The Countdown

If God smiles on me and my nice FedEx guy is diligent and speedy, in about 40 hours I'll have the new Harry Potter book in my hot little hands. Please do not expect me to answer the phone or door this weekend, as a serious reading marathon will be taking place. (Christy, let's talk once we've both finished. There will be important topics to discuss.)

Photoshopping

Over the last several months I've gotten into browsing the blogs of various talented gals who all take amazing amateur photographs of their crafts and creations. (Oddly enough, most of them are also Mormon, although I can't figure out if there's a connection there or not. Are Mormons really more craftsy than the rest of us? Do they take classes in letterpress and graphic design in between sewing sleeves onto tank tops and baptizing the dearly departed? If so, can I sign up? Also, their homes and clothes and children are all pristine and, it seems, perfectly color coordinated. All the time. Like living, breathing spreads for a Martha Stewart magazine. It's unreal, truly.) So I've been inspired to pay more attention to the pictures I take, and next year a friend and I hope to take a photography class together. But there's only so much you can do with a basic point-and-click digital camera. So last week in a burst of inspiration and frivolity I ordered a new big-girl camera--a Nikon SLR with a couple of lenses. My excitement over its impending arrival on my doorstep via the friendy UPS man was shortlived, however, as the day after placing my order I was informed that they were oversold and on indefinite backorder. Arg. Since then I've been shopping around at other online camera sites, but for now I've decided to put it off until Christmas so that I can maybe solicit my loving family for contributions to my "new hobby fund" as Christmas and/or birthday gifts. So since the camera is on hold, I've been fooling around with Photoshop a little bit more. This is one of my favorite candid shots from our wedding reception. Aren't they sweet? But Carol, I'm afraid, looks a tad....er....luminescent? In a word, the girl is white (love you, CB!). And that thermostat on the wall had to go. But I still wanted Carol to look like herself and not 5 shades darker. So I did some subtle tweaking, and here's the result. Better, no? Carol's skin is still a beautiful ivory, but she's no longer putting fireflies to shame or redirecting ships from the shore. And that thermostat has magically disappeared. Here are the side-by-side before and afters.

Matrimonio di Italiano!

Last month my lovely and very sweet cousin, Shannon, was married at the same historic house where Matt and I were married in March. We had a great time, loved being there as relaxed guests with no responsibilities whatsoever, and were so pleased to share in Shan and Vinnie's happiness. Aren't they a cute couple? Vinnie's Italian, so that meant lots of guests came in from New York. It was kind of like The Godfather or "The Sopranos" or something--a relative even sang an aria in Italian for them at the reception--except everyone was, well, nice and clean-mouthed. And hopefully not hitmen. I thought that maybe being there and getting all swept up in wedding romance again would inspire me to get busy on our wedding and honeymoon albums. But, uhm, it didn't....Here's a nice photo of us, though. And here are the ladies of the fam: my mom, me, Shannon, and my aunt Judy. (Shan and I thank you, Photoshop, for your lovely shiny-forehead-eliminating tools.)

Thank You, Mr. Samuelson

If you love language as I do, if you bemoan the modern man and woman's ignorance of proper grammar, if texting abbreviations ("GR8 C U L8R!") make you want to crush electronic devices with the heel of your shoe, and if you worry that the brains of young people are being turned to pudding by overstimulation and a culture that discourages them from ever (ever, ever) focusing their complete attention on a single task, then you'll want to read this article.

:(

Pig breaks my heart sometimes.

Little Miss E

I'm having fun learning to make more subtle adjustments using Photoshop. For practice, I'm using some of my favorite shots of this little punkin, since she doesn't need much tweaking to make her look her best. Here are the side-by-side before and afters.

July 4th With the Popes

While Miss Kelly was celebrating her 30th birthday (still sorry we missed it), we enjoyed spending the holiday with the Popes who hosted their annual July 4th barbecue. This is what the freeway looked like on our drive out to their place. And it was hot. I know it's a bit blurry, but you're reading that correctly: 107 degrees. But it was worth it, because there was tons of food, great company, air conditioning inside, a newly-installed misting system on the patio, and fun games to be played--including "corn hole" (or beanbag toss for those of us who grew up with, you know, electricity and paved roads....). Aren't my dad and husband the cutest? My ma and I enjoyed watching our men sweat their way through a few games while we lounged under the mist (which is what caused those spots, and I can't figure out how to Photoshop them away). Oh, and then there was this little cutie-pie. I worked a little of my newly-learned Photoshop magic to bring his face forward and blur out the rest. I think the effect turned out nicely. And this next photo gave me an opportunity to acquire a skill that I'm sure will come in very, very handy: Eliminating oily skin shine on my forehead. I've got to warn you, Kelly (or any other yet unwed gal who might be reading this), while you're engaged all anyone wants to talk to you about is the wedding and whether or not you're excited. (When I first typed that I actually wrote "scared" instead of excited....Oh, Freud.) The second it's over don't go anywhere near a baby, let alone hold one. Because if you do the entire room will erupt in "ooooohs" and "aaaahs" and comments about how you're "practicing" and how "soon you'll have one of those." Sigh. But how could I keep my hands off that sweet little guy? I couldn't. It was worth the heckling. Thanks, Popes, for having us!

