside) and Lindi got up with me, which was a treat. She usually sleeps later than I do, so it's always lovely when she gets up with me. This morning, we met up with our neighbor and walked down the street to a bakery that's near our house, bought some sweets and walked back home. It was chilly and crisp and smelled like winter outside.
We got home and made coffee (for them) and chai (for me) and unwrapped our pastries and talked and ate and laughed together. I think it felt really special because to me, at least lately, mornings have become very no-nonsense affairs. I'm not usually rushed, but I do everything I have to do and then go to work. There isn't enough magic in my mornings, perhaps. They just seem like a necessary step to the rest of each day- all very routine- instead of feeling like a real part of the day. This morning, it did. Of course, getting up that early meant that meant that by the time 10 a.m. rolled around it felt like I should be at lunch, but ah well. It was worth it.
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| (Not what I ate, but I didn't take a photo. Also, YUM. From this blog.) |
We got home and made coffee (for them) and chai (for me) and unwrapped our pastries and talked and ate and laughed together. I think it felt really special because to me, at least lately, mornings have become very no-nonsense affairs. I'm not usually rushed, but I do everything I have to do and then go to work. There isn't enough magic in my mornings, perhaps. They just seem like a necessary step to the rest of each day- all very routine- instead of feeling like a real part of the day. This morning, it did. Of course, getting up that early meant that meant that by the time 10 a.m. rolled around it felt like I should be at lunch, but ah well. It was worth it.
Our music recommendations for the week: 1. Kerry Leatham - Crash and Burn
2. Kimbra - Settle Down
3. Lanie Lane - Oh well, that's what you get falling in love with a cowboy
2. Kimbra - Settle Down
3. Lanie Lane - Oh well, that's what you get falling in love with a cowboy
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| Sunset view from Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre, Italy. |
When we lived in Florence for two months a few years ago, Lindi and I took a pre-wedding honeymoon trip to the Cinque Terre. We were about to get married, and had a mini-moon planned for right after the wedding, but our weekend in the Cinque Terre was amazing. It's one of my favorite places in the world.
We took a train to Manarola, one of the smaller and least-touristy of the five coastal villages in the Cinque Terre, and walked up a long hill and a lot of stairs to get to our little room on the top floor with a balcony and an amazing view. We could see the whole town and the ocean from our window. It was June, and our plan had been to hike the trail along the coast and swim in the ocean, but it had started raining before we left Florence and hadn't stopped. The trails were shut down due to mud slides, and it was rather chilly for summer- maybe in the high-sixties?- so not ideal swimming weather. Nonetheless, though, we were determined to get in the water and walk somewhere.
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| The view from our room in a brief moment of sun. Manarola, Cinque Terre, Italy. |
The first night there, we put on our swim suits with jeans and sweaters over them and walked down the long, winding hill to the swimming area as the sun started to set. The rain stopped, just for a little while, and it felt as if it has stopped just for us. The swimming area had a ladder down into the dark water that was immediately over our heads, and we swam away from the wall and bobbed there together on the swelling water. The sea wall broke most of the big waves, but the water still rocked us back and forth. We stayed until it was too cold to be in the water any longer and then dried off, bundled up and hustled up the hill to the tiny grocery store. We bought a tiny bottle of wine and had a picnic in our room.
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| The swimming area, Manarola. |
The next day, rain and closed trails nonwithstanding, we put on our walking shoes and raincoats and explored the tiny roads that led up into the hills behind Manarola. There were homes of the people who lived there, old house foundations, grape vines, and goats, and every time a car drove past (thankfully not very often) we had to squeeze up against the stone wall the bordered the one-lane road. It was drizzly, but it felt good to be outside and moving.
When we finally came down from the hills, we took the train two towns over to Vernazza. The train track hugged the coast, going in and out of tunnels, and we sat on the window side so we could see the drop off straight into the ocean below when we came out of each short tunnel. We disembarked in Vernazza, which was so much bigger and busier than Manarola, and walked down the main straight toward the water. We stopped in at a bakery for a snack- tiny, flaky cookies covered in powdered sugar- and into a little gift shop where I bought some brilliant red coral earrings. We explored the tiny town, ducking in and out of stores and overhangs to stay as dry as possible. Later, we had pizza in a little trattoria where you stood along a long wall, waiting for your order to be ready, and then sat outside on long benches under canvas stretched overhead to keep the seating dry. There was a fountain at the corner of the building with a sign that said, 'This water is not safe to drink' in Italian, and children kept running up and splashing their hands under the water and giggling. The pizza was so thin and cheesy that I folded mine in half and ate it like a sandwich just to make it easier to handle.
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| Lindi, at the sea front in Monterosso, Cinque Terre, Italy. |
We got on the train again and went to the last Cinque Terre town, Monterosso, and even though no one was swimming, Lindi wanted to wade in the water. I picked one of the many lounge chairs on the mostly abandoned beach and dozed, using my scarf as a blanket, while she gazed out at the waves.
