the weather predictions were right. very right, in fact. the snow started around 2 o’clock on friday and didn’t stop until just about noon on saturday. ”snowpocalypse” was a word i heard often throughout the day. we didn’t get the brunt of the storm. only 14 inches fell in our part of ohio, and we never lost power, thankfully. i thought it was great! however, i didn’t have to shovel the driveway…
the storm was hitting high gear around 5pm…
and this was what we woke up to around 6am on saturday!!
at 8am, my men began the task of shoveling us out. heave…
ho!! (isn’t that camo “onesie” just about the sexiest thing you’ve ever seen??)
my dog thought he was an integral part of the snow removal team…
until he got cold. wimp.
cheeseburgers, anyone? maybe not.
proof that my youngest helped. he really is behind the shovel.
and my oldest…
who helped but still needed to make time for those important calls.
by 11:30am, the end was near…
nearly 24 hours after the storm began, it was gone…
unfortunately, this storm has left a lot of destruction in its path. we were lucky. the only thing destroyed around here is my ridiculously-good-looking husband’s back.
February 8, 2010 - 12:41 pmKirsten Alana - I wish I'd been snowed in with the Wilsons. Y'all make everything look fun, EVEN a snowstorm!!!! Wait, who am I kidding...I'm in CALIFORNIA, I don't wish I was in Ohio!!!!!!! LOL
stuffolicious sumthangs of the week! can i have just one week without 50 freaking loads of laundry? sheesh. here are some of the other things rolling around in my week:
pants on the ground - is this over yet? here’s my confession: i don’t watch american idol. in fact, i take great pride in being able to say that i have never watched one episode! i don’t watch lost or survivor or dancing with the stars. i like to think that gives me counter-culture cred. anyway, i reluctantly saw the clip of the general just so i could understand what everybody else was talking about. i actually prefer this version of “pants”:
emma - here’s another confession: when i do watch tv, it’s usually ufc or something on pbs! weird, huh? anyway, there is a new adaptation of jane austen’s emma that has been airing over the last 2 weeks. i believe it’s the best emma yet. if you have missed it, you can watch it online here. (but only until march 9th!) the conclusion in on sunday. hmmmm, will i watch emma or…
the superbowl - is this over yet? i also haven’t seen one football game this season. i believe i will conclude the season at %100 non-viewing. however, i cannot pass up a good excuse to make and consume tons of junk food. for us the menu will be french dip sandwiches (find the recipe here), super nachos and, of course, wings. i think i will need the rolaids while i watch emma give herself a dolt slap and realise that mr. knightley is in love with her!! duh!!
snow storm - we may get up to a foot tonight!! i love a good snow storm. bring it on mother nature!! but wait until i get back from the grocery store.
new radiohead album - the gentlemen have been in LA of all forsaken places working on their new album. it’s quite possibly finished. the waiting is torture. meanwhile, enjoy this little nugget from their last album. oh, and jennifer, you can find the lyrics here:
don’t take your eyes off the ball this weekend!! see you on monday football fans!!!
February 5, 2010 - 9:38 amrobby - lolz, love jimmy fallon's neil young impression. your counterculture cred just adds to your indie fag status. radiohead needs to stop teasing us with these things and release their album tomorrow.
love, robby
February 5, 2010 - 9:44 amadmin - what??!! that was jimmy fallon?? jk. and yeah, give it up thom!!!
February 5, 2010 - 10:17 amThom Yorke - My next gig is to do Jimmy Fallon impersonating my Canadian Idol Neil singing "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's Pants On The Ground."
Cheerio!
Thom
that’s a loaded word if you think about it. the debate on what constitutes it is a never ending one. remember robert mapplethorpe? anyway, to me art is really anything that evokes emotion. it could be dance, photography, music, architecture and even sand. yes, sand. or more specifically sand painting. this video was brought to my attention by myfriend kara who forwarded it to me in an e-mail. i usually disregard forwarded e-mails but for some reason the story that came along with this one was enough to keep me form hitting the delete button.
did you know that ukraine has got a “ukraine’s got talent” show? they do! the winning contestant performed this sand painting work. the painting depicts the story of a man and woman during the ravages of the second world war. pay close attention to the reaction of the audience.
