On the Third day of March I finally get remember to sit down and blog. Here’s to hopefulutions y’all. So three months into 2013 and Andy and I have already had a wonderful adventure! We traveled to New Orleans for a mini vacation before heading to White Castle, LA for a fashion shoot with Southern Bride Magazine. Last year Andy and I had the wonderful privilege of being asked to photograph for them and it was SUCH an amazing experience! This year was just as great!
I’ll start with NOLA: We tried to get on the road early Saturday, but were stopped in our tracks by a three year long search for a fridge coming to a halt. More on that later. Anyway, we had to purchase said fridge before leaving town and the store opened at 9am. After checking off a giant mark on our to-do list we happily headed to NOLA!
The drive is nice, kinda boring, but with great company goes by quickly. Upon arriving at our friends’ place in Uptown, we went out for welcome drinks. Drinks became Dinner Lab, which then lead to a quick jaunt down Bourbon, a few crowded bars, an open air market, and a fuzzy “walk” back to “home”.
The next morning came quickly and around noon Bryson and Desi (along with some of their friends) introduced us to their annual tradition of attending the Tet Fest! It was amazing! After that we did a bit of record shopping and touring the city before having dinner at Dante’s Kitchen and a walk down the street for ice cream at Creole’s Creamery.
The next morning we had to hit the road later that day. We had a delicious brunch at Coulis before saying our goodbyes to our generous hosts. Andy and I decided to hit up one more record store before heading to White Castle. On the way we found a cajun country shopping stop off the highway. It was a little “corner of the marsh” (so said the woman in a thick cajun accent at the antique store) with rickety old houses that have been brought there and turned into shops: coffee, wine, antiques, beads/jewelry, and a couple of others that weren’t open that day. It was a fun surprise and I’m so glad we stopped!
We pulled up to Nottoway Plantation around 2:30 in the afternoon and checked into our cozy room before making our way to the meeting spot. Soon after we arrived, the rest of the gang (editors, models, hair/makeup, interns, etc) pulled up and we didn’t waste anytime getting to work. While folks unpacked the wedding gowns, Andy and I went with Lindsay (the graphic designer who does all of the magazine’s layouts) to scout locations. After about two hours, we all reconvened before heading to the delicious dinner!
The following two days were pretty much spent photographing…from 8am until about 6pm (I think that’s when the sun set). The day ended with a scrumptious meal, a little bit of wine, and fabulous conversation. It’s always bittersweet when these shoots come to an end, but by the time Thursday rolled around Andy and I were ready to get home. We woke up around 6am and quickly got on the road – we were trying to stay ahead of a storm that was moving in later that day. Because we were up and at ’em so early, we even had time to stop in Hattiesburg, Mississippi to visit my grandma! It was SO wonderful to surprise her and it made my day to hug her neck! Andy and I had lunch with her before having to get back on the road and drive the other half of the 8 hour drive. The storm caught up to us right as we were exiting for Huntsville, but thankfully it wasn’t too bad – just some heavy rain. It was nice once we got home to hug the kitties and watch a movie while the rain eventually lured us to bed.
Well, one trip down – several others planned for the year! I can’t wait for the adventures! 🙂
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The first month of 2013 flew by…in fact, the first three have as I’m finally getting a chance to post in March. Regarding these photo a day posts, I’m still using her guidelines…sorta. For posting purposes it usually matches up ok, but I no longer keep the lists handy. I definitely don’t reference them so it’s all a mystery to see which images from the day might actually line up with the suggested photo.
Anyway, here’s January!
today, something new, heart, view
movement, mine, street, something beginning with ‘t’ (Tiny)
paper, one o’clock, water, surprise
circle, yellow, ordinary moment, two things (love her!)
ready, shadow, delicious, something I saw
what I do, corner, electric, stripes
landscape, together, sun, through
grow, down, myself
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It usually takes me a bit after the New Year to collect my thoughts on my favorite music from the previous year. So before too much of 2013 sneaks past me, below is my list – along with a track from the album for listening pleasure! Speaking of music, this year was great for our record store! We moved into a larger location, business picked up, we hosted quite a few shows (Nobunny, Peach Kelli Pop, Bad Sports, Tough Shits, Sugar Stems, Natural Child, Paperhead, D. Watusi, Juiceboxxx, Jail, Dent May, The Pharmacy, Useless Eaters – and of course friends & semi-local favorites, The Porcharitas, Really Loud Hamburgers, Weekenders, Circuit Pop, Drew Price, Plains). Here’s to another wonderful year of music…and to the future and tunes to come! Happy 2013!
PS – Click here to see last year’s list!
