Spinning round and round.

Well, they weren't lying when they told me it would be hot and humid in Atlanta! The heat I'm used to, but the humidity got to me a little. I had a really good trip out there - and I feel so much better about the project we're working on now, which was the precise purpose.

Only trouble is, now I'm sick. That sinus infection, sore throat, nauseous, head pounding sick. The only reason I'm awake right now is that I had a conference call I couldn't miss, and now I can't get back to sleep. Bummer.

Anyway - it's been a crazy week since I got back from Atlanta. I worked late on Thursday and Friday, and then Sean and I went to grab a quick bite sans Emma. Halfway to dinner he got a text about an overtime shift, and since he's been really wanting to pick up OT, I said go for it. Except what we thought would be a 12 hour shift was really a 24 hour shift, so he suddenly had to be at work super early the next morning and still needed to do laundry. We still managed to have a nice dinner, but it was a little more rushed.

Added to that, he was already working Sunday, and did a trade for today, putting him on a 72. Boo. I hate being alone that many nights in a row, even with Emma for company.

Saturday I was going to a bbq and then babysitting, so I took Emma to the dog park in Santa Monica to get some of her excess energy out. Except when I got back to my car, my front passenger tire was flat. Bitches! Fortunately, the AAA guy got there super fast, and I didn't have to drive far on the spare. AND they were able to patch the tire, at no charge. I was so lucky - I fully thought I'd need a new tire (or two, to keep them balanced).

The BBQ and babysitting were fun, but completely wiped me out. I was so tired by the time I got home! So yesterday I did as little as possible, much to Emma's chagrin. I knew I was sick when I woke up at 10am, then crashed from exhaustion at 1pm. After doing all of sitting on the couch for those three hours. I feel like I'm on the mend now, but am glad I stayed home - I would have been super bitchy if I'd dragged my ass to work, and on top of that I look like death. :)

Here's hoping the rest of the week goes up from here - I have a feeling it'll be filled with looong hours and lots of work - our first deadline for our current project is Wednesday. Will we meet it? Most likely not, but hopefully we'll be at about 50% running by then.

My head is starting to pound again, so I'm going to go lay down.

Also? I cannot believe it's almost September!

Published!

So two weeks back I mentioned something that I was super excited about that I'd been keeping close to the vest. I was pretty amazed at the speculation that caused, just because babies and moving (ok, maybe not moving) were the last things on my mind at the time!

Anyway, here's what I was excited about - I was published as a photographer! In a magazine! A real one! I am SO excited about this, and so stoked that it actually happened.

Here's what happened. Downtown LA has a new magazine called Bunker Hill (it launched in April). My friend Jason from work started writing articles for this magazine (they're awesome!). And he pitched an idea for an article that compares the film locations from 500 Days Of Summer - they shot most of it downtown - to the actual locations there. And, knowing that it would need photos, and that I love taking photos, he asked me to go on a few photo safaris of downtown to test out the walking tour he was originally putting together.

The article morphed and was moved and bumped, so I was never really sure if the one my friend wrote would run. See, I took these photos back in May and June. So long ago! But I didn't want to say anything about it just in case it DIDN'T run - I didn't want to deal with the disappointment of that.

But then it was published! And Jason brought me a shiny, awesome copy of the August edition. And I cracked it open, and there it was: my name in print.

Anyway, here are scans of the article - they used a bunch of my shots! Obviously, I didn't take the ones that are in the Polaroid type frames from the movie, but all the others are mine!







My favorite shots are the one of the Old Bank DVD girl with her roller skates, and the one of the table at Grand Central Market.

Anyway, I wanted to share my excitement now that I know that it actually happened!

Next up: Finding more ways to be published - it was quite the rush seeing my name in print!

The great August update.

I looked at my Blogger dashboard this morning and had two drafts of blogs that I had started and then didn't have the time or words to finish. One was about a conflict I was dealing with, and my emotions in relation to it. Another was my excitement over Prop 8 being declared unconstitutional. I deleted them both, because that was then, and this is now, and as feelings are prone to, they've changed.

I'm still excited about Prop 8. I wish that the stay had been removed so that couples could get married right away, but it's still progress. I'm a huge believer in marriage equality, and I'll continue to closely follow this one. Some conservative dickwad made some comment like "The way things are going, this could be as damaging to conservatives as Roe v. Wade." All I have to say about that is - I can only hope so!

