Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
11.29.2008

Thanksgiving

After such a crazy summer it was nice to get out of town and spend some time with family again. This year was our turn to head down to Manchester for the feast. While I missed my fam, it was so great to see everybody in Jason's family!

BJ and Sandi got a new puppy who stole the show…little Juniper. 

She was at first a little scared and then super interested in what Maddie and Tobi were up to. Maddie, having helped us raise Tobi was great with the pup, but Tobi who is essentially an 85 lb. baby was a little "touchy." Especially when she got near his sensitive toes.

He was actually pretty scared of her. It was a lesson in teaching both the puppy boundaries and the dog not to be rude.

But with this kind of treatment, it's no wonder that he's spoiled.
Maddie, who runs a little hot, turned out to be a good door-sock.
And yes, our fascination with frying things finally took over Thanksgiving. Now that we have our own frying pot, it was time to cook the bird Texas-style. Jason's little MacGuyver move did the trick in keeping he and BJ from getting splashed with boiling oil.


It was deelicious. And we had a great time. Nothing better than good friends and good family!

Posted by Staart Gallery at 10:52 AM | 0 comments  
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11.19.2008

My mullet

Ah, the good ole' days. My former softball coach, Tim Smith, from…jeez I can't even remember, I think it was fourth grade… dropped this off at the studio today. Apparently the rec department has been cleaning out some closets and has dug up more than a few old photos.

Yup, I sported a mullet back then. I can't wait to send this to Kate, one of my best friends who was actually just over yesterday for a visit while she's home from Seattle. Kate is just finishing her PhD in chemistry (super smarty pants) and goes back after Thanksgiving to defend. So proud of her… I think playing softball was really when we became friends so funny timing that this photo should pop up. We seemed to have different opinions about tucked vs. untucked.

I don't remember too much about the team, but I vaguely recall being some kind of champions?! Of course we were…
Posted by Staart Gallery at 6:20 PM | 2 comments  
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11.08.2008

St. Albans Fog

On my way home last night, it was super foggy so I just had to stop to take some pics. This one's straight out of the camera. I'll post more later.
Posted by Staart Gallery at 3:02 PM | 2 comments  
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11.06.2008

Whew!

It has been a while since I last posted, mostly because I'm still trying to catch my breath from the crazy summer I just had. But wedding season was officially over for the year a couple of weeks ago so I'm starting to get caught up.

I have a TON of senior photos to share from this fall. I'm excited to show you some of my favorites. …And engagement photos from some of my happy couples gettin' hitched next summer.

In recent developments, I left my job at the St. Albans Messenger not long ago. After a 5.5 year stint it was just time to move on and really focus on what I want to do. It's been a weird adjustment and I have NO IDEA what's going on in the news! I'm definitely happy with the decision and soo ready for this next phase of my life. But it really struck home when I was recently asked who my employer was and I had to say "self-employed"!!!

And I'm also engaged myself now and planning my own wedding for next summer at the same time that I'm booking dates for other couples! Another strange adjustment to be on this side of the fence, but it's such a happy time! And no, I do not know who my wedding photographer will be. Sheesh…I feel like Adam Sandler (you know, the Wedding Singer?)

So soon I promise I will post some pics!
Posted by Staart Gallery at 6:34 PM | 1 comments  
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9.15.2008

Cell Phone MIA

So if anyone tries to reach me via cell, don't worry I haven't disappeared or gone out of business. I just…um…misplaced my phone. But it has been found so I'll be back in mobile availability in a few days! I got a call on Saturday from a client who had recently ordered some canvas prints asking me if I was missing my phone. She was in North Carolina! It had apparently slipped out of my pocket as I was packing her prints for shipping. Doh!
Posted by Staart Gallery at 10:09 AM | 0 comments  
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8.25.2008

Photo field-trip

I have to say that my eyes are burning a bit from the photoriffic weekend I had. Saturday was a gorgeous wedding at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe that I'll post more about later. On Sunday I drove over to St. Johnsbury…somewhat bleary-eyed to begin with…for a day of photo learnin' at the Vermont Professional Photographers bimonthly meeting. 

