What we did over Christmas break

This is a little late posting but I was playing with my blog trying to get larger images so I thought I would share these with you. One of Cassi's presents was orchestra level tickets to the musical "High School Musical" and so her and I went to dinner at Horton Plaza, got Starbucks and walked over to the Civic Center to see the musical. It was a great show and I totally recommend it if you have a girl 2-20 years old! This is the stage that I WAS NOT ALLOWED to take pictures of.


Of Course...I tried to take one or two pictures without a flash and hidden from all the ushers and this next picture is the only one that turned out...it is the curtain going down after the encore. I think it turned out great!



On our way to the show we stopped at the Sweet Factory at Horton Plaza and picked up some candy for the show and I snapped a few more pictures of all the colors...I love the M&M's!!!







Here's Cassi rocking her peace sign, High School Musical tshirt and Starbucks!



The next day we drove with our friends Christi and Alyssa to Los Angeles to go to The American Girl store. Cassi received her doll Nikki for Christmas and needed to buy her all of the essentials (jacket, dress, shoes, hairbrush, etc). There was a photo studio at the store and they took pictures of the girls and put them on the cover of the magazine. While Cassi and I were waiting in the waiting room...we took this picture of her...and of course...it was WAY better than the one they took...but then...she never takes a bad picture!!!



Does this picture remind you of the Prospector in Toy Story??? Me too!!! It's like they are waiting to be bought and loved!!!



The next three pictures were taken at the tea we went to at the store. The food was cute and theme related.



Nikki enjoying her tea...



And this is how cute the room was. I would love a ceiling light fixture like this one!!! It is so fun!



The store sells "Itty Bitty Twins" and this set totally reminded me of my twin sister Diane and I. We totally looked like this, our Mom did our hair this way, and we looked nothing like twins!



The mall was still decorated for Christmas and amazing!



I thought this bra was totally cool with the cat eyes and got this one picture before I got informed I could not take pictures in Victoria Secret!



This tree is larger than the tree at Rockefeller Plaza.



Cassiandme and my new "grandchild" Nikki



Cassi and her friend Alysa and their dolls...Nikki and Molly.



So there's some of what we did on our Christmas break. I have been sick with a sore throat and now a crazy head cold that makes me feel like I am 60,000 feet in the air with enormous pressure in my head and I am dreadfully tired all the time so I apologize for not posting more often!

and...

GO CHARGERS!!!!!

Enjoy!!

Lean like a "Charger" Go Bolts!!!

Because you just can not go anywhere in San Diego without the blue and gold representing right now and in honor of the mayor declaring today San Diego Chargers day...my niece Amanda sent this to me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx03Fj22Iq8

Enjoy!!!

Go Chargers!!!!

Was that not a great game?????

On to New England...

teddy bears and moustaches...

I was looking back at old images of Cassi wondering if I had the retouching knowledge "back then" that I do now...would there be images I would have retouched and cropped differently.

So I came across this adorable shot of her from preschool (2003-When I had just bought my first digital camera) and didn't know a thing about photoshop. As much as this is a memory of the day she got to take her bear to school for the "teddy bear parade". The first thing I would do now had I taken this picture today is to bring this image into photoshop and retouch any imperfections....

had I done this....

I would have erased away something that reminds me far more about her childhood than the parade...

her chocolate milk moustache!

She LOVED her chocolate milk and her face was always a mess when she drank it...

so...

even though I thank god on a daily basis for photoshop and the double chins it can remove off my face...

I think I will think twice before using some of the tools I learned in photoshop and leave those imperfections to remind me of the reality of her childhood-not some fixed gaussian blurred representation of it...

God I love that face!!!!!
Enjoy!

after midnight...

Sooo...it's after midnight again and I can't think of anything better to be doing than going through random folders of pictures playing with images. This was taken in June right after I received a new lens. These poor pathetic guinea pigs are the best live subjects ever for me!!!

This is taken right outside my front door on the ground. Cassi came outside while I was taking these and wanted to know why her mother would embarrass her by laying on the cold concrete taking pictures of her pets...I explained to her that her lack of enthusiasm to have her picture taken causes her Mom to do weird things...

