0 "Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear..."

This weekend the hubs and I are staying at the Sofitel in Center City for a mini staycation to celebrate our 1 year anniversary (a wee bit belated). I get a lot of funny looks for being married at my age, but once you've found someone who will put up with your dysfunctional family, random squealing and farmyard noises, you kind of have to keep him around.

Ever since I was a little girl I remember being adamant that I didn't want to get married because I'd have to dance in front of our guests. Turns out, even if you stand a gazillion feet apart and junior high shuffle around to a Moldy Peaches tune, your friends and family will still be there when the 2 minute 56 seconds song ends. This is my super shy way of wishing the mister a happy belated anniversary. So yeah, happy anniversary Josh! Please don't get sick of me anytime soon, kthnx. XOXO MOFO!

"Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear..."

6 Sit. Stay. Love.

Last week I volunteered to photograph a dog event at Anthropologie in Marlton, NJ. Anthropologie partnered with the Animal Orphanage of Voorhees for "Sit. Stay. Love.," a pet adoption event where a handful of adorable dogs ended up finding homes that day. I also shot photos of pets with their owners, which was a wonderful opportunity because it's not every day you get to photograph dogs with such lovely backdrops. Thanks to Anthropologie for the wonderful opportunity!

Sit. Stay. Love.

8 Puppy love

I was lucky enough to spend this past Saturday at the PSPCA photographing shelter dogs, as well as dogs that were previously adopted from the PSPCA and were attending training classes. I'm now comfortably using the manual setting on my camera, thank goodness. I must admit, photographing dogs is much different than roller derby girls or my husband playing video games. I really enjoy the challenge, though, and hope to visit the PSPCA again in the near future

One of my dreams is to pursue pet photography, and I would love to start building up my portfolio by offering complimentary sessions. If you know anyone in the Philadelphia-area who would like a free pet portrait session, please have them contact me! I haven't had the opportunity to shoot any cats yet, so I think that would be a great change of pace (apart from the fact that I'd probably sneeze all over my camera since I am super allergic to kitties). I think the only pet that I'd be a little hesitant about is a snake, because I am a total wuss when it comes to slithery reptiles. As long as the owner can promise me I won't be eaten like Jon Voight in Anaconda, then I think I'd be okay.

On a semi-related note, I will be at the Anthropologie in Marlton, NJ this Friday, October 9th, from 5 to 8pm photographing dogs with their owners. All across the country, Anthropologie stores are holding puppy-related events throughout the month of October, including pet adoptions, food drives and yappy hour parties. Feel free to stop by for wine & refreshments, or to just visit the adorable dogs that will be up for adoption!

Puppy love

2 This entry is all over the place, but hopefully you'll still love me!

Sorry for the recent silence on my end! Things have been a wee bit busy over here and I am just getting back in the swing of things. I recently went to NYC for the huge Weddingbee meetup, which was loads of fun. It always surprises me how much I get along with these gals, when I avoided sororities and hanging out with girls in general in college.

Photos courtesy of Weddingbee!

Was the beak too much?

My mister knows how to party it up. And by "party it up" I mean, wear a plastic bear nose.

I recently attended the wedding of my gypsy love, Mrs. D'Orsay, who looked smashing as usual. I love this photo by Avo, who captured my one and only dance move, the unfortunate finger jive.

I find it so great that I have become close friends with a lot of these ladies online and it isn't at all awkward to meet in person after talking for so long via email or chatting. We have our own little support group online for whenever any of us are feeling down or if something exciting happens that we want to share and I am so thankful for that because I've never really hit it off with girls that well in the past since most of my early college roommates were too Princessy for my tastes. (Seriously, one had a Tinkerbell poster.)

Speaking of awesome ladies, my friend Cubby of the Philly Independence Dolls kicked some major Dutchland arse in her recent bout in Lancaster.

Just looking at photos of other people being active makes me super sleepy, especially on such a rainy, gloomy day like today. I am dreading going home because my biggest fear, a giant centipede of all things, awaits me (Betty White and I discovered it in the kitchen this morning and both ran away shrieking).