That night after dinner, it stopped raining for a while again and we walked down the one short part of the trail that was left open (the part they call Via dell'Amore) until it was nearly dark, and then we stopped and watched the last bit of sun disappear and shared a piña colada at the little restaurant mid-trail.
It was a magical, magical weekend.
I don't know who originally made this graphic, but I love it. What wonderful words.
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| Photo by Ironside Photography |
Getting married didn’t change much about our relationship: we still are each others’ best friend, we still worry about money, we still want to have children together, we still dream about the kitchen and the backyard of the house we will own someday. However, marriage gives our partnership more weight in the world. It provided a sort of settling in, and it gives our relationship more gravity in the eyes of others. Marrying each other was just the next step that made perfect sense for us, legal or not.
Today I'm guest posting over on Liz's wonderful blog, Happy Sighs. Go here to read the rest of it!
I love vintage Valentine's cards. They're so adorable and weird- like the one that is a picture of a holey sock that says 'Darn it! You gotta be my valentine!' or the one with the girl in a cauldron that says 'You're sweet enough to eat, my Valentine.' Oh dear. This tea-themed valentine is from here.
I hope you have a lovely holiday!
Our music recommendations for the week: 1. San Cisco - Awkward
2. Bowerbirds - In Our Talons
3. Timber Timbre - Black Water
2. Bowerbirds - In Our Talons
3. Timber Timbre - Black Water
Kim brought a book of naughty fairy tales to her boudoir session. How fantastic is that?
Here are a few more from Cassie's session! She was such a trooper. The wind was so cold!
This '100 foods to try before you die' list has been bouncing around the internet lately, and I decided to count up the foods I'd tried just out of curiosity. Apparently the average person has tried fewer than 20 things on the list. Admittedly, some of them are pretty unusual, but I've tried 60. I'm not surprised- I've been pretty well exposed to a variety of cultures and have moved and traveled a lot in my life and make a point of trying most anything at least once- but I can definitely see how many people, no matter from what part of the world they come from, would have only tried more like 10 or 20. And still, I had to look up a lot of these to see what they were, such as umeboshi and som tam.
I think whoever made this list did a pretty good job of pulling together things from a variety of cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds (ex. Asian foods such as Pho, pocky and fresh spring rolls; alcohols such as cognac and bellini; western European foods such as haggis, snails and black pudding; southern American foods such as biscuits and gravy and barbeque ribs; and so on and so forth.)
Interestingly, although I've traveled quite a bit, I actually tried most of these foods in the United States. It makes you think about how cultures and their respective foods have melded together in some cases and become available more widely than in their place of origin.
The ones I've tried are bolded. How many have you tried?
I think whoever made this list did a pretty good job of pulling together things from a variety of cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds (ex. Asian foods such as Pho, pocky and fresh spring rolls; alcohols such as cognac and bellini; western European foods such as haggis, snails and black pudding; southern American foods such as biscuits and gravy and barbeque ribs; and so on and so forth.)
Interestingly, although I've traveled quite a bit, I actually tried most of these foods in the United States. It makes you think about how cultures and their respective foods have melded together in some cases and become available more widely than in their place of origin.
The ones I've tried are bolded. How many have you tried?
1. Abalone
2. Absinthe
3. Alligator
4. Baba Ghanoush
5. Bagel and lox
6. Baklava
7. Barbecue ribs
8. Bellini
9. Bird’s Nest Soup
10. Biscuits and gravy
11. Black Pudding
12. Black Truffle
13. Borscht
14. Calamari
15. Carp
16. Caviar
17. Cheese fondue
18. Chicken and waffles
19. Chicken Tikka Masala
20. Chile Relleno
21. Chitterlings/Chitlins
22. Churros
23. Clam Chowder
24. Cognac
25. Crabcake
26. Crickets
27. Currywurst
28. Dandelion wine
29. Dulce de leche
30. Durian
31. Eel
32. Eggs benedict
33. Fish Tacos
34. Foie Gras
35. Fresh Spring Rolls
36. Fried Catfish
37. Fried Green Tomatoes
38. Fried Plaintain
39. Frito Pie
40. Frog’s Legs
41. Fugu
42. Funnel Cake
43. Gazpacho
44. Goat
45. Goat’s milk
46. Goulash
47. Gumbo
48. Haggis
49. Head Cheese
50. Heirloom Tomatoes
51. Honeycomb
52. Hostess Fruit Pie
53. Huevos Rancheros
54. Jerk Chicken
55. Kangaroo
56. Key Lime Pie
57. Kobe Beef
58. Lassi
59. Lobster
60. Mimosa
61. MoonPie
62. Morel Mushrooms
63. Nettle Tea
64. Octopus
65. Oxtail Soup
66. Paella
67. Paneer
68. Pastrami on Rye
69. Pavlova
70. Phaal
71. Philly Cheesesteak
72. Pho
73. Pineapple and cottage cheese
74. Pistachio Ice Cream
75. Po’ boy
76. Pocky
77. Polenta
78. Prickly Pear
79. Rabbit Stew
80. Raw Oysters
81. Root Beer Float
82. S’mores
83. Sauerkraut
84. Sea Urchin
85. Shark
86. Snail
87. Snake
88. Soft Shell Crab
89. Som Tam
90. Spaetzle
91. Spam
92. Squirrel
93. Steak Tartare
94. Sweet Potato Fries
95. Sweetbreads
96. Tom Yum
97. Umeboshi
98. Venison
99. Wasabi Peas
100. Zucchini Flowers
We had this last night, and it was delicious! Easy, too. This makes enough for four people.
