Thursday, March 31, 2011

Shot twice: the art of Irena Werning

LUCIA IN 1956 & 2010, Buenos Aires
The Art of Irina Werning (found HERE) is haunting. The series " back to the future" parts one and two take everyday people and replicate to the fine details a photo from their youth. It's a history of both old fashioned film. lighting, and the people we change in too.Take a moment to appreciate the photos :they are intriguing and introspective.Who have these people have turned into? It's like a tiny tunnel glimpse at what it must feel like to be a mom and remember your little one.T

Rainy Days






Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Spoieng

Well It's raining (which I love but it's a weee bit chilly)...and we all know rain and camera equipment aren't buddy-buddy which is why I took the typical camera-in-mirror shot today.  I have shied away from taking outfit posts: I feel pretty stupid doing them. ...but cheers to feeling stupid, we should all feel that way sometimes. So here is what I wore today: drab ol grey and white to match the drab ol day. My mom sneakers were 8 bucks from target. Same pants I wear almost everyday. Wow guys, I'm really starting to branch out!
On another note, I had my mom and pop over for dinner tonight. Charley and I made slow pulled pork with gorgonzola/red onion slaw. sliced tomatoes. baked beans. homemade rolls with honey and sweet potato fries. Charley used a mixed sauce on the BBQ similar to what they serve at Saluda's. It's half mustard based bbq sauce, half red based, a little sugar and apple vinegar.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Bedroom: a work in progress




Our Bedroom is Gross. Theres no other way to put it. We can't paint, the carpet is grungy and we don't love our furniture (it kinda screams country bumkin). But I really can't complain, its functional and generous in space. My problem with it is the orangy tones. My old bedroom had light yellow walls so there were alot of warm tones together. The green and dim light however make it look terrible. For now, this is our bedroom but I don't consider it a very functional space. I'll be working on that.
shh Juneaus not allowed on our bed. She ran in while I was taking a pic. Who can refuse a cute dog on a comfy blanket?

Dash and Albert

Lovin these rugs by dash and albert:

Should I Paint this?

Color options are Cream, Light Grey or Yellow. What do you think? Charley likes the wood :( but it's not even real.

My Shadow

Juneau is the best dog in the whole world...she just tends to get underfoot sometimes. This is how she follows me around the house doing laundry or chores usually with her stuffed hedgie in her mouth. I have been working tirelessly at getting her to howl on command for months and a couple days ago she's finally got it! She had known the difference of sounds and would imitate me doing different woofs, but for some reason not a howl. She picked up her other tricks instantaneously but this one was hard. For her training, was that usually I catch her in the act of doing what I would like her to do on command and work from there giving rewards. After she knew the command, I'd work with her for about twenty minutes each day so she doesn't forget that "howl" means long note.  But a howl is a sound of distress for Juneau, and who wants to put their dog in distress for something cute? Wolves  howl in the wild to signal the boundaries of their territory...but for Juneau it seems to be "I'm lonely and I want to be inside with my people." Naturally, I can't oblige to her every request to be inside...I have important things like vacuuming and stuff to do. So she'd decide it was too long, and howl and then her crazy mamma would come running with a treat. No wonder she was so confused.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

How to Upholster a Sofa

to be continued / updated when i have more time to scan ;(

Upcoming Show

It's been a wet day

S'mores gone modern

PLEASE EXCUSE THIS TERRIBLE PICTURE! My husband took it in the work kitchen from his phone and YIKES it's well...yikes.. But the Dessert isn't. It's Charley's own creation, a fancy twist on S'mores. It has a homemade graham cracker topped with chocolate ganache with a homemade marshmallow thats torched. The top decorated used to abstractly represent smoke is actually campfire infused sugar so you get that smoky- in -the-woods-singing-around-the-campfire experience. 

Great Groceries

Whole Foods Market is like a utipia of grocery stores. They have whole sections devoted to fine cheeses, specialty dairies, select meats, rows of different flours and grains and fresh local greens. The produce section contains rare fruits and veggies you can hardly ever find elsewhere. They literally have EVERYTHING you could ever imagine. Of course prices are higher, but the offer such specialty items. Lots of healthy options, soy and organic, as well as lactate free products. You can by milk pretty much straight from the cow in returnable glass bottles. They only use recyclable brown paper bags. They also have a hot bar, a green bar, an olive bar, house made pizza bar and a huge bakery. Word of warning: Don't walk in hungry. We did when we visited in Charleston with our friend Zack. I bought some vanilla almond granola that we ate immediately after we checked out. We bought ingredients for our evening meal that I will post soon. Bison steak with a Asian mango and arugula salad. 
Kale, Carrot and Avocado Salad
photo taken from here
 

Friday, March 25, 2011

Break with the Bee's

I am tired both from lack of sleep and the bare minimum of things my little brain can keep track of before they pile up into "overwhelming" status. I've been working so much and yet seemingly finish nothing. So Monday night when my husband came home with an escape plan, I ditched work, canceled on half a zillion people and took the opportunity for rest. Saluda's needed someone to attend the IGF food show in Charleston and the executive chef couldn't make it, leaving Charley with a task and a free hotel. IGF is a huge food distributer and they go all out on presentation. This year was spiced up with a hollywood movie theme and held in the large Charleston Convention center near Tanger outlets. The goals is to connect vendor to restaurant and allow you to sample the food you are ordering. For me, this means lots of really good free food. For Charley this meant going throughout the booths and putting in Saluda's orders. Needless to say, we still had alot of fun and it was the first time we've gone on a date in a looonngg time due to Charley's 70 hour a week schedule.