I have to say my attitude sucked on the way over as I was late and tired and would much rather have stayed snuggled in bed sleeping. But it turned out to be a great day! The weather was nice and we (thankfully) went outside to practice posing and lighting for a while. And we had a great barbecue at the home of Anne Jenks, mother of Bob Jenks, who along with VPP pres Don Whipple were the presenters for the day.

Here's Bob composing a shot with one of our models at a local church…

And here's Anna, one of our models.
The whole scene…Anna is tucked into the corner on the left there.
Don sets up a shot with multiple reflectors.


There were four models so the group had the opportunity to pair up and try some of the techniques we had learned during the day.


Here's what's happening…

And here's my shot…

Anna had a very distinctive style and I just loved her boots which really said it all so I had to get a shot. Thanks so much to our models for being so pliable and upbeat all day!! And thanks to the group for making it such a great day!


Posted by Staart Gallery at 9:25 AM | 1 comments  
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8.01.2008

VT and NH

I haven't had a break in a while, so it was super exciting to have a mini-vacation this weekend! Thanks to my folks not only watching the gallery, but also baby-sitting the menagerie, and not having a wedding to shoot, I had four whole days off! Woah…

We had so much fun and had great weather the whole time. I'm actually human-colored now! Friday night we camped out at Lake Elmore for the annual Booth family camping trip which is always fun. Here's Azzie getting a little giddy waiting for dinner…


And Marjohn getting a little grumpy waiting for dinner…

But since Bobbi-Jean and Sandy are the masters of camping, dinner didn't take long to cook and was deeelicious.

Dinner was followed by several of us retiring to the campfire for a little cigar smoking…




Then Saturday Jason and I headed over to Lake Winnipesaukee for a few days of r&r with our good friends PJ and Rebecca. It's so much fun to hang out with them because we never get bored, and they also appreciate having "down-time" too. And all of our activities involved cocktails such as my Mojito below.

The greatest thing is that PJ and Jason have been friends forever…literally, since they were wee tots. You don't find that very often! I just think it's so great that whenever they reconnect it's like no time has passed. 

Sunday we went for a hike. Here's evidence of what it's like to hike with Jason. He's always first…


Except when I jump ahead for photo opps. 

Hey, it's a picture of me! I hate photos of myself but if I don't force someone to take shots like this, there will be very little record of my existence after I die…the photographer's dilemma.

PJ points out to Rebecca all of the coves of the lake visible from the top of the fire tower.

I loved this lamp at the house we stayed at. 

PJ loves to fish. The night attempt yielded few results.


And it was a super meatilicious weekend too, ending with our rotisserie-cooked chicken. It was as good as it looks.





Posted by Staart Gallery at 8:12 AM | 0 comments  
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7.13.2008

Turkey Fry '08

It started last year when I just wanted to fry a turkey. It was a good reason to have a party since I wasn't going to eat the whole thing myself, so friends came and brought other goodies to fry. It quickly became a culinary "experiment" and we decided to continue the tradition this year.

What can you fry? Anything! The menu last night included turkey, chicken wings, french fries, zucchini and squash, rhubarb, eggs, pickles, dough (mmmm), snickers, twinkies, fruit and some other items. I made a weak attempt at ice cream but that plan kind of melted.

The strategy: batter it and blast it. Here's the second bubbling turkey.
Gabe and Luma (?Lula). She was such a good dog.
Peter keeping Tobi occupied. I think he needs a dog!

The carvings…
Fried dough was delicious. My favorite this year.
My parents and friends contemplating what time they will wake up in the middle of the night suffering the repercussions of the eating orgy.
Like father, like son.

And if there's one thing we learned all night it is not to trust Ethan with the Oreos…ever.


No news yet on how the car ride home went!
The girls building stick structures…my kind of girls!

Karen picking at the bird.
Marcin brought the pickles. They were surprisingly good.
Becca feeling the tryptophan.
The dogs knew where it was at…anywhere under a plate.
And the kids this morning…a little hungover.
I'm so glad everyone made it over. With my busy schedule it really means a lot to me to be able to hang out with everyone, so thanks guys!
Posted by Staart Gallery at 1:11 PM | 0 comments  
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