The other... well, I'm still kind of off balance there. Maybe I'll write about it at some point, maybe not. I'm leaning towards no, but it's one of those things that I started my blog to be able to write about, so I'm torn. Ugh. Public blogging.

In other news, work continues to be insanely busy. We have a new project that is a SHIT TON of work and has some super tight deadlines, and it's been quite the challenge. It's not so much meeting my own deadlines, but trying to get other people to meet deadlines so I can meet mine. It's a lot of "hurry up and wait," and it's increasingly frustrating as we get close to deadlines. The first deadline is tomorrow - I'm going to Atlanta for a whole 30 h0urs next week to meet our new contacts and see a facility there, and I was really hoping to be farther along with this project by then than we are. It sucks big fat hairy balls, but it's completely out of my control. I'm trying to be zen about it - the only things I can change are my own - I can't make other people do things faster. I CAN, however, go to our COO and make him make them. ;-) I just prefer to not play that game if I can avoid it, because I don't like feeling like I've thrown someone under the bus.

My birthday was Monday and so far this week has been pretty high up there in birthdays! Started celebrating on Sunday with some mother/daughter time and shopping - I love shopping with my mom. I found two new pairs of pants (tall! woo!) at NY&Co, AND they were having a "buy 1 get 1 free" deal! Score! Monday night we did a VERY low key trivia night at O'Brien's in Santa Monica. It was so nice to see people and chill out, even though the trivia game was a little hard core for us. It took FOREVER (2 hours for 4 rounds of 5 questions? Really?) and people got a little too into it. But it was fun to giggle and have a beer and see some of my people.

Last night was dinner with my dad and that side, and it was also great. My dad gave me an iPod Touch! I've been wanting one since before they existed and it was all about the iPhone. I'm super super excited, and have already uploaded videos and purchased the Trivial Pursuit app. :-) Now I just have to buy the protective case, since it seems too delicate for my clumsy hands. Anyone out there with an iPod Touch that knows of an app I HAVE to have?

And rounding out the birthday festivities is this weekend, with the totally bad ass outdoor screening of The Princess Bride! Food trucks and one of my favorite movies on a giant outdoor screen? Heaven! Here's hoping that our "it-finally-feels-like-summer" weather will stick around through Saturday night.

Edit: I FORGOT JOHN MAYER! What is wrong with me?? We were going to opt out of the Hollywood Bowl show this Sunday due to ridiculous ticket prices and the fact that he sneak attacked us with this show AFTER we saw him at Staples earlier this year. But then Ceci went by the Bowl and you could get tickets without the evil Ticketmaster fees, and, well, it just kind of happened. We're pathetic, really. ;-) So yes, Sunday will bring John Mayer once again, and at my favorite venue to see him! Yay August!

It's been a good week, which has been a welcome change to the uncertainty and restlessness I was feeling for the last two months. I'm still working hard on finding balance - that seems to be the theme for this year - but I think I'm slowly chipping away at progress. Health, wellbeing, money, time, sanity - everything seemed rocky for a while there. Here's hoping I can ride the post-birthday wave for a while and figure some more shit out.

I take off for the ATL (all by myself, boo) on Monday afternoon. The saving grace to this little jaunt is a possible blogging friend meet up! Bing's Life In The Left Lane was one of the first blogs I started reading when I started mine, and she often sings the praises of ATL. Because it's how things seem to be going right now, the one night I'll be there next week is the same night as her wedding anniversary, but we're crossing our fingers that it'll work out to meet up for coffee!

I've a lot on my mind, and I think I need to carve out more time to blog about it. I miss the release of writing, and the sense of community.

In love...

With a dress.

This dress, to be exact.


I found this dress online today and immediately fell into infatuation with it. I'm thinking it might be a birthday present to myself to wear to my holiday party this year.

I wonder if it would look good on me, or if it would be a giant disaster.

I also love this one.


(sigh)

I wish I had more money.

Playing catch up.

And... I have a little bit of my blogging mojo back.

So where have I been?

- Driving to Sedona.
- Flying to Portland.
- Taking Emma to the dog park and on hikes with girlfriends in Runyon Canyon.
- Discovering, watching, and obsessing over ABC's new Toronto-filmed show Rookie Blue. (It's awesomely cheesy, y'all, you should check it out!)
- Trying to find a balance between Sean, Emma, friends, family, work, and commuting in LA.
- Trying to figure out of career wise, I'm where I really want and need to be.
- Wondering if where I want and need to be might be two different places.
- Trying to stop being fat.
- Trying to save more money.
- Keeping something I'm super excited about close to the vest so that I wouldn't jinx it (more on that later - and no, let me jump ahead of your next questions - we didn't get engaged, I'm not pregnant, and we're not moving! It's nothing life changing!)

