My Favorite Things...

Only five shopping days left 'till Christmas. I'm almost done, just stocking stuffers for hubby and two other gifts left. Jamie and I are going shopping this afternoon, so with any luck I'll be done by tonight.

I love Oprah's annual "My Favorite Things" show, though I loathe the way the audience freaks out and seems so greedy. Regardless, I thought I would do my own "Favorite Things" list, and you dear readers, get to enjoy it. These are all things I use everyday and love to death, or at least just things I love to death. If I had the budget, I would buy them in abundance and give them to everyone I know this Christmas just like Oprah (well, when appropriate - I don't think the guys would like the makeup).

Caudelie Sauvignon Scrub $35


Caudelie Sauvignon Scrub is so amazing. I first got a sample tube from Sephora and tried it out to amazing results. After just one scrubbing, your skin is so amazingly soft, you will think you had a micropeel. It isn't terribly inexpensive, but it lasts a long time and a little goes a long way. The label claims that it infuses your skin with antioxidants from crushed grape seeds - whatever, it works. I've been using it every morning during my thirty in thirty plan and my skin has never looked better.

Bare Escentuals Makeup $25


Bare Escentuals Makeup is my secret weapon. When I turned 24 my skin totally freaked out - suddenly I had acne and I was allergic to everything I tried. This makeup is free from the preservatives (read formaldahyde) that is in just about every other makeup and is safe enough to sleep in. It covers beautifully and holds up even in the heat - I have been loving this stuff for at least five years now. And Dad, hint, hint - if you still need a gift for mom, she really wants a starter kit of this stuff.

Silver Plated Rolodex $49


The Silver Plated Rolodex from Pottery Barn adds instant chic to any desk. I'm old school, I like to keep people's business cards - I don't have an electronic address book. This looks great, accomodates my goofy filing system for cards that only I understand and has a retro feel to it.

The Coach 6x8 Agenda $218


The Coach 6x8 Agenda is my little organizing companion. A gift from my brother a few years ago, I have faithfully used this to keep track of appointments, make endless notes and lists and even plan my wedding. It is just large enough that I don't feel like I'm writing in miniature and small enough to tuck into my purse. I have an electronic calendar on my computer and I use that faithfully as well, but I get a small joy out of syncing the written one in this little book up with the digital one.

F.Y....eye by Benefit $22


F.Y.eye by Benefit totally rocks. It is an eyeshadow base that actually works. Seriously, my shadow never migrates or looses its grip thanks to this stuff. Everyone I have recommended it to loves it.

Mac ProCare $99


The secret to keeping my laptop running and therefore my business too, is my ProCare membership . The sleek little black card in my wallet gets me to the front of the line everytime I go in the apple store, getting my questions answered lickety split. Anytime I need a repair or maintenance done on my equipment, my machine jumps to the front of the line too when I flash this little card. It also comes with yearly tune-up, consultations on back-up systems, advanced reservations at the genius bar, and complete set up of any new system. It also gives you access to apple training. If you have a Mac user or lover in your life - get them this membership, they will love it!

Xacto Board Cutter $10


I've cut thousands of things over the years, and I've tried just about every tool out there. The right tool makes all the difference and Iove this cutter so much I own four of them. I can trim invitations for hours with this thing without cramping up my hand. It's design makes precise cutting so intuitive, it is hard to make a mistake.
If you have a bride in your life or a scrapbooker - this is the perfect stocking stuffer.

O&H Danish Kringle
3 months of Kringle Club $59.95


Okay, I confess, I don't actually like Kringle (I have a thing against fruit filling). But if you are in Wisconsin, you have proubably sampled the wonder that is Danish Kringle from Racine . As a Racine native, I can testify that the best comes from O&H bakery (not the stuff you see in the grocery store) and is to die for. I have lived in several parts of the country, and each time when I introduced them to this stuff, they went nuts. When I lived in L.A., I actually paid the composer on my thesis film in Kringle from O&H. This would be a great gift for just about anyone.

Gregory Maguire Novels


If you've heard of the stage show "Wicked" you've heard of Gregory Maguire. I still haven't seen the show, but if it is half as good as the book, then it is fantastic. All of his books are in fact. He takes the fairy tales we all grew up with and looks at them from an adult perspective, weaving tales of intrigue and peppering them with just enough references to the version you are familiar with to keep you fascinated. Each time I start to read one of his books I have a hard time putting it down. He has written five in all I think, only one of which is pictured above. This is one gift I did buy for someone on my list this year.


What kind of photographer would I be if I didn't mention that a photo session with Mthree Studio would make a great gift for just about anyone on your list. See below for a previous post on my Holiday Special. A few of you have already taken advantage of this - even one bride who is thinking of using it to buy herself a Trash the Dress session. Really, it can't be beat!

