Bay-Bay

I can't have a dog where I live and even though I'm thoroughly happy with my cat (used to be plural but that's another blog entry) there are times I'll see a dog that I just think is the cutest thing on earth. This is one of those dogs.

His name is Bay-Bay and he's a yapper but he makes me laugh whenever I see him out and about. He belongs to my neighbor so I see Bay (for short) every day.

He likes to terrorize my cat. Or is it the other way around? I can never be sure.

Glorious, Wonderous Cheese

Cheese is awesome. It rocks. It's the greatest food ever invented. I love it. So, while I'm on my restricted eating plan, it is NOT on my eating plan. Major bummer. But I figure if I don't buy it, I won't be tempted. I'm pretty good about that. If its not in the house I MOST LIKELY won't go out and buy some (but I have before so don't put it past me!).

Well, my dear friend, Laura, who I went to high school and college with, sent me a box of Wisconsin cheese and sausage for Christmas. Seriously? It's sitting open on the coffee table right now taunting me with its deliciousness. So, I'm trying to recruit a few friends to eat it with me this weekend so I don't eat the whole thing by myself, which I will. Believe me. I'll do it in one night if I give myself enough lead time. I'm not kidding.

I love the thought and I love even more the contents of this little box! Thanks, Laura!!

Fatty

Like all cat owners, I find my feline utterly fascinating. He does nothing more than lay around and clean himself. He sometimes stares out the window. I'm sure he's contemplating the difficulties of his life: a nice warm house to live in, outdoor privileges whenever he wants, dry AND moist food and a clean(somewhat)litter box. Lots of obstacles for him to maneuver in his daily existence. Here is a little glimpse of Fatty, aka Oliver. I'll be writing a lot more about him as my blog grows.

How exciting for you!

"Nice Pants!"

I was out this morning on my daily trek to Starbucks, about 3 blocks from my house, and as I was waiting for the light to turn green to cross the street I got "Nice pants!" yelled at me from the passenger side of a passing car. Knowing that I was wearing the fetching "lounge pants" pictured here, I took it as a compliment. (They're sweatpants. But since I spend about 90% of my time in them, I call them lounge pants. That's swankier and I feel like less of a loser.)

These lovely pants were the result of a momentary lapse of concentration while in the landromat. I was in the midst of a bleach frenzy and when I got to the load of darks, there was no hesitation. In went the bleach. I realized my mistake about 3 seconds later and I furiously pulled my clothes out and threw them in the next available washer. Thinking I had beat the flow of bleach into the washing machine, I felt pretty good about myself. Until I pulled them out of the dryer an hour later and saw the end result. Well, I thought, that's not going to deter me from wearing them wherever I can. These baby's are comfortable!

My lounge pants have a following. My friends Madelynn Fattibene and Dan Budnik (The Fattnik's!!) like these pants. When I show up to their house and I'm not wearing them I think they're secretly disappointed though they would never say it to my face. (Yes, they're the kind of friends who I can show up to their house for dinner in "lounge pants" and it's completely acceptable. Actually, probably preferred. Awesome).

Needless to say, I'm wearing them now and will only change into "regular" pants when I have my photo shoot this afternoon. Then I'm back in 'em to complete my day!

Enjoy...

Palm trees and orange trees

Ahh, California. Sometimes I get so caught up in my day to day life that I forget how beautiful it is out here. It's Christmas day with blue skies, palm trees and blooming orange trees.



This was my Christmas last year in Kokomo. Yes, Kokomo. Not the one in the Keys, the one in the middle of "fly over country". Indiana. Gives you chills just looking at it, doesn't it? This is rockin' downtown!! Exciting!



I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

I like small gatherings. I just feel that I can be myself. I seem to get lost in large groups of people. So I have to say that my Christmas Eve celebration was perfect. It involved 3 friends...



libations....



potato soup...


apple crisp...


and an excited dog...


It was a great night! We watched "It's a Wonderful Life", drank too much wine and talked about our families scattered all over the country. Oh! And I did I mention I got a fantastic pair of black "lounge pants" from Santa? I did. I'm wearing them as I post this blog. Perfect.

'No Word' Marketing Shoot

I was so excited to shoot yesterday! We had tried to get this shoot in last week but the rain made it impossible and when yesterday rolled around, it was perfect for an outdoor session. The cloud cover was the perfect light box and the location we found was exactly what we all envisioned when we came up with the concept.



"No Word in Guyanese", a play written by Wendy Graf, is about a young Muslim woman who moves to the United States with her family and struggles with her sexual identity and reconciling that with the Muslim faith. It is beautiful and so moving. Anna Khaja stars in this one woman show and she was absolutely beautiful and completely in character yesterday when we shot.



It was so much fun AND we got it done in about an hour! Now that's a good shoot!!