I am hoping she'll protect me but given the fact that she runs in terror from our chinchillas, I think my chances are pretty slim that she'll be saving me from the ginormous arthropod. Wish me luck, friends!

PS. That Xyron in the background of Miss Betty White is still up for grabs if you or someone you know is interested!

This entry is all over the place, but hopefully you'll still love me!

2 Having a camera doesn't make me a photographer, but I still heart it!

This weekend was spent with Josh's family and friends, and me toting my new Canon everywhere to try to get a grip on things. I will shamefully admit that I was too scared to take it off the dummy setting and auto focus, but by yesterday I was shooting on manual and had a much better grasp on how to juggle aperture, shutter speed, white balance and ISO settings.

After visiting Josh's dad and family, we visited Josh's mom and family the next day. Our niece, Alliyah, was quite the camera ham, but was unwilling to sit still. I guess I can forgive her since she's a little baby, after all. As long as she lets me borrow her bear hoodie, we can still be homies.

The more photos I take, the more I realize I could really use a version of Photoshop other than 7.0. Don't get me started on how I am secretly pining for Adobe Lightroom. But for now, my main goal is to get comfortable using my camera on manual in a wide variety of everyday situations.

Is anyone else new to the world of DSLRs and a teensy tiny bit overwhelmed by the talent of all of their amazing blogger friends?

Having a camera doesn't make me a photographer, but I still heart it!

4 Who knew you could mess up ice cream?

Last night, Josh and I went to dinner at Honey in Doylestown to celebrate our 7th anniversary. Luckily, our meal was free since I had leftover gift cards which my company gave me. Not so luckily, the food tasted like arse and I had to literally gag everything down, including the ice cream. THE ICE CREAM, people.

This is me pretending to eat the shrimp/egg/sausage/cheese grits (which I had never had before and now I know I made a huge mistake by ordering them) so our waiter wouldn't judge me too harshly.

We both left the meal incredibly hungry, even after ordering $100 worth of food. Le sigh. Despite our grumbling bellies, it was still a good time and we had fun eavesdropping on the couple next to us who weren't as skilled at hiding how much they hated their food.

The boy and I went back home and had a quiet night, which is my favorite kind of night. I am completely content hanging out with our many critters and sitting on my comfy IKEA chair while drawing and watching the latest episode of Hung or Weeds.

I've been playing around with my new camera ever since the lens arrived and my nose has been stuck in the manual ever since. I have a ton of stupid questions that I am too shy to ask people so I generally just run around our living room giggling at myself while trying to figure out how to change the white balance settings when the flash is off. Betty White has been incredibly patient while I fiddle with camera buttons, trying to capture the insanity that she oozes on a daily basis. *Shudders* I just realized I hate the word "oozes." Ick.

Betty isn't the only one who has been itching to get in front of the camera. I'm so thankful I have five other furry critters (and a furry husband) to experiment with as I try to learn the ins and outs of my brand new camera.

Who knew you could mess up ice cream?

0 Christmas in August?

I did a bad thing. I ordered a DSLR even though I am as broke as a joke (are jokes really broke? I don't get it...). I really want to teach myself how to use one of these bad boys so I can hopefully delve into pet photography and other future fantabulous endeavors.

I'm going to be raising money to pay the photography equipment off by (hopefully!) doing custom pet portraits and the like. I just recently received two commissioned portrait requests—one for a hilarious & sweet gal who wants a portrait of her pet rat named Hadrian Rodentdoodle (who unfortunately passed away), and another for a Weddingbee-reading bride who wanted some illustrations for her wedding invites of her and her fiance and their two adorable dogs. I am so lucky to have such amazing clients who are helping me pay the bills!

Now, without further ado, here are my new friends:



I wish I had these in time for Miss D'Orsay's wedding tomorrow, but alas, I just ordered this all today. I am super excited to meet a ton of bees at her bridal bash-o-rama, woot! Oh my gosh I just realized it's Project Runway night. My life is now complete.

Christmas in August?