Life's Little Surprises...

Don't you just love it when something completely unexpected and nice happens to you on a random normal day?

Today I got back from a mid-day trip to the bank (blech!) to see a wonderful gift waiting on our doorstep. Turns out it is a belated wedding gift from former colleagues of mine, the Murphys! There was a great little card tucked in that was addressed to "Molly & Ken - the happy couple". What a wonderful surprise! The Murphy's live in Mequon, so this means that one of them (I'm guessing Leslie) drove all the way down here to Franklin (a good 45 minute trip one way) to hand-deliver it. So, so sweet! I'm only sorry I wasn't home to receive it - it would have been nice to catch up!

So, THANK YOU to the Murphys for a wonderful little bleary winter day pick-me-up. The fabulous beverage tub and party accessories are just what we need for our annual New Year's Eve Party. (For all you emily posts' out there - I will be sending a real thank you note.)

Have a Happy Friday and enjoy the coming snow!

Woot! Woot!

It's Snowing! It's Snowing!

(I'm a bit excited about this)

We are supposed to get 2-4" tonight.
Woot!

Sugar Crash

Well, I didn't win the pumpkin contest. No big surprise - I knew there were going to be a lot of entries (627 actually). If you are interested in seeing who won and some of the other favorite entries - go here. Some of the ideas they show I had, but I guess I took the contest too seriously. Oh well, it was fun regardless.

Anyway, there is frost on the ground this morning and the halloween candy bowl is getting empty - so today is appropriately a Sugar Crash. Here are some rotting pumpkins (I saw while shooting my entry) to help usher out fall and bring on winter...

Happy Halloween!

Click on the picture to see it BIG.

Well, here is my entry in the before mentioned pumpkin contest. The challenge was to carve a "Anti Workshop" inspired pumpkin (The Anti-Workshop is kind of the rebel photography workshop and it will be in Vegas in March) and photograph it. Winning entry gets a scholarship to the workshop. I think it turned out pretty well. It ended up being very metaphorical, which I hadn't planned, and I also realized that my christmas light approach was kind of vegas-y.

So, total investment: One white pumpkin - about 5 bucks, eight strings of battery operated lights - about 12 bucks, 16 "c" batteries for lights - 20 bucks, grand total $37. That would be a cheap workshop.

While out in the pumpkin field I found some great rotting specimens - which of course I took pictures of. Hopefully I'll get a chance to post those later.

Thanks to the Swans' for letting me use their pumpkin field!

Trick or Treat?

Here is a shot of our kitchen table at the moment. I am, of course, knee deep in a crazy halloween photography project. It involves a white pumpkin, hubby's drill ( I promise I will clean all the pumpkin juice off!) and some battery operated christmas lights.

If the photo I take later today with this pumpkin turns out like I hope, I'll be entering it in a contest to win a scholarship to attend the Anti-Workshop, which is a kick-ass photography workshop in Vegas next year.

I promise to post the results of my endeavors later today.

For now, it is on to the top three client projects that are screaming for some attention... Shelli, MacKenzie and Monica - your stuff is coming very soon!

Happy Halloween!!

A Good Wife

(click to enlarge)

I saw this on Wedding Bee today and I just had to share it.
I think I have seen this in various forms before, but now that I am a wife myself, it has a new meaning. The thing that strikes me the most is that for my grandmother this was a reality when she entered into marriage. Wow. Both of my grandmothers are/were very strong-willed, and I can't picture them being like the woman in the picture. Something tells me they were both amazing homemakers though.
As antiquated as it is, I think there might be some good points - like not bombarding your spouse the minute they walk in the door. And taking a sweep of the house 15 minutes before he comes home could help me on my path to an always tidy house!
What do you guys think?

Pandora

Another non-picture related post? Yup. I'm busy with editing everything I shot last week and some graphic design work as well, so revealing all of that will have to wait...

But while I'm working my ears are happy thanks to Pandora. If you haven't tried this thing, you have to. I used to get exposed to new music by my good friend Timm when we shared the same office. But now that my only office companion is my iDog I have been forced to find a new resource. Pandora is a super cool music player on the internet (and therefore, free) where you put in a song you like, it analyzes that song and then plays an endless stream of music that is similar to it, most of which you have never heard before. It is so fabulous. If a song comes up that you love or hate, you can tell Pandora so that it fine tunes your "station" to what you like. And you can save your stations and make new ones based on your moods. I swear I am not a walking advertisement for this thing - I just think it is genius, and I love to spread a little genius.

Check it out at:
PANDORA