Life got super complicated all of a sudden. Maybe it's us still trying to adjust to having something else to take care of, maybe it's just what happens? Hmmm, I guess I'm still feeling a bit restless.

I need to chill out. I need to have a good August. I need to write things down. I need to accomplish things. I need to shout at the top of my lungs when I have good news, so that I can look back when things are slow and remember that my life kicks ass, and I actually have a lot of good things going.

I think I need August to be a great month for me. It's my birthday month, after all! Time to turn things around and shake off the unrest.

Restless.

Do you ever feel like you're just treading water? Not really going anywhere, just stagnant?

It's weird, too, because on paper, everything is going really well. I have an amazing boyfriend. We have a cool dog. I've traveled to Sedona with my girlfriends and to Portland with Sean this month. At work I'm in the middle of three pretty cool and challenging projects.

So what the shit is wrong with me? Why do I feel like I need to make a big life change?

Maybe it's Sean's desire to move out of the area. Maybe it's that in a little over two weeks I'll be turning 28, and will officially be in my "late 20s" instead of my "mid 20s." Maybe it's wanting to write, and to take photography classes, and re-learn Italian, and having NO time to do so. Maybe it's being stressed out about money.

Maybe it's the fact that in two months, I'll have been at my current job for 6 years. 6 years - that's longer than I've ever done anything. Maybe it was researching film studios in Ireland. Maybe it was that recent trip to Portland, and having a slightly perfect moment of standing in the sun picking ripe raspberries without a care in the world, and being able to clearly see us living up there for a little while.

Maybe it's a combination of all of the above. I've been out of sync, with little to no time or motivation to do things I love, and I'm not quite sure how to get out of this slump.

(shudder)

This morning, I went into the bathroom at work to pee, and found a tick on my inner thigh.

Only, I had never had a tick on me before, so I didn't know it was a tick. Justifiably (at least I think it was justifiable), I had a little freak out. I managed to get the thing off me whole - nothing stuck - and went running to Shannon. She confirmed that it was a tick, and not something far worse, like a bed bug, and I calmed down a little.

Except, EW. And, not ok. And now, since I found it at around 11:30am, I've been shuddering and have been all sorts of paranoid about other things being on me. I'll keep an eye on where it was just in case, but I'm pretty sure I got it before it latched on. But the other thing that keeps getting me is that I must have picked it up when I was in the back taking Emma out this morning - which means that it was in my pants since about 6:45 this morning.

It has NOT been the best week. In Sedona, I somehow managed to break two pieces of jewelry that I was looking at in two different stores. One was a citrine bracelet that was on one of those elastic bands, and the band snapped when I was taking it off. The other was a moonstone ring, and one of the moonstones popped out, again when I was taking it off. Then, a fucking cockroach landed on my sweater as we were walking into the Safeway, and I had a minor meltdown on the ice cream aisle when Marie pointed it out to me.

And back at home, it's been 200 degrees so everything is seeking the cool of our apartment. The other night we had like 8 little bugs on the inside of our bedroom window, which just so happens to be on my side of the bed. I had nightmares.

And then today the tick. All I can say is THANK GOD it's fucking Friday and I get to go home now.

Here's hoping your week was better than mine.

Emma, the trainwreck escape artist.

So Emma has turned into quite the escape artist. She figured out that, with minimal effort, she can push out the screens of our windows and get outside.

The first time she did it, I was halfway to Santa Monica for a photo job, and the woman down the hill managed to catch her long enough to call me, but then lost her again, and she was running wild. I have never been as frantic in my life as I was as I battled evening Westbound traffic on PCH to get back home, with no idea if Emma was ok or not. Turns out, she was fine - the woman managed to chase her back up to the house and hang onto her until I got home. I ended up being an hour late to the event (which was ok, because it went long, so I just made up the hour at the end), and Emma chilled in the car.

So that was the first time she escaped, and it's happened four other times since. Three of those four times I was home, fortunately (the other time the same lady caught her again) - and just tonight she did it while I was in the bedroom! WTF is up with that?? So now we have to keep the windows closed, which is ridiculous.

And on top of the escaping, she's put us through the wringer with her health stuff! Eye infection in her right eye, bug bites on her tail that got agitated from her chewing them, allergy rashes on her belly after she runs in our yard, a wretched elbow from playing too rough at the dog park that got all swollen, a weird sneeze attack over the weekend, an eye infection in her left eye, etc, etc. And that's in addition to the tapeworm she had about a month ago and the giardia that she got from some unknown source.