Top 10 Albums of 2012
1. Fletcher C. Johnson – Salutations
Send Me Your Love
2. King Tuff – King Tuff
Alone and Stoned
3. Ty Segall / White Fence – Hair
I am Not a Game
4. D. Watusi – Dark Party
Brother & Sister
5. Mean Jeans – On Mars
Anybody Out There
6. The Toughs Shits – The Tough Shits
Heard She Kisses on the Mouth
7. The Sugar Stems – Can’t Wait
Love You to Pieces
8. Thee Oh Sees – Putrifiers II EP
Flood’s New Light
9. Natural Child – For The Love Of The Game
8 AM Blues
10. Terry Malts – Killing Time
Something About You
Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)
11. Lace Curtains – Lace Curtains
Bedroom Honesty
12. Gap Dream – Gap Dream
58th St. Fingers
13. Ty Segall – Twins
The Hill
14. Cloud Nothings – Attack On Memory
Stay Useless
15. Natural Child – Hard In Heaven
B$G P$MP$N
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And just like that, it’s 2013! On New Year’s Eve so many FUN things happened! The Sugar Stems played our store, Porcharitas and Burgers opened, we rang in the New Year with 100 of our friends/fellow music lovin’ Huntsvillians, multiple dance parties, confetti, champagne and cider, midnight kiss, sing-a-longs to favorite songs, and so many laughs! I’m so thankful for everyone who came out and rang in 2013 with us! Here’s to the next 12 months! May they be filled with loads of love!
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2012 was a blast! Lots of great music, friends, trips, and laughs! New adventures, exciting opportunities, and fabulous friends made this year so worthwhile! You can check out the review of 2012 for more details.
2013 Resolutions
- Photograph more with film and begin “the transition”
- Continue to grow and push the envelope with White Rabbit Studios (free wedding websites with bookings, handmade albums, letterpress recipe cards, other goodies)
- Start selling some of my vintage collection (either in the store or online again)
- Get the wheels in motion for another Hi-Fi Wedding Fest
- Go on tour with The Porcharitas (even a long weekend would be fun!)
- Spend a weekend unplugged from the internet on a fun adventure with Andy
- Set up our screen printing/darkroom equipment
- Expand our garden/build a green house
- Go on more walks, drink more tea/water
- Visit California
- More Yoga!
- Help host a kickass festival
- Write at least five songs
- Start recording live shows and blogging them (I have a whole idea I’d like to do which involves filming snip-its of the band performing, along with dancing and show antics with a super 8 camera. Record the band’s live set, then pick one song to put with the footage and create an awesome video. However, this is very involved, so even just filming at least one song with our crappy point and shoot will suffice. We just need to do SOMETHING!)
- Another label to want to put out Porcharitas’ first album (Vertical House Records obviously has dibs…but it would be exciting to be contacted by a favorite label ya?!)
- Keep up with my personal blogging
- Revitalize Crash Boom Bang! Theatre (hopefully everything in the pipeline for CBB flows through!)
- Finish the upstairs (this is a huge undertaking…even to accomplish part of this will be incredible!)
- Go to the beach (this needs to be a “must” every year.)
2012 Resolutions (with commentary)
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Jan 12
Rang in the New Year with the Sammons!
afternoon walks
first show of the year!
The Porcharitas play The Black Owl in Florence, AL!
dream stuffs
PORCHARITAS TEST PRESSING!
truth
January Photo a Day Project
Feb 12
Vertical House Records expands again!
Sunday walks!
Valentine’s Day!
BAM! The Porcharitas’ first 7″!
moving our entire record store in THREE days!
February Photo a Day Project
Mar 12
Maple
Spring cleaning and neighborhood walks!
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS – Ben, me, Nicole!
well said
March Photo a Day Project
Apr 12
SPRING HAS SPRUNG!
VHR002!
Mobile for Kim & Kyle’s wedding!
Dinner with friends!
our backyard!
hiking on Monte Sano Mountain
Hunx & His Punx and Natural Child show at Bottletree!
April Photo a Day Project
May 12
Alabama as Fuck Part One!
behind the scenes of Case & Lindsay’s wedding
reflections
Alabama as Fuck Part Two
May Photo a Day Project
Jun 12
Transit of Venus
United Record Pressing Plant tour and Black Lips live at Third Man
Porcharitas music video shoot!
June Photo a Day Project
Jul 12
Happenin’ Fest weekend
Southern Bride Magazine fashion shoot followed by King Tuff & Natural Child
July Photo a Day Project
Aug 12
BEACH TRIP!