Does this picture TOTALLY belong on the cover of one of those calendars you find at the 99 cent store and you wonder what freak spent the time and energy to photograph 12 different guinea pigs???

yup...it does me too!!!!

(ok Geri...your turn to post on your blog!!!!)

Enjoy!!

WARNING...you'll die laughing!

I came across a website two hours ago and it is so funny it is now almost 1:00 in the morning and I hurt from laughing so darn hard!

The site is

http://listoftheday.blogspot.com/

My post below links you directly there...

THIS IS THE FUNNIEST video I have seen in a long time-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNPxIibhcKY

God bless the man and his lawnmower...

I need to go bed but I know I am going back for more!

Enjoy!

Hilarious! And the comments have me laughing out loud

I have lots to share and will in the next few days but I just found this post and died laughing...the commentary is gut-busting...and we all can relate to those Olan Mills photos!

I though they had such glamorous jobs...those Olan Mills photographers that kept you waiting FOREVER (I know we were on the "three times a year-one free 8x10 plan" the whole time I was growing up!) to take you into their dark room and created magical portraits of my family and I.

http://listoftheday.blogspot.com/2007/09/great-olan-mills-photos.html

I love these!!!

Enjoy!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Happy Holidays everyone!! As I write this..."Jingle All the Way" is on the tv, (It is Cassi's all time favorite Christmas movie and I get a kick out of our governor in red tights!) the cookies are baked, all the presents are wrapped and I am ready for the partying to start!

I am posting a ton of pictures from around the house. Cassi and I have many special ornaments on our tree and to us it is the most beautiful tree ever. It is artificial and has two different areas that don't light up so we had to wrap lights around it this year and it's a skinny little thing but it's ours!


Rudolph in his teens...

Santa sure looks tired!

I am especially partial to homemade ornaments. Cassi made this a few years ago and when I brought it out this year...the clay is still wet. This is probably my favorite ornament on the whole tree!

Another homemade ornament from Cassi's preschool days.

I had to explain to Cassi that this is an ornament from when I used film...and then had to explain what film was...go figure!

Since we are huge Disney fans...Disney is represented in a large way!

I took the next two images while we were decorating the tree. Unfortunately, quite a few of our ornaments were broken because of poor packing last year so I need to be a lot more careful this year. There is something pretty about all that broken glass to me.

I love the snow and so we have many snowmen on display.

I love shallow DOF and spent some time playing with the lights from the tree and decorations hanging from the chandelier.

I was afraid the princesses would fall off our flimsy tree so they are above my computer desk for now. They might just have a permanent home there.

Angela buys me the annual ornament from the Hotel del Coronado every year and each year they get prettier and prettier. This year's hasn't arrived but I can't wait to add it to the tree!

I always joke that we have a "boy" tree because it is predominately covered in balls...so I decided to make her a little more feminine by adding Cassi's bright pink Santa hat to the tree as a tree topper. I think it is the perfect touch!
Each year we buy ornaments from the "St. Judes Foundation." I can not even imagine how the parent's of sick children deal on a day to day basis and so I try and donate when I can to St. Judes. I am truly blessed to have a healthy child and thank God everyday for it.

Another Cassi handmade ornament made with her hand print in first grade.

Last year's Hotel Del Coronado ornament.
Our stockings are hung...

We have been blessed to have the real Santa come to the studio every year to visit and Cassi has the same pose with Santa since she was 2 (7th year this year!). I am amazed at how much she changes...and how little he changes. He really is timeless and I love these pictures each year!

I had to share my guinea pigs with all of you. This is Daisy Rose and we have had her for 2 and a half years. She is such a blessing to have around. I did not want a pet at all but Cassi really wanted one. I told her she had to be good for one month in class (She is a real talker!!!) and I would consider it. And she actually accomplished it. AND I think I love this pig more than her!
This is Sugar Baby. Cassi and I stopped at the pet store and absolutely fell in love with it. I couldn't resist but did not want another pet because I couldn't afford to buy the stuff required to bring another pet home so we went home without her. I could not get her cute face out of my mind and I asked God to give me some sign that we should go get her.