Our hotel was very nice and had one of the most comfortable beds I've ever slept in. We got way to little sleep in it after staying out late with our friend Zack. We at dinner at a place called the Glass Onion. It's owned by a hippy man who wears hawaiian shirts and makes whatever he feels like for the day (usually southern).  Followed by dessert at our usual place: Kaminsky's. They have the best selection of milkshakes and drinks. People rave about their cakes and cheesecakes, but I'm a bit biased being married to a pastry chef. Charley's are superior. After some Irish Coffee we walked around a bit and stumbled across a gleaming window in the dark. The astonishing holy aura the window gave was none other than amber jars filled with honey lined up in perfect symmetry. I immediately regretted leaving the camera  but I tried to pack lightly and for charley's sake enjoy Charleston without taking pictures. It was a good rest for me too, not lugging the "baby" around.

The glowing window was none other than The Savanna Bee Company. It had just opened up within a few days (the dumpster outside has the last remains of construction debris). We took note to come back the next day when it was open. It is a beautiful store, well designed using vintage bee prints, brown papers and earthy colors. They desplay the honey like the lost ark in a temple, except they encourage to touch. No rolling stones or anything. Each honey has a tester of course, so we tried Sourwood, Wildsage, Orangeblossom, Cheese pairing,Winter, and Clover and quite a few other flavors. The Sourwood was my favorite and Charley's so thats what we walked home with.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Take that, Picasso!

Picassos Bull IllusionDear Picasso, Thank you for fueling my insomnia strangeness. Thanks to you, I have spent a half hour playing with a candle in the darkness of our upper bedroom at an insane hour of the morning instead of being productive or getting the sleep I know I will eventually need. Yours truly~Scruggers
Juneau....or a squirrel?
 How many lives do you have?



 A thought bubble:
 Scary Monsters:


Sometimes our hand motions are exagerated.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Baguettes

Charley made baguettes last night. This comes to mind:

There goes the baker with his tray like always.
The same old bread and rolls to sell.
Every morning just the same since the morning that we came,
To this poor provintial town.

[Baker] Good Morning Belle!

[Belle]G'morning Monsieur!

[Baker]Where you off to?

[Belle]The book shop...
I just finished the most wonderful story,
About a beanstalk and an ogor and an...

[Baker]That's nice. Marie! The bagettes! Hurry up!


Summer Creatures.

Animals are just out and about, and I know this is corny :)

Tuck it

I have a habit of buying shirts that are way too big (thats all thats left on clearance racks! but looking at some of the new trends out there, it's perfectly okay to tuck now, especially with skinny jeans or a skirt.  I use those little rubber bands for your hair and safety pin the loop to the inside of my jeans. I'm wearing a shirt underneath in this pic and just realized that it looks like granny pantys..it's not. 

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Small Space


aaaahhhwwwwwoooooooooooo

Apparently the moon last night was the "fullest" it will be for another 20 years, and indeed it was quite bright. It didn't appear so largely in the sky based on the time that I went out. I had major insomnia and didn't go to sleep until 6am.  but I had fun sitting on our porch for a little while and couldn't resist taking a picture of the moon...it was even a little hard to resist howling at the moon but I left that task to Juneau.

Minecraft

Here's a time waster but a fun one: Minecraft...a most addicting 8bit game created in Sandbox by a guy named Markus. You can read all about it HERE or play HERE (it does cost money), but the gist of it is that you are a little character that mines in a world of blocks. How is a game with crappy graphics so addicting?? It's almost unexplainable, you really have to experience it to believe me. It contains a beauty only to be held in 8bit because there is something down right joyful to building your little castle block by block with materials you harvested with your own two (animated)hands. There are also a handful of adorably bouncy animals that bleat and oink. Oh and the blocks make a satisfying crunchy noise as you dig and mine. :)
Here's my castle! note the pride :)

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Hello Suburbia

I had waay too many things to do today, but couldn't resist pulling over in this desert of suburbia to take pictures. I had just come from a newborn shoot at the hospital, and had some time before I shot a small event downtown and then headed out to eat dinner with the mother in law and company. This blowing grass is one of my favorite things, I see it everywhere and just think it's so picture-esque. I received a total of two car honks while taking this picture, which is why I only took one. I had parked my car on the side of the road and used the hood as my tripod. I look like a Realtor. Yay. 
I also took some Pan shots to capture the unworldly beauty of the sky this afternoon. These are about 2o shots placed together in Photoshop. This allows me to cheat both depth of field and my lens, since I used a 18-135mm and it becomes like a 300mm. I'm looking forward to April when I'll be renting and playing around with the beautiful D700 with a full frame sensor for the first time. I just can't fall in love with it too much because it'll have to go back. I'll try not to drool on it excessively.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Dork Battles

Confession: In highschool I took part of one of the nerdiest sports of all times...well not just took part but helped create the chapter for South Carolina and watched it take flight under a friends lead. It's called Dagorhir. The official website is HERE. It's been dubbed "Dork Battles".
Thats Right: Fighting with weapons made from camp foam, PVC and DAP glue covered in cloth complete with costuming and role play and battle scenario's. And you know what else, its fun as hell! I'm not going to apologize, and I know the labels you are sticking on me, but I will embrace my Nerd Badge with dignity. 
I am not currently playing and haven't played for over three years, but just recently got back into crafting for it. A friend asked me to paint his shields, so thats what these are:

The fine white lines are actually chalk, it's what I used to layout the initial sketch. They will be beaten out once the sheilds are used.