February 4, 2010 - 9:55 pmKirsten Alana - So I have not been able to view the video in any of the 3 airports I've been in today...but it sounds waaay cool! Can't wait to view this. Hope you're having a fabulous Thursday!!
where i live, it’s cold in february. and grey. really grey. unless we get a beautiful snowfall, i don’t feel too much like shooting. but skilz get rusty, and i have a new camera to master. so to keep me sharp and unrusty, i am participating in an online class focusing (ha ha. photography humor!!) on flash techniques. though i don’t use a lot of flash, it’s important to know how to effectively use it when you need it. this was our first assignment:
February 3, 2010 - 8:55 amLori - Glad to see you're part of the group too. Maybe my pea pal can keep me focused and dedicated to the lessons.
February 3, 2010 - 5:35 pmKirsten Alana - Don't get it. But I LOVE it! It's so you to have this kind of image on your blog. Can't wait to hear more about what you are learning!!
February 4, 2010 - 1:57 pmTim Gunn - Hey that shirt is not ironed. I'm sure "Gwandma" will fix that in a few weeks...and I'm also sure it will still be in the pile when she arrives....
as i am gearing up for senior season 2010, i am looking back at senior season 2009 and doing some serious analyzing. what worked? what was great? how can i make it better? one thing that i believe worked reeeaally well last year was when seniors brought their friends along on a shoot. the fun easily doubled. if this is something that you would like to do, i say in a big way go for it! your friends can really help you feel at ease and add some major laughs to our time together. if it works for you, it works for me!
our rewind this week is with mindi. you can see her sneak peek here. mindi had a couple of friends with her during her session. some of them coming and going as we made our way from location to location. her piercing blue eyes and dazzling smile made my job easy peasy. relaxed and energetic, mindi was a rock star! i love when seniors include their personal signature on their wallets (ask me how during your pre-consultation!!)
see? i wasn’t kidding about those eyes and that smile…
this is one of both our favs from the day!!! will it ever be warm enough to do this again?
bring your friends and rock it like mindi did. although, be warned. i may put your friends to work. just ask lindsay!!!
i love salsa. it’s so versatile and so good for you. that is if you make it yourself and put a bunch of healthy stuff in it. this particular salsa falls into both categories, and it really couldn’t be any easier. here are the playas:
a bag of frozen corn, a can of black beans, a jalapeno pepper, a red pepper, quarter of a red onion, cilantro, lime juice or rice vinegar (or a bit of both) and seasoning. for the seasoning, i like to use penzey’s salsa salad dressing seasoning which you can find here. (i buy all my my seasoning from penzey’s. soooo much better than that dusty, not to mention expensive, stuff from the grocery store. give their vietnamese cinnamon a whirl. divine!!) you could use a nice mix of cumin, oregano (say 1/2 t. of cumin and 2 t. of oregano) and a pinch of cayenne if you don’t want to go the penzey’s route, but i really encourage you to give them a try. as you may have noticed from the pic, this recipe doubles beautifully.
open your corn and place in a colander. open the beans with one of these cool openers
and rinse and drain them along with the corn. there is no need to cook the corn. you want it nice and crunchy.
then chop:
chop
chop the remaining ingredients.
mix together the juice of one lime
a couple of tablespoon of rice vinegar or some great flavored vinegar if your lovely mother made you some from her garden last summer along with 2 tablespoon of the seasoning and salt and pepper to taste.
once the corn has come to room temperature, dump everything in with the lime mixture and give it a good toss. you can stop right here or drizzle the salsa with a little bit of olive oil to give it a nice silky finish. and who doesn’t want a silky finish??
this is a very adaptable recipe. you could add tomatoes, other kinds of beans or other colors of peppers. it will keep for several days and goes great with anything: chips, tacos and burritos and grilled chicken. it’s also great right out of the bowl while you are standing in front of the refrigerator with the door open and a spoon in your hand. or so i’ve been told…
fantastically fun and fresh tidbits of randomness. from the state of the union to the ipad (SOOO not digging the name), there was almost too much stuff in this week to process. here’s how i coped:
my ridiculously-good-looking husband - although he’s always a gem, his sparkle shined extra bright when he sent me a dozen roses this week. and he didn’t even need to make-up for anything!! i wonder how many dozen elin’s getting from tiger??