It's so stressful and frustrating to have her sick or ailing all the time! She's on the mend now (lots of $$$ to the vet later), and we're not letting her run around in the backyard until we figure out what she's allergic to back there. I think it's the weeds, so I've asked our landlady to have more brush clearance done, but poor Emma is suffering in the meantime! She wants to run! She wants to chase rabbits! It's so sad every time I see her get all excited, only to keep her on the leash and go back inside. The vet said that nce the swelling in her elbow goes down we can take her back to the dog park, though, so at least she'll get to run then!

Oh yeah, and also? She's eaten our couch. It's safety pinned on both corners from where she ripped it in an effort to get to the stuffing, and on one of the arms as well. We buy her toys and toys and toys, and she doesn't touch them when we're gone. Just the couch. And anything plastic we accidentally leave out.

Ugh. We need a break.

Speaking of breaks - I've had a couple. A break in my blogging due to a lack of time. A break in my motivation to work. A break in time from Sean because I've been working late, which is the worst of all. A slight break in sanity.

And fortunately, a real, genuine break - a girls' getaway to Sedona. Shannon, Shosh, Marie and I leave tomorrow morning, and I am excited and nervous at the same time. Emma is going to stay with my mom for two nights because Sean works on Saturday, and I'm hoping she does ok. I mean, I'm sure she'll be fine. She's a dog, and she loves my mom. But yeah, I'm still nervous. But I'm more excited than anything - I want to get out of town and chill with friends, and see a place I've never been. To rock out to awesome music in the car, visit a vortex, and take a million pictures.

Anyway. It's high time I go to bed. I have to be up in about 5 hours, to drive 8 hours. Wow. What's wrong with me??

I hope everyone's weeks have been grand, and let me know if you have any advice for our crazy adventures with Emma!

Full speed ahead.

LOTS and LOTS going on in my world right now!

1) We booked our flights to Portland! We've been wanting to go back to Portland since we were there in 2006, and the stars finally aligned. Cheap flights? Check. Time off? Check. Awesome friends and family to visit? Check. And last, but possibly most important - Oregon Brewers Festival? Check! We'll fly up on a Thursday morning and come home on Sunday evening. I'm so excited - I love love love the Pacific Northwest, and it's going to be so lovely to see one of my best friends and (finally) meet her awesome boyfriend! I'll also get to see three other friends, and hopefully visit my aunt as well!

2) I just wrapped two photo gigs! Which mark my second and third officially paid jobs as a photographer! I worked two cocktail receptions. I was so nervous on Monday and didn't want to jinx anything, but both events went well. I am so grateful I got a chance to do the events - it gets me that much more experience with event photography, and I'm not going to lie - the extra money will come in handy! (Even though it's not much money!)

3) I'm still in the "OMG OMG SQEE" stage of the announcement that my friends are getting married in Italy next year! I can't quite contain my excitement, and it's led to lots of distraction and daydreaming of our trip. The itinerary has already morphed a little bit, and I can't wait to plan more and more. I need to email the people I think are going and see what their travel plans are and if they want me to include them on what I'm planning. I've been wanting to do a group trip like this forever and had come to the conclusion that it was never going to happen, so this is going to be so fab!

4) Emma is doing better, except that she tore up the corner of our couch last week. I need to do something about her boredom - the trainer suggested a million toys, but I don't think she even touches them while we're gone. Even her rawhide bone, her favorite thing in the world, is barely touched when I get home. Anyone have any suggestions for this? I want to build a dog run in the back yard, but that's going to take some effort.

5) Operations No Spendy and Stop Being Fat are about to go back into full effect! Saving money will be paramount for the next year, so that we can afford this amazing trip that I'm planning in my head. And I've come to the realization that I need to get serious (again) about my health - I'm not ok that I get winded while walking Emma up the hill in our back yard. I think I'm going to start a "Europe Walking Club" to get in shape for the ridiculous amounts of walking you do while in Europe. Anyone in the area want to join in?

What's going on in your world??

Italy bound!

My friend Sarah has been engaged for about a year and a half, and we finally got her surprise wedding invites in the mail - AND WE'RE GOING TO ITALY!!!!

She told us weeks ago that it would be a destination wedding, and my first thought was that it would be Italy... but then she gave us hints about it being hot and needing sunscreen. Could it be the Caribbean instead?? Nope! Italy!