That day...I was cleaning my car and found $200 in a pocket behind the passenger seat. I know it sounds crazy but we were doing proms week after week and I must have taken my earnings and stuck it back there. And there was my sign.

I called the store and we went and brought her home with us that day. She is a complete stinker and has such a great personality. Sugar has cowlicks all over her body and her crazy hair goes with her disposition.

I probably will not post again before Christmas so I hope you all have a blessed Christmas and Santa brings you everything on your list!!!!

Enjoy!

It's my Party...

We celebrated my twin sister Diane's and my birthday this weekend at my youngest sister Darci's home. Her husband Don and her were gracious enough to throw a Western themed party for us and I think everyone had a super time. The image above is of my sisters and I before the party began.

This is my sister Darci in purple and her husband Don on her right. The sheriff (we were in Lakeside!) showed up and threatened a citizen's arrest if they had to come back but luckily we didn't have to bail anyone out.
This is Debbie and Anna who we frequently go to country concerts with. Anna is getting married in August and I can't wait to photograph her wedding!
My nephew and his delightful girlfriend Aisha.
My twin sister Diane and her husband Johnny Cash (Brian)

I have no clue what song they are dancing to...

That would be my niece Amanda in the middle. I love this picture!
My nephew Steven and his friend (my coworker too!) Sam...
Anna on the mic...

We all had such a great time and anyone who is reading this who was there...thank you for sharing this night with us...we are blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives. Many of the people there we have known since high school and beyond and we have shared our lives together. Thank you for being the amazing people you are!!

Thank you also Darci, Don, Diane, and Brian for making this birthday special for me. You are the best!!!

On to something else...

I shared this website (Paperbackswap.com) a while back (June 11th) because I had just found the site and thought it might be something I would use. I have continually used this site over and over again. You post books you have in your home and when someone would like that book...you package it up and mail to them. Once they receive the book, you receive a credit to order another book from any other member.

This site is amazing and I have ordered books for myself, Cassi, my family and not once has the book been sent to me in bad condition. They track every thing and I found the statistics regarding how much I use this site amazing...

Here is my account as of tonight...

There are

1,749,986 books posted that you can swap

I have

sent

54 books

received

37 books

have 22 credits to order books

The books I have sent have:

gone to 27 different states

the shortest distance 12 miles

the longest distance 2,714 miles

the average distance has been 1,753 miles

for a total distance of 150,761 miles

How is that for statistics??

If you are interested in the site...Paperbackswap.com they have a referral program and you can put my name in...Cassiandme...and I think I get credit...I think you also get three credits once you post a few books of your own, at least that is what it was when I started.

They even tell you how much shipping to put on each book and you print the labels right form their site.

Cassi and I put up our tree tonight and inspired by the Baxter's blog ( http://sdohana.blogspot.com/ check out their site...they are local photographers that inspire me with the work they do and I find their blog hilarious to read!!!) I photographed some of my favorite ornaments to share with you. I haven't downloaded them yet but will soon.

So for now...

Enjoy!

Things that make you go hmmm...

One of Cassi's chores is to empty the dishwasher and put the dishes away.

She yelled from the kitchen..."the dishes won't fit...Can you put them away?"
I didn't investigate and let her go to her friend Ashleigh's house.

This is what I found...

I CANNOT undertand why these didn't fit in the cupboard.

Any ideas?????

just one...the last one

This is not the last Hawaii picture I am sharing but the LAST image I took in Hawaii of the LAST time we saw daylight in Hawaii. This was taken from Waikiki beach while we enjoyed one LAST Hawaiian shaved ice before we had to go to the airport.

This is actually my background on my computer totally unretouched or fixed in Photoshop. I still have so many images to share from Hawaii but I think this one speaks to me.

There were many people on the beach because it was a Saturday and EVERYONE stopped and watched this...even the surfers all sat on their boards facing the sunset and enjoying a spectacular moment...almost a spiritual one... I think it is one of those moments you had to experience to believe...a peaceful moment that connected so many.

I understood ohana...

Enjoy!