Weeeeeeeee(ii)!

Look what we got! Yesterday morning I happened to be in the vicinity of a Best Buy just as it was opening. I thought, Oh, what the heck? May as well run in and have a little chat with whoever's working in the gaming department. Hopefully it will be an endearingly geekish clerk of the male persuasion with whom I can turn on the charm and who then, presumably, will tell me all he knows about how I [insert innocent twirl of hair here] might obtain a little thing known as a Wii.... So I went in, and guess who was there? Helloooo, Nader! Not only was Nader able to find out that a shipment of 3 Wiis was expected that night at his very store, in hushed tones he gave me a specific protocol to follow in order to maximize my chances of being one of the lucky three to bring one of those babies home that very night! I heart Nader. So at 9:30 last night Matt and I trekked over to the Best Buy store, headed straight for the gaming section, and then Matt made himself scarce while I turned on the charm once more--this time with a strapping young fella by the name of George. Not five minutes later, guess who was holding a brand new Wii in her hot little hands? Yup, that would be me. This morning I came downstairs and had to get a shot of the living room. It was like Christmas morning down there, toys strewn all about.

New Addiction

I'm so glad that my husband loves me for who I am. Truly, I am grateful. I love that he doesn't mind my freckles and persistently rosy cheeks, the pores on my nose that are so big you could serve soup from them and those pesky brown spots cropping up all over (thanks to those teenage years when I'd baste myself like a chicken in Johnson & Johnson baby oil and lie out in the sun all weekend long). Case in point, this is one of Matt's favorite photos from our honeymoon back in March: Ok, so maybe it's cute that I'm cheesily looking off to the side and the smile is nice, I'll grant myself that. But look at those freckles! Look at the beads of sweat (ah, humidity)! Look at those brown spots mimicking a map of North America on my forehead! Seriously, people, before you send me comments accusing me of exaggerating and telling me how great you think my skin looks, lay your eyes on this unholy sight:I'm a dermatological nightmare, I tell you. So flash forward to a couple of weeks ago when my dear friend Kelly turned me on to Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. Oh, how I love Ree's daily posts, her scrumptious recipes (in fact I just made her lasagna last night, and it was YUM), her stories about her kids and husband (mmm, Marlboro Man), and most of all her stunning photographs taken around their ranch. She also frequently puts up posts on how much she loves Photoshop and gives mini lessons on how she enhances her photos with it. She uses the big fancy version, of course, but she also mentioned that the more basic version--Adobe Photoshop Elements--is all the average girl needs if what she wants is some basic tools for making her photos look their best. Sounds like me! So today I bought it along with a book to help me learn all the tricks and tools. About an hour ago I sat down at the computer with this book in hand and started playing around with Elements, and friends I have to ask you to hold me accountable with this because I have discovered a new obsession, an addiction if you will. Check this out, ladies. This is my first try at tweaking a photo: Now granted, I look like a high school senior portrait, all glowy and overly "soft." But come on! Are you amazed, or what?!? I am determined to figure out how to make these changes subtly enough that they look completely natural, and pretty soon you'll all be begging me to nice-up your family pics! Here you are with a side-by-side before and after.

A Wii Bit of Envy

Matt and I have decided we want to get a Wii. I want to be Big Brain Academized! I want to be a Cooking Mama! I want to bowl and play tennis and whatnot from the comfort of my air-conditioned living room, daggamit! We may be late to the game, but at least we're willing to play. Unfortunately, we came to this realization after all the available Wiis on the planet had already been snatched up by plucky go-getters like Esther and Scott. (For the record, I mean them no ill-will and actually like Esther and Scott a whole lot. I'm just saying. They're plucky....and go-getters....and obviously quicker spotters of trends.) There's not a single store in the greater Los Angeles area that has a Wii available for sale right now. We have been laughed at, I tell you--to our faces! One of Matt's coworkers told him she and her husband had to "go out of state" to get their's, like some shady international adoption or something. And now today Matt read an article that implied Nintendo won't be able to catch up with the demand until EARLY NEXT YEAR!! They obviously have no idea how flightly and finicky my desires are. I want instant gratification or I don't want it at all. So if any of you have any connections, relationships with industry insiders, black market operators, etc. pass on the info, please.