Cassie.

Cassie's graduating from East Carolina University with a BA in Sociology!

*throws confetti*

When she's not dominating Institutes of Higher Learning, Cass makes an excellent lunch & vintage-shopping partner.

I fully intend to write her a reference.

Cassie's a lover of all things organic, so we headed for some nature

...in-between the ubiquitous Southern thunderstorms.

I Know That Bikini...

My image "Summertime." made it into FILE Magazine's collection this week!

...and not a moment too soon (See: Previous Blog Post).

FILE Magazine.

If you're not familiar with the Awesomeness that is FILE Magazine, by all means...click the link above to leave me now and peruse Beerzie Boy's wicked editorial skillz.

THAT kind of Winter...

(There's a backyard in there somewhere.)

GOOD LORD.

It's been a long, cold Winter, yo.

And, yeahyeah...I know what you're thinking..."You're from southern California. ANY Winter would be long and cold to you."

Well, yes.

You've got me there.

BUT...locals were astounded, too.

So there.

Dawn, after an all-night snow. Gas station coffee never tasted so good.

A harvested field a couple of blocks from my house.

My very own Plantsicle™. Oh joy.

It was just after midnight and 14º F when I shot this.

That smile was frozen on my face for 3 days.

And can you believe?...I STILL never made a snowman?!

I had a snowball fight, though!

A couple, even.

That shall just have to tide me over until next year...who's ready for Spring? AnyoneAnyone?

SNEAK PEAK : Clarice.

'Clarice' SP photo shoot tonight. Sneak peak courtesy of Droid. :)

Working on more photos / posts as we speak...coming vurry soon, penguins.

P.S.
Twin & Twin's Love are arriving tomorrow night for the holimadays!
That means I get to go to the Airport...my favorite place!
DOUBLE JOY! :)

I am...

...watching "Benny & Joon" with half a glass of eggnog after 2 hours in Photoshop.
What a perfect way to end my Thursday.

Oasis, St. Maarten and Peppermint Bark. Oh my.

Re-organizing my website's galleries by travels is proving a more time-consuming task than originally anticipated. Or perhaps I am just easily distracted and end up perusing the gajillions of images crammed into my widdle CPU, instead of actually editing and arranging them.
Oh, look! A butterfly!...*trail off*

And then there's YouTube with stuff like this:

So not helping, guys.

But, in the meantime, here's a little beauty I re-discovered tonight from my time in St. Maarten [Netherland Antilles] back in May...

She was such a ham for the camera. Wouldn't stop giggling and kicking up sand.
So, naturally, she out-cools me by a good 20 points. At least.

P.S.
*Note to Self:
Eating Peppermint Bark like it's going out of style will not actually make it go out of style.
You have time, woman.
Pace yourself.

My Saturday, November 14, 2009.

I'm mysteriously sexy. See. I take self portraits in public restrooms.

I've been absent far too long, but I hope to avoid that in the future by trying something a little different here. I warn you, here and now: You're in for my absolute dorkiest self. From here on out I'm really using this space as a chronicle of my life, my photography and my odd obsession with peppermint ice cream. Deal? Deal.

Oksurecoolfine. Now!...

My Saturday, November 14, 2009 was spent with friends; Lance and Arwen. We drove two hours to Raleigh. NC.; talking, laughing, relaxing and listening to good music. We perused the four floors of Father & Sons vintage store and art gallery in downtown Raleigh for hours.


If this doesn't get you jazzed for Chrismoose, you need extra doses of hot cocoa. Stat.

We picked out cool pieces for one another. We tried on ridiculous clothes. We bought awesome stuff. Some of my purchases included: a Jordanian abaya (the most beautiful abaya I now own; even more so than the ones purchased in the ME), an Egyptian embroidered vest, Dr. Marten spectator oxfords, a turquoise silk and real gold thread-trimmed salwar (think: long Indian tunic), a signed photography print from the gallery (shot in Cuba); a 1960's souvenir "Los Angeles" velvet pillowcase, a hodgepodge of antique photographs and slides (dating back to the late 19th cent.) to add to my collection, and some Moroccan earrings. I was am a happy bunny.


Lance in the back alley; waiting for Arwen to pay for her goodies @ Father & Sons. Downtown Raleigh, NC.

We were hungry.

We walked down the block and stumbled upon The Raleigh Time Bar. Housed in the former Raleigh Times Newspaper building (circa 1906), we had a posh lunch and sampled some great beer and wine.


O HAI WAITER.


Me? Blackened Salmon, Pesto Risotto and Cherry Ale. ---> Tell me your stomach didn't just growl. Cuz mine did.

We continued on.

Heading about thirty minutes to Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, NC...


I lost Shotgun. Iz ok. [*whispers* I took a catnap on the armrest.]

We hit up Time After Time Vintage. Among my scores there: 3 embroidered kurtas - 1 Greek, 1 Guatemalan, 1 Indian; a 1960's saffron-colored overcoat, and black leather cowboy boots. I am ecstatic. We headed down Franklin to C.D. Alley, a record store. We nudged our way through the tiny store packed to the walls with vinyl and used C.D.s.


He rolled up on this 1984 Honda bike with a shiny helmet. I was in love. With the scooter? With the guy? Umm...both? We chatted for 10 minutes and he was good people. He lives behind the black door, next to C.D. Alley. Chapel Hill, NC.

We were pleased.

With nearby UNC Chapel Hill's football game letting out, we decided to avoid traffic by killing time in the Carolina Brewery. We shared a bottle of New Zealand Riesling over even more good conversation.


Glass number #2. Yurm.

We headed back home...where by the time we arrived it was dinnertime. We landed on Mexican and had a quiet dinner of chips & salsa. *le sigh* We ended the night by visiting our friend Tina (who was under the weather) & her awesome-beyond-her-years daughter, Kam.

I came home to wash my latest treasures and headed to bed.

P.S.
I may or may have dreamed about Gary Oldman and awoken to a drool spot on my pillow.