Girl Time

Girl friends. I don't think I could get through life without them. Two of my best friends and I got together for a quick girls' weekend in the place where our friendship began 10 years ago, Charlottesville, VA. 

We joined forces our first year in college at UVA, and we were pretty inseparable throughout those 4 years. Andi and I had known each other through church in our hometown and when we both were accepted into UVA, decided to room together. Lauren was assigned to our dorm hall as well, and after some encouraging words from her mom on move-in day, introduced herself to us. From then on we were as close as 3 peas in a pod and as thick as thieves. I could seriously write a novel of all our experiences, but sometimes it's the little things that make you realize how lucky you are to have such great friends in your life.


Like when you laugh so hard that someone inevitably snorts absurdly loud or has tears streaming down her face... The kind of laughter that makes your stomach muscles will hurt the next day. We've got that.


Honesty. There's no holding back when you're true friends. Whether it's a sweater that's not so flattering or a boy who's not so flattering. We have always given it to each other straight.


A shoulder. Sometimes you just need one to lean on or cry on - whether it's because something is just not going your way or it's a life changing event - we know we're always going to be there for each other.


Sharing. Their joy is my joy, just as their sadness is my sadness. 


Rituals. Whenever we step foot onto the grounds of UVA there's an unspoken rule that we'll eat breakfast at Bodo's Bagels and lunch at Take It Away. No matter what.

FUN! We always have loads of it whenever we get together, no plans required.

And speaking of fun, the girls were kind enough to let me practice some photography on them. After a weekend with them, I feel recharged and ready to tackle this week! 

 

We spotted this great couch placed in front of a fantastically painted wall on our way to get lunch at Take It Away. It just screamed "take pictures here!" So we did.

 

This photo says to me, "Hmm, where should we go for dinner tonight?"

Thanks girls!

Off to The Races

The first Saturday in April is kind of a sacred day in our family... it's The Races! Lots of friends and family gather together at the Ben Venue farm outside of Flint Hill, Virginia to tailgate and watch the Old  Dominion Hounds Point to Point. And while I'm not as savvy when it comes to all things equestrian, I LOVE the opportunity the day provides for catching up with family and friends we haven't seen since the last race and of course, the photos!

View of the revelry...

 Friends waving hello!

Another photographer on the prowl... though I must confess, after seeing her lens and mono-pod, I felt a bit envious for a split second.

The "bookie"

Family

And of course, what's a day with the family without some "childish" antics ;)

Hire me, hire me not

Realistic wake up call: I need to put myself out there. 

There are lots of extremely talented photographers in the Triangle area and I need to contact them and make them my new best friends. And what do I have to lose? Nothing really at this point. But telling myself this and then actually reaching out to them are two very different things. The fear of rejection, the fear of them actually saying "sure, tag-along!" Both are very intimidating. The Professional Photographers of NC experience gave me a few leads, but since I wasn't an official attendee/member at the conference, my networking opportunities were limited to the trade show vendors - although I did score a free 16x20 canvas and learned of some additional and affordable workshop opportunities (more on that later). I'm thinking next year, I'll have to suck it up and pay the dues. But until then, I need a new game plan.

I live by To Do lists, so my plan will be to send at least 5 emails (or phone calls if I'm feeling especially brave) to professional wedding and children/family portrait photographers every week. Hopefully one will stick and give me a shot! Another idea is to start contacting wedding professionals and find out what photographers they like to work with and recommend to clients - and get on their good side as well!

Then the next part of my plan is to join the [b] school (thanks for the idea Katie!). It's only $10 a month and would provide opportunities for networking and learning. I've already gone through most of the helpful hints on the blog archive, which are a treasure trove of information. So I'm adding that to my To List as well.

Okay, I've put it in writing, so there's no turning back now :)

March Madness

Basketball, brackets, beer and boys, oh my! Such is my life during the NCAA tournament. Not that I really mind. Basketball happens to be one of the few sports I actually understand the rules of and don't have to interrupt whomever I'm watching a game with, with any of the following phrases that frequently come up (usually during hockey, soccer and football games):

What was that call?

Well, what does [insert inexplicable rule] mean?

Ouch! That looked painful. Why wasn't that a call?

But that looked just like the other call?

You can tell I'm a joy to be around.

Basketball is a different story though, because basketball and I go way back. Like to sixth grade way back. That was when I joined my first basketball team. Of course there weren't any tryouts and they let everyone play, but I was hooked after that. I tried out for the 7th grade team and played on the school team every year since, all the way up through varsity. Now, I don't want to lead you on to think I was particularly talented, because while I was coordinated and had the fundamental skills, I am vertically challenged by basketball standards. I'm 5'3" on a good day. But what I lacked in height, I made up for in determination and hustle. I was even named Miss Hustle at a basketball camp one summer. My love affair with basketball continued from high school into college when I coached a  middle school age girls' rec team. My favorite and fail proof play was an in bounds play called "diamond." You can imagine why the girls ran it so well. 

So, even if March Madness means my weekend may be consumed and my plans timed according to the tourney schedule, I'm okay with it. Especially if it means I have bragging rights with my bracket picks... no such luck this year though - I think I'm at the bottom of every pool I'm in... whoops. Thank goodness there's always next year!

Springing Forward

I LOVE that it doesn't get dark until 7:30ish now, but ask anyone I know and they'll tell you, I am not a morning person. So I can't seem to shake that hour of sleep I lost. Especially since it's still dark when we're rising in the morning. I've always been someone who needs a lot of sleep, so mornings have never been my finest hour of the day. Phillip on the other hand goes to bed later than me, gets up earlier than me and always seems to still have energy. I'm baffled by this. If I could have a super power, I think I might ask for the ability to never sleep. Just think of all the things I could accomplish and cross off my to do list! Not to mention the gazillions of pictures I would have time to take.

But even with my "sleep deprivation," I definitely would not trade it for fuller days of sunshine. Especially since it means warmer weather, fresh cut grass, green trees, cocktails on the porch at sunset, and the sweet smell of flowers are on the way. Raleigh is starting to show signs already...

Note to self, get allergy medicine...

Harvey: Paper Shredder Extraordinaire

Phillip and I went to a Carolina Hurricanes hockey game last week since they were playing against my former hometown and Canes' arch-rival, the Washington Capitals aka Caps. The game was pretty intense and the Canes pulled out a win against the number one team in the league in OT! Yeah! (Side note: Although I grew up outside of the DC area, my hockey loyalty resides with the Canes since I had never even seen a game until Phillip and I started dating and he shared his obsession passion with me.) I had brought my camera along, since at this point, it pretty much goes where I go, and captured a few action shots and a few beer shots, since beer and hockey seem to go hand in hand.

Well, the camera especially came in handy when we arrived back at home and were greeted by a sheepish looking dog and a paper trail... literally. Apparently, we adopted a paper shredder.

The crime scene...

 Paper shredding is hard work...