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  • Smashing Pumpkins 20th Anniversary Tour

    Smashing Pumpkins 20th Anniversary Tour

    Chris and I just got back from seeing the Smashing Pumpkins at DAR Constitution. I have to admit that I’m a fairly casual fan and Chris is the more hard core fan. This was my first SP concert. I have no shame in admitting that I like the greatest hits, and maybe one or two songs from the earlier albums that weren’t singles. My brother, Michael, was a huge fan so many years ago, and I remember the songs being played over and over again in his room and in his car. (To his credit, I think he pretty much did have every single album, B-side and import, so it wasn’t like it was just Mellon Collie on repeat.) The opening strains of Today, included in tonight’s set list, always remind me of when he was learning to play guitar.

    The show was not really for the casual fan, but I did enjoy it, save for the 20-minute Pink Floyd cover which might be the biggest reason as to why I can’t hear a thing right now. That and the fact that we were so close to the speakers. I thought DAR was kind of a strange venue for SP. Our seats were close up front to the stage, but high up enough that our view was partially blocked. But I love people-watching, and it was a great spot for that. I was even able to scope out my friend Alia who had seats on the floor. Hi Alia!

    Just a couple of crummy pictures with the point & shoot for posterity:




  • Girlfriends

    This is one of my favorite clients, Holly (you look gorgeous, Holly!):

    You might recognize her from a family portrait session I did over the summer. Her friends from college (if I’m not mistaken they all went to Radford – correct me if I’m wrong girls!) were all planning to get together for sort of a mini-reunion/girls’ night, and Holly had the really fun idea of doing a group portrait of the girls together. I absolutely loved the idea and was so happy to do this for them. I adore my own girlfriends and would really love to have professional photos done of us, only the difference is that I definitely don’t have a group of fifteen girls that are all close – yeah, there were fifteen women! I think that’s just amazing!

    So we all met over at Larlyn’s house in Arlington. This is the fabulous hostess, Larlyn (beautiful woman, with an unbelievably fantastic house):

    And here are the girls! How amazing is this group?!

    I talked everyone into going outside because I liked this spot in front of the garage. Thanks for putting up with the chilly evening air! I think it’s a cute shot. Group hug!

    And this next series is. Just. Awesome. I hope she won’t mind me posting these! But seriously, I’m in awe! We finished the big group portraits and then did a few smaller group pictures, and then things got a little silly here, but I totally love it.

    That’s a full front split, in jeans, on the top of a bar, (and after a drink or two) all the while looking fabulous. I love all of the supportive hands in each picture from every side, just in case. True friendship!

    Thanks so much Holly, Larlyn and everyone for inviting me into your group for a while. I had a lot of fun, and I hope you enjoy the photos! There’s tons more and I’ll have them ready soon. If you want to be notified when the images are posted in an online gallery, you can register here. Hope you had a great time last night!

  • Jessica & Borin – 10.11.08

    Somehow I managed to get my wedding blog posts a little out of order, as this one that I second-shot for Jess was weeks ago! Nevertheless, it was quite memorable. We had one of the best fall days, which went perfectly with Jessica and Borin’s fall theme. More on the details in a minute, but first a couple of fun shots of Borin (on the left) and his best man since I was the one to hang out with the guys that day.



    The light during the ceremony was beautiful – we had a clear sky with low sun that just gave the ceremony a golden glow.

    I didn’t get to see Jessica until she walked down the aisle, but she looked amazing (love that veil!):

    I snuck inside the clubhouse to get around to the other side for a different view, and this was my view on the way:

    The Catoctin Hall ballroom at Musket Ridge Golf Club was perfectly decorated in warm, rich fall hues.

    I loved these little jewels dangling from the centerpieces!


    The gorgeous fall day made way into a gorgeous fall night, and then the party really got started!

    The first dance.

    The dance floor had more of a dance club vibe to it. The song selection was so much fun – high-energy, and kept everyone moving. And how fun are these colored lights?!

    Instead of a traditional cake, Jessica and Borin had towers of Krispy Kreme donuts that smelled amazing. It makes me want a donut right now…

    Borin getting carried away with his dance moves…

    And Borin getting carried away, literally.

    Best wishes and congratulations to Jessica and Borin! I can just tell by the amazing time that everyone had celebrating that these two are going to have a fun, happy life together. Thanks for having me along, Jess! You know I love shooting with you.

  • My Civic Duty

    I haven’t forgotten about my 101 in 1001 list at all – in fact, I can check off item #97: Vote in the 2008 Presidential Election. I didn’t take my camera into the polling location out of respect for the rules and for the other voters, so as proof of fulfilling the item on my list, I hope you’ll accept a photo of me post-vote with my “I voted” sticker.

  • Happy Halloween!

    I used to be super into Halloween – I’d say it was easily one of my favorite holidays. I was a total ham, I’ve always loved being creative and dramatic, so dressing up for Halloween really fit the bill. When I was too old to go trick-or-treating myself, I still loved handing out candy to the neighborhood kids. Alas, the neighborhood that we live in now is completely void of trick-or-treaters. We are in the tiny townhouse section next to the streets full of huge mansions – which would you pick if you’re looking to score good loot? And I haven’t dressed up in a while either. The last couple of jobs that I have had as an adult didn’t really allow me to wear a costume to work, and while there were a few parties going on tonight, I found myself needing to get some work done! So the Halloween spirit has dwindled a bit for me. BUT…in the interst of still celebrating the day, I thought I’d post something festive: old pictures of my Halloween costumes and my top-five list of scariest movies!

    First, the pictures. They’re scanned from prints, so please pardon the quality. These are all more recent than not. I’m sure my parents probably have pictures somewhere of me as a child wearing those plastic costumes. You know, the ones with mask that has the cheap rubber band to go around your head, with the tiny airhole you can barely breathe through, and the plastic character-printed smock that gets so hot. But here’s what I could find in my own archives.

    My senior year of high school, I bent wire hangers and wove my hair around it for the perfect Pippi Longstocking ‘do. I used red food-coloring to tint my hair a little. The wire was painful, but cute I thought:

    When I was a waitress during college, I dressed up as a goddess, making use of a dress I’d never wear again – I just added some drapery cord and made the wreath for my head:

    And easily the worst of them all, me (in the pink) with a few girls that I worked with at my first office job. Here we are dancing around, flashing peace signs and playing, “Wannabe” on a boombox, barely passing as The Spice Girls. There were only four of us!

    And, as promised, my top-five scariest movies of all time, according to me. Let me preface this by saying I am a big weenie, I hate scary movies, and only watch them when I am forced to or by accident, like when I am flipping through the channels and land on one that piques my curiosity.

    1. The Exorcist – Two of my friends made me watch this when I was about 8 or 9. I think I slept with the lights on for two weeks.
    2. Poltergeist – I can’t even have a doll or stuffed animal (and definitely not a clown) sitting anywhere in my room because of this movie, and static on the TV gives me goosebumps.
    3. The Ring – Again, static on the TV freaks me out. I watched this one with the remote in-hand the whole time. I changed the channel a few times.
    4. People Under the Stairs – Dude with the missing tongue…gross.
    5. Blair Witch – I have no idea why this is so scary, it just is! I think about it whenever I see a dark, wooded area.

    And my runner-up for sixth-place is Beetlejuice. Chris thinks that’s ridiculous, so it’s okay if you do too, but it really creeped me out when I saw it in the theater. Happy Halloween everyone!