this can opener - my mother bought me this can opener for xmas. (we like to get each other wacky gifts. it’s fun.) i love this thing!! check it out and then realize how easily amused i am.
my dog - yes, although he gets into the recycle bins and chews the snot out of the all the plastic in it, he also lets my children do this to him…
coyotes - or rather one coyote. more importantly, one coyote IN MY BACKYARD!! holy crap! he was big and beautiful. it was awesome and awful all at the same time. chicken farmers of north canton beware!!
radiohead for haiti - on sunday, radiohead put on a little show in LA to raise money for oxfam haiti. tickets were obtained by auction only and the starting bid was $100 for the approximately 1700 seats available. they raised close to $600,000. do the math!! (the lowest ticket allegedly went for around $475.) the audience was filled with LA a-listers like justin timberlake and drew barrymore. thom laid out what he called “a new song” though he has been playing this song with his solo band. is this a taste of what’s coming on the new radiohead album which is in production? i sure as heck hope so. and pursuant to last week’s request by my friend jennifer, you can find the lyrics here!
stay warm and watch out for the coyotes!! see you in february!!
January 29, 2010 - 11:38 amKirsten Alana - I *heart* Radiohead. I get disappointed when there is not a Radiohead video w/ the FF. This one didn't disappoint in the least!! And yes - as I've said on twitter: Brian is amazing. But a coyote...whoa.
January 30, 2010 - 9:29 amJen Jarvis - Wow!
Thanks for lyrics-it helped tremendously.:) He is in some serious emotional turmoil regarding a relationship...and I think ,so does Terry, that he sounds a bit like Neil Young....
Also-fun can opener! Cute pic of Viking, and the Senior Exp booklet looks really cool!
Have a great weekend!
before i buy anything, i like to know what i am going to get. i believe my clients feel the same way. this is why i designed the senior experience booklet. everything you need to know about your portrait session is in this booklet. the process, the products, and the pricing are all included in this gorgeous 8 page booklet. and i must emphasize that it is gorgeous - thank you my beautiful seniors!! after your pre-consultation, this booklet will be yours to refer back to just to make sure that you know what you are getting when you book your portrait session with me.
bajillion kuddos go to copy craft and my uber-fab rep, rusty. he was beyond helpful. (full disclosure: i am not receiving any kickbacks from copy craft, though i would gladly accept them, and i am not related to rusty in any way - at least none that i know of. you don’t have relatives in pittsburgh, pa. do you rusty?) it’s just a great place to do biz. togs - get your booklets printed there. fab, fab, and then some more fab.
January 28, 2010 - 11:13 pmKirsten Alana - LOVE LOVE LOVE! And they're even better in person. SOO awesome!! And - congrats on the shout out from Copy Craft! You're a rock star!
in my never ending quest for great products that will take your senior portraits into the stratosphere, i am offering a new line of frames this year. they are elegant and classic with a touch of european flare. and the best part is they are extremely affordable. no more coupon clipping for joann’s!
the installation of your images into the frames is included in the pricing, and they come ready to hang. all you need to do is find your hammer!
i am still amazed at how incredibly fortunate i was last year to photograph so many beautiful and talented seniors. week after week the class of 2010 never failed to impress me with their fun attitudes and fabulous sense of style. i am excited to continue to share their awesomeness with you. 2011 seniors you have some gigantic shoes to fill!! think you are up to the task??
you can see chelsea’s sneak peek here. not only is chelsea stunningly beautiful, she is fun, fun and more fun. i LOVED her session. what made it so great? her upbeat attitude. i’ve said it before, and i will say it again: a willingness to think beyond the “blue background” will result in unique and stylish senior portraits. i just loved this outfit and the light was perfect:
even though we had a little rain, chelsea didn’t let it bring her down!
and did i mention how outrageously gorgeous she is??!
re-visiting her session is getting me sooo stoked for the upcoming senior season. i am certain it is going to be fantabulous!!
by admin
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