:: subject to change/grow ::

• Decorate above my kitchen cabinet's. Budget: $100
• The New Orleans Open or Closed Project. Budget: however much a 16"x16" canvas print will cost. Common Groupon, don't fail me now.  
• Working out - Top Priority
• Complete personal website design. Budget: time is money
• Tan.
• Paint room?!? 

I know it seems small. But, these are truly goals I want AND need to accomplish. The shorter, the more accomplishable, right?

May has been a whirlwind and a half. We knew that May was going to be a busy one...and this weekend was quite the conclusion!

May was David's 8th anual crawfish boil, Mother's Day, dad's birthday, sister no. 4s birthday, Grace's birthday, Amanda & Stephan's couple's shower, Mr. & Mrs. Amato's wedding (same people as Amanda and Stephen), and that was just the big things that happened on the weekend. May was also finding out sister no. 3 is preggers, girl time, jet skies, confession, photoshoots, editting out of my mind, and of course the 9-5...

May, it's been fun...until next year -- adios!

This weekend actually started on Wednesday for me. I packed a bag and spent Wednesday & Thursday David's. Wednesday was a crawfish boil at his house. They were, oh my gosh, so amazing....and just to rub it in....

There's just something about a photo that capsulate’s a memory. I'm certain that it helps us recall the events in our life, that's a no brainer. There's something so unbelievably spiritual about the mood a photo can give us from an occasion. It's the art of capturing that mood, that feeling, that makes photography something worth pursuing. At least for me. Sometimes, during the journey of learning my camera I forget what a photo means. What a picture is. A photo has the ability to capture a moment, even a feeling, that could over wise be lost forever. It's the art of providing memory recognition in one of its truest forms. And this is one of the million reasons I fall a little more in love with my Canon every time I shoot.

And...moving on.

Okay, question. How tacky or not tacky is it to bring your DSLr to a wedding that has another paid photographer?  I know, or hope, that one day I will feel like my camera is more of a job than an obsession. But, for now, I wanted an oppertunity to take pictures of the big day. I left the DSLr in the car for the ceremony...but, for the reception, it came out! I couldn't help myself. Sooo...am I tacky?!
Regardless, I can't help but share a few:





By the way, the Amato wedding was one of the best weddings I have ever, ever been too. It was at Amada's (the bride) grandmother's country home, stunningly beautiful, and it literally went on all night long. At least, from 2:00 pm to 8:30 pm when we left that evening. The DJ played everything good, including the 'Boot Scoot Boogy' twice so we could 'practice'. And 'You Belong to Me' by T. Swift as karaoke. And invisible double dutch (as seen above) was the most popular dance move of the night. You are welcome, for that one!! :) LOL It's kind of my stable. hahahaha I'm a dork.
 
And now it's Monday...Memorial Day. And I'm at work.
 

This week is absolutely busy. The good kind of busy when you get to see everyone and do lots of things that you love doing. The kind of week when i wish that someone followed me around with a camera and captured the little moments in my life. Words just can't tell you how beautiful this week has been so far, and it's only Wednesday.

Nonetheless, I will share. {This is more for me than it is for you}

Sunday | David and I had a perfect day. It was one of those days when you feel warm and tingly in your soul. We went to Mass in New Orleans to a beautiful cathedral, St. Patrick's, followed by lunch and driving around uptown talking about how living in one of those beautiful houses on the Avenue is part of our 30-year plan. (I said 15 years, but David told me to be more realistic, LOL).  About 3:00 we decided to put on our running shoes at Audubon Park. I fell deeper in love with New Orleans & David on Sunday. {David is the highlight of my life.} And me and my instagram really had fun...