Ingredients for the salad:
2 roma tomatoes
A cucumber
2 avocados
2 large chicken breasts
1 cup cooked black beans
1 cup cooked corn (we used a steamable bag)
1 cup tortilla chips, crushed
1 cup shredded mixed cheese
Italian seasoning, cumin and garlic powder to taste- we didn't really measure this, just sprinkled!
4 cups baby spinach
1 head iceberg lettuce
Ingredients for the dressing: (adapted from here)
1 cup of sour cream
2 tablespoons salsa
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 tablespoons salsa
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 tsp of onion powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons vegetable stock
1 tablespoon of mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 tsp of onion powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons vegetable stock
1 tablespoon of mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Heat a little oil in a skillet on medium heat. Slice the chicken into small pieces and saute until cooked through. Sprinkle a little Italian seasoning and garlic powder on top as they cook.
2. In a separate skillet, saute the black beans and corn. Add a little cumin and garlic powder to the mixture.
3. While the chicken and beans are cooking, mix the dressing ingredients together. Let sit in the fridge until you're ready to eat.
3. Slice the veggies and arrange in bowls on top of the lettuce and spinach. Add the beans and corn, cheese, chicken and crushed tortilla chips. Put a dollop of dressing on top and enjoy!
What a lovely girl! It was freezing and windy out, but luckily, it was still fun!
We did a boudoir session with the lovely Stevie in October for her to give to her sweetie for a wedding present, and she asked that we wait to put any of these online until after their big day. I'm so happy to finally be able to share these! She was brave enough to do half the session outside, and it was so amazing.
Our music recommendations for the week: 1. Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks
2. Peter and Kerry- Knees
3. Alpine- Heartlove
2. Peter and Kerry- Knees
3. Alpine- Heartlove
So many pre-Valentine's Day boudoir sessions! This is one of my favorites from this session. (I love pearls!)
Dear Susan G. Komen foundation:
There's been an outcry on the internet in the last few days over the Susan G. Komen Foundation's decision to yank their funding from Planned Parenthood. The fact that the Foundation chose to do this breaks my heart. Although Planned Parenthood does provide abortion counseling and abortions at some of their locations, those account for less than 3% of the services the organization provides to women. The other 97%? STD testing, birth control counseling, cancer screenings, and other things that are vitally important to women's health-- particularly for women of low economic status and women with insurance that does not provide for women's health issues.
I am perfectly fine if people choose to be 'pro-life'-- but does that really have to be synonymous with 'anti-women'?
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| via JoeMyGod.com |
There's been an outcry on the internet in the last few days over the Susan G. Komen Foundation's decision to yank their funding from Planned Parenthood. The fact that the Foundation chose to do this breaks my heart. Although Planned Parenthood does provide abortion counseling and abortions at some of their locations, those account for less than 3% of the services the organization provides to women. The other 97%? STD testing, birth control counseling, cancer screenings, and other things that are vitally important to women's health-- particularly for women of low economic status and women with insurance that does not provide for women's health issues.
I am perfectly fine if people choose to be 'pro-life'-- but does that really have to be synonymous with 'anti-women'?
We aren't really a pot roast family. Or a beef and pork family. We eat it sometimes, sure, but we don't cook with it very often. I was a vegetarian for most of my life, and while I enjoy eating red meat now, we eat fish and poultry most of the time at home.
On a whim, we picked up a pot roast at the store recently and had it for dinner, and it was delicious. Mm. Easy, too!
Ingredients:
3 lb beef roast
6-8 red potatoes
3-4 large carrots
2 onions
2-3 cups beef broth
rosemary
garlic
italian seasoning
1. Place the pot roast in your crock pot.
2. Wash and chop up the veggies (into large-ish chunks) and arrange around the meat.
3. Add broth and seasonings.
4. Cook for 6 hours on high in the crock pot or until meat is thoroughly cooked.
5. Enjoy!
On a whim, we picked up a pot roast at the store recently and had it for dinner, and it was delicious. Mm. Easy, too!
Ingredients:
3 lb beef roast
6-8 red potatoes
3-4 large carrots
2 onions
2-3 cups beef broth
rosemary
garlic
italian seasoning
1. Place the pot roast in your crock pot.
2. Wash and chop up the veggies (into large-ish chunks) and arrange around the meat.
3. Add broth and seasonings.
4. Cook for 6 hours on high in the crock pot or until meat is thoroughly cooked.
5. Enjoy!
What a beautiful way to do a boudoir shoot! She is 20 weeks pregnant, and the photos from this session turned out so lovely. This is one of my favorites:
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