August Photo a Day Project
Sep 12
September Photo a Day Project
Oct 12
October Photo a Day Project
Nov 12
November Photo a Day Project
Dec 12
December Photo a Day Project
Happy Holidays and I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year!
Year in Review: 2011
Year in Review: 2010
Year in Review: 2009
Year in Review: 2008
Year in Review: 2007
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Hurray! The world didn’t end on the 21st! Last night we wrapped 2012 with a show in our record store! It was an absolute BLAST! Not only did Porcharitas and Really Loud Hamburgers play, but we opened for one of my favs – The Sugar Stems! We had around 100 folks there to celebrate, and it was great! Lots of friends, good music, and dance parties! It’s pretty crazy how fast this year flew by. I’m stoked for 2013 and the road ahead! I’m working on my “hopefulutions” (hopeful resolutions)…one which includes to blog more than just my photo a day projects. We’ll see though. Now that instagram has profiles and tumblr is a one-click blog template, it’s just too easy. I started blogging (before there were digital cameras) with the intention of only really wanting a photo blog (I used to scan my film). I think I’ve had the tagline “I want a camera in my eye” before Wilco wrote that song (probs not really, but you know). Anyway, cheers to the New Year!
8 o’clock, peace, something you held, b/w
where I live(d), stars, someone I love, out and about
under, sweet, hat, lights
something green, outdoors, something I made, on the floor
makes me feel merry, ‘s’, weather, tree
decoration, joy, tradition, lunchtime
mess, how you relax, cold, hot
something that made me smile, self-portrait
And here are the months of January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November!
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HA! You see, normally I have the meme that fat mum slim creates for her photo a day project as the lock screen on my phone. That way, I can easily reference it each morning with the “word photo of the day” (hello Pee Wee’s Playhouse!) on my mind. However, I didn’t even get around to doing that for the months of November or December. oops! So this will just be a complete wild card!
November was rad and full of random fun! I was in a music video with Matt and Ben (they have a new band called Thunderkrotch), Porcharitas started recording our first full album, helped with a video shoot for Justin’s school project (HE WON FIRST PLACE WITH IT!), shot a fun wedding at the Lumberyard, photographed an amazing engagement session at Bottletree and another on private property by a stunning waterfall, ate lots of yummy Thanksgiving food, hosted a show in our store featuring The Pharmacy, and finally – had a super successful Black Friday Record Store Day! Kapow!
something with the letter ‘c’, color, breakfast, TV
5 o’clock, a favorite thing, reflection, something I do everyday
small, can’t (won’t) live without, night, drink
where I slept, man-made, in my bag, view from my window
last thing I bought, happened this weekend, something awesome, work/play
what I wore, grateful, black, sound I heard
sky, in the cupboard, tree, vehicle
big, on the wall
And here are the months of January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October!
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I’ll be honest, in October I kinda got lazy with this whole project. I still took a lot of photos, just kinda stopped paying attention to the list. It was fun going back through and seeing if I can match up a photo somewhat to the description – and some of them accidentally worked perfectly! October was another FABULOUS month for photography! I shot a darling mini session of sorts with Madeline at Finery. Both weddings I had that month landed me coverage in magazines and blogs and a ton of new “favorites” for my portfolio slideshow. I can’t thank the couples that choose me enough – it’s absolutely incredible to call this my job.
where I stood, lunchtime, something that happened, what I read
shadow, thankful, light, angle
red, emotion, close up, on the table
landscape, makes me laugh, dinnertime, something I wrote
fruit, makes me smile, letters, 4 o’clock
calm, in my town, the view, weather
people, listening to, morning, looking back
moon, clothes, whatever I please
And here are the months of January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September!
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September was busy with a lot of miscellaneous White Rabbit Studios work, but it was still fun nonetheless! Andy celebrated his 31st birthday (at our favorite Mexican restaurant) and we hosted NOBUNNY in our store (SUCH a great show)! We also got to see THEE OH SEES in Nashville! It was an incredible show and they played for over an hour…and we were right up front by the stage. It was perfect! Somehow life continues to be awesome and we got a second beach trip this year to document the awesome wedding of our dear friends, Kristen and Brad. September was rad!
me, father (I was on the phone with him talking about if what we were seeing was a tornado), far away, mailbox
bright, everyday, natural, night
most weekends (the fair is not in town), b/w, hero (???), together
table, favorite (clean sheets!), first thing I see, strange
in my fridge, price, underneath, man-made
sometimes, up, before bedtime, 3 things (more like thee things…as in THEE OH SEES)!
frame (Tiny’s framed up in the window), near (this guy used to not let us get close to him), love/hate (love these SO much that I hate to give them away), a good thing (BEACH!)
errand, me
And here are the months of January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August!
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