Monday | was Dad's Birthday. The family isn't actually planning to celebrate dad's bday until Friday, but mom invited me to dinner anyways cuz it was his 'actual birthday'. I was the oldest at home that night which hardly never happens. I brought Dad wine, Kimberly serenaded the dinner table with humming water goblets, and we ended up outside by the pool with a glass of wine and a conversation about how to grow closer to God (you know, the kind of conversation you can really only have with your parents). Later that evening I found myself in the parking lot at Target, sitting indian-style in my car just chatting with Mindy about life & love & babies. (Have I mentioned how glad I am that Mindy has moved back home?) All of these events are like those events that you would see in a movie montage about living a happy life.

Tuesday | was packing and cleaning...sort of. Later in the PM Grace and Mindy arrived at my house. The rest of my week I will not be around for our weekly girls dinner so I had told them they could come over, but I had to be productive. So they came over...but I wasn't productive. LOL We ended up on the sofa in my living room talking about plastic surgey, getting older, girl drama, shopping at Marshall's, how different a pair of glasses can make you feel, how people preceive us and remembering how long we've been friends. Grace and Mindy are two treasures in my life. I love both of them so much and the person I am when I'm in their company. Last night was one of those nights that I hadn't had in a long time. It was like a highschool slumber party, except with no bedtimes and wine. I needed it.
I should have taken out the camera on Tuesday to capture a few moments...
Here's the only photo evidence of Tuesday:
It's looks so pretty, when in fact it was just another day in my life.
Wednesday | is today. And it's just starting. "I'm glad it's wednesday. I still have plenty to do the rest of the week and Wednesday is late enough in the week for it not to be depressing, but early enough in the week for me to still be hopeful to close this week out well!" - as documented by gmail.
This evening I've been invited to David's parents for a crawfish boil. A crawfish boil on a week day? Okay! :)

Thursday | is a girls' night and a boys' night out on the town. A friend of mine, Amanda, is tying the knot on Saturday and we have to bring her out and about before she settlesdown, of course. The boys will be accompanying us down to the city in a party bus before we go out separate ways. I'm sure the night will be full of Pat O's and pictures...and I'm sure Friday morning will come much too soon.

I bought a new car. Have I told you? I know I told facebook & twitter & consequently instagram, but I never actually told you. Seren, is a 2010, pearl white Nissan Rouge and the current highlight of my life.


Seren tracks my average MPH since I last set my odometer. Apparently the last 900 miles my average speed has been 42 MPH. I think that means I’m boring. But, I am averaging 26 miles to the gallon so that counts for something!

I’ve been struggling again with my face, again. Yesterday was a bad day for me, today I’ve come to terms with it, but I really, really wish that it would get better. I thought it was for a moment, and then it decided to go back to being ugly. I know I need to clean my makeup bag, maybe I can do that tonight.

Pictures:

I’ve been taking more pictures than I’ve been sharing. But truth is I’ve been taking more pictures than I can edit. It’s very time consuming. Nonetheless, I still love it. I want to explore more with f-stop, well actually manual settings in general.

Photography has given me a completely new outlook on the world. But like all creative ventures, I need to be inspired. That must be a struggle for plenty of photographers, if you’re worn out, doesn’t it take a toll on your product? Actually, most of the time I have a camera in my hand I can’t stop smiling. But there have been a few times that circumstances and stress has taken its part on me.

Google:

Before I found my creative path, which was much too recent in life, I saw the pictures that circulated of Google’s headquarters and Laughed Out Loud. Of course I wanted to work there, but I didn’t understand how playing pool or getting a massage helped your productively leave. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha I bet the people at google have the highest creativity level of any business in the world. And with creativity, for creative people, comes productivity. Good job Google, figuring that one out.

Just image how different their office dynamic is. I would imagine it was less stress and a lot more night owls than early birds, right? I mean, what designer do you know that doesn’t get their best work done past 10 PM? Are the creative brains and the night owls synced somehow? Surely not, I know plenty of left-brain thinkers who stay up just as late as I do.

So…I just took a ‘right-brain vs left brain test’.  Your Turn!

I’m 67/33 right-brained. I love personality tests!!!!

The end.