The wedding is set for June 27, 2011, and I've been in a state of euphoria since I found out. I'm going to Italy! I'm going to my second home!

The wedding will be in Siena, in a villa about 12 km outside of the town. I'm so excited - Tuscany is quite possibly one of my favorite places in the world.

And in typical fashion - the wedding is an entire year away and I'm already planning! I have a sort of itinerary set, and I've already researched a couple good (and reasonable) places to stay in Siena. (The villa that the wedding will be at is a ghastly $800/night!) Sarah and her fiance said they're going to fly into Rome first and spend a few days, meeting up with various family members and friends, then make the trek up two days before the wedding. I'm thinking we might do the same, then continue our trip after.

We're thinking we want to go for 2 weeks - I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!

More coming soon, and I think I might do some of the planning over on Tendency To Wander. (Yes, I have another blog too!)

What are your thoughts on destination weddings? Do you love them? Hate them? I happen to think this one will be a fantastic reason to get everyone over to Europe - here's hoping a year of saving is enough!

Milestones.

I've reached a few milestones with this here blog and forgot to mention them completely.

1) This blog's 2 year blogiversary was back in April! I can't believe that I've had this blog that long! It's been such an outlet for me, and I've met some other amazing bloggers through it!

2) 400 posts! This post is #423... again, CRAZY! (Wait. Now that I think about it... I guess after 730+ days of having a blog I should probably have more than that. Maybe it's because I'm so long winded.)

3) 25,000+ views! Wooo! Not that I write for the views, but it's kind of fun to look at my tracker and see that people from all over the US and the world, for that matter, have stopped in. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love that you visit, and I hope that you gain something from reading the sometimes random dribble that I spout out.

And now, a quick look at the key words people have used to find me:
- "bachelorette goody bags" (I'm so glad people enjoyed that one because I really had a good time putting stuff together for Candace's bachelorette party!)
- "angels and demons movie vs book"
- "sean og's ballyshannon" (GO THERE if you're ever in Ballyshannon!)

And a couple weird ones:
- "8th grade bites" (Actually, 8th grade was my best year of middle school!)
- "baby bird noises" (Hmmm. Ok.)
- "cake balls" (Yep, that one gets a lot!)
- "proud is not long" (Milka-what??)

I guess most of my blog is pretty PG, considering the lack of "dirty" searches that result in my blog! I'm ok with that!

What kinds of crazy things have gotten people to your blogs?

Grown up?

The other day, I took a photo of myself with my new hair, and posted it with the caption "New hair, new jacket, new earrings. I call this my grown up look."


I'm 27 (and a half) years old, and I still don't feel like a "grown up." I still get a bit weirded out when someone refers to me as a woman instead of a girl. I still do childish things on occasion. I still prefer to wear jeans and a t-shirt over office clothes. I would still rather sleep in than wake up and do chores. And none of those things necessarily make you a grown up, but sometimes I think about my age and think: How did I get to be this age, and when am I going to FEEL like an adult?

So tell me. Is this something everyone feels? Is it just me? At what point do you stop thinking of yourself as a "kid?"

Hell, I have my 10 year high school reunion this year! Shouldn't I be feeling like a grown up by now?

What? What'd I do?

TMI Thursday: Pooping on a leash.

We've had Emma since April 10. Since April 10, she has refused to go poop unless she was roaming free in our backyard.

Last night, I got her to go poop while on the leash.

While this is probably no big deal to 99.9% of you - it's monumental to us - it's like our child just reached a huge stepping stone in growing up!

Wooo!

Hair today, gone tomorrow.

Last weekend I got a much needed haircut. It had been since Candace's wedding last July since I'd been to see Lisa for her to do my hair - and every day it was becoming more evident. I was losing hairs left and right, finding them all over the house and in my car! And on top of that, it was starting to bug me. Too much hair.

So I went in, and Lisa cut off over 5 inches.

5 inches!

I'll be honest, it's a little shorter than I was thinking, but as usual, she did a great job. We also darkened it a little (do you like how I said "we" there, when I did nothing?) but I don't think that the color is very noticeable. I almost want to go darker, but it's almost summer so I didn't want to go overboard.

Behold, the before and after pics.



It's not exactly a drastic change, but I like it. It's SO much lighter in weight, and it's so much easier to deal with in the morning! The thing is, my hair going in looked better than it had in weeks, so I was totally second guessing myself as I sat down! Go figure. Why does that always seem to happen?